Friday, September 30, 2005

...late December back in '63

Oh what a night! Phils win, Astros lose (props to the battling Cubbies, who could have quit any number of times), and Bosox take the Yanks down to set up a 2-game race to the division title.

I am sweating out the Indians - c'mon, Tribe, just manufacture an extra-inning run and call it a night! Give 'em credit for pushing across a run in the bottom of the ninth to get to extries, but now let's win this thing, and make it a perfect 4-4 in games that I care about. I post with Casey Blake leading off the 12th...

I was clearly missing something

Here's what had me scratching my head (spoiler at the end):

If the White Sox had a 3-game lead over the Indians as they prepared to play a 3-game series against each other, why are the White Sox the division champs? I mean, this isn't football, with tie-breakers, right? If the Indians sweep, don't they have a 1-game playoff to determine the division winner?

OOPS! I finally found the definitive word at mlb.com:

Chicago's victory reduced its magic number to one, clinching a tie for the AL Central title. But even if the Indians were to sweep the three-game set at Jacobs Field this weekend, thus clinching a playoff berth, the White Sox (96-63) would win the tiebreaker for the AL Central crown with an 11-8 edge in head-to-head play.

The reason the White Sox and Indians wouldn't play a one-game playoff is because, with the Red Sox and Yankees playing each other this weekend, one team would be guaranteed to finish out of the playoffs if the Indians swept the White Sox. And in instances in which teams are guaranteed to make the playoffs, MLB does not use a one-game playoff, instead relying on head-to-head matchups to break the tie.


Glad that got cleared up - I was really wondering what planet I was on last night as they claimed that the division was decided, and here I am wondering if I had forgotten how a 3-game lead with 3 to play secured anything. Anyway, what's reassuring is that the Indians have control of their situation: win and in, lose and take your chances. Should make for a great weekend of baseball (non-Phils baseball, that is).

Where will Lou end up?

Now that's Lou's departure from the Rays is official, here's hoping he doesn't come to LA. Can't see him working for the McCourts and DePodesta, anyway, but nonetheless wouldn't like him at the Ravine. Marlins are an obvious fit, unless they take a less-expensive route with Joe Girardi. Yanks, of course, are a definite possibility, should Torre retire or get the boot. In any Yankee scenario over the next month--win the Series, get KO'd along way in playoffs, or miss postseason entirely--I could see Torre departing, and Lou would become candidate number one, obviously. Unless, that is, there is something in his buyout that precludes taking the job with the Yankees.

Pittsburgh would seem to be Leyland's if he wants it, and I doubt the Nats could pay the big bucks Lou would command until they finalize the ownership situation. Lou is too intelligent to get involved in the Oriole mess, I believe--even the Dodgers would be preferable. Rumors are flying in the bay area that Ken Macha might be let go in Oakland, and that would be a tremendous fit for Lou, but I wonder if new owner Lew Wulff wants to pay that much for a skipper (though it might help their push for a new ballpark somewhere up there). If Alan Trammell really is in trouble at Detroit, that is another possibility, though rumors of a caustic clubhouse could turn even worse with the volatile Lou around, and would he really want another tour of duty in the midwest after being spoiled in the nicest time of the year in beautiful Seattle, and his hometown Tampa, lately?

Phils fans might hope that Lou just sits for a while, and wait for Ed Wade and Manuel to bring Phillies down with them next season, then make a move for Piniella.

Let's drop that rumor in Angelo Cataldi's lap at WIP...

Who's counting, anyway?

Wednesday night's Dodger game had an annnouned attendance of over 46,000. As the helicopter camera from above the Ravine, and the camera from inside the park showed, as they scanned the stadium, there looked to be no more than 12-14,000 in the stadium. It's fine if the NL now counts tickets sold, though they should differentiate between tickets and actual attendance.

But at least my decades-long suspicions about the carrot-topped propagandist, having no shame as a shill for Dodger blue, have been confirmed. How could I not come to that conclusion, listening as he crowed, "Tonight's attendance, f-o-r-r-r-r-ty six thousand..."

Unless he and the Dodgers are counting appendages in their new attendance numbers, that is...

Thursday, September 29, 2005

The Original Linc

This blog could use its own theme music. But in the meantime, here is a link to the original Linc, a stoic, brooding crimefighting man with the fastest Afro-Pic around, and his compatriots. Sounds like the same orchestral accompaniment that NFL Films used to use, in the Facenda era.

Take the SCOTUS Challenge

I did, and here's whom they say I would like:

JUDGE EDITH HOLLAN JONES
JUDGE EDITH HOLLAN JONES
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, appointed by
Reagan, born 1949
A Texan! Nearly nominated to Souter's seat by
G.H.W. Bush. You're hoping the son follows
through! Jones is considered radioactive by
Democrats, which you (and the administration)
might consider a plus!

Link is in the post title.

On "neocons"

I first heard the term "neo-conservative" in 1985, while a senior student at St. Joe's, in a class on the Vietnam War taught by Dr. Anthony Joes, a vocal conservative. Although SJU was hardly a hotbed of radicalism, an outspoken conservative was still something of a zoo animal - unusual enough to be an attraction.

Dr. Joes read from an editorial by Norman Podhoretz that ran in Commentary, explaining that a neo-conservative was simply a former liberal who had begun to question critically a lot of the assumptions that ultimately led to Greaty Society-type social engineering. I couldn't quite understand its transmogrification into a slur with anti-Semitic undertones over the past few years, but Brookhiser gives it a shot. It never was intended to identify a particular foreign policy view, other than that America was exceptional among all nations, a magnet for those seeking a better life, and an example to the rest of the world, particularly those parts suffering under totalitarianism. How that played out in terms of foreign intervention seemed an open question, with the neo-cons of the day supportive of the Reagan approach generally (specific misadventures, such as Lebanon, notwithstanding).

That some in that self-identified group of neo-conservatives now wish to persecute the GWOT in Iraq, and that some of those who are the most influential are Jewish, is hardly a reason to oppose their views based on their ethnicity. But there are those who do anyway, especially the wackos on the left. It is disappointing when right-thinking people adopt the same stance as the wacked lefties on this issue.

Streaming audio consciousness

So, through the miracle of streaming audio, I can co-exist in two vastly different worlds ...

the land of the southern black middle class family here in Clayton County, with greens, grits, chicken and biscuits for lunch...moms who use "sweet oil" in their kids' ears, whatever that is...an apartment complex teeming with SUVs bearing NC A&T, Dillard and black fraternity stickers...a generally agreeable place...and grandmas who seldom tell anyone the troubles they've seen, one or two generations removed from God knows what. A lot of families have returned to Georgia and the surrounding South in a weird reverse migration from the north, to a nicer weather pattern, more tolerant, laid-back lifestyle, cheaper housing, the lure of a job that lured their grandparents north, but then moved back south...

BUT ...

when I run back to the office...

"610 WIP, what a knucklehead. You, my friend, are a MORON."
Ah, the city of Brotherly Shove, broadcast on the internet, and I quickly forget I'm 700 miles south of the Blue Route and 750 miles south of DeLorenzo's, the world's best pizza in beautiful Trenton..

What a concept. I can turn off my civility switch, kick back, shut the door, and listen to real fans vent, say stupid things, say incredibly astute things....announcers who grew up in or near the city and follow the same sports teams the fans do and bleed the same Kelly Green, Spectacor Orange, or Milquetoast Phillies Red. None of the endless, nauseating Bubba banter you hear in these parts about SEC football (even giving a nod to the Vandy fanatics who populate this particular blogsite). Nope. Just gimme some streaming, some of the Butterscotch Krimpets I import, and lots of attytood and I'm ready to head back into the fray, to confront the legions of slime-producing rugrats.

Hoosier Daddy

So, my informal poll of mothers in this suburban Atlanta practice reveals more than 60 percent are single. Is dad involved? The moms seem surprised I even ask the question...apparently noone ever asks the question and this is the way of life they've adopted and the only way they've known. If I ask the kids if they see their dads, some say yes, on the weekend or once a month, but a significant minority have no idea who or where he is.

Of course, this is not news. But read on, from a story excerpted from the Philadelphia newspaper this morning. This is not a publicity stunt either.

*****************
Marry Your
Baby Daddy Day


The nation's first ever mass wedding of its
kind....

On September 29, 2005, 10 unmarried couples
w/children will be married during a landmark
event called Marry Your Baby Daddy Day. The
FREE mass wedding will be officiated by the
acclaimed Dr. Rev. Herbert Daughtry in
Brooklyn, NY. Celebrity wedding dress
designers, vendors and wedding planners have
signed up to make this a very memorable and
important moment in the lives of 10 loving,
fantastic couples! Several celebrity VIP figures
will be among the distinguished guests.

Marry Your Baby Daddy Day is an invitation to
couples who already live together and want to
jump the broom in the name of love and their
community.

A portion of the proceeds from the book,
Marry Your Baby Daddy will be going to the
Hour Children charity. Marry Your Baby
Daddy Day is an effort to strengthen the % of
2-parent households in urban communities.
Currently the OOW rate is over 70%.

We always hear about "baby mama drama" but
we rarely, if ever, hear about those who actually
love the mother/father of their children.

************

Good idea? Got me. Back to the baby mill.

I wish baseball season...

...didn't end.

After Sunday, I'll have to wait six long months before I can watch the Dodgers lose again...

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Kick in the teeth

The Phils score 16 tonight - against one of my fantasy pitchers! So thanks, Phils. You blew two of three to the Mutts, likely killing your post-season chances, and the one win you get hurts me in the VDRL.

And what's with the Tribe dropping 3 straight one-run decisions to the Devil Rays? The baseball gods (praise be unto them) must have something against the DiGi/Gubi clan.

Time to cheer for the Cubs. Watch the Astros drop all 4 to the Cubs and the Phils drop 2 of 3 in DC. That would be a fitting ending for this season of agony.

Remembering Mort...

As we approach the second anniversary of Mort's passing, we are reminded of one of his timeless quotes, which rings as true today as when first spoken by the native Buffalonian:

"Never do business with Arabs or fags."

Not sure we can put that into TGS in the weekly "Requotable" box, but worth remembering anyway...

Lost Night

I had taken the lead in the VDRL (maybe the new guy - whom I mentally refer to as "The Peripatetic Pediatrician", given his geographic and employment odyssey - gets the medical joke inherent in that name) Monday night.

Tuesday night, the Phils lost again, falling desperately far out of the wild card race, and I am now in second in the VDRL. Not a good night. I give my squad a better chance than the Phils of rallying in the closing days of the season.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Not a good night for baseball

The Phils go down to ignominious defeat. The Tribe rallies to within a run but Belliard kills the deal with a game-ending DP with runners at the corners. Sad.

So rather than watch the lowlights, I am tuned to Spike TV, which is showing the complete Godfather saga, presented in chronological order, with previously unshown scenes. At least I know how it ends, and I won't get sick to my stomach watching the horror unfold, if only because I have seen it all before dozens of times. Don Ciccio is about to buy the farm at the hands of Antonio Andolini's son, aka Don Vito Corleone.

Watching the Phils makes me a bit like Don Ciccio: too blind to see what's right in front of my face, ie, the imminent demise (of my team, not of me, I hope!). And as I watch excruciating loss after excruciating loss, I feel like Don Cheech must have felt as Vito Corleone sent him his father's "greetings" in the form of a knife to the gut.

Not again!

Watching the phundamentally phlawed Phils gives me agita.

With one out, Bell reaches on a walk, Tucker strikes out. Runner on first, two out, Phils down by a run.

You're the manager. What do you do? Put Endy Chavez in to pinch run? Maybe have him try to steal a base?

No, that would be thinking ahead. Victorino singles to center, Bell tries to reach third and gets gunned down. Inning over. Phils disappoint again. And somewhere in Warminster, Aunt Emma mutters "Those damned Phillies"...

Back in bidness

Welcome back to the blog, Dan and Bruce. As you can tell, I have been mostly lamenting the phate of the Phils while you were out working on that campaign. I will likely see a decrease in frequency of posts as I run my own race here in Cortland. I don't think I will be losing blog time while watching the Phils in the post-season...

Dan, perhaps you can provide us with some background on our newest blogger - he has accepted the invitation, so he may be posting soon. Perhaps he will use his first post to give us some personal background.

By the way, I am in a pennant race of my own. I won't tell you how things currently stand as I don't want to jinx anyone, least of all me.

Blondes rule the world?

Yesterday I ran into some insufferable USC honk. He was mouthing off, as most of those sorts do, about the Trojans, and then had the audacity to chide me when I told him I was a big fan of service academy football, especially after after watching Army and Navy last year.

"We'd kick their asses so bad," the SC honk said.

"In football, probably so," I said. "But let's see how SC fares in Army's game. I'll take West Point in a snap. Remember, all it would take is one of those Army Apache helicopters to wipe out your campus. You're not as tough as you think, and you're sure not going to overrun West Point with your football team.

"Don't talk s_it about Army. Ever."

The SC honk was properly humbled, but had one last arrow in his satchel. "Yeah, but I'll take our cheerleaders."

Even I wasn't about to debate. "Okay, I'll give you that one," I said.

I guess blue-eyed blondes really do rule the world...

Sunday, September 25, 2005

...and then they win one

The life of the Phils' fan is not for the faint of heart. They win again today, and the Cubs rally to pull one out from the Astros, leaving them a game out in the wild care race.

The division race is over, with the Braves leading by 5 (magic number = 2). They have 3 at home against the Rockies and finish with a 3-game series in Miami. If it's hard to see how the Phils would win all their remaining games, how much harder is it to imagine the Braves losing all but one of theirs? Ain't gonna happen.

Here's how things shape up for the final week:

Astros: Monday off; 2 @ St. Louis (Oswalt@Morris; Backe@Carpenter); 4 (home) vs the Cubs (Rusch@Rodriguez; Zambrano@Clemens; Williams@Pettitte; Maddux@Oswalt)

Phils: 3 (home) vs the Mets (Seo@Myers; Zambrano@Lieber; Trachsel@Padilla); Thursday off; 3 @ Washington (Lidle@Patterson; Myers@Carrasco; Lieber@Loaiza)

I like the Phils' match-ups against the Mets. The Lidle versus Patterson pairing could be trouble. As for the 'Stros, Backe and Rodriguez are easily the weakest starters - of course, when the other three are Oswalt (twice), Clemens, and Pettitte, that analysis falls into the "no sh!t Sherlock" category.

Where does that leave things? With the Phils, who knows? But with the Cubbies pulling their game out against the Astros, it gives us die-hards hope that something good could come out of all this.

And they break my heart again...

After a stirring ninth-inning rally to pull within a game of the wild-card leaders, the Phils go down without much noise to Eric Milton, he of the ERA above 6.50. He of the predilection for surrendering gopher balls, pitching in the bandbox that is Great America.

They do it over and over, these Phils. Why do I still care? Will medical science develop therapy to undo the damage done to the genome (I have to believe it is that deeply embedded, or else I would have been cured long ago) in the youth of fans who pull for this club?

Perhaps I should focus my remaining career on this cure.

Go Indians!

Saturday, September 24, 2005

They keep pulling me back in!

"Those damn Phillies!"

That's my Aunt Emma's signature line - spoken more times in grief than she or I would care to remember.

Having been burned several hundred times in exchange for that one glorious World Series title in the magical year of 1980, I have tried not to allow my emotions to become invested in a team that promises to disappoint again and again. But I have finally resisted the urge to stay detached. After last night's game, with a 5-run ninth inning rally to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat (after having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, i.e., blowing a 6-1 lead), I will have to allow heart and soul center stage as I watch the final 9 days of the regular season unfold.

What a weird road trip it has been! The freaky 10-run ninth, with the Marlins imploding. The 4-run ninth in Atlanta when Bobby Cox didn't pinch-hit for Tim Hudson in the eighth, keeping the scoreless tie into the final frame. The Ryan Howard salami in extra innings. If you believe in things like destiny, well, these are the sorts of things that make such a belief, well, believable.

So, Aunt Em, keep watching and cheering. Every now and then I get to hear you say "Those damn Phillies" with a smile in your voice and joy in your heart, because they actually did something worthy of your 80+ years of fandom. Here's hoping that when we talk the week after next, the talk will include Phillies' playoff baseball.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

A kick in the gut

When I see the names on this list and realize how close I was to them - same school, same parish, same classroom in some cases - it makes me ill to think that they were abusing classmates, co-parishioners, friends.

What a monumental abuse of trust. Just contemplating this makes me ill. Pity the poor guys who lived this nightmare as the abused students.

Injuns' Path to the Pennant

Four at KC, three at home against Tampa Bay (and lame duck manager Sweet Lou Piniella), and a season-ending three-gamer with the Chisox. It looks as if that last weekend could be everything: not just determining the division title, but possibly whether either one of these teams enters the playoffs as a wild card or not.

The Chisox have 4 at home against the Twins, then 4 at Detroit. I don't see the Chisox opening up any more ground over the next 8. I foresee no greater than a 1 game lead for the Chisox, and up to a 1 game lead for the Tribe.

Prediction: Tribe takes 6 of 7. Chisox take 4 of 8. They enter the final set in a tie for the division lead. Three game set at The Jake essentially becomes Round 1 of the playoffs.

PS: And to think that the Indians have done this on a $42 million payroll while dismantling a juggernaut. Hey, Ed Wade: if the Tribe can do it, how much longer should we wait while you trot out the likes of David Bell and Mike Lieberthal? Lieby was good once; Bell was never more than serviceable. Now may be the time to trade guys at the top of their bubble, like Abreu and Burrell, and do in Philly what Shapiro has done in Cleveland. Not that I'm holding my breath...

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Poker?!

Is there anything more frustrating as a sports fan than to know that at least a couple of games with pennant implications are happening (Phils-Braves and Wahoos-White Sox), and TBS is showing reruns of "Friends"? Worse yet, the paragon of sports programming (or so it would like us to believe), ESPN, is showing poker! POKER! Why is this on TV? What am I missing?

Or is this the "E" in ESPN coming to the fore?

Sunday, September 18, 2005

Fightin' Irish?

Maybe this guy will be credited with great foresight by the end of the season. Or maybe he could use just a smidge more patience.

As for me, I am still pondering the majesty and the wonder of the 3-0 Vanderbilt Commodores.

Friday, September 16, 2005

He's not Bruce...

but, then, no one else is. But I have come to like Phil Sheridan of the Philly Inquirer quite a bit, especially now that he is hosting a forum and answering readers' questions honestly.

PS to Phil, if ever he should read this: RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a method for alerting subscribers to new content, so that they don't have to keep checking the site to see whether new entries have been made.

Well stated

by PowerLine Paul:

"But (Justice John) Roberts repeatedly identified his core value -- respect for the rule of law. And herein lies the problem: to Democrats, respect for the rule of law doesn't count as a value. To them, the law is simply a pretext for achieving desired results or (if not suited for that work) an obstacle to be circumvented for the same purpose.. No wonder John Roberts gives them the willies."

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Thursday notes on a scorecard...

I was asked this morning to name something I did good yesterday. All I could come up with was that I felt guilty using my frequent flyer miles on Delta, considering their financial plight. Not sure that one is going to help me much when it comes time to get into heaven...

You can tell Hurrciane Ophelia is a North Carolina storm. It has been sitting off the outer banks in a Dean Smith four-corner offense for the past week...

Hurricane Katrina came at the right time for Al Sharpton. It gave him a reason to postpone his nationwide tour with Grant Fuhr regarding lack of minority goalies in the NHL...

What did Brigham Young say when he came home at night? "Hi honey(s), I'm home."...

Little known fact about Brigham Young is that he also originated casino gambling. His wives played keno every night to see who got to sleep with him...

By the way, where did the rest of Brigham Young's wives sleep at night?...

How to be a Phillies' fan

You do not allow yourself even a moment of satisfaction acknowledging that this team was left for dead, has won three straight from the division leader to crawl within 5 of first and into a tie for the wild card, and admire its heart.

No. You envision the most excruciating manner in which they could lose tomorrow and watch to see if reality trumps morbid imagination.

PS: Yes, I am having some issues with my GI system rather than sleeping right now. Why do you ask?

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

More humor from The Corner

Scroll down a bit from the Nebraska post and you'll find this:

Q: What is George W. Bush's position on Roe vs. Wade?

A: He really doesn't care how people got out of New Orleans.

From National Review's "The Corner"

You never know what you will find at The Corner - but occasionally you'll find the political banter leavened with sports references such as this one:

Nebraska Cornhusker Quiz

What's the difference between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Taliban?
The Taliban has a running game.

What do the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Billy Graham have in common?
They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ."

How do you keep a Nebraska Cornhusker player out of your yard?
Put up goal posts.

Where do you go in Lincoln in case of a tornado?
Memorial Stadium - they never get a touchdown there.

Why doesn't Omaha have a Div 1A football team?
Because then Lincoln would want one.

Why was Frank Solich upset when the Cornhusker playbook was stolen?
Because he hadn't finished coloring it.

What's the difference between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and a dollar bill?
You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

What do you call 47 people sitting around a TV watching the College Championships?
The Nebraska Cornhuskers.

What do the Nebraska Cornhuskers and possums have in common?
Both play dead at home and get killed on the road.

How can you tell when the Nebraska Cornhuskers are going to run the football?
Diedrich leaves the huddle with tears in his eyes.

Post-Primary Day

I yearn for the days when primary day was just a non-event - another Tuesday in early September for discussing pennant races and the early football season. Instead, I spent the previous two nights leaving a letter I wrote in support of the Chairman on the doors of all Republicans in his district, with the assistance of my twins and some other folks. There are 350 or so registered Republicans; all of 82 showed up. My friend leads 42-40, so now it goes to absentees.

Twelve absentee ballots were mailed out and seven have been returned; of those, four or five are votes for my friend. That it is even this close is a testament to the malevolent intent of the local GOP, the "leadership" of which is fragging our commanding officer. Apparently, we have been so successful pulling the county back from the financial brink that they now have the luxury of exacting vengeance.

Vengeance for what, you may ask. Well, the incompetent Treasurer is a GOP GOB (good ol' boy), and we held him accountable for the mess that had become the Treasurer's Office. To hear the independent auditor tell it, the improvement in that office has been stunning. The Treasurer claims that it is because of him. It is, without question, despite him, and because we got the attention of the others in that office that they had to focus their attention on certain tasks, which, to their credit, they did. But there has been hell to pay, and the Chairman has been the focal point of that hell.

Also, he didn't award a contract to another GOP GOB. That of the three offers for health insurance policies, this one was ranked a distant third by the independent consultant doesn't seem to matter. That we have saved millions by making the switch also doesn't seem to matter.

I have made this point frequently, perhaps because it cannot be stated often enough: once you're in the battle, you fight for the people who are in battle with you. Whatever motivated you to fight in the first place becomes secondary to the loyalty you develop to your co-combatants. This is true in the military, and it is an apt metaphor (but, thankfully, just a metaphor) for governmental service. If I didn't feel a bond with those who work in the local government and do a good job, or with other elected officials, I would walk away, count it as a neat life experience, and be done with it. But because I care about my friend, the Chairman, and the others who serve despite the duress visited upon us by the party higher ups, I continue to press on.

I am not sure how motivated I will remain if Scott is denied the GOP nomination. He will run as an independent anyway, but he is in a heavily Democratic district, and winning as a Republican has been hard enough. No way he wins without the GOP line, but no guarantee of victory either. This is indeed the Silly Season, and I will be grateful when it has passed.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

If he continues to do the comparisons...



Bruce will have to learn how to do this image posting stuff himself!

Tuesday notes on a scorecard...

Man, that was a rough weekend we had at TGS. I am afraid that when I get into the office later today, Joe Biden might be waiting for me...

How disorganized is FEMA? We heard that the Temple football team, after losing its first two games by a combined score of 128-16, called FEMA and asked for emergency help. Mike Brown called back, and suggested the Owls move this week's home game vs. Toledo to the Superdome...

Speaking of Mike Brown, now that he has left FEMA, we hear he is under consideration to succeed Mike Shanahan in Denver. Based on the Dolphin game, Pat Bowlen might have to consider this option, as Brown will work a lot cheaper than Shanahan, and the Broncos can still look disorganized and clueless...

We hear the "Save the Owls" foundation is petitioning the NCAA for schools to stop using the "Owls" nickname after Temple, Rice, and Florida Atlantic (Owls all) were beaten a combined 151-24 last weekend. They say it's cruel and unusual punishment for an owl to be associated with such teams. They're right....

Glad to see President Bush appoint R. David Paulison to succeed Brown at FEMA. For a moment I was worried he might try to sneak Bernard Kerik in there...

Look-alikes. Put an Oakland A's cap on Dick Cheney, and he's a dead ringer for Ken Macha in the A's dugout...

Will done!

When George Will is on, there is none better. He hasn't been his sizzling self in a while, but this proves he isn't quite finished either.

Excerpt:

Liberalism's post-Katrina fearlessness in discovering the obvious — if an inner city is inundated, the victims will be disproportionately minorities — stopped short of indelicately noting how many of the victims were women with children but not husbands. Because it was released during the post-Katrina debacle, scant attention was paid to the National Center for Health Statistics' report that in 2003, 34.6 percent of all American births were to unmarried women. The percentage among African American women was 68.2.

Read the whole thing (the link is in the title).

A few more chapters to be written in these MLB races...

The stories of this baseball season continue to endure. Nobody wants the NL wild card, whenever the Astros, Marlins, or Phils look ready to take charge, they falter, and when one or more look out on their feet, they rally, as the Phils have done the last week. The Padres simply cannot put the NL West pretenders completely away. If this team was just 75-68 right now, instead of a pathetic 71-72, it would be a comfy 9 games up, and Bochy could start planning his playoff rotation. Instead, they simply can't throw the dirt over the Dodgers, Giants, and even D-backs, and I am a bit worried, because the Dodgers still have a couple with the fading Rocks at home the next few nights, and an upcoming home weekend set with the Pirates, a team they absolutely dominate (29-6 the last 35, I think), plus 3 more in SD, and the Dodgers haven't lost a series yet this season vs. the Padres (10-5 against them). Sadly, the Dodgers are still twitching. The Giants could have buried LA once and for all last week, too, had Benitez not blown that game last Wednesday, but with Barry back (there was a real buzz at SBC again last night, and he nearly hit two balls out), and five or six more vs. the Padres, maybe the Gints still have something to say about this race.

Kevin Towers should be fired for making the Chan Ho Park trade, Nevin (veto clause or not) had to be worth more than the useless Chan Ho, who has only served to deplete Bochy's bullpen in his starts. Park has done more harm than good, and Towers would have been better to get even struggling vets like Eric Milton or Mark Redman, neither having a good year but each surely welcoming a chance to pitch in big Petco instead of the bandboxes they play in right now. Even if Nevin wouldn't go to Cincy or Pitt, Towers must have had some minor leaguer he could have traded instead. The Reds and Bucs would have surely listened. Anybody except Chan Ho Park, who has been a huge liability.

Meanwhile, the AL West continues to be a teeter-totter, these two are going to go down to the last weekend, as will the AL wild card.

Glad at least that ABC took a moment to honor Chris Schenkel at halftime last night. Al Michaels paid him a nice tribute. Too many of the voices of our youth are disappearing...

Don Cockroft & the Eagles...

Don Cockroft, old Cleveland Stadium, January 1981. The Brownies had trouble all day with their place-kicking in that playoff game vs. the Raiders, but I have never blamed Cockroft, and neither has Sam Rutigliano (I don't think). The real culprit was holder Paul McDonald, the ex-SC QB and a big WIMP who refused to take off his scuba-diver gloves in the cold when it was time for the kicks. McDonald was fumbling the snaps all day because his slick gloves couldn't grip the snaps cleanly. Realzing that his holder was suddenly a huge liability in the cold weather, Rutigliano was going for the TD instead of the chip-shot FG at the end of the game, and then Mike Davis becomes part of Raider lore. All because of Paul McDonald, that bleeping wimp.

The Eagle loss really grated tonight, because Jim Johnson's defense dominated that game for the last three quarters. I am going to assume that shot McNabb took in the 1st Q negated his mobility and precluded him from scampering out of the pocket, where he has always been his most dangerous (and what Madden reminded us constantly tonight). If McNabb simply sits anchored in the pocket, he becomes like Trent Dilfer or someone like that, because mobility and the ability to improvise is what has set McNabb above the QB crowd for his entire career. Take that element away and McNabb is just another QB.

And what has happened to his feel for the game? The backwards swing pass to Westbrook was perhaps the worst play I saw of the weekend, it stopped a serious Eagle drive in the 3rd Q and simply should never have happened if McNabb was thinking at all. That's a Jake Plummer-type play, for gosh sakes. The early timeouts were also foolish in the 2nd half. And, remember, after one of those, the Eagles came back on the next play and were penalized for illegal procedure. I suspected at the time that those wasted time outs could come back to haunt them. Coupled with that unhurried dink-dink-dink drive at the end of the Super Bowl, with time wasting away, and I have to wonder what has happened to that swashbuckling QB we used to know named McNabb.

Give the Falcon defense some credit, but this is a game the Eagles should have won. Akers' two missed FGs were wide by a combined total of about 2 feet. Another 15 inches to the left on both kicks and the Eagles are setting up for a game-winning FG in the 4th Q instead of scurrying around cluelessly at the end, with mcNabb staying in the pocket, come hell or high water. But that's all history now.

Fitting for an overall abysmal TGS weekend to lose this one in a difficult manner tonight, I suppose. Should have known it was going to be a tough night when Trotter was tossed 45 minutes before kickoff. Thank goodness this weekend has ended. Next week can't come soon enough...

Disappointing

I can't stand watching the Eagles playing down to the competition. They wasted opportunity after opportunity, ran through their time-outs, and found that the clock had run out on them. Akers missing two FGs in a domed stadium is a potentially ominous sign; has he lost it? I sure hope not, but even had he made just one, the outcome would likely have been different, as the Eagles would have been playing for a FG to win at the end of the game rather than a TD.

I am unimpressed by the Falcons. The Eagles are a much better team. They just didn't do what they needed to do to win. Sour grapes? Maybe tonight, but if the Falcons and their fans think this makes them a contender, they are delusional.

And since I was out politicking at the time of the start of the game, I missed the pre-game brawl. What the he!! is Trotter doing getting himself tossed? If he is going to take a Falcon with him, he should have aimed higher than a nickel back. Very dumb move.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Lake George reflections





Here are some shots taken from the Nature Walk along the shore line between the Sagamore Resort's cabins and the lake. The Sagamore sits on an island within the large lake, which is flanked by fairly tall (by Eastern standards) mountains, making for beautiful views. Angela and I stayed in a room in the main hotel facing east, giving us gorgeous sunrises both mornings.

Angela and a group of distaff attendees who didn't have to attend the presentations took off on a kayaking adventure - Angela's first ever kayaking trip. The surface was choppy and the outbound leg was into the wind, yet Angela impressed all with her unyielding determination. One of the other women in the group managed to snap an oar, necessitating a call back to the Sagamore for help. When help arrived, it wasn't in the form of a motor boat with a tow line; it was a kayaker who brought her a replacement paddle. Not what she was hoping for! But they managed to get back in after about 5 hours on the water.

Angela's arms and shoulders were tired for the semi-formal dinner Saturday night, but she was proud of her effort, and felt good that the more experienced kayakers were truly impressed with her. It appears that a new kayak is on the Christmas list. She is talking about a two-seater, so that she can take Luca or Gabe out with her.

I heard a tale of woe about the state of New York and how it is basically harassing one of its better employees in the region, but the details are confidential. Suffice it to say, it is yet another piece of evidence to be filed under "Why not to let government mess with business", and the parent company of this business - as well as any businessman familiar with this story - will think long and hard before investing another dime in this state.

My simple plan for reforming New York? Warn all residents of the capitol district to evacuate, destroy all the buildings, and start over someplace else (I could govern from right here in Cortland - the geographic center of the state!). This sclerotic, bureaucratic state has too many of its citizens in its steely grip to change in any substantive way, barring a catastrophe. Given the natural beauty and human resources in this state, it should be kicking butt. Instead, it is the farm team for the other states, sending our educated young off to careers elsewhere. It's just sad.

Bruce is on

Too much to do right now to say much, but having read Bruce's last post, I am reminded that I am but a piker up against his analytical skills applied to the sporting world. Back to the world of medicine...

Weekend in retrospect...

Apologies for my usual weekend eclipse during football season. Sometimes TGS gets the better of my senses, as it does on Saturdays when I basically stay home, order the college FB TV package, and watch every game under the sun (or moon, as it might be). The kinds words on the Vandy prediction were nice, and thank goodness the Dores came through for us, because otherwise it was a dismal weekend. Saturday was downright painful, waching game after game slip through our fingertips.

I vow not to support any more rinky-dink college sides, no matter what the pointspread, unless they play one another. Watching hopelessly as outmanned Army battled hard but came up short at BC. Nevada's utterly depressing showing vs. Washington State. Rice, lucky that UCLA called off the dogs after 30 minutes, or the Bruins (299 yards in the 1st Q, 49 points in the 1st H) could have gained 1000 yards and matched the 100 points Bill Yeoman's veer put up against Tulsa in 1968. At least Navy scratched and clawed its way back to avoid pointspread defeat vs. Stanford. Sometimes I simply outsmart myself and get a bit too cute with some of these picks. Easy to get romanced at times by a big underdog. We'll just regroup on those teams and wait for better spots to take a chance with them down the road.

This week, we have selected some different teams to pull us out of the funk. Temple is an abomination, and revved-up Toledo, scoring about 60 ppg, should destroy the Owls, so we recommend the Rockets, no matter the big number, in front of 5000 or so souls at the Linc. Notre Dame, impressive as it has been, will be hard-pressed to beat Michigan State, much less cover a 7-point spread. We take the capable Spartans. No way should Wake Forest be laying 15 points vs. anybody. The Deacs, though usually a scrappy underdog, might be the worst favorite in the country (dropped their last 7 spread decisions as chalk), and they've covered only 3 of 15 as a favorite under Jim Grobe. We'll take Skip Holtz' improved East Carolina for this one at Winston-Salem, a game the Pirates have a legitimate shot to win, never mind that bonus they're getting from the oddsmaker. Finally, an overrated Purdue, which loses almost every close game it plays, and never carries numbers vs. decent opposition on the road, will have a lot to do just to win at Arizona Saturday night, never mind covering a 9 1/2-10 point spread. In the NFL, we have the Eagles tonight, then next week it's "under" the 34-point "total" with Detroit and Chicago (he Bears will be involved in more 9-7 type games this season), and the Tuna to beat Gibbs next Monday, continuing Dallas' curious domination of the Skins in recent years.

As for the NFL, here are some Week One observations from the left coast...

1) Denver. Simply no excuse for that shoddy effort at Miami, though the score is a tad misleading (if Broncos score from the 2 on the last play, instead of giving up a 98-yard fumble return, the score would have at least been a more respectable 27-17). Denver really seemed to wilt in the second-half humidity, and that would not have been the result were the game played at 5400 feet. No matter, I have seen enough of the Broncos giving up and folding their tents lately under Shanahan, recalling the playoff blowouts at Indy the past two seasons, the no-show at Kansas City last December, conspiring to lose games they should never drop like that Sunday nighter vs. the Raiders last November, etc. One gets the feeling that the Miami loss could mark the beginning of the end for the little man in Denver. He is running out of time on the Jake Plummer experiment, as the Snake's penchant for costly mistakes hardly inspires the sort of confidence a team needs from its QB. Soon I might get on the Bradlee Van Pelt bandwagon at QB, he is a true gamer and leader, and made huge strides in the preseason. Not that a solid August translates into regular-season production, but on the days when Plummer is bad, how could Van Pelt not be a better option?

Curiously, Shanahan seems to have Pat Bowlen in his pocket. Up to now, Bowlen reportedly wouldn't dream of having another coach for the team. And, in truth, Shanahan has kept Denver nicely afloat in the salary cap age, competing for playoff berths every season while the majority of other teams have problems sustaining any success beyond one season. That consistency is what makes the Eagles and Pats so unique. Even the Steelers have had some down years under Cowher, but Dan Rooney was never tempted to hit the eject button, and I think Bowlen idolizes the Rooneys, in his own sort of way. (Somehow I don't think Rooney's wife is a flashy platinum blonde with several pit stops at the plastic surgeon, a la Mrs. Bowlen).

For the moment, I'll give Denver a mulligan on that first game, with this proviso... the Broncs had better come back and beat the Bolts this week at Invesco. Otherwise, this season could start to slip away.

2-Browns. This could be a long season for Romeo Crennel, and I was not terribly surprised by the Cincy result. That defense in New England the past few seasons was not Crennel's, it was Belichick's, much like the Florida offense of a few years ago was not Buddy Teevens', it Spurrier's (as Stanford painfully found out). The Brownies have some real limitations offensively with the statue-like Trent Dilfer anchored in the pocket, and the defense, most weeks, at least, will not be good enough to compensate.

As for the Bengals, I would keep an eye on those guys. The offense is really beginning to hum as Carson Palmer continues to take his game up another notch or two. Plenty of dangerous, speedy receiving options, and Rudi Johnson is one of the most underrated backs in the NFL. And, unlike Crennel, I really believe Marvin Lewis is a defensive mastermind, and if the Bengals can shore up that rush defense just a bit, they are a legit wild card contender.

3-Ravens. I stand by my proclamation that Brian Billick is perhaps the most overrated coach in the game. His supposed offensive genius reputation was gained from that one year in Minnesota when opponents simply had no defense for the rainbow balls Randall was throwing Randy Moss' way. The Baltimore Super Bowl defense was Marvin Lewis' creation, not Billick's, and in subsequent years, Billick's shortcomings have been exposed. Even a modest offense could have helped the Ravens get back to another Super Bowl, or at least mount a serious challenge to the emerging Patriot dynasty. Instead, the Baltimore attack has looked like an old jalopy in age of Ferraris, with first Grbac, then the overrated Kyle Boller (who has flourished in exactly one year, college and pro, and that was his sr. year at Cal when Jeff Tedford, a real guru, was his coach). Billick didn't realize that the 2000 version of Trent Dilfer was good enough to get the team to the top, and never should have jettisoned Trent in favor of Grbac immediately thereafter, as Dilfer was something of a clubhouse leader, and had the respect of his teammates.

4-49ers. What a difference a coach makes. Though one game does not make a season, or career, I have the sneaky suspicion that Mike Nolan knows what he's doing, and while the press has spent the offseason patting the Browns ont he back for hiring Crennel, it was San Francisco that might have really hit the jackpot with Nolan. The Niner talent isn't a lot better than it was a year ago, but the team seems more organizied, disciplined, and spirited than it was during the desultory Dennis Erickson era. Keep in mind that injuries completely decimated the 49ers last year, too. Nolan correctly reasoned that Alex Smith wasn't ready for a starting job in the NFL quite yet and wisely named the serviceable Tim Rattay as his starter, much like Marvin Lewis did with Kitna and Carson Palmer two years ago. Those benefits will be reaped down the road. For now, the 49ers have a better chance to compete with Rattay, and by simply competing better, the 49ers have a better chance to win back their lost fans in the Bay Area and establish the Nolan "program" for future success. Too soon for playoff talk, maybe, but that was a different 49er team yesterday than the one I saw all of last season, that's for sure, the hints of which were evident in a promising preseason. And beating a "Mad Mike Martz" team is always something of a pleasure.
Other random thoughts. No way the Chargers are going to catch every break this season like they did in 2004. I say Marty's team falls below .500, with that tougher schedule, this season. Larry Johnson's presence gives Kansas City two featured RBs. If the new defenders help out the Chief defense, and Trent Green stays healthy, Vermeil will have one more serious run at the ring. Buffalo's defense is the fiercest in the league, and if J.P. Losman produces just adequately, the Bills will make a playoff run. The Redksins are so boring that I would rather watch C-Span than the team. Gibbs' teams cannot play 1980s-style football and win big in the 00s. The Giants are a sleeper, because Eli is a natural and will end up making twice as many plays as the mechanical "athletes" like Boller, etc. Eli simply knows how to play football. The Saints were heroic on Sunday, but let's remember that New Orleans has fared extremely well in just that sort of road underdog role for years under Haslett. Maybe the fact the Saints are playing all of their games on the road this season will actually turn out to be a plus. The Packers are basically finished as a contender, and Mike Sherman might be fortunate to last the season. Favre is past his sell-by date, and if Javon Walker is really out for the season, this offense will really struggle. Are the Lions really the best in the NFC North, or just the best of the worst?

Finally, a bad year to be named "Mike" for NFL coaches. At least two between Holmgren, Sherman, Tice, and Shanahan could bite the dust after this season. More than likely it will be three, and perhaps all four.

Also, the value of good coaching. It is just a couple of weeks into the season, but is this just coincidence, or what? The Dolphins lose last year and fire Dave Wannstedt. LSU wins the last few years with Nick Saban, who goes to the Dolphins, who win their first game impressively under Saban. Wannstedt goes to Pitt, which was a BCS team last year, and the Panthers immediately look terrible, lose their first two games, one of those at Ohio University (not Ohio State). This week, Wannstedt and Pitt travel to Nebraska with Bill Callahan in the battle of castoff NFL coaches. Both are in the process of destroying the college programs they now shepherd. In Callahan's case, there's probably a reason the West Coast offense can't play in Lincoln. With those winds howling across the Plains, an aerial circus is likely to be blown all around the stadium. No wonder Dr. Tom and Frank Solich ran the ball on every play. You can't throw the ball all over the yard in that wind-swept stadium. The Huskers' Callahan version of the West Coast is the worst I've ever seen.

Tonight, I like Paul's 26-14 Eagles prediction. We need Philadelphia badly this evening to salvage an otherwise desultory weekend, so I would be satisfied with 20-17, even 19-17, just so it gets over that 1 1/2-point spread.

College hoops can't come soon enough...

Sunday, September 11, 2005

VDRL Race Update/NFL Recap

As of Sunday night, it is 70/69/69/66 (I'm one of the second place guys).

Bruce: Your thoughts on Week 1 so far? Here are some of the outcomes that caught my eye:

Dolphins 34-10 winners over the Broncos - are the Dolphins really any good, or the Broncos that bad?

Carolina losing at home to the Saints? I thought Carolina was everyone's (me included) darling pick to get back to the NFC title game. Were the Saints running on emotion, hoping to lift the spirits of the displaced and distraught fans? If Carolina couldn't deal with that, are they really title game material?

Chiefs laying a whooping on the Jets - are the Jets not as good as I thought they might be?

And the Browns taking a beating at home to the Bengals?

I know that in retrospect, much of what happens in Week One of an NFL season is seen to be an aberration, but what has happened that might be the foretaste of a genuine trend? Who do you suspect are the flukes?

And let's do some prognosticating: Eagles 26 Falcons 14

Dores!

Vanderbilt Commodores 28
Arkansas Razorbacks 24

Bruce's prediction: Vandy 28-27

Picking Vandy to win football games has been like picking Bill Clinton to remain celibate while strolling through the Playboy mansion grotto. But Bruce is "the man" when it comes to sports. Subscribe to his wisdom here.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

A-Pall-ing FEMA Failure

I spoke with a colleague on the hospital's board of trustees who is an engineer for a local company, Pall Trinity Micro, that make filtration devices, including mobile filtration units that can take in severely contaminated water (as in nuclear fallout contamination bad) and deliver potable water on the other side. These filtration units are built into 18-wheeler trailers and run on diesel. The four existing units can crank out a total of 1.2 million gallons of potable water each day.

These units were on lease to entities in Oregon and another distant state (I forget which one). These customers were called and asked if they wouldn't mind if those units were sent to the Gulf Coast to help provide water to New Orleans. They agreed, and in exchange, Pall suspended rental payments. The units were sent in the general direction of New Orleans as my colleague contacted FEMA to coordinate location of these units. The only thing requested was military protection for the operators of the machinery. Otherwise, they would be supplied without cost.

Those units now sit in Kansas and Arkansas, unused, because FEMA can't figure out how to place them where they are needed. My colleague is fed up trying to work through the bureaucratic BS needed to get them located where they can do some good. Instead, Pall eats the cost of not collecting rent, of transporting the units cross-country, and storing them where they sit unused; in return, Pall doesn't even get the warm fuzzies for having done something for the public good.

It is disgraceful that this capacity exists, the company that manufactures it is willing to donate it, and it sits unused. One would think that 1.2 million gallons of potable water from diesel-powered units would be of great benefit to New Orleans. But FEMA, it seems, has more important things to do. Maybe if they could deliver the water to Arabian horses, FEMA would move faster...

Geraghty shoots

and scores!

Lake George/HTNYS/Medicaid

I have been out of the loop while attending the annual meeting of the Healthcare Trustees of NYS (HTNYS) meeting - yep, some fun! But the location is gorgeous, and Angela is with me (not right now - as I write this, she is kayaking on the lake). Rose, Al, and Uncle Ralph are in Cortland with the kids.

These kind of meetings make me cringe as I am confronted by what is usually, in my world, only a nebulous concept: "consultant" - and see what these guys (and gals) actually do. Which is to perform. They address topics of concern in ways that can be entertaining, but if enlightenment is the purpose, then the cost/benefit ratio is pretty high. The room, the food, the entertainment - these things cost money. The utility of these "consultants"? Often difficult for me to discern.

The low-light so far is the guy who did a presentation on NYS Medicaid. It is the most expensive program in the country, it is riddled with fraud, it is not subject to the kind of cost/benefit analysis to which any business would subject an expensive component of its operations budget, and this guy is up there defending it whole hog. It was all on display: the tendentious presentation, the setting up of straw men to characterize opponents' positions, the appeal to provincialism (well, this is how they do it in Tennessee, but (implicitly) why would we in NY do it like they do it in Tennessee), etc. I was doing a slow burn throughout, and finally had had enough and walked out before the Q&A, for fear that I would have to skewer the guy and that it would not be pretty.

So, instead of taking apart some dude who would come to the battle of wits unarmed, I am going to turn my attention to developing my own presentation on NYS Medicaid. I have perspective as a county legislator and physician, as well as an analytical bent, that should serve me well as I develop my arguments. I don't know, what with a campaign to run, when I will do this, but I suspect it will happen piecemeal, and that I will post periodically. I hope this develops into an exchange, not just a performance, and that readers and co-bloggers will read it critically and ask tough questions.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Friday notes on a scorecard...

What would you call Hugh Hefner if he married all the women he slept with?...
Brigham Young...

Why is it that Rafael Palmeiro gets booed at every road game, and nobody makes a peep when Ryan Franklin pitches? I guess it's okay to do steroids if you stink...

If I was Rita van Susteren's plastic surgeon, I might leave the country before the malpractice suit hits...

That highway bill has so much pork in it, I thought it might have been authored by Frank Broyles...

When I walked into my high school reunion, at first I mistook it for a bar mitzvah. Then I realized the guys weren't wearing yarmulkas--they were all going bald...

Women seem to take these reunions more seriously then men. Most of the gals look pretty good, even 30 years on. Whereas most of the guys look like their dads. Or Homer Simpson...

I'm not much of a clothes horse. I looked in my closet yesterday and found all of two neckties. One of them hadn't been worn since 1986. The other had a Curious George design...

Somebody get Rita Cosby some throat lozenges. Fast...

Warning to new Pirates manager Pete Mackanin. Using Jose Mesa as your closer is fine--as long as the game isn't close...

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Skins' owner Dan Snyder To Pay $37,000 For Trees

He should get better ROI on the trees than he has on the free agent signings and coaching contracts he has doled out as Redksins' owner.

Snyder is real beauty - particularly if you are a fan of teams in the NFC East other than the Redskins. Not only has he run his team into the ground, his callous disregard for the environment should lead Skins' fans to decorate his car with Save the Bay stickers.

For more on the lovely Mr. Snyder, read this and this.

The VDRL Race

I started the Vanderbilt Doctors Rotisserie League in 1987 as a second year medical student. From our humble beginnings in a cramped Medical Center North classroom to our current multi-state, web-connected operation, we keep on keepin' on. This year features a race where any one of four teams can take the title - fortunately, that quartet includes my squad.

The standings as of end of play tonight:
Ospreys - 69.5
Wizards of Ahs - 68.5
D'EAGGLes - 66.5 (that's me)
Last of the Bohicans - 64

My team name derives from an acronym for Domenic, Emilia, Angela, Gabriele, and Gianluca. I had a dream offensive night tonight: 21-for-45 (.467) with 5 HR and 10 RBI. Please don't spoil the mood by asking about my pitching (Jason Schmidt and Dan Wheeler hurled - and made me hurl - tonight; thank goodness for D-Train).

And if you are wondering why I am up so late, I had to prepare for tomorrow (actually, this) morning's Budget & Finance meeting, plus I am doing a financial analysis of the state of county over the past several years, generating spreadsheets, crunching numbers, and creating graphs. Remember, not all public servants are in it for the perqs - I am really trying to improve this community by improving its government (cue up stirring patriotic music in background). It ain't easy, particularly in New York. But at least it kept me up late enough to track the West Coast baseball stats. Now for 4 hours of sleep....

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Thursday musings...

I heard Mike Shanahan told Jake Plummer not to do any hunting in the offseason. As long as Jake stayed away from guns, he couldn't shoot himself in the foot...

Good thing that T.O. has returned to the Eagles. Without him, that offense is about as exciting as watching C--Span...

To be fair, that's not just applicable to the T.O.-less Eagles. The vast majority of squads in the NFL are boring these days. So many teams are going to "win ugly" this season, Paul Tagliabue ought to consider making Alan Dershowitz the league-wide mascot...

The Art Fleming/Sports Jeopardy question of the day: The category-Numbers. Contestant: "Numbers for $60." Art Fleming: "The a-a-a-a-nswer is...the daily double! Contestant, you can bet double the amount on this answer." Contestant: "I'll bet $120." Art Fleming: "The a-a-a-a-nswer is...6."Contestant: "...What are the number of Beano Cook's chins?" Art Fleming: "Correct for $120!"...

My neighborhood of Laguna Hills isn't too ethnically diverse. How do I know? The city's official Christmas carol is "Have a Caucasian Christmas"...

Lots of older people live in Laguna Hills, thanks to Leisure World. More hearing-aide device stores per square mile than any city in the country...

Don't tease Leisure Worlders about their age. The last time I bought something at Sears in Laguna Hills Mall, I thought I'd be cute and asked if they were still running the "under 55" discount. The cashier, a 60-something woman, was unimpressed. "Were you trying to be funny, young man?", she said...

Leisure World is the only place with a used golf-cart showroom. Older folks use them as cars around here...

Every man in Leisure World looks like John Wooden. Every woman looks like Barbara Bush. Even the dogs look old in Leisure World...

They're easy to entertain in Leisure World. Last week Trini Lopez appeared at the Community Center. It was his first gig in 31 years...

Next week's highlight at the Community Center: "Fess Parker Live"...

Going to the movies can be dangerous in Laguna Hills. Just today, we were walking down the aisle in the theatre, our eyes still adjusting to the dark, when I tripped over a damned walker that had been left in the aisle by a Leisure Worlder. I fell and spilled my Mr. Pibb. My first instinct was to get up and yell at the fool who left it there--until I saw it was an 80-something year-old lady, someone's great grandmother, extending her arm. "You okay, sonny?," she said. I forced a smile and said I was okay. What was I going to do, punch her out?...

Newsbabes--whatever happened to Lynne Russell? Now, there was a real woman. I bet she wore spurs to bed...

The postseason waiver deadline has passed and the chances of Bill Stoneman finding a bat, any bat, to help this sluggish Halo lineup are now practicaly nil. Even in the unlikely event Stoneman could find some help elsewhere now, they couldn't contribute in the postseason.

My gut feel is that the Halo luck is about to run out. Right when the A's were ready to blow by, down goes Bobby Crosby, maybe the most-influential player in the league this season, and the jerry-rigged A's offense collapses. But today's comeback win over the Mariners (a prelude to the Astro comeback tonight) signals that the A's are not done fighting, and with their leader due back next week, Oakland should at least be at full strength for the last couple of weeks of the season.

Meanwhile, the Angel offense continues to labor. Even when beating Oakland in those last two games a week ago, the Halos never cracked the magic 3-run barrier, and now that they have run into their version of, in Phllies parlance, the Astros, the Bosox, those offensive inadequacies have resurfaced again. The Angels can't beat Boston at Fenway these days, hardly a reassuring thought with the playoffs looming on the horizon, and took another 6-3 loss tonight vs. the very hittable Bronson Arroyo. This a night after Tim Wakefield's whiffleball made the Angels look like they were fishing in a troutless stream 24 hours earlier.

The team to watch now is Angela DiGiovanni's rampaging Indians, who have a hot pitching staff, ample bats, and an easier schedule down the stretch. Cleveland still has a home-and-home remaining with Kansas City, and when the Bosox are trying to bury the Yankees in the last week, and keep them out of the postseason entirely, the Tribe will be feasting on Buddy Bell's mediocrities. And with the Angels and A's both scuffling to score runs, it says here that the Tribe, not Yanks, Halos, or A's, will be the wild card.

Paul, expect your wife and all of the Gubitosis to be a happy bunch in a few weeks--you heard it here first!

The AL West title is going to be the only route to the postseason for the Halos and A's. Give Beane the payroll Bill Stoneman has, and give Stoneman the payroll Beane has in Oakland, and Beane, like him or not, comes out 20 games ahead. Chances to win come along rarely, and to see Stoneman sit like a, well, stone man, irks no end.

If the A's pull this thing out, despite that huge payroll handicap, it will be the baseball equivalent of Dr. Fager, carrying 134 under Baulio Baeza, outfighting Advocator, carrying 22 pounds fewer, the great Fort marcy and Australian hero Tobin Bronze, each carrying 16 pounds less, and Flit-to, carrying 17 pounds less, in the '68 United Nations Cap at Atlantic City.

It's the sort of handicap John Nerud, wherever he is, must smile about when he watches this year's A's...

Stick a fork in 'em

The Phutiles have done it again! An 8-6 loss on a three-run ninth-inning bomb off of their left-handed closer. It might not perfectly mirror Game 6 of the 1993 Series, but close enough. This is where the reality of another season without a post-season sets in.

Oh, yes, I know that they have this mojo going this year whereby when things are darkest, they provide a glimmer that seems something like a dawn. But every dawn-like apparition is followed by another round of darkness, such as this 3-game sweep at home to a team that they have no clue how to beat. It used to be the Marlins, now it's the Astros. The Eagles have this nemesis thing going, too - remember how they couldn't beat the Giants up until a couple of years ago?

Anyway, back to the Phils. Now that the total eclipse of the season has occurred, I can only offer this: E - A - G - L - E - S!

Newsbabes Part II

This might be the wrong crowd to admit I actually watch CNN. But as long as we are talking newsbabes, let us not forget Daryn Kagan, a quadsquader, forty-tuder like ourselves. The blonde sorority chick look is fine by me (Amy Robach, Paula Zahn--yikes, another CNN admission!) but when I'm looking for something different, or in the mood for a sophisticated version of Sandra Bullock, I always have Daryn in the morning. Plus she knows sports. Never mind that she is the best-looking woman to ever graduate from Stanford.

(You know what they say about Stanford females--9 out of 10 girls in California are good-looking, and the 10th goes to Stanford. My Santa Clara daughter has confirmed that when the Stanford frat boys throw a party, the first invitations go to Santa Clara girls).

Rush Limbaugh has good taste after all...

A little humor

I get loads of humorous (and often risque) e-mails from a local named John Carroll, who is a great guy. When they reach a certain threshold of funny, I will pass them along. Here is one of his more recent e-mails to me:

A young Southern boy goes off to college, but about 1/3 of the way through the semester, he has foolishly squandered what money his parents gave him.

Then he gets an idea. He calls his Redneck father. "Dad," he says, "you won't believe the wonders that modern education are coming up with. Why, they actually have a program here that will teach dogs how to talk!"

"That's absolutely amazing!" his father says. "How do I get Big Red in that program?"

"Just send him down here with $1000," the boy says, "I'll get him into the course."

So, his father sends the dog and the $1000. About 2/3 of the way through the semester, the money runs out. The boy calls his father again.

"So how's Big Red doing, son?" his father asks. "Awesome, dad, he's talking up a storm," he says, "but you just won't believe this - they've had such good results with this program, that they've implemented a new one to teach the animals how to READ!"

"READ?" says his father, "No kidding! What do I have to do to get him in that program?"

"Just send $2,500, I'll get him in the class." His father sends the money.

The boy has a problem. At the end of the year, his father will find out that the dog can neither talk nor read. So he shoots the dog.

When he gets home, his father is all excited. "Where's Big Red? I just can't wait to see him talk and read something!"

"Dad," the boy says, "I have some grim news. This morning, when I got out of the shower, Big Red was in the living room kicking back in the recliner, reading the morning paper, like he usually does. Then he turned to me and asked, 'So, is your daddy still messin' around with that little redhead who lives on Oak Street?'

The father says, "I hope you shot that lyin' son of a bitch!"

"I sure did, Dad!"

"That's my boy!!!!!

One last musing...

How boring was Florida State vs. Miami the other night? It was so dull I switched the channel to Lou Dobbs...

Notes on a midweek scorecard...

Last night, my wife told me her foot was hurting, and asked me what she should do. I told her to limp...

I bet on a horse last week at Del Mar. He was so good, it took 7 other horses to beat him...

I was just listening to Bill "Unreal" Campbell's call of Wilt's 100-point game. "Unreal" had quite a voice...did he really gargle with turtle wax?...

A friend of mine was moping yesterday. I asked him what was wrong. He said he had decided to be Larry David for Halloween. When he went to get outfitted at the costume shop, the guy behind the counter told him he didn't need a costume...or a mask...

My daugther Natalie was telling me some of the highlights of her first week at Loyola-Chicago. She said many girls on her floor had befriended a gay guy who lives in the dorm. He apparently likes fashion and wants to go shopping with them on Michigan Avenue. I suppose the Jesuits aren't screening them like they used to...

Is it just me, or does Bill Frist always look like he's constipated?...

An actor I know once considered himself a leading-man type. No longer. What changed his mind? He was hoping for the lead role in "Ronald Reagan, The Movie." Then his agent called and told him he had another part--as Judge Robert Bork...

I must be getting older. When Jessica Simpson was on ABC's The View the other day, I was checking out Meredith Vieira instead...

And why was I watching The View? Just channel hopping--really...

Indians Rock, Phillies Roil

A tale of two ball clubs:

The Indians

The Phils

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Bruce's Greatest Hits, Volume Two

July 8, 2005

Just back from the Bodog Convention in Las Vegas, where I spoke earlier today. Prior to me, Ditka and Reggie Jackson spoke. You can tell Ditka makes his rounds on the after-dinner circuit, he has a pretty polished presentation. Jackson, on the other hand, was not prepared, stammered like Foster Brooks on occasion (I had to ask a technical guy if there were microphone problems), and ended up taking the easy way out turning it into a marathon Q & A session with the star-struck attendees.

Jackson, by the way, ignored me as I was coming on stage with the other fellows on our panel discussion (Jackson spoke right before).  I had an old, 1966 Arizona State football media guide I was going to give him (the year after Reggie played for Kush, and his name was mentioned in 1965 statistics) if I had the chance, but I wasn't about to chase him down and appear like some groupie.

I asked Ditka the same question I asked Butkus on the radio show last year, that being what might have happened to the Bears had George Allen not left Halas' cocoon for the Rams, and ended up taking the Bears job instead of Jim Dooley. Whereas Butkus said it would have made all the difference in the world, and that the Bears could have become champions, Ditka explained how Allen would not have been able to flourish as a HEAD coach under Halas because the latter would never have given Allen complete control, and would have always had control of purse strings, to Allen's dismay.

That said, Ditka said mostly good things about Allen, though made sure to point out his peculiarities, including blaming Allen for spying on Landry's practices in Ditka's Dallas days.  I got the feeling Ditka respected Allen, and probably got something of a kick out of him, yet found him a bit odd (no surprise there). Ditka laughed for one of the few times in the presentation when relating some old Allen stories, and seemed to enjoy reminiscing about him...

Hall of Fame Selection Committee's Team of the '70's

Offense
WR Drew Pearson, Dallas
WR Lynn Swann, Pittsburgh
TE Dave Casper, Oakland
OT Art Shell, Oakland
OT Ron Yary, Minnesota
G Joe DeLamielleure, Buffalo
G Larry Little, Miami
C Jim Langer, Miami
QB Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh
RB Walter Payton, Chicago
RB O.J. Simpson, Buffalo
PK Garo Yepremian, Miami

Defense
DE Carl Eller, Minnesota
DE Jack Youngblood, Los Angeles
DT Joe Greene, Pittsburgh
DT Bob Lilly, Dallas
OLB Jack Ham, Pittsburgh
MLB Dick Butkus, Chicago
OLB Ted Hendricks, G.B./Oak.
CB Willie Brown, Oakland
CB Jimmy Johnson, San Francisco
S Cliff Harris, Dallas
S Ken Houston, Washington
P Ray Guy, Oakland

This isn't a bad start for the sake of discussion, but I think there are some questionable calls.

I can think of a few receivers other than Drew Pearson that I would have taken (Fred Biletnikoff, Charlie Joiner, Harold Carmichael, John Stallworth; sorry, Bruce, but I can't do Haven Moses).

Tight end is interesting; I would probably end up taking Casper, but as I was then a big Raiders' fan, I know I am biased. Russ Francis would deserve some consideration. And for dropping a pass in the Super Bowl to cost the Cowboys, Jackie Smith gets an honorable mention ;-)

I find it hard to get too exercised about the OL choices, although Mike Webster (whose personal story post-football was a real tragedy) deserves serious consideration.

QB could be the source of a lot of discussion, but for the fact that 4 SB rings has a way of ending the discussion with Bradshaw coming out on top. But think about all the great (and pretty good) QBs from that decade: Ken Stabler, Bert Jones (until he got hurt), Roger Staubach (yes, it hurts to type in praise of a Cowboy), Roman Gabriel, Jim Hart, Fran Tarkenton, Bob Griese, Steve Grogan, Brian Sipe (that's a sop to my wife, mostly, but he did have a few good years), Ken Anderson, Dan Fouts, and, of course, Eagles' greats Pete Liske, Mike Boryla, Rick Arrington, and Johnny Walton.

Sweetness has to be a running back, but The Juice? Can we do better than that, both as a runner (difficult) and a human being (easier)? Franco Harris, anyone?

Update: How did I forget Earl Campbell? He needs to be considered.

And maybe it's just me, but Yepremian seems like more of a mascot than a choice based on skill alone. Subjectively, I thought that Mark Moseley was the best that I can recall off the top of my head. That's probably in part because, as the Eagles struggled through a succession of worthies such as Ove Johannson, Nick Mike-Mayer, and Mike Michel, the guy they cut in favor of Happy Feller was a perennial star with the rival Redskins.

I will leave the defense for another time, and wait for the others to weigh in on the offense.

Greatest hits, volume one

As I previously mentioned, the four of us have been sharing e-mail, which ultimately led to the creation of this blog. I was browsing some of those old messages, some of which still make me laugh. With Bruce's permission, here's one that gave me a chuckle:

From the "we're getting old" department...

(Bruce's daughter) Natalie's prom is tonight, she is going with a bunch of girlfriends (that's the way they do it these days). The real kicker is the location...Anaheim (Angels) Stadium.

The Halos are in Boston, so the stadium is available, and I think it is being held in that restaurant right behind home plate. Supposedly TV cameras will be present from that "Laguna Beach" MTV show. Imagine if they had high school proms with a TV show at the Big A in the late 70s, they could have caught (Bobby) Grich with one of his dates on camera.

Evening update

Alright, now that Bruce is aboard, we have the country's foremost sports authority. I already feel a bit defensive about ragging on Elway as being among the NFL's Ten Best ever, and in particular his selection as the single greatest player ever by two of the panelists. I still disagree, but will have to wait for a longer post to explain why. In the meantime, I hope Bruce begins to tackle naming the NFL Team of the '70's.

May I also add that Charlie Manuel offered a feeble defense of his managerial screw-up last night by claiming that "Bob Hayes wouldn't have scored" on Rollins's double. As former Cowboys' wide-out Bob Hayes died three years ago, Charlie is right. Chavez, though, might well have scored, instead of being "saved" as a pinch-hitter, so that he could swing at three balls (including one which he fouled after it bounced up to the plate, possibly "blocking" a wild pitch with runners on 2nd and 3rd, preventing the tying run from scoring).

Endy stinks, but a manager who doesn't know how to exploit his team's strengths and work around its weaknesses is not a good game-time manager. I fully appreciate that he may have had a wonderful impact on the clubhouse, relaxing the club (maybe they should have relaxed by reading their bank statements, but I digress) and getting them to play up to their potential. But this team is so unsound fundamentally, so unable to do the little things that add up to a handful of wins over the course of a season, that they don't deserve to be in the post-season. But they are my team, and so I agonize through these losses, wondering where I could go to have a team-change operation. Marriage has made the Indians my second-favorite team, but the Phils own my heart. Which they then break annually.

Stoops v Roberts

Bruce: You suggested that they looked alike. Here is the photographic evidence:





(I edited the title to reflect the order of the photos)

Analogies...

I actually referred to Antonin Scalia in a TGS writeup this week. That's a first in TGS, and a nice little jab at the left, as I figured his name might come up more in the news this week after Rehnquist's passing. Check out Washington vs. Cal when your publications arrive later this week. Others that got mention this week include Bob Novak, James Carville, Rush Limbaugh, and, as a token stab at pop culture, J Lo.

John Roberts got in there last week when I wrote up the Temple at Arizona State game ("Senate Democrats wouldn't even wish the brutal Owl schedule on John Roberts"). Orrin Hatch and Ted Kennedy made it in the BYU-BC writeup last week, too.

Saw Alan Dershowitz really blast Rehnquist on TV the other night. What an absolute piece of scum. What an indictment of Harvard Law to have that human excrement on the faculty. Why would any right-minded conservative law student, no matter how brilliant, want to go to Harvard with guys like that on staff?

Look-alikes...

John Roberts and Bob Stoops...

Technical difficulties

I have enabled comments and I thought that I had done what I needed to allow e-mail feedback to the authors. However, it doesn't seem that these changes are showing up. I will continue to work on these niggling little things as time permits. If you want to e-mail the author of a post, click on his name and there should be a link at the page to which you are taken. Otherwise, send your feedback to quadsquadblog@yahoo.com and we will get it.

Bruce tried to post here yesterday, but it ended up as an e-mail to me. I will post it on his behalf later. I am still waiting for Mark to join in the fun. More coming, including some needed historical perspective on the role of the federal government in flood assistance.

For now, it's back to work. Health Committee, which I chair, met this morning, and went for about two hours. Throw in the usual hour-plus stuff that I often do when I am at the County Office Building (asking questions of people who work there, opening mail, etc.), and I got a late start. Not great, especially on a day when my partner is covering another hospital and I am here alone.

Also, I will have to comment at some point on the way in which New York state (mis)manages its pre-school programs - one of the infuriating aspects of public service is having to play with the hand you have been dealt by Albany or D. C., and the cards stink.

Elway...

I could talk all night about the Elway subject, but will cut it short as I am a bit tired.
Elway's greatness is not in question, but as you know whenever "all-time" bests are mentioned, all discussion is subjective.
I have always believed the best measure of greatness is just how much a player dominates a game, and distorts proceedings, over an extended period of time. Stats are not the final validator in such analysis, and linemen (especially on the offensive side) simply can't generate that sort of visibility for themselves. Their greatness is harder to quantify.
Regardless, by any subjective measure, I believe Elway stands as tall as any player using the "domination/distrotion" criteria.
There are some knocks on Elway--I saw enough of his games to see the worst of John, as well as the best. Worth noting that Stanford never made a bowl game with Elway, though Cardinal would have gone to Peach Bowl in '82 had Cal not delivered "The Play" with Kevin Moen, etc. The valid criticism of Elway is that he was a bit up-and-down in his career, that when he stayed anchored in the pocket he was not nearly as effective, as he forced too many throws when Dan Reeves was trying to turn him into Craig Morton for a while (such as 1988, a disturbing season for Bronco fans, a season when Elway camped out way too long in the pocket). And there was a short time in 1985 when I thought Gary Kubiak, a vastly underrated reliever, might be a better alternative.
Kubiak, however, did not have anything close to Elway's durability, another plus when measuring John's greatness.
On the plus side, however, when Elway was good, no one was ever better. I still believe his efforts in 1987 were the greatest I've ever seen by a QB in a single season. Never mind the stats, Elway impacted games like I haven't seen, before or since, that year. That year, his ability DISTORTED games. On the move, as hw was mostly in 1987, he was deadly, and he single-handedly willed an otherwise average Bronco team to the Super Bowl, just as he had done in 1986. That the Broncos got their comeuppance in those Super Bowls should not diminish his heroics for those few years. The Giant and 49er teams that whipped the Broncs in the Super Bowl also destroyed NFC playoff opposition in '86 & '89 (I have tried to forget the Redskin Super Bowl, which I believe was more humiliating than the others). He made plays and did things I've never seen from another QB, and was still good enough to be named Super Bowl MVP in his last game.
Elway was also a tremendous all-around athlete, good enough to be a baseball draftee by the Yankees (though he couldn't hit a curve). He physical gifts were rare. As for other QBs, Unitas and others certainly merit discussion in this debate, and I'm sure we will address them soon.
Was Elway the best ever? Who knows. One of the best ever? Perhaps. My favorite player ever? Absolutely.

NFL Top Ten - initial thoughts

Bruce, I know you are a Broncos' fan, and I say this at my own peril: John Elway is way overrated. And for Sal Paolantonio and Peter Lawrence-Riddell to have ranked him the single best NFL player of all time? I don't know PLR, but I have always liked Sal, but my respect for his opinion just took a major hit.

Endy of the Innocence

Okay, I saw the highlights on ESPN, and Endy would have scored on Rollins's double. Put this loss down to Charlie Manuel's poor game time managerial skills.

Also, Dan provides the link to the NFL's Top Ten, at least according to some of the personalities at ESPN. We will have more thoughts on this, to be sure.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Manuel Labor

I couldn't see the Phils' game tonight, but I was following along on the Internet. Ryan Howard walks with two outs and no one on base in the bottom of the 9th, the Phils down by a run. I immediately check to see who is on the bench, and guess that logic will dictate sending Endy Chavez in to pinch run, a task well-suited to the .216 hitter. Instead, Charlie Manuel sends in Matt Kata (who attended Vanderbilt, so he has a special place in my heart, just not my head) to pinch run, and he fails to score from first on a Jimmy Rollins double. Again, I didn't see it, so I don't know why he didn't score, but my, how I would love to have had Endy Chavez doing the only thing he does well: run.

Instead, Endy "Mendoza Line" Chavez is sent up there as a pinch-hitter, to strike out and end the game.

Again, I have to be a bit cautious in my criticism, not having seen what happened, but I still have to wonder why Endy was not the pinch-runner, and almost anybody but Endy the pinch-hitter in the 9th. Frustrating.

NFL's Best? What? Where?

Dan - If we are going to be a self-respecting blog, we have to link to whatever it is that we are discussing, or else we are just discussing each other's posts. I tried to find NFL's Ten Best on the ESPN site, but was unsuccessful. Was this something only on TV? If so, then all I can do is agree with your observations, but I am unable to comment further on whatever list it is that you are referencing. If you have a link, please post it.

However, we could do our own Best of the NFL, maybe by decade. You old dudes know something about football in the '60's, but I don't get started until into the '70's, when Eddie Khayat raised the hopes of a city by taking an 0-5 squad (he arrived when they were 0-3, so 2 of those losses are his) and delivering a 6-2-1 finish. Eddie only won a third of that total the entire next season, and the "Beagles" signs and the ugliness that can be a disgruntled Philly football crowd was on full display.

I remember attending my first regular season football games at The Vet as a 7 year old, watching the Cowboys and 49ers absolutely pound the Eagles. Our seats were behind one end zone, and close enough to the field that you could see the players' faces when the ball was inside the 15 yard line or so. I remember thinking, in ways that little boys do, that the other teams were composed of giants (the fairy tale kind, not the Meadowlands kind), and that the Eagles were mere puny mortals. I have this image of a 49ers lineman slapping the ball out of the Eagles' QB throwing hand right in front of us and the Niners recovering for a TD. I remember Al Nelson (or was it Nate Ramsey? I always got those two confused) running back a missed Cowboys FG attempt late in the game for a TD. The Cowboys won that game, 42-7, so one might wonder why they were trying a FG late in the game. It does explain the visceral hatred for the Cowboys that is felt by all self-respecting Eagles' fans.

Anyway, back on topic: why don't we start with the '70's - our choices for best of the NFL. The Eagles will be poorly represented on such a squad, although a case could be made for Bill Bergey somewhere among the linebackers (not in the Jack Lambert class, perhaps, but only a shade below). Some underrated Birds from that era include Carl Hairston and Charlie Johnson. Guys who would get an honorable mention or more who wore the green and white include Wilbert Montgomery, Harold Carmichael, Bill Bradley, and some I am sure I am forgetting. The first name that comes to mind for the entire NFL is Terry Bradshaw, as author of 4 Super Bowl victories. But I will have to take my time and cogitate on this one, as I wouldn't want to overlook such worthies as Po James and Pete Liske in my rush to be first.

I can only look forward to Bruce's contribution, as I will feel like the schoolboy that I was up against what will be his erudite selections.

Dan messes with the atmospherics

Dan has started his blogging career with a post with which I agree. So much for daniswrong!

We are still awaiting the arrival of the other half of the Quad Squad, Mark and Bruce. Mark is my older brother, an attorney who met Bruce at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. Bruce was smart enough to drop out of law school and pursue his dream of writing for a sports publication (The Gold Sheet). He is, without a doubt, the most knowledgeable person regarding sports whom I have ever met. Mark hung in to get a law degree (transferring to Delaware Law School from Southwestern after two years on the Left Coast) and is a practicing attorney. I traveled with him coast-to-coast his first two years of law school; I suspect we will post some reminiscences about those journeys at some point.

Mark met Dan through the practice of law, but as that occurred while I was off at medical school (Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee), I don't know the complete back story. I hope Dan and Mark fill us all in at some point.

I am in upstate New York, Dan in Northern Virginia (when not in his car, heading somewhere), Mark in suburban Philadelphia, and Bruce in Southern California (bad ol' Orange County, with all them Rethuglicans). I am the youngest of the group, and another name we considered (forty-tude) was dropped, as fifty-tude looms large for the other three!

It begins

Four of us, two of whom are brothers (that would be me and older bro Mark), have been exchanging e-mails on sports and politics for some time, each seemingly longer than the last. I finally decided that our collective wisdom needed an outlet, and so I prevailed upon the others to join me in blogging.

As we get going, I hope that you will find some interesting and entertaining posts focused mainly on current events (we have been going around and around on the situation in New Orleans), sports (Bruce is a professional; we mess with his opinions at our own risk), and politics (I am an office holder and Mark was one of those once). Dan is the gadfly of the group, a fine man with some quirky notions that we seek to right. One of the proposed names for this blog was daniswrong.com, but we thought that was over the top. But just a little.

Here's hoping that my fellow bloggers start posting soon.