Decisions, Decisions
Waiting with my son in the mass of humanity struggling to squeeze its way through security outside of Lambeau Field in Green Bay last week, I couldn’t help but marvel at the energy this one game—Brett Favre’s return to Green Bay--had generated.
To say the scene was surreal is an understatement. A better description might simply be weird--in a wonderful and crazy way.
As a Wisconsin native and father of a life-long Favre fan, I never thought I’d see the day when green and yellow Favre jerseys mingled with purple Favre jerseys at this hallowed ground. And, had I ever imagined such a crazy thing, I couldn’t have possibly imagined such a thing happening without massive rioting and arrests.
But here I was, holding my son’s hand in the midst of an enthusiastic, but polite, crowd following a purple #4 jersey with a funny message. In place of Favre’s name, this fan had stapled (yes, stapled) a note to Packer’s General Manager, Ted Thompson that read, “Thanks Ted!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was almost as funny as the T-shirts on sale outside the stadium that read, “We’ll never forget you … Brent!”
Eventually we found our seats, cheered lustily any time the Packers did something good, clapped politely with most of the other fans whenever Favre did something good and enjoyed the experience in all its wild and wooly ways.
As we left, it struck me how this entire day and all the emotions that swirled around me and my son, were set in place by one business decision. The Packers decided it was time to name a new quarterback. By all accounts, it was a smart decision. Their pick, Aaron Rodgers, appears to be an excellent quarterback – able to take the Packers back to the Super Bowl and maybe return them to the greatness they enjoyed when Favre was in his prime.
I’m sure it was a difficult decision, but then, most decisions are.
And that is my ultimate point. At the end of the day, making good decisions is our primary job--and it’s a lot harder than it sounds.
This issue, like all of our issues, works to provide you with the necessary tools and information to help you make more good decisions and fix poor ones.
A great example is our feature story on maintaining levels of service by David Barth (page 12).
This story helps you quantify and calculate the levels of service (LOS) you should provide in order to ensure “equal opportunity for all residents.” In an age when there are “no commonly accepted LOS standards for parks and recreation facilities,” having a methodology to follow can help you make quality decisions for your agency.
Other stories cover different aspects of your job--floor maintenance, playground safety, conservation, special events, aquatic facilities and more.
All in all, I’m excited about what we’re bringing to the table this month.
If you like it or you don’t, you can always send me a note, something like, “Nice work, Randy!”
Till next month…
Rodney J. Auth
Publisher