The Artist who was and is again Prince once offered the musical command, “Ass up, face down, bitch!”
As one of the countless disgruntled, disenfranchised, set aside and cynical nonwatchers of the Bungles, that phrase reverberates through my head every time I plunk down my hard-earned ends when I’m buying toilet paper, CDs, shoes, books, whatever. I know I’ll never step foot in Paul Brown Stadium, yet I have to help pay for it.
This while our city schools disintegrate, our teachers decide on pay increases based on performance and urban neighborhoods are nothing short of blighted.
Thankfully, there are people like John and Tamara Pace, the husband/wife organizers of the Riverfront Classic and Jamboree who seemingly exist to temper my cynicism.
The Riverfront Classic is an annual education-based event culminating in a showdown between two historically black college football teams. The second annual weekend took place here Sept. 8-10, bringing folks in from all over the place.
John Pace says last year’s game brought in 22,000 at Cinergy Field, with the overall event attracting 30,000 people. This year, a little more than 30,000 people took in the Tennessee State-North Carolina A&T game and 46,000 came to related events. According to an early, conservative estimate, he says the 2000 Classic and related events probably brought in $16 million.
Let me tell you that you haven’t lived until you’ve attended a black college football game. But this isn’t really about black pride, per se. It’s more about inclusion. Even deeper, it’s about the economics of inclusion.
With the impending partial demolition of Cinergy Field — which will leave the stadium unable to host football — will the Riverfront Classic be homeless? Will it move to the Bungles’ classy new digs or be forced to relocate to Nippert Stadium at UC? Or will it leave Cincinnati altogether?
“We are beginning talks with Paul Brown Stadium,” Pace says. “The important thing is going to be to get an early date this year for next year and a recurring date so people across the country can mark their calendars. We need to have a date by this November, because the window to book college teams for the 2001 season is quickly coming to a close.”
That Paul Brown Stadium is outfitted with grass is no big deal. It’s not precious. Everyone helps to pay for it, so everyone, within reason, should be allowed to use it, right? Right.
“There are other stadiums across the country — St. Louis, Jacksonville, Nashville — that have set the precedent with historically black colleges,” Pace says. “They have agreements between the NFL and college classics to play (in those stadiums).”
So why should Cincinnati be any different? Because Cincinnati is different. By that, I mean that each time you think local political leaders, whoever they are, are going to do logical, sane things, they hook a U-turn and head in the other direction.
But because he’s not steeped in the historical pettiness of city politics, Pace is confident his event will be in Paul Brown Stadium next year.
That’s not arrogance. It’s sound business.
“I don’t know the political landscape,” he says. “The Classic brings so much to the city such as economics and a long-term, measurable impact such as giving youth the ability to think about their educational futures. The bottom line is money.”
One would think so. But, given the lack of minority contractors during the construction of the Bungles’ new home, isn’t it time for the team and its owners to pay up? Where’s the sports equivalent of our 40 acres and a mule?
“It’s not a question of whether it’s owed,” Pace says. “It’s a question of a smart business decision and not closing (the Classic) out because it caters to a segment of the community, in this case African Americans.”
Should the Riverfront Classic be closed out of Paul Brown Stadium, will there be any room at the inn somewhere else?
“There is no Plan B,” Pace says. “We’re going to Paul Brown Stadium because the community now understands the value of a Classic in Cincinnati. The Bengals were a sponsor when we were at Cinergy and they were at Cinergy. Spinney Field was used as a practice field for the marching band. I’m confident we’ll reach an agreement.”
Until then, I’ll keep my K-Y® handy.
This article appears in Sep 20-26, 2000.