These days, most city officials are so desperate to have their communities associated with professional athletic franchises that they do almost anything--up to and including selling their souls--to acquire a franchise.
They build stadiums that put their communities in hock; they throw cash at teams to entice them to choose their city; they dream up elaborate payment plans to finance their schemes.
Now Los Gatos is in a position to emulate its big-city role models, albeit on a small scale.
The Oakland Raiders are thinking of making Los Gatos their summer home. Five other cities are being considered. Word is that the other cities are "vying" for the Raiders.
Los Gatos is different, though. The question on everybody's lips isn't, "What will it take to get the Raiders here?" The question is: "What are the Raiders willing to do for us?"
That seems like exactly the right question.
The fact is, the town, as an official government body, has little to say about whether the Raiders spend five or six weeks chasing a ball and crashing into each other on the athletic fields at Los Gatos High School during the summer. The school is private property, and the Los Gatos Lodge, where the Raiders would stay, is also a private entity.
The town could, on the other hand, look for ways to "sweeten the deal" to entice the team here. But why should it?
Local officials checked with their counterparts in Oxnard, a city that did sweeten the deal to get the Raiders' summer camp. Los Gatos learned that the increase in revenue the team was expected to generate never materialized.
In fact, said Oxnard officials, the Raiders were so quiet as to be "almost invisible." With no real financial benefit to the town, there's no reason for the town to even consider enticing the team. And Mayor Randy Attaway has clearly indicated that that is his intention.
But reports of the Raiders as "almost invisible" should also dispel fears that the team--despite
its tough-guy image--would turn the town
upside down.
Some local residents have already called both Town Hall and the Los Gatos Weekly-Times expressing "vehement opposition" to the idea of having the Raiders in town.
We think they're overreacting.
The team is interested in the town because it's quiet and secure. The close proximity of the lodge to the high-school fields and to the downtown are a key attraction. Los Gatos' international reputation as a great host city that respects the privacy of its guests was earned when the Brazilian World Cup soccer team called Los Gatos home. The Raiders are well aware of that reputation.
The fact is the Raiders, whose die-hard fans created more than a little bad PR for the team this year, need Los Gatos and its charming image a lot more than the town needs the Raiders.
If the interests of the team and the wishes of LGHS officials to build a locker facility and weight room can converge to provide benefits for both, why shouldn't Los Gatos welcome the Raiders?
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 17, 1996.
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