Thursday, April 30, 2009

Shella Shoots...AND SCORES on Governor Daniels' Taj Mahalian-Sized Hypocrisy

When WISH-TV's political reporter Jim Shella gets sarcastic on you, it can be lethal. These are the two best "zinger questions" I've seen on the Capital Improvement Board mess:

In all the public negotiating over the Capital Improvement Board bailout there are a couple of things worth pointing out.

Thing 1: When Jim Irsay, Bill Polian, and the Colts say that a deal is a deal and they won’t renegotiate, how does that apply to Reggie Wayne’s contract? That’s the one they renegotiated last week when the outcome benefited them.

Thing 2: When the governor criticized school districts for building Taj Mahal athletic facilities, was he employing a different philosophy than the one used for Lucas Oil Stadium?

Ohhhhhhh! Takedown.

I'm with Shella. The Governor's Taj Mahal comment made me immediately think about my favorite scene in Remember the Titans, when the white and black co-captains are arguing:

Julius: You been doing you're job?

Bertier: I been doing my job.

Julius: Then why don't you tell your white buddies to block for Rev better because they have not blocked for him worth a plugged nickel, and you know it! Nobody plays. Yourself included. I'm supposed to wear myself out for the team? What team? Nah, nah...what I'm gonna do is look out for myself, and I'ma get mine.

Bertier: See man, that's the worst attitude I ever heard.

Julius: Attitude reflect leadership....captain.

Captain Daniels, how can you criticize? When it came time to say, "No, it's just a game. The state isn't putting money into a new stadium," you didn't. You said, "We can make money by using this dome as an attraction."

Why would you expect a school board to think differently after you set the example? I can see school board members actually thinking, "With a big stadium/natatorium/soccer field, we can draw big fans and facility users, sell big advertising and big concessions, collect user fees for soccer league or swimming lessons, and pay for the cost in no time."

Isn't that close to the same thing we said about the dome?


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2 comments:

Jacob Perry said...

Dude, when he was contemplating running against the guy who's made a living by building this "Taj-Mahal" schools, then it was an issue, just like when he feared that his own re-election was in danger if the Colts moved to L.A.

Chris Worden said...

A compelling point, indeed.