<p>I&#39;m currently reading <a href="https://bookshop.org/books/field-of-schemes-how-the-great-stadium-swindle-turns-public-money-into-private-profit-revised/9780803260160">Field of Schemes</a> by Neil Demause &amp; Joanna Cagan. It talks about how sports team owners manage to screw the public out of money to pay for their new stadiums and arenas. In one of the later chapters, I found a quote that I think sums up how absurd it is that we are the ones paying for their stadiums.</p>
<p>For reference, &#39;TIFS&#39; stands for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_increment_financing">Tax Increment Financing</a>. The short description is it&#39;s just a finance tool that is often used to make things like stadium deals seem less toxic and more palatable.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Edward Lotterman wrote on the absurdities of TIFS: &quot;My wife and I have often talked about a small addition that would extend the back porch the full width of the house. It would be nice if the government would give us the money to do this. The value of the house would increase and so would our taxes. The higher taxes would pay the government back eventually, so it wouldn&#39;t cost taxpayers anything. It seems like a great idea, but for some reason the government is not willing to step up to our plate. We threatened to move to Portland or Charlotte if we don&#39;t get help, but officials just laughed.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I&#39;m a big sports fan, and a fan of the Philadelphia teams, especially the Flyers and the Phillies. Still, I would rather see them pack up and leave than spend public funding on new stadiums. That money could be better spent on schools, public transit, and countless other initiatives that would bring a much better return on investment to Philadelphia than a new stadium ever could.</p>


On New Stadiums

<p>I can&#39;t quite decide if this year is flying by...or dragging on...and on...and on.</p>
<p>I&#39;m not entirely sure why it feels like time has slowed down. The pandemic is still gripping the nation, I&#39;m still stuck in quarantine with my wife. Nothing has really changed for me from say September of last year to now. The only big difference is that it&#39;s not as fun to be outside right now with the cold and all the snow. Seriously, I think I&#39;ve used my snowblower more this year than in the previous 5 years I&#39;ve owned my house combined. But not wanting to be outside doesn&#39;t really feel like it&#39;s the reason this year feels like it&#39;s been dragging. The weather doesn&#39;t normally affect me like this, so I&#39;m guessing the pandemic and everything that goes along with it is finally starting to get to me.</p>
<p>As rough as it&#39;s felt though, it hasn&#39;t been an awful year. I&#39;ve been doing a good job at sticking with my 2021 goals. I&#39;ve been enjoying and thriving at my new job. I&#39;ve been able to enjoy weekends and evenings with my wife. All in all, it&#39;s been a good two months so far.</p>
<h2>Staying Active</h2>
<p>I&#39;ve been doing a good job of staying active around 6 days a week. My primary activity is lifting, but I&#39;ve also been bringing out my bike trainer I got for Christmas a couple years ago. I&#39;ve been hesitant with the cold, snow and ice to run. The last thing I want to do is slip, fall and twist my ankle (or worse). The bike trainer gives me the ability to get my heart rate up and get a cardio workout in to supplement my lifting.</p>
<h2>Improving My Development Chops</h2>
<p>I can&#39;t say there&#39;s been a lot to say here. I&#39;m learning a lot at my new job and am continuing on with my fitness tracker project, so I&#39;m going to count that as a continued success.</p>
<h2>Reading More</h2>
<p>Again, not much to say here, I&#39;m on my fourth book of the year. Haven&#39;t always felt like reading books every night, but I have done a better job at keeping up with my RSS feeds.</p>
<h2>Wrtiting More</h2>
<p>I feel like I&#39;ve done a little better with this. Two months in, I have almost half the number of posts I had in 2020. I think I&#39;ll be able to keep this up.</p>
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<p>All in all, there&#39;s not much to report. I&#39;m just gonna keep doing my thing and hoping that I will be eligible for the COVID vaccine sooner than I figure.</p>


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On New Stadiums

Two Months Down in 2021