The slots license has dominated the news in Pittsburgh today. Here's a quick roundup of all the significant talk after the decision went down:
PITG's Don Barden promises a first-class casino
The North Side gives a mixed reaction
The decision relieves those in the Hill District
NHL Commish Gary Bettman issues a grim assessment of the Pens' future
A disappointing loss for Mario Lemieux
A national perspective: ESPN's Scott Burnside
9 comments:
http://www.blogmaverick.com/
Mark Cuban's personal blog.
It seems that there's a small, and hopefully growing, movement on the internet of Penguin fans going there and politely asking Mark Cuban to... well... HEEEELLLLLP!!! haha...
I figured I'd pass it along to Mondesi readers, so go there, nicely ask Mr. Cuban to buy our team and save us from certain doom, then pass it on and get everyone you know to do it.
And this is just a personal thing I'm adding but, try to do it once a day and especially everytime he puts up a new blog!!
Just for the fun of it, I looked up what cheap seats to Penguins games are going for these days ($35), figuring you could about double that in the new arena. So pardon me if I have a hard time ginning up any sympathy because rich people won't have a nice new "free" * place to watch rich hockey players and rich musicians "play."
Pittsburgh's performance in all this was an absolute freaking disgrace. An arena? That was Pittsburgh's most crying need? The city could have insisted on -- no, demanded -- billions of dollars worth of goodies from the casino bidders -- a dozen new state of the art schools, just for starters, and maybe some new homeless shelters for the newly created indigent, and a few dozen more police officers, and a hospital or two, and BTW, if you want a casino on the North Shore you can pay for running the T under the river to help alleviate the looming traffic nightmare too -- and they'd have paid it, they'd have been HAPPY to pay it, because the winner just got a license to open a mint. A billion dollars? That's a good month.
But no, Pittsburgh aimed about as low as it's possible to go, and watching Million-dollar Mario pout cause he didn't get a "free" * playpen is an insult to hard-working people in the region.
Hard-working people who, one way or another, always end up footing the bill for playpens they'll never be able to afford to step foot it.
And BTW, I was opposed to using any public money for building PNC Park too. My attitude at the time was: F*ck the Pirates. Let 'em go. They're lying about needing a new stadium to become competitive. I'd rather watch minor-league ball.
(Careful what you wish for ...)
The whining and crying over this is shameful, only exceeded by the shamefulness of politicians who can't make a state run successfully without inviting the gambling industry leeches to town to siphon every last dollar out of the pockets of poor suckers. They should all roast in hell.
* The ESPN guy actually had the stones to use the word "generous" in describing the IOC plan. Generous? The arena money would have come out of the pockets of people losing sucker bets to IOC, because the house never loses. It's only "generous" in the sense that if I stole your wallet and then gave $5 of what's in it to charity I'm being "generous."
I think what I'm going to be is sick.
I'm not about to argue about the specific needs of a financially strapped city. It's clear though that the city missed a significant opportunity to gain a "free" hand-out, or two, from PITG.
A good friend of mine writes for a small newspaper near Bethelehem, another winner in the "PA Slots-O-Rama" yesterday.
Here's the list of demands that the town of Bethlehem asked for and received in conjunction with the awarding of their slots license:
-$10 million for the city as a site fee
-Smithsonian Museum to the Industrial Age
-Artsquest center for the performing arts
-New public television facilities
-New mall will a huge cineplex
-New light industrial park
-New hotel
-And...a big old slots parlor, of course
Nicely done, City Council/Mayor's Office.
bucdaddy,
Your the typical democrat.
Probably in a union too.
All you are is a jealous piece of shit. You probably have no skills of any kind except for picking up garbage. You obviously have no clue about economics. I guess mellon bank should leave too. Screw'em right. Who cares about all those "rich people's" jobs. I guess anyone that earn's a dollar to you is a rich person. Wouldn't be supprised if your are on welfare.
You can have your Shitsburgh.
Siena Miller was absolutly right.
I am done with this place and small minded people like you are the reason why.
bucdaddy please if your really care about pittsburgh, you and people like you would go do the honrable thing and jump off the veteran's bridge.
Anonymous,
Wrong, and wrong.
Although I will agree with the Democrats about one thing: If we have billions of dollars to waste/flush/throw away while hypnotizing ourselves watching cherries and lemons spin round, we really aren't paying enough in taxes.
I wanted the damn arena.
BUT, unlike many Pens fans, I was able to look at the situation as more than just a hockey fan.
To them, if you didn't fully support the new arena well you must be the scum of the earth, a commie, and deserve to have childish insults hurled your way. Now they all wanna leave Pittsburgh... whatever guys.
As I stated previously, I wanted IOC to win, but my only problem with the plan was where the casino would be located.
I'm not getting into a political discussion or accusing anyone of anything, because I think it's stupid how much hatefull shit Penguins fans are spewing, often misguidedly, at their city.
When, you see, it's not really the city's fault is it? Or at least the current leaders. It's a state-appointed gaming commission's fault. The current mayor was 19 freakin years old when this whole mess started!! He was GIVEN this mess, he didn't make it. He publicly supported IOC and is trying to keep the team in town. But most Pens fans just want to start railing on every local politician in sight.
Now, you can come on here and keep calling people names that disagree with the hockey-centric viewpoint of this issue...
OR...
You can use your time more constructively and contact Mark Cuban at his blog address I listed above. Show him, and his blog readers all over the world, that we really care about our team.
But if you like, just keep crying about a result that none of us can change. And while you're at it, bitch about the Steelers, Jerome Bettis, and even Steeler fans some more... as if they had anything to do with it. And finally, make sure to call anyone that dissagrees with you a dirty liberal too.... yeah, pissing off people instead of asking them to help you, that'll definitely help save the Pens!!!
By the way, are some of these "anonymous" people that adam guy again?
I remember he was very pro-Penn State, anti-Pitt, pro-Penguins, anti-Steelers.
By the way, I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't get the whole Pens fans that are anti-Steelers thing. I've never seen a city where groups of hockey fans hate the football team just because they're jealous of the football team being extremely popular. Things like this are an embarrassment to me.
I think many Steelers fans dont recognize the Penguins as a top-notch pro sports team for whatever reason.
And when it comes to calling someone a liberal, how would you like to be called a narrow-minded, war mongering idiot? Not that you are or anything. I just dont see what it has to someone's opinion. Actually, it makes you look like quite the fool.
The Pens will get their arena, as they should. It will take a while, but when politicians realize their jobs are on the line, they will do whatever they need to do to get re-elected.
Mark Cuban is a useless NBA style side-show. PGH and the NHL don't need a side-show type owner.
Then again, no one should hold their breath waiting for Cuban to save the Pens. He has a record of expressing interest in "buying" PGH teams once they are no longer for sale. Expect that to continue..unless he finds a serious front man to carry him along.
bucdaddy is right though! PGH shouldn't spend tax dollars to build a new arena. It should continue to squander them away on the same wonderful things that led us to this point. Brilliant forward thinking that it is (or should I say was?).
Other cities, who made better use of their tax dollars, are at the ready to offer a sweetheart deal to lure the Pens away. Some of them already have spanking new arenas and will do near anything to land a team.
Those damned "rich people" anyway. Who needs 'em. Run 'em out of town with the Pens. Instead, we need more social services to take care of the crack babies and the remaining low-life that can't afford to move out of town.
Yep..that all makes *good* sense..right?
BTW..y'all keep voting for the same idiots, from the same party, to maintain course ya know. PGH is almost there..almost...
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