Men?s Journal Shoots a Brick

We’re rabid fans of Men’s Journal, arguably the best monthly publication in America for a national taste of the adventure, gadgets, clothes and life most men want to live. The prose of contributing writer Jim Harrison alone is well worth the subscription. (He’s the brother of John Harrison, former dean of UA libraries, by the way.)

But we’re a little miffed that MJ’s march issue excluded several eligible and thriving Northwest Arkansas cities from its list of “The 50 Best Places to Live” in America. We wouldn’t mention the omission except for the fact that a city that’s frequently compared to Fayetteville — Oxford, Miss. — rated in the No. 47 slot.

The problem was that only cities with fewer than 50,000 people were eligible, which eliminates Fayetteville. The magazine also said, “there are certain things a man wants out of a town: clean air, access to the outdoors, nice neighborhoods, maybe a good bar.” It analyzed everything from the local price of land and cancer rates to the ratio of men to women.

We have in previous lives talked baseball in “The Grove” at Ole Miss with popular author John Grisham and savored evenings with Southeastern Conference sports information directors at the Oxford Country Club. We have seen why Ole Miss is the only university in the nation that can redshirt Miss Americas, and we have endured more than our share of “Hotty Totties” at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

We agree that Oxford is too well-stirred a Southern cocktail to be left off the list. (Oxford’s proximity to the blues and barbecue of Memphis also must be taken into account).

But what about eligible local gems such as Bentonville or Johnson, which are minutes from the best this state has to offer? Arkansas may be “The Natural State,” but its northwest corner is still “The Land of Opportunity.”