Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Dulles Expos?

There's this old farm near Dulles Airport in Virginia that I drive past all the time. It's right at Routes 28 and 267, in the middle of an area that is rapidly developing, and there's this wide open space with horses. My co-workers and I are always talking about how they must be holding out for a really good offer. Well, looks like they got it:

A major league proposal for Loudoun

In a private briefing Monday, Supervisors Scott York (I-at large) and Bruce Tulloch (R-Potomac) heard details of a plan to entice the Montreal Expos to relocate to a site near Washington Dulles International Airport.

...

The stadium itself would be northeast of the intersection of Route 28 with Route 267 near the county line, and surrounding development would probably extend into Fairfax.


I don't know. This area is the epitome of sprawl -- it's not really urban, but rather a huge suburban/commercial area, and commercial in the sense of company headquarters rather than malls. Baltimore is easily less than two hours away, and it'll be even easier to access once the Metro stop mentioned in the article is built, so I think that the Orioles will put up more of a fuss than is suggested. It may work, though. There are other major-league teams that play in closer proximity: The Cubs and White Sox, Yankees and Mets, Giants and A's. And while the Orioles may lose some attendance, the Expos will definitely gain.

Another question: what would the team name be, and what location would they represent? DC? Virginia? One of the little suburban towns? Would they stay the Expos, become the Senators, take on another name like United? The Cicadas?

I think Sterling Sprawlers has a nice ring to it . . .

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