For years I, along with many others, have enjoyed going to Memorial Stadium and running up and down the steps as we attempt to punish ourselves on a regular basis. I've been out there running bleachers regardless of the weather. 104 degrees, 20 degrees, rain, sun, didn't matter.
Unfortunately, this tradition has come to an end thanks to a few changes made at the stadium recently. This week I went to the stadium for my weekly workout at lunch and voila, there was a heavy gate with a keypad in front of it, similar to those seen at apartment complexes. A quick call the to stadium revealed that the stadium is now closed off to runners. I spoke to the manager, Mike Marsh today and found out why the stadium is now closed to Jacksonians.
The new gates were funded by Homeland Security. Mr. Marsh said Homeland Security is tightening stadium access across the country. For some strange reason, Homeland Security seems to think a single person walking around an empty stadium (and thus, very visible) is more of a threat than someone who is able to "case" a stadium during a football game when he is hidden by 20,000 people. Mr. Marsh said that in order to qualify for the grant, management had to restrict access to the stadium during the day.
Mr. Marsh also said they were having a problem with homeless people walking around (never mind all the times I've been there I've never seen one), people leaving trash ( despite the 20,000 drunks trashing the place every Saturday night), and people running on the seats themselves (guess he hasn't been to an actual football game there. He might be surprised at the punishment dished out to those seats). I suggested he post a sign requiring runners to sign in on a list at the office and write down their license numbers but was told Homeland Security made that impossible. (My impression was he was not interested at all in accommodating local runners but instead was more than happy to pass the back off to the federal government).
I wrote this a year ago: "This town is getting to where you can't have any damn fun. Want to take your kids to play golf? Want to ride go-carts? Batting cages? Ride some rides? Forget it. Want to go to a water park without driving an hour only to find out it is filled to capacity? You are out of luck. Want to go hear some music and have a drink while enjoying a nice day the water as we used to do at the Dock? Don't bother. Want to go to a bar like the Subway in the old days and hear some music all night long? Mac don't want you to have fun. Feel like having a smoke or enjoying a cigar at a place where the owner allows you to do so? The Smoke Nazis want you to go to hell. Want to enjoy some greenery downtown? Don't worry about it as Watkins and his bunch bulldozed the last section of grass downtown instead of all the old buildings screaming to be torn down. Like the way development is spread out on I-55 North as you drive by the Deaf School? HA!! Duckworth wants a nice concrete jungle in its place."
Just one more thing we can no longer enjoy in Jackson.
3 comments:
I doubt the fence was put up to keep the homeless out. That being said, the campaign to dislocate and intimidate our homeless and downtrodden, from Fondren to Downtown, is disgusting. You'd think we'd hear about this effort from our alternative press but since their bailout by DJP they don't touch those issues.
Funny how you can go to the med school library, state law library, and other state facilities and simply write down your name and license number but can't for this. Just more proof of lazy bureaucrats.
Just your tax dollars at work. If you have anything or everything at all that needs to be fixed, just say "it's for the children" or "it for Homeland Security." For best results claim it is both. And to keep the homeless out of view, well that's a bonus.
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