IS IT TRUE the Evansville Redevelopment Commission has over the past 4 or 5 years has reached such a low position of respect in the minds of the taxpayers of Evansville that many are now calling for the ERC to simply be disbanded?…it all started back during the Weinzapfel Administration when the then members of the ERC were sitting in disbelief over the revelation that the hotel they were being asked to help pay for that would only have a value of $20 Million when completed would cost over $30 Million to build?…given the makeup of this body and the important money management tasks they are expected to do what should surprise people is that the ERC can’t do valuation studies and understand construction costs in their sleep?…gross ineptness that can only come from a government driven groupthink orgy was also exhibited during the McCurdy debacle?…the ERC resembled a herd of deer in the headlights when it was revealed that the taxes had not been paid on the McCurdy?…these basic bits of knowledge are fundamental to being competent to serve on any redevelopment commission anywhere?
IS IT TRUE the Evansville Redevelopment Commission really does seem to be incapable of serving the public well even if stocked with blue chip performers?…it is sometimes like the ERC is Evansville’s version of the dream team that can’t beat a high school team?…the ERC has been used as a tool by Evansville’s Mayors to dictate public project spending and in some cases the spending was not in the best interest of the public?…the Mayor holds 3 appointments to the ERC and the City Council has 2?…this is a formula for what we are seeing here in Evansville?…when a Mayor with an agenda holds 3 appointments on a 5 member board that does indeed carry a high level of prestige in some eyes AND that Mayor is on an aggressive agenda nothing but a disaster can play out either from incompetent appointments or obedient appointments?…with a wily clever Mayor in the house the City Council appointments are irrelevant?…it is time for Evansville and maybe a host of other cities to either disband their redevelopment commissions or give them elected status?…we can no longer afford to fund the musings of an agenda to fun and games?…with the ERC neutralized by the voting public Mayors will no longer have the ability to spend willy nilly on game playing?
IS IT TRUE that the Wichita State Shockers that lost twice to the Evansville Aces came within a couple of minutes of derailing the championship aspirations of the Louisville Cardinals?…the CCO believes that 2013 may be the first time that the Aces beat a final four team in the year that team went to the final four?…the performance of Wichita State in 2013 proves that the University of Evansville is capable of fielding a team that can compete at that level?…it will be up to the athletic department to go out and get the players to compete with?…the University of Louisville became just the 3rd team to place both their men’s and women’s basketball teams in the national championship in any given year?…only Duke in 1999 and Connecticut in 2004 (both won) have done that before?…Louisville did become the one and only program to have both men’s and women’s basketball in the NCAA Championship AND win a BCS Bowl in football in the same school year?…that is a major accomplishment for a school that at one time was on par with the University of Evansville in both football and basketball?
IS IT TRUE the Evansville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau seems hell bent and fully determined to drop well over $10 Million on 8 ball fields somewhere no matter what anyone says?…this over a million dollars per ball field idea has the resilience of a case of herpes?…it has been four years since Marylee Fowler was wronged by the powers that be over letting the cat out of the bag?…what happened to Ms. Fowler was wrong and the CVB paid a financial price for the dirty deeds of the powers that be?…we don’t know whether building ball fields is a good or bad idea but we do know that Evansville already has over 50 little league ball parks that are poorly maintained and plenty of projects that are a necessity as opposed to another outdoor temple to sports?…we also know that ball fields DO NOT COST SANE PEOPLE OVER A MILLION EACH?…we are still looking for a cure to this resilient disease that afflicts the minds of the CVB?
UE beat Butler both years they went to the final game.
Thanks. You are half right. Butler beat UE 64-60 at Roberts in the 2009-2010 season when the lost in the finals of the NCAA. The following year UE beat Bulter in Hinkle Fieldhouse 71-68 on November 27, 2010 when Butler was struggling. Butler found its mojo and returned to the finals but lost again. In the first D-1 game in the Ford Center on November 12, 2011 the Aces beat the defending national runner’s up in OT. So we stand corrected, the 2010-2011 Aces did indeed beat a final four bound team. Our point that the Aces can and should compete at those levels remains the same.
Just exactly where will the perpetual upkeep expense of Boondoggle Fields fall? On the taxpayers of Evansville, or on the Innkeeper´s tribute/tax receipts?
Tribute–“A Tax paid by vassal to an Overlord”(CVB)
Crash L, your “Boondoggle Fields” is the perfect name for this CVB project. May I suggest the “Opus One” hot dog stand.
How about “The Birthplace of SNEGAL”
Any minute, someone will be along defending $1.25 million dollar ballfields as “good policy”. I’ll give him an hour, max.
As for college basketball, it’s fun to watch from time to time, but way too much emphasis is places on it. From the school’s perspective, a competitive team is a marketing tool used to drive enrollment and draw donations, but they don’t necessarily draw a better quality student and the resultant dependence upon donors obsessed with basketball is a distraction from higher learning. It’s no wonder the US doesn’t have enough scientists, engineers and mathematicians…we’re too busy teaching our college students how to watch each other toss a ball through a hoop.
How ironic that a free market loving capitalist would have a problem with this.
I’m assuming you mean my criticism of the emphasis on sports in institutions of higher learning… The difference between me and, say, a socialist is I’m not running to government advocating legislation to stop it. People should be free to choose. If they choose going to a college whose biggest source of pride is the prowess of a sports team, far be it from me to tell them they can’t do it.
I don’t think sports are bad, on the contrary, I think playing sports can help someone stay healthy and grow into a more well-rounded individual; however, it’s not going to be a career for the vast majority of participants, and it’s not like college sports is about inclusion and creating well rounded individuals. I think the prevailing arrangement is harmful to academics and I don’t mind saying as much. When her time comes, I will encourage my daughter to attend a school without such emphasis on sports teams.
The Penn State scandal should have taught us all a valuable lesson in how destructive this obsession with college sports can be in the extreme. It’s also no secret that the schools most renowned for their sports teams are usually the top “party schools” as well, which translates to “let’s use our school experience to put ourselves into massive debt on what amounts to a 4-year-long party.”
By the way, I took your comment to be a dig at capitalism, but let me explain something to you…just because I’m a capitalist doesn’t mean I agree with everything other capitalists do to make a buck. Just because I happen to think it’s the freest and most efficient system of delivery for goods and services, not to mention the natural order of things, doesn’t mean I lose all rational thought or morality. The whole point of capitalism is that it allows consumers, i.e. you and me, to decide with our dollars what succeeds or fails. I won’t be sending my daughter to a school with an overemphasis on sports and I’ll gladly encourage others to follow suit. Hopefully that will in some small way help shift the emphasis back on academics across the spectrum. I don’t count on it, but that’s capitalism. You win some, you lose some…unless government gets involved, then you get your “too big to fails”, but that’s another story having more to do with cronyism and corrupt government than true capitalism.
Just a question or 2?? When the ballfirelds are built, who will run the tournaments that would be brought to town? Just like the soccer firlds at Goebel, how many tournaments from out of town come there to play? Answer, 1 or 2 at best. Why?? @ expensive to rent them.
If you build Boondoggle Fields, they will come from far and wide. There will be a perpetual rainbow over the park. Occasional unicorns will be spotted from the Lloyd Expressway. Blue Birds of happiness will nest at Boondoggle Fields. What more do you possibly need to know?
U of E in all sports will never be more than a really good D-2 team.
If USI played U of E in basketball 10 times in the next 10 years, UE might win 6 out of the 10.
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