Scofflaws rejoice!
For those of you who park in the city limits, your chances of getting a ticket have been reduced by about 66 percent. Parking enforcement has become a casualty of the latest budget cuts.
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Hockeytown
While I resisted the urge and made no mention of the Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup run this year, I couldn’t be prouder of my boyhood team. I left for vacation the day after they won it all so I didn’t have the time to compose my thoughts and since it’s a week and a half later, I wanted to lash out at the smarmy anti-Detroit writers who like to pick apart the city any chance they get.
The latest round of salvos came during this year’s playoff run when, in the first round, there were a few unsold seats. It wasn’t like the Atlanta Braves scenario, where good SECTIONS were available for many playoff games during their 14 year playoff run; rather there were a few seats here and there no occupied. If you factor in that the economy of Michigan is completely in the crapper and has been for three decades, playoff tickets prices in the NHL are quite expensive, the foregone conclusion that they will make the playoffs (17 years in a row and counting), and add the allure of warmer spring weather, the fact that they continue to populate 99% of their arena for a first round playoff game speaks volumes to the Wings’ fans dedication. This changed in the later playoff rounds.
The media, seemingly forgetful that this team has sold out its arena for almost every Red Wings game since the early 1990s, pounced on this like nothing I’ve seen before. Derisive stories mushroomed from the caves of these Neanderthals about how Detroit isn’t “Hockeytown” anymore, even though these idiots were from cities where their own arenas have trouble selling out. For anyone who failed to notice the first 3 Stanley Cup celebration parades that exceeded One Million people, this year's celebration topped 1.4 MILLION people. Keep in mind the city of Detroit, suburbs excluded, has less than a million people. Do those ill-informed writers and radio/TV personalities want to recant their utterly asinine ramblings about how Detroit isn’t a Hockeytown?
As my buddy Tim, who works at Joe Louis Arena and can confirm that the place was packed, he compared the 1.4 million parade fans to recent Cup winners – Dallas (80,000), Tampa (100,000), and Anaheim (200,000). To hell with being diplomatic – anyone who disses Detroit as a Hockeytown is incorrect and they can all Go Screw. Even more telling was how well the TV ratings were in Detroit given the fact that the Detroit Pistons had THREE conference final games played at the same time as the Red Wing’s Stanley Cup games.
Here is the beer I celebrated the Red Wings’ 4th Stanley Cup celebration in 11 years with. I thought that a bottle of Allagash Victor was an appropriately titled beer to celebrate with.
