The state can lay claim to the nation's highest unemployment and lowest high-school graduation rates, home foreclosures happening at more than two-and-a-half times the national average and an auto industry that's circling the proverbial bowl (federal benevolence notwithstanding).
As bleak as things are in real life, you won't find many Michiganders singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Sports doesn't offer much of an escape these days, either.
With the Wolverines' unprecedented futility still fresh in fans' minds, yesterday afternoon brought yet another round of sporting shame -- the 2008 edition of the Detroit Lions officially became the least successful team in NFL history.Sixteen games, sixteen losses.
There's still reason for hope, however. The Pistons may be in second place, well behind the division-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, but at least they're winning. The Red Wings have a good shot at a second straight Stanley Cup and the Spartans have a puncher's chance of upsetting Georgia on New Year's Day.
Sitting here in Ohio, I know I'm in no position to pitch rocks across the border. I mean, our own economy is nothing to brag about, and besides, the Browns and Bengals didn't win enough games combined to make the playoffs.
Looks like there's plenty of shame to go around.
Larry's last call
When I was an OSU student back in the '70s, everyone "knew" that Larry's, a dingy High Street joint across from North Campus, was a gay bar -- but it wasn't.
Larry's was a haven for edge-dwellers and counterculture types, welcoming all, including gays, into its dim confines. For most of its 85 years, the place hosted misfits, rebels and groundbreakers, cultivating legends along the way.Now Larry's is gone, closing its doors Saturday night, a casualty of mismanagement and society's preference for more polished, cookie-cutter establishments. Maybe that's what progress looks like.
Some will say that an old beatnik bar is an anachronism in the 21st century. I say that Columbus is poorer for the loss.
House divided
To the delight of my Morgantown missus, West Virginia defeated North Carolina, 31-30, in Saturday's Meineke Car Care Bowl. I may be a devoted Ohio State fan, but I cheered and fretted and celebrated right alongside my wife as quarterback Pat White willed his team to its fourth bowl win in as many seasons.
While the final seconds were ticking down in that football game, a basketball game was getting underway in Columbus -- OSU vs. WVU.Uh-oh.
Ohio State entered the contest undefeated, the Mountaineers with two losses. Even though the young Buckeyes were down by seven at the half, I was sure that they'd pull out a victory, especially in front of the home crowd. They didn't, losing to West Virginia in humbling fashion, 76-48.
Mrs. KintlaLake is doing her best not to gloat.
Stupid is, stupid does
Chip Saltsman once chaired the Tennessee Republican Party. He ran Mike Huckabee's campaign for president. Now he wants to be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Seems like a perfectly reasonable career path.
Mr. Saltsman is promoting his candidacy with a 41-track CD, which he distributed to RNC members as a Christmas gift. One of the musical numbers is a parody called "Barack the Magic Negro."
Yes, it's sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon." And no, I have no idea what Mr. Saltsman has been smoking.Predictably, GOP leaders are scrambling to issue statements decrying the song (publicly, anyway). Rush Limbaugh is defending it with typically idiotic froth -- and why wouldn't he? After all, the We Hate The USA CD, which also features "The Star-Spanglish Banner" and "Wright Place, Wrong Pastor" among its mindless selections, was produced by Limbaugh sidekick Paul Shanklin.
Most disturbing, I think, is Mr. Saltsman's judgment that the CD would find a receptive audience at the RNC. It may not be surprising that third-grade "satire," the daily fare of talk radio, still amuses some people, but it's sad to see that Mr. Saltsman (like those Committee members, presumably) believes that clumsily veiled racism is essential to resuscitating a dying party.
Until Republicans learn the difference between conservative and stupid -- and ditch the talk-radio compass -- make that a dead party.
