RIP Jim Irsay

[Mas-sa-suta]

Oakland is a shithole with or without the As, Raiders and Warriors. The coliseum parking lots are full of RVs that people live in now. Oakland and Indy are aren't an apples to apples comparison, just based on the MSA of each, let alone the amount of poverty and corruption.

Unfortunately, Indy is on that downward track since the Covid scam destroyed much of the mile square's service economy.

Prior to the Covid scam, approximately 55,000 people came to work daily in Indy.

At one point, fully 80% of those workers were encouraged to 'work' from home, and did so.

One can easily witness the effects of this disastrous trend upon the service and retail businesses, mostly privately owned, which are no longer in business, or have moved to suburban population centers.

I lament my formerly safe, clean, and hospitable city, where I worked for fifty one years.

 

[zeke4ahs]

One other (much shorter) note about the reaction to Irsay's death.

It reminds me just how much resentment there is out there for wealthy people -- especially people who largely or entirely inherited their wealth.

Anybody who has that resentment would do themselves a big favor by getting beyond that.

I think he’s pretty beloved in Indiana because we know how much good he has done, how many people he has tried to help, and and how hard he fought his demons. Gregg Doyel had a great article about him.

 

[zeke4ahs]

True. But anyone who admires someone for their wealth should get beyond that, too.

I know nothing about Irsay. But nothing you wrote in your post 17 makes me think anyone should care any more about his death or life than any random person off the street. FWIW, I don't think it's "cool" for someone born into money to spend a ton of it amassing a pop culture collection (or art collection or car collection, etc.). Sounds kinda shallow and selfish to me.

I’ll see if I can link the column, but he did an awful lot for Indy and often anonymously, charity wise. He also was very open about his addictions in trying to help others. He started an initiative called Kick the Stigma about raising awareness and providing funding for mental illnesses and encouraging people not to be ashamed to seek help. One of the things he did during Covid was to encourage the community to raise 200,000 and he would donate a million to feed school children lunch during Covid.

 

[zeke4ahs]

To me, this type of behavior is much more worthy of praise than collecting and displaying a piano or a bunch of guitars:

Irsay and his family donated to various projects and programs across Indiana, including the Irsay Family YMCA,[23][24] the downtown Indianapolis Colts Canal Playspace,[25] Riley Hospital for Children,[26][27] Wheeler Mission Center for Women & Children,[28] and Indiana University's Irsay Research Institute.[29]

In late 2020, the Irsay family launched Kicking The Stigma, which is dedicated to "raise awareness about mental health disorders and to remove the shame and stigma too often associated with these illnesses."[35] The foundation has numerous partner organizations, including Mental Health America of Indiana,[36] National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Indianapolis,[37] Project Healthy Minds[38], and Bring Change to Mind.[39] As of late 2022, Kicking The Stigma had committed more than $17 million (through action grants and personal donations by the Irsay family) towards its initiatives. In 2022, a total of $1.4 million in action grants were distributed to 23 nonprofits and organizations in the mental health sector.[40] In 2021, the action grants totaled $2.7 million and were gifted to 16 groups.[41]

In December 2021, the Irsay family donated $3 million to Indiana University to create a research institute dedicated to studying mental health and the stigma associated with it.[42] The donation was an extension of Kicking The Stigma. Named the Irsay Family Research Institute,[43] the center will be located on IU's Bloomington campus in Morrison Hall. Some of the focuses of the center will be providing support for research, analyzing sociomedical sciences, advancing more graduates trained in the mental health field and promoting mental health more locally and nationally.[44]

Well shoot, I should have read this before I replied listing some of these things.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

I think he’s pretty beloved in Indiana because we know how much good he has done, how many people he has tried to help, and and how hard he fought his demons. Gregg Doyel had a great article about him.

That all is certainly part of why he’s loved in Indiana, no question. And with good reason!

But, be honest, how much of that goodwill would he have lost if he had announced he was relocating the team to, say, Austin?

I’d guess it would’ve been a whole lot of it. People love their professional sports franchises more than they love their local charitable organizations. Just one of those facts of life.

 

[Mas-sa-suta]

View embedded media

Thanks for sharing this...

 

[mcmurtry66]

That all is certainly part of why he’s loved in Indiana, no question. And with good reason!

But, be honest, how much of that goodwill would he have lost if he had announced he was relocating the team to, say, Austin?

I’d guess it would’ve been a whole lot of it. People love their professional sports franchises more than they love their local charitable organizations. Just one of those facts of life.

Can attest to that twice

 

[mrhighlife]

To me, this type of behavior is much more worthy of praise than collecting and displaying a piano or a bunch of guitars:

Irsay and his family donated to various projects and programs across Indiana, including the Irsay Family YMCA,[23][24] the downtown Indianapolis Colts Canal Playspace,[25] Riley Hospital for Children,[26][27] Wheeler Mission Center for Women & Children,[28] and Indiana University's Irsay Research Institute.[29]

In late 2020, the Irsay family launched Kicking The Stigma, which is dedicated to "raise awareness about mental health disorders and to remove the shame and stigma too often associated with these illnesses."[35] The foundation has numerous partner organizations, including Mental Health America of Indiana,[36] National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Indianapolis,[37] Project Healthy Minds[38], and Bring Change to Mind.[39] As of late 2022, Kicking The Stigma had committed more than $17 million (through action grants and personal donations by the Irsay family) towards its initiatives. In 2022, a total of $1.4 million in action grants were distributed to 23 nonprofits and organizations in the mental health sector.[40] In 2021, the action grants totaled $2.7 million and were gifted to 16 groups.[41]

In December 2021, the Irsay family donated $3 million to Indiana University to create a research institute dedicated to studying mental health and the stigma associated with it.[42] The donation was an extension of Kicking The Stigma. Named the Irsay Family Research Institute,[43] the center will be located on IU's Bloomington campus in Morrison Hall. Some of the focuses of the center will be providing support for research, analyzing sociomedical sciences, advancing more graduates trained in the mental health field and promoting mental health more locally and nationally.[44]

He was a very eccentric guy, obviously. But it seems like he genuinely cared about people too. It's fun to remember the eccentric stuff. It's important to remember the charitable stuff.

 

[twenty02]

I don’t think so, no. We’ve spent ourselves into a deep hole trying to affect more equal outcomes.

Not only has the effort failed miserably, we’ve left ourselves with a range of really bad options to avoid entering the same spiral that has befallen so many other countries before us.

Assuming we don’t start seeing consistent 5-6% annual growth rates in coming decades, I think it’s pretty likely that the standard of living Americans have come to expect is going to be diminished for many people.

And there will be precisely one reason why.

Our debt isn't the result of govt spending to affect equal outcomes.

 

[BradStevens]

Of course. And the extent is the rub.

Given where everything sits, the sea of red ink, our incapacity to do anything about it, the fact that despite the sea of red ink our cities’ streets are still lined with homeless encampments, and where this is all very likely to lead…

…how well do you think our foray into exploring this “extent” has worked out for us?

I think it’s been a damn disaster. And obviously so. But there are still people in denial about that.

The point is that in the real world, any society of any size is going to have to regulate what people do with their property. So when you say "the extent is the rub," after saying we get into problems when we regulate, you're really not saying anything meaningful, are you?

This example kinda proves the point. News flash: some regulations don't work as intended. So we throw out all regulations of property? That doesn't follow.

 

[BradStevens]

That all is certainly part of why he’s loved in Indiana, no question. And with good reason!

But, be honest, how much of that goodwill would he have lost if he had announced he was relocating the team to, say, Austin?

I’d guess it would’ve been a whole lot of it. People love their professional sports franchises more than they love their local charitable organizations. Just one of those facts of life.

So some facets of human nature are just facts of life, some should be changed so we would be better off, right?

I agree that resentment is a bad personal emotion and one should try to eradicate it where possible. But in the contest between (1) resentment over unearned windfalls and (2) caring more about sports than philanthropy, I'd say (2) evidences more moral decay in a society than (1) and is far less healthy.