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Tampa Should Market Its Signature Rowing Crew Art

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 5, 2007

Last week's cover story in the South Tampa News & Tribune detailed a discussion we'll be having increasingly as Tampa's riverfront continues its revitalization. What of all that uncommissioned 'urban art' that has been left in the wake of college rowing crews through the years?

Will it remain cool - in that Tampa signature kind of way - or will it seem an incongruous mismatch with the new Riverwalk, museums and upscale, outdoor dining?

Here's a vote for continued coolness.

We're not talking about urban graffiti that is the unsightly tag line of vandals or ad hoc advertisers. We're talking about a literal, historical signature: a graphic reminder of where Ivy League and Big Ten student-scullers have long wanted to be in the winter. And not only were the collegiate Kilroys here, but they're still coming back.

If a simple Yale logo or a colorful reminder that the Princeton Women Crew was here in 2000 are not considered compatible with a protean waterfront, then we need to do a better job of educating those who think that way. Tampa needs to market it, not question it.

To that end, visitor-related brochures and Web sites need to highlight the unique Tampa totems. In Tampa, you can row home again.

Assessing Cuba Policy
When it comes to a position on Cuba, no presidential candidate is more open-minded than Sen. Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat.

In a controversial debate remark this summer he indicated his willingness to meet - without preconditions - with world leaders who are America's adversaries, including Fidel Castro.

In late August in Miami, Obama made headlines when he called for the United States to ease travel and remittance restrictions to the island for Cuban-Americans. No other presidential candidate has taken these positions.

It was enough to prompt this comment from Patrick Manteiga, the politically plugged-in editor and publisher of the Ybor City-based weekly La Gaceta.

'It's nice to see one candidate who is not pandering to the far right Miami Cuban exile community,' Manteiga wrote in his front page 'As We Heard It' column.

Which begs this question: Isn't the bar set pretty low when it comes to Cuba?

What about the embargo that hurts Cuban citizens, U.S. business and American credibility around the world? The Cold War relic that geopolitically positions the United States as hypocritical at the worst possible time? Or the sense that Cuba's actually a sovereign country that doesn't require America's democratic stamp of approval?

No candidate will touch the embargo, including Obama. In fact, no candidate would dare agree with the April 12, 1963, news conference words of President Kennedy.

'The basic issue in Cuba,' said Kennedy, who had weathered his share of Castro crucibles and CIA intrigues, 'is not one between the U.S. and Cuba; it is between the Cubans themselves. And I intend to see that we adhere to that principle.'

'Sure, the bar is low,' Manteiga says. 'No one is talking about anything.'

'I honestly thought the tipping point was two or three years ago,' he says. 'But it's still so easy to rattle sabers at Fidel - and even Raul. It's still the political thing to do. And the new generation of Cubans won't rally.

'Obama's as good as it will get,' underscores Manteiga. 'Hillary will follow her husband's playbook: say nice - but don't change anything. This actually could show Obama having some leadership. Reaching out, uniting families. He's got to nip at her heels - without getting his nose bloody. And who knows, maybe Hillary or Edwards might move over a bit.'

Joe O'Neill is a South Tampa writer who can be contacted at www.OpinionsToGoOnLine.com.

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