What makes Jack Kent Cooke's continuing effort to build a stadium in Laurel for the Washington Redskins an attractive proposition -- at least one that separates itself from most of the others -- is he wants to do it with his own money. Now that's different.
How can Maryland, or any jurisdiction within the state, decree that football can't be accommodated on the same site when there has been a racetrack since 1911? Try to explain that. Such ambiguity is beyond the comprehension of any reasonably fair thinker.
Shouldn't the same rules apply to a football stadia as to a racetrack? Is a crowd for a Sunday afternoon racing card a higher or lower type crowd, depending on perception, from the standpoint of citizenship and character, than the fans attending a Sunday afternoon pro football game? If so, in what way?
If the incoming governor, Parris Glendening, blocks the Redskins from coming into Maryland, he's notifying the entire world that Maryland isn't interested in attracting new business.
That's a guaranteed way to commit political suicide even before taking the oath of office or making his first official decision as the leader of this grand old state.
It would spell out a negative message on the scoreboard of economic development. Does the governor want to send the team back to the District of Columbia or to Virginia, which would turn cartwheels if it offered a home to the Redskins?
At the same time, Glendening would be denying Maryland contractors an opportunity to do the work in building the place, plus the ongoing tax revenue that's created for the state and Anne Arundel County.
Some employees will be gainfully employed at the stadium, even if it's only on a part-time basis. The numbers are comparatively modest, which is the same situation that exists at Camden Yards, the place Gov. William Donald Schaefer named for a Britisher, the Earl of Camden, where the Orioles coin money.
Cooke is willing to do something the late Edward Bennett Williams wouldn't do -- pay for a stadium. If the present Orioles' owner, Peter Angelos, is in a philanthropic mood, then he could pay the state back for the money it allocated in building Camden Yards and take over ownership as a personal enterprise.
That would, indeed, put a different perspective on the relationship between the landlord (the state of Maryland) and the tenant (the Baltimore Orioles). The state would cease being a cheerful giver and, for a change, be on the receiving end ofmonies its facility helped create.
The newly elected chief executive of Anne Arundel County, one John Gary, wants to do what's in the best interests of his constituents. If he turns away Cooke and the Redskins, then he's saying he doesn't want income for his county. Would he reject a major business or industry that desired to open an office or put up a warehouse in say Glen Burnie, Odenton or Millersville?
As for traffic congestion, cars and trucks, carrying spectators, go to Laurel Park on Sundays. Admittedly, the racing crowds don't approach, in size, the turnout for football but if track operator Joe De Francis wanted to stage some unusual promotion that caught the fancy of the public, he might draw upward of 50,000.
Some of the Redskins' stadium opponents can talk all they want about the nuisance factor. But the courts decided in Baltimore (1950) against a similar protest by the Memorial Stadium neighbors on the basis they moved there after the facility was built.
Wouldn't the same rationale apply in Laurel? After all, the racetrack has been there for public amusement since 1911. As for the traffic flow, Sunday is the least-traveled day of the week so the highway system wouldn't be as congested as it is during any weekday when the commuting crowd is coming and going.
What you're talking about is eight to 10 games a season. Is there a contrast between football and racing? Horses draw flies and create an aroma that isn't always pleasant. The Redskins have been known to have a stench, too, especially of late, but it's difficult to see how Maryland could reject their economic input.
As for Baltimore getting back in the NFL, the Redskins could oppose it but depriving free enterprise would be a violation of the Sherman antitrust laws.
There's nothing but apathy for the Redskins here. They might as well be in Painted Post, Neb., or Big Mamu, La., because Baltimore doesn't care for the Redskins or Cooke. He could put the Redskins in downtown Baltimore, open the gates for free admission and have acres of sections of empty seats.
To Cooke's individual credit, he wants to pay his way, with only minimal help from the state of Maryland and Anne Arundel County. Owners of franchises, the sports that they are, generally want you to fund payment of their playpens.
The abused, put-upon taxpayer then genuflects and obediently picks up the tab for the entrepreneurs to have their teams accommodated in luxurious stadiums, parks and arenas. But the fan is treated as a third-class citizen, hit with high-priced tickets and concession stand food barely fit to eat.
It usually gets to the point where the owner of the team believes the facility belongs to him. The most attractive part of a Cooke presence in Laurel is he's willing to spend his own money instead of asking you to foot the bill for his pleasure.