Archive for the 'Sports' Category

The weekend has come, and so has the dreary weather, at least in my part of the world, known as central Maryland. But there’s a bright side, in that I won’t have to shovel anything. In other parts of the world, here’s a bit of what’s been going on:

The University of Alabama in Huntsville has fired professor Amy Bishop, accused of shooting 6 colleagues, killing 3 of them.

From the “stoopid criminals” department: Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has been suspended for the upcoming 2010 football season, after pleading guilty to a burglary charge. What did he steal? Two laptop computers and a guitar.

The Ninth Circuit has ruled that “God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional.

The National Review interviews pro-life Democrat Bart Stupak. For politicians with views similar to Stupak’s, 2SecondsFaster asks, “What should pro-life Democrats do?”

Members of the Thomas More Society react to the Illinios Attorney General’s claim that state’s constitution contains the right to an abortion.

Some say that defending the enemy is a time-honored tradition, sometimes invoking John Adams’ defense of the British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre. A Wall Street Journal editorial begs to differ.

The Weekly Standard celebrates hope and change – in Iraq.

The New England Journal of Medicine reports a survey indicating that Obamacare could result in a decrease in the number of physicians. (H/T Hugh Hewitt)

SayAnythingBlog warns of a double-dip recession.

On the other hand theSpec reports that the world-wide freight recession could be ending.

The Empire State brings forth the nanny state. The New York legislature is considering a bill that would forbid restaurants from using salt in cooking.

And finally, a young protestor gives her opinion of President Obama’s fiscal policies.
Read the rest of this entry »

The first week of February includes the day when high school football players, who have previously been offered athletic scholarships and verbally announced their respective choices on which college to attend and play for, sign their letters of intent, thus sealing the recruiting process.

The recruiting process includes contact between the high school players and college coaches, according to rules and guidelines set by the NCAA. The player is also allowed have up to five expense-paid visits to college campuses. Most of the time, these players have declared their intentions during their senior year of high school, but some of them decide earlier, mostly during their junior year.

Newly hired USC head coach Lane Kiffin, who recently left the same position at Tennessee after losing the Chick-Fil-A Bowl to my Hokies, has received a verbal commitment from an athlete who has not yet finished playing high school football. In fact, he hasn’t even started. The kid’s just 13.

Here in Maryland, as in much of the United States, the cold snap continues. Meanwhile, across the pond, Great Britain is covered by snow. (H/T Ice Age Now)

Next up, a look at some liberals. Well, actually two looks. The British site Telegraph will be listing the 100 most influential American liberals, and has started with numbers 100 through 81. Back here in the states, John Hawkins at Right Wing News gives us the “20 most annoying liberals of 2009″.

Let’s not forget our liberal-in-chief. In The Minority Report, Ken Taylor calls Obama’s transparency “a transparency of lies”. (H/T ARRA News)

Speaking of alleged lies, in CNS News, Alan Caruba writes about “The Lies About Green Jobs”. Hmmm, that’s “3 letters: J-O-B-S”, isn’t it, Mr. Vice President?

Please excuse me while I roll my eyes over this one. Disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich calls himself “blacker than Barack Obama”.

From Canada Free Press, Daniel Greenfield tells us about “The Secret History of the Left”.

One more reason that crude oil and thus gasoline are getting more expensive: increased Chinese demand.

How well do you know the American Revolution? Take the quiz.

Bring out the asterisk. Nearly Nobody’s News reports that former major league baseball player Mark McGwire has admitted to using steroids back during his playing days. In 1998, McGwire hit 70 home runs, breaking the single-season record of 61 by Roger Maris in 1961, itself subject to an asterisk because Maris played in a 162-game season, whereas the Babe Ruth had hit 60 in a 154-game season. McGwire’s record, steroid-aided as it may have been, lasted only three years, as Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, likely also a steroid-aided feat.

In a courtroom in East Boston, there will be no pussy-footing around with this potential juror.

With the Holiday season, things have been pretty slow around here. This is certainly understandable, since we all have our familial duties this time of year. But someone has to get in the first post of 2010.

For me, Christmas means visiting with my parents and seeing the extended clan down in Virginia. This year, it also meant getting rid of snow on the side of the street in front of their house, and from on top of dad’s car. Various siblings had already shoveled their driveway. Meanwhile, I had cleared about 20 inches of snow from my sidewalk and car back in Maryland, and thus brought some recent experience to the task. Fortunately, the day was sunny, with temperatures above freezing, allowing me to leave some of the snow to melt away.
Read the rest of this entry »

Bobby Bowden, the head football coach at Florida State University since 1976, has announced his retirement, effective after the Seminoles play their upcoming bowl game. As head coach, his career includes 4 years at Samford College (his alma mater, then named Howard College), 6 years at West Virginia, and 34 years at Florida State, where he won national championships for the 1993 and 1999 seasons. While no decision has yet been made as to which bowl will take Florida State, one possibility is a Gator Bowl contest with Bowden’s old team, West Virginia. Besides being the winningest active coach in NCAA Division 1-A (now known as “1-Bowl Subdivision”) football, Bowden in also known for mild cuss-word “dadgum” or “dadgummit”, the origin of which he explains near the end of this interview.

Pretty soon I’ll be running down to Virginia to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. As usual, this will involve lots of eating and watching football, the latter featuring the annual Commonwealth Cup between my alma mater Virginia Tech and Thomas Jefferson’s creation, the University of Virginia. Thanksgiving was first proclaimed by George Washington in 1789. But more recently, here’s what’s been happening:

Navy SEALS have captured the alleged terrorist mastermind behind the murder of four Blackwater security guards – but are being court-martialed for allegedly punching him.

Now that Teh One^TM has scuttled plans for a missile defense installation in Poland, how has Russia responded? By staging a simulated attack on Poland. How’s that reset button working these days?

From The Other McCain, the death of census worker Bill Sparkman has been ruled a suicide, and not “Southern populist terrorism”.

The government of Venezuela has accused Israeli president Shimon Peres of threatening Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

I actually saw a few of these people during the 9/12 Tea Party, a possible rightwing answer to ACORN – Workers Against Lazy Non-producers United Together.

Speaking of the Tea Party movement, it now has its own documentary movie, to be premiered in Washington, DC on 12/2/2009. (H/T to the Pink Elephant Pundit)

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes near the Pacific island nation of Tonga.

From Right Wing News, Melissa Clouthier notes now conservatives are starting to give liberals a taste of their own medicine, when it comes to sexism.

From National Review, Stephen Spruiell has some things to say about those erroneously reported “stimulus” jobs.

As I look forward to Virginia Tech’s last regular-season football game, here’s my favorite play of last week’s game against NC State, from VTPhreak4evr. VT tailback Ryan Williams (#34) is caught by NC State defender Earll Wolff (#27), who grabs his jersey at around the 10-yard line. Williams still scores a touchdown as he drags Wolff all the way to the goal line.

Before I go running off to North Carolina to watch a football game, here are a few things I’ve run across over the last day or two:

Some lenders are modifying mortgages by lowering the due principal.

As the time for selecting the host city for the 2016 Olympics draws near, celebrities from Chicago do their best lobbying.

You might be more likely to cheat if you have a long ring finger.

Sex offenders past and present. From Townhall, Guy Benson imagines explaining the Roman Polanski controversy to a 13-year-old….and a church in Kentucky ordains a convicted pedophile.

From Gateway Pundit, Jimmah claims that he was only talking about a “fringe element” when he accused critics of Teh One^TM of being racist.

If you liked Kill Bill and Kill Bill 2, you’ll be happy to know that Quentin Tarantino has decided to make Kill Bill 3.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

From the Sacramento Bee, the office of California attorney general Jerry Brown has opened an investigation on ACORN.

The Snooper Report takes a hard look at Barry’s friend Valarie Jarrett.

From the New York Times, General McChrystal rejects scaling down our aims in Afghanistan.

And to finish, Political Pistachio shows us one difference between leftwing and rightwing rallies.

On September 17, 1787 thirty-nine men from the very young United States of America, having gathered in Philadelphia, finished writing a Constitution, a proposed replacement for the country’s governing document, the Articles of Confederation.

In much more recent political news, the Speaker is concerned about the potential for “political violence”. Isn’t it great that the Dems have come to value civility?

I know that Raven and Duncan like their guns. But sometimes, a sword will suffice.

Speaking of sharp objects, a runner from Blacksburg, VA takes time out from the Blue Ridge Relay and dies from stab wounds – inflicted by himself.

It’s sad that too much success can be controversial, even in high school football.

Washington, DC has become a favorite place for wealthy young adults. (Heck, the Kennedys knew that decades ago.)

Parlez-vous français? If so, Aer Lingus might need your help.

Mary Traverse, of Peter, Paul and Mary, has died of leukemia at age 72.

Via The Dumb Ox, ACORN’s been behaving so badly these days, so it seems, that even Aahnold has called for an investigation. More bad (for them) news: The House has voted to cut off their federal money.

From the Alamo City Pundit, an apparent strategy of peace through vulnerability: Barry decides to abandon plans for missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

After being released from prison, and being conditionally reinstated by the NFL, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has been signed by the Philadephia Eagles. Vick be vying for the job of backing up veteran QB Donovan McNabb, or perhaps trying to learn another position.

There is no doubt that what Vick and his cohorts did was insanely cruel, not just in staging dogfights, but also in killing dogs that they didn’t judge to be tough enough for the ring. And what they did was no mere “mistake”, a word Vick himself has used. This was no momentary or short-term misjudgment, but a systematic operation that lasted years. As one commenter (whose name escapes me) put it, had Vick wandered into a dogfight and placed a bet, that would have been a mistake.

On the other hand, as some have opined, Vick’s cruelty to animals is not as evil as crimes committed against humans. Whether we like it or not, as far as the legal system goes, he has paid his debt to society and regained his right to seek a living. Others have done horrible things and were given a chance to turn their life around, so why not Vick? But then, most other people don’t have even one chance (or the ability) to play professional football.
Read the rest of this entry »

Jack Kemp, former football player, Congressman, Secretary of HUD and Vice Presidential candidate, has died of cancer at age 73, in his home in Bethesda, MD.
Read the rest of this entry »