Scouting Indy (2)

The Indy Star has a Let It Out column. Readers can submit short rants anonymously. Here's one from yesterday:

The RCA Dome is around 20 years old, so the city has secured a 35-year loan for
a new dome. Will it last only 20 years, too?

I went past the site of the new dome. I'd have taken a picture, but well, just visualize a giant pile of dirt. They haven't gotten very far.

Problem: right next to the new site is a bean factory. Of course they want to buy the land, and apparently they've offered to relocate the factory and build him a new one. But the owner's ostensible reason for wanting to stay put is that it would negatively affect his workers, who would find it difficult to travel to a different neighborhood.

My theory — and it's only a theory — is that the owner likes the thought of having an office right next to the stadium. He could conceivably watch the game from the plant. I mean, imagine the improved morale from the company parties for home games. (Especially if he could get a building permit to add a glass-topped tower on the side, or something. But I doubt that would happen.)

He's letting the construction workers park for free now. (Skip the top part of the column about Giambi the Disco Deer. No, really.) But I bet he could make some nice money on the side by selling parking spots to game attendees.

In its first issue of 2006, ESPN the Magazine ran an article suggesting that Tony Dungy was underappreciated for his role in the team's dominance. I shot this picture a few hours before James Dungy's death was announced; at least locally he's getting some credit. (And let's not forget Dungy Drive.)