By Nick Canepa
San Diego Union-Tribune
01.27.04

HOUSTON - Imagine that. Super Bowl XXXVIII - about to be held in this city of Enron, the birthplace of humidity - could have been in Los Angeles.

But L.A. blew its chance and probably will again. Besides, the NFL doesn't really need a team in L.A., which didn't know what to do with the ones it had.

But there are suits at 280 Park Avenue who act as if The League will collapse like a banana republic if it doesn't put a team in L.A.

"I don't buy that," Houston Texans owner Bob McNair says. "I don't think it's mandatory to have a team in Los Angeles. We have three teams in California. The people in Los Angeles can watch any game they want. It is not the end of the world for the NFL."

Of course, the Chargers want a new stadium - which the NFL demanded of McNair if he were going to get an expansion franchise here - and there is the ongoing threat of a possible Chargers move to L.A., pending litigation, of course.

"I would hate to see San Diego lose the Chargers," McNair adds. He is an expert on the subject, having defeated L.A. in the fight to get an expansion franchise. How? He had it together, including a stadium completed in 2002. L.A. was a mess.

"In Los Angeles, No. 1, there's not an abundance of land to build a facility," he says. "No. 2, it's going to be very expensive. There will have to be a great commitment.

"Its (L.A.'s) is a more complex issue."

Some cities can get people together and do something. Houston, which stagnated for a time and eventually lost the Oilers to Tennessee, has.

"Initially, it was a shock," McNair says of the Oilers' departure. "Most people thought it wasn't going to happen. It was a wake-up call. This was a dynamic city not acting in a dynamic way."

Living in San Diego, you might think it easier to build pyramids than stadia, as in more than one. But in Houston they built a football stadium, baseball park and arena inside of four years.

And, get this: They were voted in!

Figure that one, San Diego. How could it happen?

Communication and cooperation.

"None of this would have happened without political leadership of the state, city and county," says Oliver Luck, CEO of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.

What they did, according to Luck, wasn't luck, but people coming together "and creating political will."

Not much political will in San Diego, at the moment. But, for the record, here's what Houstonians did.

In 1996, voters passed a referendum approving a new ballpark for the Astros. Construction cost: $286 million. Public contribution: $220 million.

Also passed in 1996, a referendum approving a new NFL/rodeo stadium. Cost: $500 million. Public contribution: $275 million.

In 2000, the voters OK'd a referendum approving a new basketball facility for the Rockets. Cost: $252 million. Public contribution: $202 million.

"Houston is a good place (for cities in need of new stadiums) to look for expertise," Rockets CEO George Postolos says. "They drove a hard bargain, but we ended up with a great facility."

In fact, the new arena initially was voted down.

"But when the ballpark opened, it was one of the greatest days in Houston history," Postolos said. "That really helped us. We went back to the voters and garnered 65 percent of the vote."

What they did to get it done was vote in a 2 percent increase to the hotel tax and 5 percent to the rental-car tax, affecting visitors to a city far more than the taxpayers.

"There were a lot of naysayers," Astros owner Drayton McLane says.

Sound familiar? But, remember, this was a city and county effort, which is something that should be explored in San Diego.

"Teamwork is what brought this together," McLane says. "There was a lot of controversy in '96-97. We had a referendum. We won by a landslide - with 50.7 percent of the vote."

Thirty percent of the contracts put out for the building of Reliant Stadium, Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center were given to local minority groups.

They did it right.

"It brought great vitality (back) to downtown Houston," McLane adds.

People who don't know the real San Diego believe it isn't a football town. I beg to differ. I think it's a great football town. I have felt the passion. As bad as the Chargers have been recently, even with the threats, they still sell tickets.

San Diego's TV ratings for the AFC (28.7) and NFC (28.5) championship games tell you all you need to know. In L.A. they were 18.2 and 18.1. The average overnight "Monday Night Football" ratings in the 55 major markets surveyed by Nielsen last season was 12.6. L.A.'s was 13.0, San Diego's 16.7, which ranked fifth.

Now the Super Bowl has come to Houston for the first time since 1974. And there even is talk now of Houston getting into the Super Bowl rotation, something San Diego positively is out of at the moment because of the condition of Qualcomm Stadium's innards.

Here, stadiums won't be allowed to deteriorate. Millions have been reserved to keep them in shape.

As Postolos says: "At least we can make sure ours are taken care of."

It can be done.

Airplanes fly from San Diego to Houston. The frightened involved in the San Diego negotiations should take a trip and see how people in a town that doesn't call itself America's Finest City can get along and actually become big time.

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