MN lawmakers "expressed dismay" yesterday that former
Gov. Arne Carlson and top aides "admit in a book that they
concocted a phony threat to move" the Twins to NC to "force"
a legislative vote on a publicly funded ballpark. The
disclosure was revealed in "Stadium Games," a new book by
Minneapolis Star Tribune sports business reporter Jay Weiner
(See THE DAILY, 3/29). MN Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe
said such revelations could make new ballpark talks even
more difficult: "To read that it was blatantly contrived is
certainly going to make this an even more difficult issue to
deal with in the future" (AP, 3/29). In Charlotte, Triple A
Knights Owner Don Beaver, who was part of an ownership group
trying to bring the Twins to NC, said that he "was not in on
the deception." Beaver: "All we were doing was trying to
get a big-league team" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/30).
NOTES: NC State Univ. is auctioning off 159 acres next
to the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena, which could
lead to the development of hotels, offices and restaurants
on the wooded land. The university is "seeking a minimum
bid of" $14.5M for the land (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 3/30).