Another bailout

You know, sometimes you decide to help out a relative. But then things go bad, and you're stuck with the troublemaking freeloader forever:

An Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board official is urging the city to take over the cost of operating Conseco Fieldhouse, saying the Indiana Pacers can no longer afford it.

The Indianapolis Star reported on its Website Monday that board Vice President Pat Early said the Pacers are losing about $30 million this season and can't afford Conseco Fieldhouse's annual $15 million operating cost.

[. . .]

The team has suffered from lagging attendance and off-court troubles in recent years. The franchise's reputation began to decline with the brawl between Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans in 2004, and it hasn't recovered despite a rebuilding of the team.

Early is quoted in the story as saying the city needs to take over the cost of running the fieldhouse "to protect the health of the downtown Indianapolis economy." That sounds suspiciously like "too big too fail," doesn't it? Sure, we should let this group suffer the consequences of its own actions, but then there'd be this ripple effect, see . . . Bet we're going to hear a lot of stuff like that in coming months. Safe bet, though, since we already have.