Case of the anti-stadium lobbyist from Texas

How's this for a politics yarn. Texas businessman Billy Bob Barnett (real name, I think), a former NFL lineman, wants to build an entertainment complex in Irving, Texas, to compete with one that Phil Anschutz and AEG already own. Anschutz is "helping to bankroll a lawsuit that could derail Barnett's plan," says Patrick McGreevy in the L.A. Times. So now Barnett is paying a lobbyist to push legislation in Sacramento that would interfere with AEG's football stadium project proposed for downtown Los Angeles. One bill would allow only weekend events, for instance. Does Barnett just want to protect the citizens of Los Angeles, or is this political payback? You decide. Oh by the way, one of the lobbyist's business partners is tied to Majestic Realty, the firm behind a rival stadium plan out in the city of Industry.