The 'Ville Is In The Spotlight

The eyes of the sports world have been on Louisville for the past few days.  It started Thursday with the big U of L vs. West Virginia football game, and it continues today with the very $$ Breeders Cup races at our beloved Churchill Downs and it will end later on this month with the impressive National Livestock Expo.  Today is being billed as the richest day in racing - even more so than the Kentucky Derby.  We've been watching the Breeders Cup coverage on TV all day long, and while we haven't seen any big celebrities like they show on Derby Day, we've seen very big money - most of the Royal Family of Dubai are here today.  During the past week, all of the talk has been the either the football game or Breeders Cup - the news coverage has been non-stop.  While all of this was going on, the news coverage of another major event has gone pretty much unnoticed: a local man, who is an activist against crime, was almost beaten to death.

The Rev. Jerome Garrison has regularly participated in Louisville prayer vigils against violence and, as a counselor, he works with clients who've been victims of crime. But early this week, Garrison became a victim himself -- beaten by a gang of youths while walking the few blocks home from his office.  Rev. Garrison said he knew immediately he was in trouble.  They began punching him, knocking him to the ground and then stamping on him.   He said it seemed like they wouldn't stop, and he said he could tell they were getting a big thrill out of beating him up.  He said they were cheering and carrying on like they were at a pep rally.  He said that he knew he would be killed by the group of eight or more thugs if he didn't do something, so he managed to get up on his feet and ran into the traffic on Broadway.  Fortunately, no cars hit him, and he was able to make it to a store where he called 911 for help.

So while the sports casters and the Chamber of Commerce are all welcoming people to Louisville for the big events, this story has been pushed aside. I'm sure they think that the tens of thousands of visitors pumping big bucks into the city's economy don't need to hear something like this. But it's real.  It's as real as a big football win, and it's as real as a horse winning a multi-million dollar race. And after the spotlight fades on the Cardinals football team and on the Breeders Cup Classic winner, events like this will still exist; they won't fade away.