Fools.

In return for a 20-year lease, Gov. John Rowland, House Speaker Tom Ritter and Mayor Michael Peters offered to build Peter Karmanos, the owner of the Hartford Whalers, a new downtown arena for $147 million.

Karmanos laughed at them and told the fans that the three officials "wanted me gone, now." How did he know? It was obvious to Karmanos, as it would have been to any of his fellow owners.

The Connecticut officials expected Karmanos to pay $2.5 million a year in rent. Imagine that, the landlord wanted rent. And that was just part of it.

Connecticut also refused to indemnify Karmanos against future losses and the state wouldn't give him the right to break his lease if the team won and the fans still didn't buy enough tickets to satisfy him.

So in March of 1997, Karmanos did what any owner would do - he found a state that would give him respect - and a new arena, rent free.

Rowland seemed resigned to the loss. The speaker and the mayor didn't take it as well. They threatened to sue and tried to double the $20 million Rowland extracted from Karmanos to get out of his lease a year early.

That was all bluff. Karmanos paid the $20 million, and the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in May of 1997. At the news conference, North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt and 300 adoring boosters gave Karmanos what the Hartford Courant called a triumphant welcome.

Back home, the citizens of Hartford got more and more depressed. To begin with, Hartford is one of those second-tier cities with a self-confidence problem. But for 10 years, at least when it came to professional hockey, Hartford residents could tell themselves they were in the same league with Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

Then the Whalers left and Hartford ended up with a minor league team that plays against Providence, Springfield and Albany. Hockey fans are still grieving a year later.

The governor, the speaker and the mayor, on the other hand, have come to grips with a fundamental truth: you can't deal with team owners like ordinary business owners.

That's because the owners are more like feudal lords. And as every good subject knows, you don't negotiate with a lord. You pay tribute. So this year, when the owner of the New England Patriots told Massachusetts politicians that he needed a new stadium - or else - Connecticut was ready.

Connecticut's reeducated politicians understood their place in the hierarchy, and when the time came to deal they offered Bob Kraft and the Patriots a $350-million package including:

*A rent-free, tax-free 30-year lease on a new 68,000-seat stadium.

*Control of all concessions.

*A promise to pay for site work and a new training facility.

*No rent and no taxes on downtown land next to the stadium where Kraft wants to build a hotel.

*A 10-year guarantee that Patriots fans will buy club seats and luxury suites.

That guarantee, which goes beyond what other cities have paid, could be an expensive item if the Patriots fall from favor.

Here's why: The 6,000 club seats will cost around $5,000 a year. The 125 to 150 suites will go for $100,000. If Kraft couldn't sell, say, 100 club seats a year for 10 years, the taxpayers would make up the $5 million. Likewise, if 5 suites went unsold for 10 years, Kraft would also get $5 million from the taxpayers.

For his part, Kraft agreed to invest $50 million to $75 million in the hotel. In addition, the state will put a 10-percent levy on tickets.

Massachusetts, in comparison, came up with $57 million to help Kraft build a new stadium. Rhode Island put $140 million on the table. $57 million, $140 million, $350 million: That's all you need to know.

The Patriots are going to Connecticut, and the fans blame Tom Finneran, speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, not Kraft. The Patriots' owner gave Massachusetts full notice. And now it's Finneran - who insisted that education was more important to the general welfare of the state than a new football stadium - who's catching the flak.

The abuse Finneran has been getting must please team owners everywhere - especially in Boston, where the Red Sox want a new stadium.

Will the Boston politicians dare to play tough with the Sox now that the Patriots are going to Hartford? Not likely.

The lords will get their due.

Peter Phipps is deputy managing editor of The Providence Journal. You can reach him by phone, at 277-7443; or by E-mail, at pphipps@projo.com

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