No NFL Franchise or Football Stadium in Irvine

By Jack W Wu

While any idea is better than an international airport, bringing an NFL franchise to Irvine wouldn't be the best option either.

The City of Irvine has taken steps under the Millenium Plan to make Irvine the NFL's third choice for an NFL franchise in the greater Los Angeles area. This would be a component of the Entertainment complex part of the El Toro non-aviation use plan, which has been proposed to the Orange County Supervisors. Is an NFL stadium better than an international airport? Yes. Can there still be a better choice? Yes. Now keep in mind that if the international airport wins and is implemented it doesn't matter what is built next to it, football stadium, missile silos, or Vegas-esque casinos, because the area will go into the gutter no matter what. But on the slight chance that a non-aviation plan wins out, an NFL team and stadium cannot be placed in its stead.

A program called "Destination Irvine," developed by the Chanber of Commerce, wants to increase weekend visitors to the city. By bringing an NFL team here, Irvine will get its weekend visitors, sort of like a twig sitting in the sand while a 20-foot wave plows through the twig and the lifeguard towers, and the multi-million dollar homes 100 yards up the beach. If Irvine has the only NFL franchise in the greater Los Angeles area, the freeways will see the greatest influx of southbound Sunday traffic squeezing in and out of the El Toro Y ever seen. The football hooligans, who so lovingly mix with the Los Angeles police, would come into town and test Irvine's finest, in addition to mixing with Orange County's affluent season-ticket holders. Water and oil. Is this an elitist point of view? No, it's a point of view from behind the Orange Curtain. I live in Irvine. I like the peace and quiet on the weekends. I like being able to drive south to San Diego without having to keep track of when the Raiders are coming to town to play our Irvine team. Imagine if the Dodgers weren't in Los Angeles anymore, and the Angels were the only Los Angeles area baseball team. And you thought the traffic on the 57 freeway was bad on game days! When I want the excitement and traffic, I'll drive into Los Angeles. When I want the peace and quiet of home, I'll stay in Irvine.

So what would be a good alternative? An NFL team will bring lots of money into the area, and the city agencies will be happy. But the airport will also bring lots of money here, and the city agencies would be happy. Our city leaders are too consumed with money, and aren't focusing on the future. Our children. Education. Why is it that Orange County prison guards were just given huge raises, when school teachers are fighting for 3-4% raises? People in jail are more important than our students? Let's focus on an educational project, and what comes to my mind is a museum. Not the art museums that children confusingly look at, but something grand, something exciting. A natural history museum, or a science museum like the one in Exposition Park, or even a technology museum. With Irvine being a technological mecca, having a hands-on museum would seem logical. Something which would bring the excitement that the new Getty Museum has brought to Los Angeles.

The Millenium Plan already has a museum planned, but that museum could be bigger, grander, more exciting. When the Long Beach Aquarium opened in June, the wait to get in was almost two hours. Two hours! That is exciting. A glance into the parking lot revealed a sea of yellow school buses. A look at the line showed hundreds of school children, holding hands, itching to see the little sea creatures. As charter members, my wife and I are still waiting to see the animals without having to push through the crowds to get to the glass. Two hours! There is a lot of learning going on there. Irvine can bring that here. By building a great, grand museum here, the children, and adults, can be stimulated to learn.

Will there be the aforementioned impact on traffic? Probably. But who would you rather have visiting your town, learning children and parents, or drunk football fans upset because their team lost? No NFL team in Irvine!