The national baseball association has apparently told the city of Portland that it is on the short list of cities being considered as the new home of the Toronto Blue Jays. All we have to do is build them a new ballpark.

What is the point? I simply do not understand the great hullaballoo about bringing a major league team to town. Does anyone really believe that a major corporation is going to base its decision on whether to locate a new office here on whether or not we have a baseball team? Get real. They look at tax incentives, and little else.

I object strongly to the use of tax dollars to subsidize anything involving the highly profitable professional sports industry. Oregon is in the top 5 states in the nation in terms of hunger. We now have the shortest school year in the country. Our tax dollars need to go to providing basic human services, not to padding the pockets of billionaire team owners and spoiled brat players.