RugbyPike#11

The official announcement for Charlotte's new Major League Rugby team is out! https://anthemrc.com/news/mlr-world-rugby-usa-rugby-forge-historic-partnership/ And I am absolutely thrilled to see that the venue will be Memorial Stadium and NOT Bank of America Stadium as it was listed on the schedule that was previously released to players.

I hope Tepper is not involved in any way. I'm completely guessing and I don't have any inside information on this, but maybe he's offering a relative discount on the stadium as an MLR venue as part of a broader deal for when the RWC comes to the US? Totally speculating again, maybe because World Rugby is involved with the team, we could host a series of international friendlies as part of a double-header with the Charlotte MLR matches? Unless there's something else going on, BOA as the venue would be baffling. The average league attendance is pretty low, I think in part because some teams have moved venues and not done a particularly good job of marketing. Even if we double that 2,500 attendance figure, have 5,000 people per game, and only open the lower bowl of BOA, the stadium is going to feel as empty as... a Panthers game this season. 5,000 people in Memorial Stadium would be a much better gameday atmosphere. We'll see what happens. I'll still try to catch all the matches!

Charlotte is going to have a Major League Rugby team. I don't use the word "franchise," because this team will be something of a developmental squad for the US National Team even though they'll play an MLR schedule. World Rugby is apparently kicking in funding to try to help make the US National Team a little more competitive by the time the US hosts the Rugby World Cup in 2031. Given the league's attendance history, Memorial Stadium would be a perfect venue for this team, but I have heard they're planning to play their first season in Bank of America Stadium. I don't know if Memorial Stadium was booked or if they have some intelligence that Charlotte will be able to make the lower bowl look full at BOA. I'm personally very excited about the team, albeit skeptical about BOA as a venue. Hopefully Charlotte can prove my pessimism wrong! https://www.americasrugbynews.com/2024/01/06/world-rugby-backed-usa-development-team-to-join-mlr/

Happened upon this posting with NRDC and I have to think that some active contributors to this thread could qualify: Southeast Mobility Choices Advocate https://careers-nrdc.icims.com/jobs/5087/southeast-mobility-choices-advocate/job?mobile=false&width=970&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-300&jun1offset=-240

There’s still a large tract of right off the interstate that will be served by a new interchange. The land itself will still have considerable value even if Tepper scraps all the steel from the construction project. There won’t be anything on it for awhile because Tepper has to spend time and money trying to force any unpaid contractors and lenders to take a haircut. Real class act.

The state is building the interchange, which was long needed and is supposed to move forward even if the Panthers don't move forward. I believe the city was supposed to fund the local infrastructure for roads and sewage, and that’s what the bonds were supposed to pay for.

Supposedly there are both Panthers execs and RH City officials who want to sit down and get the project back on track, but the RH Mayor and Tepper are refusing to speak to each other. The SC Governor’s “leadership” amounts to an incompetent old redneck saying, “Y’all just need to sit down and figure this out!”

I asked an involved party, "Is the City of Rock Hill incompetent or is David Tepper an a**hole?" The response I received was, "Yes."

It feels like the original Bojangles should have some brick, or at least a faux brick facade. This first ever Bojangles looks like it could be any random Bojangles off I-95. Celebrate the original Bojangles!!!

"I own six different property companies in uptown alone!"

Anybody have a chance to read the infrastructure bill yet? Does this have a chance to speed up silver line construction?

I didn't realize Wichita State moved out of the Missouri Valley Conference... *checks notes* four years ago. That makes it slightly more exciting for basketball, though I'm not totally convinced they'll maintain the success they had after Gregg Marshall's scandal and departure. Agree that it's a step up from CUSA regardless. Either way, winning games is what makes for a fun program, and I don't remember Charlotte being any good since the Melvin Watkins and Bobby Lutz run.

I don't have a dog in the Charlotte university fight (I kind of do, but Winthrop doesn't factor into this discussion without a football program), but it seems like a great move for football. ECU is a good in-state rival. Hopefully they can also set up some kind of consistent non-conference matchup with App State. Maybe the Charlotte/UTSA matchup will be fun in the USAA offices. The Charlotte metro has some pretty solid high school football talent, and with the right coach, Charlotte can become competitive by feasting on the 3 stars that can't quite make it into the power 5 (or is it 4 now?). If they're not too stingy with the transfer credits, they can also pull in some talented players from the transfer portal. It's not the same as what it was in the pre-realignment Big East, but being competitive in the AAC could really help to elevate the university's national brand. It's not wildly exciting for basketball unless they can challenge Memphis for conference championships. I can't speak at all to the impact to non-revenue sports.

Never realized before now how freaky Martha Stewart fans are.

How many of you have tried to play this video more than once? The pandemic has done a real number on my brain.

Some excerpts from the fact sheet for the American Jobs Plan (i.e. the Biden administration's infrastructure). It is light on specifics but calls for an expansion in transit funding. Fix highways, rebuild bridges, upgrade ports, airports and transit systems. The President’s plan will modernize 20,000 miles of highways, roads, and main-streets. It will fix the ten most economically significant bridges in the country in need of reconstruction. It also will repair the worst 10,000 smaller bridges, providing critical linkages to communities. And, it will replace thousands of buses and rail cars, repair hundreds of stations, renew airports, and expand transit and rail into new communities. BUILD WORLD-CLASS TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE: FIX HIGHWAYS, REBUILD BRIDGES, AND UPGRADE PORTS, AIRPORTS AND TRANSIT SYSTEMS President Biden is calling on Congress to make a historic and overdue investment in our roads, bridges, rail, ports, airports, and transit systems. The President’s plan will ensure that these investments produce good-quality jobs with strong labor standards, prevailing wages, and a free and fair choice to join a union and bargain collectively. These investments will advance racial equity by providing better jobs and better transportation options to underserved communities. These investments also will extend opportunities to small businesses to participate in the design, construction, and manufacturing of new infrastructure and component parts. President Biden’s plan will deliver infrastructure Americans can trust, because it will be resilient to floods, fires, storms, and other threats, and not fragile in the face of these increasing risks. President Biden is calling on Congress to: Modernize public transit. Households that take public transportation to work have twice the commute time, and households of color are twice as likely to take public transportation. Our current transit infrastructure is inadequate – the Department of Transportation estimates a repair backlog of over $105 billion, representing more than 24,000 buses, 5,000 rail cars, 200 stations, and thousands of miles of track, signals, and power systems in need of replacement. This translates to service delays and disruptions that leave riders stranded and discourage transit use. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $85 billion to modernize existing transit and help agencies expand their systems to meet rider demand. This investment will double federal funding for public transit, spend down the repair backlog, and bring bus, bus rapid transit, and rail service to communities and neighborhoods across the country. It will ultimately reduce traffic congestion for everyone. Invest in reliable passenger and freight rail service. The nation’s rail networks have the potential to offer safe, reliable, efficient, and climate-friendly alternatives for moving people and freight. However, unlike highways and transit, rail lacks a multi-year funding stream to address deferred maintenance, enhance existing corridors, and build new lines in high-potential locations. There are currently projects just waiting to be funded that will give millions more Americans reliable and fast inter-city train service. President Biden is calling on Congress to invest $80 billion to address Amtrak’s repair backlog; modernize the high traffic Northeast Corridor; improve existing corridors and connect new city pairs; and enhance grant and loan programs that support passenger and freight rail safety, efficiency, and electrification.

I also think of Charlotte as the spiritual capital of the Carolinas. USC's business school didn't put a satellite in another state for no reason.

Ah, thanks, sometimes "why don't we just..." has a clear answer.

If commuter rail is feasible on the NCRR track, is the western portion of the Silver Live necessary? Compare the routes of the silver line (gray on map embedded below) west of uptown with the NCRR route (green). Is there too much freight traffic to do something like 20-30 minute or even hourly frequency during off-peak times using DMU carriages? I know the blue line has been wildly successful at spurring denser development, and that the silver line could have a similar impact on west Charlotte, but could a higher frequency DMU service have a similar impact at a much lower cost, and potentially much sooner with support from NCRR? Based on the WFU news, would it be better to reroute the silver line along the southern portion of 277 to hit the WFU campus and then terminate it at Gateway? With commuter rail and DMU on the green NCRR routes? Also, that would allow the silver line to have a couple midtown stops compared to the currently planned route along the 11th street and the northern portion of 277.

I have not heard about the salaries, but I'm not shocked to hear they're on the lower side. One of the worst risk management executives I've ever had the displeasure of working with is a managing director for them out of the west coast. MUFG received some pretty horrendous advice a few years ago. When they had enforcement issues over economic sanctions violations and antimoney laundering laws with the New York Department of Financial Services , they switched their New York branches (and branches in a few other states) from state charters to a federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) charter. They thought by doing so, their enforcement actions with NY DFS would just go away. When NY DFS didn't just go away, MUFG sued THEM (lol)! And then settled with NYDFS a couple years later. Around the same time as the settlement, the OCC gave them a Cease and Desist enforcement action (that is a severe finding of violations, and the enforcement action specifically mentions the issues previously identified by NY DFS). Charlotte and NYC are probably the best markets for AML and economic sanctions talent by a fairly wide margin, so no surprise to see MUFG fishing for talent here. I've previously seen postings for their broader enterprise risk management function as well (based on OCC enforcement priorities, I'm guessing MUFG has a less severe non-public enforcement action for enterprise risk and compliance management). They have a lot of postings for technology and commercial banking postings, and Charlotte has a deep talent pool in those niches as well.

I can't help but notice that the neighborhood is south of NoDa and the southern portion of Parkwood Ave is a major road in that area. I therefore, resubmit an old idea for consideration. Welcome home... to SoDaSoPa Old ideas are new again.

They’re converting the old Hearst Tower trading floor into tech cubicles instead of using the trading floor as a trading floor?

Truist Man will be John Allison disguised as Ayn Rand. In between fighting crime, he’ll spend his days trying to convince everyone that Atlas Shrugged is non-fiction.

Not the expert, but the Land Rover Defender is not very common. The two door is the Defender 90, and even more rare is the four door Defender 110. I don’t have the numbers, but I would guess it’s less than 10,000 sold in the US. There was a period where Ford owned Jaguar and Land Rover, but they sold it off during the financial crisis. The new Ford Bronco is about to take a bite into Jeep sales, and I bet that bite would have been even bigger if they still owned Land Rover and offered a rebadged and rebodied Bronco as a new Defender. Instead, Tata Motors has produced a new Defender that looks right at home in shopping mall parking lots (albeit highly capable off road, and also VERY expensive).

Go all in on contending with Gordon Hayward. Trade Cody, matching salary, and your unprotected 2022 first round pick for Blake Griffin. We’ll throw in Derrick Rose, too. With love, A lifelong Pistons fan who can’t adopt the Hornets until Jordan is gone