Smart Says Who?

While snarfing some nachos I flipped on the TV and accidentally landed in the low channel ranges. That scary neighborhood with american idol reruns and big blocks of no man's land labeled "local listings" where all your town's used car salesmen hang out with their unbeatable deals and volume amped vanity commercials.

And, of course, the local news, which I caught 5 minutes of. Probably the 2nd time in 6 months. But in those 5 minutes I discovered that Boulder, CO is rated as America's smartest city by Forbes magazine ---which was more national news--- but the local kickers soon followed. An interview with a resident on the Pearl street mall kind of deflated the news-PR-enthusiasm:

Newscaster: "What do you think about Boulder being called the smartest city in America?!!"

Resident: "Depends on who is saying that. And why. And how can you call a city smart?"

The newscast went on to sports, reporting a disappointing loss of Colorado to Nebraska in college football. The announcer claimed that although CU did lose, it was important to note that Nebraska had *no* cities in the top 10 smartest, and Colorado had two (Fort Collins got #7 in the nation.) Which cracked me up.