CT has "begun laying the groundwork for a possible
multimillion-dollar court battle against the Patriots" by
"refusing to pay the team's initial $166,781 in Hartford
stadium legal fees" and by "holding" a $2M bond posted by
the team, according to Mike Swift of the HARTFORD COURANT.
CT AG Richard Blumenthal said that "in question" is whether
the team "violated its contract with the state," either by
"failing to open an office in Hartford," or through "bad
faith dealings or collusion" between the NFL and the team.
A MA stadium bill passed last week refers to a memo dated
April 28 "detailing infrastructure improvements necessary
for a new Foxboro Stadium, a document produced by Rizzo
Associates," which was "working for the Patriots" on the CT
stadium effort "at the same time." Under terms of the
team's CT deal, the Patriots were "barred from speaking to
any person" concerning a MA stadium, and Patriots Owner
Robert Kraft did not terminate his deal until April 30, two
days after the memo in question. The Patriots said that
Rizzo was "not working for them" in producing the April 28
Foxboro report (HARTFORD COURANT, 5/22).
DAVE GETS IN A LAUGH: Friday's "Late Show" with David
Letterman had an audience entirely from Boston in the studio
for the show, to which he commented, "You folks are lucky
because at the last minute Patriots Owner Bob Kraft tried to
bring in an audience from Hartford" (CBS, 5/21).
