Pucks vs. books: Debate has taken a disturbing turn
It’s all been rather amusing watching the Calgary Flames arena debate unfold the last couple of weeks.
From ringette parents’ parties to newsroom debates, everyone’s got an opinion. Some put the black hat on Mayor Naheed Nenshi, and some put it on Flames boss Ken King. NHL mayoral candidate Gary Bettman is always wearing the black hat.
But recently, the discourse has taken a rather disturbing turn, as people start casting aspersions at our library system, and, in particular, the centrepiece New Central Library, due to open next fall.
“The other cities have new arenas and stadiums, but all we got is a new library,” sniffs one view, sounding like the disappointed kid at Christmas who’d rather have a BB gun than a new pair of winter boots.
However, if I were on the Flames’ side of this debate, I wouldn’t be poking my Bauer Vapor 1X Griptac composite stick at the library system and, by association, its users. You just might get an elbow to your argument.
Past statistics have shown that Calgary has the second-most active library system in Canada. If there’s one thing many Calgarians know how to do, it’s read.
From their local library branch, they just might pick up the book Stadium Games: Fifty Years of Big League Greed and Bush League Boondoggles, by Jay Weiner (call no.: 796. 06873 WEI). The author outlines the historically poisonous situation in Minnesota over the battles to build new stadiums.
No one wants that situation here after many years of relatively harmonious relations.
For those looking for something specifically on the economics of sports, the library’s collection is a bit thin.
However, there’s The Economics of Sports, by Michael Leeds (338. 43796 LEE 2008). Unfortunately, the textbook’s description doesn’t reveal its take on the oft-cited and oft-refuted economics of arenas and stadiums.
For that you’d have to buy Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums, edited by Roger G. Noll and Andrew Zimbalist. (Available online. Thanks, Amazon.ca, you’re the best!) The book concludes, with statistics and case studies, that arenas and stadiums contribute very little to local economies, and often fail to pay back the tax dollars invested.
Or they might pick up The Instigator: How Gary Bettman Remade the League and Changed the Game Forever, by Jonathon Gatehouse (796. 962092 BET G). Surprisingly to most Canadians, it seems to be a balanced look at the man (he can barely skate!) and his changes to the NHL since he took over as commissioner.
Let’s start at the beginning. Readers know that arenas and stadiums all began with the ancient Romans, and the grand-daddy of them all. Read The Roman Colosseum: the Story of the World’s Most Famous Stadium and Its Deadly Games, by Elizabeth Mann (J 937 MAN).
The Colosseum was built to distract Romans from their failing economy. Some things never change. But we can all use a little distraction and even inspiration now and then.
For that, pick up Invictus: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made A Nation, by John Carlin (968. 065 MAN C 2009 and also available on DVD).
Although the Flames have said negotiations are as dead as a defeated gladiator, both sides may want to take a few tips from the master — Trump: The Art of the Deal, by Donald Trump (333. 33092 TRU T).
“I like thinking big. I always have. To me it’s very simple: If you’re going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big.” — Donald J. Trump (library catalogue blurb).
It’s a popular book, from a guy who supposedly reads very little, with four holds on only eight library copies (at time of writing), despite the plunging credibility of its author to negotiate anything with even his own party.
A far more valuable read these days would be The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, by Brad Stone (available as book and, appropriately, as an ebook).
In this high-tech age, I don’t think Calgary wants to be known as the city that favours arenas over libraries. Let’s turn the page on that idea.