What Does Rich Say We Do? FUHGEDDABOUDIT!

www.vosizneias.com -

There are some things you expect, some things you accept, and then there are just some things that make you want to shake your head and wonder: Where did that come from?

Last month, former Courier & Press writer Rich Davis gave us the following quote...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/feb/03/letter-aces-get-little-love-community/

"Like Mr. Hazelip, I was a big fan of Roberts Stadium and the Aces in their heyday. But it’s time to move on as a community, put aside hurt feelings and get behind the Ford Center."

Yup, that's right. Rich wants us to "put aside hurt feelings" and forget we were ever screwed out of preserving Roberts Stadium which was the most efficient, most productive, and most popular idea here in Evansville. While simply forgetting about what happened may seem like "the right thing to do" on its face, the truth is, there is nothing more detrimental to the future of Evansville than simply forgetting what happened to Roberts Stadium.

Let's be very clear about what happened to Roberts Stadium- It was used, abused, and then discarded like trash. I don't think it will ever be possible for any other venue in this city, or anywhere else for that matter, to have to endure what this one facility had to endure from so many government hacks and bureaucrats for nearly half of a decade.

What really offends me about the entire process is the fact that there is no doubt of any kind that the Winnecke administration wasted everyone's time who served on the Roberts Stadium Task Force and every citizen's time who came to the meetings. I, along with several other citizens, gave our time and efforts to listen to the public not once, not twice, but three times and then held multiple meetings in our subcommittees to put together an honest and well rounded plan that addressed the needs and desires of all parties involved, which we did with the greatest of ease.

I was fortunate to have two talented individuals in the subcommittee I was a member of- Greg Stilwell of the US 41 Business Group & Jeff Justice of Hafer Associates. Yes, I gave up several hours on my paycheck to make these meetings but these two gentleman gave up even more as Greg had to take time off from his own business while Jeff had to reschedule and/or postpone many business projects that sent him out of town.

Even today, the official task force report contains a "general conclusions" page that is nothing more than a work of fiction. Nobody signed off on it, nobody discussed it, and nobody agreed that it was cheaper to demolish Roberts Stadium than to renovate it. The question still remains: Why did Lloyd Winnecke allow that page to stand?

And once Winnecke was done wasting everyone's time on the task force, he then proceeded to erase Roberts Stadium in the most unprofessional way possible. It was bad enough we had to deal with the Wilson Auction brothers fiasco...

http://city-countyobserver.com/2012/09/17/after-the-roberts-stadium-auction-by-jordan-baer/

But then we had to watch as the Roberts Stadium road signs quickly vanished into the night without even a hint of the fact that several supporters of Roberts Stadium were interested in those signs- the most notable being the Roberts family. 

Roberts Stadium and its supporters have had to endure half-truth after lies after just plain people wanting to whine about anything. No, Roberts Stadium did not have any structural problems. No, there isn't one single event that would have used a mid-sized Roberts as leverage against the Ford Center for a better rate. And no, it would not be cheaper to build a new arena than to have renovated the existing one.

Rich Davis' comments came as a big surprise to me. We're talking about a Courier & Press writer who once wrote that Roberts was "an embodiment of Evansville's pride"...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/feb/20/an-embodiment-of-evansvilles-pride/

He remembers The Night It Rained Tears as he was one of the first people on scene...

http://www.franklincounty-news.com/2012/12/12/university-evansville-basketball-plane-crash-southern-illinois-ties-remembered-anniversary/

I expect people who know nothing about arenas to say forget about it. I also expect people who don't care about the city of Evansville, its history, or its future to say forget about it. But for a citizen who has followed Aces basketball as far as back as Rich has, I'm shocked and I refuse to accept his belief that we should forget about it.

Roberts Stadium was knocked over and then covered up at an alarming rate. It was knocked over at the speed of light for one reason and one reason only- Winnecke wants all us to have forgotten about Roberts Stadium by the time the 2015 Evansville Mayoral Election rolls around. He wants us to forget about what he did to Roberts Stadium, how he did it, and why he did it. He wants us to do what Rich is now saying we should do- Forget About It!

Now is NOT the time to forget about what happened to Roberts Stadium. The people that knocked this building over are still in office. Dave Rector still runs the Building Authority, all 5 Parks Board members are still on the board, and Lloyd Winnecke is still mayor. If we just say "forget about" Roberts Stadium even while the arena is still being demolished, what do you think these people will do when it's decision time for Mesker Amphitheatre, Old North High School, and the McCurdy.

Sorry Rich, Roberts Stadium supporters aren't interested in bowing down to those who want to destroy Evansville. Yes, we still have over two years until the next mayors race, but there's one thing we will never do, and that's forget about what happened to Roberts Stadium!