THUMB AWARD EDDIE, IS THIS SOCIALISM?

Thumbs Down to Arlington Stadium’s food and beverage director, Dave Wood, who authorized the firing of his No. 1 peanut vendor when the vendor publicly (and wrongly) criticized Texas Rangers owner Eddie Chiles for being the force behind a move that raised the price of concessions at the stadium and cut vendors’ profits by about 20 percent. Wood says that he, not Chiles, lowered vendors’ profits because the vendors were making too much money. “Coke vendors weren’t making as much money as the beer and peanuts vendors. We tried to bring them more in line.” The real disappointment is that the vendor needed the extra income to help pay for high medical expenses and tuition at North Texas State University.