Official Gaming Board Decision Thread

[newarenanow]

- This is the part I'm not sure of, so if I'm wrong someone correct me. I believe he said an agreement must be reached between five of the seven. If I heard this correctly, four legislative members and one gubernatorial candidate must agree.

That is correct. One of Rendell's picks, and all four of the legislative picks must agree.

[gruntov]

I'll be at the game tonight (first row of F1, fat guy, white Crosby jersey if anyone wants to stop up and say hi). I'll see what I can do because we can get pretty damn loud up there and something tells me the building won't exactly be crawling with rabid Blues fans.

I heard the Plager brothers are coming back for a special 1 game appearance to break the losing streak!

[eastonpensfan]

I was away for an hour...

Did we win yet?

[Stoosh]

Rob Rossi on with Madden…Here are some snippets...

- Lots of people interested in getting back into the bidding for the team. Most names from the past are resurfacing.

- Rossi says if the IoC wins, Mario may very well keep the team.

- On D’Angelo, Rossi doesn't believe his bud is entirely serious. Seems like someone who likes to get his name in the papers. There are other bidders out there who should be taken more seriously.

- Rossi would not rule out Sam Fingold coming back into the bidding for the team. Or Jim Balsillie for that matter.

- On Cuban, Rossi believes that the longer Cuban says nothing, the greater the chances are that he’s aligning himself with someone to make a bid.

- Madden continues with Cuban, arguing that Cuban’s silence equates with embarrassment. Rossi says we won’t hear from Cuban until after the license is awarded, and if he was interested in just another publicity stunt, he would’ve spoken up by now.

- Back to Balsillie…why would he back out Friday and then get back in the bidding? Rossi says if IoC doesn’t win, the price of the team comes down and Balsillie pays less than $175 million for the team.

- THIS IS BIG. Rule out KC as a destination unless Boots DelBiaggio gets back into it. Highly unlikely because Boots told Rossi yesterday that he’s not interested in getting back into the hunt for an NHL team.

- If Balsillie takes the team anywhere, he’ll take them to a Canadian market.

On the license…

- Rossi speculates that the Board might not have enough votes to award the license either way. Reiterates that this is mere speculation. A delay would be a worse scenario for the Pens because there is a Sports & Exhibition Authority meeting on Thursday and negotiations on Plan B were expected to begin at that meeting. HOWEVER, if this gets delayed, it could be very bad for Forest City.

- Sources he has within the NHL say that the league absolutely do not want this team to leave Pittsburgh and they will exhaust all available options to make sure that doesn't happen. The league is extremely concerned about losing this market.

- If Balsillie gets back into the bidding with a sweet offer, Mario would probably listen.

- Any chance Mario wants to keep the team indefinitely if IoC wins? There’s a chance because the value of the team would skyrocket. He may seek out new partners in the ownership group.

On the license again…

This may not be the slamdunk in Forest City’s favor. Four things Rossi cites:

1. Apparently, the board is very aware that the FC/Harrah’s plan is not the favorable or popular plan with the residents of this area, and that has been carrying much more weight with the board than people are giving them credit for.

2. The traffic issues associated with FC are a very significant concern for the board and several board members were not happy at all with the way Forest City and Harrah’s kind of half-assed their approach to finding a solution for it, especially at the September hearings. On that note…

3. Several board members were put off by the way FC/Harrah’s came off during the entire process. Rossi said that from some of the things he’s hearing, some board members expressed the thought that FC/Harrah’s came off as very high-and-mighty and kind of took the board members to be idiots. FC/Harrah’s kind of approached this whole process in a very cavalier manner, as if the board members would be overwhelmed by the Harrah’s projections and simply win in a landslide.

4. The Majestic Star slots parlor is apparently much more of a threat to FC/Harrah’s than anyone had admitted to this point. There’s some strong speculation that some board members favor this plan over the other two.

Rossi reiterated that a lot of the speculation on who has how many votes is just speculation at this point, and he’s hearing different things practically every 15 minutes. What he told Madden was an overall picture of what he’s gleaned so far.

[Stoosh]

I'm off to the game, folks.

Expect a report when I get home tonight.

God willing, at this time tomorrow, we'll all be drunk and celebrating.

[newarenanow]

Thanks for the update Stoosh, have fun. I hope this all gets resolved tomorrow and that this thing is NOT delayed one way or another. I want this process rolling.

[malkins-shoulder]

I'm 16 so i have to go to school tomorrow.....
Once i get my text from my sister as to who won the liscense there are two scenerios which may occur...
.
Scenerio A
I receive the text that IOC wins - I start screaming wherever i am and begin distributing hugs to everyone in sight (including ugly ******)
.
Scenerio B
I receive the text and IOC does not win - I find the fattest and most annoying looking kid in the school and drop kick him in the face. After the drop kick, i will then target any kid that is smiling in the halls with my right hook and procede to spit on them after the punch. After receiving out of school suspension i will then come home and lay a hay maker on my mom. I will end the night by having macaroni n cheese and inturn cry myself to sleep.



god i hope tomorrow is a good day

[eastonpensfan]

I receive the text and IOC does not win - I find the fattest and most annoying looking kid in the school and drop kick him in the face. After the drop kick, i will then target any kid that is smiling in the halls with my right hook and procede to spit on them after the punch. After receiving out of school suspension i will then come home and lay a hay maker on my mom. I will end the night by having macaroni n cheese and inturn cry myself to sleep.



god i hope tomorrow is a good day

Terrell Owens is on this board?

[Jasmine]

Scary . . . I just heard Board member Sanford Rivers commenting (from today) that all he's heard from Isle of Capri is "about the arena . . . nothing about helping the community."
1) WHAT COULD HELP THE ENTIRE REGION MORE THAN A FREE MULTI-PURPOSE FACILITY?!!
2) Much planning was done by IOC as to reconnecting the lower Hill again and making things better for those people.
3) I was at the Gaming Board hearings, and a lot of IOC's presentation focused on community give-back. They have done waaaaaaaaaaay more than Harrah's ever did (look it up).
See ridiculous statements like Mr. Rivers just made are what convinces people that the fix is in.

[pens#1]

jasmine where did u hear this? were you in the room where they are making the decisions?

[Kaizer]

If IOC wins, i will be purchasing a customized pens jersey: #1, with "ISLEOFCAPRI" as the name on the back.

[newarenanow]

I still have a feeling that PITG may some how sneak out with this. They had good revenue projections, pays for part of the arena, and develops the Hill. He is also the minority owner they are looking for and it seems he has no hardcore enemies like the IOC or FC. He is the easy way out.

[gruntov]

I still have a feeling that PITG may some how sneak out with this. They had good revenue projections, pays for part of the arena, and develops the Hill. He is also the minority owner they are looking for and it seems he has no hardcore enemies like the IOC or FC. He is the easy way out.

I've been thinking the same thing. If valid, that will hurt big time. I'm out of Tums!

[Guins]

Scary . . . I just heard Board member Sanford Rivers commenting (from today) that all he's heard from Isle of Capri is "about the arena . . . nothing about helping the community."
1) WHAT COULD HELP THE ENTIRE REGION MORE THAN A FREE MULTI-PURPOSE FACILITY?!!
2) Much planning was done by IOC as to reconnecting the lower Hill again and making things better for those people.
3) I was at the Gaming Board hearings, and a lot of IOC's presentation focused on community give-back. They have done waaaaaaaaaaay more than Harrah's ever did (look it up).
See ridiculous statements like Mr. Rivers just made are what convinces people that the fix is in.

He's one of Spendells appointees.but what REALLY ought to scare you is he used to be a head linesman in the NFL & you know how incompetent they are

[opie22002]

Anybody feeling good about tomorrow's chances?

[skullman80]

Anybody feeling good about tomorrow's chances?

I'm trying to. I really am.

[DrBoni]

Anybody feeling good about tomorrow's chances?

I feel worse every hour the closer we get. I think I'm kind of setting myself up so it's not such a great disappointment if IOC loses.

[Guins]

Anybody feeling good about tomorrow's chances?

I am I've always been a glass half full guy as opposed to a glass half empty sort of guy

[Jesse]

Anyone know what time a decision is expected?

[Guins]

Anyone know what time a decision is expected?

10 am

[Jesse]

Anyone know what time a decision is expected?

10 am

I'm sleeping in until 10:45 then.

[skullman80]

It's gonna be a long morning at work tomorrow.

[Guins]

Anyone know what time a decision is expected?

10 am

I'm sleeping in until 10:45 then.

[skullman80]

I just want this to be over, one way the other. Get the license over with, and lets move on with Plan "B" if we have to.

[Guins]

I just want this to be over, one way the other. Get the license over with, and lets move on with Plan "B" if we have to.

Say a little prayer or a BIG one if you prefer