I agree totally with this post. I, too, was at the party. I even have a Homer Hanky. However, I am not that concerned over whether or not I ever get another bona fide memento like it again.
I think that there should be some revelry in the streets right now over the fact that Minneapolis is NOT getting a new stadium. The planning committee can make and sell white hankies to people willing to surrender this foolish notion about a stadium. Then the party can pay for itself, ya think? Pamela Taylor (Tampa at present, Minneapolis at heart) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Ghost Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2002 10:18 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Mpls] baseball There is absolutely ZIP to be positive for about a new stadium, especially Minneapolis where parasitic sports franchises have raised our taxes and spent our money for the Dome and the Target Center and infrasturcture to support them. It is time to stop smiling and nodding every time one of these jokers walks into town saying "pay for my toys, and all the people who like my product will come to town and make your investment pay off." It hasn't happened yet, and it isn't going to happen. All we have to show is a legacy of high (and rising) taxes in downtown which understandably drive people to shop elsewhere, a tremendous white elephant called the Target Center which the city bailed out, and a downtown which is less vibrant now than when the Dome was new and we had a recession in the 1980s. We have excellent convention traffic, and other events will fill in the vacuum if we lose the Twinkies, the Vikings, and even the Timberwolves. Downtown Minneapolis was doing just dandy before baseball & football moved in from Bloomington, and before basketball was even in MN. So what if farmers in North Dakota and East Montana listen to the Twins? THEY'RE NOT PAYING FOR IT. They aren't coming to the games. They aren't paying the taxes. They aren't shopping in Minneapolis. They add exactly nothing to the equation. It's not a valid consideration. I also heard the partying in the streets when the Twinkies won the world series. I'll never pay a dime to see a Twins game or to buy Twins merchandise, but I went down to party. So did a lot of other people I knew who were at best indifferent to baseball. But there was a great party going on downtown, and they weren't going to miss it. They were NOT showing support for the Twinkies, or celebrating the win - it's just a reflection that citizens would love to have more public parties like Mardi Gras or this impromptu celebration. If we want to spend some money on civic pride, let's create another (aside from the Aquatennial parades/party) great downtown festival. It's cheaper & more fun than giving corporate welfare to sports teams in hope that someday they'll win again & provide an excuse for some fun in the streets. Roxana Orrell Central >Message: 19 >From: "James E Jacobsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 06:46:08 -0500 >Subject: [Mpls] baseball > > Yes, I agree with Barb Nelson in being positive about a new >stadium and about it being in Minneapolis, the city being already set up for it in terms of the parking ramps, hotels etc. and which >infrastructure would get dusty with diminished activities. > I go out accross North Dakota some, and to East Montana and I >hear the Twins on the radio a lot. I know the farmers on the tractors >and combines listen to baseball a lot in their air conditioned cabs. >And then on occasion they come into town and want to go to the game. >Same with the elevator boards. > There is some competition in that I have heard of some merchant >types going to Billings or Denver instead of Minneapolis to buy their >merchandise. > Besides that I remember the Series in 87 and 91 and from my >house I could hear the revelers when the last game was won, and witch >tells me that a vast and vocal mass of people in the city like the >whole thing and so it should be continued. > I will even go to a few games there. > James E Jacobsen // Whittier _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
