Life on Steroids

Being the rich, elite snob that I am, I belong to a private club. Six or seven years ago, it decided to do a major “renovation” to its golf course to the tune of...let's just say it was a lot of money. The club was close to being mortgage free, and the golf course, as it then existed, was a classic golf course designed by a major course designer of historical repute. But the members of the club decided they wanted the best golf course and best club in Ohio. Visions of professional golf tournaments danced in their heads. At the club meeting to vote on the project, I opined that perhaps the figures ought to be re-examined and perhaps we ought to save some money first. This isn’t Palm Springs, and many of our members, contrary to popular belief, aren’t wealthy. Sooner or later, I said, we would have to assess the membership, and we would lose members, leaving those who remained holding the bag, so to speak, and paying the mortgage.

I was booed. I was told that those who can’t afford to belong should drop out, myself included. I was told I was negative, and then it got really nasty.

To make a long story short, there were insufficient funds to complete the project and when the assessment came down the pike, substantial numbers bolted from the club. Leading the pack out the door were many of those who said that if you can’t afford to belong, drop out. The club came close to going under, but through the hard work, tenacity and fiscal responsibility of those who remained, the club survived its near sinking, and is now among the most fiscally solvent and growing private clubs in northeast Ohio, with one hell of a golf course and great membership.

This is life on steroids. Those of us that live in the Mahoning Valley are blessed to be surrounded by extremely talented and competitive people. For an area with a shrinking SMSA population of less than 600,000 people spread over 5 counties and 2 states, we manage to spread our joy all over the country. There is ALWAYS a Youngstown connection. We are the center of the universe. It drives my Mansfield born wife nuts.

The result of this talent and competition is an area whose amenities far exceed those of much larger cities in quality and number. From art to theater to music to public gardens to private clubs to golf courses to sports and park facilities, the Mahoning Valley’s attributes are equal or better to anything one can find anywhere else. We make sure that what we have is the best.

This is both a blessing and a curse. Leisure activities, no matter how benign, tend to spin out of control. It is not enough to be good, you have to be the best. It is not enough to be big, you have to be the biggest. And if one is good, two is better, and three would be just terrific. I read in last night’s newspaper that Stambaugh Auditorium, one of three major performance venues in the area, is bringing the Pittsburgh Symphony to Youngstown in the fall. That is a good thing, right? Then the steroids kick in, and the spin takes off. We are going to make this a major stop for all of the world class orchestras, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cincy Orchestra, the Philly Orchestra, etc.

The problem is that the Youngstown-Warren area has TWO, yes TWO, outstanding local symphony orchestras of its own with full pops and classical schedules for the 2007/2008 season. This area’s population can only support so much of these types of endeavors. Something is going to suffer. This area even has two semi-professional hockey teams resulting from two different promoters getting into a proverbial “----ing” match over an arena, when this area can barely support one.

So there is a price to pay for life on steroids. After the growth spurt, the body starts to feed on itself and leads to an early death. Sometimes being the best is not such a good thing. Sometimes we should slow down, enjoy our leisure activities, and settle for “pretty good”. After all, pretty good around here is…well…pretty good.