The St. Louis Cardinals are in the post-season, as they should be, and the team's players, fans and managers have a thumb on their minds.
It's not just any thumb. It's the fifth digit on the left hand of ace catcher Yadier Molina. Back on Sept. 20, Molina was trying to make a tag at the plate when, doctors say, he partially tore a ligament and he's been out ever since. But Molina says he's going to play in the post-season, which began Tuesday evening with the Astros and the Yankees playing for the American League Wild Card spot.
Tonight, it's the Cubs (the Cubs?) playing the Pirates in the wild card game in the National League. The Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908, right after winning it twice in a row. The team hasn't been in the World Series since 1945. That's a long hibernation. Will the Cubs emerge tonight with the potential to make history?
It's an exciting time to be a baseball fan. Even if Molina can't give it a thumbs up, we will. And as we get our ball caps on and score books ready, there are some other goings-on worth of some thumb-ish feedback.
(THUMBS DOWN) Despite the attention and the extra millions generated by the annual Arkansas-Texas A&M game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas A&M officials are making noises about how they may want get out of the contract to play at Jerry Jones' stadium in Arlington, Texas. The contract extends through 2024. A&M Athletic Director Eric Hyman told the Dallas Morning News he's "constantly evaluating" circumstances that may prompt a change well short of the contract's completion. Arkansas, pleased with its exposure to potential Texas recruits and the $3 million-plus each university gets, is ready to stand by the contract. A&M has completed a $485 million renovation of its stadium and is aching to play its games before the 102,000 fans it can hold. Don't agreements mean anything in Texas? The Aggies need to follow through on their commitment.
(THUMBS UP) Fayetteville motorists got an important east-west route with the opening of a new section of Van Asche Drive recently. Part of Mayor Lioneld Jordan plans for a "box" of street connections around the city, the section between Gregg Avenue and Arkansas 112 also provides the benefit of opening up land for development in a part of the city within the Fayetteville School District. Much of the development around the Northwest Arkansas Mall falls in the Springdale School District, benefiting that district with property tax growth. The area through which Van Asche travels will help boost revenue for Fayetteville schools. Providing one more way in and out of the still-developing commercial area of north Fayetteville is also a key reason the road is a welcome addition.
(THUMBS UP) Two schools in Northwest Arkansas were among five in Arkansas named National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education. Fayetteville's Vandergriff Elementary school earned the U.S. Department of Education recognition for a second time. It also went to St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Rogers. All five Arkansas schools won awards for high performance based on the results of standardized tests for all students and for students in diverse subgroups. Congratulations to all students and educators involved.
(THUMBS UP) Officials at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport are airing out plans for a parking deck at the airport. Who would have thought it back when the airport was built in the middle of no where (sorry, Highfill) and Arizona's U.S. senator, John McCain, tried to kill it with a federal investigation during the Clinton years? The airport has already spread its parking lot out so far it's a hike to get from the Economy Lot to the terminal. But the real issue is simply use: Experts say the airport will need 500 to 1,200 new spaces within the next decade. Imagine how many more they'd need if air fare was cheaper.
(THUMBS UP) Kudos to the supporters of TheaterSquared, which announced plans recently for construction of a permanent performance facility next door to the Walton Arts Center in downtown Fayetteville. Organizers envision at 51,500-square-foot facility on city-owned land just across from the Nadine Baum Studios, where TheaterSquared has performed for about a decade. The organization recently became a part of the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program through the support of the Walton Family Foundation and got a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The group hopes for an opening play in a new building sometime in 2019.
(THUMBS UP) Bentonville officials are beginning to grapple with a good problem to have: parking challenges. It's not that there's a big parking challenge now, with 1,800 spaces withing three blocks of the downtown square, but city leaders are anticipating problems for the future and thinking about how to avoid them. If they can learn anything from Fayetteville, they'll avoid any kind of paid parking for as long as possible. Fayetteville's paid parking around the Dickson Street area has been grudgingly accepted, but the system is a favorite source of shared irritation among those who travel to that entertainment district.
Commentary on 10/07/2015