Victor MacFarlane and Marc Fisher
By. Chris Pittman
So I'm sure most of you have already read and caught up with the news that our fantastic majority owner Victor MacFarlane has un-officially posted a response to Marc Fisher's blog entry from earlier today. Again I will say that I didn't really find Mr. Fisher's posting to negative in any way, but I did have a problem with the responses, and the overall tone of the title. Obviously our owner did too as he weighed in with this response...
Marc, my policy is not to participate in this manner, but so I guess this will have to be an exception.
I enjoyed your posting and I don't view you as a hater of soccer. I thought the posting was fair and balanced reporting.
My only quibble, if it is one, is with the title as it implies something that isn't true - first that there is a "bluff" and second that our search for alternatives outside of the district has anything to do with anything other than needing a stadium inside the beltway on a metro line(we won't build a greensfield stadium). I think we have been very clear that we would prefer to stay in the district and have spent millions trying to make that happen. So the Mayor's statement is accurate - we don't want to leave the district. And your statement is correct as well, we will leave if we have no viable district alternative. That isn't a threat by any stretch, just a statement of the factual situation in which we find ourselves.
Do I believe a D.C. United stadium in Anacostia would make a difference to the development of the overall program and its progress to completion? Yes. As, is my guess, do most, if not all, of the developers involved. Will it eventually happen anyway? Yes. But the pace of development and the net present value will be greater for the city, the developers and the neighborhood, in my view and experience, if a D.C. United stadium is there.
Either way, stadium in the District or outside the District, D.C. United won't abandon the District nor the east of the river communities. We will continue our programs there no matter where our stadium is located.
This portion of my professional career is dedicated to making a difference in urban communities. We won't propose to put our stadium there if we didn't believe that it would make a positive difference from an economic and social perspective. I can understand someone else having a different point of view but it bothers me when my/our motives are questioned.
D.C. United's mission statement is simple: to serve our community and to win championships. We may not be able to accomplish the latter every year, though we try very hard to do so, but I assure you we succeed every year in the former.
I want to thank you and others for continuing to provide a forum for everyone's views to be shared, including mine. My partners and I want to thank everyone who is supportive of D.C. United, and assure you that our commitments to excellence on the field and service off of it, is real and permanent
And finally, I want to thank the Mayor and the City Council for putting in the hard work that is necessary to strike a "fair" deal. It doesn't mean one will happen, but the effort is much appreciated by D.C. United and its owners.
Posted by: Victor MacFarlane | March 5, 2008 06:23 PM
Now we of course have no real proof that this is in fact Victor MacFarlane himself. Nor do we even know if the person that wrote this is even in any way affiliated with United, or MacFarlane's group. But if I was a betting man I'd have to say that this is legitimate, and it's a great sign to all us fans out here that the organization is listening. We all truly do have a say in this, and again I'd like to urge anyone who already hasn't. Please write to you're local council member if you already haven't. People are listening on this issue, it is important, and we can make a difference.
EDIT: I forgot to mention how highly I think of Victor MacFarlane, Will Chang, Kevin Payne, and the rest of United's ownership group. They truly are the definition of class, and if any organization deserves to build a stadium at Poplar Point, it's D.C. United. Vamos United!
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