John Fischer's Philadelphia
Vol. 1 - Number 2 - 05/26/99
Welcome to the second edition of our new feature column. This will run three times a week. We'll be looking at current events, life in the Philadelphia area, politics, sports, the weather and a lot of other things. A key to the success of this column will be you, the readership. We want to hear your response to what you read here, so speak up!
Regular reader Steve Paolucci would like me to remind everybody that Anthony "Tony" Robbins will be appearing in Philadelphia next Wednesday, June 2 at the First Union Center. Who is Tony Robbins you may ask? You may not recognize his name immediately but you've probably seen his infomercials on TV or one of his appearances on Larry King Live or QVC. Tony Robbins is billed as "America's #1 Results Coach". It's hard to argue with the billing. Robbins has sold millions of books, tapes, advised and counseled Fortune 500 CEOs, members of two royal families, sports teams and professional athletes such as Andrew Agassi and Greg Norman.
This is no small event in Philadelphia. Also appearing will be Donald Trump, Larry King, Joan Lunden and former Eagle Irving Fryar. For more information check out the details at the Results 2000 website. I can guarantee that Steve will be sharing his thoughts with us after the all-day program.
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Speaking of Greg Norman, has anyone seen this guy lately? He missed most of last year with a serious injury but his his strategy this year seems to be to play the big money events and the heck with his legions of fans across the country who would like to see him at other more accessible PGA Tour Events. Well, the Shark may still have the money pouring in, but once the fan base goes away, we'll see how fast that dries up.
All I can say is thank God for the LPGA. Most of the big name players there know that their tour's survival depends on the fans. In our local area you can catch the big name players almost every year not only at the McDonalds LPGA Championship at the beautiful Dupont Country Club in Wilmington but also at the less well known ShopRite LPGA Classic at the Marriott Seaview Resort near Atlantic City and at the First Union Betsy King Classic at the Berkleigh Country Club in Kutztown, PA. Maybe the men should take a lesson in fan relations.
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While we're talking sports, bravo to State Senator Vincent Fumo (D. Phila.) who has promised to focus all his political energy on blocking any effort by the Phillies to build their new stadium at Broad and Spring Garden Streets. It really bugs me that these multi-millionaire owners of the Phillies think that they can squeeze the city and the state for 2/3 the cost of a new stadium and then press for just a bit more to get their preferred location.
Yea, guys, it sure makes sense to me to tear down a state office building that was recently renovated and quite likely have the workers relocated outside of the city. It sure makes sense to me to have millions of taxpayer dollars spent to build a home for a baseball team that won't make any effort to sign top of the line players so that they can actually compete. I say learn a lesson from Ed Snyder. Build your own building. Go Phillies and take the Eagles with you.
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So, that's my perspective. Let me hear yours on these or any pertinent topic. Drop me a note at philadelphia.guide@about.com. I'll catch you Friday.
If you missed Monday's column you can still catch it: