Loria keeping positive on Marlins stadium

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria popped up at Sunday's spring training game and says his club's plight to build a new stadium couldn't come at a better time.

''The timing for the stadium could not be better and to get this stadium built now is the perfect time,'' Loria said. ``Our nation is embarking on its largest public/private partnership. . . . People need jobs, people need paychecks and the time to get it done is now.''

Asked about the opposition he encounters in trying to get the stadium built, Loria said: 'I don't want to hear about the naysayers. There's plenty of them around. They are the ones who always look back and say, `You know what? You guys did the right thing.' . . . There will always be people who are opposed to progress. This is a positive thing for Florida. This is a positive thing for the nation and certainly for the thousands of people that need the work.''

Loria added he is optimistic about the stadium deal passing and does not ponder if it were to fail.

''I never think of what if,'' Loria said. ``I am a positive thinker. Our ballclub I think positively about. I'm thinking positively about the stadium. . . . There is no other way to think.''

Optimist is putting it lightly, Jeff. The city of Miami votes on Thursday on a new stadium at the site of the old Orange Bowl. We'll see how optimistic Loria sounds after the vote.