Delay's Debatable Decision

Yes, I Adore Alliteration Ad Nauseum.

Anyways, Tom Delay is at it again. As evidenced by Sunday's LA Times article, Delay, in similar circumstances, pulled the plug on his own Dad, where when it comes to the Schiavo case, Tommy is ready and willing to jump in and get the US Congress involved to reinsert the feeding tube.

I understand wanting to make a stand for what you believe in. Heck, I even have a small bit of admiration for those who are crusading for what they think is right, despite me not being exactly in line with their beliefs. But come on, Tom Delay - don't jump on this issue just because it will help you politically when you let your own dad die in an extremely similar case.

Hypocrisy. Tell Tom to find a dictionary.

Assorted Sheet

March Madness - I know, I know - someone kill me for complaining about 'Cuse. Great games this weekend though - comebacks galore. This coming weekend... look for UNC and Illinois to win close ones... setting up a nice championship game matchup.

Baseball - I am getting very excited, aren't you? Seeing many, many pieces of Nats paraphenalia too. April 3, ESPN, 8PM - Sawx/Yanks to get us started, live from the Bronx.

Halo 2 - New Multiplayer maps announced! Will be great to add new stuff to an already legendary game. That leads me too...

I broke down and got Xbox Live last week. I love it. I was missing a sense of community in my gaming, missing the trash talking that went down on HT9 and the post-game post-mortems. Xbox Live gives you that feeling, between the headset functionality and the ability to add others onto your 'box to play in the same room as you. Team Sweet Lips is in the House. In the words of D Pain - You are going down like a sweet muffin!

Yes, I know I should be ranting about something, but frankly, besides Michael Jackson (something I tune out) and the constant Schiavo coverage (can we remove that feeding tube from the cable news networks, please?) there isn't much for me to discuss. Political updates to follow as they become available, but it's a slow time in DC right now.

Desperate GOP

Yeah, I wanted to do a Desperate Housewives riff, but I'm just not that funny.

Seriously though, is it me, or is the NYS GOP desperate to land a punch? From today's Hotline:

This One Could Get Ugly, Folks

HRC wants GOP votes "canceled out by a murder or rapist" while the GOP is intent of promoting a "radical political agenda," according to "dueling fundraising letters" sent out by HRC and her critics. HRC: "You have to fight back, and you can't site back and let baseless attacks go unanswered." State GOP chair Stephen Minarik (R): "Our favorite carpetbagger is up for re-election in 2006 and hungrily eyeing a run for the White House in 2008. If we soundly defeat her in 2006, her hopes of running for president will whither on the vine." The letters highlight the emerging battle over HRC's bid for a second Senate term. More HRC: "If there is one thing that I have learned in my years of politics, it's that you can't let the opposition set the terms of the debate." More Minarik: "Hillary's vision of a better American is one where your vote is canceled out by a murderer or a rapist. If your thought of Hilary Clinton as our commander-in-chief strikes fear into your heart, you are not alone. There are millions of Republicans and even a few common-sense Democrats here in New York whose biggest fear is another President Clinton" (Humbert, Newsday, 3/15).

Now, sure, the NYS GOP needs help. Pataki is way down, Guiliani won't run, Bloomberg isn't truly Republican - he's very moderate and was a registered Dem for a long time. Isn't it a little early, however, to accuse a sitting Senator of trying to cancel out opposition votes with a "murderer or rapist"?

Stunts like this are why (1) poeple tune out politics more and more and (2) HRC does well upstate - going below the belt on the first punch is a big turn-off for NY voters.

Shafted

Absolutely Shafted.

The brackets came out last night, and I am more than just a little upset. Those of you who know my College Basketball allegiance well know that I am a Syracuse fan, and have been since I was a kid. I actually met members of the team and Coach Boeheim in 2003 after they won the tourney.

When you look at your bracket, you notice that 'Cuse is a 4 seed. Now, normally I wouldn't complain about that, only UCONN got a 2 seed - an absolute shafting of Syracuse.

Sure, UConn won the regular season Big East Title (tied with BC), but 'Cuse not only played more games (27-6 compared to 24-4) but 'Cuse also ended the season ranked higher in the ESPN poll. That notwithstanding, Syracuse BEAT UConn in the Big East Tourney Semi-finals, and beat them handily. 'Cuse went on to win the Big East Tournament!

Sure, other teams got the shaft too, but there is no way last year's champion deserves special seeding. Syracuse didn't get it last year. That being said... I don't have either making the final four.

Get your bracket Here.

Busy Offseason

Being the sports dork that I am, I always keep track of important news in the sports I watch. I am stunned though, STUNNED, by the moves the NY football Giants are making this offseason. Normally big blue makes a few, small signings and heads for draft day, but this year they have gone out and opened the cash vault. Antonio Pierce at MLB has been the biggest name, but adding to the O-line and getting a good kicker are also huge moves. Now they are going after Plaxico Burress - one of the best WR's on the market - something that was unthinkable a month ago.

Maybe this IS the year we get competitive in the NFC East again.

Readers, please comment with your thoughts on the Giants of your favorite teams.

Wingman Addendum

Just to add a follow up...

"The subordinate male just kind of stands there with his tail fanned looking pretty, kind of like a backup dancer" -- biologist Alan Krakauer, on the wingmen used by wild turkeys to mate (Knight Ridder).

After seeing this in a Politics e-mail that comes every afternoon (Last Call, for you plugged in people) they said - "Don't a lot of people use Wild Turkey as a wingman? "

Blog Reader Dub-b, can you verify? Do you use Wild Turkey (or wild turkeys) when I'm not there to back you up?

So, this is Kind of about Politics...

But not really.

I do my share of surfing every day, I hit the sports pages, CNN, Wash Post, etc... and one of the places I check out on a fairly regular basis is Bloggerman by Keith Olberman, late of ESPN and currently host of Countdown (8pm MSNBC). In reading Keith's musings yesterday, i came across this passage:

"On December 27th, we got an email from the lead lawyer for John Kerry in Ohio, Daniel J. Hoffheimer (remember him? It seems like only yesterday…) cautioning reporters “not to read more into” what the Kerry-Edwards campaign had just said about the authenticity of the election. “There are many allegations of fraud. But this presidential election is over. The Bush-Cheney ticket has won.” We ran several quotes from the email on Countdown that night, and more here on the blog.

Now, we can debate the merits of the email, and whether or not Senator Kerry’s people tantalized some of their supporters in the weeks after the election by first saying what seemed to be election-challenging things, and then saying “no, we didn’t mean thaaat.” But we can’t debate who Daniel Hoffheimer was, nor his standing in the Kerry camp, nor the fact that I wouldn’t get very far if I just made the news up every day, including quotations and even entire people.

Stop it. Stop that Fox joke you were thinking of.

Nonetheless, I got an email that night from a woman who identified herself only as Alexandra, who insisted “something clearly has happened to your coverage. Looks like ‘bait and switch’ to me… your quote (was that really true???) from the Kerry attorney saying they believed Bush really won (no fraud???) is so far fetched, I may as well have been listening to Karl Rove or Scott McClellan…”

Remembering the countless nerves frayed in the preceding two months, I replied gently to Ms. Alexandra, forwarding her Hoffheimer’s email.

The next afternoon she was back. “Can someone get a statement DIRECTLY from Kerry’s office that ‘Hoffmeier’ (sic) is INDEED his attorney? No one’s heard his name before (though maybe Bush/Cheney lawyers, or Karl Rove might have a clue)…”

As Charlie Brown used to say, arrrgh!

I sent Alexandra the name of Hoffheimer’s firm and suggested she check him out herself, and noted again that I wouldn’t get very far just making this stuff up out of whole cloth. Even the nutbags at both far ends of the political spectrum get called on that.

What wore me out, of course, was the idea that because I was presenting news that a viewer didn’t like, I had to have sold out to one party or another, and/or fabricated it. The woman presumed that I had created a fictional character, was stupid enough to quote him on national television, and was guilty of both these crimes and had to get a note from John Kerry that I wasn’t making it up."

Now, I know, some of you will get angry about the Fox rip, but wait - My thoughts have nothing to do with either news outlets nor the 2004 Presidential Election. My thoughts deal solely withthe state of Politicis in America, and what might be the source of all the divisivness we have at the moment. The idea, shown in the last paragraph above, that just because the viewer got news they didn't agree with they believe the provider has "sold out" to a special interest is a dangerous one.

Now, we can all believe that this is a random incident, and that the above story is an outlier, but I would call that dangerous. I believe that there are a lot more poeple out there, like this lady, who think much the same way. Though Blogs, and also mainstream media, continue to tilt further and further towards partisanship, i think we need to refocus, and make sure that we can get back to the origin of journalism: Reporting that favors no one and just provides facts so that the reader/viewer, not the reporter, decides what they think about the story and how to go from there.

Wingmen

This is a nostalgia post. A buddy of mine from college sent this to me, and so I provide for your general consumption.

Wingman Helps Friend Score
Buddies use distraction to cultivate attraction
BY HANNAH MARIA HAYES Press & Sun-Bulletin

Brian Mason proudly bears the title of "wingman" and has no problem accepting the help of one.
"A wingman helps lessen your nerves and lets you be yourself," said the 23-year-old Endicott resident. "You learn about the concept as soon as you get indoctrinated into the bar scene."
Being a wingman requires a person to ride shotgun for the sake of love.
It works a little bit like this: Two friends are at a party when one sees a potential love interest across the room. Once introductions are made, the wingman does everything he can to keep the conversation going. That might mean throwing in a bit of witty banter or keeping the cute person's friends busy -- all so that the buddy can score a phone number.
"The worst thing you can do is give one-word answers and look like a deer caught in headlights," Mason said. "That's when the wingman will grab the stick and start driving. The wingman helps fill the voids in conversation. They can leverage questions off you and hopefully make you look good."
Techniques vary, however.
Binghamton resident Ed Chin, 24, said he used to play wingman all the time for his friends until they moved away. But his wingman method involved staying far away from the girl that his friend was interested in.
"I intentionally keep her out of the conversation," Chin said. "I'll talk to her friends like I'm their best friends. I'll ask about their interests, movies, bands, arts -- anything that will lead to a very long conversation."
Why invest all that energy? Because then the love interest is not only bored, but she's free to talk to other people.
"Perfect timing for my buddy to come and save her day -- and buy her a few drinks," Chin said, adding that the objective of the wingman is to assist, not to overbear.
Mason said it all depends on the night as to whether he'll be playing wingman or using a wingman -- especially since his buddy dresses similar and has the same taste in women.
"While helping you out, they might get the hookup," he said. "A true wingman will never hurt you, but you can't help it if the girl is attracted to your buddy."
Being a good wingman also means that you might have to keep the possibly not-so-attractive friend busy, so that your friend can work their mojo uninterrupted.
"Sometimes you have to 'take one for the team,'" Mason said. "My friend did it for me three weekends ago. He said, 'If you need me, I'll do it,' and he did."
Some guys can find they're a hot commodity once they have a girlfriend or wife.
Paul Reiter said that since he met his fiancee three years ago, he's become an ace wingman.
"Now I will even talk to the hottest women without being scared, since I'm there just to shoot the wind until my friend comes in with a coy remark," said Reiter, who's 27 and lives in Philadelphia.
Not that every wingman always plays it smoothly.
John Penwarden's roommate used to play wingman for him during their senior year in college. One night, Penwarden, now 36, started flirting with a woman who seemed to show great interest.
"But alas, she went home with my roommate since I passed out on the way back from the restroom," Penwarden said.
"Keep your eye open and be aware if there is any chemistry between your wingperson and the person that you are interested in," Penwarden said. "For me the signs were there, but I dropped the ball."
Steve Dybsky, a 25-year-old Chicagoan, also discovered three years ago that having a wingman can sometimes backfire.
He was a senior at Villanova University, and his roommate was playing the role of wingman when they met two cheerleaders for the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team.
"We were going out of our way to make myself seem like a fun guy -- and things were going well," Dybsky said. Then his roommate, who'd gotten a little too drunk, abruptly threw up all over the table.
"I thought he ruined my chances," said Dybsky. But as it turns out, he still got the phone number he was after -- and a few dates with one of the cheerleaders.
Wingman's mission accomplished.

"Get out of there, Hollywood, get out of there god-dammit!" - Dub-B