SPORTS FOLDEROL

  The highly-controversial (to say the least) plan to move  Washington’s NHL Capitals and NBA Wizards to Alexandria  has been on life support almost from the beginning. Wednesday  it died a merciful death … when  TED LEONSIS , who owns  both franchises, agreed to a deal to keep them in exciting,  downtown D.C. Like he had any other choice … well, short of  the longest of long shots. More on that in a moment …  Yesterday morning District mayor  MURIEL BOWSER  told  cable TV’s “The Sports Junkies” that she considered telling  Leonsis, in effect, to take a hike … after it became apparent the  Virginia General Assembly wasn’t buying the $2.2 billion  boondoggle … but that wasn’t what her constituents/voters  living in the area wanted … so she came up with more than  $500 million to help renovate Capital One Arena and guarantee  the teams would remain for a long time (2050, at the very least)  … As...

  Sticking the old, old neck way, way out … but it says here you can forget the over-priced ($2.2 BILLION) plan to move the NHL Capitals and NBA Wizards from D.C., to a new home base in Alexandria. Ain’t gonna happen. Surely state lawmakers will recognize the folly of the whole thing. Sorry, governor. Nice try … but it WILL cost tax payers a lot … and few of Virginia’s roughly 5.5 million care about either team much less attend their games. To call the woeful Wizards “big league” is a stretch of major proportions … If  TED LEONSIS  must move the hockey team, why not to the 17,000-seat arena expected to be built in Henrico County by 2026? That would be two years before re-location anywhere can happen (according to The Washington Post) … I know, I know … it sounds silly to expect hockey to succeed here on any level, much less the highest, after six previous failures …. yet, stranger things have happened. All it takes is someone (someones?) with deep, DEEP pockets, hockey ex...

  So … plans for the new 20,000-seat home in Alexandria for the NHL Capitals and NBA Wizards call for Virginia’s share ($1.4 billion) to be paid via the sale of bonds … which supposedly means taxpayers won’t have to foot as much as a penny of the bill. Get serious! Of course, they/we will … if not directly for the facility then for costs  Gov. Glenn Youngkin , in his zeal for bringing major-league sports to  the state for the first time, failed to mention. Say like … as much as  $200 million “in transportation improvements for the project,”  according to The Washington Post. Whatever that means. In all, the $2 billion deal includes creating a mixed complex on 12  acres at Potomac Yards next to the Potomac River. The land is to be  sold to a Virginia stadium authority which will issue the bonds  scheduled for repayment in about 40 years from such things as rental,  income taxes on athletes and team officials as well as ticket sales and  o...