RELATED STORIES

• Taxpayers would back arena funding
• Downtown arena plan takes shape

More News Columnists

• Bill Slakey: As Trib closes, many questions remain unasked
• Phill Casaus: Don't cry for us, Albuquerque; it was worth it
• Joline Gutierrez Krueger: My Wall of Fame holds memories of people, stories that have mattered

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

I'm just not sure about the WNBA in Albuquerque. I need to think on this for a bit. Same for arena football, another matter altogether I suppose, but for today, the issue is basketball and this supposed insatiable lust for the orange round ball in this city.

I don't know about the assumption that we'll throw a switch to the WNBA "just because." Why? Because it's a new arena? Because it'll be Downtown?

I'm not opposed to the arena Downtown for starters. I was a loud and obnoxious proponent of Isotopes Stadium going Downtown, and to this day I'm not sure which part of that fight galls me more: the colossal ineptitude of the administration at the time or how the business community rolled over in an eye blink.

My druthers would be to have a ball yard Downtown versus an arena, but that ain't happening, so we're back on the idea of an arena.

Fair enough, except I ask yet again, what am I missing on this 10,000-seat idea? Was it not generally agreed on the last lap that 10,000 was too low a number for any significant events, particularly concerts and the like?

What events exactly are we talking about besides the WNBA and potentially arena football that makes this hum?

Yes, there is potential. No doubt. The Bob Dylan concert a few months back at Tingley Coliseum comes to mind. It was not the way I wanted to see His Highness for the first time.

One hundred-fifty dollars for two floor tickets that the "ushers" could barely find, a constant stream of lost, wandering souls in the aisles with no idea where their seats were or looking to upgrade on the sly, the bad acoustics, the long beer lines, the longer bathroom lines. A dreadful night.

Is 10,000 the right number for Bob Dylan? I don't know what he did in that cow barn, but if 13,000 want to go and 3,000 can't make it in, well, welcome to the big city.

Thinking through the annual big event calendar, some events have outgrown their current locations, notably events that happen at the Convention Center. The annual National Fiery Foods and Barbecue Show comes to mind, an event now at Sandia Resort and Casino. Good move. I avoided the event the past few years at the Convention Center because it was much too uncomfortably clogged in all the wrong ways.

You don't need stadium seating, however, for a show like that. Just floor space. Maybe the modern era of arenas has solved that, but you get the point. There just aren't that many annual events that need the kind of seating that other locations haven't already covered.

The annual Gathering of Nations Pow Wow? That's covered. After that, we're down to graduations and big bar mitzvahs.

And back to arena football. Didn't Rio Rancho announce in January a deal for the AF2, the developmental league of the Arena Football League for its 6,500-seat deal? Is professional indoor arena football that much better than developmental league stuff?

Seriously.

I've watched my share of arena football on the telly, and it always reminds me of the Jerry Seinfeld joke about how sports watching has boiled down to rooting for uniforms, not people. Who are these guys?

The same can't be said for the WNBA, the idea of which I was into for the first couple of seasons. But that quickly waned. There's a bit of star power for sure. Lisa Leslie has the stuff without a doubt, and I have to admit, I never thought the league would be around a decade later.

But the admission here is basketball from any gender bores me to tears these days. I'm just done with it. The playoffs can be exciting, but as far as following any basketball team - professional, Lobo, male, female or anything else - my dial is tuned elsewhere.

The arena is coming. The mayor says he has the mojo on this one, but what's inside remains to be seen. The WNBA isn't the ticket.