Uniquely High Point

So, the Sheetz on South Main Street closed last week. Think about that, people! Sheetz never closes! And yet, it made an exception for South High Point. If this isn't a wake-up call to leaders and residents as a whole, then, I don't know what would be. The drugs and violence have gotten so out of hand that a 24/7/365 gas station no longer exists in a part of town.

A bigger problem

The recent blowback where MLS owners blocked their own fans from combatting fascism and racism is part of a bigger structural problem in American soccer. Many of the owners are NFL guys who just happen to own MLS teams and their ideological affiliations are much closer to the POTUS than the people who attend the games.

Franchised/single entity/closed leagues are exclusionist for a reason, so these enthusiastic soccer fans need to push for an open system that includes every club and allows for community-based teams that reflect the fans’ values.

If people in MLS markets really care about soccer, they need to turn their backs on the league and start backing lower tier clubs outside of USL since MLS and USL are part of the same soccer cartel that is ruining things for the bottom portion of the pyramid.

Here in North Carolina, NCFC is trying to move from its current taxpayer funded stadium in Cary by urging county and local officials to build a new taxpayer funded stadium just south of downtown Raleigh. Steve Malik is no longer guaranteeing that capital city will even get an MLS team, which makes the idea of a new stadium even more ridiculous and it was a good thing that the Wake County commissioners passed on funding that stadium. I don’t know if the Raleigh City Council will be as strong in resisting.

As a result, I am far more likely to support one of the UPSL teams—Lazers SC, SOSA FC or Raleigh International FC—instead.

People in Atlanta can rally behind Atlanta SC or Georgia Revolution FC of the NPSL or the likes of a team (LSA Pro) or an entire conference (Atlanta Caribbean) in the UPSL if Atlanta United won’t do right.

The people in the NY metro area aren’t short of options to back instead of the two MLS franchises. If the Cosmos aren’t your cup of tea, support another NPSL squad, rally behind a UPSL club, go to a Long Island Soccer Football League game or attend a Cosmopolitan Soccer League match.

Out west, where things really got heated during the August 23 match between the Timbers and the Sounders. Rather than buying a ticket, Timbers fans should have stayed away from CenturyLink Field and in the future dump the team in favor of FCM Portland or PDX FC (both in the NPSL).

The same goes for Sounders fans protesting fascism and the halfhearted responses from the Pacific Northwest teams and the league. The NPSL’s OSA Seattle FC and Crossfire Redmond as well as the UPSL’s Seattle City Pro would appreciate your presence.

DJ Kool Herc street naming

The flip side to this news in 2011 is that the pioneer of hip has a street named after him

Greensboro bringing back red light cameras
So, the city hasn't learned its lesson. Just wait until someone sues like they did in High Point in 2005. On the other hand, it could be one of the ways that the Gate City plans on recouping lost revenue due to a lawsuit that has been filed against it due to police negligence.


Say Yes Guilford is collapsing
I'm sure glad I don't have any kids. It's not like others didn't try to warn the public of that Ponzi Scheme. I mean it's #UniquelyGuilfordCounty.

The N&R's demise

The News & Record in serious trouble? Color me not shocked.

For a few years starting in 2006, Greensboro was in the thick of it. With a lively corps of serious bloggers, we had some inspiring conferences, some big ideas and the local News & Record was, for about a minute, involved and forward-looking, seemingly ready to be a part of a revolution. It even created a new initiative to promote citizen journalism and put the very smart and experienced Lex Alexander in charge of it.
That lasted about six months, as I recall. Although the News & Record was still a robust organization then, especially compared to the shell it has become, it was bleeding print subscribers. Its response to that decline of print circulation is where the News & Record made a fateful turn away from possibilities and towards the comfort of a familiar but lethal past.

There's a reason why Greensboro is "The Stunted City." More from the Greensboro 101 blog post:

Under the guidance of then-publisher Robin Saul, instead of remaking the newspaper into a technologically robust enterprise of the future, the News & Record chose to turn away from the future and circle the wagons around its legacy business.

The dreaded "Culture of No" is so entrenched in the city's DNA that even the official paper of record wasn't about to shake it off. An old school publisher with an old school attitude towards new media only made things that more predictable.

It's been said by John Hammer and others that Berkshire Hathaway could potentially merge the N&R and the Winston-Salem Journal and have everything operate out of the Twin City. Given the Fishwrap's building situation, no one would be surprised.

Rest in peace, News & Record. I wish we could say you tried.

When the publication truly bites the dust, there will be three groups to look out for:

1. The city's elite interests. They'll miss the paper the most since it already echoes their talking points anyway.
2. Those in the know. By that, I mean bloggers ranging the political spectrum and other people who are more in-tuned to Greensboro politics. This group won't miss the paper at all. Some of them will cheer its downfall while others will just sigh due to everything Smith Jr laid out. The paper's unwillingness to embrace technological changes, longstanding claims of ideological bias, an aversion to creative ideas and its long known pro-establishment bias in favor of the various political clans will all be cited by this group.
3. The general public. Some will go with their lives while others are likely to panic.