Leading Indicator

Yeah, the economy is in the shitter right now. So say the talking heads. And everyone who's lost a job in the past couple of months.

Here in Vegas, they're trying to generate traffic, so they're giving away the store. Back when times were good, properties on the Strip didn't give two shiats about local business. I couldn't pry an offer out of MGM-Mirage even if I had a truckload of Cristal and limo full of half-naked coked-up Playboy bunnies delivered to the hosts at Treasure Island. But now that occupancy rates have fallen below 90% and the Mirage is offering $5 blackjack on weekends, my inbox is suddenly full of juicy offers. Free nights at the Emerald City, discounted show tickets, and even $129 rooms at a swank joint like the Bellagio between now and The Holiday That Shall Not Be Named.

Yes, it's going to be a cruel winter, according to the bean counters, but Spring is just around the corner.

Try getting a decent room rate for March Madness. This town is already anticipating a sell-out for the entire month, and prices reflect that. Ed W and I booked our room for the Madness this weekend, and three nights at the Nugget are gonna cost us almost $500. And that's for the privelege of hiking back and forth the South Tower ghetto all weekend. If we wanted to stay in the trendier North Tower zip code, well, then we're talking about coughing up a full-on Kobe tasting menu and premium wine flight for two at Craftsteak.

Six bills or more for three nights on Fremont Street? For that price, there better be a couple of twenties stashed inside the nightstand Bible and a complimentary bag of Mexican Gold in the mini-bar.

Granted, we could go old-school and pile everyone into one room at the Plaza, with rollaway beds and a pre-trip Rochambeau tournament to determine who would have to spoon up together, refreshing ourselves with a styrofoam Walmart cooler full of canned Pabst while watching one bracket at a time in the room on a 19-inch Zenith, but no, we've outgrown such spartan accomodations.

So I guess we're going to have to pay. If the oddsmakers in Vegas know anything, it appears that the recession is going to end around St. Patrick's Day.

You heard it here first.

Mikey