Actually, it wasn't so much a creation, as it was, in reality, nothing more than a good, old fashion poll to determine what at the time was a much-discussed subject among sporting aficionados around Southern California.

Who was the worst starting NFL quarterback in the area, the Rams' pint-sized 34-year-old rookie transplant from the Canadian Football League, Dieter Brock, or the Raiders' 6-foot-5 immobile, interception-prone statue, Marc Wilson?

Both, of course, were quite incompetent---Brock lasted only that one season with the Rams and Wilson, somehow, wasn't cashiered by the Raiders until 1987---and the poll that for two weeks was atop the front page of the Her-X's sports section inspired thousands of votes and widespread attention in those pre-internet days.

If memory serves me correctly, no longer, alas, a certainty, Mr. Brock wound up the unfortunate winner, but I remember the vote was quite close, an outcome befitting for two of the most forgettable jocks ever to display their modest skills in these parts.

Well, 36 years later, I've decided to come up with another poll, albeit this one isn't athletic oriented but long has been a lively topic among many Long Beach residents.

Which one of the city's most high-profile tourist attractions, the Queen Mary or the Aquarium of the Pacific, annually loses the most money?

Both without doubt hold the embarrassing distinction of never having turned a profit, which is an ignominious reflection of those bumbling LB City Hall politicians and administrators across the years---from mayors, city managers, council people, consultants, ad nauseam---who have been culpable for such a financial nightmare that has been subsidized by local taxpayers and Tideland funds.

Long Beach purchased the Queen Mary in 1967 for $3.4 million and it has hemorrhaged money ever since as too often those who have leased it---with the notable exception of Disney---have had this weird habit of winding up filing for bankruptcy with the latest being Urban Commons, which initially made the usual inflated promises but like so many of its predecessors failed to deliver on almost none of them.

Indeed, the Queen Mary, which has been closed during The Pandemic, is now in such desperate need of costly repairs---a recurring annual phenomena---that a recent inspection report revealed that it is in danger of capsizing. This certainly would be a fitting ending to the grand vessel's turbulent stay in LB.

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But, as badly as the Queen Mary has dripped in red ink across the decades, there are those knowledgeable folk around town who insist its annual losses don't match those of the Aquarium of the Pacific, which reportedly blows millions annually even though the non-profit operation somehow was able to pay its recently departed CEO/President Jerry Schubel in his final year a salary of $545,000 that included perks.

Everyone who was aware of the economic miseries that other aquariums around the country had endured knew from the beginning that the LB fish tank would face serious obstacles, but the then City Manager, Jim Hankla, unwisely went ahead with the project despite the ominous signs. The only people who have made money from it are the original bondholders whose risky investment reportedly was paid off by the proceeds of the hotel bed-tax later instituted by the LB politicians.

So who do I think blows the most money?

I'd give a slight edge to the Queen Mary but only because of its 54-year longevity record of ceaseless financial stress, but one certainly can't underestimate the massive annual fiscal drainage of the Aquarium of the Pacific.