What if …. list some of yours
May 23rd, 2008 at 08:41am Georgette Braun
An LA Times story about the new book, “The Chris Farley Show,” poses a few what-ifs.
“Would the ‘Shrek’ trilogy have been as successful if Mike Myers hadn’t played the title character? At the time of his death, Farley had already laid several tracks for the green ogre.” And “Would ‘Farley and (David) Spade’ have the same comedic ring today as ‘Abbott and Costello’ or ‘Martin and Lewis’ if they had been given the opportunity?”
Made me think about a “what if” Register Star story I proposed that was written 1997. “What if Rockford sued Money for defamation.” It was a tongue-in-cheek story about suing the magazine after it ranked Rockford at or near bottom of the best cities listings.
What are some of your what-ifs, whether they be local or international in scope.
What if Webbs Norman hadn’t been head of the Rockford Park District for so many years?
What if Greg Mortenson, author of “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time,” who’ll be in Rockford in September, wins the Nobel Peace Prize? Will oppressed women in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere get an even bigger boost to end up better educated to benefit not only themselves and their countries but the rest of the world?
List your what ifs.
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18 Comments Add your own
1. Javan | May 23rd, 2008 at 11:02 am
What if Don Gasparini were still the sheriff?
2. hokumboy | May 23rd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
John B. Anderson had defeated Reagan and won the Presidency in 1980?
3. Karl Vocal | May 23rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
What if Uncle Nick’s Gyros did not exist?
4. Lara's Web | May 23rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
What if Gannet had not bought and nearly ruined the Register Star?
5. Javan | May 23rd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
What if the Rock River didn’t run through Rockford?
6. O'Neills Lies | May 23rd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
What if there was still a good adult bookstore in Rockford?
7. Oneills Lies | May 23rd, 2008 at 4:17 pm
What if the Quark was still the hottest hookup place in town?
8. Oneills Lies | May 23rd, 2008 at 4:20 pm
What if I understood the point of this blog posting?
9. Randy Brian | May 24th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
ONeill - You are so exactly on target. What if the Register Star actually wrote something, either online or in print, that wasn\’t completely pointless like this posting?
10. George Washington | May 27th, 2008 at 8:28 am
What if Chuck Sweeny ran for mayor of Rockford? This is one I would like an answer to, faithful Geo readers.
11. Chuck Sweeny | May 27th, 2008 at 8:54 am
11. What if “George Washington” would get a life? See, Chuck Sweeny does not live inside Rockford’s city limits and has no intention of asking to be annexed for the the privilege of throwing away an extra $1,500 a year in property taxes.
Furthermore he is already states his intention to run in 2010 for the position of under assistant West Coast promotion man.
12. George Washington | May 27th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
????? What in ??? God’s name are you so fired up about, Chuck? You blowing a gasket or something? Holy Cow, excuse me for suggesting that I think you’ve got good ideas and might provide good leadership for the city at a time when it is sorely lacking. Settle…down. Since your issue is apparently geography/taxes, then I hereby amend my question:
“What if Chuck Sweeny ran for Winnebago County Board Chairman?”
13. Chuck Sweeny | May 27th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I told you, George, (on my Sweeny Report blog) that I\’m gearing up to run for mayor of Chemung. It\’s a big job, and I\’ll have to put in long, hard hours at Chemung Tech (Yes, it\’s a real place) before I understand the political landscape of that multifaceted community in western McHenry County. Then, of course, I\’ll have to move there. It\’s a long process, but I\’m sure that given, oh, $650,000 or so, I can stage the kind of winning campaign that Chemung needs to restore it to greatness.
14. George Washington | May 28th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Sheriff? State’s Attorney? Coroner? Circuit Court Clerk?
Name your seat, Chuck, and we’ll get to work for you. Chemung can’t steal the brightest political mind we have.
15. hokumboy | May 28th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Chuck
Any idea as to how long Chemung has been a synonym for “the sticks” or, “the boonies” ? We always used it as such back in the 60’s and I wonder if it dates back to the 1830’s when the town was first settled? Not that you’d have first hand knowledge as to that time.
16. Pat Cunningham | May 28th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Hokumboy, Chuck and Geo: I think Chemung’s status as an iconic symbol of the sticks arises from two things: 1) The name is kind of hicksville, if you know what I mean. It just has a funny sound: Sha-Mung! It derives, I think, from a county or town in New York state, from which, no doubt, the first settlers in our Chemung emanated. (Lots of place and street names in the Rockford area — Guilford, for isntance — originated in the East or in England.) 2) Chemung was an object of good-natured derision on a morning show on WROK radio in the late ’70s or early ’80s. The late Bill Phillips was the host, and newsman Bob Presman did a regular schtick under the pseudonym Mr. Baseball. Presman often made fun of Chemung. The mere name itself prompted laughs. I hope I’ve been of some help.
17. hokumboy | May 29th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Yeah,
it was always a stock answer back in the early 60’s.
“Where ya goin’?”
“Chemung.”
“Where ya been?”
“Chemung.”
After driving through a while back on our way to the train in Harvard I realized it’s a pretty nice little town. Although it wasn’t a place I would have wanted to live “back in the day”, it really looks like a place I’d like to live in now. It’s funny how it takes 45 years or so to get a proper perspective on certain things. Or at least start.
18. Scott Phillips | June 5th, 2008 at 8:09 am
What if Rockford had allowed I-90 to be built closer to downtown? Was that how it went or did the state always plan to have I-90 bend north where it does?
What if Rockford weren’t an hour’s drive drom Madison, Milwaukee and that other universe known as “Chicagoland”. Would it stll suffer from an identity and self image complex? Good thing Rockford isn’t any closer to Peoria!
What if the anit-change department didn’t exist at city hall? That is an actual department in the city, right?
What if Rockford really cared about reviving downtown and not just pretend to? C’mon Rockford, it really shouldn’t take this long!
What would Rockford be like without the efforts of Sunil Puri?
What if people embraced places like Storefront Cinema, the art museum and Davis Park unless a planned event was going on?
What if Rockford realized it really isn’t that hard to drive to downtown?
What if Rockford didn’t periodically feel the need to shell out thousands of dollars to have some outsiders tell them what’s wrong with Rockford?
What if Rockford just knew what it takes to keep it’s young people here?
What if change could just happen through the efforst of forward thinking people who engaged in urban husbandry and not funded project planning? There’s a great book on downtowns called “Cities Back From The Edge - New Hope For Downtowns”. Check it out.
What if Rockford realized that endless stip malls (not unique to Rockford. What, Rockford unique?) isn’t the best way to really improve the quality of a city?
What if the train to Chicago came to Rockford instead of Harvard? Harvard? Why? Might as well be Chemung!
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