Put your money where your mouth is.......

Detroit Three find hope in centerfield.
This certainly tells you something about the man.

When the Tigers open their season this week, fans will look to
centerfield at Comerica Park and see the greenery, the flagpoles and
the giant fountain. And, as usu*al, every time there’s a Detroit home
run, those fountains will erupt.
That spot, in the stadium business, is what they call prime real
estate. Companies pay big money to have their logo smack dab in the
middle, so that every time fans gaze out there, the brand is what they
see.
For the last few years, General Motors has spon*sored that
fountain, and paid a substantial fee to do so. This season, with all
that has hap*pened in the auto business, GM’s folks called the Tigers
and said, regretfully, they could no longer afford it. Giv*en the
layoffs, the bailouts, the threat of bankruptcy, well, owning
centerfield was too great a luxury.
GM had to step aside.
Which is when Mike Ilitch, the Tigers’ owner, stepped in.
There were other bidders.
Other offers. Who wouldn’t want that real estate? A deal of
three years worth between $1.5 million and $2 million was on the
table.
Ilitch said no thanks.
He was going to give it away.
Or maybe “give it back” is a better way of putting it.
Chalk up an outfield assist
“It just seems strange to have the car companies in trouble,” he
told me this past week. “The Big Three, where would this city be
without them? I mean, my father came from the old country and got a
job at Ford’s. It put food on our table.
“It’s scary to think that any of those carmakers could go away.”
So Ilitch told his people to thank the potential paying
customers, but to say that the centerfield fountain this year was
spoken for. It would be the feature site for General Motors, Ford and
Chrysler.
For free.
No charge.
Not one penny.
“It’s just a small opportuni*ty to respond to what’s
hap*pening,” Ilitch said, embar*rassed by the attention.
There’s nothing small about it.
Every business has been affected by the collapsing economy;
baseball teams are no exception. Walking away from a couple million
dollars is not considered a wise fi*nancial move. Who turns away
paying customers?
In this case, Ilitch did.
Because sometimes it’s about the where and the who, not just the
how much.
A message from the ballclub
“I thought for a few weeks before deciding,” Ilitch ad*mitted.
“I didn’t want to of*fend anybody. I didn’t want to put off the
foreign carmakers. And I didn’t want people to think we couldn’t sell
the fountain. As a businessman, you do worry about those things.
“But I finally said, ‘The heck with it.’ I want to do something
to help.”
So starting with the home opener this Friday afternoon, the
Chrysler, General Motors and Ford logos will be on an equal plane
above the foun*tain. And beneath those logos will be a few new words:
“The Detroit Tigers sup*port our automakers.”
It may be as close to a social statement as center*field has
ever made.
Visitors in Detroit for this weekend’s Final Four may think our
small, thriving downtown looks a lot like other cities’ downtowns. But
there is something different beneath the surface.
Here, we construct in the face of adversity. We build on hope.
Pure investors will tell you a city with rampant un*employment,
enormous bud*get shortfalls, a troubled school system and a laughable
city council is not a place to put your money. We do it anyhow.
We do it because we love our past and we believe in our future.
We do it because the alternative would be to close shop altogether. We
do it because last week there were stories about the gleaming new
Yankee Stadium, which cost $1.5 billion and has seats as high as
$2,625 a game — and here is Ilitch giving away his fountain for free.
Detroit may be the new home of the bumpy ride, but as the Three
Musketeers once discovered, it’s a little smoother when you grab hands
with others. Think about that the next time a home run sends that
fountain shooting up to those logos.
Sometimes it really is all for one and one for all.

It makes you kinda proud to be a Detroit Tiger fan!

--
Dad
05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd
64 Red/red/white top/4spd

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You know, The Yankees could bail out GM.

Ed