Supporters of a new downtown arena in Houston
"attacked" IHL Aeros Owner Chuck Watson's opposition to the
proposal at a City Hall rally yesterday, according to Eric
Berger of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE, who writes that Houston
Mayor Lee Brown called Watson's stance "sour grapes."
Brown, who said he was "very disappointed" in Watson: "We
have a choice to keep Houston on a roll and vote for the
downtown arena, or let a last-minute dirty trick fool us
into voting for somebody else's sour grapes." Arena
supporters were also "critical" of Harris County Judge
Robert Eckels, "who has not campaigned for the arena deal."
Yesterday, Eckels "edged further away from it" by saying
that while he "supports public funding for baseball,
football and basketball facilities, the county's resources
are not unlimited." Eckels: "I'm just not prepared to
support the agreement. I think it disproportionately places
tax dollars in the pot." Meanwhile, former Houston Mayor
Bob Lanier said that he was "concerned" about the deal
passing because "ads conducted by arena opponents have
definitely given them some traction" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE,
10/21). On KRIV-Houston, NBA Commissioner David Stern said
if the arena vote is defeated, "The Rockets will certainly,
I'm sure, finish out their lease at the Compaq Center
[through 2003] but I'm not going to make any prediction or
promises beyond that" (AP/ESPN.com, 10/21).
DOME ALONE: In Houston, John Lopez examines Watson's
proposal for an arena inside the Astrodome and writes that
"it is impossible to look at this Dome plan as anything but
what it is: a last-ditch effort to disable Alexander's arena
plan. ... We shouldn't buy it" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/21).
