Village Idiot of the Day, August 16, 2009: "BlackHoodedSaxon," "gmorris," "colorless"

Have you ever seen a more miserable group of people than our Reppies? They see nothing-- absolutely nothing-- good in anything that's related to Canton. Reading the Rep is like falling down the rabbit hole. Football Hall of Fame Weekend, the ribs burn-off, First Friday, the Arts District, cultural exhibitions, concerts. All of these, and more, are considered loathsome events or event locations full of social vermin: thugs, teens in baggy pants, hippies, skateboard punks, snobs, fags, the rich, illegals, liberals, pedophiles, people of color, unmarried mothers, SARTA riders, tax dodgers, and welfare cheats.

The latest event to run afoul of Reppies is the annual O'Jay's Family Reunion, held this year at Nimisilla Park and Fawcett Stadium. The event, in its fifth year, featured a youth basketball tournament, rides, games, food vendors, entertainment, a parade, a dance troupe, ballroom dance presentations, and an amateur night at the Apollo. The big draw was the big entertainment: the Whispers, Maze with Frankie Beverly and, of course, the O'Jays. This year about 15,000 people reportedly showed up bringing a boatload of money into our economically depressed area.

You'd think our Reppies would be proud that Canton is the hometown of the O'Jays, one of the most successful R&B/Soul groups of the 1970s. They were inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame class of 2005 with U2, the Pretenders, Percy Sledge, and Buddy Guy. You'd think it would be an honor for Canton to be the host town for the O'Jays Family Reunion. It's kind of like having the Temps or The Miracles in your own backyard.

Unless you're from Canton.

The Rep's upbeat coverage and positive reports from normal people of the 2-day event were met with howls of disapproval from our resident crabs. Under People Travel Near and Far to Attend O'Jay's Family Reunion we find a collection of complaints running from inconvenience to racist. It appears that some of the most egregious comments were removed by the Rep, so we are working with what's left.

a1b2

I can not believe how loud this concert is. I do not live even close to the stadium (around 30th and Cleveland Avenue) and the noise is incredibly loud. I have a sick child at home and neither of us can sleep due to the loud music. It is nearly midnight and the music sounds like it is right in our backyard. I really cannot believe that the City would be so inconsiderate to allow the loud volume to affect innocent residents! I can understand that they want to hold a concert and the money it brings to the city, but they should at least think about the residents who have to put up with the noise. I mean how far does one have to move to escape the noise? There has to be another place to hold a concert that would not violate noise ordinances and disrupt residents. You would think that the City would be fair and think about others and not just the money! Just another reason to move out of Canton!

brownfan1209
This is ridiculous i live by fawcett and its almost 12:30. They are still playing music as loud as they were 3 hours ago. This is uncalled for and unnecessary.

osubuckeyes
Thanks for the throbbing music until 12:30 and the trash left all over the neighborhood where people parked wherever they wanted to.........we really appreciate it! And PS--I live on the north side of Fulton across from the Hall of Fame, so don't give me the BS about moving in next to a stadium please.

BlackHoodedSaxon
Once a year ? These people do this all the time. What about the working class that had to be up at 4:00am for work. Family reunion my ears, at least shut it down at a decent hour. Have some respect for the working class who support you.

gmorris

Feel for the working people who need their sleep when late at night the concert is going strong. The noise from a football game is in no way as loud as a concert. The HOF concerts were over at 8PM. Man they were loud especially zoso........... Too many folks being crowded into any facility is dangerous. None of the local bar bands who play outside are as loud as a stadium concert or play late at night. Its a completely different situation. I wish there were more concerts in town just better organized. Remember 30sih years ago many people were trampled at a Who concerts in Cincinnati. I thought general admission tickets were outlawed because of that event. Why were there general admission events for this concert??? Crowds pushing locked gates....... very dangerous.

colorless
i had freinds working a drink stand and the people that came to the concert were all a bunch of rude disrepectful degenerates!!! some even threw dinks on the workers just to make the an already bad situation worse!!! i hope Obo the great never comes here the city would probly burn like south certral LA,

by the way my brother had a live band on his out door deck at his bar play till 10 pm in canton township like the stadium and was ticked by the stark county sherifs so 12:30 may have been past the legal time for noise???? so i can say they had the right to complain......

We're going to cut the first three whingers some slack today. Maybe music really does keep them awake. When we can't sleep we stick in the earplugs and listen to old Iggy Pop or Anthrax and fall right into dreamland, but that probably doesn't work for everybody. A Saturday night concert running until 12:30 AM, though, hardy seems out of line. We've been to weekday night discos on the beach that don't even start until midnight and run until 5:00, ending just in time to go home, change clothes, and go to work.

I Hate Canton really wonders, though, about gmorris' and BlackHoodedSaxon's (dare we ask what that means?) inordinate concern for the sleep deprivation of "working class people," of which we guess they are not. We have, in fact, never heard such a complaint issued in class terms before. We cornered a friend of ours who happened to be close by to get his opinion. He cuts and lays tile for a living. His response was "WTF does that mean? Who cares? Stupid people." Granted a 1-person poll is hardly meaningful, but there are now two of us who find this "concern" suspiciously odd.

What "gmorris" and "Saxon" really meant was, "I'm supporting your lazy ass with my hard-earned, government-stolen tax money while you ( black) deadbeats, degenerates, and baby makers are out partying. Show some respect for you hard-working betters home in bed by 9. Like us.

And for "colorless," what do we say? If so many concert goers were riotous and assaulting vendors, why weren't the police called? As a veteran concert goer ourself, we can recall times when police billy-clubbed our riotous brethren and sistern for much less than dumping drinks on somebody. On a deeper level, "colorless" is hinting that O'Jays fans are a threat to society and would burn the town to the ground if Barack Obama came to visit. This make no sense, unless 'colorless" is suggesting that th O'Jays Reunion was packed with "rude disrespectful degenerate" Reppies. They're the only people we can think of who would loot and burn the town at the sight of the president.

Due to the incendiary comments of "colorless" we feel it our duty to award him or her our Village Idiot of the Day for August 16, 2009. He or she shares the award with BlackHoodedSaxon who would have placed second had it not been for "Have some respect for the working class who support you."

A close second is awarded to gmorris.