'People panicked and gave a retired baseball player a huge amount of taxpayer money'

"People just panicked and gave a retired baseball player a huge amount of taxpayer money with no experience in this industry or any other businesses."

- Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee says he isn't surprised that 38 Studios' Project Copernicus failed to sell at auction last week. Following the demise of MMO company 38 Studios, an auction was held to raise funds for Rhode Island, since 38 Studios still owed money on a $75 million taxpayer-backed loan from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. While a total gross of $320,000 was raised, both the Amalur franchise and the partially completed MMORPG codenamed Project Copernicus failed to sell. Talking to the Associated Press, Chafee said the latter was no surprise, since Copernicus was "a lot of junk." He noted that the original "historically bad" decision to give 38 Studios $75 million worth of taxpayer money was "insane," adding, "There was this whole groupthink across the business communities." Schilling responded to Chafee on Twitter, stating, "Any decision that loses is 'bad' in hindsight, bet Rhode Island would like a 'redo' on Gov election too" -- before citing Chafee's approval rating.