A number of years ago an old man from Kentucky pulled me aside and gave me some great advice.
He said,
“Son.. in life there will be little things that bother you. There are a lot of little things each and every day that will make you angry, make you sad, make you want to fight. Let these little things go. They mean nothing and will go away on their own. You do this because there will a few times when you will need to stand up and put your foot down. When you put your foot down, people will know you are serious. If you get upset over every little thing, they won’t”
I think about that advice every so often.
***
The “fireworks” issue that has been providing local media with a spectacle this past week is one of those things where we have to look at it and make that decision where it is a little thing or something you put your foot down on.
Let’s look at where this is going.
The Morning Call has published two stories on this. The first tells us that the local police department has received 5 complaints. 5 complaints.. sounds small to me. The Ironpigs responded by saying they would be good neighbors and scale back the shows but not eliminate them.
This looks to be a little thing for the Ironpigs.
To the man who rents a hotel room on fireworks nights… well this is a Foot putting down thing. To you, sir, I say… Really? Make this a little thing. You’ll enjoy life a lot more if you don’t let things like this grate on you.
To the Ironpigs… well, you responded to a complaint. We appreciate that. We really do. By the way.. we still don’t like the new mascot outfits. I have seen far more than 5 complaints concerning that.
***
There was a song recorded a while back by Aaron Tippin in 1990 called, “You’ve Got to Stand for Something”.
You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything
You’ve got to be your own man, not a puppet on a string
Never compromise what’s right
And uphold your family name
You’ve got to stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything
My opinion on this is that the Ironpigs need to stand up for themselves on this one. They are the shining jewel of the Lehigh Valley. No other place can match it in popularity, cleanliness, safety and… AND attendance.
Does the Lehigh Valley have other attractions? Yes
Does the Lehigh Valley have other nice places? Yes
Does the Lehigh Valley support those other places? No
I know fully well that in the past 3 years that this organization will respond to complaints, even if just one person. We saw plastic horns banned well before this years World Cup soccer tournament. We saw the mascot’s name changed. Did you notice the staircase that appeared in the outfield grass this season?
Let’s give the Ironpigs this one. They deserve it.
Stand up Ironpigs.. put your foot down on this one. We’ll stand beside you!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
Ever since CHRIS CASEY at LVPOLIBLOG first brought this up, I have been there.
When MR. MOLOVINSKY went to press at his blog, I was there.
I just got done telling COUNCILMAN DONOVAN over at his blog, INCLUSION, anytime he wants to walk back his statement referring to people who attend Coca-Cola Park as “Gladiator-lovers”, IronPigs fans MIGHT forgive him.
It is bad enough the IronPigs get pushed around on the field…
STAND UP and STAND TOGETHER, IRONPIGS!!!
Well done then, Mr. Kehl.
PS – are you really a Gladiator-lover?
All “Airplane” jokes aside… No. 🙂
I guess that means you have never been in a Turkish prison, either.
🙂
Amen Dan! I said the same thing on here a couple of days ago, management needs to take a stand….
As for COUNCILMAN DONOVAN, he has done a TERRIBLE job at making Allentown a safe place to be. There are still too many shootings, crimes, deaths, drug deals, etc. and he is as accountable as anyone for that, being councilman. There is noise all day and night with police sirens going. BUT, he would not hear that, he lives in the WEST END!!!
While I think that the Pigs do the fireworks thing way too often.
It’s only fireworks.
And it’s not like they just started doing fireworks this year either.
They should just stick by their guns and schedule things as they see fit and only worry about working with the Phils to be a put a respectable product on the field for ’11.
This whole thing doesnt surprise me. Just stand in the concourse and listen to other people talk. Every game I hear something that ticks me off.
There are still people who give me dirty looks because of the horns from over a year ago. It’s sad that they can’t let go… even considering they got their way they still hold resentment. I feel bad for them.
Great stuff here. Glad I get to read it. Sometime I am going to have to head over to Noise Nation and say hello. (Actually my wife and I hung out there during the rain delay at the home run derby). I am an East Sider. Where was Councilman Donovan when someone broke the tail light on my truck overnight. Where was he a month ago when someone stole my spare tire from underneath my truck and slashed a tire too. Where was he two weeks ago when a driver pulled up alongside my house and urinated on my lawn in front of my wife. He was too busy fighting about fireworks to care.