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Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
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Plate Cap
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by Plate Cap » Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:23 am

craig11152 wrote:
Can you substantiate how many casino customers fit that demographic? I have never been in a Detroit Casino so I have no clue.
He raises an interesting point....in the strict sense of business, it's acceptable to make money at any legal endeavor, and certainly such casino gambling in Michigan is as such.

That said, some folks oppose gambling on religious and moral grounds; others on common good sense and mathematics. I never really looked at it this way, but clearly the Illitches CAN be criticized by some feeling this way. It might not fit for you or others, but it's a valid question to some....between sports, entertainment, investment, and pizza, it's not like they HAD to follow that course.

I've never been to any of the Detroit casinos, despite having spent a LOT of time in the region. I occasionally visit the St. Ignace and Petoskey casinos for 'other' reasons (concerts, dinner, etc.) I am going to see .38 Special at Little River in March. That said, I don't think I've gambled more than $10 in them in the past 30 years. On a cruise ship, I gambled $20 on the entire 40 day cruise. I think, barring other 'problems', people who have a mathematic or engineering background probably more easily see the fallacy of gambling better than some others?

I find them smoky, and disproportionately populated with people who, from their general appearance, dress, comportment, and demeanor probably can little afford to burn money in that fashion. It's clearly their choice....no one is twisting their arms....but one wonders if a guy like Illitch ever had a moment of pause when he no doubt thought about all that.

Not a reason to condemn him, or even think ill of him.....just parlor conversation.


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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by audiophile » Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:14 pm

Majik wrote:Somebody has to/will own the casino. Maybe better Ilitch than someone else. I feel some of that profit makes its way back to the community through the Ilitch family. But I could be wrong about that.
This might be true, but if someone less astute owned it, they might go out of business. This seems to happen a lot in the Casino business - thus eliminating the Casino scourge altogether.


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screen glare
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by screen glare » Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:00 pm

Casino advertisements show glam people having a luxurious time.

Go to Detroit casinos. Spend thirty minutes watching vehicles come and go from casino parking garages. Lots of dented rusted old cars, vans, and trucks. Inside - at the slots and tables - lots of people who appear down and out - instead of well heeled and well groomed.

Casinos are brightly lit tempting adult playgrounds where people who can least afford it end up deeper in the financial hole.

I think the family should have added to their vast landscape of money in a way that did not result in ruined lives. No justification mitigates their direct responsibility. They had other investment options.



wtfdetroit
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by wtfdetroit » Thu Feb 16, 2017 4:25 pm

screen glare wrote:Casino advertisements show glam people having a luxurious time.

Go to Detroit casinos. Spend thirty minutes watching vehicles come and go from casino parking garages. Lots of dented rusted old cars, vans, and trucks. Inside - at the slots and tables - lots of people who appear down and out - instead of well heeled and well groomed.

Casinos are brightly lit tempting adult playgrounds where people who can least afford it end up deeper in the financial hole.

I think the family should have added to their vast landscape of money in a way that did not result in ruined lives. No justification mitigates their direct responsibility. They had other investment options.
You put it nicely. I'm not a casino goer but I have been to Greektown casino (walking through to go to the people mover) and it is a depressing sight. Seniors with oxygen tanks sitting like zombies on the slot machines, poor people roaming the card tables, 80% smoking rate in there. It's a sorry group of people in there and nothing like the commercial. Definitely degenerates.



joe60
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by joe60 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:24 pm

screen glare wrote:Casino advertisements show glam people having a luxurious time.

Go to Detroit casinos. Spend thirty minutes watching vehicles come and go from casino parking garages. Lots of dented rusted old cars, vans, and trucks. Inside - at the slots and tables - lots of people who appear down and out - instead of well heeled and well groomed.

Casinos are brightly lit tempting adult playgrounds where people who can least afford it end up deeper in the financial hole.

I think the family should have added to their vast landscape of money in a way that did not result in ruined lives. No justification mitigates their direct responsibility. They had other investment options.
This post is ridiculous. Plenty of legal businesses can lead to bad things. Busch stadium in St Louis was named after a family that got rich selling alcohol. Should the Busch family have sold flowers instead? The casinos were coming here one way or another whether the Ilitches bought one or not.



wtfdetroit
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by wtfdetroit » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:18 pm

They didn't need to come to Detroit, they haven't brought anything positive downtown.



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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by audiophile » Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:45 pm

wtfdetroit wrote:
screen glare wrote:Casino advertisements show glam people having a luxurious time.

Go to Detroit casinos. Spend thirty minutes watching vehicles come and go from casino parking garages. Lots of dented rusted old cars, vans, and trucks. Inside - at the slots and tables - lots of people who appear down and out - instead of well heeled and well groomed.

Casinos are brightly lit tempting adult playgrounds where people who can least afford it end up deeper in the financial hole.

I think the family should have added to their vast landscape of money in a way that did not result in ruined lives. No justification mitigates their direct responsibility. They had other investment options.
You put it nicely. I'm not a casino goer but I have been to Greektown casino (walking through to go to the people mover) and it is a depressing sight. Seniors with oxygen tanks sitting like zombies on the slot machines, poor people roaming the card tables, 80% smoking rate in there. It's a sorry group of people in there and nothing like the commercial. Definitely degenerates.
That's sad...


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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by audiophile » Fri Feb 17, 2017 1:58 pm

joe60 wrote:
screen glare wrote:Casino advertisements show glam people having a luxurious time.

Go to Detroit casinos. Spend thirty minutes watching vehicles come and go from casino parking garages. Lots of dented rusted old cars, vans, and trucks. Inside - at the slots and tables - lots of people who appear down and out - instead of well heeled and well groomed.

Casinos are brightly lit tempting adult playgrounds where people who can least afford it end up deeper in the financial hole.

I think the family should have added to their vast landscape of money in a way that did not result in ruined lives. No justification mitigates their direct responsibility. They had other investment options.
This post is ridiculous. Plenty of legal businesses can lead to bad things. Busch stadium in St Louis was named after a family that got rich selling alcohol. Should the Busch family have sold flowers instead? The casinos were coming here one way or another whether the Ilitches bought one or not.
Yes...Flowers! Ever heard of Busch Gardens?


Ask not what your country can do FOR you; ask what they are about to do TO YOU!!

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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by screen glare » Sun Feb 19, 2017 12:06 pm

It wasn't just a business decision, Joe60. It was an ethical decision, as well.

Like I said - plenty of other investments that would not have besmirched the family's reputation were available.

They made their choice to provide a gambling palace. And it features every trick in the book to entice the down and out into a get rich quick temptation - including no clocks, windows, a disorienting print on the carpeting, and every well researched feature to keep you gambling with no sense of the amount time you are spending in there.

The wealthy family got into the business of fleecing the poor and addicted out of every last penny they have. There's no way to ethically justify their investment. "Well ... somebody was going to do it. Might as well have been them..." is your pitiful excuse for their unethical business decision. Sorry - no way to
put a positive spin on their reprehensible choice. They had other money making options available to them.



Deleted User 24

Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by Deleted User 24 » Sun Feb 19, 2017 1:17 pm

He was a robber baron who did just enough good to make most of us overlook the bad.



wtfdetroit
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by wtfdetroit » Sun Feb 19, 2017 2:13 pm

I remember the big push for casino's and how it would rebuild Detroit and the city would get all this additional revenue. In hindsight, they were a H*** mistake. They sucked the soul out of Greektown (went from Greek dining and stores to 5 guys and generic sports bars) and didn't really bring anything new to the city. The casinos are soulless business who like others have said go after the most vulnerable and we should have never allowed them in Detroit. If you want to gamble, go to Windsor or Mt Pleasant.



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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by MWmetalhead » Sun Feb 19, 2017 4:01 pm

Well stated.



borderboy653659200
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by borderboy653659200 » Fri Nov 02, 2018 12:45 pm

Jim Northrup called Ilitch a "crook" on the Ron Cameron Show in 2009,two years before his (Northrup's) passing. Be they Ilitch,Gilbert or any other tycoon,they are first committed to further enriching themselves at the expense of the 99.99999% ,some of whom act as the overlords' apologists. Malcolm X once said,"Show me a capitalist,I'll show you a bloodsucker."



Deleted User 24

Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by Deleted User 24 » Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:32 pm

borderboy653659200 wrote:
Fri Nov 02, 2018 12:45 pm
Jim Northrup called Ilitch a "crook" on the Ron Cameron Show in 2009,two years before his (Northrup's) passing. Be they Ilitch,Gilbert or any other tycoon,they are first committed to further enriching themselves at the expense of the 99.99999% ,some of whom act as the overlords' apologists. Malcolm X once said,"Show me a capitalist,I'll show you a bloodsucker."
Tick ... tick ... tick ...



Sgt. Sackto
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Re: Mike Ilitch dead at 87

Post by Sgt. Sackto » Tue Nov 06, 2018 8:19 am

Vic Doucette wrote:
Sun Feb 19, 2017 1:17 pm
He was a robber baron who did just enough good to make most of us overlook the bad.
Pretty damning story in Sunday Freep regarding Illitch family and broken promises to residents living in Detroit around LCA. Does make you want to reevaluate certain Illitch actions always touted as benefits to the city.



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