Real Sandy doesn't have same ring

And after the game we can all go to dinner at Wendy's.

As Real Salt Lake evolves on the field, the fight to decide the team's permanent home is escalating. That's because Sandy city — suburb extraordinaire — is trying to get a soccer-specific stadium built there, thus making it host to Utah's No. 2 professional team.

Hold on. Did I miss something?

It is Real SALT LAKE, right?

More to the point, do soccer fans really want 16 nights a year in the land of home improvement stores, minivans and strip malls?

The issue came to light this week when it was reported that Sandy had designs on RSL. As Salt Lake and Murray were making their pitches, a plan was hatched by Sandy to take $20 million, originally set aside for a parking structure at the South Towne Expo Center, and use it to finance a shared-surface lot that would also accommodate a soccer stadium.

Just like that, Sandy was the front-runner to become Real's permanent home.

The move irritated Salt Lake City and some county officials. They supported previous funding to help Sandy with the parking shortage at the Expo Center. But their largesse didn't include spiriting the soccer team to points south.

Actually, Salt Lake officials shouldn't be too surprised: Sandy is an ambitious place. It's already Utah's Anaheim, minus the Disneyland. It has plenty of people (it's the fourth-largest city in Utah) and a considerable tax base.

So when it comes to thinking big, Sandy is an expert. That's why Mayor Tom Dolan and a majority of the City Council rammed through a plan to put a Wal-Mart on 9400 South, in spite of strong public opposition — and even though there's already a Wal-Mart just three miles north in Midvale and another (at least for the moment) three miles south on State Street.

Sandy's new slogan: "A Wal-Mart in Every Neighborhood."

Sandy is looking to expand its business base any way possible, even if it means pulling some shenanigans.

I blame Sandy's attitude on Gordon Lightfoot and Dan Fogelberg. Once the city started booking high-profile musical acts at its amphitheater five years ago, that was it. There was no stopping the place. Give it an oldies act and pretty soon it wants the New York Yankees. (Actually, that's not so farfetched. Dolan has said it would be wise to set aside space in case a Major League Baseball or NFL team comes to town.)