Heroes of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board has weighed on in the proposed statue of Fonzie, planned to stand proudly in downtown Milwaukee at Wisconsin and Water.

"Aaay, it's a good idea"

OK, time for a reality check.

Some of you think putting up a statue of "The Fonz" downtown is insulting and doesn't fit the hip new image Milwaukee wants to present to the rest of the world - like, say, North Korea.

What?

North Korea?

That's really lame.

Guess what? Back in the '50s and '60s, when Arthur Fonzarelli was holding court in "Happy Days," Milwaukee was about as hip as a six-pack of knockwurst. Many folks here equated being cool with frostbite. If you wanted to find a building then with 40 floors, you had to go to a linoleum store. Guys like the Fonz were as close to cool as we got.

Yeah, you ask, but won't putting the Fonz in bronze just further the "Happy Days" stereotype? Too late. It's already there. Be proud.

And if Fonzie is no longer cool, why did Samuel L. Jackson, portraying the ultimate cool hit man in the film "Pulp Fiction," tell another character, Yolanda, to be cool, like "Fonzie"?

People already think Milwaukee's too cold. Let 'em know we're cool, too.

This is very telling.

The Board looks to the wisdom of a fictional character, a hit man no less, to make its case for a statue of a fictional character.

More proof that the Board is disconnected with reality.