Here's the article and link to the article that appeared in the Detroit News on August 27, 2009.  My slogan won!  Enjoy.  Tom

http://detnews.com/article/20090827/OPINION03/908270386/1383/OPINION0308
Thursday, August 27, 2009

Detroit News 

Neal Rubin

'Kiss the Fist': Readers respond to call for Detroit motto

If you're the sort who thinks crossing into Detroit is like sailing off the end of the Earth, Thomas Page's motto is sardonic and it's for you.
If you're the sort who thinks crossing out of Detroit is like flopping face-first into a tub of Wonder Bread, his motto is serious and it's for you, too.
Best of all, whichever way you read it, you can buy it on a T-shirt and support a good cause.
A few weeks ago, we put out a call for a newer, zippier city motto. Nothing against Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus("We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes"), but it just doesn't make your heart race when you see it on a bumper sticker. Besides, we've always been good at laughing at ourselves, and in those dark, pre-Cash-for-Clunkers days, that seemed like a particularly good idea.Hundreds of people responded, spurred by civic pride, potential immortality and our promise of cheesy prizes. We heard from boosters, detractors, tractor drivers who don't seem to have ever even been south of Grayling, and even the governor's brother-in-law. We liked the entries so much that we've put the three finalists on the market, with the proceeds bound for our Newspapers in Education program.
Our winning motto-maker was a 60-year-old ex-cop who lives in Brush Park, drives a little red Smart, and likes the volume control on his life turned high.
"Every day is an event in Detroit," Page says. That might mean a Tigers game, and OK, he concedes, it might mean a gunshot. But it's interesting, and that's what inspired ...
Detroit: The Fun Side of 8 Mile
Page wins his own creation on a T-shirt, along with a cheap plastic Detroit News cell phone holder and some other promotional stuff like sticky notes and a keychain. The two runners-up win the same thing, except for the cell phone holder; we only had one of those left.
Maybe Steve Gross of Ypsilanti can turn his Detroit News mini-notebook into cash. He's an auctioneer. He's also a sloganeer, with a list of mottos that included "Kiss the Fist" and "Bribe me. I'm from Detroit."
"I spent all kinds of time on a bunch of them," he says, but his prize-winner just popped into his head:
Detroit: Our School's ain't that bad
Entries tended to fall into several broad categories, including blight, bribery, geography and the Lions. Native Detroiter Ron Maki of Troy, closing in on retirement with the post office, summed up the urban landscape in 11 words:
Detroit: Where you can't find the house you grew up in
Among our other favorites:
Detroit: Don't Try to Win a World War Without It
Mark Sweetman, Los Angeles
Detroit: Because I Can't Afford to Move
Gayle W., Detroit
Detroit: Warming the Globe 'Til 2009
Jim Mulhern, brother of First Gentleman Dan Mulhern
Detroit: Yes, We Possibly Can!
Tinley Daniel, Detroit

nrubin@detnews.com (313) 222-1874