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More Random Thoughts
By: The Midnight Rider
We at the ranch are still working the fields but I wanted to take a minute to touch on some things that I have been reading about.
Miss Kitty’s in Sheffield is closing. Sadly a business that pays sales taxes is closing its doors in Sheffield. It appears that the only business that can survive in Sheffield will have to serve alcohol and be on the North side of the tracks on Montgomery Ave. We have it on good intel that another business is closing and relocating to another city here. Bad for Sheffield but good for the city that it is moving to.
Confederate Statues being removed. The Civil War was not just about slavery. Brothers fought against Brothers. Families were split It wasn’t just a white war, African Americans fought alongside the Whites. So do we remove statues of Indians because of the Indian Wars? Do we remove statues in memory of 9-11? I think not. Come on people, remove your heads from your lower anatomy and think about what we are doing. There are other things going on in the word that need our attention.
The UNA controversy about the teacher that attacked the student. Don’t tell me this was not known. Let’s think back to the middle 2000s when we were a student there. How about the football player that was arrested twice for Domestic Violence against his girlfriend but charges were dropped because the University contacted the DA’s office. Where was the Justice in that for his girlfriend? H*ll, the football team this year cannot even have a practice game within it becoming a slobberknocker.
Inspiration Landing………………….. Don’t even get me started on this fiasco.
That’s it for now. But remember, the Midnight Rider will always be around to voice his/her/their(?) opinion.
I am and always will be, the Midnight Rider
*****
It's always great to see the Rider and have him (or is it her?) share with us. There's a lot we could add or comment on here, but for now we'll just address the UNA male/athletic/rape/abuse/thug culture at the university.
If you're new to us or the Shoals, you may not be familiar with a pair of incidents from a few years ago. A couple of third string footballers were arrested for a misdemeanor and were promptly dismissed from the team. A few weeks later three first string players, including the star quarterback, were arrested on misdemeanor charges. Were they also dismissed from the team?
No. At that time, athletic director Mark Linder stated the university didn't dismiss players who committed misdemeanors. When we contacted him to find our just when this policy changed during that short period of time, he replied that he would be happy to discuss it with us if we would simply make an appointment and come to his office. Poor man - never having heard of e-mail or press releases.
So now we hear...from an extremely reliable source...that the university has in the past actually contacted the district attorney's office to make charges go away. The lesson these football players learn is that if they're good players, they can do anything they want. Yet they won't be good enough for the NFL and will sadly learn that there's no one to keep them out of jail or prison when they're 25 or 30.
The university isn't doing anyone any favors here...
Miss Kitty's is on the north side of the tracks. I've never seen/heard and ads for them, have you? Is 'Urban' really the correct messaging for a gift shop located in a city with a population of 9,000? 'Build it and they will come' is a terrible business model. Over the years I'm batting 1.000 on calling the early demise of new local businesses. Rent is somewhat cheaper in Sheffield and I suppose this would initially be enticing for any entrepreneur. However, other than dumb luck, ignoring marketing and advertising is a recipe for failure for any public business venture. And in doing so, failure is virtually guaranteed regardless of location.
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