Month: March 2005

What’s the score?

Imagine trying to update your brackets for the NCAAs if your only source of information were, say, members of the White House Press Corps: “Texas Tech supporters were claiming victory Sunday after their regional quarterfinal game against Gonzaga. In Spokane, however, proponents of Gonzaga disputed this claim, noting that their team’s point total was equal to that of Kentucky’s and greater than that of Utah’s, and that both of these teams are advancing to the next round.”

slacktivist, in a great posting on how the sports section is “the last bastion of reality-based journalism.”

Different wavelengths

Congressional leaders have insisted their only motivation in getting involved in the Terri Schiavo case was saving a life. But Americans aren’t buying that argument, a CBS News poll finds.

An overwhelming 82 percent of the public believes the Congress and President should stay out of the matter.

Just 13 percent of those polled think Congress intervened in the case out of concern for Schiavo, while 74 percent think it was all about politics. Of those polled, 66 percent said the tube should not be inserted compared to 27 percent who want it restored. The issue has generated strong feelings, with 78 percent of those polled — wheter for either side of the issue — saying they have strong feelings.

Public approval of Congress has suffered as a result; at 34 percent, it is the lowest it has been since 1997, dropping from 41 percent last month. Now at 43 percent, President Bush’s approval rating is also lower than it was a month ago.

CBS News

What I’m wondering is where they found 13% who don’t think it was politically motivated.

Older, but richer

NewMexiKen has learned from a report in The Washington Post that Sarah Jessica Parker, who will be 40 on Friday, has been dropped as celebrity spokesmodel by the Gap in favor of 17-year-old Joss Stone.

Of course, before you shed too many tears for Ms. Parker, keep in mind that she was paid $38 million dollars for her contract with the chain. That’s $38 million for about 13 months, or close to $100,000 a day every day!

I hope Gap isn’t planning on having Joss Stone sell any shoes.

Ya’ think?

There are two facts to consider here. If Barry Bonds really has been juiced all this time — what are his options? To keep doing it until he gets caught? To suddenly stop and turn back into your average 40-year old ballplayer and never get to pass Hank Aaron’s record?

Or is a third one more appealing? To ‘have’ to retire due to the bad knee, or the ‘malicious’ media coverage. To pass up the chance at Aaron’s record (and, oh by the way, to pass up ever having to be tested for steroids again) and go out in a blaze of martyrdom?

Some of Bonds’ other remarks in Scottsdale suggested as much. “You wanted me to jump off the bridge,” he said to no one in particular, “and I finally jumped. You wanted to bring me down and you have brought me and my family down. You have finally done it, all of you. So now, go pick on a different person. I am done.”

There is one other option here, a little less melodramatic, but even more conspiratorial. It should be noted that under the new steroid-testing program, a player on baseball’s disabled list — say, a guy rehabilitating a knee injury — is not required to be tested for the drug use. If, say, a particular player had been using steroids all these years and needed to let the steroids clear out of his system, the absolute best place for him to be right now — would be on a pair of crutches.

Keith Olbermann

First round upsets

Some interesting numbers from Salon’s King Kaufman:

Here’s the number of first-round upsets, not counting 9-over-8, in each of the last 10 years:

1996 — 6
1997 — 5
1998 — 8
1999 — 7
2000 — 3
2001 — 9
2002 — 7
2003 — 5
2004 — 3
2005 — 5 …

Here are second-round upsets over the last 10 years, not counting 5-over-4. Keep in mind, the second round is only 16 games, half as many as the first:

1996 — 3
1997 — 5
1998 — 3
1999 — 6
2000 — 8
2001 — 3
2002 — 5
2003 — 4
2004 — 5
2005 — 5

So over the last 10 years there have been 58 upsets in the first round, or one every 5.5 games. In the second round there have been 47 upsets, one every 3.4 games.

And, for all the talking heads nonsense last weekend about “parity,” no real trends, though Kaufman theorizes that the NCAA is seeding the tournament better.

The reign of witches

A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolved, and the people recovering their true sight, restoring their government to its true principles. It is true that, in the meantime, we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war, and long oppressions of enormous public debt. … If the game runs sometimes against us at home, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost. For this is a game where principles are the stake.

Thomas Jefferson, 1798

But as for me

It is in vain, sir, to extentuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace–but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

The last paragraph of Patrick Henry’s famous speech, given on this date in 1775 before the Second Virginia Convention at St. John’s Church, Richmond. The entire speech may be found here.

Precedent

In light of the Congress’s action in the Schiavo case, how long do you think individual state laws permitting abortions will last once the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade?

Fed up

The Fed raised interest rates today — the seventh time in the past year. It’s because they fear inflation they say. Hey clowns, get out of your limousines and buy some gasoline and you’ll figure out inflation isn’t exactly the result of an overheated economy. It’s the result of $56 a barrel oil.

And remember, inflation (at least moderate inflation) is the debtors friend.

Thinking ahead to the Final Four

Here’s who NewMexiKen thinks will be booking a trip to St. Louis:

Chicago: The winner of the Arizona-Oklahoma State game.

Albuquerque: The winner of the Louisville-Washington game.

Syracuse: North Carolina.

Austin: The winner of the Utah-Kentucky game.

I promise to link back to this Sunday evening for the appropriate praise or ridicule.

You are invited to climb out on your own limb in Comments.

Hot cars

Mr. Newell, the former police officer, knows well that Hollywood’s penchant for making vehicle fires into dramatic disasters is unrealistic – particularly the cliché of gas tanks blowing up at the slightest provocation. Contrary to popular belief (and the fireballs that are a staple of television thrillers), he says, a tank full of gasoline does not have much room for the oxygen necessary to support combustion. “Cars only explode in midair on ‘The A Team,'” he said.

Detectives in Hot Pursuit of Evidence in the Ashes

The Dan Brown Code

A profile of Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, from The New York Times:

Since its release on March 18, 2003, “The Da Vinci Code,” Mr. Brown’s fourth novel, has sold roughly 25 million copies in 44 languages around the world, including nearly 10 million hardcover copies in the North America. That is 10 times the average sales of industry titans like John Grisham and Nora Roberts, making the book one of the fastest-selling adult novels of all time. While most books move into paperback within a year of their original publication in hardcover, Mr. Brown’s publisher, Doubleday, still has not scheduled a paperback release of “The Da Vinci Code.” …

“In some ways, my life has changed dramatically,” Mr. Brown said, as when he arrived at the airport in Boston to catch the shuttle to La Guardia Airport – only to realize that he had left his driver’s license at his home in New Hampshire. “Fortunately, the guy behind me in line had a copy of ‘Da Vinci Code,’ ” he said. “I borrowed it, showed security the author photo and made my flight.”

In other ways, Mr. Brown said, life has not changed. “My writing process, for example, remains unchanged,” he said. “I still get up at 4 a.m. every morning and face a blank computer screen. My current characters really don’t care how many books I’ve sold, and they still require my same effort and cajoling to persuade them to do what I want.”

America’s first students get a second look

The Christian Science Monitor has an excellent article on the state of American Indian education. It begins:

On a snowy December night, nine teenage girls sit shoulder to shoulder around the kitchenette table, telling stories. Not dorm gossip, mind you, but stories that have been passed down for generations in their native cultures.

One reads a favorite Navajo picture book in English – a modern twist on an oral tradition. When she comes to a part that should be sung in Navajo, she hesitates, then passes it to a friend who remembers – mostly – how to sing it. The singer wears a black T-shirt with white lettering: “You laugh because I’m different. I laugh because you’re all the same.”

The article — the first of two — is highly recommended.