You can’t please all of the people all of the time, and you can’t please some of the people any time, or so the old cliché goes – and so, when it comes to the Capitals and Wizards’ planned move to Virginia, if you’re one of those complaining about the new arena being further or harder to get to or whatever…well, at least on Junkie has no sympathy for you.
“People are fired up on all sides about this deal,” Eric Bickel said during Thursday’s two-man Sports Junkies, “and I think that people, just my general perception, people in Maryland that are upset now because it's four miles further or whatever – what do you care? Traffic is a nightmare everywhere, and Virginia people have been having to deal with driving here. I consider it all part of the deal, so while Maryland people might be pissed, some Virginia people seem like they're thrilled. Some for whom it's closer to them are upset the traffic's gonna be worse, some are just happy that it's gonna be closer.”
Of course, any time a major thing many people in a region flock to moves, there wll be folks closer to both locations that are inconvenienced, via either a longer commute or a more congested home base. That’s true of anything from a sports and entertainment complex on down to a new restaurant opening, but what’s also true is that life doesn’t exist in a vacuum of constant.
“Some people who live in Del Rey hate it, and there was a protest yesterday on the news – but it’s five years down the road,” Bish said. “You don't know what your life's gonna be like in five years. I can't even think five weeks from now. People are moving all the time.”
That’s part of why EB is “stunned” about some of the backlash, and understands why people think there should be more sympathy for the city of DC itself – but for every one
“Of course I feel terrible for the city, but I don't expect a businessman to take literally billions less to take one for the team and save the city,” EB said. “Abe Pollin did, but that was a different era as a business owner, and I don’t expect everybody to do that.”
“As a business owner, as a businessman, it's a better deal for Ted Leones just to move,” Bish replied. “It was a great move to move to Chinatown when Abe did, but this is now a better move for Ted.”
And that’s exactly why EB is flummoxed that emotion aside, some are furious and/or don’t understand why Ted Leonsis wants to do the same thing Abe Pollin did in building a legacy somewhere.
“It appears from watching this presser he’s got a dream to build his own Chinatown, like what it turned into that was Abe's legacy,” Eric said. “I think we are all appreciative of it and it's sad to see that that may kind of fall apart, so I feel sympathetic to that, but Ted now wants to do his version, and you can't blame a guy for that. He wants to put his imprint on Alexandria and have his legacy, and you know what? He has the right to do that.”
“Some people, they don't get over it, and they'll never see it from that standpoint,” Bish replied.
But to EB, and even Valdez, some of these arguments are just for the sake of arguing.
“It’s out of my control, and I wouldn’t not go because it’s four more miles away, or there’s traffic going there – I live nine miles away now and traffic is horrible going to Cap One!” EB said.
“If it's a new arena and entertainment complex and it's the belle of the ball, everyone in both leagues is talking about it and it's a marvel, aren't you gonna be excited to go and be part of that and be proud that it's in your metro area?” Valdez asked.
“The people that are saying they're giving up their season tickets...some of them probably are, and it’s mostly because they're losing right now and you're just not motivated and costs are going up,” EB shot back, “but as soon as they start winning you're gonna be right back there over there.”
Take a listen to the entire conversation above!
