re: Interesting Lee Zurik tease tweet

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The fields will have an all dirt infield


When will people realize that this is no fricking way to play baseball???

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You can thank Title IX for that.

You have to let the girls play softball on those fields.

Here is what I wrote in the thread I made as I didn't see this one

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So the Athletic came out with a piece on the corruption surrounding the Carver field of dreams project and how over a million dollars was fleeced from the project with nothing but a field to show for it.

Essentially an outsider from Georgia that was placed at the school through teaching with America came up with the idea. He raised 1.3million plus got commitments for all architectural and engineering work to be basic all pro Bono.

Eventually he felt he needed to create a board to oversee the project and choose successful former Carver alum go put on the board.

The TLDR version is they forced him out and stole the money through mismanagement.

Great insight into the troubles that continue into plague LA but very specifically inner city areas in NOLA and why oversight from outside forces is needed.

Pay link- you can sign up for free trial, the Athletic has amazing LSU coverage

LINK

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If you read the article, you will come away furious at the Washington lady. For those that don't get to read, essentially she was a former lawyer, Carver alum who was a convicted felon for tax evasion and had been disbarred. She kind of forced her way into the board and pushed the original founder out. Once he was out, she made herself head of the board and starting drawing a 5k/month salary eventually taking 210k in salary and another 40k in reimbursements from the project. When community members were appalled at the announcement of her salary she shot back that she was a woman with 3 degrees and this small salary was nothing for a woman of her credentials. She eventually ran the architect and engineers off and sank the project. At one time she threw a 20k fundraiser while only collecting 5k in donations during the whole year.

Typical NOLA, get local "prominent" voices heard and elected to the board and force out anyone who wants to do good. Then spend years fleecing all of the money you can. In the end when the money is gone, move onto the next board like a locust

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Yes it's the same Washington. She is a disbarred lawyer and mutli time convicted felon.

She essentially forced Brian out once she got involved.

Despite protest and Brian never taking a salary, immediately after she was made head of the board, she took a 5k/month salary. When people protested she said "I have three degrees" and essentially said she was worth way more than that.

As far as the turf goes, it was stored in the warehouse until Brian left. After he left, it was given to the chosen General Contractor. They were not paid for their the work they "PERFORMED" and sold the turf and infill to recoup losses.

In the end Washington took 210k in salary and 40k in reimbursements for the work she did to produce nothing but a field.

If you can sign up for theathletic I highly recommend. Use the free trial. They have great LSU coverage.

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On their site, the CEO of the firm has Betty Washington listed as one of only two references. I find that interesting, especially given the facts you point out below regarding non-payment and the field turf...

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Mother fricker.

From the article

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Over the next two years, SEOLA invoiced the 9th Ward Field of Dreams for almost $400,000 worth of construction work, ranging from site prep and demolition to plumbing, surveying and lawn mowing. Another $327,857 was billed as a deposit on the field turf and lighting.

Meanwhile, the project’s efforts to lure additional funding were proving to be fruitless.

The board spent $19,772.34 on an April 9 fundraising reception and press conference to announce the naming of the field for Faulk, Carver’s most famous alumnus.

“When Marshall got involved, I said I know this is going to happen,” said Quinn, who was entering his junior season at the time. “They’re going to make this happen.”

While Faulk’s presence renewed hope in the project, it didn’t inspire much giving. Only $5,500 in donations were reported in 2015.

A few months later, Carver opened the 2015 season and Rams head coach Byron Addison was asked about the Field of Dreams stadium delay. “Some of the guys are disappointed, but we’re focused on this new district and what it will take to make strides,” Addison said in an August 26, 2015 Times-Picayune story.

Another season came and went with no tangible signs of a stadium. Meanwhile, capital outlay requests for $1.6 million in funding were denied at both the 2015 and 2016 state legislative sessions.

By the summer of 2016, the project had almost run out of money. The board stopped making payments on construction insurance in July 2016. SEOLA’s final invoice was filed a month later. In February 2017, the board made its final $5,000 payment to Washington, although she stayed on as a volunteer. In June 2017, Charles Jones, a retired appeals court judge, was brought on to serve as interim project director. The field turf playing field was never used and Geo Surfaces eventually sold it for scrap, according to Webb. “In effect, we lost that money,” he said.

Later that summer, representatives of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which runs the grassroots program for the NFL, conducted a site visit to New Orleans to gauge progress on the project, league and Saints officials said. After holding the $200,000 grant as a set-aside for nine years, including a one-year extension beyond the November 2016 expiration date of the original agreement, LISC informed Field of Dreams officials the grant was being “de-obligated” and redirected as $50,000 grants to four projects in the New Orleans market: the YMCA of Greater New Orleans; and Warren Easton, Ben Franklin and St. Charles Catholic high schools.

“Despite LISC giving the project several extensions, they ultimately determined the project was not moving forward and redistributed the money committed to Field of Dreams to other groups who had applied for grants,” Saints vice president of communications Greg Bensel said in an email.

The NFL and LISC remain open to the project re-applying for consideration in future grant cycles, league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

Hail Mary attempts by the 9th Ward Field of Dreams for $2.6 million and $5.2 million in capital outlay funding at the 2018 and 2019 state legislative sessions were again denied.

In January of this year, former Orleans Parish Schools athletic director Ron Gearing replaced Jones as the project director. Accounting records show $343.75 in donations in 2018 and 2019. The only expense in the past two years was $40 for supplies, filed by Washington.

“As far as I know there are ongoing efforts to raise money for the Field of Dreams project,” Washington said via text message. “… I am sure that the board will continue to work to build this facility. Our young people need it.”

During her three-plus-year tenure as project liaison and executive director, Washington was paid $201,400 and reported additional expenses of $10,215 in internet, phone and office supply charges. In that same span, records show the project attracted $27,713.75 in individual donations and business contributions.

“The project was never built, in my opinion, because people who promised funding did not deliver,” Washington said in an email.

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Today, the proposed stadium site sits barren. Nature has taken over the parking lot where the field was supposed to be built. A cluster of light poles lays on the weed-pocked pavement. In one overgrown corner, a discarded toilet sits on its side next to bags of trash.

The project had a balance of $914.96 as of August, according to records submitted by Webb.

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The original architect was essentially in tears and this is what he had to say

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Ripple said he recently visited the original stadium site at Carver High School. The lack of progress dumbfounded him.

“To know that that money was not put to the use that it was intended to be used is absolutely infuriating. It is pretty painful,” he says.

Ripple’s pain is exacerbated by the success Archbishop Shaw High School has enjoyed at its new stadium on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Marrero. A group of Shaw alumni started an L3C corporation to run the stadium, which was built behind the school on property leased from the Archdiocese of New Orleans and opened in 2018 with two sets of stands, no lights, concession tents and port-o-lets for restrooms. After a successful first year, portable lighting and a scoreboard were added this season, and organizers already have started to rent the stadium to outside clients. All revenues are being directed back into the stadium to fund future phases of the project. The price tag so far, according to organizers: a little more than $1 million.

“I’m glad for the people at Shaw, and happy that our plan has been validated,” Ripple said. “But it also breaks my heart to hear that news. …  (The Field of Dreams) could have been something that was significant for the community. Instead, it’s weeds.”

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The pieces of shite that did this, need to pay with jail time!!!

Just Crazy. Outside group comes in and genuinely tries to do something good for Carver. They start making progress get positive attention and the "Community" comes in and says no thanks, we will handle this.
The project goes from the eve of completion to bankrupt.

The person who was doing it as a function of his job is essentially forced out.

Then a volunteer "community" board member then arranges to have herself put in charge and thinks that she should receive a $5000/ month salary plus expenses.

Within two years she depletes all the funding, loses grants and only generates 25,000 in donations.

However, their rallying cry to be involved is that they "knew what was best for Carver". BUllshite.

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More and more youth fields are going to turf

Thats the new model

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We ain't got that kind of money.

And if people hate dirt infields... I really, really, really, REALLY hate turf baseball fields.

Playing games in July and that turf hits 150 degrees or so...

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If you sold beer and wine at your concession stands you would

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After Katrina, they did a deal where they stopped selling beer and alcohol at youth events in exchange for increased tax money.

We can sell at adult league events.

At least 3x a week, and several times on weekends, we have to break up fights between parents, parents and coaches, coaches going after umpires, etc. Not to mention the usual screaming and yelling. I would imagine alcohol would make that a lot worse.

In my playing days, the dads drank beer on the field while coaching us... but they didn't act fools like people do today.

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Im not the one playing so it doesnt bother me...and since my coaching days are over...it really doesnt bother me

It didnt bother me when I was coaching.

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This new field turf stuff gets very, very hot on a hot summer day. And as a coach, I stand closer to the dugout... not the middle of the field.

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What sucks even more is when they have to cancel a whole weekends tournament or you cant play school games during the week because the all dirt infield got a little wet due to a normal summer shower

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We are going to see how this goes. It's a concern. We will have a lot of Diamond Dry on hand =)

Certain, but not all, parts of New Orleans are definately pay to play. I heard a first hand account of a guy in Metairie that wanted to open up a car wash on Chef Mentuer Hwy. He invested $ 80,000 on permits and such. When ready to get the occupation license was told by the CITY COUNCIL PERSON for that area that he HAD to take on a local partner if he wanted to open up. THIS IS ILLEGAL. Why is this council person not in prison ??

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stadium for Carver High seems pretty frickin' stupid to me. They played games at Pan American 20 years before Katrina.

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May be true, but had nothing to do with the story

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If you're going to throw Katrina guilt money at shiftless 9th Warders, 1) don't harbor too many expectations about where it's going and 2) rebuild something that actually existed before the storm.

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Dude they raised well over a million for the project with others contributing services. Why on God's green earth would they not have expectations for it to be built???

Your whole comment is retarded. The group that forced the original guy out essentially stole or paid friends the million dollars. Why are you acting like this is a non story?

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Hopefully Terrebonne/Lafourche corruption

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Here is your Lafourche connection:

One of the companies they contracted SEOLA has its “headquarters” in Larose.

Lee Zurik went there and there was no office just a dance studio.