Category Archives: Sports

Sports, Weekly Newsletter

The Black Urbanist Weekly #9– Revisiting What It Means for Me to Be a Sports Fan

Welcome to The Black Urbanist Weekly. I’m Kristen Jeffers and I’m currently producing this weekly digital newsletter on my site and via email to share my thoughts, my Black, Spiritual, Southern, Working-Class, Educated, Queer, Femme thoughts on how places and communities work. Think of this as my weekly column, sitting on your proverbial print paper’s editorial page or as so many other of your favorite newsletters do, in your inbox.


This is the 9th edition and this was supposed to be a recap of my Nationals parade experience. And comparing it to the experience of going to the Royals parade in 2015. And it is. But, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be sports loyal and I decided to dig in the vault. And when I dug in the vault, I felt moved to talk about what motivates me to even pay attention to sports. So, here we go.

Sports build community. From pride-of-their-suburb Little League teams to pulse-of-their-city World Series pennant holders to that proud handful of farmhouses who raised that NASCAR driver, sports makes a community.

When I wrote that paragraph in 2015, I thought I was being inclusive. This was deep in the days of me feeling like just having my black Southern (not yet out, but feeling it) femme body at a table was enough. I went on to say in that same post:I grew up in a pre-Carolina Panthers, original Charlotte Hornets, retiring Richard Petty, saying hello to Stormy, but never to a Major League Baseball team of it’s own, Greensboro, NC (also known as Tournament Town).

There were these two mystery Coke (and yes, they were actually Coca-Cola) cans in the hall closet next to my bedroom door. One of them looked normal enough, it was bright red and had white lettering. It did have a wolf-head, and the words National Champions 1983 on them. Clearly, that wasn’t so normal. The other one was bright blue and nobody’s soda came in a bright blue can. The ram’s head and the 1982 national championship it honored wasn’t that weird.I tried being a NASCAR fan for five seconds. No lasting interest in watching cars go around a track. Baseball’s just so much better in person, plus, our beloved Grasshoppers are really the benchwarmers for the Miami Marlins. Too many degrees of separation…

The Charlotte professional men’s basketball team should have never stopped being the Hornets. Major League Soccer shouldn’t give up on us. Having your football team see the inside of a Super Bowl isn’t too shabby though and hockey’s decent. The Canes do have a Stanley Cup, so I’ve felt what it’s like to have your team be national champions.

However, I much rather be at the PNC Arena when the normal HVAC system is operating and I can yell out Wolf and be met with a resounding Pack.And when your arch rivals are only a few miles away, but still get major airplay on ESPN, this is how you choose your favorite sport. I’m a proud alumna of N.C. State University. That is how I chose my team.

So it’s not weird that I’ve been through changes in sports fandom. Sports fandom was always in my blood and it always will be. I grew up going to community baseball and softball games, sometimes walking over with my dad to the one right around the corner from our home in Greensboro, or driving over to nearby Burlington every Friday night with my mom to watch her siblings and cousins play.

Those Friday games would often end with family dinners at the local seafood restaurant. I didn’t appreciate them as much then, but now I see them as us coming together as a family around sports and food.

Much like we do in other years when we tailgate as a family at NC A&T’s homecoming after watching the parade or head to an pre-conference, but sometimes post-Christmas basketball game at N.C. State.

And then I can’t forget the year I was in open gym, putting balls in the hoop, hoping for at least a high school JV shot. My parents vetoed that because of my glasses, but I quickly took my long legs to the track, where I managed to letter for effort my junior year, being one or one of the few competing in the mid-distance races. I’ve stormed the court live on ESPN at an N.C. State game. I’ve seen people in power blue shirts get pushed down in the middle of the student section at rivalry games.

And there was that Super Bowl. But this is really about baseball, so let me get back to that.

I’ll admit that I became a Royals fan just because I saw people appear to come together. Eight-hundred thousand people allegedly, walking through those downtown and midtown streets for hours. Pure urbanism. More people than I’ve ever seen in my life and in a metro area that was comparable population-wise to the one I left, but happened to actually snag that Major League Baseball team. Unlike some folks, I’d already been a Nats fan, kind of as a retort to my family of Braves fans. 

However, a couple of years ago on a return visit to KC, a friend of mine who still had to work that day, short-staffed in the thick of the parade crowds, reminded me that everyone wasn’t able to come together in quite the same way. I remembered those reports of people parking on the interstates and walking in streets in front of buses. The streetcar was not open yet and I’m sure even it would have been overwhelmed. And if you were going to work and not going to the parade and not in walking distance of your job…

And it’s not just that kind of reminder, but other, more political reminders that sports fandom isn’t the same for everyone. From the abandoned stadiums that taxpayers are still stuck with, whether or not they can really afford it. From the professional sports leagues that make players feel like they can’t play openly pregnant, or let players be international stars and don’t get their fair financial share. For players that are supposed to just ignore racism on and off the court or field.I’m not alone.

The Washington City Paper  talked about the contradictions that come up when a team embraces a full spectrum of fans. For every baby shark sing-along and player encouraging people to read and support indie bookstores (and not go to the White House), there were others who were excited for the invitation to be at the White House, one that has yet to be granted to our other championship team.

And when we were at the parade last Saturday, I felt like something was deeply lacking. Namely any band playing go-go or even just one of the local high school bands (S/O to that drill team though!). I’m happy that they had all the Little League groups, but quite honestly, I was bored. In KC, I didn’t even get as far as the main parade grounds (again, those aforementioned crowds), but when I saw the parade on TV, it looked way more festive. Again, I might have said something different if I was closer to the Royals parade and rally. I could tell that the TV crews in DC had time to close the gaps between player buses and the Geico gekko.

And while we took in some of the rally watching at a TV in the middle of the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lane, we had other plans last Saturday evening and thankfully, Metro was running enough trains to get us in and out of downtown in 30 minutes and when we got out to Hyattsville, and changed our plans again, we found a full Whole Foods and its adjacent parking lot. Hopefully all those street vendors who were competing to get us to buy a commemorative shirt from them, sold enough. 

No newspaper will make as bold of an estimate of how many people actually came downtown. However, we are looking at a 2 million person metro area versus a 6 million one with a train system where millions of others could come in within just a few hours. 

The City Paper is one of the places I admire because they, like me, can still cover a sporting event, not just write it off as “random sports ball” and still critique things like the name of the Washington football team. I also love The Undefeated for pushing against the limitations that come from their ownership and Jemele Hill for just being herself. The Players Tribune for allowing players to talk through their motivations and contradictions. And of course all those athletes that use their platforms to stand up (or kneel down) for justice.

And in the meantime, I’ll keep going to sports, I’ll keep working out and polish off my racket and I’ll keep nudging all my teams to not only win their games, but to treat their players, and fans, like the winners they are too.

Other Things on My Mind

Speaking of Kansas City, I strongly support the naming of another street after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The city council voted to change the name in April, but a citywide referendum was placed and voted on on Tuesday that reversed this decision. While it looks like people didn’t want to name any street after Dr. King, I think that there are a litany of streets that could be renamed (my top two choices 39th Street– a key East/West route and J.C. Nichols Parkway, named after a notorious real estate developer who was one of the leading people who pushed federal officials to adopt redlining practices, in a shopping center he built that was originally whites-only). There’s also a Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, and it’s started to get more attention.

Congrats to Reggie Cox for being trusted over the years from being a resident and now executive director of the homeless shelter Charlie’s Place in DC. It’s still rare in any industry, especially in white-led and established organizations, for this trajectory to happen. Many would congratulate him on overcoming homelessness, but honestly, the systems in place that cause so much of that are not on this man. I do hope that he continues to be successful in leadership.

I also congratulate Candace Payne, the black woman realtor who rented hotel rooms for homeless folks in Chicago who were at risk of freezing last winter and is taking larger action so that folks can have permanent homes.

And in Houston, Christopher Senegal for taking his advantages and turning around this block with existing residents and others of lower-incomes in mind.And to Jordan Rhodes for becoming the next licensed black woman architect and continuing that march. Also, another much needed shoutout to friend of the site Katherine Williams for gathering our architectural sisters, and also taking on these documentation projects of black architects and architecture in particular.Not cool, the continued lack of black food critics in media outlets, namely in D.C.

At times it feels like calling these things out is saying that water is wet, but I also finished reading Dorothy Butler Gillam’s memoir reflecting on how she broke the color barrier for black women at the Washington Post, reported on key civil rights movement moments, and helped the Washington Post build a library of cultural articles and a stable of columns from a black woman’s perspective. She helped build what has become the Maynard Institute (and yes, indirectly helped this site and my career), was president of the National Association of Black Journalists during a pivotal moment in its history, coming together with other non-white journalist associations and creating the Unity Convention in 1994 and establishing a program during her last years at the Post to provide technical support to school newspapers throughout the D.C. region. So, there’s hope, folks!

Finally, the United Kingdom recently celebrated its Black History Month and those of us in the States look ahead to February and of course everyday all over the world, this reminder— there is black and gay history.

Before you go…

—Check out the job board. I’m working on a a job board improvement. Look out for that soon. Also let me know if you get any of the jobs or opportunities listed on the board. 

—Buy a bag or t-shirt from The Black Urbanist  store or greeting cards from Les’s Lighthouse. Yeah, the holidays are here, folks. And these are great black queer woman-owned gifts you can give this season!

— Let me come and talk to you about killing your civic-inferiority complex Book me for a lecture, workshop or both.  Also Les, my wonderful life partner and sales director is great at hyping you up, making you laugh and helping you or your organization make radical changes in your life and health Book her too. And listen to my wonderful podcast mentee’s The Crossroads Podcast, which also discusses environmental issues from a black woman’s perspective.

–Finally, encourage others to join you in making a monthly pledge right here. As we close out 2019 and close out the decade over the next year, I’m going to be even more visible and visible about what it takes to do the work. I’m also adding more reward and giving levels and as I promised, you’ll be the first to know about those things. Special thanks to my two newest patrons!

Thanks for reading! You can get these messages in your email, support the platform financially on Patreon and get special bonuses; follow the platform on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN and Instagram and if you missed some of the previous weeklies, check out the archives.

Cityreads, Sports

Sportsball as Community Ball as My Ball

Sportsball as Community Ball as My Ball

We are all Royal. At least we are in Kansas City right now. In both the spirit of the World Series win, me being nostalgic over different pieces of my writing and the fact that IT IS NOW BASKETBALL SEASON, I’m re-working this piece and adding a bit more context around what I’ve seen happen in KC this year and what I already know about my own sportsball fandom. Let’s play ball!

Sports build community. From pride-of-their-suburb Little League teams to pulse-of-their-city World Series pennant holders to that proud handful of farmhouses who raised that NASCAR driver, sports makes a community.

I grew up in a pre-Carolina Panthers, original Charlotte Hornets, retiring Richard Petty, saying hello to Stormy, but never to a Major League Baseball team of it’s own, Greensboro, NC (also known as Tournament Town).

There were these two mystery Coke (and yes, they were actually Coca-Cola) cans in the hall closet next to my bedroom door. One of them looked normal enough, it was bright red and had white lettering. It did have a wolf-head, and the words National Champions 1983 on them. Clearly, that wasn’t so normal. The other one was bright blue and nobody’s soda came in a bright blue can. The ram’s head and the 1982 national championship it honored wasn’t that weird.

IMG_0816

Food cans to support your basketball team aren’t that weird where I’m from. Photo by the author.

I tried being a NASCAR fan for five seconds. No lasting interest in watching cars go around a track. Baseball’s just so much better in person, plus, our beloved Grasshoppers are really the benchwarmers for the Miami Marlins. Too many degrees of separation[Hold this thought, we’ll get back to it soon, in this version].

The Charlotte professional men’s basketball team should have never stopped being the Hornets. Major League Soccer shouldn’t give up on us. Having your football team see the inside of a Super Bowl isn’t too shabby though and hockey’s decent. The Canes do have a Stanley Cup, so I’ve felt what it’s like to have your team be national champions. However, I much rather be at the PNC Arena when the normal HVAC system is operating and I can yell out Wolf and be met with a resounding Pack.

And when your arch rivals are only a few miles away, but still get major airplay on ESPN, this is how you choose your favorite sport. I’m a proud alumna of N.C. State University. That is how I chose my team.

IMG_0682

The only court that matters in my world.  Photo by the author.

And so bracket time is like my Super Bowl. In the weeks leading up to the Big Dance, I’m dancing around my TV at home, watching all the conference tournaments. I’m paying more attention to games when I’m out at networking socials at bars. I’m wearing red, lots of red. And I’m more than ready to make more than one bracket and explain to you why I did.

———–

But that’s March. Now it’s November. If you’ve been following me on Facebook and Twitter these past few weeks, there haven’t been a lot of posts about N.C. State anything, besides a brief one about homecoming. I am proud of the football team doing so well, but they did just lose said homecoming. Business as usual.

I’ve been in a city for almost five months now, that has a handful of college teams of prominence, but none that tickle my fancy the way my Wolfpack do. I hear the Big 12 tournament turns KC into tournament town, we shall see about that.

But this is November. In November, one of those professional teams that plays hundreds of games from April through October with a bat and a ball has beat all the other teams like that that use a bat and a ball. This year, that team is the Kansas City Royals.

When it comes to the National League, because of my affinity for DC, I’m pretty settled on the Washington Nationals as my primary team. If I have to pick a New York team, it’s the Mets. Chicago, the Cubs for the sake of the underdogs. My family members that do follow MLB tend to be Braves fans.

But the reality is, outside of that, prior to this year, as I said above, I was more a fan of the ballpark experience. My first Royals game this year was just that. I was moving to Kansas City, I like going to ballparks, they did go to the World Series last year, let’s check it out.

Now mind you, I have a significant other who can spit out stats and knows all the rules. That also helps.

At this point, let’s get back to that idea that sports build community. When I was thinking about that World Series pennant holder in the first paragraph, I was thinking about the Royals, not the Nats. I’d seen all the #beroyal tweets last year, seemingly from everyone I knew in KC at the time, which was only a handful of folks, and they didn’t seem especially sports crazy.

But I was wrong and now I understand. I’m also going to go ahead and say it: as far as the feelings they invoke and the frenzy they cause, the Royals are Duke and Carolina basketball rolled up into one pretty bow.

The Royals even use both blues, which makes my dressing to support them so much easier. Despite my status as a proud Ms. Wolfpacker, blue, in any shade, is my favorite color and color to wear.

Again, what makes the Royals fandom and playing style like Tobacco Road, despite the fact that there’s a difference in sport, region and level of competition, is that people care so much. I Facebooked this article out Sunday night, just before the game started.

The article shows where the two World Series teams gained new fans this year. The Mets fandom reads like the NYC diaspora. The Royals fandom is centered on a huge blue blob in the dead center of the country. If it weren’t for these Royals, it seems, some of these states out here would have no major national attention, at least the sports world.

Screenshot 2015-11-03 08.04.46

The map itself. Image by Josh Katz and Kevin Quealy for the New York Times The Upshot Blog

Again, outside of the Kansas, Wichita State, Kansas State and Missouri dominance in various sports in their respective leagues there would be nothing that excites the nation about Kansas City sports. The Chiefs don’t consistently dominate enough, at least not in this era. And neither did the Royals, until last year. In fact, they’ve not won a World Series in my lifetime. Until now.

And when your city turns blue at night and you like blue and everybody, from either side of Troost, the state line, the River, the Plaza, inside 435, outside 435, even back home tell you they want to see the Royals win and then celebrate when they do?

Yeah, I might have to be #foreveroyal. Meanwhile, it’s time to #surviveandadvance. Maybe if the Royals can come back from the 80s, the Wolfpack can too.

Also, as a P.S., check out this New York Times article by an Overland Park native, on what it feels like on the ground to have this win here. I’ll also try to Periscope from the parade, but at the very least check me out on there on Wednesday at 5:30 Central for a recap of what I saw, I’ll be tweeting pictures and finally, I’m going to be on Open Source with Christopher Lydon this week talking about Boston, as well. Check your iTunes and your local listings for that.

Commons, Greensboro, Sports

Five Ways to Do Urban Stadiums and Arenas Right

5 Ways to Do Urban Stadiums and Arenas Right- Kristen Jeffers-www.theblackurbanist.com

 

A major battle going on in placemaking circles is that of sports teams and sports venues. How should they be financed? Should they be in open fields or should they take up blocks of downtown districts? What happens to the displaced homeowners and renters? What happens when they fall into disrepair? Who should pay for them and the amenities that they draw, such as hotels, restaurants and even permanent housing and other amusement activities?

In this post, in the continued spirit of March Madness, I’m going to outline my relationship ideas for sports facilities and cities .

Be multipurpose

There are a lot of stadiums built for more than one thing. Lucas Oil Stadium is a Super Bowl site, a NCAA Final Four site and according to its website, also hosts high-school proms. What makes that great is that under the multipurpose model, especially in the era of the retractable roof, you could have one pro stadium.

Yes, depending on how many sports, multi-use would require creative scheduling. Even if you need two or three sports venues, put them on the same ground. That way, you could cluster all your sports and build an entertainment district, and also provide a major transit link, for a lower land cost. There was a pattern of multi-use stadiums in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Good to see some of that still with the new retractable roof models.

Work with the surrounding areas to create and maintain a neighborhood

One of the saddest films I watched when I was in grad school was one on how the people near Brooklyn’s then-proposed Atlantic Yards (now known as Pacific Park) development, home of the Barclays Center, were losing their homes. The few supporters who were African-American and poor seemed lured in by the promise of jobs,  jobs that may or may not pay enough to make a living on and to afford a new apartment in the expensive Brooklyn that was emerging around them.

The history of the area around the yard speaks of hundreds of years of debate, proposals and actions around what should go on the land. Because the majority of the land is a rail yard and a major one at that, various businessmen have wanted to develop it and the municipal leaders of New York have wanted to create a “true downtown district” where so many rail connections are. However, due to the Great Depression and other economic effects, the area became less valuable to the city and other developers and homeowners moved in. Yet, the city and other major power brokers never gave up on wanting the land. It’s a continued battle, but the arena is now open, and some of the new condos are under construction.

Yet, I believe that if you want to build an arena, you can do so in a way and in an area that doesn’t automatically mean condemned homes, acres of parking lot, and unreasonable fantasies (or in the case of Madison Square Garden, the loss of classical architecture and a necessary city function).

While not a perfect example, the Greensboro Coliseum still exists within the realm of the surrounding neighborhood. There are a handful of restaurants nearby and the neighborhood is still a working class neighborhood, but with a clean, safe supermarket, drug store and library nearby. I’m going to pause here, because my own coliseum helps us illustrate another point.

Turn a profit and use those profits to reinvest, not subsidies from your government

The Greensboro Coliseum makes money. Because it’s an entertainment complex and serves that multipurpose function I mentioned in the first section, it’s a city-owned enterprise that generates revenue for itself. Its director makes six figures, mainly because he turns a profit. Did I mention this is a city-owned enterprise?.

The revenues also allow it to constantly maintain an upgraded appearance and various revenue-generating activities to take place in the parking lot.

Other cities can do this as well, if they are smart about booking seats, exhibitions, performers and the like that will help their arenas and stadiums make a profit. While not every stadium project guarantees a fan base, if your team is already selling out your current arena, that’s a great place to start. Even better if there are multiple teams using the space. Then, if you are in the middle of your state or region, or have good public transit connections, you can attract other events to your property.

The key here is keeping it simple. Yes, luxury boxes are nice, but how many of those really pay for the millions, sometimes billions, that go into modern stadiums? Do people who operate these facilities not see the potential in making concessions money and paying off their bonds that way? Will banks not lend to these facilities as stand alone facilities, not ones that are dependent on taxpayer largess?

Essentially, if you are in a larger, centrally located, densely developed location, with proper provisions for traffic and transit, you can and should consider an arena or stadium project. If you think this will put your city on the map, please don’t, it won’t. People attend conventions based off a city’s reputation, and sports games based on winning records. If all you have are major performers, then stick with a large auditorium or an amphitheater.

Do use the facility as justification for public transit, affordable housing and other public services

Although the ultimate Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park proposal mandated affordable housing and other community services , there are questions about what affordability means. Globally, construction costs and land values have made rents and base home prices rise.

Meanwhile, if you are getting tons of revenue from your entertainment venue, consider a massive subsidy for housing on the property. Deck your parking and build homes with a mix of incomes there. Or if you can’t get housing, put offices and restaurants there, with lower rents to allow for more small business and start-up venues.

Or, if you insist on having the massive surface parking lot, rent it out as a park-and-ride lot when no events are there. Greensboro Coliseum’s spare parking lot is a park and ride for UNC Greensboro. Without that permit, I wouldn’t have had guaranteed campus parking for my first year of graduate school.

Also, with your lot as a park-and-ride and the potential for such, building it in a way that allows for the entertainment venue, the homes (and people who don’t mind living near what could be a nuisance) and the parking lot could be a driver for a major transit hub.

Know how to shut it down or make it something else

The Urban Land Institute just released a study of how Houston’s now-unused Astrodome can connect with public transportation, house a historical museum, become the city’s next park and a host of other adaptive reuse and even event uses. In years past, an empty stadium would be a liability. In today’s web-driven, crowdfunded entertainment industry, people are always looking for venue.

For example, the Station to Station project, a corporate-sponsored private train that took artists and musicians across the country in September 2013, used such places as a historic hotel’s outdoor courtyard, a large trackside parking lot, an old drive-in movie theater, and the grounds of an abandoned former train station as performance venues.

Price that older venue, as a value, then it will always be filled and turn as much of a profit as your old stadium. Do not use this as an excuse to build a new stadium when demand is not there.

If the stadium out lives it’s value, tear it down or sell it to someone else with no shame. If the stadium still has value, don’t give into people who think a new stadium will some how be better, when that stadium will have to make millions to pay for itself over time.

Conclusions

In short, it comes down to this: provide sports and entertainment venues. They are great opportunities for public-private partnership and to leverage private investment to serve public purposes, as long as the local government plans carefully and follows through on its plans. Create a fair taxing structure or encourage a billionaire to come in and pay for it. Keep it working and build it well the first time to save on future maintenance costs.

Make it fit in to the urban fabric, close to transit and with bars and restaurants a short walk away, and don’t give in to unreasonable parking demands. Push for affordable housing and major transit improvements, along with other infrastructure that will not only benefit the facility, but also the entire city .

You can still be an urbanist and support an arena. You just have to do it in the right way.

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Cities, March Madness, Sports, transit

How to Make a Men’s NCAA Basketball Bracket, if You Are a Tobacco Road Urbanist

Sports build community. From pride-of-their-suburb Little League teams, to pulse-of-their-city World Series pendant holders to that proud handful of farmhouses who raised that NASCAR driver, sports makes a community.

I grew up in a pre-Carolina Panthers, original Charlotte Hornets, retiring Richard Petty, saying hello to Stormy, but never to a Major League Baseball team of it’s own, Greensboro, NC (also known as Tournament Town).

There were these two mystery Coke (and yes, they were actually Coca-Cola) cans in the hall closet next to my bedroom door. One of them looked normal enough, it was bright red and had white lettering. It did have a wolf-head, and the words National Champions 1983 on them. Clearly, that wasn’t so normal. The other one was bright blue and nobody’s soda came in a bright blue can. The ram’s head and the 1982 national championship it honored wasn’t that weird.

I tried being a NASCAR fan for five seconds. No lasting interest in watching cars go around a track. Baseball’s just so much better in person, plus, our beloved Grasshoppers are really the benchwarmers for the Miami Marlins. Too many degrees of separation.

The Charlotte professional men’s basketball team should have never stopped being the Hornets. Major League Soccer shouldn’t give up on us. Having your football team see the inside of a Super Bowl isn’t too shabby though and hockey’s decent. However, I much rather be at the PNC Arena when the normal HVAC system is operating and I can yell out Wolf and be met with a resounding Pack.

And when your arch rivals are only a few miles away, but still get major airplay on ESPN, this is how you choose your favorite sport. I’m a proud alumna of N.C. State University. That is how I chose my team.

And so bracket time is like my Super Bowl. In the weeks leading up to the Big Dance, I’m dancing around my TV at home, watching all the conference tournaments. I’m paying more attention to games when I’m out at networking socials at bars. I’m wearing red, lots of red. And I’m more than ready to make more than one bracket and explain to you why I did.

However this year, bracket building is too simplistic. After all, it’s about predicting the winners right? Under that logic your bracket should just read KENTUCKY and nothing else. My alma matter is in this year (and in in a decent space) and that version of my bracket reads NC STATE in all caps.

So I decided to put my urbanist hat on and be creative for my third and most serious bracket. Introducing the 2015 Kristen Jeffers- The Black Urbanist NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Bracket:

Click here to get the whole thing, in a legible size.

Things you need to remember about this bracket:

  • Transit and connectivity win over-all
  • North Carolina cities/towns are the next winners, because I’m going to rep my home state
  • N.C State will win its division, because it’s my own school and I love Raleigh
  • I counted suburban schools as part of their major metro area (Villanova, Maryland, etc.)
  • The First Four get no real stake in this bracket
  • Wisconsin is actually good, and could win. Madison is also good, but not as connected as a region

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and seeing your picks. Also, please take some time and watch the ladies basketball tournament. No picks on that side. I just like watching them play.

Check this post out on Medium!

Cities, Cityreads, Sports

Placebook: Tournament Town

 

Watching my NC State Wolfpack at a mid-day Quarterfinal Game in 2013. Sometimes, this is a workday.
Watching my NC State Wolfpack at a mid-day Quarterfinal Game in 2013. Sometimes, this is a workday.

There’s this thing that grips Greensboro every March and it’s called Tournament Town. Banners are posted along light posts downtown and down the side of the coliseum, whether we are actually hosting an ACC Tournament. In recent years, we’ve also had NCAA first and second round games and of course the ACC lore speaks of men’s tournaments turned epic and national champions rendered speechless in defeat. Oh and depending on the weather and the games, an actual town of sorts sprouts in the parking lot of the Coliseum. Oh and just like the poster above, we’ve modified it for other sports, but it really rings true for basketball.

However, the first whispers that happened when the ACC  began to expand was that we would no longer be prime real estate for the men’s tournament. Women’s yes, but sadly women’s basketball is just recognizing its potential, at least among the media hype set. Those of us who go to games enjoy them and know their intensity, but the world doesn’t look our way in the same way they do when the men’s tournament is in town. (Also, you can get food in a decent amount of time at Stameys, just sayin’).

Our fears were confined once again when news broke of a Barclays Center tournament in 2017 and a Verizon Center one in 2016, both of course very neutral, but also in the two major East Coast metropolitan areas. For a small city that is very concerned with our reputation and our economic recovery and status, this could mean doom. Also the conference is headquartered in Greensboro and began at the Sedgefield Country Club, just outside the city.We also spent money to put an ACC museum in at the coliseum. Or, it could just mean that for a couple of years, the women get a chance to shine on their own and show us just as much good basketball. (And for those of you looking for dunks, I saw very few this year in the men’s tournament, you aren’t missing much).

So as we fill our brackets this year and hope our Cinderellas and Diaper Dandies and favorite mascots make things happen, we will continue and hope that we can at least have basketball stay ours one more year. And with that, your daily news roundup:

ICYMI: My thoughts on where Trader Joe’s, if they consider Greensboro again, could go. Also, the Hobbs-Friendly property rezoning request has been withdrawn.

The Greensboro City Council Agenda for Tuesday night. Congrats to Mayor Vaughn (and the rest of the council) on their first 100 days in office.

Introducing the Creamery, a new ice cream and burger spot in downtown Greensboro.

How historic preservation tax credits have boosted the economy in Guilford County.

According to Trulia, Raleigh has one of the lowest rates of income inequality in the country.

Now the Cape Fear River could have some dirty water, courtesy of Duke Energy.

More on Bertie County’s If You Built It documentary and project.

More people are recycling in Forsyth County.

Another historic house could go to the wrecking ball due to failure to comply with minimum housing standards, this time in Winston-Salem.

Wilmington city leaders are moving community meetings to bars and restaurants.

Pender County turkey farmers and the county commissioners are debating over the tax rates on land rendered useless by the closing of processing facilities in the county.

Greenville community members came together on Saturday to review the Tar River Legacy Plan. Greenville is also wrestling with rental properties and new rules to govern them.

Why the citizens of Tabor City are celebrating a tree.

Pinehurst residents and business owners are warming to a high-end development on a controversial property.

North Carolina’s got snowy owls too and they are showing up on the Outer Banks.

The Winston-Salem city-sponsored gun buyback programs have been successful.

Several Charlotte-area charter schools are violating the Open Meetings Law.

Why the Asheville abortion clinic closed.

A community forum will be held today on Asheville water service.

Asheville artists came together on a mural at the Asheville Boys and Girls Club.

And finally, The state has yet to start work on a sea-level change prediction that’s due next year.