Mon. Night Football/New Orleans (Was anyone else bothered by some of this?)

self/Monday Night Football | 9/26/06 | LS

[LS]

I watched the full TiVo-d MNF football this morning, and was a little disturbed by some of the things that I heard.

First off, I rooted for the Saints. I like their team, and they are a classic "underdog" story. I hope they win every game until they lose to my Cowboys in the NFC Championship.

BUT . . . the message that seemed to come across---I could be wrong---was that football "was" the future of NO, that it was all the city had. Having Spike Lee in the booth didn't help, but beyond that, it seemed like the reconstruction of the SuperDome, which, I'm guessing, was done overwhelmingly with tax dollars was kind of the wrong message to be sending.

I could have missed it, but I didn't see the "success stories" being featured of the private companies that had come back (have any?) or the private-sector's successful rebuilding of communities. (They did mention Harry Connick, Jr.'s program, but didn't really focus on its success.

I guess my concern is that the underlying feeling was that if ALL a city has is a football team---no political leaders who can rally the public, no civic leaders who can create an atmosphere of confidence, and no entrepreneurs (aside from Emeril, who has done a whale of a job) who are creating jobs---then you don't have much.

Now, I do think it could be a reasonable business strategy to re-build from the "inside out," and bring back tourism, sports teams, restaurants, hotels, etc. But that would require something the MNF team didn't want to touch: the incredible corruption of Nagin and the LA scene, and the necessity of having a strong, reliable police force that will make tourists feel safe. (Last couple of times I was in NO, I did not feel safe.)

Am I making too much of this, or were others here troubled?

[JZelle]

Spike Lee in the booth bothered me.

[TommyDale]

I flipped it on for a few minutes to check the score, and I heard Spike Lee make some comment about "they didn't do enough". I turned it back to "Hannity & Colmes".

[Dixie Yooper]

Aside from football, the only other thing New Orleans has is Texas.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

Who won the game?

[Hydroshock]

I just think that $185 million could have been better spent on fixing neighborhoods or levies then on the dome.

[durasell]

Prior to Katrina NO was one of the top ten tourist and convention destinations in the country. It'll be so again, although in a much different form.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

There were comments here last night.....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1708269/posts

Sounds like it was a staged bash.

[Lunatic Fringe]

"the message that seemed to come across---I could be wrong---was that football "was" the future of NO, that it was all the city had."

Then you weren't paying attention. The focus was on the Super Dome, which has hosted the Saints, SuperBowls, the NCAA Final Four, and countless other events.

N'Orlans is a tourist city, and they need these events to attract people back to the city. That is what they were trying to say.

[Keith in Iowa]

I quit watching when Spke Lee showed up to pinm his wet dream crockumentary.

[Kokojmudd]

Aside from football, the only other thing New Orleans has is Texas.

I didn't know New Orleans ever had football.

[commish]

I ended up turning it off by halftime. The game was ungodly boring and the announcers rah rah sis boom bah Non stop chatter about the city was totally annoying. If there hadn't been a bunch of people running around on the screen I would have never known there was a football game going on.

Note to ESPN, you are there to announce the action going on on the field, not be a 3 hour cheerleading political ad for the city of New Orleans.

[Warren_Piece]

It's my understanding that the NFL itself paid the majority of the refurbishing costs for the Superdome.

Also, there seemed to be a "don't get political" edict on the broadcast last night. Spike Lee even seemed to be muzzled. Interedtingly, GHW Bush was not booed, as I expected.

All in all, it was a true Disney production.

[P-40]

was done overwhelmingly with tax dollars was kind of the wrong message to be sending.

Basically, yes. Last I heard, about $130 million came out of FEMA's budget...and not as a loan.

[Dems_R_Losers]

I refused to watch one second of that game. I am totally appalled that a penny of my tax dollars was spent on the Superdome while 200,000 homes in New Orleans are still without electricity and 100,000 are still living in FEMA trailers. All the resources and labor that went into fixing up a stupid football stadium and not homes, shops, and schools! It makes me sick, sick, sick!!!!!

[Former Proud Canadian]

I turned the channel when I saw Spike Lee.

[Keith in Iowa]

pinm = pimp.

[commish]

The focus was on the Super Dome, which has hosted the Saints, SuperBowls, the NCAA Final Four, and countless other events.

Unfortunately, ESPN is a Sports network and the show was Monday Night FOOTBALL not Monday Night TOURIST ADS FOR NEW ORLEANS.

[rhombus]

Sports teams actually do a good job of bringing a city together and generating lots of ancillary small business (aka jobs). This is why they get to suck at public trough so much.

[Inwoodian]

Hooking up the whole NFL thing with Greenday and U-2 bothered me. I remembered why I never watch Monday Night Football. It's not football. It's totally self-congratulatory excess mixed with liberal sociology.