Who Should Pay for the Parade?

There is a big controversy going on in Los Angeles over who should pay for the Lakers’ parade.  The estimated cost is $2 million.  The Lakers have already agreed to pay half of the money but there are those who feel that the city of Los Angeles still has no business spending $1 million on a parade when they are laying off so many city workers.

I have a simple and effective solution.  Don’t have the parade.  I mean seriously, how important is having a parade anyway?  I’m a huge Laker fan.  It actually hurts me when I watch a game and they lose.  So nobody is happier than I am that the Lakers won a championship.  It has been a very painful seven years for me, the last time the Lakers won a championship.

But in these tough economic times, you have to make choices and you have to prioritize.  However much I would want to celebrate a Lakers victory, is it more important that jobs and a reduction in services?  Probably not.  So why even have one?  Does it make the Lakers any more of a champion?  No.  And given the problems that the police had controlling crowds last night maybe it would be a good thing to not have the parade anyway.  Too many stupid sports fans ruin it for everyone else.  Crowds are dumb, and Los Angeles Laker fans proved it last night.

If the Lakers want to have a parade, than let them foot the whole bill.  If they don’t, I wouldn’t be mad at them.  It is not like they have a few million dollars just sitting on the side to throw a big party.  Let’s figure out what is really important and prioritize correctly.