密歇根新闻广播 两位亿万富翁的传奇故事

You have to admire many things about Mike Ilitch. The son of Macedonian immigrants, in the classic American success story, failed to become a major league baseball player, but instead became a true player on a much bigger stage.

He grew up with essentially¹ nothing.

When he died Friday he was worth more than $5 billion, owned a major league hockey and baseball team, a massive national fast food pizza empire, stadiums, theaters, and lots of other stuff.

Along the way he was a major figure in the rebirth of Detroit's downtown, beginning perhaps with his renovation² of the Fox Theater nearly thirty years ago. A respected journalist I know talked to him back in 1988, when they showed the beautifully restored art deco palace off to the media before its grand reopening.

When my friend congratulated Ilitch on what he had done for Detroit, the pizza magnate told him something along the lines of, “Thanks, but I did this to make money. If Detroit benefits as well, that's great.”

I never forgot that burst of candor³.

What we sometimes forget is that people who've made a lot of money usually have that as their first priority. Ilitch was very good at getting the taxpayers⁴ to foot the bill for his stadiums.

Taxpayers spent more than $100 million to build Comerica Park where the Detroit Tigers now play. Whether they admit it or not, the Ilitches insisted that historic Tiger Stadium be torn down.

The old stadium could easily have been renovated⁵ and modernized⁶ at a fraction of the cost.

But Mike Ilitch insisted on a new one, and the city was worried that if they didn't give him what he wanted, he would take his team elsewhere, so they met his demands.

Fifteen years later, much the same happened with the Red Wings. The Michigan Strategic Fund has sold $450 million in bonds to finance the Little Caesar's Arena⁷ now under construction.

When it opens, the city won't get a penny from parking or the concessions⁸. Everything will go to the Ilitches.

Detroit, at least partly, has put its faith in government by billionaire. Now, much the same is happening with Dan Gilbert. The Quicken loans magnate wants to put a soccer stadium where Wayne County's criminal justice complex is now.

He is offering to buy the land and build and pay for a criminal justice complex elsewhere. But the amount they'd pay is murky⁹, and would vary depending on some mysterious cost-saving variable. There's also little reason to conclude that major league soccer can make it in Detroit; it has failed before.

Still, there are those who say that with men like Ilitch and Gilbert, we should listen raptly and give them whatever they desire.

Well, that doesn't do it for me.

Yes, they deserve respect, but so do the rest of us.

Detroit has had a history of hoping for powerful men to save it, whether it be the first Henry Ford¹⁰, or Gilbert or Ilitch or Mike Duggan or Coleman Young.

They all recorded accomplishments¹¹, but no one person can do it on his own. We are all in this together, and always will be.

When the county makes its final decision on Dan Gilbert's soccer stadium plan, I hope that's something its leaders keep in mind.

1 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

2 renovation   

n.革新，整修

参考例句：

• The cinema will reopen next week after the renovation.电影院修缮后，将于下星期开业。
• The building has undergone major renovation.这座大楼已进行大整修。

3 candor   

n.坦白，率真

参考例句：

• He covered a wide range of topics with unusual candor.他极其坦率地谈了许多问题。
• He and his wife had avoided candor,and they had drained their marriage.他们夫妻间不坦率，已使婚姻奄奄一息。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 renovated   

翻新，修复，整修( renovate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He renovated his house. 他翻修了房子。
• The house has been renovated three years earlier. 这所房子三年前就已翻新。

6 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

7 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

8 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

9 murky   

adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗

参考例句：

• She threw it into the river's murky depths.她把它扔进了混浊的河水深处。
• She had a decidedly murky past.她的历史背景令人捉摸不透。

10 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

11 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》