Possibilities for A's stadium remain endless

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Matier and Ross, those two notorious troublemakers, reported today that the chimerical Blue Ribbon Committee alit from their home in Atlantis and met Wednesday with Oakland officials and stadium boosters to discuss a waterfront ballpark plan.

And the word waterfront means one that isnt in San Jose.

But the day before, the committee of cherubim and seraphim met with San Jose officials to see how their plans for the As were progressing.

In short, the committee, whose work product to date could have been equaled by a small clowder of kittens, has finally decided to show some public interest in the only thing it has been asked to do.

Now the question becomes whether their findings in these two meetings have anything to do with anything. After all, Bud Selig has said more than once that the problem of San Jose is one to be settled between the Giants and As ownership groups, because baseball just didnt have the time (read: interest) in getting involved itself.

It has been our position for some time now that the committee does not actually exist, and without actually knowing the sources of Matier and Ross story we cannot say with complete surety that it actually does. We know they are usually quite reliable when they type, but we also consider the possibility that the committee just met for the first time after 40 months of . . . well, not.

Either way, this is what should have happened three years ago. And all that actually has happened is that they asked a few questions of interested parties, which is a lot less than an actual COMMITTEE REPORT WITH WORDS AND PUNCTUATION AND CONCLUSIONS AND SOLUTIONS AND STUFF LIKE THAT!

Maybe Selig has finally given up getting the As and Giants to do anything but hate each other in silence. Maybe someone finally jabbed him one too many times about the collective of work-product zombies that is the committee.

Maybe theyve just been too busy. For 1,200 days.

But this is the first sign that there is interest in an outside solution to the stasis that is the Athletics.

And San Jose? Well, its still trying to figure out if the state is going to take a bunch of redevelopment money that it earmarked for the As stadium, and according to M&R might have to sell off the stadium property if wrongdoing can be proven.

The San Jose folks, like everyone else involved, say everything is going their way, and that everything is progressing apace. Then again, since nothing has happened, they can all say they are right.

And lets be honesteven if the committee was finally shaken from its years of required torpor to actually talk to people, it doesnt mean it is any closer to producing the report it was allegedly charged to write, or that baseball would do anything more than it has done to date, which is also nothing.

And the possibilities remain seemingly endless. The As move to San Jose and tell baseball to stop them. The As get permission to move to San Jose, and the Giants pitch a nutty. They As dont get permission, and John Fisher sells. The As dont get permission and John Fisher keeps cashing revenue sharing checks. The As build in Oakland. The As stay in the Coliseum and complain about it until we are all long and safely dead.

In the meantime, the new is the old, and the old is the new. Fact-finding after 40 monthspeople get masters degrees in less time, and they have to produce lots of work that people can see.

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