Editorial: Thumbs

To Ndamukong Suh.

Many NFL fans want the Detroit Lions to do well. After years of being the least successful team in pro sports history, the Lions have built a winning season. However, these Lions aren’t behaving like the good guys fans want to see. They are bad boys, and Suh is their poster child. The defensive tackle displayed his poor sportsmanship in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving Day by banging Packers’ offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith’s head into the ground several times. Then, after standing, Suh kicked Dietrich-Smith. Suh later tried to explain he was keeping his balance, but the video replay doesn’t lie. Suh was ejected from the game, and he deserves whatever fines and suspensions the NFL gives him. “Professional athlete” means a player is paid to play a sport and be a good sport.

 

To going gonzo on Black Friday.

There was a woman customer at Walmart in Albert Lea who tried to park her automobile where the cart corral belongs, just to get a space closer to the doors. She actually pushed the corral with her car! Plus, there were reports there and elsewhere of people bickering over who gets what was on the shelves. And don’t get us started on the woman in Los Angeles who pepper-sprayed 20 people to get a competitive advantage. Just when we begin to think the news about Black Friday is funny, suddenly there is news that people were firing shots at stores in Florida and North Carolina. We think it is time to re-think our priorities when it comes to shopping and deals.

 

To local shopping.

To consumers who will do their shopping in their hometown, rather than drive to a nearby big city. Local merchants big and small have good deals and interesting finds. The weather has been unseasonably warm, so we urge you to take a walk down the downtown sidewalks and stop in the stores to browse. And be sure to check out what’s available at the local shopping centers. You’ll find that shopping in Albert Lea, Wells, Northwood, Lake Mills, New Richland, Hayward, Alden, Glenville or any other local town to be a lot less hectic and a lot more friendly than going to the big cities.