NFLPA Signs Off On G3; More NFL Facility Notes

The NFLPA last week “signed off on the league’s G3 loan program,” according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Mortensen: “That’s significant because a week from now, the owners can sign off on the Jets and Giants building a new stadium. They should have it by 2009. A major obstacle cleared there” (“Sunday NFL Countdown,” ESPN, 11/26).

XANADU: A “series of major deals” were finalized last Wednesday for the Meadowlands, including a “mutual non-aggression pact” between Xanadu and the Jets and Giants, allowing for the simultaneous construction of Xanadu and a new stadium from ’07-09. The transfer of power from Mills Corp. to Colony Capital Acquisitions was also formalized. While the previous agreements now binding on Colony did not require a minor league ballpark to be built, NJSEA Chair Carl Goldberg and President George Zoffinger “each assured [NJSEA board member Armando] Fontoura that a ballpark would be part of Xanadu.” The Jets were also granted an option to terminate their lease at the Meadowlands every year for a 10-year period after ’08 (BERGEN RECORD, 11/23).

SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE: In San Jose, Julie Patel wrote the House of Blues is “exploring building a 7,000-seat music hall at Great America in Santa Clara alongside a site” the 49ers are considering for a new stadium. 49ers PR Specialist Steve Fine did not comment. But Tony Traub, owner of Garfield Traub Development, the project’s developer, said that the team “probably would not play a financial role in building a concert hall” (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/25).

SWIRLING RUMORS: Since ’92, the success rate for NFL kickers attempting field goals of 50 yards or longer at Giants Stadium is 22.2%, “far below the league average of 54[%] in other stadiums.” Dolphins K Olindo Mare, a former member of the Giants practice squad, indicated that there is “truth to the rumor that workers at the stadium open doors to the tunnel system under the stadium to cause winds above the field to swirl.” Mare said that he was “told ‘by somebody I know up there’ that that was what happened” when he missed a 51-yard attempt in the fourth quarter of last month’s game against the Jets (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/26).