Last week in this space, I mentioned being something of a libertarian. Breaking down my feelings to an all-encompassing, declarative sentence might be difficult, but it I had to, it might be this: Just leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone. I’m not exactly antisocial, but public ...
“I got a lotta problems with you people, and now you’re going to hear about it!” — Frank Costanza, during the Festivus “Airing of Grievances” in a 1997 episode of “Seinfeld” Every now and then, my travels on the interwebs lead me to that legendary clip of Jerry Stiller’s Frank Costanza standing at the dinner table and shouting that line with George, Jerry, Kramer, George’s mother Estelle and George’s boss, Mr. Kruger, watching. Almost three decades later, it’s still must-see TV. There is no skipping it for me — just like stumbling across an episode of ...
Some of President Donald Trump’s supporters like to compare him to another two-term Republican president — Ronald Reagan. I’ve never seen that, I suppose you could find some common ground in their philosophies, but their personalities — at least as they appeared in public or on television — couldn’t be more different. Reagan could deliver a political jab at 1980s Democrats, who didn’t care for his policies any more than today’s Dems care for anything the Trump administration has done, with charm and a smile. I don’t remember Reagan suggesting that his political ...
While you’re reading this, I’ll be working my way through some Thanksgiving leftovers and watching the Ohio State Buckeyes beat TTUN, 103-0, as Michigan fans go back in time to the Jim Tressel-Urban Meyer years. OK, so no one — even the most rabid Buckeyes fan — expects that kind of score. But after four consecutive losses for Ohio State in the best rivalry in sports, most of us will settle for any kind of victory in The Game. The Buckeyes are the defending national champions after storming through last season’s playoff by manhandling Tennessee (42-17), Oregon (41-21), ...
One of my favorite online videos of recent vintage explains the FAFO Principle — fool around and find out. Just for the record — and to save everyone the trouble of dashing off a snarky email — I know that’s a sanitized interpretation of FAFO as most of us have come to know it. But this is a family newspaper, and we adhere to certain standards. As I once told a young reporter who had a penchant for including even the most sordid details of courtroom testimony and police reports, “If you wouldn’t be comfortable relating these details to your mom or grandmother over ...
Now that the Cleveland Guardians are long out of the playoffs, I have to admit that I had a bad feeling about their wildcard series matchup against the Detroit Tigers. Sure, the Guardians’ epic comeback from a 15½-game deficit to win the division was historic and called to mind the New York Yankees’ rally from way back to catch and pass the Boston Red Sox in 1978. But the Yankees went on to win their second World Series in a row that year, while the 2025 Guardians couldn’t duplicate their late-season mastery of the Tigers that helped Cleveland win the American League Central. ...
