“Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” – Vince Lombardi.

Thirty years ago, the city of Charleston, South Carolina approved the sale of its baseball team to a new ownership group. These new owners had campaigned on a promise of building a new stadium in the heart of Charleston and on recruiting top notch players. However, once the sale had been finalized, the ownership group moved the team from Charleston to the small but growing community of San Marino, across the country in Los Angeles County, where the local City Council approved a bond sale to build their own municipal stadium, with supplemental financing from public funds.

Under the new ownership group, the team lost more games than it won and never made it to the post-season. It didn’t matter to the locals, since the ownership group kept providing fun fan rallies and promotions, talked up the wins, and even talked up the losses, often saying “We were very close to winning.”

A few years later, the ownership group approached the San Marino City Council about bringing a hockey team to town. The council thought it would be a great idea, since, after all, the ownership group had experience managing a sports team, and a bond sale was issued to pay for a new arena, supplemented by public financing.

As with the baseball team, the hockey team lost more games than it won and it never made it to the post-season. This also didn’t matter to the locals, since the ownership group kept providing fun fan rallies and promotions, talked up the wins, and even talked up the losses, often saying “We were very close to winning.”

A decade ago, the ownership group approached the city leaders of San Marino with the idea of bringing a football team to town. Since they had experience managing not one, but two sports teams, the plan was approved. This time, however, the ownership team offered to raise the financing themselves, stating they would not accept any government funding.

Construction began on the football stadium, but it came to a sudden halt when city officials realized that the construction had commenced without any permits in place. An investigation instigated by the city’s comptroller also showed that the ownership group had been unable to secure the full financing for the stadium, a coach, or any players for the team.

The ownership group immediately sold the baseball and hockey teams to a hedge fund, which immediately relocated them to the Sacramento suburb of Roseville. A year later, the ownership group’s offices in San Marino were closed and they skipped town, leaving behind a delipidated baseball stadium, an abandoned arena, and a half-built shell of a football stadium.

While there were residents upset at what had transpired, others forgave the ownership group, blaming the San Marino city council or the football league for its issues. After all, they claimed, the ownership group had the experience managing sports teams and it wouldn’t do this to its fans. It was so nice to its fans . . . . and it was very close to winning.