Dec 10
2023
Monday Morning Read
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The Guardian published a piece that underscored just how out of step the Bills stadium project in Orchard Park is.
Most owners, says Victor Matheson, an economics professor at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, “understand that having an entertainment district that generates money 365 days a year is way better than the model of a walled fortress surrounded by a moat of parking lots” that is used a handful of times a year. “NFL parking lots are about the worst possible use of real estate you can think of,” he adds. “You’d much rather have a stadium in a dense area where you can generate money all the time.”
Two sets of stories on dysfunction in the Buffalo Bills organization caught my eye. There was the decision by ownership and the front office to allow Von Miller to continue to play, which prompted a sharp rebuke from Ryan O’Halloran of The Buffalo News. Miller, by the way, had no tackles, much less sacks, in the Chiefs game yesterday.
Then there was the revealing three part-series on coach Sean McDermott by Tyler Dunne, published on his Go Long on Substack. Dunn interviewed a lot of people associated with the team, many of whom portrayed McDermott as ill-suited to coach for assorted reasons. Bills players responded by standing behind their coach, which is what jocks tend to do.
Chrissie CaBoom showing class? Who would have thunk it? An interesting take by Charlie Specht. He also had an insightful profile of Brian Nowak, the newly elected Cheektowaga supervisor, which read in part:
In style and substance, Nowak is not your average Western New York politician. Sleeve tattoos cover his forearms. He rarely wears a tie, preferring punk rock T-shirts and faded flannel. Politically, he may be a Bernie Sanders guy, but visually, he presents more like John Fetterman, the senator from Pennsylvania with everyman vibes.
Ken Kruly offered up another insightful post on local politics. Of particular note:
There were 149 public offices on the ballot in Erie County this year, but as a previous post reported, less than half of that number had Democratic/Republican contests, and even when such elections were on the ballot, most were not really competitive.
The worst mayor in America – that is, Byron Brown – didn’t get the top job at Buffalo State University. I’m shocked, tell you, shocked. Next up: the rejection of his bid to succeed Brian Higgins.
The Atlantic is devoting its new issue to the threat Donald Trump represents to America. Axios offers its own take.
When he worked as a lawyer, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s clients, according to the Daily Beast, “include a man who spoke glowingly of killing gay people and another who said the government ‘should be a terror’ to the LGBTQ community.”
Talk about grade inflation: nearly 80 percent of the grades handed out at Yale are “A’s.” The average GPA is 3.7. Yales isn’t the only Ivy league school handing out A’s like candy on Halloween.
John Lennon was shot dead 43 years ago this past Friday. A three-part documentary on his murder is out. Here’s the trailer. And a reminder of his timeless genius.
