Tim Leiweke's sports-is-everything diatribe

Here's what the head biz-jock of AEG had to say at yesterday's Town Hall gathering (via Ron Kaye):

How can the second-largest marketplace in the United States not be in the NFL and how could the NFL not be here? We are growing a generation without an NFL team, and they are allowing that generation grow up without a favorite team. People say to me, do you really think it's that important? I happen to believe that it is. Are the Lakers important to L.A.? Are the Dodgers important to L.A.? Are the Kings that important to L.A.? That's our identity - that's what emotionally and passionately drives us as human beings to come together to celebrate our community.

Allowing a generation to grow up without an NFL team! How dare they! Now I happen to love sports as much as the next guy, but it's not exactly my identity - nor should it be the identity of anybody else. It's also not what drives me "emotionally and passionately" - I'll stick to the old standbys like family, love, integrity. Of course, Leiweke is in full campaign mode to gather support for his latest plaything: A downtown football stadium that can double as a convention center. He figures that if AEG gets the go-ahead to build the thing, the NFL will finally agree to an L.A. team. And considering his toocloseforcomfort relations with the mayor and much of the council, he'll probably get his wish.