It's Larry Ellison's turn to make Cup bid sail

Larry Ellison may have accomplished the impossible. He's made the San Francisco Board of Supervisors look like a thoughtful, constructive deliberative body that can keep its cool in the face of confrontation.

I hardly recognized them.

For weeks, the board had been divided on the city's bid to host the America's Cup races in 2013, but after the city found a way to host the races with minimal costs, infrastructure upgrades and prime public viewing areas, the board unanimously passed the bid Tuesday. The vote came with so many compliments and thank-you's that the meeting turned into virtual tea party.

Now it is up to Ellison to make this work. Frankly, he's going to look like a major hypocrite if he suddenly decides to ship the race elsewhere.

He's the one who lives in the Bay Area, who joined the Golden Gate Yacht Club and waxed poetic about the sheer perfection of hosting the world's greatest sailing race in a natural amphitheater. It would be a showcase for the event like nothing the sailing world has ever seen.

But where's Larry? Earlier the word in City Hall was that BMW Oracle team negotiator Stephen Barclay was keeping Ellison from meeting with Mayor Gavin Newsom.

This struck me as unlikely. Ellison is one of the wealthiest, most powerful and iron-willed people in the world. Barclay is reported to be a real hardball guy. But I have trouble picturing the scenario where Ellison, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Oracle, reaches for the phone and Barclay says, "Nope, I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Larry."

If Ellison wanted to talk, he'd talk.

And sure enough, Tuesday night he and Newsom had a short conversation. But apparently the results were not encouraging.

I don't get it. It seems impossible that this is really about which section of the waterfront will be used for staging the race.

That's the narrative the BMW Oracle team is pushing, with Barclay fulminating about how San Francisco had its chance to host the Cup, but let it slip through its fingers.

Sure, all the city had to do was make a bad financial deal for a less desirable site. I understand the idea that every businessman would like to get as much as possible, but this is looking more and more like a naked money grab. There were even reports that someone on Ellison's team was asking if they didn't deserve a "reward" for allowing the Cup to be held on the bay.

A reward? Try bribe.

The official word is that Ellison's team is holding out for piers that are closer to AT&T; Park, rather than around the corner, closer to Alcatraz. Surely it can't simply be about the dollars. Ellison's 90-foot trimaran, which won the 33rd America's Cup, cost a reported $10 million - just to put the boat in the water. I only hope that Ellison has actually looked at the terms the city is offering, and recognizes that this is an extraordinary effort.

And don't be put off by the fact that contrarian Supervisor Chris Daly is supporting it. This isn't a trick. Even Daly sees it is a good deal for all.

This may be about a bunch of billionaires racing impractical boats with crazy space-age technology, but somewhere in there - and you may have to drill down to find it - this is still about sport. And yes, these days sports are all contaminated with money. But at the end of the day, there's a competition, a score and a winner. It only makes sense to stage that in the best possible place for the sport.

That's here, in this bay. People would turn out in droves, television cameras would track boats across a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge, and Ellison would even have home water advantage. This place would rock with support for his boat.

Or, he can take his sailboat and go off to Newport, R.I., where one team official was dispatched to talk about hosting the races there. The races would probably be miles offshore, and the viewers would follow the action from cameras on helicopters. If that's your idea of a great event, go ahead.

But just so we're clear, this is San Francisco, one of the truly great cities. We'd love to have a sailboat race here. But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't. This will still be San Francisco.

C.W. Nevius' columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail him at cwnevius@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle