Musings of a Domer

Are you Kidding?

2007-01-29T18:48:00.000-06:00

So I was watching NBC News today, minding my own business when Brian Williams said the following, "The next story may have viewers wondering why we are spending airtime on this, but people across America are mourning the death of a thoroughbred horse." That horse, of course (I sound like Mr. Ed) is Barbaro, who was euthanized today. So people are mourning the death of a horse? WTF? Apparently, there are quite few who are actually mourning his death, and to all those who are mourning the death of Barbaro, I have the following to say to cheer you up: He should make many fine bottles of glue. But I kid. I kid. Barbaro, I hope you're enjoying the big salt lick in the sky.

Scientologists Are Absolutely Nuts

2007-01-23T20:10:00.000-06:00

I know the title of this post is not telling you something you didn't already know, but this time they really have gone too far. Are you ready for this? Tom Cruise is seen as the Jesus Christ figure of the Church of Scientology. I s--t you not. Check out these comments in The Sun today:

The Mission: Impossible star has been told he has been “chosen” to spread the word of his faith throughout the world.

And leader David Miscavige believes that in future, Cruise, 44, will be worshipped like Jesus for his work to raise awareness of the religion.

A source close to the actor, who has risen to one of the church’s top levels, said: “Tom has been told he is Scientology’s Christ-like figure.

“Like Christ, he’s been criticised for his views. But future generations will realise he was right.”

So Tom Cruise is like Christ and there's going to be a reality show where the winner loses his virginity, either I'm drunk or the world is going to hell today.

Hat tip: Best Week Ever

I Think We've Reached the Final Frontier of Reality Shows

2007-01-23T19:52:00.000-06:00

We've seen people stranded on desert islands. We've seen people eat pig anuses. We've seen one woman marry a millionaire whom she's never met. It seemed like it was impossible for reality television to be taken any further until I saw this on TMZ:

[S]ources tell TMZ that famed on-camera sexhibitionists [Paris] Hilton and [Jenna] Jameson have been contacted about "participating" in a reality show currently in production called "Virgin Territory," in which a group of the uninitiated will find their way to the promised land. Ironically, it's being brought to TV by the purveyor of Paris' sex tape, Kevin Blatt, who predicts that even more people will watch "Territory" than "One Night in Paris," Hilton's infamous night-visioned romp.

When I saw this, I nearly spit out my Hamburger Helper. Losing your virginity on reality television? You have to be joking right? Well, apparently the show already has a website, and if it's a joke, it's a pretty damn elaborate one. The website, by the way, is absolute hilarious, check out this paragraph from its main page:

Ten men are verified as virgins before being locked in a house in the San Fernando Valley, where they must abstain from any sexual contact, even with themselves. Their every move is monitored and recorded to ensure that they remain “Masters of their Domain.” A celebrity host presides over the Virgins as they are tested in their knowledge, desire and ability to lose their virginity.

Wait, wait, what? Medically certified virgins? How do you certify that a guy is a virgin? Who knows, but this definitely sounds like a reality show for the Fox network.

The Big Game

2007-01-22T18:11:00.000-06:00

With the Super Bowl match-up set between my beloved Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts, it's important to know a little bit more about this game and what better place to learn more about this game than from the fine people at Kissing Suzy Kolber who explain why the future of the world is at stake in this game. And then check out their exclusive posts from Rex Grossman throughout the season here, here, here. You'll definitely look at Grossman in a whole new light.

I Got This Playing on a Loop

2007-01-22T00:28:00.000-06:00

Bring on the Colts!!!!

Notre Dame Football News Round-Up

2007-01-11T16:02:00.000-06:00

Lots of Notre Dame news today. The first being that Darius Walker announced that he will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft. I have to say that this is a smart move for Walker. While he is likely to be a late 3rd round or early 4th round pick at best, he was not going to improve his stock much next year and in fact, would more likely hurt his NFL stock, as Notre Dame looks to be loaded at running back next year and there's always a risk of a Senior year injury. The biggest knock against Walker is his lack of speed and spending another year at Notre Dame is not going to help that. Walker should be a solid third down back for some NFL team.

The second big news item of the day is that nine Notre Dame players were granted fifth years. They are: Tom Zbikowski, Travis Thomas, John Carlson, John Sullivan, Trevor Laws, Dwight Stephenson, Joe Brockington, Ambrose Wooden and Geoff Price. To get Carlson, Sullivan and Laws back are huge. Carlson should be a great safety blanket for the new Notre Dame quarterback, and Sullivan and Laws provide much needed depth and experience to the offensive line and defensive line respectively. It's also good to have Geoff Price back who did a great job punting this year.

The third big new item of the day is that Notre Dame has their 17th verbal commitment of their recruiting class and it's a shocker: Chris Little, the stud offensive tackle from Georgia. It's a shocker because just a few days ago at the Army All-American game, Little announced that he would be attending Florida State, but with a change in the offensive coaching staff, Little had a change of heart and has committed to the Irish. If Little does in fact sign with the Irish (and at this point, I won't believe he has signed with Notre Dame until I see his signature since he seems to change his mind constantly), Notre Dame's two year run at recruiting offensive linemen might be the most impressive crop of offensive linemen in recent memory at Notre Dame. In the past two years, Notre Dame has recruited ten offensive linemen. That should open lots of running room for James Aldridge and company and keep Jimmy Clausen in one piece.

Notre Dame Coaching Comings and Goings?

2007-01-09T16:10:00.000-06:00

Blue Gray Sky has got some good stuff about some potential coaching changes on Charlie Weis's staff.

The Funniest Thing You'll See All Day

2007-01-09T15:49:00.000-06:00

So I thought my Scott Weiland story below could not be topped in hilarity, but then I saw this little gem, discussing who 7'6" Yao Ming is dating. All I have to say is go Yao, it's your birthday, it's your birthday.

If This Doesn't Convince Charlie Weis to Stay, I Don't Know What Will

2007-01-09T15:23:00.000-06:00

I have to say that I'm getting a good chuckle out of all these idiotic New York columnists who think Charlie Weis is going to leave Notre Dame to coach the New York Giants. Let's see he has a buyout of about $25 million. He's coaching at his alma mater, which oh by the way, is the most prestigious job in all of college football. And he's at place that his family loves. While most rational thinking Notre Dame fans share in my laughter about this Weis to Giants talk, one Notre Dame fan is quite worried Weis might leave. His name is Scott Weiland. Yes, that Scott Weiland, the former lead singer of the Stone Temple Pilots and current leader singer of Velvet Revolver and role model for America's youth in saying no to drugs. Here's what Scott had to say:

Okay Charlie, at this point I am going to assume that you haven't spoken to the Giants' organization about their 'potential coaching job.' But LEAVING NOTRE DAME, your alma mater, without having achieved really anything of monolithic proportions like you've promised us, is absurd and unfair. So at this point, I will get on my knees and beg. Don't do it, coach. Don't do it! Stay and do what you promised; your team, your school, the fans, the legacy deserves to be taken to the promised land. Your recruits, Charlie, who are just beginning to trickle in, came to play for you. You! Not someone else and they are coming to South Bend to those brutal winters from places all over the country — from the South to Southern Cal, just to be led to the promised land. Jimmy Clausen, the most highly recruited player in high school football, committed to Notre Dame. When asked why in a recent interview, he said to play for coach Weis and get a new environment. Why? The promised land, the crown jewel, the national championship. But we can't start talking about Notre Dame in the same breath as a national championship yet. You've gotta win one. The team's gotta go out there and get one. We, the Irish nation, fight for it with you together and we will all win one together and walk away to the promised land together.

Yours truly, Scott Weiland, rock n' roll singer, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, VELVET REVOLVER, legacy and Notre Dame football fan.

To steal some of the thunder from Deadspin, kids say no to drugs.

Hat tip: Deadspin

I Don't Know About This

2007-01-07T20:13:00.000-06:00

This article was on the first page today of the Chicago Sun-Times Commentary section, and I have to say that I do not know a straight male who is like this, but maybe I'm totally dense or maybe I hang out with the wrong crowd.

Nick Saban is a Loser, a Quitter and Most of All, a Liar

2007-01-04T00:58:00.000-06:00

Saban takes the Alabama head coaching job.

Well that sucked

2007-01-04T00:16:00.000-06:00

Another year, another embarrassing bowl game loss. While I think LSU had superior talent to Notre Dame, there is plenty of blame to go around. Let's first start with the obvious, Rick Minter. If Charlie Weis has any sense, he tells Minter on the flight home that he can start packing up his office. Let's see, Notre Dame couldn't rush the passer. They couldn't tackle anyone. They also left about 20 yard cushions for the LSU receivers. Other than that, a bang up job by the Notre Dame defense. They were totally outschemed by LSU's offensive cordinator, Jimbo Fisher, and a majority of that blame falls on Minter. While Minter gets a F- for his performance tonight, some of the blame for this pitiful defensive effort falls on Weis as well. He certainly has some say in defensive gameplanning, and I'm still trying to figure out what Notre Dame's defensive game plan was.

In keeping with the coaching blamegame, Weis also deserves a lot of the blame for the offensive woes. I just did not understand the need for Weis to be as pass wacky in his play calling. Unlike many other games this season, Notre Dame had quite of bit of success running the football, yet Darius Walker had only 22 carries and James Aldridge had 3, 2 of which came at garbage time in the 4th quarter. With the explosive LSU offensive, this was the type of game that you should have gone to a game plan similar to the USC game last year where you run ball 2 out of 3 times and control the clock, yet Weis showed no patience with the running game. In addition, I find it concerning that this is the second straight bowl game that Weis was completely outcoached.

While I'm busy bashing Weis, I do want to give credit to Walker, who was one of the few Notre Dame players that actually showed up to play. I saw a burst from Walker that I have not seen before and I saw him actually outrunning defenders which I usually only see when Notre Dame is playing Stanford or the service academies.

Unfortunately, Walker was one of the few positives for the Irish. I think the biggest disappointment from the game was the play of Brady Quinn who was 15 for 35 for 148 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. I would have excused some of the play of Brady Quinn if he got no help from the running game, but he actually got quite a bit of help from the running game yet he consistently missed open receivers or made poor decisions. My next comment is probably going to upset some of the Notre Dame partisans that read this blog, but there is no way that Brady Quinn is a number one pick. I love his leadership. I love his toughness and his arm, but his accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. If I had the number one pick right now, I would much rather have JaMarcus Russell than Brady Quinn. Not only does Russell have the arm and the toughness of Quinn, but unlike Quinn, he is much more accurate with his passes and actually hits his receivers in stride.

So with another disappointing bowl game for the Irish, what's next? It will be interesting to see what kind of coaching turnover there will be in the next few weeks. I would be shocked if Minter is not gone within a week. There is going to be a very interesting 4-way quarterback battle between uber-freshman Jimmy Clausen, Demitrus Jones, Zach Frazer and Evan Sharpley, and I think that quarterback play will be the least of Charles Weis's concerns next year. But I think the most interesting thing to watch for next season is to see if the team plays with more enthusiasm with a mostly green starting lineup (thanks Ty!). I think that's what bothered me most about the team this season, it seemed like they were always so uptight and lacked the enthusiasm of last year's team. Let's hope that changes next season.

Saddam Hussein Executed

2006-12-29T21:37:00.000-06:00

I don't agree with the death penalty, but I did not shed a tear when I read that Saddam Hussein was executed.

The Story ESPN is Not Talking About

2006-12-28T00:49:00.000-06:00

And what story may that be? Why the disaster that is the Alabama head coaching search? It's been a little over a month since Alabama fired Mike Shula, who went 10-2 and received a contract extension just a year earlier. While I don't think Shula was that great of a coach, you only fire a coach if you can get a coach who was better than the last coach, and to this point it doesn't look too good that Alabama is going to be successful in that respect. Alabama has certainly tried. Steve Spurrier. No. Bobby Petrino. No. Rich Rodridguez. Ok, maybe. On second thought, no. Nick Saban. No. No. No. No. For the last time no and please stop calling me or I'm going to call the police. And these are just the names we know about. Who knows who else has turned down the job. At this rate, Alabama will probably have to settle for scientists to try to bring Bear Bryant back from the dead or rehiring Gene Stallings.

Even though this coaching search has been been f-ed up from day one, have we heard a peep from the world wide leader about this? Of course not. No breathless, X coach turned down the job today well I guess Alabama football is irrelevant stories. But hmmm, that always hasn't been ESPN's stance. I seem to recall a head coaching search of a prominent college football program a couple of years ago that ESPN couldn't wait to broadcast how screwed up the coaching search was and who had turned down the job. Urban Meyer, Jon Gruden, Bobby Petrino, Mike Bellotti, Barry Alvarez, Jeff Tedford, Dave Wannstedt, former president Bill Clinton and on and on. It didn't matter whether that said school was actually interested in the coach. So I have to ask ESPN, why the double standard?

Saturday Night Live Was Ten Years Ahead of the Curve

2006-12-28T00:42:00.000-06:00

Though Gerald Ford was not eaten by wolves nor did Richard Nixon climb out of his grave and strangle Gerald Ford.

Let's get back to this blogging thing

2006-12-28T00:37:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been on hiatus for almost two months now. I'm finally done with my first semester of law school and I have recovered from the misery that is law school final exams, and I'm ready to get back at it. Thankfully, I don't start school until January 15 and the beginning portion of the semester should (fingers crossed) be pretty light, so hopefully there will be fairly regular posting for the next few months.

Going on Hiatus

2006-11-03T21:02:00.000-06:00

As you might have noticed, postings have been non-existent for a few weeks now. Law school has been consuming most of my time and any little extra time that I do have involves me going out and enjoying some beverages. Unfortunately, my law school time commitments are only going to get worse as finals are about a month away. Therefore, I'm officially putting the blog on hiatus until after finals end in mid-December when I plan on being back with a vengeance!

Law School is a Very Jealous Mistress

2006-10-15T14:51:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the total lack of posts for the past couple of weeks. As the old saying goes, "Law school is a very jealous mistress," so I've been a bit busy. In fact, I got three assignments for Legal Writing I need to do today. While I wanting to put in hole in my head, enjoy this video of Miami returning to its convicts roots. Somewhere Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erikson are smiling.

In Honor of the Bears 4-0 Start and Their 37-6 Throttling of the Defending NFC Champions

2006-10-02T00:52:00.000-05:00

Lets Just Say I'm Confident About This Weekend

2006-09-29T14:29:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to go into long winded reasons this weekend why or how Notre Dame will win or loss, but I will say one thing: I am so confident about tomorrow that I made a bet with a Purdue alum in my section at law school that Notre Dame will win and I'm giving him 21.5 points. Notre Dame 49 Purdue 21

You Jackin It?

2006-09-29T14:18:00.000-05:00

A while back, I did a couple of posts here and here of a moustached Ohio State fan who got caught masterbating in a library and was then confronted about it by investigative reporter Carl Monday. Well the Daily Show decided to do a little piece on Carl Monday and hilarity ensued. Enjoy!

WARNING: The Following Post Contains Visually Disturbing Images, Reader Discretion is Advised

2006-09-27T22:42:00.001-05:00

We've seen many celebrity sex tapes leaked over the years such as Colin Farrell, Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton to name a few. So who would you think would be the next celebrity to have a sex tape released? Britney Spears? Nope. Christina Aguliera? Try again. Eva Longoria? Guess again. Jessica Alba? I wish. How about Screech Powers, aka Dustin Diamond? Not only am I not kidding, but apparently Screech is into some kinky stuff according to the New York Daily News:

Everyone who remembers Diamond as a lovable putz is in for a shock once they see a 40-minute video in which he engages in a kinky three-way with two women, sources tell us.
We can't get too graphic here, but word is that the action includes some bodily functions and an act known as a "Dirty Sanchez."

Excuse me while I go throw up.

This is Funny

2006-09-26T21:27:00.000-05:00

Random Thoughts About the Michigan State

2006-09-25T13:09:00.000-05:00

Bob Davie questioning Charlie Weis about time management is like Saddam Hussein questioning the compassion of a priest.
So yeah, Bob, Michigan State is awfully tough to beat at home at night.
Best commentary from the game, "There's a reason why they're Michigan State."
Best Picture from the game:

Yes, that is a picture of the Michigan State players guarding the 50 yard line after the game to prevent Notre Dame planting their own flag. Little did John L. Smith know that Notre Dame is not a bunch of classless thugs like his team.
Is it just me or does John L. Smith look like Ernest

Thank god Michigan State is coached by John L. Smith. As one blogger put it, "If they only had to play the first half, John L. Smith would be goddamn Knute Rockne." Michigan State's play calling in the second half was mind blogging.
It was nice for once that the refs actually called holding on someone other than Notre Dame.
It would be nice if someone outside of Ryan Harris and Sam Young stepped up and provided some running lanes for Darius Walker.
Despite Brady Quinn's strong second half play, he still seems a little off and is not making the throws he was making last year.
Mitchell Thomas is completely worthless at linebacker.
It was nice to see Jeff Smardzija not going through the motions and making some big time plays.
The 1st quarter was quite possible the worst quarter I have ever witnessed as a Notre Dame fan.
A Ty Willingham coached team does not make that 4th quarter comeback.
Lambert's second interception was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen.
Barring some unforeseen hiccup, Notre Dame should be playing in a BCS game.
I still have no idea how Notre Dame won that game.

Michigan State Prediction

2006-09-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

Let's see if I can get my predictions on track. I've been off the past couple of weeks (though one prediction I was glad to be off on). Saturday night's game against Michigan State will show all of the media assclowns of the world that Charlie Weis is not Ty Willingham. Notre Dame is going to come out sharp offensively and defensively looking to avenge for last year's loss and last week's embarrassing performance. I expect big games from Brady Quinn, Darius Walker, Rhema McKnight and Jeff Smardzija. If Notre Dame does not put up at least 40 points, I will be very surprised.

Michigan State always plays this game as their Super Bowl, so this game should remain close for a while, but Notre Dame's talent and conditioning will take over in the 4th quarter and Notre Dame pulls away. Notre Dame 41 Michigan State 28

Sweet

2006-09-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

With another strong season under way, and proving yet again why it is the best show on television, I was delight to see this bit of news today: HBO Renews The Wire, Acclaimed Drama Series From David Simon, For Its Fifth Season.

Moving On

2006-09-20T12:33:00.000-05:00

I've been neglecting to offer any analysis on the Michigan game for a few reasons. One, I was too busy drowning my sorrows with Miller High Life and shots of Jager to offer any immediate analysis on Saturday. Two, law school has been keeping my attention the past few days. And three, there isn't that much to say about the game. No one except Geoff Price played well on Saturday. The execution by both sides of the ball was pitiful and Charlie Weis deserves a good amount of the blame. Saturday's game reminded me of some of the crap I watched my senior year at Notre Dame when the Ty Willingham era was in full swing.

But that leads me to my next point, anyone comparing Charlie Weis to Ty Willingham in the words of the Irish Roundtable should be punched in the throat. Charlie Weis is not anywhere close to Ty Willingham. He actually recruits on consistent basis, as he got another 5 star recruit on Monday in the form of cornerback Gary Gray despite the blowout. He doesn't speak on such platitudes that no one has any idea what he is saying. He doesn't spend his free time on lowering his handicap instead of figuring out how to make this football team better. He doesn't rely on smokes and mirrors to win games like Ty's first Notre Dame team. But what Irish fans need to realize is that while Notre Dame had a chance to win a national championship this season, their margin of error was razor thin. They have zero depth on both sides of ball due to neglect from the Willingham era. And that was so evident on Saturday. If the Irish had any depth this past Saturday, players like Smardzija or McKnight or Lambert or Mitchell Thomas would have been riding the pine later in the game for their craptacular play.

It's going to get worse before it's gets better, especially when you consider next year, Notre Dame will have only 9 seniors on the team and they have early season games at Penn State and at Michigan. I don't think Notre Dame will be competing for a national championship until 2008 when Weis will have three full classes under him and his first full class will be juniors.

But getting back to this year, yes Saturday was horrible, but let's avoid these chicken little proclamations that Notre Dame sucks and will be lucky to be playing in the Continental Tire Bowl. This team still has a great chance to make it to a BCS game. After this Saturday's game against Michigan State, the only serious tests left for the Irish are Stanford and USC. And if they can return to the level of play that was exhibited in the Penn State game, there's no reason why Notre Dame shouldn't finish the season 11-1 or 10-2.

In Honor of Michigan Week

2006-09-13T13:25:00.000-05:00

I give you the following picture which I posted last year during Michigan week.

Immediate Penn State Reactions

2006-09-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

As I begin to type this, there is still five minutes left in the game, but barring the most incredible comeback ever, Notre Dame should be heading into the Michigan game 2-0. Here are my immediate thoughts about the game.

I need to pick against Notre Dame more often because whenever I do it, it seems like Notre Dame takes that team behind the woodshed for a beat down.
The Penn State coaches deserve a F- for their performance today. I was beginning to wonder if Bill Dedrick and Kent Baer had secretly taken over as the coordinators. Seriously, they could not have picked a much worse game plan on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Let's see Notre Dame can't stop the run and we get 5-6 yards every time we run the ball. I know let's throw the ball 40 times. Or Georgia Tech and Ohio State had a lot of success blitzing Notre Dame. I know let's just rush three every time so Brady Quinn can pick our defense apart. Ayeayeaye. These are the kind of games that get coaches fired.
Speaking of the run defense, yikes. Other than the kicking game, this is my biggest concern about Notre Dame right now. Notre Dame might have gotten lucky this week that Penn State's offensive coordinator did not have clue on how to attack Notre Dame's weakness. Notre Dame will not be so lucky next week when they play Michigan. Man boobs is notorious for getting conservative in big games, which means Michael Hart will probably get at least 25 carries next week. The linebackers must do a much better job tackling and getting off their blocks otherwise it could be a long afternoon for the Notre Dame defense next week.
But let me give some praise to the Notre Dame defense. The amount of improvement by the pass defense has been phenomenal. They still need to generate more pressure from their front four, but they are getting very solid play from their secondary and they're not giving up as many big plays via the passing game as they did last year and Minter doesn't seem afraid this year to use the blitz, which has led to more pressure on the quarterback.
Good to see the old Brady Quinn back. He still made a few shaky throws, but for the most part, a vintage Quinn performance, 25-36, 287 yards and three touchdowns.
Speaking of seeing the old Brady Quinn, it was good to see the old offense back. 41 points and nearly 400 yards of total offense and the totals would have be higher had it not been 41-3 in the fourth quarter.
Hey Carl Goia doesn't totally suck. I still find myself closing my eyes and praying whenever Notre Dame kicks a field goal, but it's good to know that kicking a field goal will not be a totally hopeless proposition.
Enough about this game, bring on Michigan!!

Fearless Notre Dame Prediction

2006-09-08T18:56:00.000-05:00

I'm going to keep this brief because I'm about to go out for my birthday dinner with my parents. Back during my Notre Dame season prediction a few weeks back, I predicted that Notre Dame's only loss would come at the hands of Penn State. Despite Penn State's lackluster play last week against Akron, I'm going to stick to my guns. Why you may ask? I think this game could come down to the kicking game and if that's the case, Notre Dame will lose this game because I'm not sure Notre Dame has a kicker right now that can make anything outside of an extra point. I think the combination of the strong linebacker play of Penn State and my concerns about the Notre Dame pass rush and the linebacker play should keep this game close enough where this comes down to a crucial field goal make or miss. But hopefully, I horribly wrong like I was last year about my Purdue prediction. Penn State 24 Notre Dame 21

5 Days...

2006-09-05T21:00:00.000-05:00

While I was anxiously awaiting the start of the Notre Dame football season, there are now two new things that I am anxiously awaiting, both of which occur on September 10th. Those two things are my birthday and the return of The Wire. I know what you're all thinking, "I can understand why you're excited about your birthday, but what the hell is The Wire? I've never heard of it." The Wire is a little show on HBO that no one watches, but those who do watch it recognize it as the best show on television, and I think it might the be finest television show ever. I don't make such statements lightly. There have been a lot of great shows on television such as Law and Order, 24, Miami Vice, ER, the Sopranos just to name a few. But I think The Wire beats them all. What makes The Wire so special, I'll let the Sports Guy explain:

Readers kept telling me to watch this show. They implored me. They kept e-mailing me. They badgered me. I didn't listen. As I've described multiple times in this space, I hate being told that I should watch a show; I like discovering them at my own speed. And if it made me three or four years late for the party with classics like "The Sopranos" and "24," so be it. It's just that I can't willingly jump onto a show; it needs to happen organically.

For instance, here's what happened with "The Wire:" On a Tuesday night in mid-August, the Sports Gal and I were home with nothing to watch and ending up stumbling onto "The Wire Re-Up" button on HBO On Demand. I'd been avoiding this show for four years because the Baltimore drug scene didn't appeal to me unless Raffie Palmeiro and Miggy Tejada were involved. But the Sports Gal was the one who said, "Let's watch the first show of 'The Wire' and see if we like it."

Within 10 minutes, we were hooked. We ended up banging out three episodes the first night and another three the second night. Then our cable system switched to a new provider ... and all the Season 1 episodes disappeared into thin air. Now we were scrambling. None of the video stores around us had Season 1 in stock. I ended up ordering Season 1 online (two-day delivery courtesy of Amazon Prime), but we were so hooked on the show that when someone returned Season 1 to our video store, we rented the last three discs that same night. We banged out the last seven episodes in two nights before the DVD was even delivered. That's how hooked we were.

I'll go this far: I'd put Season 1 of "The Wire" against anything. The first three seasons of "The Sopranos." Seasons 1 or 2 of "24." The first seasons of "NYPD Blue," "ER" or "Miami Vice." You name it. I have never seen a show like it. Season 2 wasn't as good (if Season 1 was an A-plus-plus-plus, then Season 2 was a B-plus), and we're just about to dive into Season 3, so I don't have an opinion on that yet. Everyone seems to agree that they outdid themselves with Season 4 and that it's a legitimate masterpiece. Just know that you can absolutely start watching Season 4 without having seen the other three seasons. It's not an ideal way to break into the show, but you can do it.

Without giving too much away, four more things you need to know:

A. Before I started watching "The Wire," my four favorite TV/movie detectives of all-time were Sonny Crockett ("Miami Vice"); Jack Cates ("48 Hrs."); Johnny Kelly ("NYPD Blue"); and Nick Curran (Michael Douglas' character in "Basic Instinct"), who couldn't break away from Sharon Stone even though he knew that every time she climbed on top during sex, there was a 50 percent chance she might ram an ice pick into his chest. But Jimmy McNulty in "The Wire" (played by Dominic West) ... he might end up beating them all before everything's said and done. He might have even moved to No. 1 during the scene in Season 2 when they raid a brothel and he ends up in a threesome before the rest of the cops arrive. Not even Sonny Crockett would have done that.

B. I love any show with a slew of mostly no-name actors that bang their roles out of the park, although it was weird to see one of the leads from "Remember the Titans" playing drug lord Avon Barksdale. With that said, Alonzo Mourning gives an inspired performance as Stringer Bell (Avon's manipulative consigliere). Maybe the best athlete/Hollywood crossover since Kareem in "Airplane." (Wait, that's not Alonzo Mourning? Are we positive?)

C. In an attempt to be gritty, they didn't cast any of those Angie Harmon/Jill Hennessey types who always seem unrealistically cute for a drug/crime show set in a place like Baltimore. And since the actresses on the show are average-looking down the line, guess what happens? It's like the Lambeau parking lot, any press box or any NESCAC keg party ... the females who do appear on this show end up seeming disproportionately hot by about the fifth episode. Absolutely bizarre. I love when this happens.

D. Omar might be my favorite HBO villain since Adebici. And that's saying something. Anyway, I can't believe I didn't watch this show sooner. It enrages me. I'm not doing the "YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS SHOW OR YOUR WHOLE LIFE WILL BE INCOMPLETE!" routine, because that might scare you away. Just know that it's one of the five greatest shows I've ever seen. And I hope you stumble across it some day.

Organically, of course.

Instant Reaction to Notre Dame's First Step Towards a National Championship

2006-09-02T22:51:00.000-05:00

The Notre Dame-Georgia Tech game just ended and whew, Notre Dame survived 14-10. Here are my 8 rapid fire reactions to the game. Why 8? Because I could only think of 8.

Bob Davie is INTOLERABLE to listen to!
Charlie Weis has HUGE balls! I don't know too many coaches who will run a quarterback draw with 16 seconds left in the half or go for it on 4 and 1, up 4 at midfield with a minute left in the game.
Chan Gailey, I think, is missing testicles. Georgia Tech lost this game in the third quarter when they had a fourth and one around midfield and they decided to punt. You ain't going to upset the number two team in the country with conservative playing calling like that.
Carl Goia, thanks for playing, now please go find a seat on the bench. I can't imagine Ryan Burkhart could be much worse. Today's game reaffirmed one of my fears of the season which is that the kicking game could keep Notre Dame playing for a national championship.
Darius Walker, thank you for saving us from an embarrassing opening game loss and eight hundred Sportscenter bits on whether Notre Dame is overrated. He was without question the player of the game.
Notre Dame was uncharacteristically sloppy today. 11 penalties, a few of which cost Notre Dame big plays. Notre Dame might be able to get away with slop like this against Georgia Tech, but they commit 11 penalties against Michigan or USC, Notre Dame will lose. I'm sure Charlie Weis will be dealing with this penalty issue at practice all this week.
Brady Quinn looked a little shaky at times, as he missed some open receivers and made a few awful throws. Luckily, none of those awful throws ended up in Georgia Tech's hands. It seems to me, based on the success that Ohio State and now Georgia Tech has had in making Quinn uncomfortable, Notre Dame is going to see more teams bring the house in order to slow down Brady Quinn and the Notre Dame offense.
Last but not least, let me give some praise to the defense. The defense has been maligned for the past eight months now and they came out and played a very solid game, holding Georgia Tech to only 258 yards of total offense. They contained Calvin Johnson and Reggie Ball. They held Tashard Choice to 55 yards rushing. They put pressure on Reggie Ball. I'm little concerned about the tackling and the linebackers' ability to take on blocks, but hopefully those will be issues that will work themselves out as the season roles on.

Prediction

2006-09-02T11:21:00.000-05:00

I've been neglecting to make my Notre Dame-GA Tech prediction, so here we go. One of two things will happen tonight. GA Tech plays Notre Dame really tough and Notre Dame pulls it out with a late field goal or touchdown or Notre Dame blows out GA Tech and this game is over at halftime. I think the latter happens tonight. I think people will be really surprised as to the improvement of the defense. I really think GA Tech is going to struggle to move the ball with an inconsistent quarterback and a banged up offensive line and for all the criticism Notre Dame's defense got last year, they showed last year that if a team only has one good receiver, they can contain him, and I'm not really sure who else Reggie Ball is going to throw to other than Calvin Johnson. Brady Quinn will pick apart the blitzing scheme of the Yellow Jackets and make his first strong case for the Heisman trophy. NOTRE DAME 35 GA TECH 13

Wow

2006-09-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

Kevin Federline has a music video out for his first single "Lose Control", and to give you a sense of how bad this video is, there's a point in the video where Federline starts playing an air guitar. Watch at your risk. Risks include losing the will to live.

Damn It Can't It Be September 2nd Already?

2006-08-25T20:49:00.000-05:00

The Georgia Tech game is a little more than a week away and the 2 deep depth chart has been officially released. There were a few interesting things of note on the depth chart.

Evan Sharpley will be Brady Quinn's back-up. While it may surprise some Irish fans that neither Jones or Frazer were able to beat Sharpley out, I was not at all surprised. I think Sharpley is really underrated and I would not be surprised if he is the starter next season (Yes, you heard that right. It's my bold prediction for next season.)
As of right now, Ryan Burkhart will not be handling the place kicking duties. While Carl Goia probably doesn't have much range outside of 40 yards, I think to rely on freshman kicker in a season where you're expected to compete for a national championship is a much more iffy proposition.
Freshman man-child Sam Young will be your starting right tackle. This speaks volumes to how much of a talent Young is and if he develops each year, he could go down as one of the greatest Notre Dame offensive linemen ever.
Assuming Travis Thomas will not be playing 70-80 snaps a game, Munir Prince is the back-up running back. Everyone has been raving about his speed in camp and I can't wait to see it in person on September 2. He could be lethal as a third down back.
Speaking of Travis Thomas, the Travis Thomas experiment at linebacker seems to be working out as he will be starting at weak-side linebacker.
Chase Anastasio will the be the fourth wide receiver. This was a really big surprise to me because he's always struck me as being a special teams ace and nothing more. However, George West's stone hands in camp may have something to do with Anastasio's place on the depth chart.

Are you Kidding Me?

2006-08-25T20:12:00.000-05:00

One of the my law school orientation activities this week was a lecture called, "Introduction to Lawyering Skills," and the professor's lecture started off by discussing "the myths of the legal profession," and one of the myths he sought to dispel was that there are too many lawsuits. I found myself seriously questioning his arguments when I saw this in the Chicago Tribune the very same day:

Two middle school students' spat over a missing iPod Nano has grown to involve a judge, a lawyer, two parents and a second filing Monday in DuPage County Court.

"I'm disappointed that it got this far," said Melanie McCarthy, mother of Shannon Derrik of Naperville, who claims that classmate Stephanie Eick's carelessness resulted in Shannon's iPod being stolen.

"I had hoped that the Eicks would have offered a settlement," she said. "I'm sure the cost of Mr. [Stephen] Eick's attorney is more than the cost of an iPod."

Stephen Eick of Aurora says he agrees that "disputes between 14-year-olds should not be adjudicated in a circuit court." But, he added, "This is absolutely not my daughter's fault. If it was, we would pay."

The dispute began June 6, the last day of classes at Aurora's Still Middle School. McCarthy claims Stephanie Eick asked to borrow Shannon's iPod to listen to a few songs. Shannon agreed to let her use it, then left the room for a few minutes.

When Stephanie finished listening, she reportedly placed the iPod on Shannon's desk, but Shannon says that when she returned, the iPod wasn't there.

"I put trust in her," Shannon said. "She should have taken care of it. She should have held it and handed it to me."

McCarthy is suing Stephanie for $335, which she said covers the cost of the two-week-old iPod, a black leather case, an unspecified number of downloaded tunes and court costs.

Ah, it's rather appropriate that the person filing the suit is from my hometown of Naperville, a town where residents always find something to complain about no matter how petty it might be. So let me get this straight, you're going to sue a 14-year old for being negligent, probably spend at least as much money as the cost of a new iPod on a lawyer, all so you can be reimbursed for the cost for a new iPod even though you could easily afford to buy your child at least 2 or 3 iPods if your heart desired. Yeah this definitely sounds like a lawsuit worth the court's time.

Apologies

2006-08-25T20:06:00.000-05:00

My apologies for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks, I've been transitioning from working full-time in Washington, D.C. to being a full-time law student in Chicago. While law school will keep me more than busy, hopefully, I'll still be able to post at least a couple of times a week.

WTF?

2006-08-18T13:10:00.000-05:00

Maurice Clarett was bankrolled by an alleged member of an Israeli crime organization after leaving Ohio State.

I think the only way this story gets any stranger is if we find out that he was directing midget porn in order to pay off gambling debts.

Keys to a National Championship Season and my Bold Season Prediction

2006-08-12T15:12:00.000-05:00

Well the season opener is just three weeks away and I think it's about time that I made some predictions about the upcoming season. There are some extremely high expectations for the Irish this year as they currently ranked #3 in the USA Today Coach's Poll and many Irish fans believe that anything less than a national championship will be a disappointment. So before I get to my game by game predictions, I'd like to take a look at the keys for the Irish if they want to be holding that crystal football in January.

Key One: Adequate play from the defense
I figure I'll start with the most obvious key. There is no question that the offense should have little trouble scoring points. I mean I think it's reasonable to expect at least 35 points out of the offense every game. That being said, it doesn't matter how great your offense is, it's nearly impossible to go undefeated if you can't stop anybody. At the same time, one of the great benefits of having a great offense is that you don't need a world-beater defense to win game after game. But in order for Notre Dame to have an adequate defense, they're going to need some significant improvement in their pass defense. In order for that to happen, they'll need better communication and better execution from their secondary and most importantly, a consistent pass rush. The return of Travis Leiko and Chris Frome and the addition of Rasheon McNeil and Darrin Walls and having 9 returning starters in the second year of Rick Minter's defensive scheme should help bolster the pass defensive, but it remains to be seen if that will be enough to avoid Ohio State-esque disasterous defensive games.

Key Two: Having a Consistent Kicking Game
If you're going to win a National Championship, you're going to need to win a couple of close games and in many of those close games, the kicking game is the difference between a win and a loss. With the loss of D.J. Fitzpatrick to graduation, Notre Dame will have to rely on two unknowns in the kicking game with Geoff Price punting and true freshman Ryan Burkhart place kicking. Geoff Price had a pretty solid spring season, so I think Notre Dame should be fine with the punting game, but I am really concerned about Burkhart. I know he's coming in with a number of accolades, but I think its tough to win a national championship with a true freshman kicker who has not had much experience in making tough pressure kicks in front of 80,000 people. I'll be anxious to see how he kicks in a hostile atmosphere on September 2.

Key Three: Avoiding Injuries
Charlie Weis did a masterful job in his first full year as head coach in recruiting and adding some much needed depth at positions like offensive line and defensive backs. That being said, it's going to take more than one good recruiting class to undue the damage of the Willingham era. While the Irish have some significant talent on both sides of the ball, they're still thin at virtually every position and they could be relying on a lot of freshman to be the primary back-ups at various positions. You are not going to win a national championship if you have to rely on a significant number of freshman to contribute. The Irish were for the most part able to avoid the injury bug last year and they'll need more of the same this year.

Now that I've touched on my three keys for the season, it's on to my predictions.

September 2 @GA Tech-Win
Expect Brady Quinn to have a huge day against the inexperienced Yellow Jacket secondary.

September 9 Penn State-Loss
The lack of experience in the kicking game hurts the Irish in this close game.

September 16 Michigan-Win
Come on, like Man Boobs could ever win in South Bend.

September 23 @ Michigan State-Win
The defense makes a couple big stops in what will be a high scoring affair.

September 30 Purdue-Win
A return to the good old days when Purdue was just a patsy on our schedule.

October 7 Stanford-Win
This game scares me a little bit, but the Irish should be able to pull away in the fourth quarter of this one.

October 21 UCLA-Win
Brady Quinn throws for at least five touchdown passes.

October 28 @Navy-Win
Yep, same old story.

November 4 North Carolina-Win
Notre Dame should win this easily too, but may be closer than expected.

November 11 @Air Force-Win
Time to fatten up on some service academies.

November 18 Army-Win
Umm, is there any question as to what the result of this game will be?

November 25 @USC-Win
Notre Dame gets revenge for the Bush Push in an hard-fought game that probably won't be decided until the final two minutes.

So Notre Dame will finish the season 11-1, which will probably put them just outside of the national title game. I think what will do in the national title hopes of the Irish this year is the kicking game, which will be a shame because Burkhart will probably be a stud in a year or two. But hopefully I'm wrong about the kicking game and I'll be screaming myself horse in Phoenix, Arizona in early January.

Is There Anything Worse Than Being the Catcher for the New York Mets

2006-08-10T15:28:00.000-05:00

Back when Mike Piazza was the catcher for the Mets, he became fodder for the New York City tabloids when there were whispers about his sexuality. Now his replacement, Paul Lo Duca, has become fodder for the tabloids when it was discovered that his wife, a (Warning: Link NSFW) former Playboy Playmate and star of Lusty Latin Ladies is filing for divorce after she found out that Lo Duca was cheating on her. The NY Post who has been tracking this vital story since Day One revealed yesterday and discussed further today who Lo Duca was having an affair with and it's a 19 year-old former college student named Krista Guterman. The Post's story today on this new development is priceless:

Paul Lo Duca's sexy Playboy-model wife ran right to her lawyer yesterday morning after reading The Post and learning about her hubby's luscious teenage para mour - whom acquaintances described as a serial man stealer....

...People who knew Guterman before she dropped out of the state school described her as the kind of person who would have loved to boast of her new catch. She also gained a reputation - and a lot of enemies - for allegedly stealing other girls' boyfriends before meeting Lo Duca.
"She went and tried to be with my boyfriend," said Tara Feuerstein, 20, who was the president of a sorority where Guterman had sought membership. "I don't know if she was interested in him seriously, or just wanted everything I had. She was also with three other guys at the time."
Feuerstein said she even witnessed Guterman's wild exhibitionism at a party earlier this year. "She was having sex with this guy and the door was open," Feuerstein said.
She and others greeted Guterman's involvement in the Lo Duca divorce scandal with undisguised glee as they told of her past alleged dalliances.
"We're doing this because she needs to be stopped in her tracks," said Emily Williams, 19, a former friend who claims she witnessed Guterman dating the beau of one of her friends. "She can't just keep trying to take other people's boyfriends."

Affairs, man-stealing and back-stabbing female friends. Man, I think the only way this story gets better is if Maurice Clarett and his four guns, hatchet, bulletproof vest and half drank bottle vodka are somehow involved. I have to say this though, if you're going to cheat on your wife or significant other (let me point out that I'm not condoning infidelity in any way), you better be having an affair with someone more attractive than your current significant other. Sadly, Mr. Lo Duca failed miserably in that respect. Here's a pic of Lo Duca and Guterman:

It appears Mr. Lo Duca traded his Porsche 911 in for a Ford Tempo. For shame. For shame.

Football Season is Almost Here

2006-08-07T22:55:00.000-05:00

Notre Dame had their first practice today which means only one thing, the season opener is just a few weeks away! I can't wait. This is probably the most excited I've been about a Notre Dame season since Lou Holtz was roaming the sidelines. There's two big stories so far out of camp. The first being that back-up running back Travis Thomas will be seeing time at linebacker. According to Weis:

First thing we did, when you have a kid who it's his fourth year in the program and he's a great athlete and a backup, you look at your linebacker position and you see that you're not real happy with the speed that you have at the position. Well, then you have to figure out where the answers are. Now are the answers are the freshman coming in, Smith and Richardson, or do you have the answers currently here already on your team.

And coming from the Patriot mentality, you always try to build from within; that's what I did. I evaluated our team to try to feel who I had the best opportunity to go over there and not just to go over there but go over there and play. So I went back and researched. He went to high school in Pennsylvania, he was a great defensive player when he was in high school. I went, he was also one of our best tacklers on special teams. So we started talking then and started meeting with Rick then. It's been an ongoing process. It's not like we're going to go out there and wing it. He knows if I need him on the second play of the game to carry the ball, he'll be ready to go and do that, too.

I think this move says two things. One, our linebacker depth is god awful. I mean why else would you take a guy who's been playing running back for the past four years and convert him to linebacker. I mean I think there's no question that Thomas has the athletic ability and tackling ability to play linebacker, but I really wonder if he'll have the instincts to be an above average linebacker. Two, Weis must have an awful lot of confidence that one of the freshman, James Aldridge, Munir Prince or Luke Schmidt will be a sufficient back-up to Darius Walker. I would not be surprised if Prince is the one to emerge as that back-up. Weis is already raving about his speed and as long as he doesn't have Marcus Wilson disease and fall down when any defender breathes on him, he could be quite a force on 3rd down.

The other big story in camp is the return of Travis Leiko, who left the team last year to be with his ailing parents. Leiko has put on an additional 10-15 pounds since leaving the team and Weis is already raving about his play in camp. If Leiko can be a force on the defensive line, that could go a long way to suring up a suspect defense.

Only 25 more days to kick off.

Go Build Some Houses Jimmy

2006-08-01T20:38:00.000-05:00

Every dictators favorite coddler, former president Jimmy Carter, had an Op-Ed in today's Washington Post about the current situation in the Middle East and he made a couple very perplexing points that I'd like to address. Here's the first passage:

It is inarguable that Israel has a right to defend itself against attacks on its citizens, but it is inhumane and counterproductive to punish civilian populations in the illogical hope that somehow they will blame Hamas and Hezbollah for provoking the devastating response. The result instead has been that broad Arab and worldwide support has been rallied for these groups, while condemnation of both Israel and the United States has intensified.

I have to say that this passage has a major contradiction. One of the consequences of Israel defending itself is that civilians are accidentally killed from time to time. This might come as a shock to Jimmy, but it is impossible to avoid civilian deaths in this situation when Hezbollah fighters are dressed in civilian clothing and firing from civilian population areas. Carter almost seems to suggest that Israel is deliberately punishing the civilian population in Lebanon in order win support from the people of Lebanon. Unless the leaders in the Israel are drunk and high (which I doubt they are), I seriously doubt this is why they are bombing Lebanon so heavily. No, one of reasons why they are bombing Lebanon so heavily is that they are trying to take out staging areas where Hezbollah are firing rockets into Israel that are deliberately aimed at civilians. Fortunately, the rockets they've been firing so far have been fairly inaccurate for the most part.

This leads me to my next point which is related more to the general situation in the Middle East than to Carter's Op-Ed. In reading the media coverage of this situation and seeing comments from world leaders like Kofi Annan, I seriously wonder if I'm living in some bizarro alternate universe. All I hear about is how heavy handed the Israeli response is and how Israel must immediately agree to a cease-fire. I have to say what about Hezbollah? Aren't they, unlike Israel, intentionally targeting civilians. Why is this not being talked about by world leaders and the MSM? While the civilians deaths have been fewer on the Israeli side, I would say they would be much higher and probably higher than the civilian death count in Lebanon if Hezbollah had similar military technology to the Israelis. Here's another questions I'd like the MSM and world leaders who are condemning Israel to answer. Would not an immediate cease fire be a victory for Hezbollah and would not an immediate cease fire encourage future aggression by Hezbollah?

Ok, back to the Carter Op-Ed. After condemning Israel for its aggression in the current Middle East conflict, Carter then gets to the heart of the matter:

These are ambitious hopes, but even if the U.N. Security Council adopts and implements a resolution that would lead to such an eventual solution, it will provide just another band-aid and temporary relief. Tragically, the current conflict is part of the inevitably repetitive cycle of violence that results from the absence of a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East, exacerbated by the almost unprecedented six-year absence of any real effort to achieve such a goal.
Leaders on both sides ignore strong majorities that crave peace, allowing extremist-led violence to preempt all opportunities for building a political consensus. Traumatized Israelis cling to the false hope that their lives will be made safer by incremental unilateral withdrawals from occupied areas, while Palestinians see their remnant territories reduced to little more than human dumping grounds surrounded by a provocative "security barrier" that embarrasses Israel's friends and that fails to bring safety or stability.
The general parameters of a long-term, two-state agreement are well known. There will be no substantive and permanent peace for any peoples in this troubled region as long as Israel is violating key U.N. resolutions, official American policy and the international "road map" for peace by occupying Arab lands and oppressing the Palestinians. Except for mutually agreeable negotiated modifications, Israel's official pre-1967 borders must be honored. As were all previous administrations since the founding of Israel, U.S. government leaders must be in the forefront of achieving this long-delayed goal.
A major impediment to progress is Washington's strange policy that dialogue on controversial issues will be extended only as a reward for subservient behavior and will be withheld from those who reject U.S. assertions. Direct engagement with the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Palestinian Authority and the government in Damascus will be necessary if secure negotiated settlements are to be achieved. Failure to address the issues and leaders involved risks the creation of an arc of even greater instability running from Jerusalem through Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad and Tehran.

While I would agree that the hard-liners at times in Israel have had too much of a say in Israel's policy towards Palestine and have hurt peace talks, to say that Israel deserves most of the blame in the breakdown of peace talks is a down right ludicrous argument. The Israeli government could be run by the most peace loving individuals, a government filled with Jimmy Carters if you will, but would that mean peace in the Middle East any time soon. Hardly. Why? Because the Palestinians are controlled by fanaticals (mainly Hamas) who believe that Israel should be wiped off the map. It's kind of hard to have peace when one side believes the other side should not exist. Until the hard-liners no longer dominate the conversation on either side, there will be no lasting peace.

Carl Monday Rules

2006-07-29T22:21:00.000-05:00

A while back I did a post on a Ohio State fan named Mike Cooper who got caught masturbating in a public library and was then confronted about it by investigative reporter Carl Monday. Well after that segment aired, Cooper was arrested and a few weeks ago he was sentenced. And guess who was there for his sentencing? Yep, Carl Monday. And as you can imagine, hilarity ensued when Monday tried to get some comments from Cooper. Enjoy!

Chicago City Council Decides to Go Through With Their Dumb Idea

2006-07-26T18:15:00.000-05:00

The living wage proposal targeted at big retailers like Walmart and Sears that I discussed below passed the Chicago City Council today, 35 to 14. I hope the City Council is proud to be a labor union lackey. If this ordinance remains on the books for more than two years I will be shocked.

Washington, D.C. Isn't Alone in Coming Up With Dumb Ideas

2006-07-24T22:09:00.000-05:00

While I have ripped the DC City Council from time to time for their inane policy ideas, I have forgotten that my hometown of Chicago is also quite apt at coming up with dumbass proposals, as the Chicago City Council is proposing a "living wage" proposal that would only apply to large corporate stores like Walmart, Target, Home Depot, etc. The Chicago Tribune explains:

If enacted, the measure would require stores with at least 90,000 square feet and $1 billion in annual sales company-wide to pay workers a minimum of $9.25 an hour plus $1.50 an hour in benefits.

This proposal is completely stupid for two reasons. One, it's likely unconstitutionally, seeing as a federal court recently struck down a somewhat similar law in Maryland which required companies with more than 10,000 employees (the only company to fall into this category in Maryland was Walmart) to spend at least 8 percent of their payroll on health benefits or pay the same amount into a state low-income health insurance fund. Two, if this law is passed, it will drive away companies like Target, Walmart and Home Depot from building new stores in Chicago, as they will find much cheaper labor costs in the suburbs. In fact, both Target and Walmart have threatened to hold off building new stores in Chicago if this new law passes. Thus, this law would deprive many of the poor Chicago neighborhoods of potential economic development and new job opportunities that these stores would bring. Not to mention, that fewer Walmarts and Targets being built means less tax revenue for the city. But hey the City Council is really looking out for the poor people with this proposal.

A Little Discretion Ozzie

2006-07-24T21:51:00.000-05:00

For the second time this season, Ozzie Guillen threw a hissy fit after a White Sox pitcher failed to retaliate after a White Sox player was hit by Texas pitcher Vincente Padilla. Guillen said the following after the game, "[Jon Garland] just missed it, and I expect next time to do a better job." While I have no problem with a White Sox pitcher retaliating after a White Sox player gets hit, Ozzie has to show some discretion. Yell at Garland in the clubhouse behind closed doors. Don't chew him out in the dugout and then tell the media that you're pissed off that your pitcher didn't retaliate because that only leads to fines and suspensions. And frankly, as lousy as the Sox are playing right now, they cannot afford to have Guillen missing games to suspensions.

International Freeloaders

2006-07-18T21:31:00.000-05:00

While it's easy to point fingers at the US and namely President Bush (cough Howard Dean) for current intentional woes such as the Israeli-Hezbollah spat, Iran's continued aggression and North Korea test firing missiles, the Washington Post's Sebastian Mallaby reminds us that some of the other world powers need to be held accountable as well:

So the challenge in the Middle East and beyond is to show that diplomacy can function. In the wake of the Bombay attacks, Pakistan is a good place to start: China, a traditional Pakistani ally, should join with the United States in telling Pakistan to close down its jihad network. Until now, of course, China has regarded India-Pakistan tensions as a strategic plus. But it needs to update its worldview. Trade and investment between China and India are growing, and China depends on imported oil. War in India, or the emboldening of Pakistani jihadists with links to the Middle East, is not in its interest.
But Pakistan is only a beginning. On every major security challenge, from North Korea's missiles to Iran's uranium enrichment, diplomacy is undermined by Chinese, Russian and sometimes Western European foot-dragging. These powers are happy to criticize unilateralism and belligerence at every turn. But when there's a chance to make diplomacy work, they call for U.S. leadership and hide behind the curtains.
There's a direct causal link between this freeloading irresponsibility and Israel's bombardment of Lebanon. The Chinese and Russians ensure every day that diplomacy is limp, and then they sound surprised when Israel chooses the military option.
Western Europeans lament the fact that the Bush administration, its energies sapped by the Iraq war, has not shown much appetite for the shuttle diplomacy that brokered the last Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire in 1996. But if France and others had not undermined sanctions on Iraq in the late 1990s, the case for the military alternative would have been weaker -- and the war might not have happened.

I don't think it's an earth shattering statement to say that in dealing with problems like North Korea or Iran, multi-lateralism is more likely to work than unilateralism, and that multi-lateralism is the preferred method over unilateralism, but multi-lateralism only works when you have willing partners and U.S. has not had that.

Wasn't Rocky V Enough?

2006-07-11T22:55:00.000-05:00

The trailer for the new Rocky movie is up and I have to say that if the preview is any indication, Rocky VI could make Rocky V look like an Oscar-award winning picture.

The Lottery Gods Are Not Smiling Down on Me

2006-07-10T20:28:00.000-05:00

The Notre Dame football ticket lottery results are in and apparently I did something to piss off the lottery gods this year as I was shutout in my attempts to score Michigan and/or Penn State tickets and then my dad was shutout for tickets to the Michigan, Penn State, Purdue, Stanford and UCLA games. F---! I guess I'll have to whore myself out this year to get me some tickets.

I'm Totally Speechless

2006-07-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

You know I thought the unintentional comedy of David Hasselhoff's video, "Hooked on Feeling" could never be matched. I mean what awesome music video does not have the singer dressed in safari gear and jumping up and down in front of a video screen of African tribesmen jumping up and down. But then David Hasselhoff had to come out with a new music video, this one called, "Jump in My Car". I'll let the video speak for itself.

Major props to Lucas for e-mailing this gem to me.

Never a Smart Idea

2006-07-02T00:11:00.000-05:00

While it is possible to eat and drive and talk on your cell phone and drive, I doubt the following activities are possible while driving:

While the Timberwolves were introducing their 2006 draft picks at Target Center on Thursday, current center Eddie Griffin was served with a civil suit accusing him of crashing his SUV into a parked car because he was drunk and watching a pornographic DVD...

....The complaint, filed in St. Paul District Court, alleges the crash occurred because he was "under the influence of alcohol" and masturbating while watching pornography on a TV set in his dashboard.

My immediate reaction to this is what the hell was Eddie Griffin thinking? I mean it's bad enough that he was driving after he had a few drinks, but also masturbating. Jeez. I think the only way he would have been more distracted was if he was trying to work a bunch of cooking appliances in his car like Homer Simpson did in one Simpsons episode. Not to mention, can't something like that wait? I mean Eddie Griffin couldn't have been more than 15-20 minutes away from his house. Couldn't he have waited until he got home before he took care of umm... his needs?

Good to Be Back

2006-07-01T23:09:00.000-05:00

After 3 and half weeks in Los Angeles, I'm finally back in DC, and I have to say that it feels good to be back in DC. I have to say for all the wackiness that DC offers (see here, here and here), DC ain't got nothing on Los Angeles. In the just three short weeks I was there, there was a story of a man who dug a 60 foot hole in his yard because he thought he found gold, people hiding in trees or handcuffing themselves to concrete barriers to prevent law enforcement officials from evicting them from land they never paid rent on, pelicans under the influence of drugs flying into motor vehicles and I'm not even mentioning the regular wackiness that all the celebs in LA have to offer. So the next time I bitch about the wackiness of people in DC, just remind me about LA and then I will quickly realize that things could be worse.

What Will Ozzie Say Next?

2006-06-22T00:55:00.000-05:00

I've been stuck in LA for almost three weeks now and working 80 hour weeks, so I haven't found a whole lot time to follow my beloved White Sox, but I did see today that Sox's manager Ozzie Guillen has been very prominent in the Chicago papers the last few days as he said that Houston manager Phil Gartner refused to shake hands with him at the World Series and treated him "like some crazy Venezuelan" prompting a war of words between himself and Gartner; he got in a beanball war with the Cardinals a couple of nights ago, and he referred to Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Marrotti as a "fag". I'd like to spend a moment on his comments of Jay Marrotti. While I think the use of the word fag is totally inappropriate unless you're English and you're talking about a cigarette. There are many other appropriate words to call Jay Marrotti such as idiot, douche bag, moron, asshole or to use the words of Ozzie Guillen in his "apology" for his comments, "a piece of garbage".

Stuck in LA

2006-06-15T01:05:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the complete lack of posts for the past two weeks, but working 80 hour weeks out in Los Angeles do not allow for a whole lot of free time. I have to say that LA is one strange place. No one drives above 65 on the highway. There are traffic jams on a Sunday morning. You can see the air. It seems like most people here smoke pot. Not to mention, there are tons of weird celebrities including some who like to climb trees to join protesters who don't want to leave an urban farm they've been evicted from. On the positive side, you can't beat the 80 degree mostly sunny days.

Why God? Why?

2006-05-31T20:42:00.000-05:00

First Kevin Federline. Now Paris Hilton. Excuse me while I put a gun in my mouth.

Man + Mustache + OSU Wardrobe = Pervert

2006-05-30T21:50:00.000-05:00

It has not been a good week for mustached men wearing OSU wardrobe. First, OSU fan, Mike Cooper, gets grilled by an investigative reporter after a hidden camera catches him jerking off to porn in a public library. Now another mustached man wearing an OSU hat was busted for trying to seduce what he thought was a 15 year old girl but turned out to be a someone from the watchdog group, Perverted Justice. Who knew that mustached OSU fans could be so creepy? All I know is that if I see a mustached man in an OSU t-shirt, I'm running in the opposite direction.

Editor's Note: I stole the title of my post from The M Zone.

Happy Memorial Day

2006-05-29T14:19:00.000-05:00

While we're enjoying barbecues with friends and family today, let us not forget those who have sacrificed their lives to protect the freedoms that we so often take for granted.

A Fine Representative of Ohio State Fans

2006-05-27T10:57:00.000-05:00

What do you get when you have a man with a mustache wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt, video evidence of him masterbating in a library, an investigative reporter asking him about that video evidence and crazied combat veteran? One of the funniest videos you will ever see.

The Arrogance of Congressmen and Senators Part II

2006-05-24T20:22:00.000-05:00

They still just don't get it:

In a rare bipartisan action, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded yesterday that the Justice Department immediately return documents that were seized when federal agents raided the office of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) as part of a bribery probe.
Noting that "no person is above the law, neither the one being investigated nor those conducting the investigation," Hastert (R-Ill.) and Pelosi (D-Calif.) asserted that the Justice Department must cease reviewing the documents and ensure that their contents are not divulged. Once the papers are returned, "Congressman Jefferson can and should fully cooperate with the Justice Department's efforts, consistent with his constitutional rights," the statement said.
The demands by Hastert and Pelosi further escalated a separation-of-powers conflict between Congress and the White House. The raid on Jefferson's office last weekend was the first time that the FBI has executed a search warrant on the Capitol Hill office of a sitting lawmaker.
The Justice Department initially signaled an unwillingness to return the documents. But White House officials are concerned about the vigorous and repeated complaints of the congressional leaders and have pressed the Justice Department to find a way to placate Congress and defuse the controversy, according to a department official.
Many Republicans and Democrats contend that the unprecedented raid on a congressional office was unduly aggressive and may have breached the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government, which is meant to shelter lawmakers from administrative intimidation. Legal scholars are divided on this issue, however, and some said yesterday that the raid does not violate the letter of the Constitution or subsequent rulings by the Supreme Court.
The FBI is investigating allegations that Jefferson, who represents flood-ravaged New Orleans, took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for using his congressional influence to promote high-tech business ventures in Africa. The eight-term House member has denied wrongdoing and told reporters this week that he intends to run for reelection in November. Jefferson also rejected a call by Pelosi to temporarily vacate his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, the chief tax-writing panel, pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) announced yesterday that he will hold a hearing on the "profoundly disturbing" questions that he said the Justice Department's actions have raised.
A Justice Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of negotiations, said after the Hastert-Pelosi joint statement was released that "the department will not agree to any arrangement or demand that would harm or hurt an ongoing law enforcement investigation."
"We are in discussions with them on something that would preserve law enforcement interests while also allaying their institutional concerns," the official said. "But our position is that we did it legally and we did it lawfully, and we're not going to back away from that."

If you think that's bad, check out this story:

The House Judiciary Committee has just announced a rare recess hearing, set for next Tuesday, entitled, "RECKLESS JUSTICE: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?"

I swear these guys must live in some kind of alternate universe because almost no one outside of the Hill agrees with them. See here, here and here (in the interests of fairness, here's one idiot that agrees with Hastert and Pelosi). Not to mention, as I pointed out in my post yesterday, their separation of powers of argument is pathetic:

Given that the FBI obtained a warrant, what would the legal theory be that the search was unconstitutional?

I don't think the Fourth Amendment provides such an argument. If the government can execute a warrant at a newspaper, or at a lawyer's office, why not a Congressional office? Of course, Congress could pass a law prohibiting searches of Congressional offices, Cf. The Privacy Protection Act, but they haven't done so.

A more likely theory would be the Speech and Debate clause, Art. I, 6, cl. 1:

The Senators and Representatives . . . shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Given that executing a search warrant involves neither an arrest nor questioning, it would seem to me that the Clause isn't applicable. Further, Gravel v. United States, 408 U.S. 606, 626-27 (1972), seems to suggest that Congress is not generally exempt from criminal process under the Clause:

Article I, 6, cl. 1 . . . does not purport to confer a general exemption upon Members of Congress from liability or process in criminal cases. Quite the contrary is true. While the Speech or Debate Clause recognized speech, voting, and other legislative acts as exempt from liability that might otherwise attach, it does not privilege either Senator or aide to violate an otherwise valid criminal law in preparing for or implementing legislative acts. If [the conduct under investigation] would be a crime under an Act of Congress, it would not be entitled to immunity under the Speech or Debate Clause. It also appears that the grand jury was pursuing this very subject in the normal course of a valid investigation.

I thought I could not be more disgusted with Congress after all their recent ineptness, but Congress has found a way to out do themselves. Why am I not surprised that no one trusts Congress these days.

P.S. While I spent much of this post yet again ripping Congressmen and Senators for their arrogance, I would like to commend one, Senator John Warner, who said the following today, "I think it's very important that Congress be treated no differently than the average citizen when it comes to criminal matters." Thank you Senator Warner. I just wish more of colleagues agreed with your point of view.

The Arrogance of Congressmen and Senators

2006-05-23T19:24:00.000-05:00

The big story out of Washington, D.C., the past few days has the been the bribery scandal involving Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who was caught on videotape accepting $100,000 from an FBI informant at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Arlington last July and of which the FBI found $90,000 concealed in food containers and tin foil in a freezer in his Northwest DC home, according to a 83 page court affidavit released on Sunday. That affidavit served as the basis for FBI agents to execute a search warrant at Jefferson's office in the Rayburn House Office Building. While Jefferson's outrage to the search of his office was not unexpected and expectedly humorous (apparently, he was just holding that $100,000 for a friend and that $90,000 they found in his freezer, he just put the money in there because he didn't want it to spoil), the outrage from his fellow Congressmen and Senators from both parties was quite surprising:

The Saturday raid of Jefferson's quarters in the Rayburn House Office Building posed a new political dilemma for the leaders of both parties, who felt compelled to protest his treatment while condemning any wrongdoing by the lawmaker. The dilemma was complicated by new details contained in an 83-page affidavit unsealed on Sunday, including allegations that the FBI had videotaped Jefferson taking $100,000 in bribe money and then found $90,000 of that cash stuffed inside his apartment freezer.
Republican leaders, who previously sought to focus attention on the Jefferson case as a counterpoint to their party's own ethical scandals, said they are disturbed by the raid. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said that he is "very concerned" about the incident and that Senate and House counsels will review it.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) expressed alarm at the raid. "The actions of the Justice Department in seeking and executing this warrant raise important Constitutional issues that go well beyond the specifics of this case," he said in a lengthy statement released last night.
"Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our Republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this Separation of Powers line, in order to successfully prosecute corruption by Members of Congress," he said. "Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement that "members of Congress must obey the law and cooperate fully with any criminal investigation" but that "Justice Department investigations must be conducted in accordance with Constitutional protections and historical precedent."

To borrow a phrase from ABC's John Stossel: Give me a break. The last time I checked my constitution, Congressmen and Senators could be criminally investigated, indicted and convicted just like any other citizen could be. There's no special sanctity with a Congressmen's or a Senator's office that prevents law enforcement officials from executing a search warrant like they would at any other citizens' workplace. This separation of powers argument being thrown around by some on the Hill is downright laughable. While the search of Jefferson's office is unprecedented, I'm willing to bet that this search warrant was more carefully scrutinized than your typical search warrant brought before a federal judge, which is probably why the FBI wrote such a long affidavit to support their search warrant. I don't think this search warrant executed on William Jefferson is going to lead to weekly searches of Congressmen's offices by the FBI. If Congressmen and Senators are so worried about the FBI searching their offices, I offer a simple solution: Don't take bribes.

My already low opinion of Congress just went a little lower today.

Sox Bats Supply Punch, Cubs Supply Punches

2006-05-21T14:03:00.000-05:00

That headline above is probably my favorite newspaper sports headline that I've seen in a long while. Outside of the Sox winning a championship, nothing makes me happier than to see the Sox succeed and the Cubs suffer. Needless to say, I've been a very happy man the past couple of days and my happiest moment occurred in the second inning yesterday after A.J. Pierzynski ran over Michael Barrett, empathetically slapped the plate, bumped into Barrett, who then connected on a right hook to A.J's face, barely fazing A.J. and started a bench clearing brawl (video below). While a lot of people are saying that A.J. deserved it (here and here), I think that punch was just Barrett's frustration with the Cubs season boiling over. The Cubs are in fourth place and the way they're playing right now, they could easily be in last place within a week. The Cubs are dead last in the National League in most offensive categories. Other than Zambrano and Maddux, their starting pitching has been a mess. That punch showed, "Hey we suck ass. We can't win any games. Let's see if we can at least win a fight." Unfortunately for the Cubs, that fight just screwed them over even more. Barrett is one of the few guys actually hitting and now the Cubs are likely going to be without him for 5 to 10 games and in Barrett's place will be the light hitting Henry Blanco. So the losses should continue to pile up for the Cubs and I look forward to many happy days ahead.

Greatest Neverland Party Ever

2006-05-20T12:18:00.000-05:00

Insert your own inappropriate joke below.

Another Duke Player Indicted

2006-05-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

When Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were indicted a little less than a month ago, District Attorney Mike Nifong promised to continue the investigation to get enough evidence to indict the 3rd attacker in the alleged rape of a 27-year-old black student at North Carolina Central University. Nifong appears to have followed through on that promise, as he sought and got an indictment today against a 3rd Duke lacrosse player, David Evans, who just graduated from Duke on Saturday. Evans strongly professed his innocence today in a press conference before he turned himself in to the authorities.

My reaction to this indictment is exactly the same as when the first two players were indicted. I have no opinion on the indictment because I have no idea what kind of evidence the prosecutors have against Evans, and anyone in the media who thinks they know what kind of case the prosecutors have against Evans is kidding themselves.

Is Congress Good for Anything?

2006-05-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

I beginning to wonder about that above question each passing day as Congress finds new ways to embarrass themselves. They can't pass any immigration reform. They can't pass any lobbying reform. They long ago took a pass on Social Security reform. They do, however, seem quite apt at wasting our tax dollars, as evident in the in the pork-filled $109 billion emergency spending bill passed by the Senate that was MEANT for funding the war in Iraq and hurricane relief.

This next question pains me greatly being a registered Republican, but would it be better for the country if the Democrats regained control of at least one of the chambers of Congress this year? Again, this pains me greatly, but right now I have to say yes. It seems like the only way the Republicans are going to get their heads out of their ass is if they get the bitter taste of defeat. Now I certainly realize that the Democrats aren't going to make things much better. They don't seem too serious about Social Security or immigration reform and they're only talk about balancing the budget because the Republicans suck so bad it right now. In addition, if the worst excesses of the Democrats come to the surface (and they ignore a majority of the general public), we could see impeachment hearings of President Bush, which will accomplish only wasting more tax dollars.

So while in the short term, I think we as country are screwed whether the Democrats control one or both chambers of Congress or the Republicans maintain their chokehold over both chambers, I think in the long term, the country will be better off with the Democrats regaining control of the House or Senate this year. The Republicans will get their much needed wake-up call, return to their limited government roots and realize that hey you occasionally need to get things done in Congress. The Republicans then can run a campaign in 2008 on actual ideas and plans as opposed to the 2006 campaign of "Hey we don't suck quite as bad as the Democrats". If things develop as I've layed out here, we should have semi-competent federal governing returning around 2008.

The Good Times Keep Rolling

2006-05-10T21:53:00.000-05:00

Charlie Weis has already gotten a verbal commitment from the top quarterback in the nation, the top tight end in the nation and now he has gotten a verbal commitment from one of the top receivers in the country, as Duval Kamara announced that he will attend Notre Dame in Fall 2007. Kamara is a 6'5", 209 pound receiver out New Jersey (Charlie loves the Jersey guys). Kamara likely projects as another Maurice Stovall, but with 4 years of good coaching instead of one. Kamara is a tall, lanky receiver who can go up and catch the ball in traffic, but does not have blazing speed. It's already quite apparent that the commitment of Clausen is paying dividends for the Irish:

"I didn't plan on making an early decision," said the 6-foot-5, 209-pounder who is one of the nation's top players. "But I knew going into the process that Notre Dame was one of my favorites and after the spring game weekend, I knew it was the place for me."

Many factors led to Kamara's decision.

"It came down to getting a great education, the tradition at Notre Dame, playing for coach Weis and getting to play with the best quarterback in the nation," he said. "Jimmy Clausen and I talked at the spring game and he's a good guy and a great quarterback. That's a factor for sure, but mostly it came down to comfort, academics and just it being Notre Dame."

So who else will Clausen help bring into the fold? Arrelious Benn? Greg Little? Deonote Thompson? Marc Tyler? We can only hope.

More USC Woes

2006-05-04T01:22:00.000-05:00

What was a bad week for USC is turning into a bad month. First, a wannabe sports marketer let Reggie Bush's parents live a 3,000 square foot home rent free. Then their back-up quarterback got arrested for an alleged sexual assault. Then it was revealed that their star receiver was receiving some rent assistance from Matt Leinart's dad. Now former USC quarterback Matt Leinart is dating walking STD Paris Hilton. When will USC's woes end?

Another Day, More Problems for USC

2006-04-30T12:36:00.000-05:00

USC's problems continue to grow each day. Today, the LA Times reported that star receiver Dwayne Jarrett has caught the attention of the school compliance officials:

USC's football program, already embroiled in controversies surrounding Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and quarterback Mark Sanchez, now faces a new issue involving an upscale apartment that All-American receiver Dwayne Jarrett shared with former quarterback Matt Leinart.

School compliance officials are investigating whether an NCAA rule was violated because Jarrett paid less than half of what Leinart's father said was a $3,866-a-month lease.

Bob Leinart, who picked up the difference, said he has been told that Jarrett might have to repay him about $10,000.

Reached by telephone Saturday, Coach Pete Carroll said of the investigation: "They are trying to figure it out. We'll know a lot more on Monday or Tuesday."

Bob and Linda Leinart, in New York to watch as their son was selected 10th in the NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals, said they leased the apartment in a secured building last June because fans started showing up at Matt's previous residence near campus, where he lived during the Trojans' 2004 national championship season.

"I was freaking out for his safety because people were following him home," Leinart's mother said. "He would walk out of his front door and people were waiting there for autographs."

Leinart's father said he put his son and Jarrett on the lease at the Medici complex downtown. Matt paid $650 a month, Jarrett paid $650 and Bob Leinart said he paid the difference.

"I have checks and money orders to prove it," the father said.

USC compliance officials are looking into whether the football program received an unfair advantage because, while Bob Leinart would have been allowed to make up the difference for his son, he might not have been allowed to do so for another player.

Is this the beginning of the end of USC's college football dominance?

Enough Already ESPN

2006-04-29T23:18:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to write about this for several days now, but I keep putting it off because the Reggie Bush story gets better and better each passing day. ESPN seems to believe that everyone in the nation is on pins and needles, just waiting for Barry Bonds to pass Babe Ruth's record. They cut into their regular coverage to show Bonds' at-bats. Whenever he hits a home run, it's the top story on SportsCenter, and they replay the home run countless times. I have one simple question, outside of San Francisco, does anyone care if Bonds passes Babe Ruth? In fact, I have a better question, outside of San Francisco, isn't everyone rooting for Bonds to not pass Ruth? I know I am. Bonds has only gotten close to Ruth by taking performance enhancing drugs and on top of that, he is one of the most loathsome characters in all of sports. I don't think I'm alone in this belief. Bonds is booed at every road game. Fans chant, "Steroids, Steroids, Steroids," and some even throw needles at Bonds. Yet ESPN somehow believes that we all are rooting for Bonds to break the record. Get a clue ESPN.

Reggie Bush's Bad Week Gets Worse

2006-04-29T22:45:00.000-05:00

First, he costs himself several million dollars by trying to play hardball with the Houston Texans, who end up drafting Mario Williams (by the way, the Texans are morons for passing on Bush). Then it's revealed that his agents Joel Segal and Mike Ornstein have some shady past dealings. Segal was suspended from being an NFL agent for the 1997 season by the NFL Players Association when it was discovered that he gave money under an assumed to a Florida State player in 1993. Ornstein pled guilty several years back for defrauding the NFL of $350,000. Ornstein was sentenced to six months in a community correction center, ordered to pay $160,340 in restitution, pay a $30,000 fine and put on probation for five years. Seems Mr. Bush is a magnet for shady individuals.

If that was not enough, the scandal that started Bush's bad week, that Michael Michaels allowed Bush's family to live in a house rent free in exchange for Bush being a client of the newly formed New Era Sports & Entertainment just gets worse and worse:

Reggie Bush's parents received more than $100,000 in cash disbursements since late 2004 from investors in the sports marketing agency that sought to represent their son, according to a letter written by the investors' attorney to the Bush family.
Attorney Brian Watkins said yesterday Bush's parents, LaMar and Denise Griffin, asked for the money in part to resolve financial problems. Watkins said that sum included an initial payment of about $30,000 to help start up the agency, New Era Sports and Entertainment.
Watkins also said the money was disbursed throughout 2005 and was given on more than one occasion at the home of the Lake family, whose son, Lloyd, was an investor in New Era.
In the letter dated Feb. 13, Watkins asked David Cornwell, the Bush family's attorney, if he wanted to involve USC in settlement discussions.
"We would not object to their (USC's) participation as we understand their wanting to be involved due to the fact this matter was ongoing during their Championship season of 2004 as well as the entire season of 2005, and any lawsuit filed might have an adverse effect on them," the letter from Watkins stated.

I guess the good news for Bush is that this whole scandal won't keep him from being a very, very wealthy man.

The Reggie Bush Saga Gets More Interesting

2006-04-28T10:25:00.000-05:00

Two very different pictures of what occurred between Reggie Bush's family and those associated with New Era Sports & Entertainment LLC are beginning to emerge.

The first coming from those associated with New Era Sports & Entertainment. Michael Michaels, the man who tried to steer Bush to New Era Sports & Entertainment claims that Bush's mother and stepfather agreed to pay $4,500 in monthly rent when they moved into the Spring Valley house. They didn't pay the first few months but promised to pay when Bush turned pro and started earning millions. Michaels' attorney, Brian Watkins, claims that Bush was made aware of the situation and promised to repay the debt when he turned professional. Watkins added that the Bush family never paid a "dime...It was always, 'Don't worry, we'll pay you'… you can take it out of our profits."

In addition to living rent free, the Bush family received money from Michaels to help them travel to USC road games.

Not only was the Bush family not paying any rent on the home and taking cash from Michaels according to Watkins, but that Bush's stepfather, Lamar Griffin, approached longtime friend and documented gang member, Lloyd Lake, during Bush's sophomore season about forming a sports management business. Then the two men joined Michael Michaels to form New Era Sports & Entertainment.

Relations with the family deteriorated when Bush hired Joel Segal as his agent and spurred New Era Sports & Entertainment. Watkins sent the Bush family an eviction notice on April 3 after they had not paid approximately $54,000 in rent.

Watkins went on to say that they are planning on filing a $3 million suit against Bush's parents and possibly Bush. The suit would cover $300,000 in money that Michaels claims he and Lake, put into the business, plus punitive damages.

A far different story is being painted in an ESPN.com story, which was likely leaked by the Bush camp. In the story, it claims:

The NFL Players Association and NFL Security have concluded that sports agent David Caravantes and fledgling marketing company New Era Sports used an attorney to try and force USC running back Reggie Bush to pay them $3.2 million after Bush decided not to sign with the group, sources told ESPN's Joe Schad on Thursday.
According to the sources, Caravantes threatened to reveal embarrassing personal information about the Bush family if he did not receive the money. Sources also say Caravantes tried to evict the family from a San Diego house they rented from his business associate Michael Michaels.
The NFLPA claims in a disciplinary complaint written Thursday that Brian Watkins, an attorney allegedly representing Caravantes and New Era Sports, engaged in unlawful conduct by demanding payment in at least three letters. Those letters were dated Feb. 13, March 7 and April 26, a source said. In another letter to the Bush family, dated March 2, Watkins identifies his clients as New Era Sports and Caravantes. New Era Sports marketing materials identify Caravantes as Chief Executive Officer, according to the source.

While the arrangement that Michaels and Bush's family had and what happened after Bush spurred New Era Sports & Entertainment is far from clear at this point, one thing appears to be clear. Bush's family was living in a house that they paid little to no money in rent to a man who wanted to market Reggie Bush. If that is not a NCAA violation, I don't know what is. I have to say that I feel a little sorry for Reggie Bush because his parents are complete idiots. Ok, you're having some financial problems, fine. But find a family friend who will help you out because you're his or her friend, not because he or she wants to be able to market your son when he turns pro.

UPDATE: If you've been wondering what Michael Michaels looks like, wonder no more.
Yes, that's Michaels sporting a bolo tie and leather shirt and hanging out with James Brown.

From Bad to Worse

2006-04-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

It has not been a good week for USC. First, Yahoo! Sports reveled some shady dealings between an wannabe sports marketer and Reggie Bush's family, which is now starting to sound even more shady(and I hope to write more on this tonight or tomorrow). Now USC's back-up quarterback and supposed Leinart heir apparent, Mark Sanchez, has been arrested today after being accused of sexually assaulting a female student. While this is certainly another black eye for USC, fear not USC fans because I'm sure Pete Carroll will make sure Mr. Sanchez does not miss any valuable practice time.

The Case Against Barry Bonds

2006-04-23T18:46:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading the book Game of Shadows and I thought the best way to take a look at this book would be to evaluate the case the authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, make that Barry Bonds knowingly used steroids, which will likely be at the heart of any perjury charges Bonds faces. Here is the evidence that they lay out against Bonds:

Drug calendars seized during the raids at BALCO and Greg Anderson's home which show what days Bonds was to take the steroids like the Clear, human growth hormone, EPO, etc.
Records seized at Greg Anderson's home reflecting payments for drugs for Bonds.
A secret recording of Greg Anderson in which Anderson acknowledged that Bonds was using an undetectable steroid in 2003 to beat baseball's drug tests.
The grand jury testimony of Kimberly Bell, Bonds' former girlfriend. She testified that Bonds confided to her that he was using steroids. She also testified that she saw signs of Bonds' steroid use such as acne on his back, violent mood swings (including leaving threatening messages on her answering machine), and his testicles shrinking.
The statement of BALCO vice president Jim Valente, who told IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky on the date of the BALCO raid that Bonds has received steroids from him after Anderson asked for steroids that would not show up on drug tests.
The statement of Victor Conte on the date of the BALCO raid to Novitzky, who gave an account similar to Valente. However, it should be noted that Conte later changed his story and claimed that Novitzky fabricated some of his statements.

Now will this evidence alone be enough to convict Barry Bonds of perjury? Probably not because there's problems with all of this evidence. Outside of the grand jury testimony of Kimberly Bell, the evidence I've listed above does not show that Bonds knowingly took steroids. It only shows that Anderson, Conte and Valente knew that they were providing Bonds with steroids. And the prosecution is going to need a whole lot more than Kimberly Bell to convict Bonds of perjury. Bell has the huge credibility problem of being the jilted ex-lover and a good defense attorney will paint her as someone who is trying to get back at Bonds.

I see two ways the prosecution can strengthen their case and get around the problems listed above. One, find additional witnesses who Bonds told that he was using steroids, and in the book it sounds like those witnesses are out there. Citing an anonymous source, Fainaru-Wada and Williams claim that Bonds sought third party medical advice on steroids like Winstrol and then ignored that medical advice when doctors told him that steroids like Winstrol will reek havoc on his body. They also cite an anonymous source who claims that after Gary Sheffield stopped working out with Bonds, but still wanted steroids like the Cream and the Clear, Bonds called BALCO and offered Conte $100,000 if he would refuse to give Sheffield any more of "the shit". As to the credibility of these anonymous source(s), who the hell knows. But finding witnesses who can corroborate Bell will significantly strengthen the prosecution's case. Another way the prosecution can strengthen their case is to present testimony on Bonds' controlling nature which would cast significant doubt on Bonds' defense that he just took whatever substance Anderson or Conte or Valente gave him. There are a number of incidents described in Game of Shadows that show Bonds' controlling nature. For example, before a game in 2001, Bonds was napping and his stretching coach, Harvey Shields, was standing around with nothing to do. Shields saw Willie Mays in the clubhouse and began showing him some stretches. Bonds woke up and when he couldn't find Shields right away, Bonds went off, telling Shields, "What the fuck are you doing?"

Now as I say all this, it would not surprise me in the least that the smart people in the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco have already thought of this and have presented such witnesses in their grand jury investigation. And if they have, Bonds is in a whole lot of trouble.

USC is in Some Potential Hot Water

2006-04-23T14:42:00.000-05:00

If the NCAA has any stones what so ever, the USC football program could be in some serious hot water:

In this sprawling hilltop community with a breathtaking view of Sweetwater Lake, it was no secret who lived in the 3,000-square-foot house at the corner of Apple Street and Luther Avenue.
That home, residents would tell you, was where Reggie Bush's family lived.
That is, until this weekend, when the family abruptly packed up and vacated the residence-less than 24 hours after Yahoo! Sports approached Bush's mother about information linking the property to Michael Michaels, a man who is alleged to have tried to play a role in steering Bush toward an agent and who also has ties to a sport marketing company.

If you think that bad, don't worry it gets worse later in the story:

State records show the Apple Street home was built in late 2004 and early 2005, then purchased by Michaels on March 29, 2005 for $757,500. Around that time, neighbors say Bush's family moved in. Whether they had visited the house while it was being built is unknown, but there is an inscription in one of the cement slabs in the driveway reading "The Griffins '05."
Michaels is the only person who has been listed on the deed to the home.
Bush's mother, Denise Griffin, was approached in the driveway of the house on Thursday, but declined to comment.
"I have absolutely nothing to say," Griffin said when asked about ownership of the property, which is where Bush's mother, stepfather LaMar and brother Jovan lived during USC's 2005 season.
Before moving to the house on Apple Lane, Bush's family was listed as living in an apartment elsewhere in Spring Valley, a community located about 13 miles east of San Diego.
At some point after Bush's family moved into the residence, Michaels and an associate named Lloyd Lake are said to have contacted San Diego-based sports agent David Caravantes and offered to facilitate Bush's recruitment. A source with intimate knowledge of the meeting said it took place during the 2005 college football season and that Michaels was looking for a local agent to handle the contract negotiations for players he intended to sign to his marketing firm.
Michaels and Lake told Caravantes they were planning to start a sports marketing agency with Bush as their anchor client. It was also during this meeting that Michaels and Lake mentioned the potential name of the agency: New Era Sports & Entertainment.
The pitch to Caravantes was said to have been simple: He would be Bush's agent and Michaels' marketing creation would handle the promotion of the USC star. At some point after pitching this idea, Michaels informed Caravantes that Bush's family was living in a home Michaels owned. Caravantes isn't believed to have met with Bush and was never considered to be in the mix before the USC star hired Reebok adviser Mike Ornstein and agent Joel Segal of Worldwide Football Inc. as his representatives.
Repeated attempts to reach Segal and Bush were unsuccessful.
While it's unclear what official role Michaels played in New Era Sports, indications are that the company barely got off the ground-if at all. According to corporation filings in California, paperwork for New Era Sports & Entertainment was drawn up on Nov. 23, 2005, and records list the business address in Los Angeles under an attorney named Phillip M. Smith Jr.
Contacted late last week, Smith Jr. refused to talk about New Era Sports-even declining to give public details such as a phone number for the company, where the New Era offices were located or who was serving as the company's current president or manager.
Asked why he wouldn't provide such information, Smith ended the brief telephone conversation, saying, "That's really not an issue that I want to deal with." He has failed to return multiple follow-up messages left at his office.

So here's the recap. You have a guy looking to start a sport marketing agency with Reggie Bush as his centerpiece client. So he buys an $800,000 house and lets the Bush family live in it. Then when people start asking questions about it, the Bush family moves out within 24 hours and anyone who had anything to do with buying or living in the house all of sudden get very tight-lipped. Doesn't exactly give off the best impression. And if it turns out that this house deal stinks as bad as it appears it does right now, I hope Pete Carroll doesn't mind having a few less scholarships over the next few years.

Clausen is Irish

2006-04-22T22:01:00.000-05:00

In the biggest recruiting coup since Ron Powlus, Notre Dame secured a verbal commitment today from quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who is probably the most highly regarded high school prospect in the past 4-5 years. Clausen plans on enrolling in January 2007 in the hopes of starting as a true freshman (Personally, I think Evan Sharpley will be your 2007 starter, but I'm probably in the minority). While there is much debate whether Clausen will live up to hype of being the Lebron James of football or the best California quarterback prospect since John Elway, I think whether he lives up to the hype is irrelevant. The commitment of Clausen is going to give Notre Dame the ability to more easily sign other top offensive prospects such as receivers Arrelious Benn of Washington, D.C., Duval Kamara of Hoboken, N.J., Greg Little of Durham, N.C. , running back and high school teammate of Clausen, Marc Tyler and other top offensive prospects who want to play with Clausen. If Notre Dame does not have the number one recruiting class this year, I would be totally shocked. If you needed yet another sign that Notre Dame is back, this was it. Notre Dame will no longer be beaten by the USCs and Michigans of the world for the superior talent. The glory days are back.

Tom Cruise Is Still Creepy

2006-04-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

Quite possibility the unluckiest baby in the world was born today, as Katie Holmes gave birth to a baby girl named Suri. No word on whether Tom Cruise was present for the birth. If he was, I pray that he did not go through his plans that he disclosed with GQ:

"I'm gonna eat the placenta, too. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I'm going to eat the cord and the placenta right there."

While Cruise was thankfully kidding in the interview, why did I think for a moment that Cruise was not kidding?

Indictments in the Duke Lacrosse Scandal

2006-04-17T22:19:00.000-05:00

A state grand jury in Durham, North Carolina, today issued indictments against two Duke lacrosse players stemming out of an alleged sexual assault that took place at a Duke lacrosse team party last month. The indictments are currently sealed and will remain so until the two Duke lacrosse players turn themselves in or are arrested. I have no opinion on the indictments because I have no clue what evidence the local prosecutors currently have. Most of what has been reported in the press has been negative for the prosecutors, whether it be the lack of a DNA match or the police finding the victim passed out drunk on the date of the incident. However, it should be noted that most of the information about the case has been coming from the defense lawyers who obviously have an interest to leak potential exculpatory information to the press.

While I have no opinion on the indictment, I hope the District Attorney, Mike Nifong, is bringing these indictments because he believes he can convict these two lacrosse players and not because these indictments will placate the angry mob in Durham and therefore, aid him in getting re-elected. We should know over the next few months whether these charges are legitimate or a politically motivated witchhunt.

UPDATE (4/18): Sophomore lacrosse players, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty, are the two individuals who were indicted yesterday and arrested today. The indictment can be found here. The DA's Office is still trying to identify who the third subject is. It appears that the defense is going to be that neither of them were at the party during the time of the alleged rape. Time will tell whether the defense can come up with evidence to support that.

While finding the indictment, I also found a copy of a search warrant the Durham Police filed on March 27, to search the dorm room of Ryan McFadyen, a sophomore lacrosse player, who wrote an e-mail shortly after the alleged rape about having strippers come over to his dorm room and then killing them and skinning them while "cumming in my duke issue spandex." Charming. The search warrant contains some details on the government's case including the victim's story. While the details are somewhat scant in the warrant, it appears that the prosecutors have quite a bit of physical evidence to indicate that a rape did occur.

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T13:17:00.000-05:00

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

John 20:1-18

Bonds Under Federal Investigation

2006-04-13T20:37:00.000-05:00

With the recent release of the book, Game of Shadows, it was only a matter of time before Barry Bonds got in the crosshairs of the federal government. It appears that time is now, as CNN is reporting that a federal grand jury has been hearing evidence for the past month or so on whether Bonds committed perjury during his December 4, 2003 grand jury appearance for the BALCO investigation. And if the information in Game of Shadows is accurate, Bonds could be facing an indictment in the very near future.

To a certain degree, the Bonds saga breaks my heart. Here was a guy who was a phenomenal player, an unbelievable talent, yet he still felt that he had to take performance enhancing drugs. On the flip side, there is a part of me that would be delighted to see Barry Bonds being led away handcuffs. I have grown weary of his woe is me shtick and his unbelievable arrogance in media interviews and that god awful show Bonds on Bonds. Bonds has tarnished the game and it would be an absolute travesty if he were to break Hank Aaron's record (and believe it or not Barry, your race plays no factor in this belief).

One Thing To Avoid After Law School

2006-04-12T18:57:00.000-05:00

Having to do depositions down in Texas.

Hat tip to Lucas for the link.

This is Creepy

2006-04-07T22:26:00.000-05:00

Some Craiglist ads looking for roommates are offering to accept sex in lieu of rent.

Warning Rant Ahead

2006-04-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

So I finally figured out where I'm going to law school. It was actually a really easy decision and here's why. I applied to seven law schools. I got rejected by three: George Washington, Illinois and Ohio State. I got wait listed by three: Wisconsin, American and Iowa. I got accepted by one: DePaul. Thus, by default, I'm going to DePaul unless I can somehow get off the wait list at one of those three schools I listed above. I'm sure I'll be happy at DePaul. I'll be returning home to Chicago and the law school has fabulous job connections to Chicago. But at the same time I'm a bit pissed off today because I feel that the law school admission process is a complete farce. I believed before I started applying, that law schools would take a long look not only at how I did on the LSAT, but also how I did at Notre Dame and then my work experiences. I knew my LSAT score was the weakest part of my application. But I figured my strong GPA and my work experiences would overshadow my average LSAT score (75th percentile). But how naive of me. I should have realized that as long as I wasn't dealing drugs before I applied to law school, and I wasn't a completely screw-off in college (above a 3.0), the only thing that mattered is how I did on a 4 hour test. I mean if that's all we're going to judge whether someone is a suitable candidate for a law school, we might as well replace admission officers with monkeys and get rid of the requirement that all law school applicants have to have a college degree. I didn't think I would get into every school I applied to, but I believed I would get into more than one. I think what frustrates me most about this whole process is that I think at a number of these schools that I did not get into, I believe I would do better than half of the kids who are actually admitted and attend the law school because guess what kids, just because you have a high LSAT score does not mean you're going to be a good law student. This may come as a shocker to some law school admissions officers but its true. I think back to a story that one of the attorneys in my office shared on how he got only a 154 on his LSAT and then there were all these other kids in his class who scored in the 160s and got all this scholarship money. Guess what happened? The attorney in my office with the 154 did significant better than a lot of those 160s students, many of whom found themselves on academic probation after their first semester. I'm sorry if this post came off as bit petty, but I'm just a bit frustrated at the moment.

Diary of a Mad Black Congresswoman

2006-04-06T20:07:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to write about this alleged assault of a Capital Police Officer by Congresswoman McKinney after the Capital Police Officer did not recognize McKinney as a member of Congress and tried to stop her from entering a House office building when she did not present identification. What has fascinated me about the story is not so much the actual incident, but Congresswoman McKinney's attempt to spin the incident. Here's a short snippet from her interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN:

BLITZER: Welcome back. We're continuing our conversation with Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and her two attorneys, James Myart -- he's in Washington, D.C. -- and Mike Raffauf. He's in Orlando. Congresswoman McKinney did you strike one of those Capitol police officers during this incident on Capitol Hill?

MCKINNEY: Wolf, before you bring on my two attorneys, let me just say for the record -- and this is something that you might want to do a little further investigation on. But I'm sure that if you would look, you would find that even inside the Capitol Hill Police Department, there are problems inside with the treatment of -- or the respect for diversity, let me say.

BLITZER: Because you know there are many black officers on Capitol Hill, Congresswoman?

MCKINNEY: I think you should look at some of the proceedings that are going on right now with black officers and white officers inside Capitol Hill Police Department. And you might reach a different conclusion.

While that performance was pretty impressive, she saved her best for Soledad O'Brien on CNN's American Morning:

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: First, Congresswoman, can you tell me from the very beginning, what happened on that day, Wednesday? You're trying to come in to your office to go to a meeting, I know. What happened?

REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY, (D) GEORGIA: Good morning, Soledad. Thank you so much for having us on this morning. Let me say that this has become much ado about a hairdo. And the real issue . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, and I hear you, but I'm going to stop you there because -- let me . . .

MCKINNEY: You can't stop me, Soledad. The real issue is . . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, I want to get to what happened first, and then we'll get into the real issue because we need to establish what happened.

MCKINNEY: The real issue is face recognition and security around the Capitol complex. And I have an e-mail here from a former page saying that 16-year-old pages are required to know by name and by face all of the members of Congress. Shouldn't Capitol Hill police officers be required to do the same?

I have a few thoughts. One, whoever in her office decided that it would be a good idea to go on all these interviews should be fired. Two, which is related to point one, if you're not going to talk about what happened, why do these interviews? I understand for legal reasons you might not give the whole story, but if you don't want to say anything, then don't do the interviews. Don't try to dodge these questions about what happened by talking about how you're a victim of racial profiling or that the Capitol Police lacks diversity. When Congresswoman McKinney did that, she looked absolutely foolish and frankly, a little racist (one of the few times I kind of agree with Tom DeLay). My third and final thought is, how has McKinney won multiple elections? I mean I know there's 535 members of Congress, and there's bound to be a few crazy ones, but you would think the crazy ones would be weeded out after a term or two. Yet McKinney has won, according to my count 6 terms (1992-2002, 2004-Present). Who's running against her in the Democratic primary, the Grand Wizard of the KKK?

Unfortunately for comedic sake and for the Republicans, McKinney has smartened up a little bit and issued an apology for her actions (a potential indictment and becoming a pariah in your own party will do that). But I hope for the sake of having one less crazy person in Congress that the fine people in McKinney's district get a couple of neurons firing in their brain and elect someone, I don't know, who's somewhat sane.

Boys Will Be Boys at Ohio State

2006-04-03T22:20:00.000-05:00

When I saw that a Ohio State football player had gotten arrested for a DUI and Jim Tressel refused to suspend him from any practices or any games, I was going to do this beautiful comparison between this situation and the Rasheon Powers-Neal situation last season. But then Sean at Kelly Green beat me to the punch.

Sharon Stone Encourages Teenage Girls to Be Sluts

2006-03-30T19:40:00.000-06:00

Sharon Stone offered some interesting sex advice to an unfortunate teenage girl recently. According to Stone:

I was in the store the other day and I watched a young girl trying on clothes, showing her abdomen. Her mother was trying to talk to her about not being inappropriately luring. I said, 'Gee that would look much nicer with a camisole under.' Her mother walked away, and I said to the girl, 'I'd like to give you a two-minute conversation about sex.' Young people talk to me about what to do if they're being pressed for sex? I tell them (what I believe): oral sex is a hundred times safer than vaginal or anal sex. If you're in a situation where you cannot get out of sex, offer a blow job. I'm not embarrassed to tell them.

So if a guy is being aggressive, the girl should give the guy some "reward" for his effort. I get it. Be a slut, but not too much of a slut. Sounds like fine advice to me. If I ever have a teenage daughter, I'll be sure to pass on that great piece of advice to her.

(Hat tip to Lucas for e-mailing this story to me.)

One Last Look Back at the 2005 Season

2006-03-30T19:32:00.000-06:00

While my last post looked ahead to some of the questions with the 2006 Fighting Irish, I recommend taking one last look at the 2005 season by checking out this sweet highlight tape put together by Oldie Olderson (aka Nevin O'Donnell) of the 2005 season.

Spring is Finally Upon Us...

2006-03-23T20:44:00.000-06:00

...because Notre Dame has started spring practice. Weis shared his first thoughts of the new season here and Blue Gray Sky, as always is covering spring ball like a blanket here. While there are a number of players like Jeff Samardzija, D.J. Hord, Maurice Crum, Kyle McCarthy, Victor Abiamiri, John Sullivan, Brian Mattes, Justin Hoskins, Chris Frome and others who will see limited or no action in spring ball because of injuries or in Samardzija's case, baseball commitments, there are two things I'm interested in seeing.

One, will the defensive line show any kind of improvement? The defensive line was the achilles heel of the Irish last season and the line is going to have to be twice as good next season if they want to be national championship contenders.

Two, who will emerge as the potential significant contributors for next season? Will it be one of the freshman: George West, James Aldridge or Chris Stewart? Will be someone who showed occasional flashes last season like David Grimes? Will it be someone who's been riding on the pine for most of his Notre Dame career? Or will it be all of the above?

Let's Hope I Don't Have To Get Involved In Ridiculous Arguments Like This One During My Legal Career

2006-03-22T22:48:00.000-06:00

From the Minnesota Star-Tribune, regarding a court hearing that took place over charges filed against two of the Minnesota Vikings players involved in the love boat scandal:

Before Culpepper took the stand, Gray said there was little evidence other than an ambiguous statement from a bartender on the boat who claimed Culpepper got a lap dance. This started a somewhat comical discussion between the attorneys and Burke about what is a lap dance in Minnesota and whether it is even illegal.

"Lap dances are done legally every night in bars in Minneapolis," Gray said. "People pay for girls to dance in front of them and there is usually no touching. There is no evidence Culpepper paid anybody for a lap dance."

Burke said he didn't believe there was case law in Minnesota that defines a lap dance. Tallen said he could amend the criminal complaint and provide a clear explanation of a lap dance, but he didn't think he needed to spell it out more graphically. The complaint said that a bartender said Culpepper touched a dancer's buttocks with his hands.
That's right, they argued over what constituted a lap dance. Next thing you know they're going argue over what "is" really means.

Snakes on a Motherfucking Airplane

2006-03-18T11:23:00.000-06:00

In August, quite possibly the greatest movie is coming out. The name of the movie? Snakes on a Plane. The movie is about a FBI agent played by who else Samuel L. Jackson who is transporting a former mafia member who is going to testify against some of his former mafia friends and in an effort to silence him, an assassin decides instead of shooting him or blowing him up, he's going to release a bunch of poisonous snakes on the guy's flight (hence the title of movie). A trailer is here. I think I'm going to start waiting in line for the movie tomorrow.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2006-03-17T10:39:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone has a few pints on the best drinking day of the year. While throwing back your green Guinness, you should give the guy or girl next to you one of these heartwarming cards.

Spending Like Drunken Sailors

2006-03-17T10:31:00.000-06:00

Congress is proving yet again that they are as serious about reigning in federal spending as I am in abstaining from alcohol on St. Patrick's Day. Congress approved a budget yesterday that increased the limit on the federal government's borrowing by $781 billion yesterday. The borrowing limit has increased by more than $3 trillion since Bush took office and is nearly $9 trillion overall. The borrowing limit was raised in part because the budget passed failed to keep discretionary spending under the $873 billion requested by President Bush. I'm beginning to think more and more that the only way federal spending is going to get reigned in is if the Democrats can control either the House, Senate or White House because most Republicans have completely abandoned the idea of fiscal discipline.

Media Quick Hits

2006-03-15T22:40:00.000-06:00

Two quick media tidbits I'd like to discuss. First, Acton Gordon, the Editor-in-chief of the Daily Illini, the student newspaper at the University of Illinois, has been officially fired for running the conversational Mohammad cartoons that sparked protests and riots by Muslims in several countries. It's good to see one of my hometown schools keeping up the recent proud college tradition of interpreting free speech to mean speech that is not offensive to anybody.

In other media news, Mike Wallace is retiring after nearly 40 years at 60 Minutes . Wallace is certainly a news legend; however, it's about time that he hung it up. I saw him speak at Notre Dame a few years ago and the man was barely aware where he was at though he was aware enough to take some verbal shots at Lowell Bergman. If you don't know who Lowell Bergman is, then you haven't seen this movie. And if you have seen this movie, you know why Mike Wallace hates Lowell Bergman's guts even if Wallace is bordering on Alzheimer's.

RIP Tony Almeida

2006-03-13T21:17:00.000-06:00

First President Palmer, now Tony Almeida. I'm at a loss of words at the sudden passing of Tony. Let's us remember the good times with Tony. This is courtesy of AlmeidaisGod.com:

Jack and his girlfriend Audrey Raines are trapped in the offices of Felsted Security, and are surrounded by armed goons. Jack realizes that CTU has been compromised if these goons knew their location, and that he cannot call CTU for backup. He tells Audrey that he will instead call "the only person [he] can trust right now." As they hide in an empty room, Jack makes his call. About 8 minutes later, Jack and Audrey are both completely out of ammunition after a firefight against several goons and are sitting ducks for the two remaining armed goons, when out of nowhere, in the nick of time, Almeida appears and shoots both men, complete with cinematography that is a MASSIVE tribute to when Tony saved Teri by shooting the Drazen assassin in Season 1. AT LAST, ALMEIDA HAS RISEN. This is truly the most amazing, most unbelievable return of any character to this series. This surpasses even Chappelle's comeback of Season 2 or Nina's comeback of Season 3. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE and once again confirms that TONY ALMEIDA IS GOD. Jack, Audrey and Tony rush out of the building to the safety of Tony's waiting vehicle.

So long Tony. You'll be missed.

Barry Bonds Responds

2006-03-09T19:59:00.000-06:00

Ok maybe not. Bonds is still refusing to comment on the book, Game of Shadows, but if he were to respond, his comments might go something like this.

Barry Bonds: Hall of Famer?

2006-03-08T20:45:00.000-06:00

Barry Bonds has long been suspected of using steroids after his sudden power surge beginning in 1999 when he hit 34 homers in just 102 games and then just two seasons later hit a record breaking 73 home runs despite being 37 years old, an age when most players see a decline in their power numbers. Much of the evidence to date on Bonds' alleged long-term steroid use has come from leaked grand jury testimony where Bonds alleged that he unknowingly used a steroid cream called the "Clear" and the transformation of Bonds' body from a stick figure during his days with the Pirates to a guy looking like he's training for the World's Strongest Man competition.

Now it appears that there is some new and very damning evidence in a new book set to come out at the end of the month called: Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. The authors, Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams are two San Francisco Chronicle writers who allege that Bonds began taking a wide range of performancing drugs beginning in 1998, in part, out of jealousy of the attention given to Mark McGwire during that time. The book also alleges that Bonds is a tax cheat, an adulterer and a man who has wild mood swings (due to the steroid use) including incidents where he threatened to kill his mistress, Kimberly Bell. To support these allegations, the authors did a two-year investigation, compiling court documents, affidavits filed by BALCO investigators, confidential memoranda of federal agents, grand jury testimony, audiotapes and interviews with more than 200 sources.

On its face, it sounds like the authors have done their homework and if these allegations are true, I think Bonds' Hall of Fame chances have taken a very significant hit. I know if I had a Hall of Fame vote and I believed these allegations about his rampant steroid use were true, I would not vote for him. That being said, I need to read the whole book before I can make a fair evaluation of the author's evidence. Sports Illustrated is publishing excerpts of the book in the March 13 issue, which are accessible here. I plan on getting the book when it comes out on March 27th and I hope to have a post on the book within a few weeks.

Being a Federal Judge is a Sweet Gig

2006-03-07T22:46:00.000-06:00

One of the perks of being a Federal Judge is that you can say or do just about anything you want including making movie references in your footnotes to mock an argument made by an attorney in a case you're presiding over.

Is This What I'm In For?

2006-03-05T17:21:00.000-06:00

In a little less than six months, I'm going to be starting law school, and I figured I should get a little taste of what I may be experiencing, so I rented the movie, Paper Chase. A few observations:

-The law students in movie just pissed me off. All they talked about was law school related stuff. It was if they were living in a bubble where no movie, no newspaper and no television was allowed. I felt like William Shatner in that SNL skit where he tells Trekies at the Star Trek Convention to "Get a life." If my fellow students at whatever law school I decide to go to are like this, I just might kill someone.
-If this movie is at all accurate, I'm going to need to choose my study group members wisely.

-If I have any professor like Professor Kingsfield, harsh and humorless, I think I'm just going to cry.

-Thank God everything is computerized now so I don't have to bring home a library with me like the main character, Hart, to do legal research.

-If I can find myself a hot, slutty, professor's daughter like Hart, my law school experience is going to be so much better.

-Finally, if studying for exams is anything close to what it was like in the movie, it's going to be one of the most miserable experiences of my life.

Scott Stapp is an Idiot

2006-03-02T22:43:00.000-06:00

For those of you who need a disturbing mental image, there was sex tape released recently featuring former Creed singer Scott Stapp being serviced by three strippers. Thankfully, a judge looking out for the common good of America, issued a preliminary injunction, barring the company Red Light District from showing the tape online. Despite the injunction, Mr. Stapp is none too pleased about the tape getting out, telling the AP, "Obviously someone wants to hurt me and doesn't want me to be successful in my solo career."

Yes, Scott, everything was going swimmingly until this occurred. I mean you're not the type of guy to make an ass of himself when he has a few drinks and tries to get on an airplane. Yes, you're such a humble, ego free individual, that you are absolutely beloved by the American public. I mean just look at your album cover from your most recent solo release:
I mean if this is not the picture of humbleness, I don't know what is. Obviously, someone jealous of the ten copies you've sold of "The Great Divide" is hell bent on ruining your career. Keep telling yourself that Scott. Imbecile.

Daaaaa Light Switch?

2006-02-26T20:58:00.000-06:00

Vince Young, an almost certain top five pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, pulled off an impressive feat at the NFL Combine this past weekend, as he scored a 6 on the Wonderlic Test. For those of you who don't know what the Wonderlic Test is, it is a 50 question test given to all NFL draft prospects that is suppose to be similar to an IQ test. ESPN has some sample Wonderlic questions here. To give you a sense of how pathetic Young's score is for a quarterback, the previous lowest known score was a 10 by Michael Bishop and Jeff George. And the score correlates to an IQ score of 72, which puts him in the Forrest Gump range in terms of IQ scores.

It makes you think how the hell did Vince Young did remain eligible for three years at Texas. I mean, I know Texas isn't exactly known for its strong academics, but even underwater basketweaving sounds a little too advanced for Vince. Sean at Kelly Green has come up with one possibility. This score also makes me wonder how is he going to pick up an NFL offense. If Vince can't figure out that if you buy 4 writing pads at 21 cents each, you will need 84 cents, how is he going to know what routes his receivers are running at I Y-Motion 245 H-Swing.

Einstein he is not.

UPDATE: The House Rock Built has gotten its hands on the copy of Vince Young's Wonderlic Test.

The First Verbal

2006-02-26T13:30:00.000-06:00

National Signing Day for the Class of 2010 occurred just mere weeks ago, yet Charlie Weis is already working full steam ahead to the Class of 2011 and this past Friday, Weis got his first verbal commitment, Kerry Neal, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound defensive end/tight end from Bunn, North Carolina. Not much is known about Neal by the recruiting services and most college programs outside of the North Carolina area, as the only schools who had interest in Neal to this point were Wake Forest and East Carolina.

While the lack of interest from marquee schools in Neal might seem concerning at first glance, there are a few things to keep in mind. One, we are extremely early in the recruiting process and many coaches have just began to look at the tapes of the upcoming recruiting class. Two, Neal plays in the middle of nowhere North Carolina, so it shouldn't be surprising that a program like Florida or Michigan has yet to come knocking at his door. You can draw some parallels to the recruitment of Neal to the recruitment of Rasheon McNeil. Like Neal, McNeil played in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina and was not as well known as guys like Darrin Walls or Myron Rolle, but Weis saw something in the tapes of McNeil and offered him a scholarship. Then when McNeil was given a chance in the spotlight at the Army All-American game, he was dominant and had Urban Meyer trying to steal him away to Florida. Neal obviously showed Weis something special in his tapes to make Weis leave a message for his coach at 5:30 in morning to let Neal know that he was offering a scholarship. Hell, I'm impressed that Weis is looking at game films at 5:30 am. The only thing the last regime did at 5:30 am was starting a round at the Warren Golf Course.

As for where Neal will play, he will either be a speed rusher defensive end or an outside linebacker. He did have over 100 tackles last season at defensive end which is just ridiculous, though if he were to play defensive end in college, he is going to have to bulk up at least 15-25 pounds.

Freedom of Speech is on the March...Off a Cliff

2006-02-22T22:40:00.000-06:00

The politically correct thought police is having a banner week. First, British historian David Irving was sentenced to three years in prison in Austria after pleading guilty to charges of denying the Holocaust. While Irving's point of view is wrong and down right offensive, the thought of someone going to prison over this is quite shocking. That's something you expect in countries like North Korea, Iran, China, Cuba or Syria but not Austria.

The politically correct thought police also won a victory in Boston this week as Harvard President Lawrence Summers was forced to resign, after he remained under constant fire from left wing wacko professors in the Arts and Sciences faculty since last year after he made comments that innate gender differences may explain why there's more men than women in the science and math fields. I generally try to refrain from name calling in my posts, but left wing wackos is the only way to describe these professors who believe that Summers is unfit to be the President of Harvard only because he has a different (i.e., conservative) point of view. I think this intolerance to alternative viewpoints really meshes well with the idea of academic freedom and academic exploration that's suppose to take place at college campuses. Left-wing attorney and Harvard graduate Alan Dershowitz has an excellent editorial in the Boston Globe on resignation of Summers.

When you add these two stories along with most newspapers refusing to run the controversial Danish political cartoons of Mohammed, it makes me wonder if we've become increasingly intolerant of free speech.