LaTroy Hawkins: the ump wanted the Cubs to win - MLB

Major League Baseball is contemplating discipline against LaTroy Hawkins for accusing a home plate umpire of wanting the Cubs to beat the Astros the other night:

It all began when Everitt ejected Hawkins in the eighth inning after
he disputed a called ball to Aramis Ramirez and continued to complain
after Everitt ordered him to “knock it off.” After the game, which the
Cubs won 5-1 on Alfonso Soriano’s walk-off grand slam in the 13th
inning, Hawkins sounded off.

“Maybe he was having a bad day,” Hawkins said. “I thought he had determined who he wanted to win the game anyway.”

. . . Asked by Houston reporters whether he regretted the remark, Hawkins replied: “Why would I?”

The best part of it is that Hawkins’ defense to accusing an umpire of
intentionally tipping the outcome of a game — which is about as
serious a charge as one can level — is “It’s America, dude.”

I think we have the front runner for CTB’s official motto.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate adjourned Thursday without voting on a financing bill for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip stadium for the Oakland Athletics, extending the special legislative session into the next week amid negotiations over whether to contribute $380 million in public funding to the project.

The measure can still be amended by lawmakers, and if it passes the Senate it would still need approval from the Assembly before going to the desk of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has expressed support for it. Both the state Senate and Assembly are adjourned until Monday.

In a hearing that began Wednesday and stretched into the early morning hours Thursday, lawmakers peppered tourism officials and a representative from a firm partnering with the ball club with questions about the feasibility and benefits of financing such a deal.

Public funds for the stadium would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes.

The A’s would not owe property taxes for the publicly owned stadium. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.

A’s representatives and some tourism officials say a deal would further grow Las Vegas’ developing sports scene and act as an economic engine, but a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers warn that the project would bring minimal benefits for the hefty public price tag.