Ron Cook: Lemieux is not Blowing Smoke

Penguins' exit strategy not just saber rattling

Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

You knew it was coming, this little game of Mario Lemieux hardball.

You just knew it would happen eventually, a frustrated, regretful Lemieux going public and playing the last card in his hand, threatening to move the Penguins if he doesn't get the new arena he is convinced he has coming.

Sadly, it happened over the weekend.

Under ordinary circumstances, you would shrug and dismiss it as routine posturing, a necessary part of all high-stakes negotiations. Lemieux isn't the first sports owner to turn up the heat on local politicians to get what he wants. He surely won't be the last.

But these are not ordinary circumstances.

One reason is the timing. Lemieux can start shopping the Penguins in June, a year before their lease is up at Mellon Arena. Don't blink. June will be here quickly.

Another reason is the hard feelings against millionaire sports owners. If it were up to public opinion, Heinz Field and PNC Park never would have been built. That didn't stop the local officials from getting the deals done. One, they knew it was the right thing to do. And two, despite the public sentiment, they feared a significant backlash if they allowed the Pirates to leave.

The problem now is that hockey isn't nearly as entrenched in our sports culture. Most kids play baseball in the back yard. Not nearly as many play hockey. Most of their parents don't understand the importance of cycling or a good penalty kill, but they surely know what it means when Jason Bay hits a home run on a beautiful summer night at the ballpark.

That's why there isn't the same sense of urgency to save the Penguins.

The local officials don't want to lose the team, but they give the impression that they'll get over it if happens.

That's unfortunate. It's a tragedy when this city loses any business and the jobs that go with it. It would be especially bad to lose a high-profile business such as the Penguins, who bring a lot of positive attention to the region and provide a much-needed entertainment diversion through the long, cold winter months.

But forget about Lemieux and his team for a moment. Hockey club or no hockey club, the city needs a new civic center and will get one sooner rather than later. Mellon Arena, which opened in 1961, is aging badly as all public facilities usually do. Why not get the deal done now when there still is time to save the Penguins? I like to think Lemieux would keep the team at the Mellon Arena for a few years beyond the 2007 lease expiration if he knew for sure a new building was coming.

In the meantime, Lemieux's frustration is understandable. He believes that he was promised a new arena when he took the Penguins out of bankruptcy. Beyond that, he believes that the NHL made itself a viable sports league by shutting down for a year and getting its financial house in order.

Hockey is no longer like baseball. The Penguins aren't doomed to long-term failure the way the Pirates are under their current ownership. You wouldn't know it by the NHL standings this morning -- the Penguins, including Lemieux as a player now, are underachieving or over-the-hill -- but there's reason to think that will change soon. The nucleus of a winning team for years to come is in place with Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury and will be solidified when Evgeni Malkin gets here.

You, too, would feel betrayed if you were Lemieux.

And you won't be able to blame him if he makes a smart business decision and sells the team to an out-of-town buyer rather than continue to play in an old building.

We can hope it won't come to that.

I've always defended the government officials' handling of the Penguins' situation -- until now. I believe that they were sincere when they told Lemieux in 1999 he would get his new arena. I also believe that the building would be open by now if not for the tragedy that changed the world -- 9/11. Just about every city has suffered economically because of it. Just about every city would have trouble finding millions to build a new arena.

But, at least in our case, the solution is right there in front of us. It's the slots revenue. I'm not advocating that Lemieux be given the precious slots license so he can build the arena and then bankroll millions for the rest of his life. I'm against that, actually. Call me old-fashioned, but I hate to see a sports interest climbing into bed with a gambling interest of any kind.

But that doesn't mean the slots license shouldn't be tied to a new arena. That wouldn't just save the Penguins. It would give us a facility we badly need. It also would give us a reason to feel good about ourselves. Heaven knows we haven't had many of those lately.

That's why it's encouraging that Mayor-elect Bob O'Connor and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato are behind the idea of using slots revenue for an arena. I still believe, in the end, that they'll find a way to get a deal done. It's just too bad that the Pittsburgh Gaming Task Force isn't ready to recommend the arena-for-slots plan to the Harrisburg regulators. All of us -- not just the Penguins -- could lose as a result.

There's one other troubling aspect of all of this.

Is it just me or does it seem as if the endless political haggling is going to prevent any slots revenue for any purpose? In our lifetime, I mean?

"I think we're really running out of time," Lemieux said.

That's not posturing. That's a fact.

(Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)