That shattered marketing strategy is another legacy of Big Blue's crash. Now, the countdown clock is turned off, and the question is what it will say when it is lit once more. So far, no one officially involved with the Miller Park project will say what seems obvious to outsiders - that the original deadline of opening day 2000 will not be met and that the Brewers will play part, if not all, of the 2000 season in County Stadium. Hubris is one reason for this reluctance to publicly face this fact. To admit the deadline will be missed is humiliating, no matter who is finally judged responsible for Big Blue's collapse.
Marketing is another reason.
When it is admitted that County Stadium will survive into 2000, the Brewers lose their primary marketing peg for the end of this year. For them, the longer the obvious can be officially avoided, the better. Finally, when the old deadline is abandoned, a new deadline must be set. And that is the biggest pitfall of all. Deadlines are useful things that focus the mind.