(photo credit: mondaymorningpunter.files.wordpress.com)Today, it was announced that Mayor Weinzapfel would be punting on the fate of Roberts Stadium and handing it over to the next mayor of Evansville. I'm very excited and thrilled with this news because I feared that they were closing down Roberts Stadium early to prepare it for an early demolition.
With that aside, I have mixed feelings about today.
On the one hand, I am very happy that Mayor Weinzapfel will now be leaving office with a new arena on his resume and will not have the tarnished asterisk of being the one who demolished Roberts Stadium. History will now judge Mayor Weinzapfel favorly as he has given us a great gift while giving us the chance to keep the gift Mayor Roberts gave us 55 years ago. I thank him for his service and hope that he will have a place at the new arena named after him. After we have saved Roberts Stadium and reopened it, I welcome Mayor Weinzapfel to join me at the historic grounds to root for the home teams once more.
On the other hand, I am disappointed that I never got the opportunity to work with Mayor Weinzapfel on saving Roberts Stadium. I feel like we could already be working to make Roberts Stadium even better than it currently is, and I felt like he was open to ideas when I met with him last year. He agreed that replicating the softball fields after vintage MLB fields was a great idea and said he would be open to trying to do whatever he could to make Roberts Stadium viable. I am very disappointed that Mayor Weinzapfel will not be a part of the Roberts renewal process but I am satisfied with his current plan.
Now, you the viewers of this blog must realize just how important it is to vote Rick Davis in November. Rick has not only been behind the Save Roberts Stadium movement since day 1, he was also the first candidate to get behind it. Today, I owe Mr. Davis a huge thank you for all of his support for Roberts Stadium. If we are going to keep this momentum going we need to put Rick in the mayor's office.
Although, Mr. Winnecke told me via in person and email that he doesn't believe we can or should save Roberts Stadium, he has at least lightened his stance with the request from city hall to assemble a committee. I don't know if Mr. Winnecke plans on sticking with his belief that a committee shall be formed, but it would at least give us a fighting chance, although I believe that Rick Davis is by far and away our greatest hope for doing something special with Roberts Stadium.
Now we have a fresh amount of momentum going our way. We cannot let this go to waste. We have to get the word out about saving Roberts Stadium and we have to get the word out about voting for the candidates who have endorsed Roberts Stadium, whether it be Rick Davis, Al Lindsey, Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, Dr. Dan Adams, or Lon Walters. Each of those candidates has committed to Roberts Stadium, now we must commit to them if we are going to succeed at this.
We also need to continue to be vocal. I want to see more letters from you the viewers in the Courier & Press. I want to see more emails being sent to City Council candidates next year. I also want to keep seeing those Save Roberts Stadium shirts that you the viewers purchased at cost earlier this year. Today would not have been possible without you the viewers and my hat is off to each and every one of you! Your support and efforts have meant everything to me!
While it's always good to have your team's quarterback take the ball down the field, sometimes it's not a bad idea to bring on your punter and play for field position. That is what we are doing today.
Keep the momentum going..... SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!
(photo credit: basketball-basic.com)
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