The Arizona Coyotes call the city of Glendale home, but that may not be the case for much longer.
On Wednesday night, Glendale — about nine miles from Phoenix — called a special City Council meeting, during which they voted to break the arena lease they have with the Coyotes. Gila River Arena has housed the team since the building opened in 2003; the most recent lease, which came at a 15-year term, was signed in the summer of 2013.
Now left temporarily homeless, the Coyotes responded to the city’s decision by declaring their intentions to “exhaust any and all legal remedies against the city of Glendale” for what they called “blatant violation of its contractual obligations” to the team.
Prior to the deal being nullified, however, ‘Yotes fans were welcomed to voice their opinions on the relationship between the city and team, which has basically been a disaster for much of the last five years. As you can imagine, they weren’t very pleased.
One fan from Phoenix, Ronda Pearson, was particularly fired up, and she took the mic with her sights set on Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers.
In addition to her awesome mic-drop worthy rant seen in the video above, Pearson also provided us with this statement:
The reason I was so upset is because this situation has gone on too long. When is enough going to be enough? When can hockey fans in the desert just enjoy hockey without having to worry about referendums, City Council meetings, and speculation of relocation? Our ownership group is dedicated to a successful professional hockey team in Arizona. When the lease for Gila River Arena was agreed upon, Mayor Weiers said that although he didn’t like the deal, he would be supportive. How is this supportive? How is calling a meeting like this, before approaching the ownership group, supportive? I would love to know who pays for his tickets to hockey games.
Once again, an old adage rings true: When in doubt, it’s always Jerry’s fault.
(Via Reddit and Coyotes.nhl)
