The D

Tourist Attraction, for reals

Over the past few weeks, Mojo and I have been exchanging texts and emails over a really remarkable book on the city of Detroit, "Detroit City is the Place to Be," by Mark Binelli.  Part way through this, Mojo emailed, "we need to get together, drink a few beers, and talk about this book."  We then realized there are very few things you could replace "talk about this book with" and not have this be an awesome idea.  But I digress...

I get a lot of questions in Philly about the D, what's it really like, are the pictures true, how did it get that bad... I imagine Mojo has gotten them in his worldly travels, too.  Mostly, these questions are out of sheer curiosity and sympathy for our city.  And I gotta give my Philly people a lot of credit, they have a lot of respect for our city.  I told a few people here they would get along with everyone in Detroit, since I think Philly and Detroit have a pretty similar culture.

One quote in the book really stood out to me, and I want to address it, both to inquire what my peeps in the D think, and to enlighten my Philly friends, too.  Mojo and Fah T were both gracious enough to offer their takes, too.  So if you want to skip through my dribble and get to people who can actually write, So we offer this instead of our usual MLB preview.  Though I threw my picks in, too, of course.  Here's the quote...

"Would fixing the very real problems faced by Detroiters, I began to wonder, mean inevitably robbing Detroit of some part of its essential Detroitness?"

Mojo initially asked me for the context, and this line actually stands as its own paragraph.  My initial thought was, is the author suggesting that the problems with Detroit are actually an essential part of our culture?

When I talk to people about Detroit, I focus on loyalty more than anything.  I have been close friends with the same dozen or so guys since I was 14 years old.  We may not talk or see each other for years at a time in some cases, and when we get together, its like I never left.  You can go hang out with a totally new group of people in Detroit, and they will welcome you openly.  I actually recently shared that with a friend here, who wants to see Joe Louis Arena before the Wings move.  He asked if people would like him there (he's a little, well... loud and obnoxious, but in a really friendly and funny way).  I was like, dude, they will freaking love you.  And they would.  And even they didn't, they'd fake it and he'd never know, just cause he was a friend of mine visiting out town.

Loud and obnoxious in a bad way

I fly my Michigan and Tigers flags proudly all the time.  I know Mojo does, too.  We actually met a neighbor of ours because the wife went to Michigan, they saw our flag outside, and brought their 2 and 3 year old girls about a 15 minute walk mildly out of their way on Halloween to meet us.  Oh, and the girls were dressed as Michigan cheerleaders, as ARG would be a year later.  Know I knew who they were?  I saw the same Michigan flag flying outside their house when I drove by.

Back at ya, Philly

We are a hard-working, loyal, and passionate town.  We love our city, our suburbs (ask people who say they are from Detroit what suburb they're from when you meet them), our sports teams, our "Up North"... to the death.  Philly and Detroit share this trait, way more than any other city I've been to.  I think this is why the people of Philly have been so cool, not only welcoming me, but also understanding and relating to my loyalty and passion for my town, and wanting to know about the D... because if Philly were like Detroit, then they'd be us.

So for me, to answer that line, I guess I have to answer, "if we didn't have the crime, the dregs of a city, the corruption, etc., would we not have the loyalty?"  My answer:  of course we'd have the loyalty.  Our culture is not defined by the downfall of an American metropolis.  It has been in our blood since Detroit was founded, and it always will be.  When we overcome the disaster that our town has become, we will only emerge as victorious and even more fiercely loyal having triumphed together.  And trust me, when we get there, it will be a million times more obnoxious than me finding every excuse to mention the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals.  And if you don't believe me, just listen to this, baby.

Editor's Note - We all wrote these without reading each other's first, so no influencing opinions.  Leading off the un-edited opinions of my fellow Detroiters, I give you the 3rd largest man in metro Detroit, Mr. Fah T...

"To answer the question you need to first determine what the “real problems faced by Detroiters are.”  Having spoken to hundreds of Detroiters, the number one problem as defined by the citizens is crime.  Fixing the crime problem is not something that is going to happen overnight and won’t be solved by government alone.  The crime problem will only be solved when the government organizes with the churches, charities, schools, etc to attack the problem from every angle, but that’s “Detroitness.  To say that fixing the crime issue would change “Detroitness” would be shear insanity.

There are many other “real problems” that contribute to crime.  Poverty, illiteracy, etc.  Each of these problems is real and each of them needs to be addressed, but they won’t be solved until the war on runaway crime is won.   None of these problems have anything to do with “Detroitness” and fixing them doesn’t change who Detroit is.  “Detroitness” exudes confidence.  “Detroitness” works until the problem is solved.  Detroitness never quits.  Detroitness gets its hands dirty.  Detroitness helps a neighbor in need and expects nothing in return.  Detroitness tells NYC and LA that you may be bigger, but we will beat your ass up and down the sidewalk just because we feel like it. 

Detroit has its problems.  We don’t deny our problems, but we will get them fixed and one day return to glory."

After reading that, I punched a hole in a wall in my house and spray painted an olde English D over it, just because I felt like it.  Those last few lines about "Detroitness" are spot on.  On to Major Mojo.  So his is a little long for two reasons... 1.  And I'm quoting here, "I wrote this on the beaches of Belize, so the grammar may be messed up and fueled by Rum Punch."  2.  He's about 10 times smarter than Fah and I combined.  Here ya go...

"Quick Answer: Yes

Long Answer: It depends

Detroit has faced problems, perhaps more than other big cities, since the 60’s.  This was hard to swallow over the decades as more than a hiccup because of the fall being so slow, but steep. In 1950, Michigan was one of 8 states in the country that made up 36% of the WORLDS GDP! and Detroit was it’s heart.  It had been a driver of the American dream ever since the 5 dollar day promise from Henry himself.  Anything short of Amazing was a bump in the road:  That’s bump has now been upgraded to a mountain.  Race riots, corrupt mayors, city workers moving outside city limits, chronicled arson, losing teams have all corroded the image of the once greatest manufacturing city in the world.  Now, it makes headlines, movie scripts, and Facebook posts…however, usually as the butt of a joke.

Growing up in the Metro Area meant a weak tie to a distant past. The stories and tales told were hard to correlate with the visits.  I remember my mom talking about the beautiful churches that were inspired by architecture all over the world cause of the diverse population; but as we drove to Detroit for Sunday night mass if something had kept us from attending that morning she would lock the doors as we got off the freeway.  I think every kid, though, had a parent or a friend’s parent who worked for the big 3.  This was crucial as it was a core identity adopted even in name; motor city.  You felt that even if you family was Ford or GM, it was okay for friends families to be one of the other companies because we were all in the motor family. If that went away, I think a lot of ‘Detroitness’ would go with it.

Now, being from there and living away since 1997 has meant defending a city for nearly half my life.  People always are quick to say ‘oh, Detroit is having some problems aren’t they’  Yeah, they are, but just as you can comment on how long we have been having problems I can counter with the fact that it has been that long that folks have stayed true.  Not all folks, no city has 100% loyalty, but you don’t see music videos about St. Louis win Oscars, or viral super bowl commercials about Cleveland.  The very fact that the city is mentioned so often in jest calls to question why has not just imploded already?  The core of any city is its people.  It is more about who lives there rather than what is or is not there.  To deny that Detroit has something special is to admit legal blindness.  

Mitch Albom’s Sports Illustrated cover story from January 2009 “The Courage of Detroit” is the best answer to all this discussion.  Not just in the words that are written, but the nodding of the heads of area Detroiters as they read it.  We all feel and see the scars, but we don’t cower from them. We are able to take the scars as proof that despite all that has gone on, we are ultimately stronger than what caused the scar.

I think people are amazed day after day, year after year to see Detroit be publicly bashed on late night TV, exposed in ‘ruin porn’ photography books, tongue lashes by congress…..yet, they have the courage to keep going.  I think in an unspoken way other people wish there city had the heart like the people of Detroit do.  I think they wish they could strike up random conversations with people at bars in New York City and have so much in common like I do.   It may be vacationing at the same lake, or BOBLO Island, or class trips to the Detroit Zoo.  There is a shared experience that maybe comes from being a peninsula, maybe it comes from the fact that so many of Detroit’s past citizens were blue collar thru and thru and that kind of upbringing has the respect of so many current area residents.  The early people came after the American Dream and have kept that spirit and gratefulness alive in their children and grandchildren.  

So, why do I say ‘It Depends’ then? I feel that we have come to love the fact that we are fighters and that everyone seems to know it.  I think that despite what may happen people will always remember these hard fought decades of greedy politicians and car CEO’s; because you cannot change history.  You can change a course though and I do hope that we do.  Studying organizational change at Columbia there were all these examples of companies and organizations that refused to change; it is all in past tense though as they no longer exist (those that did change stay; 3M…the post it note people…originally started as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing but has evolved numerous times).  Change is inevitable and it will erase its current Detroitness as a generation grows up without the stigma.  However, I truly feel that it will turn itself around with good leadership.  It will bring back some of the residents and that will cause for some recollection to the days when times were tough.  It will define our history, but a new era of Detroitness will slowly grow.  

Perhaps it is in the medical field with all the big hospitals or in new startup companies that want cheap office space and make it big.  However, Detroitness has slowly evolved and will continue to do so. Our Detroitness was one of huge manufacturing success in the 1920s, then one of race in the early 70’s to the 80’s, now one of bankruptcy and unemployment.  So, it has always been changing and I think it’s important to say that people cling to the Detroitness not because of the nature of the events but by the nature of their connection to the people.  Detroitness has been about a residents struggle to make their city better, and we just aren’t giving up on the city right now like so many Nay Sayers find easy to do.  So until the population is zero there will always be Detroitness; perhaps just a different shade or story to go with it.

In Afghanistan I was eating with some civilians one day and someone made mention that every shirt I had brought on the deployment was either Detroit sports or Michigan wolverines.  One snippy person chimed in and said, “I know like a dozen people from Michigan and every single one of them is so big on how awesome Michigan is and of course you cannot help to wonder with all that’s going on with the auto industry (this was early 2009) and such what it is that they are all excited about. I don’t get it”  I told him, with all that is going wrong and a 100% of the people you know still excited you have to wonder how many times you have to meet someone who likes the great state of Michigan before you realize that you’ll probably just not capable of ‘getting it’.  

Detroitness will change. It has to. What won’t change is how the people cling to Detroitness. Doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s from Detroit…Detroiters will identify with it."

So there's our takes on it, and we would love to hear yours.  Tweet at me, and I'll be sure Fah and Mojo see them, too.  Email us your thoughts as well.  Thanks for reading.  Baseball stuff!

MLB Quick Picks

AL - Tigers, Rays, Angels.  Wild Cards - Texas, Toronto
NL - Braves, Reds, Giants.  Wild Cards - Dodgers, Nationals

AL Cy Young - Jered Weaver
NL Cy Young - Stephen Strausberg
AL MVP - Mike Trout
NL MVP - Buster Posey

ALCS - Tigers over Angels
NLCS - Nationals over Giants

World Series - Tigers over Nationals in 5  (Did I mention I have an in on tickets in both Detroit and DC?)

Yep, I'm a homer!

I love the D, and would love your thoughts on what you read.  Contact Logical Betting at logicalbetting@gmail.com and twitter.com/logicalbetting.  Hasta.