It Ain't Just Hockey, Al

Dear Al Franken,

You wouldn't remember this Al, because you out gallivanting with fancy celebrities in New York, but the City of Saint Paul, not that long ago, was in dire straits. Businesses were closing up shop, crime was up, vandalism was rampant, and there was a generally accepted notion that Saint Paul was not long from the same fate as Gary, IN: a once proud city that had become trapped in a vortex of accelerated decrepitude.

It was bad. I know because I saw it.

Saint Paul was not unlike a boxer bleeding on the mat in a championship fight with a referee leaning over it counting to ten; beat up, down & out, not much time left. Lots of folks had given up on her.

But a determined young man, a local boy with house on Osceola, came along and said the Proud Lady--the City of Saint Paul had better days ahead.

He was persuasive enough to get elected Mayor.

That young man was Norm Coleman.

While others had given up on Saint Paul, Norm went to work. He revitalized a city many thought was dead. He brought back the lights, he brought back the businesses and he brought back hockey.

Now you, Al, might think that bringing back hockey to Minnesota is something to denigrate, something to laugh at. But to Saint Paul and to the Great State of Minnesota bringing back hockey was a monumental accomplishment. Hockey fills the Excel Arena with 15-16,000 cheering fans 41 nights a year. It packs the restaurants, cafes, pubs and parking lots and brings economic vitality to a downtown that was on life-support prior to the Norm Coleman Administration. The positive economic impact of hockey in Saint Paul is enormous.

It also helped put Saint Paul back on the map as a leading national city--any city that can attract a major sports franchise is doing something right. The competition for pro sports is serious business.

And bringing back Minnesota's state sport contributed to a general rise in optimism among the people. I know because I was thrilled that hockey came back and so was just about everybody I knew.

Why you think that is funny and something to dismiss is beyond me, and certainly beyond the vast majority of Minnesotans. But we are learning, thankfully so, that how you think and how you approach issues is contrary to how Minnesotans think, and how Minnesotans view important issues like economic development.

So Al, it ain't just hockey. It's Minnesota/Saint Paul Pride! It's economic development! It's jobs in the Capital City!

You might think that things like that don't matter, but Minnesota does.

Thank goodness they mattered to Norm.

Thanks goodness he did something about it.

_________________

Mike Campbell
mikecampbellwork@yahoo.com