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player ready...The Tribune Editorial Board got it right about the current state of State Street (“Michigan Avenue is improving. But State Street has never looked so shabby,” July 23). I say that as a Chicagoan, president and CEO of The Joffrey Ballet, and a State Street Commission member.
Each week, more than 1,200 staff members, company artists and students pass through State Street. We experience the same construction, empty storefronts and public safety concerns as everyone else. We also see people choosing downtown because they know this city is worth their time.
I have walked State Street since I was a kid. Growing up in Westchester, I delivered newspapers, and in 1972, at 12 years old, I saved my earnings, took the bus for 45 cents, bought a 10-cent transfer and rode the train downtown.
Downtown was where I fell in love with Chicago. I met my grandmother beneath the Marshall Field’s clock before lunch in the Walnut Room. I wandered museums and discovered streets filled with possibility.
In the fourth grade, I wrote a paper about Chicago and the places that made it extraordinary. I titled it after the city’s motto: “A City in a Garden.” I filled it with photographs, newspaper clippings and a hand-drawn Chicago flag. I still keep that report in my desk at Joffrey Tower.
One sentence stays with me: “Chicago is one of the largest and most beautiful cities in the world.”
I still believe it. That is why the editorial resonates.
Loving a city means refusing to look away when it needs attention. Construction and safety shape the downtown experience, and both deserve urgency.
For more than 16 years, the Joffrey has called State and Randolph streets home. When I chaired the commission, I temporarily moved into the Palmer House to experience the street beyond business hours.
You cannot understand a street from behind a desk. You have to walk it.
You see challenges. You also see business owners opening their doors each morning, students heading to dance class and audiences filling restaurants before performances.
That realization inspired the Cultural Stadium, built on the idea that culture is civic infrastructure. Progress depends on residents, civic leaders and organizations strengthening our city together. That’s what gives Chicago its energy.
The editorial board started an important conversation. I hope more Chicagoans join it.
State Street has reinvented itself before, and it will again. Chicago deserves a downtown that reflects the greatness so many of us have always seen in it.
— Greg Cameron, president and CEO, The Joffrey Ballet, Chicago
Another reason to hate Dodgers
Paul Sullivan’s recent column about the Dodgers acquiring ace pitcher Tarik Skubal omitted another reason to hate them (“Built for the pressure,” Aug. 5). Now, I don’t blame Sullivan; he is, after all, a sportswriter paid to write about sports, but for those of us who follow both sports and politics, the omission is glaring, and it is this: The Dodgers went to the White House and both kissed the ring and gave a ring to arguably the most dishonest, undeserving and corrupt president in U.S. history.
— Ronda Schiess, River Forest
Unnecessary political comment
In a story about the Sox and Cubs making deadline moves (“Wheeling, dealing,” Aug. 4), does Paul Sullivan have to jam in his “one-percenters” comment?
If he wants to write a political column, then do it. If he hates President Donald Trump or any other politician, fine by me. It’s a free country. But I’m reading a column about deadline moves in a summer of great baseball in the greatest city in the world where I was born and grew up.
Why go there? Get over yourself.
— Michael Mannion, Springfield
Sullivan makes it worth it
Years ago, the Tribune offered buyouts to its outstanding journalists and columnists. Many accepted the buyout, at which time we considered dropping our subscription that we have had for many decades.
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One journalist who still works for the paper is Paul Sullivan. He is a testament to the trade, as his columns highlight the subject he is writing about in a serious but lighthearted way. He injects humor, self-deprecation and the occasional political views in his columns. He is exceptional, and the Tribune must do everything possible to make sure he does not get away. He learned his trade well from the greatest of Chicago columnists, Mike Royko.
As long as he is writing for the Tribune, we will keep our subscription.
— Cary Riske, Grayslake
WNBA needs to grow up
The WNBA seems to have mastered the fine art of shooting itself in the foot. Few could have predicted it. A league that struggled for decades to attract mainstream attention suddenly found itself enjoying soaring television ratings, higher salaries, charter flights and unprecedented public interest. Instead of fully embracing the moment, too many players have projected petty jealousy, a grievance mentality and, at times, racial resentment. The league seems determined to cling to its underdog identity just as it finally has a chance to outgrow it.
The WNBA has never been profitable on its own. For three decades, it has relied on financial support from the NBA while operating at a loss. That reality seems to have bred entitlement rather than gratitude. What if the league suddenly had to generate enough revenue to pay its own salaries and cover its own expenses? My guess is that players would work a little harder to entertain fans instead of turning what should have been a showcase into an embarrassing, half-hearted effort, as this year’s All-Star Game appeared.
Professional sports exist to entertain paying customers. If the WNBA wants to be treated like a major league, it needs to start acting like one.
— Scott T. Thompson, Bloomington, Indiana
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].