To the recommended solutions for the skate park.

We were happy to read that the skate park will not move away from City Beach. At the same time, we were glad that the team forming recommendations were willing to say they favor temporarily closing the skate park as a punishment if behavior gets out of hand there. It’s a fair compromise. Give the skaters a chance to show they care about the neighborhood and their skate park. We particularly like the idea of a kickoff each summer — or probably spring, we imagine — to go over rules and concerns. Oftentimes, the biggest issues can be solved with a little less confrontation and a little more education.

 

To the lousy national sports media.

OK, this isn’t directed at all of them, but many national media outlets these past two weeks had commentaries about how the Super Bowl matchup — Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos — is not exciting enough. Are they kidding? It is the NFL’s leading offense against the NFL’s leading defense. If that isn’t enough to spark stories, then the journalists aren’t doing their jobs.

The true problem is that the NFL places two weeks between the conference championships and the Super Bowl, and it can be tiresome no matter which teams are in the game to come up with something to write about. No other major sports league waits so long before their title game. We wish the NFL went back to having one week before the Super Bowl, like it did in before the 1990s. The only true reason for the week off is to garner more media attention. However, it isn’t clear whether that produces more TV viewers. If anything, we imagine a week off frustrates football fans and spurs disinterest among the impatient.

 

To the Gourmet Food Auction.

Isn’t this event an oasis in the desert for the Albert Lea social calendar? Spring, summer, fall and the Christmas season have fundraisers and festivals, but aside from a few small events and not counting school activities, there aren’t many high-profile, communitywide events — the are-you-going-to-this events — in January, February and March. The main ones are the Gourmet Food Auction and the Big Freeze. It was nice to see so many friendly faces Friday night, and the food was absolutely yummy. If you didn’t make it, we urge you to go next year.