Life's Little Blender

The Blender Is Going Into Storage

2006-11-03T11:23:00.000-05:00

This blog, "Life's Little Blender," is going into storage. Maybe for a short bit, maybe permanently. I don't know.

But I'm becoming disillusioned a bit with this blog. Some people write blogs just for the sake of writing or as a way to express their thoughts, much like a diary. If people read, great. If people don't, great.

I created "Life's Little Blender" with a different intent. I wanted to communicate with people. I wanted feedback. I wanted Web 2.0.

And it's not happening here.

My favorite blogs are the ones that stimulate thought in my mind and elicit a response. Blogs that make me hit the respond button within a few seconds or a minute of reading the post. When I decided to start this blog during the summer, my thought was that my random ramblings would evoke similar emotion and thought, and some good conversations would start.

Again, it hasn't happened, either because my musings are dull or too focused on certain topics, or because no one visits this blog. I have an ego -- doesn't everyone? -- so I hope it's the latter. That said, I didn't create this blog to stroke my mental libido; I honestly wanted to stimulate conversation.

But I'm seeing responses from my faithful reader, Erik, and that's about it. As much as I appreciate Erik's regular and thoughtful comments, I expected there to be more Eriks here after a couple of months.

Finding material for this blog and writing it takes time -- probably an hour per day or so. It was an hour that I didn't mind surrendering at first because I believed that people were reading and would respond in time, and I despise blogs that have one or two posts per week. What's the point? If you're going to be a regular reader here, then I owe you regular, near-daily content.

Now it's starting to feel like that time is somewhat wasted. I post regularly on two forums -- Digital Sportspage and Operation Sports -- about many of the same topics that I cover here and get a hell of a lot more communication.

So the Blender is heading to the closet, for now. It may come back. Who knows?

Thanks to all those who read this blog, and if anyone with a successful blog that generates a lot of feedback has any ideas to stimulate conversation at Life's Little Blender, please feel free to respond.

Take care.

Lifehacker Represents What's Good About The Web

2006-11-01T10:58:00.000-05:00

I spend too much time diddling around Web sites that provide no real benefit for me other than time wasting. Many Web sites are a lot like the midway at the State Fair -- mindless fun that does little for you in the present and leaves no positive residue for the future.

Lifehacker is not one of those sites.

I visit Lifehacker every day and find something helpful or at least damn cool every time. The site is just filled with Web, computer and daily living tips that increase the productivity or enjoyment of life.

Lifehacker is a damn good, indispensible site for me. Check it out.

St. Bono's Halo Is Dimmed

2006-11-01T10:50:00.000-05:00

U2 lead singer Bono has become a perennial candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize for his tireless work to relieve debt to the Third World, especially Africa. It's a nobel cause for which Bono deserves plenty of praise.

But Bono's efforts are a bit more hollow after it was reported that U2 is relocating the publishing arm of its business from its native Ireland to Amsterdam to avoid taxes. As Bono urges the Irish government to contribute more to African debt relief, his band is moving its publishing operation away from Ireland to avoid paying the taxes that the government could use to contribute to African debt relief.

And we're not talking small change here. It's reported that U2's songwriting royalties are worth $286 million. One-third of the band's income reportedly comes from those royalties.

But while the band pockets more of that money and can get some good dope -- both legally -- in Amsterdam, Bono continues to pimp governments to give more money for African debt relief. Governments fund that relief through taxation revenues, the very something Bono is avoiding in his home nation.

Bono talks the talk, and his tireless work has equated to walking the walk. But his walk has strolled to a slow gait with this hypocrisy.

Somewhere, Karl Rove Snickers

2006-11-01T10:43:00.000-05:00

It was reported over the weekend that Bush uber-spinmeister and dirty political tricks expert Karl Rove made a rare visit to the press section of Air Force One during a recent trip, giddily passing out chocolate-covered pecans to the press.

Odd behavior from a guy whose party could lose the majority in both houses of Congress, according to some polls, in the election next Tuesday, right?

Rove knows better. The GOP isn't going to lose control of either the House or Senate, sadly.

Polls and analysis can talk all about the "discontent" of American voters forever, but the economy is stable and the stock market is booming, and those "pocketbook" issues are the only thing that the apathetic American voting base really cares about.

Otherwise, the war in Iraq, gay marriage and other so-called "hot button" issues inside the Beltway don't affect enough Americans on a daily basis to generate any sort of big swing against the status quo.

I don't mean to denigrate those with loved ones in Iraq or those who work daily and tirelessly on war-related issues. But let's face it: If a president has an approval rating in the 30s and his puppet Congress is rumored to either barely keep or barely lose the majority, that's proof most Americans just don't give a shit about the process.

This Congress is a mirror of its president more than many in years, simply marching in lockstep to Bush's legislative whims and totally ignoring its role of oversight of the Executive Branch. Read the recent cover story in Rolling Stone for examples after sifting through the pro-Democratic rhetoric in the story.

So if Americans really cared, wouldn't the makeup of Congress mirror that of the approval rating of Bush, with Republicans taking a huge hit in these elections?

It's not going to happen because Main Street USA feels so detached from the process that it doesn't give a shit. Plus Joe and Mary American's mutual funds are doing well, and the economy is stable if a bit stagnant.

That's all people really give a shit about.

Another problem with the Democrats, and it has plagued them ever since Clinton left office, is that they offer no plausible alternative plans other than, "WE'RE NOT BUSH!"

OK, fine. Then what the f*ck are you, and what will you do to solve the various woes of this nation? As if government could do it, anyways!

Other than the ethnic partitioning of Iraq, a bandwagon upon which many Democrats have lamely jumped upon, what is the Democratic strategy if they take control of Congress?

I read an interview with Howard Dean -- I shudder to think that nut job even runs a town council let alone a national party -- in which he said the Dems don't plan major changes if they get control.

There is no major difference between parties because Democrats don't have a clue with what they'd do with power.

Given that choice, most people will stick with the status quo because it's easier. Or they won't vote at all due to growing apathy with the process.

Finally, the Iraq War is an overrated political fulcrum.

With all respect to those brave men and women who are fighting or have been wounded or have lost their lives in the Middle East, and their families and friends, this war isn't nearly the political wedge and cauldron that Vietnam was.

There were riots and protests in the streets in 1968 over that war. Public unrest over that war caused a sitting president to decide not to run for re-election.

Now, public outcry to the Iraq War amounts to Cindy Sheehan and some talking heads on cable news.

Americans care about the war, but they don't see it as the global struggle for the world's future that Bush depicts. Hell, how many times have you seen Bush at the Executive Podium during a press conference or photo op in the last three years having to remind Americans, "This is a real war, and it requires sacrifice." It's almost as if he's trying to get Americans to buy the concept.

Something tells me FDR or Truman never had to utter such sales pitches from the stump.

Another reason that Americans aren't that outraged about the war is that sadly it's little more than a TV show or a newspaper story for those who don't have a direct link to the conflict, like a friend or relative serving, wounded or killed. We don't have foreign troops on our soil, thankfully there have been no attacks on U.S. soil since 2001, and our local supermarkets aren't being blown up on a daily basis by suicide bombers.

So after three years, America slowly is becoming numb to it all. We're not seeing newsreel footage of a dictator standing proudly as his army topples yet another country and sets an entire continent ablaze, like Hitler and Tojo did in World War II. We're not being forced to ration here at home, and our factories aren't being converted to full wartime production.

Life is simply going on here in the U.S. It's almost as if: "Hey, I got my PS3 pre-order, a lease on a new BMW and tickets to the Bills' game today, and did you see that more than 100 GI's have died this month in Iraq? That's a shame. Where do you want to have some brews at Happy Hour tonight?"

We see another regional pissing match in the Middle East -- something that's been on U.S. television screens for more than 50 years -- with the only difference this time that U.S. men and women are caught square in it.

I'm sorry, but this war just isn't resonating with the American public as the key struggle for the future of civilization as Bush describes it.

So again, apathy sets in. Sad but true.

Rove laughs, and for good reason. The GOP's reign of error will continue through at least 2008.

All Hail Nicky Hayden, World Champion!

2006-10-30T16:10:00.000-05:00

Nicky Hayden became the first American MotoGP World Champion since 2000 when he finished third Sunday at Valencia, Spain. It was the first career world title for "The Kentucky Kid."

Hayden trailed superstar and multi-time World Champion Valentino Rossi by eight points entering the season finale, and Hayden had to win, with Rossi finishing third or worse, to capture the title. Nicky was running second on Lap 5 of the 30-lap race on his Honda when Rossi, running in sixth, fell by himself. Rossi scurried back on his Yamaha in 20th place and tried to climb through the field but ended up 13th, falling five points short of Hayden for the title.

Fantastic. Rossi is a great champion and a great guy, as he was one of the many riders to warmly congratulate the popular Hayden on the cool-down lap.

Hayden is the first premier-class rider to rally from a deficit in the final race to win the world title since fellow American Wayne Rainey in 1992.

Congrats to Nicky for Chasin' the Dream and making it reality!

Firefox's CPU Brain Drain Continues

2006-10-30T12:42:00.000-05:00

Firefox is the finest browser on the Web, but one of its most persistent flaws has been memory leaks. Various parts of the browser, including its famed extensions, leak memory that cause the browser and user's operating systems to slow to a crawl if the browser is left open for a long time.

The newest version of the browser, Firefox 2.0, was released last week, and many users hoped the memory leak problem would be fixed or at least improved. If anything, the memory leaks are WORSE with 2.0.

Firefox 2.0 hung up on me this morning, and Windows Task Manager showed that it was using 184K of memory. That's ridiculous.

Mozilla needs to forget about the bells and whistles for its upcoming 3.0 release and fix the memory leaks. They represent the biggest threat to the growing success of this fantastic browser. I hate Internet Explorer, and the new IE 7 only adds features that Firefox had a year ago with version 1.5. But if Mozilla doesn't fix the memory leaks soon, I'm going to take another look at IE 7 or another browser.

Geeks, Personified

2006-10-30T11:36:00.000-05:00

The amusing and often informative Destructoid gaming blog posted this video of a dorky dude interviewing fellow geeks who were camping out at a Toys 'R Us store so they could pre-order a Sony PlayStation 3 console.

Talk about geeks. Seriously -- get a life. Anyone who camps out for a console has some serious issues.

There is pathetic humor in one part of the clip, though. The interviewer asks a camper what excites him about the PS3. The camper responds Blu-Ray technology. The interviewer then astutely asked the camper if he knew what Blu-Ray was, and the camper responded, "Uh, no."

Sony marketing Kool-Aid is being engulfed by the gallons by lemming gamers. Pure genius.

Great Idea For NHL Shootouts

2006-10-30T11:31:00.000-05:00

I'll admit it: I was opposed to the idea of resolving ties in the NHL regular season with a shootout before the league implemented the new rule before last season. But the shootouts are exciting and create fervor for the fans, so my attitude has changed. Plus the NHL doesn't use them for the postseason, which would be heresy and rob the league of the glory of sudden-death overtime playoff hockey.

But I don't like the points system used in shootouts in which both teams are awarded one point after an overtime tie and then the winning team in the shootout receives another point. Is this Little League, where everyone is supposed to feel good after a game.

Plus a shootout victory should not receive the same number of points as a victory in regulation or overtime. A gimmick victory isn't as worthy as one earned through the hard work of regular hockey.

Hockey blogger Mike Chen suggests this system in this post:

Two points for a win in regulation
Two points for a win in overtime
One point for a shootout victory
Zero points for a loss at any time

I couldn't agree more. This is a great idea.

Fat Freddy Must Go Now

2006-10-30T11:26:00.000-05:00

Newcastle United finds itself in a real relegation fight in the English Premiership at the quarter-mark of the season after a 0-0 draw last Saturday against bottom feeders Charlton. The Magpies are 17th in the 20-team league, which sends its bottom three teams to the lower Championship every year, and Newcastle is only two points out of 18th.

Fingers should be pointed everywhere. The players. Manager Glenn Roeder. And especially club chairman Freddy Shepherd. He is one of the most corrupt, bumbling chairmen in the league, and his legacy of failure and mismanagement is very well detailed in this post from the strong Newcastle-Online blog.

Man, a successful bid from the Belgravia Group to buy the club can't happen soon enough. Then Fat Freddy can be strapped to a gurney and carted out of St. James Park for good.

The Who's Endless Career Cranks Out New Record

2006-10-30T10:37:00.000-05:00

I got my mitts on The Who's first studio album in 24 years, "Endless Wire," last weekend and gave it a thorough listen. It's a double album with a concept, the band's first record since "It's Hard" in 1982.

Honestly, I don't know what to make of it. It's not horrible, but it certainly isn't going to supplant "Who's Next," "Tommy" or "Quadrophenia" in the band's pantheon.

Musically, the record sounds very much like a Who album from the "Tommy" era. You won't hear anything like "Goodbye Sister Disco" or "Eminence Front" on this record. But the record also lacks the power, the urgency mated with the sensitivity that made The Who one of the greatest rock bands ever.

Understandable, since the band's two surviving members, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, are 61 and 62, respectively. But that lack of power makes the album somewhat pedestrian, even though it is nice to hear that classic Who sound again.

There are a few standout tracks on the record, including "Black Widow's Eyes" and "It's Not Enough." The musicianship, especially Townshend's guitar playing, is excellent. Daltrey is reaching for a few notes, again understandable for his age, but he still sounds pretty good for a guy whose pipes have been wailing on the world's stage for 40 years.

I need to give the album a few more listens to investigate the lyrics. Townshend can go both ways with his writing -- it can be brilliant or banal.

The band supposedly is going on tour to support "Endless Wire." What, is this The Who's fifth farewell tour? I remember seeing an incredible Who show in December 1982 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse on the band's first "farewell tour."

College Kids' Cribs?

2006-10-30T10:30:00.000-05:00

Sports Illustrated, the most overrated magazine in America, continues to kow-tow to the low-brow altar of its competitor, ESPN The Magazine, by offering inane features. The "Campus Cribs" feature at cnnsi.com is a classic example.

This brainless photo feature shows the places where college athletes live either on- or off-campus. It's pure trash, nothing but vanity. But a quick look at this photo feature of the apartment of a few University of Georgia football players is clear proof that the time-honored tradition of providing Division I athletes with perks and shoeboxes of money is alive and well in Athens.

Look at the place where these guys are living. It's immaculate. And the featured player has a complete wireless setup for his high-powered PC in his bedroom, expensive furniture, paintings hanging on the wall and, last but not least -- a small LCD TV hanging in his bathroom.

Meanwhile, I'm sure his momma is working four jobs living in the bricks somewhere near Atlanta while Junior is "roughing it" in Athens thanks to the generosity of some local car dealer who lives and breathes the 'Dawgs.

Whatever happened to milk crates as furniture and a toaster oven for appliances? That was the staple crop of my college accomodations 20 years ago, and I was a Division I athlete, too. Cross country and track -- not exactly revenue-generating sports -- but still Division I!

Pure Class By Malkin

2006-10-27T12:10:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin has electrified the NHL this season, with four goals in his first four games. The kid already has shown his world-class talent on the ice, including this move that embarrassed first-ballot Hall of Famer Marty Brodeur.

But Malkin's best move came off the ice before he suited up for the Penguins this season. He learned about a young girl that needed to travel from his hometown to Moscow for an operation so she could receive a prosthetic arm, but her family was too poor to afford the trip.

Malkin stepped in and paid for the trip and the surgery. That is pure class -- what a fine human being. Read more about this story here. Very heartwarming stuff.

U.S. Soccer Needs To Act Now

2006-10-27T12:04:00.000-04:00

Letting Bruce Arena go was the easy part. Now comes the first real test for the leadership skills of U.S. Soccer boss Sunil Gulati.

Former German great Jurgen Klinsmann, who sculpted Germany into the most exciting team in the 2006 World Cup, has expressed interest in the U.S. men's national team head coaching job. Klinsmann lives in Southern California, is married to an American and is charismatic and media-savvy, at least by German standards. So he seems to be an ideal fit for the job.

But Gulati needs to move quickly to land Klinsmann, the absolute no-brainer choice for the job. Open the checkbook, offer Klinsmann a sweet deal and get to work.

The U.S. program is at a crossroads after its debacle this summer in Germany, and the sooner Sam's Army can sign up Klinsmann, the sooner it can start to progress into being a legitimate team on the world stage. Plus if Gulati wavers, another nation will scoop up Klinsmann in a hurry if the price is right.

JR, Please Shut Up

2006-10-27T11:53:00.000-04:00

Jeremy Roenick was one of the most colorful superstars in hockey five to 10 years ago. He could score and hit with the best of them, and you always could count on JR to speak his mind on a variety of topics.

Well, some things don't change. JR still never has met a muzzle that he liked. But there's a small problem: JR's talk is cheap without backup.

Roenick made this comment in a Coyotes' notebook in the Arizona Republic, and it's a good thing there was no liquid in my mouth, or my laptop's screen would have looked like a Jackson Pollack painting:

"I'm not going to bail because things are bad," Roenick said. "I'm committed to this city, this team and Wayne (Gretzky). . . . I love this team. I would never ask for a trade or retire in mid-season. I couldn't do that to my players. That would be too much of a huge copout. If I couldn't do it physically, that's a different story. But I feel I'm at the point where I can dominate a hockey game with the puck."

Dominate? Say what? Roenick is 36. He has a goal and two assists and is -6 in 11 games this season for Phoenix. Something tells me JR isn't terrorizing foes like, say, Maxim Afinogenov or Joe Thornton these days.

Roenick had a whopping 22 points in 57 games last season with the Kings. This guy is a spent force, and his gum-flapping is nothing but a gale-force wind in the hockey breeze.

No, JR, you shouldn't leave Phoenix. Because even at only $1.2 million per season, what other NHL GM besides Wayne Gretzky's puppet, best friend and former agent, Mike Barnett, would want you?

Rummy's Eggshell Skin Cracks Again

2006-10-27T10:53:00.000-04:00

Is there a bigger pussy in Washington right now than Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld?

Rummy loves to talk tough about the U.S. war in Iraq, about how he's making all of the right decisions and how the war is going to plan. But the minute a journalist challenges Rumsfeld about the problems in Iraq, he gets more defensive than a 4-year-old caught with his hand in the candy bowl.

Rumsfeld actually had the audacity to tell journalists Thursday to "back off" when questioned about the deadlines set by the U.S. for the Iraqi government to establish security within the country. That's right, Rummy, we should "back off" while your reign of error has aided chaos in Baghdad. We should "back off" while more American kids due to the inept planning and execution by the U.S. in post-combat Iraq.

Sorry, Rummy, but there's more to the worldwide media than Fox News, the official mouthpiece of the GOP and Bush Administration. I take it there are no mirrors in the Rumsfeld residence or the Pentagon shitters, because if Rummy wanted to find a major source of the problems with the U.S. planning and policy regarding the Iraq War, all he needs to do is take a clear look at himself.

So Long For Now, Consoles

2006-10-27T10:45:00.000-04:00

My gaming room soon will consist of my lap, and nothing else.

My Xbox, all games and all accessories will be gone on eBay by Sunday, and I'm getting a Nintendo DS Lite handheld. I've become VERY disillusioned with console gaming over the last six months, especially the next generation.

Sony and MS are asking us to drop between $500 and $700 for a new system and a game, and the games are all so damn derivative. I've been gaming since the early 80s, and I've never felt a more stale, homogenized state of gaming than right now. None of the games for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 have progressed since the PlayStation days.

Sure, the graphics are prettier, but they're the same damn first-person shooters, annual sports games with little more than one feature and a roster update, racing games with shitty AI and the like. The only recent console exception to this rule was the Dreamcast, which was filled with funky titles along with the staple crop of first-person shooters, racers and sports games.

So I'm giving up on console gaming completely until some company gives me a compelling reason why I should spend $400 on a console that has serious design and manufacturing flaws (360) or $700 for a console with a Blu-Ray player that is the next Betamax built in (PS3). Not to mention that we're being forced to pay $60 for games that have fewer features than current-gen games. Ah, but the eye candy is so tasty!

Horseshit, I say, especially since we're a single-earner family with three kids, as my wife stays home to care for the wee ones. It's just not worth it any more.

The DS may be just a handheld, but it's innovative, inexpensive and has a ton of funky little games that are inexpensive and fun as hell to play. Console gaming now has become all about packing as much technology into a box as possible and then letting people play derivative games at $60 a crack on them, hoping your machine doesn't fail.

After an uninterrupted run of console gaming since 1997, I'm returning to handhelds. I've had enough.

PS3 Ads Get Dumb And Dumber

2006-10-27T09:59:00.000-04:00

The first North American television ad for the Sony Playstation 3 made me scratch my head, but the ad shown during the World Series Thursday night is causing me to scream "What the F*CK?" in 17 different dialects:

Seriously, what the hell is that? Can someone explain? Did Sony commission an ad agency to create the most ridiculous commercials ever, figuring the shock factor over their stupidity would cause people to remember the ad and the product?

Where is the game footage? Aren't the cranium-exploding graphics capabilities of the PS3 one of the strong suits of the system?

And if you didn't know the PS3 was being released Nov. 17 in North America, would the symbol ///7 at the end of the commercial mean a f*cking thing to you?

This is a mind-bendingly bad ad campaign. Period.

Toon Gloom Lifts

2006-10-26T13:54:00.000-04:00

There's a bit of joy on Tyneside today as Newcastle United ended its recent slump with al convincing 3-0 victory over Portsmouth in the League Cup. American Giuseppe Rossi scored for Newcastle, and old faithful Nobby Solano added a brace of goals.

Another positive sight was the return of midfielder Kieron Dyer as a substitute. Dyer, who has hamstrings tighter than the wires on a Steinway, attacked Pompey's defense with vigor in his first senior match in quite some time due to his various leg problems.

Arguably more exciting than the victory was that it came on a clean sheet. Newcastle's defense has been more porous this season than the U.S.-Mexico border. But from all accounts, the entire defense played well in a driving rain at St. James Park, including the deservedly maligned Titus Bramble.

This victory raises one question, though. How can Newcastle be so piss-poor in the Premiership yet play so well in Cup competition?

The Magpies are 16th out of 20 in the Premiership this season and going nowhere, but they are advancing in the League Cup and UEFA Cup. And with a round of 16 draw against Watford in the League Cup, a berth in the League Cup quarterfinals is very possible.

A Quack Job

2006-10-26T10:49:00.000-04:00

After watching my Edmonton Oilers lose, 6-2, to the Anaheim Ducks Wednesday night, I'm convinced that the Oil was as much of a victim of the schedule as Anaheim's players.

In a nutshell, the Oilers never should follow a game against Phoenix with one against one of the NHL's top teams.

Edmonton skated circles around Phoenix in a 5-2 victory Monday night, as the slow, old Coyotes hardly put a body on the Oil, especially its clicking offensive line of Petr Sykora, Ales Hemsky and Patrick Thoresen. The Oilers tried to play the same game Wednesday in Tinseltown and were punished.

Anaheim hit the Oilers with the repetitive fury of a U.S. military guard at Abu Ghraib from the opening faceoff well into the third period, by which point the game was over. That pounding caused the Oilers to make repeated turnovers, which combined with the first off night of the season for goalie Dwayne Roloson, added up to only the third loss of the season for the Oil. It was the first time the Oil had lost by more than one goal, too.

Chris Pronger had three assists for Anaheim in his first game against the Oil, but two of them were of the cheap variety, rebounds that were stuffed in by teammates as the Oilers also were very careless in mopping up pucks around their net.

Good news, though: Edmonton plays at Phoenix tonight. And the game after that is Saturday against Washington, not one of the league's powerhouses, so the Oil can gradually work its way back into game shape after playing the hapless Coyotes tonight.

NBA Boss Stern Makes Few Friends With NRA

2006-10-26T10:39:00.000-04:00

NBA Commissioner David Stern won't receive any Hanukkah cards this year from the National Rifle Association since Stern urged NBA players to leave their guns at home during a conference call yesterday.

Stern was asked about the gun issue because the Indiana Pacers' Stephen Jackson shot a pistol in the air at least five times Oct. 6 outside an Indianapolis strip joint. It was one of a growing number of gun-related incidents involving NBA players.

"We think this is an alarming subject, that although you'll read players saying how they fell safer with guns, in fact those guns actually make them less safe," Stern said. "And it's a real issue."

Read that quote again. And one more time.

What the f*ck does it say about a sports league when the commissioner has to urge his athletes to leave their GUNS at home? This is a league we want our kids to follow? F*ck, this is a league that we want anyone to follow?

The Wonder Boys, Sabres Might Rescue The NHL

2006-10-25T09:24:00.000-04:00

Much has been made about the lack of popularity of the NHL in the United States -- inexplicable, in my eyes -- since the lockout, but the game's profile may be impossible to ignore due to phenomena occurring in Pittsburgh and Buffalo, of all places.

That's right: Hockey may be saved in this country outside the glare of media markets Gotham and Tinseltown.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have the most exciting group of stars in the NHL right now with last year's first-year phenom Sidney Crosby joined this year by rookies Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. These three are tearing up the league right now, as Crosby has 12 points in eight games, Malkin has four goals in his first four NHL games, and Staal has four goals this season.

Pittsburgh leads the Atlantic Division at 5-3, the first time the Pens have achieved such lofty heights in forever. The days of when Mario Lemieux hoisted Stanley Cups at the Igloo don't seem so far away anymore.

Crosby, Malkin and Staal are all incredibly gifted offensive players. They're also having so much damn fun on the ice that it's infectious to watch. They are kids playing a man's game, as Malkin is the oldest of the trio at the wizened age of 20. Then again, if you scored goals like this world-class gem by Malkin last night against one of the top three goalies in the world, New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, you'd be pretty stoked, too:

The success story in Buffalo shows no signs of ending. The Sabres are 9-0, the only perfect team left in the league, with a squad that would have made Eli Whitney erect -- they have three forward lines of interchangeable parts. The Sabres also have provided a big shot of cocksure for Western New York, one of the more economically depressed areas of the Rust Belt. It's really great to feel the passion again in this area of the country, as the Sabres are making people feel good around these parts.

Does anyone remember the Little League World Series about 15 to 20 years ago when the chubby kid from Trumbull, Conn., pitched his team to the world title? That kid is now Buffalo forward Chris Drury, who is tied for the NHL lead with 10 goals and is breaking out as an NHL superstar this year.

It's going to be hard for mainstream American sports fans to ignore the NHL if the Wonder Boys keep lighting the lamp in Pittsburgh and the Eli Whitneys keep winning in Buffalo. Sooner or later, people will tire of the "me first" thugs who star in the "Cops" episode better known as the NBA and the homogenized parity of the NFL, and take a look again at hockey. Everything is cyclical, and a new Ice Age will begin soon.

A Tale Of Two Albums

2006-10-24T12:10:00.000-04:00

Two recent releases by American rock bands, The Killers' "Sam's Town" and The Hold Steady's "Boys and Girls in America," have created quite a bit of buzz among music fans and the music press.

The buzz for one album is totally justified. The buzz for the other mystifies me and proves the power of marketing and hype often trumps quality music these days.

I hate to use this term because it's so high school-ish, but "Boys and Girls in America" KILLS. It joined Robert Randolph's "Colorblind," Derek Trucks' "Songlines" and Neko Case's "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" on the short list for my rock record of the year from almost my very first listen to it. That's damn rare with me, as records usually grow on me after a lukewarm first listen.

There's something to be said about great stories within each song from lead singer and lyricist Craig Finn, mated by music propelled by awesome power chords and riffs on "Boys and Girls." It's the kind of rock that I grew up on, and I'm glad to see it preserved by The Hold Steady.

This is great shit for the ears and the brain.

"Sam's Town," on the other hand, flat-out sucks.

The Killers are a joke wrapped into a cliche on this album, trying to be U2, Springsteen and Queen combined with its add-a-chord, make-an-arena-anthem sound. Plus lead singer Brandon Flowers' falsetto is a joke, and lyrics like "burning up a highway, on the back of a hurricane" are beyond lame.

All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't pay for this album. It's pure trash. If this is cutting-edge, exciting rock, then I fear for the genre.

The Killers would be pretty irrelevant if Flowers ever kept his mouth shut. His over-the-top proclamations of grandeur -- a pretty good metaphor for "Sam's Town," by the way -- keep the hype level of the band pretty high. He's a deft huckster; I'll give him credit for that.

The Hold Steady's new album absolutely DESTROYS "Sam's Town" among recent American rock releases. Craig Finn is a mesmerizing sage; Brandon Flowers is a preening moron. Pretty apt descriptions for both bands, really.

White House Spin Cycle Kicks Into Overdrive

2006-10-24T12:08:00.000-04:00

The Bush White House knows no limits in its efforts to keep Republican control of Congress in upcoming elections, and its using the Iraq War as a major pawn in its little game.

I rolled my eyes and laughed when I saw a press conference with the U.S. military this morning from Baghdad in which the generals said the mission in Iraq was going well. Man, they must have had one hell of a successful weekend in Baghdad considering that U.S. generals admitted last week that the U.S. strategy in Iraq was failing and in need of a reshape.

Trust me, I'm not ripping the brave men and women of the U.S. military. It's just painfully obvious that Centcom got the memo from the White House that ordered them to give only shiny, happy news from Baghdad -- in other words, lie. There's an election to win in two weeks, after all.

I also chuckled this morning when I read that White House mouthpiece Tony Snow said President Bush has dumped his favorite, tough-talking Texan phrase of "stay the course" in regards to the Iraq War.

Wow. Sheer brilliance. More like a knee-jerk reaction from Bush, who actually is realizing that American kids are dying at a rapid rate in a mission that has no end game or success in sight. Or maybe he sees too many blue states on the map in Karl Rove's office and realizes there's an election at stake.

I'll give the President the benefit of the doubt -- I'll say it's a combination of both. So, now that we're no longer "staying the course," what is the plan?

Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

Well, there's no way that answer is coming before Wednesday, Nov. 8 -- that is unless the polls sink even further for the GOP. If that happens, don't rule out an early "November Surprise" by Bush in a brazen attempt to keep power.

MacT's Alchemy Working

2006-10-24T11:57:00.000-04:00

Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish never has hesitated to juggle his forward lines to improve the team's offense, and he's already tinkering quite a bit just three weeks into the season despite the Oilers' 6-2 record.

MacT created a line of Ales Hemsky, Petr Sykora and rookie find Patrick Thoresen for a line against Phoenix Monday night, and the result was magic. Sykora scored a goal and added three assists, and Hemsky and Thoreson each contributed three points as the Oil beat the barkless Coyotes, 5-2.

Thoresen has been a revelation. The guy provides instant energy and offense when he steps on the ice, and MacT also has praised him for his superb positional awareness.

The Oil is 5-0 at home this season. Now comes one of the most interesting games of the young NHL season Wednesday night: The Oil travels to Anaheim. It will be a clash between two of the best teams in the West, a rematch of the Western Conference Finals last season and, oh, Chris Pronger's first game against the Oil since he, Yoko and the kids left Edmonton for SoCal.

My DVR is set, as always.

Ominous Signs For Roeder On Tyneside

2006-10-24T11:51:00.000-04:00

Newcastle United President Sir John Hall made a rare public statement about the club after it lost, 1-0, to local rival Middlesbrough last Saturday in the English Premiership.

Hall rolled out all the typical PR tricks of a damage-limitation exercise, telling the angry supporters that the club will get it right again, that the team wasted too much money on bad signings during the Graeme Souness reign of error (Boumsong and Luque ring a bell?) and that he supports manager Glenn Roeder, who is under increasing pressure as Newcastle's season looks to be a shambles in October.

Still, I might brush up my resume if I was Roeder after reading the last paragraph of this story. Hall indicated that Newcastle may hire a director of football to lift some responsibility from Roeder's sagging shoulders.

Do you think that director of football will be a good, but relatively low-profile football man like Roeder? Hardly. It will be someone with pedigree and PR in the English game, regardless of their past record of success or failure. It will be a name, something Newcastle brass desperately want as the Magpies fall further away from their self-proclaimed delusion of one of the most "massive clubs in England."

In other words, this upcoming director of football will be a perfect replacement for Roeder in the brass' eyes. Watch out, Glenn.

A.J. Jumping Ship To NASCAR

2006-10-24T10:43:00.000-04:00

American open-wheel racing will take another body blow today when Champ Car star A.J. Allmendinger announces that he's following the money trail to NASCAR next season to drive for Red Bull Toyota's new entry.

Allmendinger, the only American driver in Champ Car, has won five races this season, all since joining the Forsythe team after being released from RuSport. The kid is cocky, charismatic and charming and can drive the wheels off a race car.

Regardless of what side of the IRL-Champ Car fence you're on, this is bad news for American open-wheel racing. NASCAR is becoming synonymous for racing in the American psyche, and that's not a good thing.

Lamoriello Talks Out Of Side Of Mouth

2006-10-24T10:34:00.000-04:00

New Jersey Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello may be one of the craftiest front-office men in the NHL, building the Devils into an NHL powerhouse for the last 10 to 15 years. He also performed some salary-cap magic in getting the Devils under the cap before this season started by using creative accounting with the injured Alexander Mogilny's contract.

But that doesn't make Lamoriello any less of a paranoid dick.

Sweet Lou and his longtime goaltender, Marty Brodeur, led the parade against the mirrored visor worn last season by Calder Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin of the Capitals. Lou's lobbying worked, as NHL GM's voted 29-1 -- the only "no" vote unsurprisingly coming from Caps GM George McPhee -- to ban mirrored visors this season.

At least Brodeur was somewhat honest. He cried that mirrored visors give shooters an advantage because goalies can't see their eyes. It's still horseshit, because how many goalies are looking at shooters' eyes instead of the puck?

Brodeur, like Lamoriello, also relied on the lame excuse that the NHL, which is badly in need of marketing help in the U.S., can't promote players who are hiding behind mirrored shields. Do either of these guys read papers or watch TV, noticing how many times Ovechkin was called "Darth Vader" last season for wearing that shield?

While those excuses are lame, the moron meter really spiked for Lamoriello when he said that besides marketing reasons, NHL GM's voted to ban mirrored visors for "safety" reasons.

Safety reasons? What's unsafe about a mirrored visor? It protects the eyes. It protects the nose. It looks cool.

Can Sweet Lou please explain that without looking like a total jackass?

The Prick And Dick Are Gone In Philly

2006-10-23T12:46:00.000-04:00

The Philadelphia Flyers cleaned house over the weekend due to their horrible start, as owner Ed Snider accepted the "resignation" of general manager Bob Clarke and fired coach Ken Hitchcock.

Hitchcock is known as a disciplinarian. He had success in Dallas, winning the Stanley Cup in 1999, but it's pretty obvious that The Dick lost the Flyers' dressing room this season. Watching the lack of effort by the Flyers in the train wreck of a 9-1 loss to Buffalo last week was proof.

Clarke quit because he said he was burned out. He said the Flyers' recent losing had nothing to do with his decision, instead saying he realized during the NHL Draft in June that his zeal for the job was slipping.

So why did Clarke stick around? Why didn't he quit then and let the Flyers' organization that he almost singlehandedly has ruined since the lockout with inane signings like mastodon defensemen Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje and half-assed, dinosaur forward Petr Nedved start to rebuild?

Because Clarke is a prick. He has one of the largest egos in the NHL, as evidenced by his decision to f*ck with Vancouver and the NHL salary structure by tendering an offer sheet to young Canucks forward Ryan Kesler for the insane amount of nearly $2 million over the summer, forcing Vancouver to overpay to keep their prospect.

Plus Clarke was a total douchebag in his dealings with Eric Lindros and his parents. But Clarke got away with it because he was untouchable in the eyes of owner Snider, who considered Clarke to almost be a son.

The only way now for the Flyers and their loyal fans is up, and that journey can start now that Clarke and Hitchcock are gone. Good riddance.

Wii: Polished Gamecube With A Cool Controller

2006-10-23T12:39:00.000-04:00

The gaming world is starting to lather because the Nintendo Wii, with its innovative new motion-sensitive controller, will be on retail shelves in less than a month.

While the controller may be cutting-edge, there's absolutely nothing else about the new Wii that is remotely next-gen, argues John Siracusa in his Ars Technica journal. In fact, Siracusa says the Wii is nothing more than a polished GameCube with a cool controller.

What do you think? Read the piece, and let me know.

More First-Person PS3 Game Impressions

2006-10-21T10:30:00.000-04:00

Sony continues to roll out its PR blitz before the PlayStation 3 launch next month, as it has let selected journalists have some hands-on play with PS3 games.

Dean Takahashi, respecting gaming columnist from the San Jose Mercury News, chimes in with his impressions. In general, Takahashi says PS3 games look better than their Xbox 360 counterparts, which is impressive considering Sony sent development kits late to developers.

Resistance: Fall of Man seems to be gaining more consensus as the killer launch game for the PS3, while Takahashi was less than impressed with Madden NFL 07.

Bush Meets Generals: What's The Point?

2006-10-21T10:23:00.000-04:00

President Bush is plotting strategy about the Iraq War with his circle of generals today at the White House. I imagine that will be a short meeting, as Bush's message will be:

"Iraq is a mess, I know. But I don't give a sh*t. We're staying there no matter how many American kids we kill."

Seriously, what's the point of generals trying to brief Bush other than fulfilling their duty to the Commander in Chief? The U.S. generals have said on the record that the U.S. strategy in Iraq is failing, yet Bush said Friday he's not changing U.S. policy in the world's hell on Earth.

Stubborn isn't the appropriate word to describe Bush. Thick as a brick is more like it. How many more Iraqis and Americans have to die before Bush stops this Don Quixote fantasy and changes the way he parries the windmill known as Iraq?

I used to give Bush the benefit of the doubt on his Iraq policy. Now I just have doubt, serious doubt.

Out-Wii-ing The Wii?

2006-10-21T10:17:00.000-04:00

A UK company called In2Games is developing a motion-based control system for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that's very similar to that used by the upcoming Nintendo Wii.

The Gametrack Fusion system uses ultrasonic and radio frequency technology to track controller motion.

What's cool about these peripherals is that they resemble the instruments actually used in the real sport. The tennis controller is shaped just like a racket, for example.

My only concern is cost. If you need a different peripheral for every type of game, at $60 each, that could get very pricey.

Still, an interesting product to watch during its development.

Sony Plunges Deeper Into Madness

2006-10-20T15:23:00.000-04:00

Sony really must be getting worried about the prospects of the PlayStation 3 in its battle against the Microsoft Xbox 360 when the PS3 is released next month because Sony issued a lie-strewn "fact sheet" comparing the PS3 to the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.

There's no sense in me breaking down the various mistruths in Sony's charts, since the editors at Engadget do it so well. And there's also little reason for me to ponder any sort of insult to hurl at Sony since an astute gamer named JeffNIA nailed it with this response in the Engadget entry about this "fact sheet:"

"Sony cannot go any lower - they are the Jerry Springer of electronics."

Well said. To borrow from the late Jim Morrison, I guess Sony is getting its kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

PS3 Launch Titles Impressive In Hands-On Play

2006-10-20T12:55:00.000-04:00

It seems as if the only news about Sony's PlayStation 3 these days is bad news. It's too expensive at $600, Blu-Ray is the next Betamax, there were overheating problems at the Tokyo Game Show, there aren't enough units being shipped to North America for launch, blah, blah, blah.

While I think those gripes are justified, as a gamer it lightens the brain a bit to read some good news about the PS3. Editors at Next Generation got their mitts on some PS3 launch games for hands-on previews, and they're very impressed by what they saw and played.

Get Off Tiki Barber's Back

2006-10-20T12:43:00.000-04:00

The attitude of the media astounds me concerning the recent overtures by Giants running back Tiki Barber that he will retire after this season.

I've seen a few interviews and read a few stories about Tiki indicating he's going to hang it up after this, his 10th season in the NFL, are the central theme always seems to be: "Retiring? At 31? In the so-called 'prime' of your career? Are you f*cking crazy?"

Get the f*ck off Tiki Barber's back, please.

I admire the hell out of Barber. He's a great football player, but there's clearly more to his life than football, which separates him from about 95 percent of the guys who play for pay on Sundays.

Barber is a very intelligent, well-spoken, good-looking guy who has a very warm seat waiting for him in numerous NFL TV studios or broadcast booths if he chooses that career path after football. He also has expressed interest in jobs in finance and philanthropy after retiring, which separates him from about 99.5 percent of active NFL players.

Tiki Barber knows that his playing career in the NFL is only about one-eighth of his life. It doesn't define his life, and he wants to move on to the next phase with his health relatively intact and a full bank account.

He should be praised for that, not interrogated and ridiculed.

Mr. Hockey Coming To Silver Screen

2006-10-18T11:01:00.000-04:00

Howard Baldwin, former owner of the defunct Hartford Whalers of the WHA and NHL, announced Tuesday night that he is producing a movie about Gordie Howe's return to hockey in the WHA and about the origins of the WHA, a rival league to the NHL in the 1970s.

I know many of you are thinking, "What?" "Who?" "Who cares?"

Gordie Howe is "Mr. Hockey," the greatest player ever to lace on skates. He played in the NHL into his 50s and was the most complete player ever. His story is exceptional, as he returned to pro hockey in 1973-74 at age 44 after two years of retirement and played on the same team in the WHA with his sons Mark and Marty. Gordie led the Houston Aeros to the title and was named league MVP -- again, at age 44.

Gordie Howe also is working on the movie, and "Boston Legal" and "Ally McBeal" writer David E. Kelley is overseeing the script. Baldwin and Kelley worked previously on the 1999 hockey movie, "Mystery, Alaska," starring Russell Crowe.

I know this movie has a narrow niche, but I'm very, very interested in it.

One Trick PSP Joystick

2006-10-17T10:49:00.000-04:00

Never underestimate the creativity of tech geeks around the world. They may not be curing cancer, but they are doing some pretty damn cool things to the gadgets we love.

Joe Stranger is one such geek. Stranger, like many owners of the Sony PSP handheld, wasn't happy with the small nub that disguises as a joystick on the unit. So he built his own that attaches to a USB port he installed into the side of his PSP:

There's trick, and then there's really trick. Joe's mod definitely falls into the latter category. Mega cool.

Do you think Stranger can solve the problem of repeated Xbox 360 hardware failures? After looking at his ingenious joystick, I'd trust him to find a solution a hell of a lot more than Microsoft engineers.

Denny Green Melts Down

2006-10-17T10:46:00.000-04:00

Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green produced one of the more memorable post-game meltdowns in recent NFL history after the Chicago Bears rallied from a 20-0 deficit to beat Arizona, 24-23, in a wild, wild "Monday Night Football" game.

It's hard to blame Green for going ballistic. There's absolutely NO way Arizona should have lost that game, as quarterback Matt Leinart had another strong game in his second career NFL start. Plus the Bears' offense didn't score a touchdown, while quarterback Rex Grossman had one of the worst nights ever for an NFL QB, committing six turnovers.

Still, as I watched Green lose his mind, I could only think of one thing: Somewhere, Jim "WE SUCK" Mora must be smiling.

Get Well Soon, Peter Cech

2006-10-17T10:36:00.000-04:00

Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech suffered a depressed skull fracture last weekend when Reading player Stephen Hunt hit Cech in the head with his knee during a challenge for the ball.

Scary stuff. Cech will be out of action for at least six months, but he at least is up and talking in an English hospital. That's very good news.

Get well soon, Peter.

Trecker Is Right: MLS Should Forget Beckham

2006-10-17T10:33:00.000-04:00

One of the bigger rumors in worldwide soccer is that megastar David Beckham may sign with an MLS team now that he's out of favor with his current club, Real Madrid. All signs point to the L.A. Galaxy, as Beckham recently opened soccer schools in Southern California and living near Hollywood would give his wife, the former pop star Posh Spice, a platform from which to revive her flagging career.

But U.S. soccer journalist Jamie Trecker thinks signing Beckham would be another mistake for MLS, in this entry in his always-excellent blog. I agree with Trecker and his reasons.

Why Was Lamar Thomas Even In The Booth?

2006-10-17T10:22:00.000-04:00

Comcast Sports SouthEast fired college football analyst Lamar Thomas on Monday after Thomas, a former Miami player, made inflammatory comments Saturday night during his analysis of the infamous brawl between Miami and Florida International in the Orange Bowl.

Some of Thomas' brilliant, Rhodes Scholar-worthy commentary on the riot included: "Now, that's what I'm talking about. You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don't come into the OB playing that stuff. You're across the ocean over there. You're across the city. You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing."

There's no question Thomas should have been fired. But the big question is: Why was he even in the booth in the first place?

Thomas has quite the rap sheet, according to deadspin.com. Hell, he's almost deserving of a celebrity mug shot at thesmokinggun.com. Some of Lamar's "street cred" includes:

• Arrested and jailed for aggravated battery for attacking his pregnant fiancee with a deadly weapon.

• Arrested for violating probation.

• Detained for brandishing a handgun and threatening suicide, prompting authorities to check him in to a mental institution.

• Did jail time for again violating probation related to the battery charges, when he was arrested for choking
his fiancee. His 6-month old son was present at the scene.

Wow, what a quality individual. Forget about Thomas' idiotic statements about the brawl. Instead, why would Comcast put a multiple ex-con in the booth?

That's almost more troubling than Thomas' inane commentary. He's a moron, but Comcast should know better.

Color Me Impressed With PS3 Footage

2006-10-17T09:51:00.000-04:00

I think the Sony PlayStation 3 is a terribly overpriced videogame console at $600, but I can't deny that this high-definition footage for the upcoming Fight Night Round 3 for the PS3 is gorgeous.

Adblock

Video game graphics are starting to blur the line between fantasy and reality. Very impressive.

It will be even more impressive when a second mortgage isn't needed to buy the console and games.

'Studio 60' Jumps The Shark

2006-10-16T23:49:00.000-04:00

It's official: "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" jumped the shark for me tonight. I'm not watching it anymore.

"Studio 60" had so much promise with its pilot, as the writing was good and the acting fine. But NOTHING has happened in the following episodes. There's been no character development other than the lame tension between Harriet and Matt.

Otherwise, we've seen four straight weeks of a TV show about the making of a TV show. Is this a documentary or a drama-comedy? I'm not sure.

And do these people ever leave the studio? People who work all the time lead very boring lives, and this has become a very boring show.

I tolerated the first two episodes because the script was so well done and the acting so sharp. But that can only carry a show so long, and this show has zero momentum. When I saw the preview for next week's show focusing on the after-show party, that was it. No mas.

I really think lead writer Aaron Sorkin's considerable ego has taken over "Studio 60." It's more of a vehicle for him to put his scriptwriting abilities into the klieg lights, almost as if he's saying: "Hey, even though I got nailed for coke while doing 'The West Wing,' I'm back now. Look at me and the snappy dialogue I can still write. Look at ME, DAMN IT!"

Problem is, Aaron, you have to mate that dialogue to a show with characters you can care about and who have interesting lives. Neither is the case with "Studio 60."

Pure Class In The Face Of Tragedy

2006-10-16T13:39:00.000-04:00

I wonder if the parents of late NHL player Dan Snyder are Amish, as they're showing the same class and forgiveness that the Amish showed recently after the murder of young Amish girls by a sick nut in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse.

Snyder was critically injured in a crash in September 2003 on an Atlanta street when riding as a passenger in a Ferrari driven by then-Atlanta Thrashers teammate Dany Heatley. Snyder died a few days later due to his injuries.

The Snyder family wasted no time in forgiving Heatley, which was a very classy gesture. Snyder's parents now are on tour across North America with a message of forgiveness and to raise funds for the Dan Snyder Memorial Foundation, which is trying to build a community center, including a new ice rink, in their hometown of Elmira, Ontario.

The tour is going to stop in all 30 NHL cities. If you're at a game on the night of the Tour, chip in the money you would have spent on a couple of beers to the Snyder Foundation, in honor of Dan's memory and to honor two truly exceptional human beings, his parents, Graham and LuAnn Snyder.

It's Official: The Bills Suck

2006-10-16T13:33:00.000-04:00

After a promising start to the season, my Buffalo Bills are now swirling down the toilet of NFL mediocrity after losing to the previously winless Detroit Lions, 20-17, on Sunday.

The problems with this team are so numerous that I don't know where to start.

A defense that doesn't know how to cover receivers or tackle would be a good start. The Bills' young secondary made Lions wide receiver Roy Williams look like the second coming of Jerry Rice, as he had 10 catches for 161 yards. The defense missed so many tackles that I wore out my abacus, as Kevin Jones ran 23 times for 127 yards, including a long run of 52 yards.

On offense, the Bills were horrible up front. There were few decent holes opened for Willis McGahee, who ground out most of his 66 yards on just skill and pure effort. And the pass protection was horrible. If I saw any more plays with fat, immobile Bills' offensive linemen standing around while quarterback J.P. Losman ran for his life, I was going to play Elvis and shoot my TV set.

Losman isn't exempt from criticism, too. In his third year in the NFL, the guy still hasn't shown enough poise and a basic grasp of proper decision-making to be a starting quarterback in this league. He gets "happy feet" too often and scrambles too much, and even when scrambling he feels as if he has to throw to a receiver every play, resulting in too many interceptions or sacks.

Just throw the damn ball out of bounds and try on the next play, J.P.

When the Bills were 2-2 after a close win over Minnesota in Week 4, I thought the Bills had an outside shot at a wild-card playoff spot, especially since they never should have lost to New England in Week 1. But the Bills are going nowhere after a blowout loss at Chicago and a painful defeat to one of the league's trash teams, Detroit.

Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan, one of the most underrated sportswriters in the country, summed up the state of the Bills very well this morning.

Use Google For Free Napster Service

2006-10-16T13:20:00.000-04:00

There are about six or eight people in the world who have stopped illegal music downloading due to threats from RIAA lawsuits. If you're one of those people, then check out this neat little trick from lifehacker.com that turns Google into an MP3 search tool.

This link is worth checking out even if you still download music illegally or have enough money to waste to actually pay for tunes.

First PS3 Commercial For North America -- WTF?

2006-10-16T13:17:00.000-04:00

The first television commercial for the PlayStation 3 in North American markets has made its way to YouTube, and I'm stumped after watching it:

What the f*ck does this commercial have to do with video games? What compels me to drop $600 on this system after seeing this commercial? And if the PS3 has such mind-blowing graphics capabilities, then why isn't any game footage shown in the spot?

I'm not sure whether this spot is the wet dream of some over-caffeinated ad exec who passed off the spot to Sony during a cocktail party or if it's just another example of arrogance by Sony, which figures it's console is such hot shit that no gameplay footage needs to be seen.

Either way, the commercial is horrible.

Nicky's Hopes Ruined By Teammate

2006-10-16T13:03:00.000-04:00

I am absolutely gutted. I just can't believe that Dani Pedrosa took out his teammate and my man Nicky Hayden with such a STUPID early move Sunday in the Moto GP race at Estoril.

The Crash:

Nicky's championship hopes are seriously dented, as he's eight points behind Valentino Rossi with one race to go, in two weeks at Valencia, Spain. It's the first time Nicky has been out of the lead in forever.

I don't expect team bosses to order Pedrosa to pull over, but I did expect them to tell him to show restraint when racing his teammate.

I DESPISE team orders in racing, but when one of the teammates leads the championship with two races remaining, the other teammate shouldn't need to be told that his main job is to protect the leading teammate, not take him out.

F*ck Pedrosa. F*ck Repsol Honda. I'm stunned, and I'm PISSED.

You can just sense the exasperation and anger in this emotional interview with Hayden, who I think showed a hell of a lot of class not to call Pedrosa a complete idiot:

The other bummer about this incident is that it overshadowed yet another incredible finish of a Moto GP race. Will anyone even remember that Toni Elias rode the race of his life to beat Rossi for the victory in a photo finish after a final lap that had at least three lead changes?

Keep Your Head Up, Kids!

2006-10-16T12:58:00.000-04:00

Colby Armstrong of the Pittsburgh Penguins just nailed Trevor Letowski of Carolina in the hit below. It was a scary incident, but it was a clean hit. Don Cherry is right in the YouTube clip: Letowski broke the cardinal rule of hockey -- keep your head up.

I hope Letowski is back on the ice soon, with his head up in the offensive zone.

Bill Maher Makes Perfect Sense, As Usual

2006-10-16T12:56:00.000-04:00

It's a shame that Bill Maher was one of the first victims of the new wave of Bush-induced faux-patriotism in America, as the guy is one of the most brilliant political commentators and satirists in this country and deserves the kind of wide audience ABC provided him with his "Politically Incorrect" show.

Of course, Maher became the enemy of every flag-waving, WalMart-shopping, Power of Pride American when he said on "Politically Incorrect" shortly after 9/11 that the terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon may have been murderous pricks, but they weren't cowards. They killed themselves to make a deluded point, and that's not the act of a coward. It's the act of a deranged murderer.

Maher is right. But of course, America always takes issue with the wrong targets and leaves the real problems to sit and fester. And that's exactly what Maher takes on in this brilliant column at salon.com, in which he says Mark Foley is the least of the kids of America's problems right now.

Another Asshole Blames The Booze

2006-10-13T12:26:00.000-04:00

Yet another scumbag Congressman received his "good riddance" orders today, and in the typical American response these days, he called himself a victim of alcohol.

Ohio Republican Bob Ney pleaded guilty to bribery charges stemming from the investigation of legendary dirtbag lobbyist Jack Abramoff and faces up to 10 years in prison. Of course, Ney's lawyer wants his client incarcerated in a facility that includes an alcohol-treatment program, as it's simply impossible in this world for anyone to take responsibility for their actions.

A hypothetical stream of consciousness from Ney: "It was the booze's fault -- yeah, that's it. That will let me write a book from jail and make a sparkling political comeback when I'm released. America will see me as a victim, not a corrupt motherf*cker who violated the public's trust."

Just like in the Mark Foley scandal, why wasn't alcohol abuse ever mentioned before either Foley or Ney were caught? Because it makes too damn good of a defense, a crutch, when you are caught. It turns you into a victim, an increasingly lucrative and popular profession in America.

Foley and Ney have a few things in common: They're both Republican Congressmen, they're both unable to accept responsibility for their actions, and they're both douchebags who don't deserve the public's trust again.

A Truly Remarkable Film

2006-10-13T10:51:00.001-04:00

Two nights ago I stumbled across one of the most remarkable movies I've ever seen in my life -- "In America."

The movie was written by Irishman Jim Sheridan -- who wrote the critically acclaimed "My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father" -- and his daughters. It's a story of an Irish actor, his wife and their two young daughters who leave Ireland to live in New York City, trying to escape the anguish of losing their youngest son to a brain tumor and starting a new life.

I won't spoil the plot, which involves the family overcoming major hardships through faith, hope, an unlikely friendship and love. But the script and actors' performances -- especially Samantha Morton as the mother and real-life sisters Sarah and Emma Bolger as the children -- are astonishing.

This was one of the most moving films I've ever seen, yet it never tiptoes on cliche or seeps into melodrama. By the poignant end of the movie, I felt like I was a part of the family and their world. The film is that engaging, as most of it is told through a child's unjaded perspective.

Definitely rent this movie on DVD or find it, as I luckily did while channel-surfing the other night at 1 a.m., on the Independent Film Channel (IFC). IFC is showing "In America" again at 11:15 a.m. and 7:10 p.m. (ET) Oct. 23 on IFC. Watch it.

Here's more information on the movie from IFCtv.com. An exceptional film.

NHL GM's Need To Remove Blinders

2006-10-13T10:51:00.000-04:00

NHL general managers apparently are unhappy with the reflective visor that last year's Calder Trophy winner, Alexander Ovechkin, wears while playing for the Washington Capitals. The GM's have voted 29-1 to ban reflective visors, according to this entry in the superb Off Wing Opinion blog.

Apparently goaltenders have complained that the reflections from the visor are distracting and give Ovechkin an advantage.

Cry me a f*cking river. So, Ovechkin buried 50-plus goals as a rookie because of his visor? It wasn't because of natural talent, after all?

Plus, the NHL needs all of the attention and coverage it can get. There was more than one time last season where ESPN "SportsCenter" or another national U.S. sports outlet made reference to Ovechkin as Darth Vader because of his visor. So why is the NHL rejecting that publicity?

Because the league and its teams are run by an old-boys network that's firmly stuck in the 1970s, at least in terms of marketing. The NHL brass finally got its shit together last season with the on-ice product, but its concept of marketing is about as novel as that of Henry Ford when he told prospective Model T customers, "You can have any color you want, as long as it's black."

The Onion Slices T.O.

2006-10-13T10:43:00.000-04:00

Terrell Owens is an asshole -- I've made this clear in a recent blog entry. So it's always fun when someone takes a shot at T.O., because every shot at T.O. is a legitimate shot.

The Onion aimed this zinger at T.O. today, and it's a typical Onion classic. The last line had me rolling. Enjoy.

Tip Of The Hat To Smyth, Cheechoo

2006-10-13T10:40:00.000-04:00

The Edmonton Oilers' 6-4 victory last night against San Jose was a historic contest. No, I'm not stretching the term "historic" to describe the Oilers' rally from 4-1 deficit. There really was history made.

Both San Jose's Jonathan Cheechoo and Edmonton's Ryan Smyth scored natural hat tricks -- three consecutive goals by the same player -- in the game. It was the first time since 1919 that opposing players have scored natural hat tricks in an NHL game.

Mega!

PayScale Helps With Wage Wars

2006-10-13T10:25:00.000-04:00

Ever get the feeling you're underpaid and want to have some salary ammo for when you strut to your boss asking for a raise? Payscale.com could help.

This pretty cool site asks a variety of questions about your job, qualifications, location and other factors and provides a graph of salary ranges for your current job or for a job that you'd like to get, including a median salary.

I entered all of the information for my current job, and the median salary shown for that position was within $1,000 of my current salary. So either my employer is very fair, which is true, or this is a pretty damn accurate tool for determining salaries, which also may be true.

Maybe It's Chicago That Doesn't Deserve Hockey

2006-10-13T10:17:00.000-04:00

It's funny that there's debate over whether Pittsburgh is a good enough hockey town -- and I question that, too -- and whether new Canadian owner Jim Balsillie will move the franchise to Ontario when one considers that only 8,008 fans showed up last night at the United Center in Chicago to watch the vastly improved Blackhawks play Nashville, one of the top teams in the league.

Maybe Balsillie should have bought the Blackhawks and moved them to Ontario.

What a joke. Chicago sports fans should be embarrassed, especially since the Hawks actually appear to be putting a decent team on the ice for the first time this decade.

The Best Album Of 2006?

2006-10-12T11:20:00.000-04:00

I could say that I'm a music fan, but that's an insufficient explanation. Music moves me, lifts me, inspires me. I need music like coffee in the morning or a warm toilet seat on which to sit during the winter months -- it's an essential part of me, almost like another vital organ.

I listen to a lot of music in many different genres, and it's rare that an album blows me away upon first listen. But that happened this week when I first heard Robert Randolph & the Family Band's new album, "Colorblind."

This is an amazing record, possibly the best I have heard in 2006. It combines the great grooves of funk, the dirty sludge of blues, the fervor of gospel and soul, and some blistering rock-and-roll into one of the most unique sounds today in music. It says something about a record when a guest appearance by Eric Clapton is totally overshadowed by the band recording the album, but that's what happens on "Colorblind."

If there was any question that the great Sly and the Family Stone are being channeled through some sort of musical Ouija board and taken and reshaped by the Robert Randolph & The Family Band, "Colorblind" answers it with a definite yes. This is a fantastic record -- well worth checking out.

Other good new albums worth hearing:

Ali Farke Toure - "Savane"
*The great African bluesman's last record before he died. It's a gem.

Beck - "The Information"
*More great sound-morphing by Beck and a turn back toward the "Odelay" roots.

John Mayer - "Continuum"
*Mayer is more than just a poster boy for the granola, Dave Matthews crowd. This guy has some serious blues licks honed in live shows, and he shows some of them off on this record.

Jerry Lee Lewis - "Last Man Standing"
*This is Jerry Lee's version of Sinatra's "Duets" album, and it works as well for The Killer as it did for The Chairman. Rollicking good stuff here.

Shawn Colvin - "These Four Walls"
*Nothing groundbreaking musically or lyrically from my favorite female voice in all of music. But you get Colvin's trademark laid-bare honest lyrics, and that voice. Oh, that voice.

M. Ward - "Post-War"
*I discovered M. Ward through the excellent NPR podcast, "All Songs Considered." This guy writes and plays very stripped, acoustic tunes in the vein of Woody Guthrie. His understated voice adds even more subtlety to a very low-fi work. Interesting stuff.

GOP Teflon Turning To Slime

2006-10-12T11:15:00.000-04:00

The Republican Party did a measured job of trying to control the damage from the Mark Foley page scandal in the last week as the midterm elections rapidly approach.

But you almost knew it would only be a matter of time before a GOP lawmaker put his mouth into motion before his brain was in gear. That time has come, as Republican Congressman Christopher Shays "went Rove" with recent comments about the Foley scandal.

In a statement so pathetic that Shays' basic intelligence must be questioned, he defended Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert's handling of the Foley scandal by saying no one died like the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident involving Massachusetts Democratic stalwart Sen. Ted Kennedy.

"I know the speaker didn't go over a bridge and leave a young person in the water, and then have a press conference the next day," Shays told The Hartford Courant in a story published Wednesday.

Are you f*cking kidding me? The Chappaquiddick incident, as reprehensible as it was, happened 37 years ago. Mark Foley was sending illicit e-mails and instant messages to minors THIS YEAR.

Any coincidence that Shays' ridiculous remarks were made just a week after Kennedy campaigned for fellow Democrat Diane Farrell, who is trying to unseat Shays in a key House race?

If this is Shays' version of grace under pressure, I think Connecticut voters should tighten the screws on Shays and put him out of his political misery. This is the type of sleaze politics of desperation, something I only thought came from the sinister mind of the ultimate Washington political slimeball, Karl Rove.

Why Is T.O. In Dallas? Why Do We Care?

2006-10-12T11:07:00.000-04:00

Terrell Owens continues with his pathetic "poor me" act, as if being a spoiled, highly paid professional athlete is one of the great burdens of society.

Yep, working three jobs to feed a family, enduring chemo and playing wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys for millions per season -- they're analogous in T.O.'s warped world.

Now Owens is wondering why he's even in Dallas, according to this Associated Press report. T.O. says he is pissed that Dallas is 2-2 and is all about winning. But that also comes with a selfish caveat, of course: T.O. said Dallas would be more successful if he touched the ball more often.

That's charming, Terrell, but we all know that it's all about you. We know that if the team was 1-3 and you had good numbers, all would be much better. But if the team was 4-0 and your numbers were even worse than now, there would be Irritation in Irving.

Why the hell do we even bother paying attention to this guy? He's a cancer of American sports, and the fact that the media and public are so fascinated by his self-absorbed antics is a metaphor for the current state of America: It's all about me, baby.

It's just pathetic. I could really give a rats' ass about Terrell Owens anymore, and I wish sports fans everywhere would follow suit. The only difference between this guy and a bucket of shit is the bucket.

R.I.P., Cory Lidle

2006-10-12T11:01:00.000-04:00

Sincerest condolences to the family and friends of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who died along with a flight instructor Wednesday when the small plane he was flying crashed into a Manhattan high rise.

I'm not a baseball fan, so I can't wax poetic about how Lidle persevered as a journeyman pitcher and was a teammate well-liked by most. But he did leave a wife and small child, and as a husband and father of three small kids, my empathy for his wife and children is great.

Leave It To The Beeb

2006-10-11T12:30:00.000-04:00

As reports surfaced last weekend about North Korea detonating its first nuclear device in an underground test, I wondered what effect this would have on world relations, diplomacy and security.

But on a much more basic level, I wondered, "How the hell is a nuclear test done underground?"

The BBC has answered my question with this interesting story that features informative graphics. The Beeb came through, again, as I find it one of the best general news sites on the Web.

The Most Boring Team In Hockey

2006-10-11T11:37:00.000-04:00

As an Edmonton Oilers' fan for nearly 25 seasons, hatred of the Calgary Flames is a given. But after watching the Oilers and Flames split the first two games of this season's Battle of Alberta, I feel a tiny morsel of sympathy for Flames' fans because there's no question that Calgary is the most boring team in the NHL.

Calgary's offense consists of Jarome Iginla and Mikka Kiprusoff, and not much else. Iginla and his line are asked to score at least two goals per game, and then Kiprusoff -- the best goalie in the world -- is required to allow only one goal or less, as this National Post story from Canada suggests.

That may have worked in the "old NHL," in which clutching-and-grabbing and low-scoring games were the norm. The Flames rode it to some success in the last season of the "old NHL," losing to Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Finals.

But while every other NHL team either has adjusted or is in the final stages of adjusting their lineups and offensive strategies to the open skating and skill of the "new NHL," Calgary front-office boss Darryl Sutter and new head coach Jim Playfair, a Sutter disciple, have the Flames trapped in a pre-lockout time tunnel.

If you long for the tedium of the "old NHL," then catch as many Flames' games as you can this season on NHL Center Ice. If you want a perfect example of high-scoring, high-flying, exciting hockey, look everywhere else in the NHL.

It's an easy choice for me, starting 90 miles north of Calgary, in Edmonton.

Annoying Things About Next-Gen Videogaming

2006-10-11T11:25:00.000-04:00

There are a lot of things about next-gen videogaming that bother me, none more than the prices. Consoles for $400-600? Games for $60? Controllers for $50?

That's not a hobby; that's an activity that requires a second job to finance.

I guess I'm not alone. The Unfettered Blather blog recently published this "Top 10 annoying things about next gen" list. It's interesting reading, and I agree with a lot of the points.

Some of the comments left by readers are just as interesting and entertaining as the blog entry. Hell hath no fury like a console fanboy who thinks his favorite box has been slighted.

Could you imagine how much better society would be if some of these whiny dicks responding to the blog entry channeled this passion into something that really mattered?

News On The Footy Technology Front

2006-10-11T11:19:00.000-04:00

There were two interesting news items in recent days regarding coverage of European soccer in the United States, one pertaining to video and the other to audio.

Fox Soccer Channel has begun experimenting with streaming of live matches at its Web site, www.foxsoccer.com. The first test took place last weekend with the Denmark-Northern Ireland Euro 2008 match. The Iceland-Sweden qualifier will be streamed at 2 p.m. (ET) today.

It will be interesting to see if FSC starts streaming some of its Premiership schedule -- which sadly was emasculated this year when Setanta Sports got half of the U.S. EPL rights -- and if the streams will remain free.

On the radio airwaves, TalkSport has won airing rights for some Premiership games for the next three seasons, starting in 2007-08. The BBC still will maintain first-choice rights for Premiership radio broadcasts through Radio Five Live, but TalkSport will be the first commercial radio station in the UK to broadcast Premiership soccer.

So what effect will this have on listeners outside of the UK? Probably very little. Five Live's broadcasts are blocked from Internet listening by the BBC, and I would expect TalkSport to do the same at its Web site, which also offers some good live studio and call-in shows about footie.

I Was A Pigskin Whore, Now Vote For Me

2006-10-11T11:06:00.000-04:00

I'm not quite sure what this says about Wisconsin voters or the state of politics today, but a candidate for secretary of state of Wisconsin is promoting her promiscuity during the 1950s and 1960s with members of the great Green Bay Packers' teams.

Interesting campaign tactic: I was a football slut, now vote for me!

Apparently Sullivan has little chance of beating incumbent Doug La Follette. So she's resorting to the oldest slogan to try and gain a few votes: Sex sells.

Butt The F*ck Out, Chuckie

2006-10-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

New York Senator Charles Schumer never has met a press conference or photo op that he disliked, and his need for attention must be greater than ever since his New York senatorial colleague, Hillary Clinton, is up for re-election this year while Schumer is not.

Leave it to the glory-seeking Chuckie to waste even more of New Yorker's already-substantial tax dollars and get some face time through his new initiative to create a coalition of senior senators from teams with small-market NFL teams, hoping to help those teams gain greater economic equality and fair revenue sharing.

Please. Butt the f*ck out, Chuck. Let's see: America is losing a war in Iraq, is handcuffed while North Korea flaunts its new nuclear weapons, is hemorrhaging jobs in the Northeast Rust Belt, a state in which Schumer represents, and has schoolkids and teachers getting gunned down, yet Schumer is spending his time helping NFL teams?

The last thing our government needs to do is to help multimillion-dollar entertainment entities. Like it or not, that's all professional sports are -- entertainment entities.

Don't count on Schumer getting anything done with this initiative even if he is a sliver of earnesty about the cause. The guy is a very ineffective legislator. But he'll be on time for every press conference, you can be assured of that.

Move The Penguins To Toronto Now

2006-10-10T16:22:00.000-04:00

Ontario billionaire Jim Balsillie, whose company created the popular Blackberry device, bought the Pittsburgh Penguins last week. Rumors abound that Balsillie wants to move the Penguins to Southern Ontario from the less-than-lucrative Pittsburgh market.

Go ahead, Jim: Do it. Pittsburgh doesn't deserve hockey, and the Toronto market is grossly underserved by only one team, the Maple Leafs, as superb hockey columnist Eric Duhatschek wrote in this column.

If Pittsburgh gave a sh*t about hockey, then the city and team officials already would have broken ground for a new arena to replace the antiquated Mellon Arena, better known as "The Igloo." Pittsburgh was able to get new buildings built in the last 10 years for the Steelers and Pirates, so why is it such a hassle for hockey, especially since the Pens have tradition and success, with two Stanley Cups in the last 15 years?

With that kind of support and the fact that Pittsburgh is a small TV market, Balsillie should just end the charade and back in the moving vans now. He's a true-blue Canadian success story, and a franchise in Southern Ontario would be a huge commercial success in an area that has an unquenchable thirst for hockey.

The only thing that could stop Balsillie from moving the Penguins is the Maple Leafs' inexplicable resistance to having another NHL franchise in the area. There are so many hockey fans and such a huge demand for Leafs' tickets in Southern Ontario that another team wouldn't diminish interests or revenues for the Leafs at all.

Hell, the rivalry between the Leafs and a second Toronto team or a team in Hamilton would increase interest in both teams and instantly rival Edmonton-Calgary as the most intense rivalry in the NHL.

New York has three NHL teams. L.A. -- a joke of a hockey town -- has two. Florida, a pathetic hockey market, has two teams.

Southern Ontario deserves a second team. Pittsburgh doesn't deserve one team. So just do it, Jim. Move the Penguins to Canada, to a place that respects and appreciates hockey.

Another Great Read From Bucci

2006-10-10T15:54:00.000-04:00

Let's get one thing out of the way: The most entertaining NHL column or blog written today isn't even done by a newspaper columnist or reporter. It's written by ESPN announcer John Buccigross.

Bucci's latest column is a gem, as usual, filled with humor, insight, analysis and plenty of pop culture references. And in the "A List" section of the column, Bucci said the power-play defensive tandem of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger in Anaheim is the best since Bobby Orr did it alone in Boston.

I laughed, but then I realized what a joke it is when Orr isn't mentioned as one of the three greatest hockey players of all time in polls or beer discussion by fans.

Gordie Howe is the greatest all-around player in the history of the game, and his longevity was incredible. Wayne Gretzky completely changed the way offense was played in the game, and has to be a close No. 2 on the list. But the Great One didn't dominate every facet of the game -- offense, defense, hitting, fighting -- like Howe. When Howe was at his peak, he was the league's leading scorer, the MVP, the best defensive forward, a ferocious checker and the undisputed heavyweight champ of fighters in the NHL.

But Robert Gordon Orr is the third-greatest hockey player of all time, hands down, and arguably changed the game more than any other player, period.

Orr was special from the start. The Boston Bruins signed him at age 12 and debuted with the Bruins at 18. Before Orr, defensemen rarely wandered into the offensive zone.

That all changed with Orr. He scored 120 points in 1970 to become the only defenseman ever to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leading scorer, a record to this day. And Orr was incredible on defense due to his speed and skating ability.

If you want to see how amazing Orr was on the ice, check out this eight-minute video on YouTube. You'll be convinced after watching that Bucci is right in saying that Orr was a one-man force as a defensive pairing.

I'm F*cked

2006-10-10T15:42:00.000-04:00

Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin is a blog that I enjoy reading for health tips for active people, which I think I am.

Mirkin is pretty well known in the endurance sports community, as his work has appeared in running magazines. Mirkin, who has run in more than 40 marathons, now is a serious cyclist. So, as a former competitive runner who now is a cyclist, I listen to Mirkin!

Anyways, the Good Doctor says in his latest blog entry that caffeine can be bad for some people because it increases blood sugar and can lead to elevated blood pressure.

If that's the case, then I'm f*cked. I drink two cups of coffee per day and am addicted to it. I used to drink three cups per day but cut back due to the acid reflux syndrome from which I suffer. I also like tea. At least I don't drink much soda or have much chocolate -- that might save me.

But if caffeine kills, then I should get my will ready.

N. Korea Has The Bomb; When Does The War Start?

2006-10-10T15:30:00.001-04:00

North Korea successfully detonated a nuclear device over the weekend, becoming the most ominous member of the world's nuclear club and putting President Bush into a serious bind.

After all, Bush launched the first pre-emptive military action in American history -- the Iraq War -- because he THOUGHT that one member of his famed "Axis of Evil," Iraq, had weapons of mass destruction. Now that he KNOWS another member of the Axis, North Korea, has nukes, what is he going to do now?

Attack again? When does the Second Korean War start?

Seriously, the Bush Administration has put America into such a bind with its failed Iraq War that all it can do is issue its stern disapproval to North Korea and vote for economic sanctions. But sanctions will be toothless, as North Korea has survived for decades despite being shunned by the world community.

Diplomacy won't be an option because the Bush Administration has no clue how to practice it with adversaries. It uses diplomacy and possible commerce as a reward for those nations that cooperate with it despite disagreements.

The Bush White House uses diplomacy almost like bad parents giving candy to recalcitrant children. It has no idea how to use it as a deterrent to armageddon.

While the destruction of the globe probably isn't in the cards even though North Korea has nukes, the possible outcomes aren't very pleasing, as this Slate story indicates.

North Korea's admission to the nuclear club is bad news for the world, and it's a pretty sad state of affairs that the world's remaining superpower is pretty toothless to do anything about it.

What's even more frightening is that China, not exactly a good buddy of Uncle Sam's, wields the most diplomatic power in this situation. If China tells ally North Korea to back off with its nuclear program, hopefully madman Kim Jong-il will comply for fear of losing its most powerful communist ally. But if China brushes aside the threat, that will give Kim more ammunition to ramp up his nuclear program.

And meanwhile, all the U.S. can muster is a pissed-off John Bolton making remarks at a UN podium.

A Worldly Blog Worth Reading

2006-10-10T14:55:00.000-04:00

It's pathetic how insular Americans are when it comes to global affairs. "If it's not on our shores or doesn't affect our people overseas, who gives a f*ck?" seems to be the prevailing opinion of most Americans, who of whom don't even know what Darfur is let alone be able to find it on a world map.

World events since the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago should have made more Americans tune into the world, even if sadly that didn't happen. But if you're interested in getting a global perspective of world news and events that hasn't been sanitized by Fox News, liberalized by CNN or serialized by MSNBC, you should check out the PostGlobal blog, a Washington Post blog.

Moderators David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria raise interesting global affairs questions, with answers from informed panelists around the world. It's a very interesting, stimulating and informative read. Check it out.

The NHL Couldn't Sell Water In The Sahara

2006-10-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

The NHL returned to the ice last season after a year-long lockout with rules changes that made the best sport in the world even greater. The game was faster, with less clutching and grabbing and goon tactics, and players' skill was put on display for the first time in more than a decade.

But the NHL TV ratings were horrible in the U.S., as the Stanley Cup Finals were outdrawn by women's college softball (don't laugh; it's true). The U.S. sports media also largely ignored hockey, a dramatic contrast from Canada, where the sport borders on religion.

So the NHL brass thought it would be a good idea to enlist the "talents" of Hollywood director Jason Reitman and top advertising agency Mother New York to create ads to let the sports world know that the 2006-07 NHL season is underway. The idea was to put big NHL stars like Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Cheechoo and Peter Forsberg into everyday situations while fully dressed in their hockey gear to remind regular folks that the season had started.

Interesting idea, awful execution.

You need to watch how painfully bad the first two ads are by clicking here and following the video links. There's zero passion in the ads, from the actors playing the everyday people to the players themselves. I've seen TV test patterns with more zip.

But the NHL blindly thinks the ads are grand. My eyes nearly bulged out of my head when I read this quote:

"We've obviously worked with the players for many years and witnessing the enthusiasm and personality they're bringing to the set just adds to the creative product," said Ken Rosen, NHL Productions Group Vice President, Production and Programming.

Well, then where the hell is that enthusiasm and personality in the ads? Forsberg says one damn word in a monotone in his ad, and Cheechoo says nothing and is expressionless the entire ad.

The NHL is going to be a hell of a lot more creative and aggressive than this if it's ever going to reassert itself as a major sport in the U.S. It's sad, as I love hockey more than any other sport, but true.

Rest In Peace, Buck

2006-10-09T12:07:00.000-04:00

Negro League baseball legend Buck O'Neil died Friday, a few weeks after he was admitted to the hospital. He was 94.

Rest in peace, Buck. And shame on all of the baseball media who will vote O'Neil into the Hall of Fame this February on a posthumous charity f*ck, a year after inexplicably denying Buck the honor of enshrinement -- by one measly vote -- he so richly deserved while still alive.

So Much For Rockstar's Originality

2006-10-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

It looks like celebrated videogame studio Rockstar Games, maker of the infamous and successful Grand Theft Auto series of games, has been reading a lot of James Ellroy novels lately.

The trailer for Rockstar's upcoming crime game, L.A. Noire, was ripped right out of the pages of either one of Ellroy's classic post-World War II crime dramas set in L.A., "The Black Dahlia" or "L.A. Confidential."

Not too much originality here, boys. And I also wonder just how different the gameplay of this title will be to the mission-based, go-anywhere, kill-anything play of the Grand Theft Auto series?

Still, I'm interested. I love Ellroy's books -- he's my favorite writer. And the trailer for L.A. Noire shows that the game appears to capture the style and jazzy sound of the era very well.

Wrestling On Wheels At Talladega

2006-10-09T11:53:00.000-04:00

NASCAR fans, especially those of Alabama patron saint Dale Earnhardt Jr., have been known to litter the 2.66-mile oval at Talladega Superspeedway with debris after seeing an outcome they don't like, especially when it involves their beloved Junior.

It's a shameful act that exposes the dark belly of NASCAR and its legions of fans. It happened again Sunday after the NEXTEL Cup race at Talladega, but this time I don't blame the fans one bit.

Brian Vickers earned his first NEXTEL Cup victory with a wrestling move that's so atypical of racing but typical of NASCAR: If you don't have the skill or car to drive past your opponent, just shove him out of the way.

Vickers was running third behind Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson and race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- both among the 10 drivers in NASCAR's playoff Chase -- on the last lap when he rammed the rear of Johnson's car, who then hit Earnhardt. Both cars spun off the track, and Vickers zoomed by for his first victory.

What horseshit. That's not racing; it's vehicular assault. What made the bush-league move even worse is that Johnson and Earnhardt had their title hopes severely dented by a young hack who isn't anywhere near the Chase this year. And of course the little tool used the standard "I HATE it that I got into ... " line in victory lane to justify his actions.

You don't hate it, Brian; you did it on purpose!

Here's what I hate about NASCAR. In any other series, such a move would have resulted in a penalty for Vickers. Not NASCAR. Not when an incident like that can gain the sport even more air time on sports highlight shows across the land last night and remain the topic of water-cooler conversation among NASCAR fans this morning.

Nice Opener For The Oil

2006-10-06T12:41:00.000-04:00

The Edmonton Oilers -- my favorite sports team on the planet -- opened their NHL regular season with a 3-1 victory over the hated archrival Calgary Flames last night.

Calgary looked slow. It seems to have the same problem as last year -- no scoring other than the Jarome Iginla line and too much reliance on Mikka Kiprusoff.

But I think the Oil will make nearly every team look sluggish this year. I agree with CBC analyst Kelly Hrudey -- Edmonton has the deepest, fastest set of forwards in the NHL this year, bar none. CBC analyst Drew Remenda said Edmonton could have eight 25-goal scorers this year, and it's very possible.

The Oil could have that many scorers if coach Craig MacTavish continues to play five forwards on the power play. That was really strange, but effective. Most NHL teams now are using four forwards on the PP, but that was one of the few times -- if ever -- I've seen five. It's great for offense, but I hope Jarret Stoll and Petr Sykora are working on their defensive responsibilities during practice because having two forwards on the point could lead to a lot of short-handed scoring situations for the Oilers' opponents.

I was really pleased to see Sykora play well in his debut, the two penalties not withstanding. The guy is a Swiss Army knife, as he can play in any position. He already seems to be clicking with Ales Hemsky, which is a scary, good thing.

Much has been made about the departure of Chris Pronger, Michael Peca, Jaroslav Spacek and Sergei Samsonov from the Oil, and it's legit. But Peca did nothing during the regular season, and Samsonov wasn't nearly as good as advertised in Edmonton. His good play came in spurts.

Spacek was solid, no question, but Ladislav Smid played a very solid game on D in his Oilers' debut. Nice to see Daniel Tjarnqvist get a goal from the D line, too.

You don't replace Pronger, no question. But there is a silver lining. Pronger got 30 minutes of ice time per game last year and was such an anchor in every situation that the team looked to him constantly. Now the load will need to be balanced more evenly across the Oil's defensive corps.

There's no way the current defense can compensate for the loss of Pronger, who I thought was the best player in the world -- period -- last spring. But I don't think the blow will be as bad as thought.

It still humors me that most predictions have Calgary finishing among the top four teams in the West with Edmonton just sneaking into the playoffs. If the Oilers get solid, steady play from the defensemen and the goaltending tandem of Dwayne Roloson and Jussi Markkanen, their nitrous-injected offense will do the rest.

This is going to be a VERY fun season.

We Can All Learn From The Amish

2006-10-06T12:31:00.000-04:00

It's about time that the Amish stopped being the butt of ignorance-based jokes and movies like "Kingpin" because "regular America" can sure learn a hell of a lot from these decent people.

The depth of compassion and faith of these people is astonishing in light of the massacre this week in Pennsylvania Dutch country that resulted in the deaths of five school-age girls. "Regular America" would have thirsted for revenge and cast the entire family of the killer, who committed suicide after killing the girls, into a psychotic light.

But that's not the Amish way. Instead, the Amish issued almost immediate forgiveness for killer Charles Roberts and invited his widow to the funerals of the girls. They also set up a trust fund for Roberts' widow and her children.

Lord, that is refreshing in an America in which "respect" and "revenge" are almost synonymous, an America in which gun-firing thug asshole athletes like the Indiana Pacers' Stephen Jackson are worshipped as role models by kids and adults.

Of course, Bling Nation and all of the white, suburban "wigger" wannabes would call the Amish cowards, soft, not worthy of the streets.

I call the Amish heroic, decent human beings. I wish more in America would, too.

An Excellent Read, Listen About Music

2006-10-06T12:30:00.000-04:00

It's amazing how many good blogs are out there in Netland if you really work hard to sort the gems from the cubic zirconia.

EZ Snappin's Crackle & Pop is one of those shiny gems. It's a music-oriented blog by Erik, a regular reader and poster from one of my favorite forums, Digital Sportspage. Erik's knowledge of music and taste for quality music are exceptional, and he delivers that zeal for tunes in a very low-key, easy style that informs and entertains.

Erik also just started a very good podcast that's light on the talk and heavy on the tunes, as it should be. But when Erik talks, he's like E.F. Hutton -- you should listen. The cat knows his shit.

If you're into quality music, EZSnappin's Crackle & Pop is definitely worth your time.

Bad Vibes From Oba

2006-10-06T12:26:00.000-04:00

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I don't like the vibes that Newcastle new arrival Obafemi Martins made in this story at icNewcastle.

Martins is just starting to settle in as a striker at St. James Park after coming to England from Inter Milan, starting to score goals and sync up with the midfield. But in the story at icNewcastle, he said he never would rule out a return to Inter -- after winning silverware at Newcastle -- and also mentions how he and teammate Emre, a former teammate at Inter, talk often about their days at the Italian club.

I don't question Oba's loyalty. And I'm sure he had a good time at Inter. But crikey, he's been at Newcastle for less than two months and he's already saying that he'd never rule out a return to Italy.

I doubt I'm the only Magpies' supporter who was rubbed the wrong way by those comments.

Are Web Bookmarks Even Needed?

2006-10-06T11:16:00.000-04:00

As I add more RSS feeds daily to the excellent Sage news reader for Firefox, I often think, "Are Web bookmarks/favorites even needed anymore?"

Sometimes I wonder. Nearly every site I visit daily has an RSS feed, which makes finding news and new content so much easier, quicker and more efficient than hitting a bookmark and fishing around the site for new stuff.

If you're a frequent browser and haven't entered the world of RSS, you need to get onboard right away. It's the only way to surf the Web.

Dads, Prepare To Cry

2006-10-05T12:08:00.000-04:00

If you're a father, hell even if you're not, click this link to read and watch a YouTube video about one of the most inspirational stories you'll ever read or see.

Read and watch this now. And if you're not moved and inspired afterward, either you're a cold motherf*cker or have no pulse.

Pittsburgh, Build Or Say Farewell To Pens

2006-10-05T12:04:00.000-04:00

It's only a matter of time before Pittsburgh will lose its National Hockey League franchise now that Ontario businessman Jim Balsillie is about to buy the franchise.

Balsillie owns of the BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion. This Associated Press story doesn't mention it, but TSN reported last night that Balsillie has purchased the territorial NHL rights for Hamilton, Ontario, located just south of Toronto. Copps Coliseum is a major-league arena in Hamilton, and the prospect of a Hamilton-Toronto rivalry must have Balsillie drooling and cash registers ringing in his mind.

The gauntlet has been thrown to Pittsburgh citizens: Either vote to build the Pens a new arena, or kiss them goodbye.

ESPN.com - NHL - Report: Pens to be sold to Canadian businessman

Are Wii Paying $250 For A Controller?

2006-10-05T11:52:00.000-04:00

Legendary Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto said in this Joystiq entry that the upcoming Nintendo Wii console has hardware that's the same as a Nintendo GameCube.

If that's true, then what will gamers get when they buy a Wii next month? A $250 controller? It sure seems that way to me, although I need to see and play a Wii.

Great Story On NFL Spin Control

2006-10-05T11:04:00.000-04:00

The National Football League is the 8,000-pound colossus of American sports, dominating TV ratings and public interest.

But the NFL and its teams also are showing their weight in a distasteful way, trying to control and restrict media access to coaches and players, as detailed in this excellent story from The Kansas City Star.

It's bad enough that shameless spin control is a way of life for Tony Snow and the Bush PR machine. But at least they're trying to spin issues that really matter.

But football? Come on. It's a great game, but the NFL and teams need to realize that the same fans who pay their salaries also want unfiltered news about their favorite teams and players.

The NFL can't take and refuse to give.

Phrase, Song Banned In Congress

2006-10-05T09:34:00.000-04:00

In the wake of the Mark Foley scandal in Congress, a popular phrase and classic rock song have been banned from use in Washington's hallowed halls.

Phrase: "Are we on the same page?"

Song: "Turn the Page," by Bob Seger

Is There Anybody Out There?

2006-10-04T10:27:00.000-04:00

No, this isn't an ode to Pink Floyd's "The Wall." I'm just wondering if there's anyone out there reading this blog, as I hardly see any comments about individual posts.

Speak up, oh ye three or four readers. Don't be shy. Let me know about the good, bad and really ugly.

I want to know what you think or at least find out that I'm like Peter Brady in the "Brady Bunch" episode in which Peter throws a party and no one shows up.

Landycakes Put In His Place

2006-10-04T10:16:00.000-04:00

Clint Dempsey was named Tuesday as Honda Player of the Year for the U.S. men's national soccer team, a richly deserved honor.

Dempsey appeared to be the only U.S. player who showed up and gave a shit during the World Cup last summer, scoring a very nice goal against Ghana for the only goal scored by a U.S. player during the tournament. Dempsey's play in MLS also has been strong.

While Dempsey's victory in the voting by sports journalists was deserving, so was Landon Donovan's omission from the group of the top three vote-earners. Dempsey won with 237 points, followed by Kasey Keller with 184 and Brian McBride with 127.

There's a common denominator among all three top vote-getters: They either play in Europe (Keller, McBride) or desperately want to play in Europe (Dempsey).

That's a stark contrast from the biggest pussy in American soccer, Donovan, who twice has trundled home whining from playing in Germany to be the big trout in the small stream known as MLS and let his promising career atrophy like a forearm in a plaster cast for six months.

It's about time that sports journalists and soccer fans realize that Landycakes is NOT the face and future of U.S. soccer. He's a marketing man's dream as a pretty boy who lives in Southern California with an actress girlfriend, but he's a massive weasel of a soccer player who is content with letting his talent rot on the vine.

Thank goodness America has players who want to prove themselves in the crucible of top European competition like Clint Dempsey. I shudder to think what a team of Landon Donovans would do for the U.S. at the World Cup and other major international competitions.

Sony Is Full Of Shit, Part II

2006-10-04T10:05:00.000-04:00

Hardly a day passes without a Sony executive making a statement about the upcoming PlayStation 3 video game console that makes you stop, scratch your head and say, "What the f*ck?"

Today's tainted piehole uttering comes from Sony Computer Entertainment America President Kaz Hirai, who claimed that the company's decision to exclude rumble function from the PS3 controller was a "strategic" move.

"But the other problem, or the balancing act that you need to do, is to be able to present the controller to the consumer at an affordable price," Hirai said. "We have one controller in the box, but many consumers will want to go out and get an extra controller. And if we have to come up with technology - which you can technically do - to isolate the vibration from the sensing, if that means that the controllers are going to be so expensive, then we're doing the consumer a huge disservice by coming up with a controller that is not very affordable."

Wait a minute -- the president of a company that's putting a $600 video game console on the market in two months is worried about a controller being too expensive? The same company that's inflating the price of its console just to shove Blu-ray, the next Betamax, down our throats?

What the f*ck? What? The? F*ck? The hypocrisy meter just spiked. Read the complete story here.

"Friday Night Lights" Knocks Me Out Cold

2006-10-04T09:52:00.000-04:00

The television series adaptation of the movie "Friday Night Lights," based on H.G. Bissinger's excellent book, debuted last night on NBC, draped in glowing previews and reviews, even from elitist outlets like The New York Times.

I thought there was no way the pilot could match the hype. It didn't. It exceeded it.

The pilot for "Friday Night Lights" was George Foreman, circa 1974 television -- a knockout. I thought the show was excellent, really capturing the flavor of small-town high school sports and the culture of small-town America.

I love the single handheld camera production, just like my favorite TV show of all time, "Homicide: Life on the Streets."

The acting is excellent, and the script is really good. I also like how the show teetered on the brink of melodrama at times, but director-producer Peter Berg -- who also did the movie version -- reined it in just at the right time.

The last 20 minutes of this premiere hit like a train. I think the atmospheric music by Explosions in the Sky definitely helps set the scene of the show.

There also was an interesting dynamic how it seemed the first four days of the week just flew in a blur, and then time almost stood still on Friday night, especially during the game. That's how it is in every small town that adores its high school football team.

I read the book, but I didn't see the movie. So I had nothing on film to compare.

This was a quality hour of TV, no doubt. I'm really eager for next week. Between "Friday Night Lights" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," I'm set for new TV shows this fall.

The King Of New York

2006-10-04T09:36:00.000-04:00

I don't follow baseball one bit, as the sport lost me after the 1994 strike, with the steroid scandals of this decade erasing any droplets of interest remaining. Plus the sport is just flat-out boring as hell.

But every once in a while, something in baseball captures my attention. Derek Jeter did just that Tuesday night, going 5-for-5 in the Yankees' 8-4 victory in Game 1 of the American League Divisional Series against Detroit.

Is there a more clutch performer in team sports than Jeter? Has there been a greater winner and team leader in the last decade in American team sports? No.

It's about time we start putting Derek Jeter in the same category as Michael Schumacher, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods among dominant world athletes of today. This guy is just the quintessential winner.

Drop The Puck, Baby!

2006-10-04T09:15:00.000-04:00

The second greatest day of the sporting year, behind only Race Day for the Indianapolis 500, is today: The opening of the National Hockey League season.

Hockey is the greatest sport on Earth. It's the ultimate mix of speed, power, grace, violence and artistry, played by the few professional athletes left with a sense of honor and tradition. Just watch a group of 23 young men hoist the Stanley Cup nine months from now, and you'll see very quickly that many of these guys would play the game for nothing just to get a chance to fulfill their boyhood dreams of lifting Lord Stanley's mug.

Time to call Time Warner and order NHL Center Ice for another year. Let the coolest game on Earth begin. Drop the puck, boys!

Buccigross Offers Excellent Look At 2006-07 Pucks

2006-10-03T11:34:00.000-04:00

The NHL regular season opens Wednesday night, and I can't wait. Wednesday night is a little piece of Christmas morning all over again for this 41-year-old.

I've been trolling the Web, reading NHL previews, and as usual, John Buccigross of ESPN.com has delivered an entertaining, informative and insightful set of NHL previews and predictions. Bucci's Eastern Conference preview can be found here, and his Western Conference preview here.

Buccigross is an excellent writer. He loves hockey and music, a great combination. Every time I read his stuff, I'm informed, entertained and come away thinking, "Damn, I'd like to have a few beers with that guy and just hang out."

Buccigross is too smart for ESPN. It's a shame his talent is underused there, as often he is shuttled to ESPN News duty. That's what happens to a smart guy at ESPN who doesn't yell or have all sorts of inane catch phrases.

I'm just grateful that ESPN, which doesn't give a rat's shit about hockey, at least lets Buccigross write often about the greatest sport in the world.

NFL Proves It Can Slap Wrists With Best Of Them

2006-10-03T11:27:00.000-04:00

The National Football League tried and failed to look like the Big Sheriff in Town when it suspended Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth for just five games after he stomped on the helmetless head of Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode last Sunday.

Haynesworth should have been tossed for the season, no question. There are certain lines that never should be crossed on a football field, and Haynesworth stepped way over one of them Sunday.

I don't care that Haynesworth made a supposedly sincere apology. The man would have been charged and convicted for assault if he pulled that act on the streets, and he has a past of temper issues, including kicking a teammate in 2003 and dismissed charges for a road-rage incident.

Andre Gurode has 30 stitches in his head and upcoming visits to a plastic surgeon due to Albert Haynesworth, and Haynesworth needs to be punished accordingly.

Five games without pay is a slap on the wrist. Nice job, NFL. It looks like new commissioner Roger Goodell went to the Bud Selig school of law and punishment.

Sony Is Full Of Shit, Period

2006-10-03T11:18:00.000-04:00

Sony executives claim in this report at Kikizo.com that they are looking at microtransactions -- game upgrades and additions that can be purchased online -- as a way to extend the life of games for its upcoming PlayStation 3 console.

That's complete, utter bullshit, and anyone who believes that is an imbecile.

Microtransactions are designed to generate profit for Sony, period. Nothing more, nothing less.

All three major console manufacturers -- Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo -- either have existing microtransaction platforms on their consoles or have plans for them in upcoming consoles. Microtransactions soak the gamer from more money, period.

There's no question that games will include fewer and fewer features at retail, allowing software publishers and the console manufacturers that license and certify their games to make a lot of money by charging lemming gamers who swim online to buy things such as roster updates, additional uniforms, additional stadiums, power-ups, etc.

You know, the stuff that always used to be included in a game at retail, either available from the start or as an unlockable.

Microtransactions are the future of video gaming, and I don't like the panorama of gaming's future.

The Onion Has Me Crying Again

2006-10-03T10:52:00.000-04:00

The Onion delivered again with this hilarious account about how President Bush missed his flight on Air Force One.

There's nothing political here. It's just funny as hell how writers at The Onion can take something seemingly so banal or sophomoric and consistently turn it into something tears-in-the-eyes funny.

Another hilarious read from The Onion.

Jerry Lee Lewis In Fine Song

2006-10-03T09:34:00.000-04:00

Rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis performed on "Imus in the Morning" this morning on MSNBC, and I was stunned at how good he sounded.

At 71, The Killer doesn't bounce around his keyboard and strut great balls of fire like he used to, but his voice sounds almost as clear as it did 50 years ago, and he still can tickle those keys. His band also was very tight.

I need to check out Lewis' new album, "The Last Man Standing," in which many current rock stars collaborate with Jerry Lee.

Skewed Priorities

2006-10-03T09:30:00.000-04:00

Do the math: In the last week, we've had a schoolgirl murdered in a Colorado high school. A teacher shot dead in Wisconsin. Five Amish schoolgirls slaughtered in Pennsylvania. A Congressman ousted for sending explicit e-mail and instant messages to teen-age male pages.

Yet the Bush Administration is spending billions, and nearly all of its time, fighting a war in Iraq while creating even more bloated bureaucracy with the inane Homeland Security Department.

Did it ever occur to anyone in the White House that maybe America needs more protection from itself than from the outside infidels? Did it ever occur in a Cabinet meeting that the cultural and economic fabric of the United States is pretty tattered?

Apparently not. They have a war to fight and a midterm election to win. Nothing else matters. I better shut up now -- I might be called seditious by the White House.

The Sweet Sound Of Speed

2006-10-02T16:33:00.000-04:00

Short of hearing the laughter of your spouse or children, this is the sweetest sound in the entire world.

Turn it up at home or work -- it's not porn or death metal.

This was recorded this morning on the front straightaway of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an IndyCar with a 3.5-liter Honda engine powered by 100 percent Ethanol.

Mega!

Forget About Foley Fallout

2006-10-02T16:17:00.000-04:00

Various news reports are trying to analyze what kind of negative fallout the resignation of Florida Republican Mark Foley from Congress will have on the midterm elections.

Try none.

America might be uttering a collective "Tsk, tsk" right now when reading and seeing about Foley sending sexually suggestive e-mails and instant messages to teen-age male Congresssional pages. But the election isn't for another five weeks, and another scandal or story -- either true or manufactured by the Democratic or Republican national parties -- will emerge well before the remaining hand full of voters in America who give a f*ck go to the polls.

Plus, the fact is most Americans don't give a f*ck about what happens in Washington, especially when a Florida congressman is the wrongdoer. Sure, people in Foley's district probably are stunned and disgusted, but does anyone in North Dakota or Oregon really care?

I doubt it. Another reason Americans don't care about what happens in Washington is because no real work gets done in Congress anyways. This report at Slate.com shows that the House just adjourned for the year without reaching 100 days in session, an all-time low.

Americans know that the primary job of every representative is two-fold and related: Get re-elected, and accept any perk or contribution from any source to achieve that goal. That's it -- nothing more.

Plus Washington "insiders" love to get into a lather about issues inside the Beltway that have no resonant effect outside the Beltway. Vince Foster, Valerie Plame, Mark Foley, etc.

News flash, Capitalistas and frothy talking heads like Chris Matthews: America doesn't care. America cares about jobs, gas prices and its young kids coming home to Dover Air Force base -- no photos, please -- in aluminum coffins draped in American flags for no real reason.

Plus, does anyone think the Democrats could find any traction with a scandal placed into their lap like the Foley shenanigans?

This country is such a mess -- at home and on foreign shores -- that the Democrats should run away with the mid-terms and the White House in 2008. Yet they won't, despite a Republican president with an approval rating around 35 percent, because it is the most rudderless, spineless Democratic Party in years.

The Democrats remind me of a dorky kid who has a hot, nude girl hovering over him, ready to shag his brains out for the first time, and that kid saying, "If I play my cards, right, I might be able to KISS her!"

Just a cruel joke, as is the state of politics and leadership in America.