Steeeee-rike!

The headline reads, "K-Nines stadium hits snag".

So said the Northwest Herald, trying to play nice with plans for the independent league baseball team to suit up in Woodstock. (ka-ching, ka-ching; future advertising revenues?)

And the sub-headline? "Construction might be pushed back if financing not found." The project has never not had a snag.

Kind of reminds me of the football cheer, "Push 'em back, push 'em back, waaaaay back!"

"Might" be pushed back? Let's correct that to "...will be pushed back if financing not found." As in, stadium project will be dead, if financing not found.

The McHenry County Board won't cough up $15,000,000 in bonding authority for the stadium. Good decision. But it did cough up $18,000,000 for the Lakewood Sportsflex off Illinois Highway 47. Bad decision.

The only thing that happened in a hurry regarding the stadium was the rushed approval by the Woodstock City Council to green-light the overall project in far too much of a hurry by placing 50 conditions on the project.

But that let Merryman Aggregate get started with their mining project, and that's what Merryman wanted.

Ahh, but wait. The City put some strings on the deal. More like a single strand of sewing thread. If the baseball stadium deal or the land donation to the Fairgrounds doesn't happen by (when? 2014?), then mining has to stop. Heck! Merryman will probably be done by them. Just drive down U.S. Highway 14 toward Crystal Lake and view the Mountains of Woodstock off to the left.

Remember the pressure put on the Woodstock City Council by Merryman? Remember their "must have approval" pitch? How the baseball stadium wouldn't be ready for the 2010 season, if the City Council didn't say "Yes" immediately? And they fell for it.

Didn't anyone think to ask Mark Houser how he planned to pay for the stadium and if financing was in place?

Well, enjoy the Mountains and the dust and the noise...