There’s nothing going on around here. This place is dead." We’d be rich if we had a nickel for every time we heard someone in Southeast Ohio say something similar.

Nothing good around here, huh?

Hmm. We don’t think so.

In fact, Lawrence County and the rest of the Tri-State are pretty special. Aside from the slightly amusing ability to be in three states within a few minutes’ drive, the area has much, much more to offer.

This area has quite a few of life’s winners walking among us.

From the celebrities that call the Tri-State home to the movers and shakers who keep the economy churning, lots of talent has been birthed right here.

Think all of that is in the past? OK, then how do you explain the latest amazing feats before us?

How do 20 wins and no losses strike you? Sounds like some amazing talent to us. And that’s exactly what the city of Ironton has right now, a team filled with talent. The Ironton High School boy’s basketball team went undefeated in the regular season. It was the first such season in the school’s history.

And, as if having one amazingly successful team in the area wasn’t enough. Take a cruise up the river and check out the always-tough Chesapeake Panthers boy’s team. They finished the season 20-1. Its only loss was to Ironton.

OK, are two highly successful basketball programs enough? Not to sound like a TV infomercial, but … "NO, that’s not enough. We want more!"

Well, the girl’s teams from Ironton and South Point are headed to the district finals this weekend. Both teams produced the best regular seasons in school history.

We’re proud of all the area teams. Each player, each team could not play each week if it wasn’t for the countless hours devoted by the players, coaches, parents and fans.

But we’re especially proud of the young men and women of the teams playing this weekend in the playoffs. We hope they make us all even more proud by winning state championships.

So how do we explain all the talent?

Maybe something is in the water that helps create such amazing talent. If so, just don’t tell all the naysayers. We’ll just start bottling it and call the bottled water "Lawrence Success."