BCS

The economy's still in a recession, unemployment is still at 10%, there's still no health care reform, and we still haven't won in Iraq or Afghanistan. But don't worry, the House is spending their time and your money telling the NCAA how to run their postseason.

Think the current BCS system is bullshit and a playoff would be better? Then don't freaking watch. Don't watch the games, don't buy the gear proclaiming your school as the "national champion", in short, don't make the current system the most profitable way for the NCAA to do business. That's how to get something that's of no consequence in the long run done--not by our legislative branch spending their time and our money.

Silencing "The Voice of God"

Somehow, in all the media coverage surrounding Tiger Woods this weekend, this story seems to have been mostly ignored: Bob Sheppard has announced his retirement as the voice of the Yankees. Hardly a surprise--the man is 99 years old, after all--but he'll be missed. The man is a class act and a huge part of Yankee tradition--there's a reason why Derek Jeter uses a recording of Sheppard's voice for his walkup announcements at home. Thanks for the memories, Bob, and enjoy your retirement.

Good Riddance

Congratulations to Virginia for putting down the animal known as the D.C. Sniper, and only six years after his conviction. That's not sarcasm--these days, that's a pretty efficient timeline for death penalty states that aren't Texas. Kudos to outgoing governor Tim Kaine for deciding he might like to run for elective office again someday, and declining the clemency petition. And although it's a little late to give John Muhammed some parting advice, I'm going to do it anyway: maybe it's not such a good idea to shoot up the town where the nine people who have the very last word on whether you live or die call home.

Nothing Ventured Learned, Nothing Gained

Apparently, some elements of the extreme left didn't learn anything from Tuesday's gubernatorial elections. Just as the moderate-to-right element in this nation starts to reclaim some of the ground lost in 2008, the pinkos over at MoveOn.org are threatening to use their war chest to fund primary opponents for moderate Dems who don't vote for Premier Speaker Pelosi's health care bill tomorrow. Great idea, guys. Take away the advantage from people who mostly see things your way, and try to get some candidates out there who leave moderates no choice but to push the red button when they get into the voting booth. Do that, and just see how long your controlling majority lasts. I won't lose any sleep over self-inflicted foot wounds faced by the Dems, but I like to see the moderate element nurtured and grown within both parties. Without a viable third-party option in most areas, for many of us, the moderate is the preferable candidate regardless of affiliation. Compromise is king here in the good ol' U.S. of A.

27

Congratulations to my New York Yankees on their professional sports record 27th World Series championship! It's nice to walk around today basking in their reflected glory, getting congratulations from friends and coworkers for doing absolutely nothing. But along with the congratulations come the inevitable whines of "Duhr, you guys bought a championship with mercenary players, duhr." Really, genius? It's true, C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira, and Nick Swisher were all offseason pickups, and Chad Gaudin was acquired in a midseason trade, but every other starter--pitchers and position players alike--were either products of the Yankees farm system or have been with the team for four years or more. That's long enough for the mercenary stigma to wear off. Do the Yankees spend money on players? Sure. But in recent years, they've brought in just a few each year to supplement a strong core of players that they've developed themselves. So congratulations, Yankees. Enjoy a well-deserved victory.

Separated at birth?

Yeah, I said it. Tony Romo is dogshit. He has been for years. Like the aforementioned turd, turn up the heat, and he turns pale and starts to crumble. Like a nugget on the lawn, just apply a little pressure, and he falls all to pieces. From the fumbled point-after snap against Seattle in the '06 playoffs to just last weekend when he made Kyle Freakin' Orton look like Johnny Freakin' Unitas, this guy has never made the big play to win the big game. And yet the media is there, week in and week out, consistently ranking him in the top ten quarterbacks in the game. If that ranking is for the number of hot famous women he's banged, sure, he's right there behind Big Ben Roethlisberger. (I'll take Natalie Gulbis over Jessica Simpson any day of the week and twice on Sunday.) But in terms of actually playing in NFL games? He's halfway down the list, and that's on his good days. It's time for the sportswriters and talking heads to realize that this guy is not the second coming of Roger Staubach. The guy barely beat out an over-the-hill Drew Bledsoe to get the starting job in the first place. Hell, he barely beat out an over the hill Drew Henson to get the starting job in the first place. I'd say he's really the second coming of Ryan Leaf, but to be fair to Romo, he wasn't drafted in the first round (in fact, he wasn't drafted at all) and brought in as the savior of the franchise. Let's just call him the second coming of Elvis Grbac.

Why I'm A Yankees Fan

Because if I were a Red Sox fan, I'd have something in common with this load.

Seriously--they actually took court time to let a convicted criminal out of jail to go to a baseball game? He violated a restraining order--that implies a history of violence. (Based on the picture, it is possible that said order was taken out by the local bakery, however.) Thank God I don't live in Iowa; if my tax dollars had contributed to this, I likely would have stroked out.

I just wonder if they let him change out of his prison jumpsuit and put on his Sox jersey to go to the game. If they did, I'm guessing it was a throwback Mo Vaughn--that's the only one they make in his size.

Hat tip to my friend Pat ("proud" member of Red Sox Nation) for the link.

Gone Green

I never thought I'd join the "stop global warming at any cost" movement. But it looks like hell just froze over. Or at least the version of hell presided over by the Hop Devil. Of course, we could just start pushing the world's hops production north. There's plenty of unused space up there in the northern parts of Canada, Greenland, and Russia that could host enough hops farms to supply our craft brewers.

Hubby Chaser

Those wacky hippies at Ben and Jerry's are at it again--they've renamed their "Chubby Hubby" ice cream flavor to "Hubby Hubby" to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage in Vermont. But is it a step forward for gay rights--or a step forward for bloggers who go for the cheap joke? Check out the description of the flavor on the picture--those pretzels don't look so appetizing when they're presented in a gay context. And is it just a coincidence that the word "fudge" appears more than once in the description? Couldn't they have changed it to "chocolate", just for the month that the flavor is on the market? Either that, or just go for the obvious one....

"Packed with fudge!"

Forward March

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Growth Industry

New jobless claims are up again, despite other indicators that the economy is entering a recovery period. But not every company is laying off workers. Some are doing well, and doing their part to increase the work force. Of course, if this keeps up, people won't need government handouts anymore, so this has to be stopped right away. How to accomplish this? Tax the hell out of 'em, of course!

(Hat tip to Starr of Texas and Beer Wars over on Twitter for the links.)

Dying Breed

Check out the second page of this article, on Walgreen's rejection of the state's lowball bid on Medicaid reimbursement. Specifically, this quote (the emphasis is mine):

The dispute now amounts to a $1 million savings for the state, and a $500,000 cost for Walgreens. That kind of money might be found in the seat cushions of Legislative Hall or the lint screens of a pharmaceutical salesman's clothes dryer. It represents an almost imperceptible blip in the record earnings Walgreen's has recorded in its past 34 consecutive fiscal years.

This isn't one a quote from a member of the churches pressuring Walgreen's to cave in. These are the words of the supposedly fair, unbiased reporter who wrote the story. This isn't in the op-ed section; it's in the local news section. Jabs like this are the precise reason why I don't subscribe to the print edition of my local paper. Am I the only one? Or is biased reporting part of the reason why this venerable medium is circling the drain? Unlike the News-Journal, I'll let you be the judge.