Inbox - November 12, 2014

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I loved the interview with Justin. Probably because he [writer Brent Owen]  mentions me and the bands we had play at our church. Unfortunately, Brent Owen identifies that as the 930 Listening Room, which is an outreach of Sojourn. Justin played three times at St. Francis of Assisi, on Bardstown Road. And I remember well offering absolution the first time he played. He was late for that show as well. But that time it was because of a potential suicide that shut down the Dan Ryan through Chicago, not because he was arrested.

Keep up being Louisville’s best newspaper!

 

                                                                                              

Recently Mayor Fischer has decided that Louisville Gardens will not be renovated as an entertainment facility, but instead will be turned into something stupid, such as offices or apartments.

Those of us who have actually been around understand that Louisville Gardens is one of the finest midsized multipurpose halls in the entire country! Between the Palace Theater, which holds 2,715, and the Yum! Center, which holds 22,000, there is nothing, except Louisville Gardens, which is listed at 6,850 for concerts.

The only competitors it has as a concert venue are the conglomerate Ticketmaster-Live Nation’s Louisville Palace Theater and Mercury Ballroom, neither of which is a multipurpose facility. 

Louisville Gardens is in the mess it’s now in solely because of grossly incompetent management and negligent oversight from the early ‘80s to the present. The managers guilty of this incompetence were first the government of Jefferson County and, since merger, Metro Government!

If Metro Government tosses Louisville Gardens aside as an entertainment venue, it will have compounded this incompetence! Call it Incompetence Squared!

 

I am supremely puzzled by something that seems to be widespread among runners. We are a crazy bunch who enjoy an activity considered punishment by athletes in different sports, but generally we are just out to have fun, enjoy the company of like-minded friends, and burn a few calories in the process. The list of running quirks that endear us to one another is lengthy, but I can’t seem to get past one thing in particular: What’s up with running on the road when there is an open sidewalk? 

Runners have been quick to point out to me that the sidewalks are tougher on your knees than the blacktop that covers most streets; my inclination is to believe these people. But, if this is the case, I expect to see lots more runners doing their training in the grass, or maybe aqua-jogging. They have got to be better for your knees than the blacktop. It has also been suggested that, since we run our races on the road, we are better served by getting used to the way it looks and feels. I understand this, too, but I feel pretty motivated by one factor, though: cars can kill you.

I can’t seem to get past what I think is the most compelling reason for running on the sidewalk: that is where we are supposed to be. I’m not interested in following the rules just for the sake of rules – in fact, I am very interested in breaking rules that are senseless or otherwise wrong (Don’t wear a tie to work! Be comfortable!).

I’m open to other thoughts and suggestions — perhaps I’ll include an appendix full of rebuttals to my thesis — but for now I plan to keep to the sidewalk because I’m afraid of cars, and I don’t really like aqua-jogging.