COMMENT: A Winning Team
Commentary by Rick Reiff
IN CONTRAST TO EARLIER ECONOMISTS’ PREDICTIONS OF MODEST JOB growth in Orange County this year, it now looks like the county will experience no growth or even some job loss, Rajiv Vyas reports on page 1. This would bring Orange County more in line with the downward trend in the U.S. and California.
My first thought is, we told you so. Residential real estate and a few other selected sectors excepted, there has been more discouraging job news than positive in these pages for the past 10 months, in contrast to the more optimistic soundings (until very recently) by economists ranging from Washington’s Greenspan to OC’s Puri and Adibi.
My second thought is, thank goodness for the Angels. At a time of global and economic uncertainty, the Angels exuberant brand of baseball has captivated sports lovers, while Angels fans have shown the nation and world not one, but two new ways to have fun,monkeys and sticks.
The outcome of the World Series wasn’t known as of this writing. But win or lose the Series, the Angels and Orange County have already won in the larger sense.
A final thought: At San Francisco’s Pac Bell Park, the biggest and most creative commercial splash was made by, yep, an Orange County company, Taco Bell.
Cleanup Hitter
LAST WEEK I GAVE THIS SPACE TO A PSYCHOLOGIST, A SOCIOLOGIST AND A cleric to help explain why Orange County had gone gaga over the Angels. I had also solicited the views of an ad exec,another type of professional who deals with the human condition,but his comments came in after deadline. However, I found them equally compelling, so they’re running now, as the Viewpoint on this page.
, Rick Reiff
