Even as Frank Remesch, general manager of the arena for venue management company SMG, was proudly proclaiming the record year and another record projection in The Sun, he was acknowledging the obvious: If we can do this in an arena this deficient, we can do it a whole lot better in "a brand-new shiny building."
It's worth reminding all that even though the (also overdue) report in May 2007 - the one that sagely declared 1st Mariner "obsolete" - recommended a capacity of 15,000 to 16,000, too small for the NBA or NHL, several development bids left open the possibility of building a big league-size arena.
Downtown Partnership President J. Kirby Fowler reasserted in Wednesday's article that the arena's size "is still up for discussion." Fowler has said in the past that Baltimore deserves better than to think small-time, that it should "shoot for the stars."
What's sad about the otherwise positive news of the old arena's ability to attract business is the thought of what business isn't coming here because of the wretched conditions. Even if you put aside the NBA, you have events and acts that compromise to get Baltimore on their schedules - the Virgin Festival at almost-as-obsolete Pimlico Race Course, for example - or that bypass the city.
The same goes for all of the sporting events mentioned in this space and elsewhere, including regional and national Amateur Athletic Union basketball tournaments and NCAA regionals. The longer the arena plans drag on, the wider the gulf grows between the state-of-the-art allure of M&T Bank Stadium and Camden Yards and the decrepitude of 1st Mariner.
And the more names such as "Oklahoma City" and "Brooklyn" (when the Nets eventually move from New Jersey) appear in the NBA standings, the more we'll be reminded that Baltimore might never be home to all three major sports, as it once was.
So, for the fine folks of Oklahoma City and the operators of The Relic, enjoy the good news. Seattle, your day will come again.
Long before Baltimore's, that's for sure.
david.steele@baltsun.com
Listen to David Steele on Wednesdays at 9 a.m. on WNST (1570 AM).
