The recent editorial in the Denver Post titled, “Share Civic Center for Big Air event? You bet”, addresses the Big Air skiing and riding competition in downtown Denver. Freestyle skiers and snowboarders from all over the world, join together in downtown Denver to throw some of the best tricks seen in the World Cup. The event draws in hundreds of people and costs roughly $800,000. The ramp, built of steel, scaffolding, and man-made snow is “101 feet high, 300 feet long and 80 feet wide”. Although this event seems incredible there’s a catch. People are upset that the public park gets closed to the public for an event that costs more than $45 to attend. Also, it jeopardizes the condition of the park because of the construction and enormous crowds. This editorial is in favor of the event over preservation of the public park, in this specific case, because it is an honor to host the Big Air competition in Denver. This is such special event that most Denverites take pride in attending.
The article was published during a busy time for Colorado with the X Games beginning in Aspen, the Big Air competition, and the consist push for park conservation. Being a green city that runs mainly off of solar panels, people are concerned with the upkeep of Denver and maintaining the reputation of a clean city with clean parks. The authors use this time, or kairos, to voice their opinions that it is okay to host events such as Big Air in our parks seeing the attention it lures from the community. These events provide such a pleasure to viewers who attend and to have some of the best winter athletes in the world in downtown Denver is an honor. Many of the athletes performing between Tuesday and Wednesday traveled straight through Denver onto Aspen for the X Games where they’ll perform the same tricks on a much larger scale.
The authors provide a valid argument that people should be willing to give up a piece of Civic Park for such an extraordinary event. They push this argument through statements such as, “Most Denverites who work and live near Civic Center were, we suspect, as intrigued and entertained by the construction of this mega-ramp as we were, despite the inconvenience of not being able to walk across the park for a few days. The spectacle has been worth witnessing even if you had no intention of buying a ticket to watch it.” The colossal structure is quite amazing to see and there is a public viewing section in a part of the park that is free. This area is somewhat obstructed to viewers however. The statements made in support of their claims are sarcastic and tend to mock those in opposition to such an event. The end of the article states, “And with any luck, if they return to Civic Center a few days later, they'll find it just as it was before Big Air took center stage: open to one and all — as public parks should be, most of the time.” People need to be accepting of Big Air because this inconvenience only occurs once a year.
The style of the article is conversational and as a reader, one can feel this person would be approachable in public. They joke about the commercialization of Denver parks, but it is tastefully done and they avoid overkill. The commercialization of parks is a serious concern; in this article though, they show how a rare event is acceptable to host and people in disagreement are ridiculous. The authors are persuasive through their claim that, it would be nice for such an event to be free but if so, the $800,000 would come from tax payers. Using tax payers to pay for such an expensive event would create more problems then closing off part of a public for a week.
In order to prove their credentials, the writers provide support from city councilwoman, Jeanne Robb. She states, “I know there is a basic philosophical viewpoint in crossing the line and commercializing our parks, [but] to me, this is perfect for Civic Center Park. Sure, it's big. But let's see how it goes. It seems like everyone is getting really excited." The city was very much in favor of the event, which meant for those who were not, they had to deal. Including statements from someone such as Jeanne Robb, adds significantly to their persuasiveness. In addition, the numbers of sponsors who support this event as well as the types of sponsors contribute to the hype. To oppose such an event is absurd and those people are being difficult for the sake of arguing and creating controversy.
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