The LCA in Detroit.

I saw the new Little Caesar's Arena for the first time last night. A buddy of mine had tickets to the Wings/Flyers game so I did him the favor of taking one off his hands.

I wish I could say I saw a hockey game but I don't feel like I actually did. Philly won 3-0 and the Wings just looked off tempo the whole night. I know they're pretty bad this year. But they're staring at Detroit Tigers bad, a phrase it pains me to utter because I love my Tigers best of all. I don't think the Wings had a single decent shot on goal. The Flyers carried the play the whole 60 minutes as near as I could tell.

The Arena itself is nice, although the bowl sure seemed dark to me. Compared to the Joe Louis Arena where they played before the LCA was built, the lighting just didn't seem to me all that good. The upper level stands sure were steep too. We were in the last row of the upper bowl on a nice flat surface, but it didn't feel that far away from the action. I've sat darn near at the top of the Joe too. It was noticeably farther from the ice.

The amenities were nice and not all that unreasonable. I paid $5.50 each for a hot dog and a 20 ounce Sprite, which is at least comparable to major sports venue prices. Jerry's beer was $13 bucks though. Ouch.

Would I go there again? Sure. It is a nice arena, all said.

This is Charles Martin Cosgriff reporting on the state of the LCA.

Red Wings should pay for their new stadium

Mike Ilitch and the Detroit Red Wings are going to get a brand new hockey arena. After all, the Joe Louis Arena is clearly not a good place to play hockey, and at around 34 years old, well, it's just ancient. No self respecting major league franchise should have to play in a building which is sliding out of the prime 18-34 demographic. It would be an embarrassment.

Then there's the matter of who gets what benefit. The city of Detroit won't get a dime off of revenues, but, hey, look at the jobs which will be created. The new stadium will require about 400 more workers than the old while the construction trades will earn their share during construction. What's not to love?

Well, here's the fact that this is corporate welfare more than anything. That includes the unions who will reap the benefits of the new building. And who will, essentially, foot the bill? Those who get the lowering new jobs, through the taxes which will be collected against them.

Before going on, it is only fair to acknowledge the commitment and the good the Ilitch family has show the city of Detroit. It is even right to admit that new arenas and the nearby Comerica park and Foxtown developments have been nice additions to the northern downtown area. But is that the real point, especially seeing as the Ilitches footed a lot more of the bill for those endeavors? The rich and powerful, and this includes the high paid construction workers, should not get special help from the government.

What would make this new arena really great is exactly what will not happen: completely private funding. Not one dime of taxpayer money should go towards it. Not one. It's your hockey team, Mr. Ilitch. Your companies are the prime benefactors of the new arena. Therefore you should foot the bill. Indeed, we wouldn't even be talking about an arena without your ownership of the Red Wings. You ought to pay for their playground. We know of no family who received government help to build a sandbox in their own backyard for their own children. Neither should your children in the winged wheel get privileged treatment from the government trough.

Yet they will. And while the wealthiest of locals gets his corporate welfare many Detroiters will not have working streetlights or improved city services. That's just how it is when the rich pull the strings, isn't it? How it should be, Mr. Ilitch?