Kenny

Husband, girl dad, originally from NKY and now in Wisconsin. Avid Cincinnati Reds and Bengals fan.

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@S_M_MMB @MumfordAndSons @ofcwrigleyfield @dylangossett @Caamp And when is said show?

[Yogi @Houseofyogi]

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921.

They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year.

Think about how badly you have to run a place for that to be the smart move.

They lost them for two reasons.

The people running Illinois would rather villainize a builder than keep one. And they're bad at their jobs.

In 2021 the Bears spent $197M on the old Arlington Park racetrack.

Before they could break ground, Cook County valued the empty lot at $192M (Bears said $60M). They were salivating at the chance to extort a building that didn't even exist yet.

That fight dragged on for years.

The Bears were ready to put $2B into the stadium. All they wanted was a promise the county wouldn't reassess them into oblivion, plus $855M for infrastructure everyone uses. Roads, transit, utilities. A $3B project, two thirds of it private money pouring into Illinois.

Springfield had since 2021 to get this done. They dragged it to the final night of session, passed it through the Senate at 3:39AM, and the House went home without voting.

So now it's all gone.

The funniest part? This started because Cook County tried to grab the tax early. They knew a built stadium would pay $53M a year. Now they get under $4M on a vacant lot. No jobs, no buildout, no new anything.

Congrats on fighting for scraps and losing the whole prize.

Pritzker: they're "an $8.5B valued business" that doesn't need propping up.

But be smart for a second. Almost every NFL city throws in public money for a stadium. Not charity. The return is real. Tourism, hotels, restaurants, jobs, game days, property tax on a huge development. The math works.

Indiana did the math. While Illinois sat on it for years, Indiana passed a bill in months, put up $1B, and took the team.

And the Bears took a worse deal to get there. In Illinois they were going to own their stadium. In Indiana they rent it from the state. A team that wanted to build its own home gave up ownership just to escape Chicago.

Nobody won but Indiana. The Bears lost their stadium. Illinois lost the team, the $2B, and $53M a year in taxes.

Pritzker after they left: "I wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team."

There it is. "Billionaire-owned."

That's how Democrats talk about any business right before they run it out of town. Call them a billionaire, act like you're saving working families, take a victory lap while the tax base drives across the state line.

Meanwhile they're running the whole state into the ground. And you already know how this ends. You're living in it.

Pensions are $143B in the hole, worst in the country and not close. You pay $6,285 a year in property taxes, double the $2,969 national average, for a city that's $1.15B in the red. The mayor called its finances "the point of no return."

When you run things this badly, you sell what's left.

They leased the parking meters for 75 years to Morgan Stanley and a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Took $1.15B and burned through it in two years. The investors already made it all back, with 58 years left to collect.

Sold the Skyway. Sold the downtown garages. Every asset that made money, gone for one check.

But a fixed property tax rate for a team that's been here 106 years? That's "propping up billionaires."

Companies are leaving. Boeing for Virginia. Caterpillar for Texas. Citadel for Miami. In 2023 alone Illinois lost 56,000 people and $6B in income to other states. The ones who left earned a third more than the ones who moved in.

Indiana didn't outbid anyone. AAA credit, 16 years straight. A $676M surplus. Fourth-lowest debt per person in the country. They just weren't a disaster.

Illinois could have collected $53M a year. It chose zero. Ignore all the bad management but make sure to stick it to those evil, pesky billionaires.

[Adam Carolla @adamcarolla]

Do we need to talk about everything

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@UDCincyFan It certainly doesn’t help his defensive play in center field.

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

The #Reds bullpen is awful!

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

I guess that answers the question if Ashcraft can be the closer for the #Reds

[LanceMcAlister @LanceMcAlister]

This saddens me. Traci and the Reality Tuesday crew are really good people. Part of the fabric of NKY for a quarter century. I've spent many mornings grabbing a Jack Bauer coffee with a breakfast sandwich over the years. I've always appreciated seeing and feeling the sense of community when I walk in. They know their customers. They talk with their customers. I enjoyed just sitting at a table, watching, listening and reading an old school newspaper. Please consider helping. I'd like to think NKY has their back. https://t.co/H3x0OwaXtp

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@cutler1300 @ESPNRadioLex I can’t even….😫😫😫

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

My blood pressure can’t take this hockey game. #U.S.A. 🇺🇸

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@Skyline_Chili Upper right #IYKYK

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@LanceMcAlister Top of the muffin to ya

[Alex Triantafilou 🇺🇸🐘🇺🇸 @ChairmanAlex]

A good man. God bless Coach Taylor. 🙏

[Kelsey Conway @KelseyLConway]

A true act of genoristy and compassion in the darkest of times.

Here is the story behind how #Bengals head coach Zac Taylor stepped in and helped when @ByJayMorrison tragically lost his wife, Nicki, in December:

https://t.co/lxQBmAcrQL

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@Dapieslinger @LanceMcAlister Shovel with the cracks Coleman!

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@LndsPatterson The best!

[Jay Morrison @ByJayMorrison]

We said our goodbyes to Nicki last night in the most appropriately meaningful way, with a hero’s Honor Walk. I need to advise that the video might be hard to watch, seeing her in that state. But we are sharing it in order to help bring awareness and positivity to the beautiful act of organ donation. True to her selfless spirit and soul until the very end, she will be giving people she never met the greatest of Christmas gifts.

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

So glad the @Bengals traded Logan Wilson so we are left with trash linebackers.

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

I can’t help but laugh anymore about this @Bengals defense trying to guard a tight end.

[Kenny @crawfish2337]

@RapSheet This is not worthy news Ian!