9 APR 08: HALF-PIPE UP
Tuesday was a perfect day for getting outside and working out. In fact, I did that a little in mid-afternoon. I took the floor mats out of the back seats of my car, and gave them a thorough vacuuming.
There's plenty of room to work out at South Commons - and in a few weeks, there will be something new to do there. Construction is well underway on a new "skate park." Please note this is different from a state park. For one thing, politicians usually don't go to state parks and make statements.
After years of promises and planning, the South Commons Skate Park is being built between Golden Park and the Columbus Civic Center. By "skating," we mean skateboards and roller blades -- except for once about every five years, when there's an ice storm downtown.
The new skate park is being built with a bowl and ramps, so users can pick up speed to do their stunts. I'm tempted to say you shouldn't date a skateboarder - because he might not really want to level with you.
(After taking a closer look at the schematic drawings, it has stairs as well as ramps. I guess that means it's accessible to disabled skateboarders - or those who slip, and become that way.)
The Tuesday evening news also indicated the new skate park will have "half-pipes." Some older people I know don't quite grasp what that means. And sadly, a few guess it has something to do with crack cocaine.
A schematic drawing for the skate park was shown on the Tuesday evening news. The design is the work of "California Skateparks." That name might explain why there's a budget of $700,000 to build it.
California Skateparks has built, well, skate parks from coast to coast. The "portfolio" section of its web site showed one in Wichita, Kansas which appeared to be built under a freeway. We certainly want the skateboarders to feel right at home....
But of course, that's the complain many skateboarders in Columbus have had for years. They don't have a home, for doing their tricks. So they've used everything from statues on the Riverwalk to the Olympic memorial in South Commons. Thankfully, no one's tried to jump on top of the heads of those cast-iron children playing softball.
Former Columbus Council candidate Jeremy Hobbs lobbied against the South Commons location for the skate park last year. He claimed it might bring crime to the neighborhood. But he might not realize the skateboarders were doing stunts there already - and unlike some people who hang around South Commons, they don't beg passers-by for money.
I heard one man say Tuesday he doesn't like the idea of tax money being used for a skate park. But it's possible tax money was being used, for the lack of a skate park - as boarders chipped away at public stairs, until they have to be rebuilt.
E-MAIL UPDATE: The words of praise flowed our way Tuesday, even though we didn't have that much to do with the NCAA men's basketball final at all....
The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Memphis Tigers 75-68 in OT to win the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship." came flashing on my Twitter, just thought I'd send you an e-mail of congratuation - looks like it's '88 all over again!
Aaron
Thank you, Aaron, on behalf of all Kansas.... hey, wait a minute! It flashed on your Twitter?! If this man was in Nashville, would it be called a Conway Twitter?
As promised, your blog called WEAM-AM's "In the Zone" Tuesday to gloat chat about the Kansas win. I mentioned another amazing parallel I discovered between the 1988 and 2008 title teams. Mario Chalmers's dad was hired as K.U. "Director of Basketball Operations," just as Ed Manning was hired to assist son Danny Manning 20 years ago. So why didn't our current President Bush name his dad a White House adviser?
The Jayhawk triumph even inspired an e-mail from a long-lost Columbus TV meteorologist:
Richard,
I'm proud of your Jayhawks! KU put me over the top to win the office pool this year!
Hope all is well with you in Columbus.
Joshua McKinney
They congratulate me on the win - but will they give me a cut of the profits? I'm not holding my breath on that one....
Joshua McKinney is busy these days watching the weather for "News 14" in Raleigh, North Carolina. So first Roy Williams roots for Kansas to win, and now a SECOND person in North Carolina does the same -- a man who went to college in Kentucky at that! This basketball bandwagon might roll all the way to next March.
I might have done well in an office pool on the NCAA men's basketball tournament as well -- but I don't play at the office. They do it for money, and that's technically illegal gambling. I don't want those HOPE scholars starting a protest march outside the building -- much less call police.
So this year, I put together a bracket in a free contest Yahoo conducted. Two of my "Final Four" teams were right - but I had so many slips along the way that I wound up in the "88th percentile," out of about two million contestants. Without a Kansas win, I would have been a 30th-percentile flunkie.
Let's check some other Tuesday news items, while basking in the afterglow....
+ Which local TV news anchor just found out she's pregnant? How do you train a baby to keep quiet at both 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., anyway?
+ Columbus Council postponed a vote on a resolution, concerning the one-cent sales tax proposal. The resolution is an "expression of intent" that the tax money will be used for public safety and road work. Perhaps the city attorney needed to remove any language that might seem to include the word "park."
+ Knoxville knocked out the Columbus Cottonmouths 6-3, in a showdown hockey playoff game. Every time the Ice Bears scored, the Knoxville crowd chanted: "You s**k!" That seems rather harsh - but imagine if the Tennessee football team has any more losing seasons.
+ Smiths Station edged Opelika 6-5 in high school baseball. It's Opelika's first loss of the year - so they're now 28 and 1, instead of 29 and OHS.
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BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 613 (- 14, 2.2%)
TRUDGE REPORT, DAY 38: Spring cleaning, 120 minutes. Total: 121.8 miles run, 14.5 walked
The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.
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