Is Nationals Park a Boondoggle?

Rest assured I will leave the sports blogging around here to the experts, but take a look anyway at the claim by Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan that, um, “Weak attendance could be a National emergency” (get it)? If the new stadium fails, a real DC debacle could ensue. I’m just not sure that stadium failure is as tightly tied to early attendance as Passan wants to suggest. And I’m not sure he isn’t suggesting that for the same reason that the Washington Post tries, in every issue, to convince everyone in the DC metro area that their real estate value is headed to Hades.

Oh — what’s the reason? Sorry. Hype.

But bonus points for floating an attempt to blame Jack Abramoff for the low attendance:

Part of Washington’s allure, when Major League Baseball planned the move from Montreal, involved the potential fan base. Smart, fanatical and, best of all, with loads of disposable income.

Then Jack Abramoff tried to buy off all of Washington. New lobbying laws soon followed, and now the maximum gift given to a lawmaker cannot exceed $50. Which means all the Presidential tickets – $325 for single-game ones, $335 on Saturday and $400 for the front row, all more than the best seat at Yankee Stadium, which goes for $250 – that should have gone from lobbyist to Congressman to hard-working staffer no longer exist, and the market won’t get any hotter unless the Nationals do, too.

What do you actual sports fans make of this?

Image courtesy of Flickr user cstein96.