The chances are "slim" that a deal for a new Patriots
stadium in Boston can be completed before NFL owners vote on
the team's move to Hartford, according to Meg Vaillancourt
of the BOSTON GLOBE. Former DNC Chair Paul Kirk, who is
heading a group of civic leaders trying to keep the team in
MA, said he hopes to present the owners, who are scheduled
to meet May 25, with a "two-step approach that would
initially" keep the Patriots in Foxboro "while specific
plans for a Boston facility were developed." Kirk said if
the group is "successful in keeping the team in this market,
we have time to locate an appropriate Boston site and work
to develop support for it." But some observers doubt that a
"practical" site can be developed in Boston and feel that
"it will be much easier to organize local political and
corporate support for keeping the team" in Foxboro. Boston
Mayor Thomas Menino said yesterday that he is "willing to
entertain various sites" in the city, but did not disclose
any specific locations. Kirk's group, which has already
received support from the NFL, plans to meet with NFL
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue in Boston on Friday, along with
city and state leaders (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/20). In Hartford,
Swift & Garber write that though the Patriots plan to file
their application with the NFL to relocate to Hartford by
Saturday, the league will take a "hard look" at the Boston
civic leaders' efforts to keep the team in MA. NFL
VP/Communications Greg Aiello: "Our clubs will want to know
whether all possible stadium plans in [MA] have been
explored before NFL owners vote on the move to Hartford.
That's why our office is discussing this with the Boston
business leaders." A move to CT could be voted down by
eight teams, and the Patriots believe that as many as six
teams, including the Jets, Giants, Titans, Rams and Ravens,
could vote "no" in May (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/20).
BOSTON'S TWO-MINUTE DRILL: In Boston, Wayne Woodlief
calls Kirk's group the "right team, politically and
culturally," and writes that it has "the most realistic shot
yet to seize the team back from Hartford's grasp and bring
it back to Boston" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/20).
