Thoughts for the Day, March 17, 2021: It used to be the biggest drinking day of the year

Any law enforcement officer, ER triage nurse, court magistrate or parent of a college student knows that St. Patricks Day was the biggest drinking day of the year. Super Bowl Sunday and the night before Thanksgiving are distant seconds. However, Covid-19 has changed all of that at least for 2020 and 2022, especially with most colege campuses being empty of students. As a result the streets are safer, the ERs will be less crowded and parents of college students can sleep a little better. It will be interesting to see what happens as we get back to normal.

I was always taught and I always practiced that to solve problems and resolve differences you needed to work together. Creating a win/win situation was better than creating a win/lose situation. When it comes to the Line 5 pipeline under the Straights of Mackinaw it appears that a win/win solution is not in the cards. Governor Whitmer has layed down the gauntlet by threatening to shut down the pipeline on May 1, 2021. The Candadian government and Enbridge, the owner of the pipeline, are saying no way and they have an agreement signed by former governor Snyder that allows the pipeline to continue until Enbridge completes the tunnel they are building that runs under the Straights of Mackinaw to house the pipeline. The environmentalists will only be satisfied with a complete shutdown of the pipeline, tunnel or not. The Candadian government says the treaty signed by President Carter and Prime Minister Trudeau in the 1970s allows for the pipeline and forbids any government entity to make changes to the treaty without approval of the US and Canadian governments. The Republican state legislature want to honor the agreement Snyder signed. President Biden appears to be siding with environmentalists. In the meantime, the residents of the UP are scared to death that they will not have the propane they need to heat their homes this coming winter if the shutdown occurs. Everyone is posturing, but no one is communicating and working on a solution that is win/win.

I am giving my Orchid of the Day to the Napoleon Ohio girls high school basketball team. They won the Division II state championshisp this past weekend. On their way out of Napoleon last Thursday, the team made a point to go by Genacross Lutheran Facility where 95 year-old Fred Church was sitting in a wheelchair just outside the nursing home’s entrance. The buses slowed down and waved to Coach Church who then waved back. Forty Years earlier Coach Church coached the Napoleon boys team to a state championship, in his final season as coach. It was only fitting that the girls honored Coach Church. More importantly, the school administrators arranged for the girls’ games to be “streamed” so Coach Church could watch the semi-final and final games while at the nursing home.

Not sure what is going on at my River Rouge High School. Today, Lamonta Stone was fired as the boys basketball coach. He was fired not by the athletic director. but by the superintendent. The reasons given were that Stone was not meeting the program’s expectations. There has to be much more to this story. Stone led the team to the state championship in 1999, He followed that with assistant coaching jobs at various universities, including Ohio State. He returned to River Rouge and last year they we ranked number one in the state when the season was suspended for Covid-19. At the time of his firing, this years Panthers were ranked number 20 with their three losses coming to teams in the top 10. More to come on this story.

Now that on-line sports betting is legal in Michigan, the sports betting commercials have really amped up, especially with the start of March Madness. At least it is better than listening to lawyer commercials or medicare advantage commercials.

Stay safe. Wash your hands regularly. Social distance. Wear your mask properly. Schedule your vaccine.

Quote of the Day: “I think it is wonderful. I was rooting for them the whole way. They played together really well in both games, and the girls deserved to win.” Fred Church the ninety-five year old former Napoleon, Ohio boys basketball coach from his nursing home after watching the Napoleon girls team win the state championship 40 years after Coach Church led the boys team to the state championship.

Orchid of the Day: The Napoleon, Ohio High School’s girls basketball team. See above story.

Onion of the Day: The Detroit Lions for allowing Matt Prater, the NFL’s all-time leading kicker of field goals greater than 50 yards, to sign with the Arizona Cardinals.