Saturday, July 9, 2011

Are You Ready for Some ...


Oh, never mind.

There seems to be rampant opportunity here for a number of wordplays ... and as each day passes that the owners of a certain group of teams (eleven men to a side) can't reach agreement with their employees (said men), it seems as though wordplay is all we're going to get. 

Can you say impasse?

It's possible we're not going to get our winter ritual of watching groups of rather largish men, made to appear even larger by their use of armor, as they in turn throw, carry and chase a brown turd-shaped missle up and down the field.

Could we assess a delay of game penalty?

Is there a "Fantasy Lock-Out" game available to those fans who would otherwise have chosen up their teams, allowing them to bet on theoretical scenarios? The winner would be the man who comes closest to the actual outcome of the negotiations. No matter which side is chosen, owners or players, the only losers will be the fans who pay for the tickets, buy the flat screen TVs, the replica jerseys for their kids (at least, that's their story), 
et cetera. 

Add to that the  ticket takers, the hot dog vendors, 
the sellers of over-priced beer, the people who clean up the mess afterwards, and you have a lot of people who're gonna lose out because a bunch of wealthy men want to remain, and become, even more wealthy.

Isn't that an offensive foul?

The biggest building on the Indianapolis skyline is not a factory, hospital or office building. It is a stadium built largely with tax revenue from the citizens of Indiana and the convention-goers who visit us. 
The aforementioned wealthy men have little or no stake 
in the success of that building. They could care less.

How about unsportsmanlike conduct?


Oh, yeah, this is supposed to be Speedway Daily Photo. The above picture is of the other end of the strip mall I showed a couple weeks ago in another post. The top picture, of an athletic shoe display, was taken outside a shoe store just down the way a bit.

Let's just say I was a mite offside.

7 comments:

dive said...

I can only assume from your wonderfully witty piece, Speedway, that some kind of dispute is going on in American Football. If so, then the news has yet to leak out through your borders as American Football is as alien and incomprehensible to the outside world as cricket and Socialism is to US citizens, and, like baseball, never appears in our sports pages.
I do hope they can resolve it soon, though from the sound of it, like football in the rest of the world, money (and horrifyingly obscene amounts of it) is at the root of all the sport's problems.

I must confess to loving your first photo. For a moment (until I saw the Reebok logo) I thought you'd produced a piece of modern art along the lines of Hamilton's glorious "Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing." Indeed the way you have framed and composed the picture it is indeed a work of art.

Thank you for the photo of the mall. Since your original photo of the place it has intrigued and horrified me in equal measure. What a culture clash for an Englishman. I love shopping, but I am used to meandering through beautiful meadiæval streets crammed with fascinating little shops and crowds of pedestrians and pavement cafés and street musicians (I'm just back from my usual Saturday breakfast in just such a café). The strip mall seems to have ripped the soul (and all the fun) from shopping; it is what I imagine will greet me when I get to hell and need to pop out for groceries.

More snippets of Indiana life please. I'm hooked.

Speedway said...

I would also prefer shopping in a series of small shops. Maybe that's what the original malls were intended to do, but with the increased and pervasive influence of corporate "taste-makers" the shops have become bland. I recall one time shopping for a dress w/floral print, went from one end of the mall to the other, did not find even one. Worse, no matter the price point of the store, all the merchandise looked alike, diff only in quality of material. Then, when the floral prints did come out, all the stores had them at the same time. But too late for me. We do have little shops here, scattered among various areas of town, but not here. So far.

What reaction to News of the World shutting down? We need the same thing to happen here to one other of RM's businesses, one which has poisoned the minds of the people beyond all reason, practically destroying any possibility of reasonable discourse, intelligent disagreement.

Here's a website for you -- http://samuelmockbee.net

Ever since I became aware of his work, I've wanted a house built according to his ideals. I've dreamed of a house on the river, that looks like a fishing shack riverside, but an old barn from the road. In the area I want to live, it could be done and it would fit the environment.

dive said...

Thank you for the Mockbee link; I've bookmarked it and will be popping back for inspiration. The way he melds traditional feel and modern design is wonderful.

We've started (at least in the cities, but mercifully not where I live) to find shopping areas becoming "Americanised" over here; you can go to any one of twenty city centres and find the same chain stores selling the same crap. It's depressing.
If Murdoch succeeds in his bid to take over British satellite TV I might just move to Scandinavia. The prospect of a Fox "News" clone spewing hatred and ignorance over here is too much to bear. I fear he only shut down the News of the World in an attempt to distance himself from the disgusting allegations of what went on there. Some politicians (and most of the public) are demanding that he not be allowed to monopolise the media over here but of course he has all the ruling Tories (our wishy-washy version of your Republicans) hanging off his grubby wallet.
Hey ho.

Speedway said...

Well, if by wishy-washy you mean weak, then you may stand a chance. Ours are financed by lobbies for the banks, insurance companies, oil companies, etc. All have massive amounts, uncountable amts of $$. Earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled that corporations may be counted as "individuals," allowing them to make unlimited amts of $$ contributions to political interests. It's a mess.

dive said...

So in effect your Supreme Court ruled that you no longer live in a democracy but in a corporate oligarchy. Time for another revolution!

Robyn Martins said...

Jeez, Dive. Did you write your own post here or somethin'? Football schootball. I prefer baseball, I remember the summer we had no baseball because of a player's strike, and no one seemed to care too much, except all those middle-class wager earners you've mentioned, if they make even that much.

Speedway said...

Hello, Scout, thanks for visiting. Years ago, there was some effort to establish a baseball franchise here in Indy, but it petered out. Thankfully, because there was and is no way this community could financially support a major league team. We do have a great little minor league team, the Indianapolis Indians, which plays at a beautiful stadium called Victory Field. They provide great sport without the major league hi-jinks. Indy loves 'em.