NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman, the league's "point man for relocation" to L.A., "strongly denied" a rumor in a recent ESPN article in which he would end up with a high-ranking position with the Rams, according to Jim Thomas of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Grubman said, "It couldn't be further from the truth. I was personally insulted by that. I don't like that implication or insinuation. It could not be further from the truth." Grubman added, "St. Louis could have done a few things differently, which may not have been in their control. But I think when the county dropped out, the project that they envisioned at the beginning of the task force process really changed. And the county dropped out because as I understand -- a public vote." Referring to the NFL, Grubman said, "We weren't afraid of a public vote. And in some respects we think that could've validated what the people really thought, could've brought the county back in. So the project changed and they spent months trying to bring it back to that original vision, and they couldn't" (STLTODAY.com, 2/14).
CHOOSE YOUR PATH: In San Diego, Kevin Acee wrote it "is the impression of many of the people involved on both sides" of the Chargers' quest for a new stadium that Fred Maas -- a former city redevelopment official who joined the team in its quest to launch a citizens initiative toward a November ballot measure aimed at getting public assistance -- "is honestly and earnestly trying to figure out the best place to build a stadium and optimum course to get it financed." No matter "where the Chargers try to get a stadium built, there will be resistance." Acee: "But we've got to operate in reality." Mission Valley "provides the easiest path to a 'yes' vote." But since there "is not an 'easy' path, it should be stated that downtown is the dead end on a path to 'no'" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/14).
SHARED HISTORY: In San Diego, Michael Smolens noted Maas in '10 spent $13,000 "in an effort to keep" Carl DeMaio from becoming San Diego Mayor. When the Chargers last week announced that Maas "was their new stadium point man, it rekindled one of the more intense local political feuds of recent times." Maas and others involved in the '12 mayoral campaign "were called out by the city’s Ethics Commission for various transgressions and rule-breaking" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 2/14).
