I have a dual personality when it comes to spending. In national politics, I’m somewhere in the middle, maybe a bit on the conservative side. Locally, where my taxes pay for things I use all the time, I am a bit more liberal.
If the discussed $200,000, 240-foot scoreboard were a federal project in another town or another state, I’d find funding the project a bit too ostentatious for my tax dollars. If it’s a local project, one that could benefit my currently non-existent children, then it’s a different subject.
I’ve lived in a lot of cities and there is no secret recipe for local government spending. If citizens want nice roads, then they must pay for those nice roads. Nothing is free.
A 240-foot scoreboard capable of displaying a live game seems a bit too extravagant for a 3A high school. But what about the middle school and the multiple youth teams — are the total number of athletes and their families enough to justify the spending?
If that’s not enough athletes to justify the $200,000, then let’s also include the Allen Community College soccer teams.
There are not many college soccer teams at any level with a scoreboard capable of displaying live contests.
That could be an easy way of luring the NJCAA Plains District Soccer Tournament away from Overland Park because not even the rich, elite Johnson County Community College has something like that.
Maybe I’m not the person to weigh in on the issue, because I never got to play on artificial turf nor in front of a massive scoreboard.
I didn’t touch artificial turf until covering Northwestern State University in my 20s for the Natchitoches Times.
Growing up, I thought the New Orleans Saints were playing on carpet.
I never got to look up and see myself on a 240-foot scoreboard unless it was the fan-cam at Kauffman Stadium.
It’s easy to say because I never had it, why should someone else?
We forget the adage of a society only becoming great when old men plant trees whose shade they will never enjoy.
The project’s only wrinkle in my opinion is who will man the cameras.
Will the school allow students and other volunteers handle the expensive equipment?
And who will be tasked with operating the scoreboard?
