Corroon's big 'no' was just hot air

Wait a minute, what just happened? For months, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon vowed he wouldn't spend public money on Dave Checketts' soccer stadium; then we open the newspaper one morning, and they're breaking ground for a new publicly funded stadium. Cost to taxpayers: $55 million.

In the end, that was nothing but a lot of warm gas coming from Corroon and the Salt Lake County offices the past few months.

As near as we can tell, Corroon and Salt Lake County responded to Real Salt Lake's repeated requests for public funding the past few months this way: "No," "No," "Heck no," "A thousand times no," "OK."

Corroon reversed field faster than Barry Sanders. He and the other politicians can crunch the numbers any way they like — they can bend them like Beckham — but the bottom line is they're spending public money to build a stadium for a team that refused to reveal its financial records, that plays in a sport that operates in virtual anonymity in America until the World Cup comes along every four years, that plays in a league that has failed in several previous incarnations.

This was roughly what went down:

1. Corroon turns down the stadium project because he says he is protecting the public interest and doesn't want to use public money for it.

2. Corroon is widely hailed as a hero for his courageous, bold stance.

3. Checketts throws a tantrum. He says Larry Miller sabotaged the deal and that if he doesn't get his way by Aug. 12 he will take his ball and go home. At one point, Checketts once called the Salt Lake County officials "bush league" and "unprofessional."

4. Corroon, still enjoying his new popularity, repeats that he will listen to any funding plan as long as it is the people's will. A poll shows 59 percent of the public opposes stadium funding. Hold that thought.

5. As recently as May, Real Salt Lake gave the county the silent treatment and refused to talk or meet because it didn't get what it wanted.

6. On Aug. 8, Checketts says he is sticking with his Aug. 12 deadline.

7. On Aug. 9, Checketts and team officials meet with the so-called powerbrokers — Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson and additional legislators, to get them on board. "I just don't see how they can get the county to move," says Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan.