Put the Cash Under the Mattress

I begrudgingly consider ESPN the preeminent source of sports news in my life. Its columnists are often boring or stupid, and its original programming sucks without exception, but it's always available, and it's always at least minimally informative thanks to the Bottom Line.

But I must start the slow clap for the Worldwide Leader today for this article, unsurprisingly written by a man who doesn't actually work for ESPN.

I don't study economics and I don't desire to begin doing so; with my father working in law and my sister working for an international bank, I've always felt somewhat clueless when it came to inflation and subprime mortgages and liquidity, but not in a shameful way. It's just not my area of expertise.

But now that the whole country's infrastructure seems to be in danger, I feel obligated to stay informed and yet totally helpless. That's why I like this article so much. It doesn't exactly make me feel better--the overall message seems to be that professional sports just as susceptible to the crisis as we all are--but if I know anything, it's sports. And the fact that Gare Joyce can shape our economic woes into a more palatable topic for people like me reinforces my blind faith in the resuscitation of this sputtering country.