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Pearson: Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and all around good guy
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Davis Heading to Chicago "For His Kids"
December 1st, 2003
So we know that Antonio Davis is being traded to Chicago. And we know that his wife and kids already live there. And we've heard the comments he has made in the past about wanting to bring his kids up in the US. Well, the team of crack investigative journalists at Rick Brunson .com just had to know what other factors may have lead Antonio and his family to choose Chicago over Toronto. To that end, we have tried to imagine his thought process in making this decision...
Antonio and his family would have found themselves visiting two world class airports at either end of their move. Toronto's international airport is named after Lester B. Pearson, the 14th Prime Minister of Canada who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. Chicago's international airport is named after Lieutenant Edward O'Hare, a navy flyer who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1942 and who died in 1943, at just 29 years old. I'm sure AD started questioning his move the moment he starting regaling his enraptured children with the history of each airport's namesake.
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Chicago's citizens love to kill each other
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But the history of the local airport is hardly a factor on which to base the city you call home. If Antonio is truly concerned for his children, then crime must have been a stronger factor in his decision. Interestingly, Toronto only had 60 murders (2.4 per 100,000 people) in 2002. Canada, the whole country, had 582. Chicago, while being home to only 400,000 more inhabitants than Toronto, had 645 murders (22.3 per 100,000 people) during the same period.
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Toronto's CN Tower DOMINATES Chicago's Sears Building in this Rick Brunson .com Artists Rendering
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Well, it's not only a low crime rate that will make you feel comfortable at home. It's also nice to know that your city of residence is known for producing brillant people with amazing talents. Torontonians take pride in the fact that funny-man Mike Myers is from Scarborough, Ontario - a suburb of Toronto. Meanwhile, accused child molester Michael Jackson, while currently splitting his time between his Neverland Ranch and jail, is from Gary, Indiana - a suburb of Chicago.
Okay, so maybe Antonio is basing this decision more on emotion than fact. Maybe he is the kind of man that is moved by great human endeavours and he looks to the skyline of his home to fill him with the peace and tranquility he needs to balance his busy, NBA life.
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Peter Ustinov on Toronto:
'Toronto is like New York run by the Swiss.'
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Oscar Wilde on Chicago:
'Your city looks positively dreary.'
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That peace would be easy to find with Toronto's CN Tower standing at a height of 553 meters (1,815 ft), making it the tallest free-standing structure in the world. Chicago's Sears Tower, on the other hand, is a mere 442 meters (1450 ft) tall, making it a rather tall building.Finally, maybe Antonio is basing his decision on where to raise his children on the reputation that each city has earned. While there apprears to be some substance here, it quickly dissolves when one realises that while the musical Chicago was critically acclaimed and the movie Chicago won some Oscars, the band Chicago totally sucked. The city of Toronto has never lost face trough such misappropriations of her name.
Sorry, Antonio, we don't get it.
You've picked a city with a second-rate airport, an alarmingly high murder rate, a freak-show native son, a skyline with tower envy, and an association with a band that really sucked over Toronto.
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