Anaheim v. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Opening statements were given today in the jury trial for the breach of contract case of City of Anaheim v. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I totally wish I was on that jury, but then it would be a bit hard for me to put aside bias. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how they were able to pick an unbiased jury in Orange County in the first place!

When the Angels owner Arte Moreno stated last year that he was changing the name because he wanted to increase advertising sales to make more money to better the team, a bitter feud broke out between me and my DH. He is all for calling them anything if it means being able to sign better players. I however am a bit more traditional, and feel the fans have been wronged and they should have kept the name Anaheim Angels. Sure, everyone knows where LA is, but I think "The OC" and Disneyland as well as Anaheim have done well for themselves without tagging onto the LA name.

It's quite a controversial topic here in OC as well. Most people from Orange County despise being compared to LA. I too get somewhat angry when my sister tells her friends I live in LA as opposed to Orange County. I guess its a form of pride or whatever. Honestly, I feel we won the World Series as the Anaheim Angels, why change a good thing?

But what really pisses me off is that Mr. Moreno said back in January 2005 that the name change was to create additional revenue for the team. Period. Want to know what he did this off-season? He went and raised season ticket prices! Diamond Club seats that were sold last year for $65 are now $80 a seat this coming season! That is a significant increase... So, where did all that extra money go Mr. Moreno? Was your Christmas really that bad this year? The billions of dollars you already have just aren't enough? I dont' know how he can live with himself!

I'm going to be watching this jury trial with much interest. I'm sorta bummed that our trial scheduled to start in OC on January 9 settled. It would have been fun to be right there at the courthouse while this fight gets started. Even better, I so wish I was on that jury!