RIORDAN TO WOO NFL FOR L.A. TEAM.Byline: Rick Orlov and Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writers Ratcheting up competition between two groups to bring professional football to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. said Tuesday that he will ask the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga to support the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum For board track racing circuit, see . Present use The Coliseum is now primarily the home of the USC Trojan football team. During the recent stretch of its success in football, most of USC's regular home games, especially the alternating games with rivals UCLA and Notre as a venue. Riordan's announcement further solidifies the sides of a battle to win a National Football League expansion team for the Los Angeles area. Former superagent Michael Ovitz Michael S. Ovitz (b. December 14 1946, Los Angeles, California) is a former talent agent and Hollywood powerhouse who served as the head of the Creative Artists Agency from 1975 to 1995. is proposing a new team and stadium for the city of Carson. When the NFL owners meet in Kansas City on Oct. 27, Riordan and Ovitz will be there to pitch their plans. ``I will tell them that government is 100 percent behind the Coliseum. The state, the city, the county, the Coliseum Commission will work together to make it work,'' Riordan said. ``To me the best venue for the NFL in this city is the Coliseum,'' he added. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Houston also will be vying for a team. ``We are going to hear from the two groups in Los Angeles and the Houston team,'' Aiello said. ``We want the owners to hear firsthand what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. in these two cities as we look to a 32nd team.'' Riordan plans to meet today with developers who formed the New Coliseum Partners to review their proposal and how he can help. The group is headed by developers Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski Jr., who own the Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). hockey team. They also developed the downtown Staples Center sports arena, where the professional basketball Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers teams, and the Kings will begin play next year. They are competing against a proposal by Ovitz and a team of sports celebrities including Jerry West, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal who want to build a stadium and bring a team to the Carson site, near the junction of the San Diego and Harbor freeways. For the meeting, Ovitz is preparing a high-power, dramatic presentation of his proposal for a new facility in Carson. He plans a Spanish-style structure with mission bells mission bells bryophyllumtubiflorum. clanging clang n. 1. A loud, resonant, metallic sound. 2. The strident call of a crane or goose. intr. & tr.v. clanged, clang·ing, clangs To make or cause to make a clang. every time a touchdown is scored. The mayor's announcement comes at a key time for Roski, Anschutz and the New Coliseum Partners project as they also prepare for the NFL owners meeting. Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said a decision by Riordan to back the Coliseum plan could be crucial. ``His support is telling the NFL that the man elected by all the people wants this at the Coliseum and lends a great deal of credibility,'' Ridley-Thomas said. John Semcken of the New Coliseum Partners group said the mayor's endorsement is valuable. ``We think we've answered every question that has been raised to us,'' Semcken said. ``We want to have the mayor come out and tell the owners he wants to bring professional football back to Los Angeles with us.'' NFL owners comparing the viability of the different competing ownership teams are leery of the strength of the Coliseum team headed by Roski, said a source who has spoken to the owners. Because of his background in politics and business, Riordan has a wide network of contacts that he said could help shore up the Coliseum plan. Until now, Riordan has not taken a high-profile role in promoting the Coliseum as a football venue, although he has long supported the effort. Sports management consultant David Carter said Riordan might have to answer questions about why he has been so silent. ``But, even so, with the meetings coming up, his support is important,'' Carter said. ``He can say that (they) wanted to be a little more deliberative de·lib·er·a·tive adj. 1. Assembled or organized for deliberation or debate: a deliberative legislature. 2. Characterized by or for use in deliberation or debate. and, as a businessman, make sure everything is there. And, with local politics being the way it is, he might not have wanted to get involved early on.'' Earlier this year, the NFL awarded an expansion franchise to Cleveland, but that leaves the league with an odd number of teams and with scheduling problems. LOCAL NFL PLAYERS Here is a brief look at the players who will make their pitches to bring a National Football League team back to Los Angeles: COLISEUM PLAN Principals: Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski Jr. Supporters: Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, Ticketmaster President Fred Rosen, U.S. Soccer League President Alan Rothenberg. Plan: Remodel re·mod·el tr.v. re·mod·eled also re·mod·elled, re·mod·el·ing also re·mod·el·ling, re·mod·els also re·mod·els To make over in structure or style; reconstruct. the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum by preserving the historic shell and constructing a state-of-the-art facility within. Advantages: Can be built quickly. Infrastructure in place to deal with traffic and other issues. Mayor Richard Riordan supports them. Disadvantages: Reluctance of NFL owners to return to site with bad memories from the years of the Los Angeles Raiders. CARSON PLAN Principal: Former superagent Mike Ovitz. Supporters: Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Tom Cruise, others in Hollywood. Plan: Construct a new state-of-the art stadium in Carson modeled after a Spanish mission. Advantage: Ovitz brings the Hollywood glitz glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. that NFL owners are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. from Los Angeles. Disadvantage: Uncertainty over the ability to pull together all the pieces of land needed to construct a stadium. SOURCE: Daily News research CAPTION(S): Box BOX: Local NFL Players (see text) |
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