Just minutes after I learned the Sixers Arena deal had collapsed like the team’s playoff hopes, I posted this on Facebook. I had no facts, just a half century of living in Philadelphia, and decades of covering Philadelphia politics.
I was busy with other issues and decided to pass on expanding that brief thought into a column.
Happily, the Inquirer’s Helen Ubinas did it for me, in a spectacular display of journalistic ass-kicking.
Usually, Helen and I see eye to eye on two issues — love of dogs and love of The Bronx, where we both were born.
But I am a centrist Democrat, and she is as woke as a rooster’s cock-a-doodle-doo. I hope this doesn’t irritate her. In a newsroom chat years ago, I said in passing she was a liberal and she pushed back hard, angered that I had pigeon-holed her. I had ruffled her feathers.
I was frankly amazed. First, there is nothing wrong with the liberal she obviously is. Progressive, really. Second, she doesn’t recognize most of her views are hard left?
Anyway, I embedded a link to her column above, but sometimes the link doesn’t open for nonsubscribers to the newspaper.
That’s why I will kindly condense her column in the following paragraphs.
She opens with the “Sixers shocking decision” to walk away from a proposal they had spent two years fighting for.
Ubinas wondered aloud if she had missed the part where Mayor Cherelle Parker conceded that she had been played by billionaires, instead describing the new reality as a “win, win, win, win.”
“Remember that September ‘I see you. I listened to you’ video where Parker addressed Chinatown residents’ opposition —and then rammed the project down their throats anyway?,” wrote Ubinas.
The marathon mayoral press conference was “long on words, but short on details.”
Somehow, the city’s flickering desire for a WNBA franchise got rolled into the presser.
“I, for one, will never forgive them for dragging national treasure Wanda Sykes into the mess,” she wrote, along with Sykes’ wife, both of whim are pushing the WNBA. “National treasure?” Different strokes.
The mayor dropped a lot of chum about a new Market Street East revitalization project, but “there is no proposal,” Parker finally conceded during her “filibuster,” Ubinas wrote.
She also scoffed at Parker’s trust that “the newly teamed-up Sixers and Comcast will follow through on a commitment to revitalize the struggling neighborhood.”
This was a “major blow” to the city, with the score “Billionaires: One, Philadelphians: Zero.”
Ubinas also criticized the dodging of City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who cautioned against Monday morning quarterbacking.
Ubinas dropped a penalty flag.
“Because y’all coulda stepped up and been honest and humble about this mess. Because it woulda help maybe regain some of the trust from city residents you have lost during this process. Because, c’mon man, you shoulda known better than to think you could get over on Philadelphians who can smell manure a mile away.”
There’s more.
“And when she and others who cosigned this circus get played, the very least they owe us is not to then try to play us, in turn.”
She closes, painfully for Parker, by reciting the mayor’s own standards back at her.
“But on Monday, I couldn’t help but remember the countless times she has said Philadelphians should not judge her not by her words, but by her actions.
“You got it, mayor.”
Ouch!
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What does Philly have in common with Dallas, Denver, Washington, Los Angeles, Detroit, New York, Toronto and Chicago? All have teams in the NHL and the NBA that share an arena. Throw in Seattle, which has an NHL franchise and a WNBA team, and that's ten cities not stupid enough to waste money on building two arenas to be booked for roughly 1/3 of the nights in a year.
Helen proves that the pen is mightier than the sword, or in her case, the AR-15—the one that took her only seven minutes to buy. 😊
Ah, you remember the AR-15 column, based on the wrongful belief that a legal firearm SHOULD be more difficult to buy than a blouse. Me? Once you have completed the required federal paperwork, there should be no more difficulty.
Side issue: some of my gun friends argued that Helen should have been prosecuted as a straw buyer because she had no intention of keeping the firearm she bought.
Ms. Parker has been "played by billionaires', indeed. She's looking more like the action for money (and notoriety) Mayor than the tough on crime Mayor that she SAID she was. Well, Ms. Parker, where is your action on that?
What happened was a surprise? Use the downtown venue as a club to get a better deal in South Philly? As the hit man said, "Nothin' personal, it's only business."
Yes, the backout WAS a surprise to almost everyone.
I submitted this to the Inquirer Letters but never know whether they will print submissions or not.
Rope a Dope and the 76ers
It was surprising how many people were duped by the 76er's obvious game of Rope a Dope. The team never would have moved downtown. Too many contrary issues here, and they would have given up too many advantages where they are.
The shameful aspect is the 76ers played so many people for fools, as they were embarrassingly played, the monopoly of the unions fell for it, too, by the games delusional benefits.
Had it been a pure real estate deal between two developers, we could say, well that is how hardball business is played everyday. But the 76ers duped our citizens, City Council, our Mayor, the Inquirer editors, Chinatown citizens and so many people that the 76ers ought to be excoriated for their deceit and for the costs so many good folks paid to oppose their cynical game of Rope A Dope.
Two suggestions are One: that the city refuse any tax breaks for what the 76ers had been planning all along in South Philadelphia.
Secondly, require the 76ers to bid their construction as an open project with fair bidding between non union and union constructors ,or else we will not issue building permits. A savings of 25-45% by having competitive bidding open to all our competent contractors in Philadelphia, finally!
Let the 76ers management stew, for forcing our generous and kind hearted Philadelphians to dangle as they played Rope A Dope.
Gardner A. Cadwalader
Philadelphia
You might get 1, but not 2. This is, and should be, a union town. You are free to disagree.
Suggestion Three, respectfully: Let them move it over to Camden. Dare them to move it over to Camden. They'd never do it.
Personally, I am glad the new stadium will remain in South Philadelphia where it belongs. There is enough traffic on Market Street as it is. In addition, the lack of sufficient parking there would have deterred many from attending regular season games. Chinatown residents are relieved.
The Mayor loves a camera and a microphone. She should have announced the change and stopped talking, but she cannot help herself.