FanHouse Jeff Vanderbeek

Since the start of last season, the New Jersey Devils have been playing in the glittering Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. But now that the rent on that publicly-funded palace has come due, the Devils are looking for a way out. Here's Maura McDermott from the Star-Ledger:

The Devils do not plan to pay the first year's rent on the $375 million Prudential Center and instead say the Newark Housing Authority owes them nearly $800,000 due to delays in completing the arena.

The authority, which owns the arena, gave the team until last Monday to make what was expected to be a multimillion-dollar rent payment, granting the team's requests for two extensions on the Sept. 30 deadline.

On Tuesday, team owners delivered 12 pages of letters and calculations to the authority stating their lease allowed them to deduct nearly $2.9 million from the roughly $2.1 million rent owed and take a $210,000 credit for next year's rent, due to delays in building the year-old arena and completing construction on surrounding land.

As a result, the authority owes the team $791,530, according to a letter from Gordon Lavalette, an executive vice president with the team.

I think we should all personally thank Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek for providing an object lesson in why governments should think twice, and maybe even a third time, before agreeing to publicly finance sports arenas.

Just the other day, I was telling my father I wanted to call Newark Mayor Cory Booker's office to see if and when ESPN's Barry Melrose would make good on his apology and visit The Rock for a Devils game. Turns out I'm a day late and a delicious Cuban Sandwich from the Prudential Center's Havana Restaurant short: Tom Gulitti of The Record reports that Melrose is scheduled to be the guest of Booker and Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek at tonight's game against the Washington Capitals.

In an ESPN.com video last month, Melrose said that the area around the new Newark arena is "awful," that "the inside and the outside where it's built is pretty humorous" and warned those who dare see a game to not "go outside if you have a wallet or anything else." When his comments were swiftly rebuked by the Devils and the city, Melrose cowered and apologized, embarrassingly admitting that he had never actually visited the arena before labeling it a crime-ridden Thunderdome of lawless thugs. Melrose told Gulitti that he's looking forward to gaining "first-hand knowledge" of the arena and its surrounding area tonight; he also said that Devils fans have been fairly kind to him after his commentary: "No one has been tough on me, so, hopefully, that will continue tomorrow."

It should be a decent crowd, as the Devils will celebrate Scott Stevens's induction into the Hall of Fame and the fact that he ended his career with his leadership unquestioned and his dedication to his teammates respected (unlike some other former Devils defensemen named Scott). But Devils fans, at The Rock, welcoming The Mullet with open arms? Ask a Rangers fan how hospitable NJD fans can be -- even when the Rangers aren't playing them. No, battle plans are being drawn ... and I even have one of my own.