Letters to the Editor

Home, sweet home:I had strong feelings regarding Stuart Steers's "You Can't Go Home Again," in the November 2 issue. What a strange way local politician Susan Barnes-Gelt discusses free enterprise!

The "son of a bitch" who purchased her childhood home did so legally, and he paid for the property. I thought that allows the owner to "own," to do as he pleases so long as it doesn't infringe on the laws of our country, county, city and so on.

As a first-generation American born to Holocaust survivors, I understand the significance of Hilltop's heritage. I cannot understand, though, the idea that one would not be able to manage one's rightful belongings as one sees fit.

S. Proctor
Littleton

Not all wet:Steve Jackson's "Trickle-Down Economics," the October 26 installment of his "River" series, was an outstanding article for a weekly, one that made the dry water topic (pun intended) interesting. Interspersing legal talk with images was great -- it reminded me of Centennial.

Nick Werle
via the Internet

Bowlen for dollars:Patricia Calhoun, thank you for "The Name of the Game," in the November 2 issue, and your unabashed and ongoing exposure of Bowlen's corporate welfare! A new state motto, maybe: Welcome to Colorful Colorado, the Corporate Welfare State.

Renee Aragon
Denver

This Bud's for you: While pondering the meaning of Mayor Webb's sudden interest in maintaining the "Mile High" portion of the fabled stadium's name, a wonderful euphoria overcame me. Rather than putting the naming rights on the open market, why not approach Anheuser-Busch with this proposition: Name the stadium "Mile High Bud" or "Mile High Busch." With Coors Field right across the Platte, A.B. would get great publicity and strike a blow for the Bud drinkers in Colorado. It also would show the country that we're a progressive, tolerant, "kind" state. Thus we get the best of both worlds. We retain that magical "Mile High" identity while saving the taxpayers loads of dough.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Name withheld on request

The name game: I pay taxes, and I want to name the stadium! I have a checking account just like Wellington "Spider" Webb, so I am just as qualified to help with the naming negotiations. He is burning my bridge with companies that are willing to give me money to name MY stadium. It's almost beginning to sound like the uniform fiasco with the Broncos: You all hated the new colors until the Broncos won a Super Bowl.

Name the stadium, and all the fair-weather fans will accept it. As for the mayor, he needs to excuse himself from the name game. It is like a Dr. Seuss book gone wrong: "I am after your thorax, and I speak for the thieves."

Butch E. Senter
Northglenn

Last but not lease:Ted Turner started out in the billboard business and did okay. So why not rent and/or lease the name "Our Mile High Stadium" for events? The price of, say, a five-year lease would go up or down depending on how the Broncos were doing in Our Mile High Stadium. Take bids and have some say in where the money goes from said lease. How about Our Mile High Stadium-sponsored events? The main thing is to do something that hasn't been done before and make Our Mile High Stadium pay our way, right?

T.F. Shirley
Denver

Beasts of burden:I appreciated Calhoun's column on the stadium naming. My question is, why hasn't the simple solution been proposed? If the fans really want to keep the present name and do not mind paying for that privilege, as they claim, then why not just add a surcharge to Broncos tickets for the same twenty-year period that is presently being discussed? If this surcharge brings in the same amount of funds, then everybody should be satisfied. If the name zealots object, it is because they only want to keep the name if the burden is borne by the entire taxpaying population of the six-county area. I say let the people who want the name show how motivated they really are. People who are not interested in football are already paying a large amount for a stadium that they will derive no benefit from.

Jay Vincent
via the Internet

Holding down the fort:If I were on the board of the Metropolitan Football Stadium District, this is what I would say to my colleagues: "Folks, we've worked hard to make this new stadium a first-rate facility. Now let's complete the job. Let's give it a first-rate name."

Then I would point out that if we don't name it Mile High Stadium, everybody is going to know exactly who sold out the people they're supposed to be representing. And to make the point, I'd state their names: "Ray Baker. Pat Hamill. Bob Bryant. Norm Early. Gene Ciancio. John Stone. Jim Carrigan. Joy Burns. Sam Suplizio."

Finally, I'd tell them this: "We have a choice. We can be heroes here. Or we can be reviled -- and have to move to Fort Wayne, Indiana."