WAYLAND | Final Four won’t fix Detroit

Driving through Detroit this weekend, it was amazing to see the celebration and liveliness the NCAA men’s basketball tournament has brought to the city.

However, as I drove away from the city, that world of cheering and sunshine quickly transitioned into one of poverty, arson and deterioration.

I have lived no more than 10 minutes from Detroit my whole life and love the city.

But between the suburbs and downtown, it’s practically impossible to find a street without an abandoned building, remains of a building that has been burnt down, or a house that looks like it should be condemned.

The Final Four is expected to bring about 100,000 people to the city, who are estimated to be spending $15 million to $50 million; this supposedly will help “boost” Detroit and the state’s economy.

In the past five years, Michigan has hosted the NBA Championship (’04, ’05), Ryder Cup (’04), Stanley Cup (’08), World Series (’06), MLB All-Star Game (’05) and of course the Super Bowl (’06), which is estimated to have brought $274 million in spending to Detroit.

And guess what? Our economy continues to decrease, our unemployment rate continues to rise and these events give nothing to the citizens of Michigan except a brief hiatus from the crushing financial woes.

After tonight’s game, the nets will be cut down (hopefully by State, even though I was raised a Wolverines fan) and everyone will leave the city and state the same way they found it – with the highest unemployment rate in the country (12 percent) and a once-powerhouse city that ran out of gas after lighting itself on fire.

In Detroit, almost one out of four citizens is unemployed, and while I’m not saying that the Final Four won’t help the city, it isn’t the miracle solution the city and state are longing for.

On ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” there was a five-minute video about Detroit and it had Michigan icons such as Steve Yzerman, David Bing and Magic Johnson discussing the state of Michigan and the deterioration of the city from the thriving automotive capital it once was.

Johnson is a MSU alumnus and I think he described best what the Final Four is to Michigan, by saying even if MSU doesn’t win, “the state of Michigan is smiling – they’ve had a week to smile and feel good about themselves.”

So Michiganders, I hope you have enjoyed your weekend of sunshine because as soon as it’s gone, we’re still left with a whole lot of problems, even if Kwame Kilpatrick is gone and the Big Three have their bailout money.