Another knock on Rockford
April 28th, 2008 at 04:42pm Anna Voelker
It’s coincidence, I’m sure, that I came across this by Jay Mariotti today. The Chicago Sun-Times columnist disses Rockford in a piece about Jerry Angelo.
“If Jerry Angelo wasn’t an NFL general manager, he’d be a worm farmer. Or an air-duct cleaner. Or a first-base coach. Or a Rockford tour guide. Or a cement-mixer driver. Or Lovie Smith’s hair stylist. You know, something boring that requires little creativity.”
Ouch.
I get really tired of reading negative stuff about Rockford. I even posted that to our newest blog, 180 Degrees, today before I knew about the nugget above. (Earlier this year, Rockford got knocked in Rolling Stone.) The 180 Degrees blog is a piece of a campaign we’re launching this week on rrstar.com. Our goal? To make Rockford a better place to live.
I figure if we start with the people who actually live here, we’ll be on the right track. Not sure how many times Mr. Mariotti has been here. But a Rockford tour guide wouldn’t have that bad of a job. There’s plenty of great things the Rock River Valley can boast about.
Entry Filed under: Dissing Rockford, Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times
10 Comments Add your own
1. Collin Quick | April 28th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Don’t forget, Anna, that a lot of people agreed with the Rolling Stone article when we asked for their views.
http://www.rrstar.com/archive/x1059371888
2. hokumboy | April 28th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Too funny !
I clicked your “plenty of great things” link and got this:
Error 404 – File not Found
Sorry, but the page you were looking for could not be found. It may be that it does not yet exist.
3. jw | April 28th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
You beat me to it. I received the same error.
But seriously, (and I know people will flame me) Rockford really is a sad place. How many home invasions, armed robberies, shootings and schools fights does it take to see we are going backwards.
4. Anna Voelker | April 28th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Sorry about the bad link. WordPress didn’t like some code I put in there. It’s good now.
Anna
5. Anna Voelker | April 28th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Collin,
Yep. Local folks agreed with Rolling Stone. That’s the sad thing. And, in a way, proves my point. Negativity isn’t going to improve Rockford and the region. And the people who complain the most about Rockford, it seems, are the natives. There’s a lot to appreciate here. I am proud of this place and want to make it better.
Anna
6. hokumboy | April 29th, 2008 at 9:50 am
OK Anna,
Suppose some friends from, say, Philadelphia, were coming to Rockford and tomorrow you had to take them on the grand tour . Tomorrow, from 8 am to 8 pm, how would you fill the day?
7. Anna Voelker | April 29th, 2008 at 10:24 am
How about this, hokumboy? Because my Philly friends are my friends, I would have a day planned with them.
We would start with an early breakfast at the Stockholm Inn on Charles Street, followed by a round of 18 at Aldeen Golf Course. We would wrap up around lunchtime, and I would take my friends to Tor Taco Mexican restaurant on Kishwaukee Street (yummy steak tacos). After lunch, we would have to head out to Klehm Arboretum and Botanic Garden or Burpee Museum. Heck, we would probably do both. It would be time to eat again (you can tell I like to eat, right?), so we could head to Josef restaurant on Spring Creek. If the weather is right, we could head over to The Olympic and have after-dinner drinks on the deck.
Of course, I could probably entertain my friends for a few more days. After all, if they’re coming all the way from Philadelphia, I wouldn’t want them to head back after only one day.
Anna
8. hokumboy | April 29th, 2008 at 10:37 am
So,
You would use 18 holes of golf to take up most of the day? Isn’t that cheating? Or couldn’t you find anything else to take up the time?
Remember that there’s not too much to see at Klehm or the Gardens this time of year. And, after staring at Jane for possibly a max of 20 minutes, the Burpee experience gets a bit old. p.s - don’t forget to tell ‘em that Jane’s head isn’t real.
9. Anna Voelker | April 29th, 2008 at 10:42 am
So golf is cheating? Hmmm. The parks and golf courses here are awesome. Hard to not take them golfing at least one day. Other gems in the area: Sinnissippi Bike Path, Rock Cut State Park, Anderson Gardens, Coronado Theatre, RiverHawks, Thunder or IceHogs game (the ‘Hogs are still playing), stare at Symbol, ride horses at Lockwood Park, Rockford Speedway, Discovery Center, Midway Village, Ethnic Heritage Museum, Rockford Art Museum …
I am sure I could find many more places to go.
10. hokumboy | April 29th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
But, for one weekday what would the itinerary be?
I specified tomorrow.
Anderson’s (Rockford’s crowning jewel) is closed. Although it’s open on the 1st of May.
The Hogs don’t have a game here ’till Sunday.
The Thunder don’t play for another month.
The Speedway has nothing going on until Saturday night.
How would you get into the Coronado?
No tours of Midway Village until May (although the Museum is open)
A Bike Path’s pretty much a bike path.
Spend much time staring at the Symbol? Really?
Tinker, The Art & Heritage Museums are nice. I’ll give you that but the Discovery Center is pretty age specific.
So,
I guess you’d be right on target taking them to play golf. If they play golf .
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