March 22, 2007
ROCKY HILL - The state needed someone to bridge reality and vision.
The state needed someone to take over an aging sports facility, to guarantee its bricks and mortar, hardwood court and ice rink, yet someone who also
would use that building as a building block for the future.
The state found him.
The Connecticut Development Authority took a chance on the future Wednesday without taking a big risk on the present.
The CDA folks did the right thing. The CDA folks chose downtown's biggest property owner to run the Civic Center. They picked Lawrence R.
Gottesdiener: Larry The Developer. They got their G Man.
The CDA didn't go anywhere near a new arena during its public session. The CDA didn't go anywhere near the NHL, the NBA or anything else that would
send shivers of excitement, disbelief and cynicism throughout the state. That's an ambitious battle for another day for the state legislature, the governor,
the mayor, etc.
What the CDA did Wednesday was to allow Hartford to reclaim its sporting independence. What the CDA did was to allow Hartford to say, hey, we're not
going to be the 14th bedroom of the New York sports castle anymore. What the CDA did was put the tools in Larry The Developer's hands and say, "Start
building us from where were are to where we could be." The importance of this first step should not be underestimated.
And when the CDA board members unanimously approved Gottesdiener and AEG Worldwide to take over the building lease through its expiration in 2013 -
wow - you could have knocked me over with a thread from one of the garish purple suit jackets the Civic Center ushers wear.
I figured the CDA would stick with Madison Square Garden. I really did.
So did a number of others close to the scene.
Not because the CDA folks aren't smart, but because they are safe, sometimes too safe. I thought they'd only look at the emptying pot of gold - the $4
million in annual Civic Center losses to the CDA - and not at the rainbow, too. I thought they'd use the one bid by Howard Baldwin's group and the two by
Gottesdiener's group, leverage them against a new bid by MSG and get some of their money back.
We were wrong. Happily wrong. The CDA didn't go for the management bids. They essentially went for turning over the corner of Trumbull and Asylum to
Gottesdiener, lock, stock and goal post. The risk is his. Good, let's see what he and AEG can do. The guarantee is he'll reduce losses down to $2 million.
But it's what he can't guarantee that could be priceless.
"The [winning] proposal addressed the financial concerns of every board member, some in particular who were vehement about the financial losses," board
chairman L. Scott Frantz said. "But also, importantly, the proposal incorporated a certain vision for the future that included excitement and a high level of
vested interest in what goes on in Hartford."
Richard Mulready, board vice chairman and the force behind this decision, said Larry G. & AEG brought an intangible the others didn't. From our view, that
intangible is a city's belief in itself that it can do great things. And better yet, there's a half billion tangibles behind that intangible. With $500 million
invested in downtown, Larry G. has the most to win and most to lose. Good. That means he is playing for keeps.
"Today does mark change," said CDA president Marie O'Brien. "We have the potential."
MSG has said a number of times it wouldn't stand in the way of any attempt to bring the NHL to Hartford. MSG has a chance to make good on that
pledge. Gottesdiener, in his exuberance, has shown a tendency to pump his chest in public only to find out it's not as easy as it looks. He found out how
hard it was to pry the Penguins out of Pittsburgh last year. And now folks are reminding him that he said to the CDA board in February he wasn't
interested in having an AHL affiliate from New York or Boston. Now he has to face the reality that the Wolf Pack, the Rangers affiliate, is the best route
for next season.
Since 1997, the Rangers have made good on their promise to win. Jim Schoenfeld is a good man. So is Marty Brooks, who has overseen the building. Now
the Wolf Pack are producing young talent for the NHL. There's no need for a witch hunt to run them out of town. Conversely, MSG is too big to get all
bitter and pull out on the spot. The only long-term answer may be to bring in a new affiliate, but we should see how the new management team and the
old management team get along for a year. If it's impossible, the AHL will make sure somebody else arrives on our doorstep. Believe it. The market's
potentially too good to kick away.
"It would be terrible [if the Wolf Pack left immediately]," Frantz said. "We definitely recognize that as a risk. MSG is also a class act. I'm optimistic. I'm
sure they'd be willing to stay at least for a year or two."
Baldwin, meanwhile, deserves praise in this protracted process. He was a catalyst for much of this change. Gottesdiener would be foolish if he didn't
reach out to Baldwin in the ensuing years for ideas, counsel, partnership, etc. Howard knows people with clout and he knows people with deep pockets.
They may need each other someday. At the very least, Baldwin's passion for a state sports network is something that absolutely should be chased.
Even if there is no NHL team, there must eventually be a new building and Gottesdiener will be the man to develop it. There may be no return of the
Whalers, but the UConn men and women need a place to play and so do Elton John and Christina Aguilera.
In making his presentation before the final vote, Mulready said in his view there was a "less than 50-50" chance of Hartford getting an NHL franchise. He
may be right. But there's nothing wrong with a 40 percent chance. Or a 30 percent chance.
It's better than no chance.
And now, Hartford has one.
