Don't you think you're being a little hard on that poor city?
Posted on 09/26/2006 6:01:32 AM PDT by 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?
That doesn't surprise me at all when you consider the cost of building these huge stadiums that last how many years? About as long as all the new schools we build last. What happned to the good old days when stadiums and schools lasted generations? Brick and morter jobs, eh?
The quality of play in the NFL these days is miserable -- and I say this as someone who knows more about the game than your typical fan. The wholsesale movement of players under the salary cap and free agency rules has destroyed the basic notion of "team chemistry" in the NFL.
I don't know what the NFL has done in terms of "good decisions," but a tiresome, dull spectacle that provides 10-12 minutes of actual play in a 4-hour television broadcast barely even qualifies as a sporting event anymore.
New Orleans has a football team?
Why are so many California freepers totally full of baloney when it comes to Texas? Houston did spend too much on on the Texans' stadium (and related infrastructure, which also support the next door exhibit halls and rodeo and see year-round use), but it was nowhere near $2 billion. More like 1/10th of that. Wild exaggeration simply torpodoes one's credibility.
Spike was uncalled for. Pointless. and WRONG
Spike Lee opened up some Bush bashing, and the channel flipped for me. What a joke.
I thought it funny as well when a fan came on and he said he lost his home, but he was at the game. What a cesspool of idiots. I would not be worrying about the game. I would be worrying about getting my home fixed or moving out of that hell hole.
Don't you think you're being a little hard on that poor city?
You'll get no argument from me. They bused thousands of them from Houston to N.O. to go vote. Hell, we even had to watch their damn campaign commercials!
In the meantime, I look over my shoulder everytime I'm out shopping while walking to my car. Our crime rate has gotten ridiculous.
Did you hear Spike's comment, "I'm not going to pull a Kayne?"
Team was 1.1 Billion, Stadium was apx 300 million.
When you add up ancillary costs you get near 2 billion.
And you are welcome to them (the Texans).
When the NFL pays us enough, we'll allow them to have a team here. We don't need one to feel good about ourselves. In a sense, LA fans are the most devastating: If our teams don't win, WE DON'T CARE.
The opposite of Love is NOT hate. It is disinterest.
Nope. This was a pinpoint hurricane that only affected blacks. Rove's machine has gotten to be pretty precise.
I did hear them say once "they should be talking about cultural and economic issues, but this is pretty good football game." Wasn't that what the announcers were there to do. Announce a football game??
I did hear them say once "they should be talking about cultural and economic issues, but this is pretty good football game." Wasn't that what the announcers were there to do. Announce a football game??
The city didn't pay for the team, Bob McNair did, and he paid $700 million, not $1.1 billion. The stadium cost $450 million, but Reliant Energy paid $300 million for the naming rights. Most of the roadway/utilities/sewer improvements also benefit the next door Astrodome (being converted into a hotel/convention/entertainment complex similar to successful Gaylord-owned facilities in Grapevine, TX and Nashville, TN) and the Astroarena used year-round for meetings/events, so you can't allocate all (or even most) of those ancilliary costs to the Texans. Even if you did it would fall far short of $2 billion.
Well, enjoy them anyway. You and I both know the taxpayers are on the hook for part of the price.
Like I said, we are waiting for the NFL to pay us.
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