20070704

Restoring America's Pride

Serious props to Joey Chestnut for restoring America's most coveted sports title to its rightful place!

20070701

Genius vs Genius

Not to be overshadowed by Thursday's atrocious Supreme Court decisions...
the debate continues among sports fans over who is more of a genius: Ernie Grunfeld for picking up key bench points and a tough, battle-tested shot blocker and rebounder in, respectively, Nick Young and Dominic McGuire -- two players who will nicely complement the Hibachi cookout in DC; or Steve Kerr for his acquisition of two "Matrix" caliber players in Alando Tucker and D.J. Strawberry.

Meanwhile, sartorial-minded ballers (who regret that sparkplug Frenchie big-man Joakim Noah has to begin his career with the turncoat, emo Chicago Bulls) will be thinking of a different competition, is Joakim Noah in formal wear better dressed than (Lay down the) Law IV in those awesome new Hawks jerseys? (photos to come)

I guess, I'm upset with the Bulls, 'cus I kind of really wanted to see sparkplug Frenchie big-man running the floor with Adam "That 70s Show" Morrison. Such a roster move probably would have enabled Jordan to convince Dr. Funk to come out of retirement...

Bryan Adams: Greatest Unsung Hero

Do people even realize how important Bryan Adams is to the rest of the world? Surely, if we taught geography to our kids, here, this would be one of the top lessons in that subject. Indeed, whenever I do travel, I always make sure to pack one or two Bryan Adams cassettes, just to have something to talk about with the Dutch backpacker in the Bed 'n' Breakfast. Or to not talk about, actually, since listening to Bryan Adams with a foreigner is the closest to Rousseau's ideal of transparence in communication that we will ever find.

Which brings me to my main point, and let's say it all together: "Bryan Adams, Knight of the Commonwealth!"

By the way, I'm going to kill ASM for not letting me know sooner that Bryan Adams was of Maltese descent, in addition to being Canadian.

Things I hate today, special Cokie Roberts edition

Okay, Cokie is probably climbing up my list to Chris Noth-type altitudes... And it's probably worse that she can still be found on television in forms other than syndication.

I can't be the only one who is baffled by such a glib response to one of the most devastatingly glib Supreme Court decisions in recent memory as "People have to understand that elections have consequences!" Oh, do they? Do they usually have the consequence of overturning 90 years of precedent in dealing with anti-trust legislation? Do they usually have the consequence of overturning a landmark decision that has defined our understanding of racial justice for over 50 years? Are we allowed a reasonable expectation that such a momentous and devastating decision, if made, should be based on some higher form of argument than the blithely oblivious sloganeering of "the best way to stop discrimination is to stop discriminating." A decision that demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of our nation's divisive history and enduring injustices, and furthermore a phrase that sounds more like a political rebuke than jurisprudence.

So, no, Cokie, I don't think such radical repositioning of our country is what people expect from elections. If elections were supposed to have such consequences, shouldn't the newly elected Congress have the constitutional power to re-stack the Supreme Court? (Speaking of which, has anybody checked to see if Justices Roberts and Alito are still using their Republican National Committee e-mail addresses?)

Does Cokie Roberts have any idea that people actually live in this country and have to face the realities created by public policy decisions? Or does she just think that politics is a strip club, where she can venture in as a "sociological experiment", later to be laughed about with her buddies, Sam and George...

Perhaps I shouldn't continue watching This Week with George Stephanopolous anymore... Perhaps the kind of nostalgia over the Clinton administration that keeps me hooked is misplaced and would better be devoted to downloading Barack Obama ringtones.