Jeff Smulyan tells Bob Kravitiz to eat his [insert male body part here]

by BigBlueShoe on May 29, 2007 10:34 AM EDT in Analysis Comment 0 comments

Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day. Like many, I am a bit disturbed by the whole Marquise Hill tragedy. The Patriots are our enemy, but it is never, ever good to see young men killed in their prime due to carelessness. We saw this happen to Josh Farnsworth, the St. Louis pitcher, a few months ago. And while Hill was not drinking and driving, jet skiing on a lake with a strong current with no life jacket is not playing safe, and it looks like it cost him his life. Such carelessness makes me so damn angry I want to put my fist through a wall. Hill was only 24.

As a fan, I'm getting sick of seeing young men get themselves killed because they were doing something stupid. Hill had his whole life ahead of him, and he was developing into a damn good football player. I hate seeing crap like this happen.

Whenever I get mad like this, I tend to avoid the Indianapolis Star. No matter what, I'm sure there is something in there that will piss me off. Sure enough, good ole Bob Kravitz doesn't disappoint, writing an obnoxious, ignorant article on how the Colts lost the 2011 SB bid, and how the loss of that bid means building Lucas Oil Stadium (aka The Lube) was a waste. Pardon me while I barf all over this guy.

Fortunately, I don't have to waste my time writing a response to Bob. Jeff Smulyan, the CEO of Emmis (the company that publishes Indianapolis Monthly) did it for me:

Re: Bob Kravitz' May 23 column on the Super Bowl bid. As much as anyone in our community, I believe strongly that our primary focus must be on education and improving the quality of life in Indianapolis. I understand the arguments that we can't waste precious resources on things like sports facilities. However, I would submit that building the new Lucas Oil Stadium, as well as Conseco Fieldhouse (as well as Market Square Arena and the RCA Dome) has led to a remarkable renaissance in Indianapolis which has dramatically improved the quality of life in this community.

Translation: STFU Bob, and stop acting like a punk. As I have said from day one here on Stampede Blue, if you don't like the fact that the city has invested in The Lube, then do three things-- Leave. The. City.

Seriously, if the basic, simple, almost elemantary school economics of the situation are not obvious to you, then there is something wrong with your brain. It didn't develop enough as you grew up, your mother dropped you on your head too many times, or you were just too stupid and spacey to pay attention in math class. You see, The Lube will actualy bring people to Indianapolis. That means money for downtown businessnes. It means tourism. It means people start actually giving a crap about Indy. Ignorant hicks and well-intentioned morons who say they don't want their tax money going to a sports complex can kindly pack up their crap and move to Dayton, or Louisville, or Fort Wayne or any other city no one gives a crap about because... well, there isn't anything there. Indianapolis is a real city, and cities need sports teams and state-of-the-art complexes to grow and develop. Smulyan sums it up perfectly:

We don't have the mountains or the coastlines of other, more glamorous places, and we don't get the natural immigration of cities in the Sun Belt. We don't even have a navigable body of water. But we have overcome all of that through a spirit of community service and hard work that was perfectly embodied by the efforts of people like Fred Glass, Jack Swarbrick and Terry Lingner and so many others who presented our Super Bowl bid.

Again, translation: There's nothing here to bring people to the damn city except things like sporting events. There's no ocean, no Statue of Liberty, no south Beach, no Great Lake. Without money coming into the city, things like schools, paved roads, and police get underfunded. As a community, you must invest in the money-maker so you can get the money to make things like schools, hospitals, etc.

This is elementary folks, but apparently good ole Bob Kravitz doesn't get it. Thank God people like mayor Bart Peterson, Jeff Smulyan, and Jim Irsay do.

Update [2007-5-29 10:46:54 by BigBlueShoe]: Find this over at Daily Norseman: