Detroiter here. For the better part of a decade, local fans’ level of interest in the Pistons was close to zero. Under Van Gundy, the team has become relevant again.

If you’re running into asshole truckers on the road all day long, then maybe you’re the asshole.

Not to mention the thousands of lawyers who find out that law practice isn’t for them and switch careers.

I’m not excusing the Kentuckians who stayed home yesterday, but the Democratic Party is doing an abysmal job of electing its candidates.

A couple of years ago, a group of voters in Ann Arbor started a campaign to write in a 20-pound carp that lurks in the Huron River. Problem is, under Michigan law, write-ins aren’t counted unless the candidate in question has filed a declaration of candidacy. Needless to say, the fish never showed up at the clerk’s…

Some states compensate for restrictive voting hours on Election Day by offering early voting. Needless to say, Republican legislators are chipping away at that—especially Sunday voting, when African-American pastors bus their congregations to the polls.

European countries have no cap on the number of teams in their football ladders, and it’s theoretically possible to get relegated from the top classification to a Sunday pub league.

The only way minor-league pro football will become popular is if the NFL relegates the two or three worst teams every season.

Proposed fix: Let the candidates vote one of their own off the podium after each debate.

Why did he chose “Jeb Can Fix It?” Because “Git ‘Er Done” was already taken.

Tickets are a pain in the ass, but some states such as Illinois require them because there’s a law against all-you-can-drink pricing.

If you’re going to wear a beer T-shirt to a festival, always choose one with the logo of a beer that’s not distributed locally.

But do go to the annual festival put on by your state’s brewers’ guild. In states where brewpubs can’t self-distribute, this is your best chance to try brewpub beer from outside your local area. In addition, many breweries bring one-off festival-only beers that are fun to try.

Regarding #12: The dumping of beer samples has introduced a new phrase into the language: “ground pour.” I’ve heard that phrase used to describe books, movies, and TV series that weren’t worth finishing.

Even most festivals that ban outside food make an exception for pretzel necklaces.

The book comes out tomorrow.

Detroiter here. Today we had a three-hour head start over the rest of you in ignoring the NFL.

Second that. She and Spencer Hall are my two favorite college football writers.

Grantland had its flaws (number one of which was Bill Simmons’s “look at how much pop culture I know” pieces), but the writing there was several orders of magnitude better than what appears in most sports sections in most media.

I don’t think Trump or Carson will get nominated, let alone elected. Trump has no campaign infrastructure, which will hurt him—especially in Iowa. Carson has support among evangelical pastors, which could be enough to win Iowa and other caucus states, but his infrastructure is iffy as well. The guy to watch is Cruz,…