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:
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:
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:

Yes, that is a jet ski ad on the same page as CNNSI reporting Hill dying in a jet ski accident. CNNSI = complete morons.