SEPARATE SPORT AND STATE

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Fri, 10/19/2007 - 15:45.

Regarding the "Red Socks Out to Dry" banner:   I realize there are many in the Realneo audience who despise the toothy grinning Indian logo (and see it as a racist caricature).  The DDealer came out with an editorial along this line recently - but I couldn't find a link.

Personally, I despise rent free public venues for professional sports which suck the public’s taxes into private pockets while anesthetizing the Budweiser viewer – but I think the Morgan Laundry (near West Side Market) socks-on-the-line is pretty cute – and there are those in the Realneo audience who will appreciate the good natured humor of the signage when they cross into Cleveland on the Lorain Street Bridge.

Our Federal Constitution has a clause separating Church and State.  I would add another clause separating Sport and State. Because for many (with not-to-subtle corporate encouragement), ProSports might as well be a religion...

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Racist Wahoo in PD

Submitted by Susan Miller on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 08:42.

Win or lose, the Cleveland Indians should get rid of Chief Wahoo

Good editorial on Wahoo

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sat, 10/20/2007 - 22:21.

Very informative and insightful - there shouldn't be a big problem changing the name of the team... at this stage I can't imagine what morons are in favor of keeping the Indians ID... the GCP?

 

 

Disrupt IT

Joc-o-Sot won't let them win

Submitted by Susan Miller on Sun, 10/21/2007 - 08:36.

Some believe the Indians can never win because of this. I am not sure, but it does seem that we have lived long enough as a species to reconsider this racist mascot and that we might seriously consider respecting and learning from the past rather than disregarding it as though it never happened. Where are we in the development of the collective knowledge of humans as a species?

The game is beautiful to watch and I love the geometry and the speed and the skill involved. But the gambling and the exorbitant sums paid to the players and managers could surely be more well spent. It is an amazing train hurtling toward its final destination, this competition thing.

Why are we so enaged in competitions? It seems a primitive drive. Maybe we will find a new tack, a way of coming together to celebrate and appreciate one another that does not involve winners and losers one day. Is this a replacement for the hunt? Is it a primitive reflection of the effort to gain land and sustenance for "our people"? I am not sure where this comes from. For now it seems a shadow of something that is rooted to a deep-seated need in us, but overblown with such frailties as the shallow end of the pool of civic pride and media exploitation. Maybe it is just a release while other more pressing burdens become too weighty.

TAXED FOR A SPORTS VENUE YOU CAN'T AFFORD

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Mon, 10/22/2007 - 16:52.
 

During the recent Indian's/Botox playoffs at Jacob's Field the TV cameras would frequently pan across the crowds in the stadium seats.  The color of the audience didn't come close to fairly reflecting the color of the taxpayers in Cuyahoga County.

Can you think of another publicly supported facility where the expense of getting into the facility is so costly that attending requires luxury levels of disposable income? 

 

For example,

we are taxed for our local library – where attendance and use is free.

We are taxed for our public schools – where attendance and use is free

We are taxed for our airports – where an affordable gate fee is added to your ticket price.

We are taxed for our transit system – where very affordable fares allow anyone to ride.

 

But why should I be taxed to pay the bonds on a stadium where the tickets are so expensive I’m dissuaded from attending?  You want to tell me that providing a free stadium to a for profit corporate sports franchise (with outrageously expensive tickets) is a reasonable use of public tax money? 

 

What’s your argument?  Trickle down? 

 

And on top of it all I have to watch them chaw, spit, and spray?

INDIANS' STADIUM LOSES TAXPAYERS' MONEY

Submitted by Jeff Buster on Tue, 10/23/2007 - 14:17.

 

Today, Susan Vinella, a Plain Dealer Reporter, wrote a story under this headline:

"Indians' home playoff games expected to generate $1.5 million"

The 1.5 million is money that purportedly will show up in the City coffers from parking (all cash) and ticket (scalping re-sales all cash) taxes.  (Whose tracking the cash?)

But how about the money going out?  What does it cost the City and County ratepayers to maintain Jacobs all year?   Where is the EXPENSE column in your accounting?

For example one little expense is the Cleveland Police Department expense for officers to work the Indians' games.  How much was that?

This is why I refer to the rag as the Dirty Dealer.  They intentionally tell only one part of one side of the story. 

Without the EXPENSE column the money coming in means nothing. 

 

The stadium is a huge annual drain on the ratepayers – isn’t that so Susan?  If it weren’t, you’d show us the full set of books…why don't you do that?