In Philadelphia, Larry Eichel, on Mayor John Street's
efforts to secure new facilities for the Eagles and
Phillies: "This doesn't feel much like progress. It's hard
to know whether the mayor's behavior, in pushing ahead
against what seem like long odds, constitutes visionary
leadership or prideful stubbornness. For now, he seems to
be running in place" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/28). But a
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER editorial counters that Street
"deserves credit," as he didn't "throw up his hands in
frustration and let go of his appealing vision for a
downtown ballpark. ... And he somehow succeeded in luring
[Phillies President] David Montgomery and Eagles [Exec VP]
Joseph Banner to stand [beside] him and pledge to do
everything possible to making the difficult finances of this
deal work" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/28)....In S.F., Dwight
Chapin reported that a five-year agreement has been reached
to bring the East-West Shrine football game to Pac Bell
Park, beginning in January. The deal gives the Giants a
"financial boost in paying off the costs of building" the
ballpark (S.F. EXAMINER, 6/27). In S.F., Glenn Dickey
reports that the Giants "get another non-baseball event to
help their bottom line." Giants VP Pat Gallagher: "We'll
have about 100 events in between seasons this year" (S.F.
CHRONICLE, 6/28)....In Pittsburgh, Tom Barnes writes that
despite a complaint from City Planning Commission member
Clifford Levine, the commission yesterday approved the
Steelers' plans to make about 55,000 of the 65,000 seats in
their new stadium "bright yellow -- or in the team's
parlance, 'Steelers gold.'" In objecting to the team's
color plan, Levine refereed to the Vikings, "You don't
necessarily paint your whole house purple just because
you're a Minnesota fan" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/28).
