密歇根新闻广播 "公羊"搬回洛杉矶 但你将为搬家买单

This week, NFL commissioner¹ Roger Goodell announced that the Rams² would be allowed to move from St. Louis back to Los Angeles. I realize you might not care, but you should, because we're the ones paying for it—again.

Two weeks ago, three NFL teams—the San Diego Chargers, the Oakland Raiders and the St. Louis Rams —all bid to move their teams to Los Angeles. The nation's second-biggest city hasn't had a team since the Rams left for St. Louis in 1995, while Green Bay has supported its team since 1919. That should tell you how much Los Angeles really needs an NFL team. Not at all.

After Goodell set up a shameless contest designed to make Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis dance like rummies for quarters to keep their teams, he announced the St. Louis Rams were the lucky winners of the L.A. sweepstakes.

Now, when multimillionaires threaten to move their toys across the country, who cares? And, honestly, I don't. After all, the Oakland Raiders have already moved to L.A. and back. The Cardinals³ moved from Chicago to St. Louis to Arizona. The Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore, so now Cleveland has a bunch of guys who dress up like football players and call themselves the Browns. (The only major league American city that has never lost a team is, yes, Detroit. The Lions might be the only NFL team to miss the Super Bowl every single year, but the Fords have never threatened to move the team.)

None of this makes sense unless you're a shameless, greedy owner trying to make a buck—or trying to get a bunch of broke cities to give you one.

So why does it matter? Because we're subsidizing their game, by the billions—a game they've rigged so only they can win. According to Judith Grant Long, a professor at the University of Michigan, the United States is home to more than 120 major league baseball, football, basketball, and hockey rinks, arenas⁴, parks, and stadiums. The teams that play there have received taxpayer⁵ subsidies⁶ totaling $21.3 billion. That's billion, with a b—and only two of those stadiums have made a profit for those taxpayers⁷.

The taxpayers' willingness to pay those subsidies helps explain why 99 of those stadiums have been built since 1990. Americans—and only Americans – have entered the era of the disposable stadium.

It doesn't have to be this way. And in Canada, it isn't. Canadians don't pay for their stadiums. The teams do, which kind of makes sense. Canadian taxpayers instead pay for their schools, which also makes sense. Guess whose students are ranked in the top five, way ahead of American students? Taking candy from a baby may be immoral⁸, but taking money from students and giving it to billionaire franchise⁹ owners should be illegal.

Who orchestrates this fraud? Why, Roger Goodell, of course, who made $44 million in 2014. Not bad for the leader of a non-profit organization.

Yes, you heard me correctly. The NFL shamelessly filed for non-profit status back in 1942. More amazingly, the government granted it—which makes you wonder who, exactly, would not qualify as a non-profit?

The NFL finally dropped its non-profit status last year, but not due to some long dormant¹⁰ sense of decency¹¹. They were simply tired of reporting Goodell's ungodly salary every year. If you need proof that an organization wasn't really a non-profit in the first place, watching them drop their non-profit status to hide their unseemly salaries is all the proof you need.

So, what now? L.A. will roll out the red carpet for its latest NFL team, while San Diego and Oakland will hi-jack their cities for stadiums they don't need, and can't afford. The money will come out of the pockets of schoolchildren.

Why should fans be loyal to teams that clearly aren't loyal to them? If those taxpayers build stadiums for owners who have no reservation about leaving them behind, the taxpayers need to admit they're in an abusive relationship.

But that seems to be the NFL's specialty¹².

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 rams   

n.公羊( ram的名词复数 )；(R-)白羊（星）座；夯；攻城槌v.夯实（土等）( ram的第三人称单数 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• A couple of rams are butting at each other. 两只羊正在用角互相抵触。 来自辞典例句
• More than anything the rams helped to break what should have been on interminable marriage. 那些牡羊比任何东西都更严重地加速了他们那本该天长地久的婚姻的破裂。 来自辞典例句

3 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

4 arenas   

表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场

参考例句：

• Demolition derbies are large-scale automobile rodeos that take place in big arenas. 撞车比赛指的是在很大的竞技场上举行的大型汽车驾驶技术表演。
• Are there areas of privacy in the most public of arenas? 在绝大部分公开的场合中存在需要保护隐私的领域吗？

5 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

8 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

9 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

10 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

11 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

12 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。