Coloring Books for Some

There has been very little news here about the New York Islanders as of late mainly because I knew that there was going to be no way to avoid talking about the August 1st referendum for a new sports complex that will provide a new home for the Islanders.

Yes I have a vested interest here as I want to build an audience of Islander fans to join the Rangers fans. But I also am a fan of hockey and I know that the NHL badly needs the Ranger/Islander rivalry to be healthy again.

If the Islanders are relocated to another city then the NHL loses almost as much as the Islander fans. Fans of both teams travel to the other's arena when they meet and it helps grow interest in hockey in general.

This place is not supposed to be about politics but rather about the prospects. What a shame that just when the Islanders are on the verge of breaking through with their young talent that there is a good chance they will not play on Long Island.

This is a no-brainer project that Nassau County badly needs not only to help keep the Islanders but to be able to draw other events that will bring in badly needed jobs as well as tax revenue.

But on Long Island there remains way too many people who just do not get it. They want to fight this project just as they did the Lighthouse project. Maybe we need to come up with a coloring book to show in the simplest of terms what will happen if Long Island loses the Islanders.

When they wake up one day with a broken down arena that no longer has not only the Islanders but the concerts, the wrestling and all the other events the building hosts then they will realize what a bad decision they made.

The economy is in the dumps, people are out of work so there is an absolute need for building a new arena that will (a) create jobs and (b) get people to spend money. Got to just so feel for the New York Islander fans as it is bad enough their franchise is a shell of their glory days but that getting a new arena is going to require an act of biblical proportions.

If politicians truly wanted to help bring Long Island out of the recession then supporting a new arena should be easy. Try this one on Mr. or Ms. Politician; jobs created means person has money which is spent in many ways.

Person who have money will take money and spend it on silly things like food, shelter and gas. When they spend their money then other people can make money so they too can go out and spend their money.

Every time you create a job that allows a person to spend even 1 dollar then that dollar keeps getting spent over and over and over and over. And every time that 1 dollar is being spent then it also creates tax revenue.

You know what tax revenue is don't you? Yes it is the money that allows local governments to be able to provide those basic services like police, fire and schools.

Maybe we can get someone from Sesame Street to come up with a song to teach them how easy this is? This is so way above more than giving the Islanders a new home.

When those 2,000-3,000 Ranger fans come out to watch the NYR/NYI games do you think that they do not spend money whether it is tickets, beer or whatever? The more you get people into that new building the better Nassau County as a whole will be.

But you go on right ahead and fight this arena project; you show them just how smart you are by getting your way. And when Charles Wang is on TV signing that agreement for the Islanders to play any place but Long Island then you can congratulate yourselves on a job well done.

Yep you sure showed them when 243 million and over 2600 hundred jobs go bye bye. And seriously those who say that people will just spend their money elsewhere are so foolish.

They are not taking into account those bus loads of Montreal Canadian fans or New York Ranger fans coming to see their team face the Islanders. Oh there will be a shift in how the money is being spent alright from Nassau County to Brooklyn or Queens or Kansas City.

OOPs sorry guess they did not take into account the people who will travel to attend events at the arena. Reality is that if Nassau County voters do not send a message to have this arena approved then go right ahead and kiss the Islanders good bye.

And when Charles Wang either moves the team himself or sells the team there will be sympathy for Islander fans as nobody likes to see someone lose their team. But in this case the blame can squarely be put on the shoulders of the Nassau County politicians.

This is so beyond hockey that it is not funny. It is about realizing that any opportunity to create jobs in today's USA has to be taken very seriously. If you do not think that creating construction and the secondary jobs that go with it are not important then do not vote for this project.

If you do not think that generating tax revenue from payroll or sales taxes is not important then do not vote for this project. Matter of fact if you do not want a new arena then why not let the Islanders out of their lease sooner?

Another arena project defeated is sure enough a sign that you do not want the Islanders to stay on Long Island. On August 1st if you do not support this project then we will feel sorry for what you will have lost.

But you will feel sorry when you see the Islanders and other events not willing to come to Long Island especially in the tax coffers.

(Islander logo courtesy of New York Islanders)