First Round

OPEN HOUSE • ALL FOUR SCHOOLS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2005 • 1 PM TO 4 PM

The 4-Year Itch

A

The Lions are tied for
gunslinger
first in the division, and
came to
if he keeps it going,
Detroit four
Garcia's skills will take
years ago, fresh out of
the Lions all the way to
college, where he daz-
the second quarter of
zled 'ern with his late-
their first playoff game.
game heroics, his
poise and, above all,
his arm.
Harry Kir sbaum
Joe Harrington was
Kwame Parallel
Colum nist
going to save the
Four years ago, the
Detroit Lions from
citizens of Detroit, sick
themselves and, dur-
of the old-school ways
ing his first season, the Lions'
of city government, elected a
faithful blamed Coach Marty
young gunslinger of their own.
Morningwheg for the team's woe-
Brash, bold, full of poise and
ful ability to lose National
promise, Kwame Kilpatrick took
Football League games in the
his message to the people and
most magnificent ways.
they responded.
One year later, the coach was
Once elected, he donned a pin-
replaced with Steve Mariucci,
striped suit, a flashy diamond
who would bring the "West Coast earring, called himself the hip-
offense" to the new gunslinger
hop mayor and proceeded to
who played the same system in
spend the next four years getting
college. The Detroit faithful
himself on the front pages of the
remained so, even as the Lions
newspapers — for all the wrong
didn't improve.
reasons.
It has been four years, and the
First, there was his security
Lions' West Coast offense has
detail, who numbered in the
been offensive. The Lions' faithful dozens worked overtime shifts
have turned their backs on the
and collected overtime wages.
young, not-so-mobile, blank-
Then there was the Lincoln
shooting gunslinger. Now they
Navigator leased for his wife with
favor middle-aged (in the NFL,
city money, followed by the
35 is almost elderly) former San
rumor of a wild 2002 party at the
Francisco 49ers star Jeff Garcia.
Manoogian Mansion involving a
Garcia, an NFL Pro Bowl player stripper, followed by improper
for three years, would have start-
petty cash fund expenses and
ed here sooner if it weren't for
other alleged misdeeds.
that pesky broken ankle suffered
During three debates with
in the preseason.
Freman Hendrix, Kilpatrick has
In his first game on Sunday,
tried to label his mayoral oppo-
Garcia, passed for a Lions' sea-
nent as an old-school, ineffectual
son-leading 210 yards against the deputy mayor under previous
Cleveland Browns and scored a
Mayor Dennis Archer and there-
touchdown by running the ball
fore unable to take the reins as
into the end zone himself, some-
Detroit's leader.
thing a pro is supposed to do and
Kwame also promised to
something Harrington has never
remove his earring.
done as an NFL quarterback.
It's four years later, the city is
To listen to the local sports-
far from making a comeback
casters later that night, you
because it has yet to hit bottom,
would think that watching the
and the question is: Come Nov. 8,
tape of Garcia evade a rushing
will Detroit citizens keep Mayor
lineman and throwing a shovel
Kilpatrick or elect Jeff Garcia? ❑
pass to a receiver for a first down
was as exciting as watching Joe
Montana taking his 49er team 92 Harry Kirsbaum's e-mail address is
hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com
yards in the final winning drive
of the 1989 Super Bowl.

October 27 2035

made my first documentary at
Country Day when I didn't get
into the school play my senior
year. Film was something I had never
really considered before, but was the
best thing that ever happened to me.

I

I wasn't at the very top of my class

academically, or a star athlete, but
I knew what I was good at and
Country Day helped me pursue it.
So much attention is paid to each
student in every way. They allowed
me to focus on what I knew I could
do best. Getting into N.Y.U. Film
School and having a film exhibited
at Cannes were dreams come true.

I used to limit myself. I don't do
that anymore.

You leave Country Day with the
mindset that you're a winner. -
trat Everything that you do and
1 .1 everything you present to the
world is done with such enthusiasm
and in the right spirit. Everybody I
know who graduated from Country
Day is on such a beautiful path.

It's bigger than an educational
a life experience.
experience -

Stefenie Sasson, '00

DET OIT COCI ITRY DAY

SCHOOL

Achievement means something different to each and every child.
At Detroit Country Day School, our exceptional faculty provides both
the nurturing and the challenges needed for our students to discover
what achievement means to them - to accomplish what they thought
they never could, and to learn how good their best can really be.

We invite you to discover what the Spirit of Achievement can mean
for your son or daughter. Please call us at (248) 646-7717,
or learn more at www.dcds.edu . Detroit Country Day School.
Because the right school will change a child's future.