Football and Fairgrounds

Geez, I go out of town for a couple days and the wheels come off back here!

'TIDE WHIPS LONGHORNS
First, Alabama whipped the Longhorns despite my prediction. I could whine about Colt McCoy getting hurt in the second series and all that stuff. The fact is, Alabama won and looked pretty darn good doing it, too. I don't think they, nor the Longhorns, were the best teams I saw during the bowl season, but they were good. Man, would I love to see Alabama take on Boise State tomorrow!

CARROLL FLIES TO SEAHAWKS
Then, Pete Carroll abandons USC for the NFL Seattle Seahawks! First the Washington Huskies snag Steve Sarkasian to run it's program this year, now Carroll will be a skipping-rock-throw-away, coaching the lowly Seahawks. Let's hope the third time's the charm for Pete. So, the Trojans and the Irish will meet next year with new coaches... should be fun.

FOLEY BACK IN SACRAMENTO
Katrina Foley is back in Sacramento again, lobbying to get Jose Solorio's AB1590 passed. I fear that, even though thousands of use Orange Countians want the fairgrounds to remain as it is, the governor has shown us how he feels. Even if Solorio's bill is passed by the Assembly and Senate, I wouldn't be surprised if Arnold vetoes it! It's looking more and more like we've got a sale on our hands.


FAIRGROUNDS BIDS DUE NOW
Today, just about the time I hit the "publish" button on this entry, all the bids will have been submitted. Unless the furlough program causes another delay, the auction will move forward on Thursday, January 14th at 10 a.m. at the Orange County Fair and Events Center. At this point we know we have at least two bids - the one submitted by the City/County joint powers authority and the one by the local developer.

NO ACCEPTABLE BIDS?
It is possible that the members of the General Services Department will find no bid acceptable and cancel the auction. With all the encumbrances that are attached to that property in the form of a General Plan amendment - which will move on down the pipeline at tonight's Planning Commission meeting - and the probability of that amendment being locked into place by a ballot measure in June - it will be very interesting to see how much any developer will be willing to bid on that property.

SEE YOU THURSDAY...
I suspect there will be a pretty good crowd at the Fairgrounds on Thursday. I may toddle on over there myself, just to see the festivities. I'm itching to know just how much the City/County group is committed to bid for the property - and how they propose to pay for it. Stay tuned...