Business Casual

We’re nowhere near the end of a whirlwind first day in Chattanooga as I write this, but wow.

Just wow.

What we’ve seen in less than a day on the Tennessee River is the culmination of 40 years of planning. From a tightly constructed arts and entertainment corridor that connects the river with a historic American arts complex to a green housing development to a double-pronged transit plan that makes the city easy to navigate, it’s not hard to see why Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer said at midday,  “This is what we want to be.”

Chattanooga has transformed itself in four decades in a massive public-private investment partnership that’s run into the billions. City leaders here consider it a success, and who can doubt them? New, modern private development is everywhere. Volkswagen and two other major industries have signed on, thanks to the quality of life the city has created and its willingness to give those companies incentives.

That’s not to say that Chattanooga doesn’t have its rundown areas. But city leaders have ideas in place for the most moribund areas, and they’re able to chuckle at some of the long-forgotten businesses there, such as the “State of Confusion” frontage on one downtown street.

One big dream here is a plan to use passenger rail to connect a billion-dollar development project in the south part of the city with downtown and UT-Chattanooga.

If there’s a message in what we’ve seen today, it’s that dreaming isn’t a junket and it isn’t a boondoggle. Because without dreams, progress is impossible.

It’s been a good week for the downtown venom-spewers: The NCAA says “no” to a proposal to host the men’s basketball first and second rounds at Intrust Bank Arena, and the arena parking debate moves into a higher gear today.

That’s why you’ll find a lot of people claiming vindication on Kansas.com today.

I’m not entirely unsympathetic to their concerns: This is a time when it seems like everyone has their hands in your pockets, and in my case, they’re down to fishing for pennies and nickels now. Don’t get me started on how financial institutions have reacted to the looming specter of regulation. Let’s just say they’ve got BIG hands.

But I wonder how the local “Oh, my God, don’t spend a dime” crowd will react in five years if Wichita’s economy remains in the toilet because the city and county fathers fell victim to economic panic and quit planning for the future.

I hear a lot about how the “free market” solves every economic problem. And although “free market” is Latin for “no regulations so I can make a bunch of money any old way possible” to a lot of folks, there are still free markets in Wichita.

To wit: Two of the city’s largest real estate brokerages are making changes and spending money in an effort to position themselves at the top of the industry – when the Wichita economy recovers.

J.P. Weigand & Sons has been nothing short of aggressive, opening new divisions and adding more staff to position itself for the economic recovery. Same story at Plaza Real Estate, which linked up with the national Coldwell Banker flag.

They share a simple idea: You’ve got to spend money to make money. And from where I sit, Wichitans need to keep that idea in mind as they grind their teeth over each and every expenditure at City Hall and the county courthouse.

Each expenditure comes with accountability down the road. Some will work out. I suspect some won’t.

But so does inaction.

It’s been awhile since we chatted about commodities trading, and the bald-faced manipulation of energy commodities by those in position to profit the most from any inexplicable rise in prices.

But, our pals at Goldman Sachs have given us a reason to bring the subject up again, courtesy of this MSNBC story.

Seems that they’re doing their best to prop up the sagging price of natural gas, with a baseless forecast that natural gas prices could triple this winter. Sort of the “Meet my wife, Morgan Fairchild. Yeah, that’s the ticket” shtick, commodities-style.

Read very carefully the recap of natural gas market fundamentals that follows in the story: There’s NO reason whatsoever that the price should rise. A bit.

Except, of course, for commodities traders, investment houses and financial voodoo – including a figurative yell of “fire” in the trading theater.

Update: An energy icon says oil and natural gas prices are headed down.

The National Baseball Congress sits on the fringe of a business definition these days, given its ownership by the city of Wichita. But what’s happening to it is on my mind.

The tournament, which is a Wichita institution since Hap Dumont began it here in 1935, hit one of its low ebbs this summer on what should have been the gala celebration of its 75th anniversary.

Two reasons, as a longtime observer: Tournament management’s fixation on forcing teams to qualify and its insistence on a heavy local flavor.

Take a look at the bracket at www.nbcbaseball.com, and tell me exactly how many teams you’ve heard of. The answer for me is not many, and I’ve been going to tournament games since I was 7 – a LONG time.

But there are plenty of cities you’ve heard of – Valley Center, Newton, etc. – none who will make more than a cursory appearance in the tournament.

And then take note of the fate that befell the defending champ, Santa Barbara, Calif. – a probable second round match-up with the Alaska League All-Stars, who will be wearing Anchorage blue this summer.

I could rant on this for a thousand more words, but suffice to say it’s my view the NBC’s baseball model is badly flawed. And based on a Sunday Eagle report, it’s about to get more flawed if NBC officials narrow the tournament to only champions of their accredited leagues, some which apparently can’t send quality teams to the tournament, given the look of recent fields.

Get the familiar teams in the tournament at all costs. There’s NO excuse to ever stage a tournament without the El Dorado Broncos, an Alaska team, the Beatrice Bruins, the Seattle Studs, the Liberal BeeJays and similar teams. Rarely do any of the old standards field a truly bad team.  Stage quality regional tournaments to fill the field.

And then trim the sucker down and play 12 days of quality baseball.

Or people who haven’t spent most of their lives at the tournament will quit coming. And that’s a tragedy.