Illinois has a plethora of financial problems. There is no good reason taxpayers should absorb the cost of somebody else’s folly.
We were conned in the late 1980s when Gov. James Thompson caved and paid to build a stadium for the White Sox via the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which was really the Illinois taxpayers.
Just like back then, Jerry Reinsdorf is threatening to move the Sox to another city. We should let him go. Major League Baseball would have easily put another franchise in Chicago. Rebuilding a new stadium back then was a bad geographical idea when compared with Wrigley Field. The parcel of land at Clark Street and Roosevelt Road was available then. That’s where that White Sox stadium should have been built in the first place!
Reinsdorf is a business owner, not a sportsman. That is evidenced by last year’s White Sox attendance of 1.7 million people versus the Cubs’ 2.8 million and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3.8 million. He has no skills in properly building and maintaining a major league franchise.
Reinsdorf met with officials in Nashville, Tennessee late last year. Let him go.
The Ricketts family owns Wrigley Field. If Reinsdorf wants a new stadium, let him build one at his own expense. Chicago and Illinois should not make the same mistake twice!
— Joseph A. Murzanski, Orland Park
A few practical questions for Sox
The proposal for the new White Sox stadium looks futuristic, and so much so that there’s a few questions about it.
One, where’s the parking going to be?
Will fans be flying cars to the games by then, like in the cartoon “The Jetsons”? Will they fold their cars up and carry them into the park?
Or will parking be underground, with the city selling the parking rights for a fraction of the future profits, like the meter deal?
— Walter Brzeski, Chicago
Thoughts on the Chicago Bears
I’ve been watching the very popular Hulu docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham” about a Welsh town’s professional soccer team. The team is a perennial loser, always in the basement, with long-suffering, but nevertheless rabid, fans. (Bears fans are long-suffering, but compared with Wrexham’s, we have not been rabid since 1985.) The team has been purchased by a couple of serious Hollywood actors who hope to bring it back to life — Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.
The whole thing keeps making me think of the Bears. In one remarkable scene, the new owners hold a Q&A with about 100 fans. They sincerely answer all questions and concerns. (Wrexham has a population of about 50,000.) A Q&A with the McCaskey family, owner of the Bears, and Bears President Kevin Warren with a few thousand fans in Chicago probably wouldn’t work out.
However, it struck me how very different the Bears ownership is from the new Wrexham owners. The McCaskeys are insular, arrogant and entitled. They are unavailable to the press and fans for the most part, as far as I can tell.
The new Wrexham owners seem to have a genuine desire to make the town better, with an understanding of what pride in the team means to the townspeople. Our Bears, on the other hand, want to walk away from the city, leaving behind an unpaid Soldier Field bill. They are begging for public funding and tax breaks in Arlington Heights. (Screw the local school districts.) The new Wrexham owners make some risky, bold moves and, indeed, eventually breathe new and exciting life into the team. The Bears take half measures; no bold decisions, ever. Still in the basement.
I am quite aware of the apples-to-oranges comparison here. Still, the Wrexham story brings to mind the stunning disregard the inept McCaskeys have for the fans. If only they had some NFL competition here.
Or, would McElhenney and Reynolds like to buy out the McCaskeys? How ’bout it, guys?
— Blaise J. Arena, Des Plaines
Training as an election judge
Recently, I attended my first hands-on training session for Cook County election judge. For a newbie like me, the 3 1/2-hour encounter was at times overwhelming but also informational and very eye-opening.
We went through a lot of the manual and were required to set up all the equipment needed to prepare for the big day. From opened seals and spoiled ballots, everything was logged and put into separate bags. Nothing was discarded.
We discussed all the scenarios that may happen regarding a voter, such as a name change and same-day registration.
I was amazed at the precautions taken to safeguard our votes.
I know that on March 19, I will be surrounded by judges who believe in the integrity of our elections.
— Donna Woszczak, Palatine
Nikki Haley’s name change
Kudos to op-ed writer Kaivan Shroff (“It’s indefensible to attack Nikki Haley’s name. But it’s fair to examine her denial of racism.,” Feb. 8) for noting Nikki Haley’s tactic of using an Anglicized name instead of her given East Indian name as her way of hoping for broader acceptance of her candidacy.
In the United States, origins are said to be ignored since all of us are equal. If this were true, name-shading or changing would not be as common a practice as it is.
In choosing whether to vote for her, voters will in part exercise their approval or disapproval of her subterfuge. What a shame that she feels (or her handlers do) it is necessary to do so to get elected. But it would be naive to argue otherwise, since voting practice does not always live up to the lip service of egalitarianism.
The idealized concept of America thus remains a work in progress, writ large for all to see.
— Ted Z. Manuel, Chicago
Always wrapped carefully
Add our names to those expressing gratitude for great service by their Tribune delivery driver. We have been spoiled by Cheryle Cabrera. Our paper is always wrapped carefully and left on our driveway early every morning. We have never met Cheryle in person, but we know she takes pride in her job and is committed to doing it well.
Thank you, Cheryle!
— Sheila and Tom Hansen, Western Springs
Newspaper carrier a marvel
We cannot give up our actual paper newspaper. The memories of Sunday Tribune delivery at my first Chicago apartment in 1978 as a frill I needed and the “adulting” feeling of going to seven days later are strong to this day. Enjoying the outpouring of appreciation for the newspaper carriers, we must add Becky Milton who we are guessing travels a lot of miles in Northwest Indiana for the, sadly, dwindling number of us getting that service.
We often marvel that she gets that to us so early in the dark and all manner of weather as I recall my paper route by bike back in the day. Less stuffing of inserts and weight these days but still a treasure.
Thank you to Becky and all who truly make our day, every day.
— Nancy and Mark Kalchbrenner, Crown Point, Indiana