Friday, January 25, 2008

One More Reason Milwaukee is great.

It's not just cheap Brewers tickets, the non-crowded airport or the Miller Brewery:

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/14310182.html

If Philadelphia can immortalize Rocky in statue form, there's no reason for Milwaukee not to do this. If the pioneer of cool lived in your town, you'd want to celebrate his legacy, too.

The article is fantastic, especially the testimony by the Canadian guy who loves the Fonz. The writer almost wrecks himself by violating a personal rule, saying that Henry Winkler talked about the Fonz living in his house "with tongue firmly planted in cheek." Oh really? You think the readers really thought the Fonz is wearing a leather jacket and listening to the jukebox above Henry Winkler's garage, so you had to be sure to set them straight?

All in all, this is a very Heartland thing to do. I suppose it's hard for native New Yorkers or Bostonians to imagine having only a few token famous people or things that link to your city or state. But I went through this constantly in Oklahoma -- whenever anybody from an anonymous state like that reaches great heights, they're effectively dipped in bronze. Or in the case of Olympic gymnast and Okie Shannon Miller, they name a highway after you.

I can only this launches a new wave of Happy Days reruns, so that a new generation of Wisconsinites won't have to ask, "Daddy, who's that funny-looking guy going, 'Ehhhhh?'"

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