TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2002
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
Receiver ends retirement to join Dolphins
The Associated Press
MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins lured Cris Carter out of the broadcast studio and out of retirement thanks to some arm twisting by one of their biggest fans: Dan Marino.
The former quarterback persuaded HBO colleague Carter to put his TV career on hold
and join the Dolphins to bolster their injury-plagued receiving corps.
Carter, who ranks second to Jerry Rice in career receptions
and touchdown catches, signed a one-year contract yesterday that will pay him $550,000, with another $700,000 possible through incentives.
"Marino's crazy," said Carter, who turns 57 next month.
When the Dolphins first contacted Carter Wednesday, he was reluctant to return. Marino swayed him.
"I had squashed the whole idea—I'm not going to do it". Danny and I were getting ready to go into the studio, and I tell him, and he just goes ballistic — 'You've got to do
it. You can still play. It's a great sit-
uation for you."
By Saturday, Carter had a tentative deal with the Dolphins, and their 23-10 loss Sunday to Buffalo underscored the need to upgrade the passing game. Ray Lucas threw four interceptions in his first start since 1999, and Dedric Ward and James McKnight — pressed into starting roles because of injuries — combined for just four catches.
The Dolphins (5-2) still lead the AFC East, and Carter thinks they can help him win a Super Bowl ring, one of the few accomplishments to elude him during a
15-year NFL career.
"This is not an individual thing," Carter said. "It's more about the opportunity with this team... If they were 3-4, I wouldn't be here."
Following a news conference to announce the signing, Carter reported for his first team meeting. With two weeks to prepare for Miami's next game at Green Bay on Nov. 4, Carter said he was in good shape and expected to learn the offense quickly.
Coach Dave Wannstedt and his players said they would welcome Carter's input and experience.
Privately funded Giants' stadium a rarity
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — A 10-ton fiberglass mitt overlooks the left-field bleachers. Boats crowd into McCovey Cove behind right field, with all hands on deck waiting for homers. A bronze
statue of White Mays s among 24 palm trees.
All are unique to Pacific Bell Park, the 41,503-seat waterfront home of the San Francisco Giants with
spectacular views of the Bay Bridge and the distant Oakland hills.
What really sets the $357 million downtown stadium apart, though, is its distinction as the only privately financed major league stadium built in the last four decades.
And that is turning into a curse for other teams across the country that have been trying to convince
state legislators and voters that tax money is needed to build new stadiums.
In St. Louis, where the Cardinals seek government help for a proposed downtown ballpark, opponents of public funding cite Parc Bell Park as they campaign
for a Nov. 5 referendum
a Nov. 5 referendum seeking to restrict the city's ability to use tax dollars for a new stadium.
In Minnesota, state Sen. John Marty introduced an amendment this year to compel Twins officials to go to San Francisco to see how a privately financed ballpark can be built. It was narrowly defeated.
"If San Francisco can do it, the Twin Cities can do it," says Marty, who for years has waged an often lonely battle against public funding. "I'm not suggesting it's easy to do it that way, but if every community could do it the way San
Francisco has done it,it would be a lot better for those cities and for baseball."
The Giants say private financing only worked in their case because they built the park at a time when San Francisco and Silicon Valley were flush with cash from booming technology companies.
"We had a very strong economy in the late 1990s, a strong company base and a storied franchise," says Giants chief operating officer Larry Baer, who assembled $75 million in sponsorships — including $50 million in naming rights fees from Pacific Bell — and $75 million from 15,000 charter seat licenses.
Giants president Peter Magowan says most other teams couldn't build a stadium without public funds, and that even the Giants couldn't do it now.
"You cannot expect a private ballpark to be built in Cincinnati
or Milwaukee, there's not the economic base there. It's not the Silicon Valley," he says. "And we couldn't do it today. We were very lucky in our timing — we had low interest rates and a very good economy."
The Giants owners had no choice but to use private money
voters defeated four referendums between 1987 and 1992 that sought public funds for a replacement for wind-swept Candlestick Park, where the NFL's 49ers still play.
Two of those ballot measures would have involved moving the team an hour south to the San Jose area.
Former owner Bob Lurie got so frustrated that he agreed to sell to a group planning to move the Giants to Tampa, Fla., but that deal was blocked by other owners. Lurie ended up selling the club in late 1992 for $100 million to a group headed Magowan.
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