Jerry Davich: January 2008 Archives

Last week I wrote a column on Valparaiso University men's basketball "super fans," six super-charged students who show up for each home game dressed in unique outfits.
One game they dressed in bikinis for Hawaiian Night. Another game they dressed as ninjas. For the game before holiday break they dressed as Santas, even wrapping themselves in twinkling Christmas lights.
They’ve been called “The Six-Man Crew” by VU players, “The Crusader Disciples” by the VU radio announcer, and “Those Crazy Students Who Always Suit Up” by some fans.
Still, they have no permanent name, not yet anyway.
Suggestions welcome, I wrote in my column.
Well, I've received a few suggestions for their nickname from readers and I say the best one is...

OK, be honest,who had Heath Ledger in the Celebrity Death Pool?
Not me, not you, and surely not the obituary writers, I'll bet.
Oh sure there's an obit already penned for Britney Spears, the AP recently revealed. Not too surprising, even at age 26, huh? And surely there have been obits in the can for years on, say, George H. Bush, Keith Richards, and Dick Clark (He IS still alive, right?).
Yep, it's simply sound journalistic policy to be prepared for such notable deaths. (What, you think newspapers and media outlets scramble at the last minute to pull those off?)
But still, Heath Ledger? Geez, no one saw that one coming.
Personally, my money has been on...

So there I was late Saturday night chatting it up with Eddie, his wife, Lisa, and her friend, Nancy, at the End Zone Bar & Grill in downtown Hobart. I just met them a few minutes earlier but it felt like we were old buds. They even offered to buy me a drink, but since I drink only Cokes it would have seemed insulting to them to accept their offer.
Anyway, I popped in to that bar around midnight with my wife and her wedding-party friends because they insisted the reception we just left had to continue, well, somewhere. It seems that someone who obviously drank too much and who had no right picking our next destination, picked the End Zone and I was the designated driver, so there I was chatting it up with... well, you know, Eddie, Lisa, and Nancy.
That's when some guy who obviously drank too much started yelling at some other guy who obviously drank too much, and several other serious-looking guys in white "SECURITY" shirts - who obviously didn't drink too much - busted in to control the situation. Eddie, who like I said just met me, was kind enough to guide me away from the ruckus for my own protection. Sporting my sportscoat, collared shirt, and dress shoes in a sports-themed bar known for its drinking more than its sports and attire, I must have looked like I needed protection, but that's OK.
Anyway, a few minutes later four Hobart cop cars pulled up outside the joint, siren lights screaming, and a stream of Hobart's finest busted in to also control the situation.

The old guy wore an oversized parka, heavy boots, thick gloves, earmuffs, and a scarf.
He kept staring my way as I ate dinner at my favorite Mexican food joint in Portage.
I knew he had something to say to me, besides chastising me for wearing only shorts and a sweatshirt in 20-degree weather. I get that all the time.
No, he had something more on his mind.
Finally, after both of us paid our bills, he came out with it in the parking lot.
"Hey," he barked, "why don't you write more about crooked politicians in this region? They're everywhere."
Ah yes, the "politics" question.
I've heard this question from plenty of readers the past decade or so. And, as I tell them, once in a while I have poked fun at region politics or local pols, like when I attended my first-ever political fundraiser for... well, somebody. Or when I take a quick jab in passing at a certain mayor or public official.
But, as I told the old guy in the parking lot, here's why I don't routinely write about region politics...

I was born in Gary.
I was raised in Gary.
And I left Gary - at age 18.
I hear similar tales of not-so-daring escape from so many readers when I write about my hometown. The only wording that changes is their age when they left: 12 years old, 23 years old, 46 years old. Even 68 years old, I've heard.
But one thing always remains constant with these readers...

Exhibit evidence #412 that Forbes Magazine and none of its editors, writers, or employees have ever been to Gary was revealed Friday as the corporate media giant publicly announced that Northwest Indiana’s largest city was deemed 39 out of 100 U.S. metro areas for its annual list, “Best Cities for Jobs in 2008.”
So if you’re looking for a job this year in this region (and who isn’t these days, even if it’s for a little moonlighting money), Gary is your best bet, according to Forbes, an even better bet than Chicago, which ranked lower on the list.
OK, to be fair, Gary’s 39th ranking, up from previous years’ rankings, includes four NWI counties, not only the city of Gary.
But still, Gary Mayor Rudy “Hey, We’ve Got Jobs” Clay was quoted Friday welcoming unemployed region residents to his new Hey, We’ve Got Jobs Department, or something like that.
Question is...

The older lady stood about 15 feet away from me in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store.
As I reached to grab a frozen pizza from the shelf, the lady exploded with the loudest sneeze I ever heard.
Aaaaaahhhhh-ccchhhooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Sniffle sniffle, snot snot, wipe wipe.
It was like she had been saving up this super-duper sneeze of the century for months, just for that very moment.
Dumbfounded, I just looked at her. And she looked back at me. No one else was in that aisle.
I sheepishly turned to grab my pizza, but she continued to stare my way, waiting... for something.
Finally, a few seconds later, I realized what she was waiting for.
"Uh, God bless you," I mumbled, waiting to see if I said the right thing to curb her wrinkled stink eye.
"Thank you," she hissed curtly before turning away, like my belated "God bless you" somehow offended her.
Well, this isn't the first time such a situation has happened to me in our God Bless You Nation.
On the flip side, I once offered a reactionary "God bless you" to a guy who sneezed near me in an office and he acted like I was nuts, as if I was somehow too far away from his personal space or something.
Holy you-know-what, it seems that this agnostic is damned if I do and damned if I don't.
So, my promised God-related question that I've been wondering for years is this.

"He's at the back door... he's trying to get in... I'm in the bedroom... He's in the house... I got a weapon... Hurry please... I'm scared... I'm going to shoot... He's turning the door now... Stop it!... Just stop it!... Oh my God... Oh my God!"

False. False. False. And, uh, false.
That’s all that needs to be said regarding another red, white and untrue “patriotic” e-mail that’s spreading like wildfire in cyberspace about U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama.
The e-mail, forwarded to me Monday by a skeptical reader, claimed that Obama is a radical Muslim extremist in disguise who refused to use the holy Bible when he was sworn in as U.S. senator. And that he refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and… oh well, you get the idea.
Of course the e-mail is just another all-American Internet hoax, a bogus sham, an urban legend. (For detailed verification and debunking, check out http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/obama.asp.)
Yep, it reeks of the same sort of jingoism as an e-mail I received last September about a Dunkin’ Donuts in Crown Point.

Before we move on to other more worthy issues, or at least more interesting, I promised to announce the recipient of that $25 gas card for, well, you know. The reader's name is Carrie L., of Chesterton, who had no problem infiltrating the aforementioned "town without a welcome mat."
So, with that bit of blog-housekeeping out of the way, let's move onto a new "Observations from the Edge" entry with much broader ramifications.
Riddle me this, blog readers: Is Barack Obama a radical Muslim extremist in disguise who...

Think quick! Which Northwest Indiana community is the most scenic and picturesque this time of year? Yes, without
a doubt it’s a must-see destination point in the region that welcomes out-of-town visitors like old family. That’s right,
it’s the lovely town of Dune Acres, which doesn't want you and your kind inside their idyllic utopia by the lake.