Will Eagles and Phillies get new homes?

of this stadium, everyone was already certain that the Vet needed to be put out to pasture. The stadium is known around the league as the hardest surface to play on in the league. Imagine playing tackle football on concrete and you will get the gist of what it is like to play in late December at the Vet.

Paul Moser

With pressure from the owners, the mayors and the respective leagues, there will be a plan on the cooker for four new stadiums in Pennsylvania passed in the state legislature by the Super Bowl.

The precedent has been set all over the United States and it is only a matter of time before the Philadelphia area follows suit.

With better planning and more time to talk to representatives, Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell will have his wish of new stadiums in Philadelphia. The dashed attempt which was pushed back by the senate and House of Representatives was merely a delay of the inevitable.

In today"s age of professional sports, it is necessary for the state and cities to foot a good portion of the bill for their stadiums to be built.

It happened in Baltimore, Cleveland, Hartford (it still feels weird to say that) and numerous other cities.

Regardless of the events of this past weekend at the Vet, which further proved the age

The profits of the stadium will, in a way, never be felt by those who will pay the most for it, but the emotional ties are ones that are rooted deep and replenished through the two teams.

Argue as much as you wish. You will be hard-pressed to find an aspect of the city that more people rally around than professional sports. It brings a sense of pride and togetherness that is shared among the community of upper and lower class together.

Granted, I do not like the idea of welfare for the rich, but I do think that it is a fact that this is the way it has to happen and the way it is going to happen.

The House and Senate reconvene in January and will immediately look at the plans for the four new stadiums. Philadelphia did the right thing by jumping on with Pittsburgh this year in the quest for stadiums.

For those of you who think that the Eagles leaving the city will be the answer, consider this. Cleveland did not want to build a stadium either and therefore lost its team. To get their expansion team, they had to pay for a brand new one anyway.

PaulMoseris a seniormajoringin English/ communication.Heis oneof Loquitur's sportsedftors.Hishobbiesincludeplaying footballonconcreteandwatchingC-SPAN.

RON D'ORAZIO

The issue of building new football and baseball stadiums has been a subject of heated discussion in the city of Philadelphia.

The problem with the talk of the stadium issues boils down to the simple fact that the stadiums will not happen in the near future.

First of all, the stadium bill that proposed funding for two new stadiums, which passed in the state Senate, was shot down by the House of Representatives.

The same bill corning from Pittsburgh that slid through the Senate and the House was vetoed a couple of weeks ago by Governor Ridge.

The House and Senate will not reconvene until early 1999, which will delay the attempt again for at least another few months.

Another reason for why the stadiums will not happen in the near future is the fact that there may be a referendum to add a stadium tax to already high city and state taxes.

If this bill goes up for public vote, I do not believe the public will be excited to have to pay for stadiums, especially since the stadi- urns will house teams that have consistently turned in poor performances in the past few years.

If the senators and other elected officials decide to try and pass the bills into a tax without public permission, it could backfire come election time.

Politicians aren't stupid. They know that this bill is important in the eyes of the public.

If they do not have the backing of the public, they know that the offices they currently occupy may not be available to them for the next term.

The new stadiums, as much as the team owners want to build them, will not happen for a long time.

In fact, the building process may not pan out by the time the lease is up for the Vet in 2011.

The stadium issue may force the teams to re-locate to different cities unless they become contenders.

I do not see that happening with the Eagles in the near future and the Phillies, though they may get better, will eventually self-destruct.

The way the teams perform in the coming years will probably dictate the stadium issues. If that is the measuring factor, the prospects for the new stadiums looks bleak.

RonD'Oraziois a seniormajoringin English/communication.Heis oneof Loquitur'ssportseditors.If the Phillies move,hewantsthemsentto NewYork andrenamed"MetsII:TheSequel."