The most dangerous college towns in the USA

Ithaca is no. 6. I used to hear rumors but never thought the town was that bad. I also used to see people getting arrested across the street from where I lived, but that was outside a bar and therefore to be expected. Besides, it was on the same corner where I once saw the Vienna Boys’ Choir climb into a bus. The Choir’s beatific presence contributed to the overall mildness of the place.

Gainesville is no. 1 in crime. Not too surprising. Now and then, I see Gainesville in crime documentaries. Gainesville even had its own “Ripper.”

I’m inordinately loyal to, even fond of, Bloomington (no. 10). I’ve never been there. Sometimes, I walk along its streets on Google. I hang out in Assembly Hall or outside Scott Russell Sanders’s house; I avoid notorious “Cutter” districts.

At this point, you’re probably asking what counts as a college town. Is Memphis a college town? Is St. Louis? They have universities and lots of crime. Albuquerque? Atlanta? Baltimore? Boston? Chicago? Los Angeles? New York? Philadelphia? Washington, D.C.?

Seattle? (Think: Bundy.) Salt Lake City? (Ditto.) Tallahassee? (Ditto.)

Is South Bend a college town? Maybe not, since Notre Dame is its own city. But see the murder-writings of Ralph McInerny (where there’s smoke, there’s fire). Or this sad movie.

According to the group that did the study,

a total of 26 U.S. college towns were selected based on the following criteria: The institution [the university] is a central feature of the city, meaning it materially influences local demographics and infrastructure.

Top- and bottom-ten lists don’t mean much in a field of just twenty-six.

Hockey night

Karin & I watched Hockey Night, a modest, Canadian sporting flick from 1984. Everything on the screen reminded me of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (the movie’s actual setting is Parry Sound). Megan Follows (Anne of Green Gables) gives a compelling performance.

What a tenderhearted movie this is. We associate sport with youthfulness. The best sporting movies are about coming of age or finding acceptance (or both): think of Breaking Away, Chariots of Fire, Hoop Dreams, Hoosiers, Lucas, My Life as a Dog, Rocky, Rudy …

Though Hockey Night is not quite as good, it conveys a similar feeling. Amidst the high drama of competition, the climax of a sporting movie can be surprisingly gentle, as if clouds were parting to reveal the sun.

This reflects the denouement of actual sport. There’s a moment when we quietly understand that all is settled. A scoring play is imminent, or the tide has irreversibly turned; we feel victorious even while we’re still losing (or we foresee defeat while we’re ahead).

Hockey Night understands this. It bypasses the crucial game and goes directly to the locker room.

I’ve viewed no leaner sports movie. Only the first hockey match is played out in detail; the others are hardly shown. We know their outcomes because they are logical consequences of the heart.