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Colorado just isn't doing enough to attract an enlightened corporation like Nike, the sneaker company which may build an administrative facility atop South Table Mountain near Golden.
Part of the problem might be that many Coloradans feel that they're already doing enough to support big-time sporting organizations.
For instance, I just got a notice from the local cable monopoly, TCI, headquartered in Colorado. As you may have guessed, rates are not going down on account of improved technology. Nor is TCI going to upgrade our 33-channel system to the 50-plus channels that it offers for the same rates in other areas.
No, we'll get the same stuff, but we'll pay more for it. Part of the reason we have to pay more is that TCI has to pay more for the channels it carries. Those outfits have to charge more because, well, remember the billions that TV networks just spent for NFL broadcast rights?
So we all get to pay a little more each month, and that money will find its way to the multi-million-per-year NFL athletes and the multi-millionaire team owners. Trickle-up economics would be a wonderful thing, I suppose, if I could just figure out how to get on the other end of the trickle.
The last time I complained publicly about TCI, one of its officials pointed out that we customers shouldn't request certain programming, because that creates a public demand that the programmers will use in order to get TCI to pay more, which raises cable costs. TCI, concerned about its subscribers, really wants to keep rates down -- and those of us who'd like to see CSPAN, who don't want to be marketed to Rupert Murdoch, who prefer an assortment of public TV channels -- we should just be quiet.
So, if you're a TCI subscriber and want to keep rates down, advise them that you're not interested in NFL games, that you'd prefer that ESPN's channels were not on your system, etc. This doesn't have to be the truth, but this is how TCI suggests that we help keep its rates in bounds.
A recent letter in the Post suggested that there be a surcharge for sports programming on TCI. Those who want to watch could pay an extra couple dollars a month, and the rest of us wouldn't have to pay for something we don't want.
But that's simple fairness, and we were talking about TCI.
Now ponder the proposal to build a new stadium for Patrick Bowlen. Never mind that every Bronco home game in decades has been sold out -- Colorado just doesn't do enough to support the team.
As it is, the owners of Mile High Stadium insist on collecting some rent, and this is intolerable to Bowlen. Other teams in other cities get a better deal, and he needs the same sort of subsidies in order to field a competitive team, and if he can't get the money from the public treasury here, he won't move the team -- he'll just sell it to someone who will.
Now, a sensible person might suggest looking into the federal tax code and finding a way to outlaw these subsidies, so that there wouldn't be a competition among American cities for the privilege of beggaring themselves to be in the major leagues -- but again, that would send the wrong message, that Colorado isn't doing enough.
So, we should gladly pay the higher cable rates, and we shouldn't even bother with the stadium election, since some Coloradans could shirk their duty with the seditious thought that they need their money worse than some 25-year-old making $3.1 million a year.
As for Nike, we should install a big illuminated swoosh on the east side of South Table Mountain. It should thus be visible even from DIA, and new arrivals will know who's in charge here.
The state should repeal any wage and hour laws that might interfere with Nike's standard business practices in its manufacturing facilities -- we could bring home some of those fine $3-a-day jobs, and reduce Nike's administrative costs, too.
Last fall, I was sitting with a friend when the CU
football coach appeared on the tube, his swoosh prominent.
That's disgusting,
I said, he's a state
employee.
But Nike pays him a lot more than the state does,
my friend observed.
This suggests that we could save the expense of operating our state government. The governor, attorney general, legislators, supreme court justices, etc. -- they could all have bright red Nike swooshes tattooed across their foreheads, and in return, Nike could pay their salaries. Officials who get on TV a lot, like Roy Romer lately, should get bonuses.
These steps may seem extreme, but they're necessary. Colorado got a flaky reputation in 1972 when we voted against any public subsidy for the 1976 Winter Games. Since then, our economy has gone down the skids, population growth has halted and Denver has gained world renown as a sorry town for sports. Who knows what other horrors lurk unless we make Nike feel welcome?
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