Erik Spanberg has the latest on the Charlotte Knights saga, and by saga we really mean gloomy, tragic tale of epic proportions. The decade-long story arc has been treading water over the fact that Knights owner Don Beaver cannot finance a $60m. Uptown stadium, even if eight acres of choice land is gifted to him by the city and county. Lately that reality has spurred talk of public-financing for the stadium’s construction as well, a bit of ominous foreshadowing if you will.
Today’s fresh plot point involves the inhabitants of York County, a prideful and growing people, getting antsy about Beaver’s beat-down stadium occupying otherwise prime real estate off of their Gold Hill Road and I-77 interchange. The Cliff’s Notes version of discussions between the team and the county: Fix this place up, commit to staying here for at least three, possibly five, more years, or we’ll kick your butts out.
You’ll notice the common thread is Beaver’s cash, or lack thereof. Positively Dickensian. Unless he wins the Powerball, a clumsy plot device if there ever was one, it is hard to see how he escapes some dark fate. For certain the preferred storyline involves one of the banks stepping in with a credit line sufficient to placate the York heathens, hence buying our heroes more time to work their magics.
But haven’t we read that story several times too often already?
