Obama Strikes Back

Obama just released an ad pointing out the fact that McCain had so many houses, he lost count. Yep, the economy is strong when you have seven houses.

You go girls!

Having been on vacation the last few days, my posting has been admittedly sparse recently.  I apologize.  Fortunately, all the time away from the computer has left me plenty of time to watch the Olympics.  And to that end, I’d like to take a moment to give some well-deserved props to two of the most dominant women’s teams in America: our National Soccer Team and the Beach Volleyball duo of Misty May and Kerri Walsh.

May and Walsh claimed their second straight beach volleyball gold Thursday morning in Beijing, defeating China 21-18, 21-18, in a tense, rain-filled match in front of a decidedly pro-China crowd.  They became the first repeat winners in beach volleyball history, establishing themselves as perhaps the greatest volleyball tandem ever.  Overall, they have won 108 consecutive matches and have not been defeated in over a year.  They did not drop so much as a set during the entire Olympic tournament.

I think I speak for all American males when I say I have a new favorite sport.  Misty and Kerri, you came into this Olympics expected to win and yet you somehow exceeded expectations – even as favorites in other sports faltered with frightening regularity (see Federer, Roger; Powell, Asafa; Xiang, Liu).  For that, we salute you.

But if Misty and Kerri entered this Olympics as solid favorites, another U.S. women’s team most assuredly did not.  Fielding a roster completely overhauled since their gold medal in 2004, the soccer team came to Beijing for their first Olympics in the post Hamm-Foudy-Fawcett era.  To make matters worse, the team’s best player, Abby Wambach, went down with a broken leg in the team’s final tuneup for the Games.

The American’s first match of the Olympics lived up to the lowered expectations, as they fell to Norway 2-0.  Yet they managed to rally in pool play and qualify for the elimination round, where they defeated Canada and Japan and somehow, improbably, found themselves in  the gold medal match versus Brazil Thursday night.

Though Brazil looked the better team for most of the night, keeping the ball in the U.S. zone for long stretches and using their superior speed and ball handling to create numerous scoring opportunities, the U.S. women managed to play them to a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation.  Then, 6 minutes into extra time, Carli Llyod broke free on the left side and put a bouncing grounder past the outstreched arms of the diving Brazilian keeper and giving the U.S. the only goal they would need to claim the gold.

Two teams, two vastly different paths to victory, but one very clear message: no matter how many sumersaulting vaults or twisting dives by 14-year-old Chinese girls propel the People’s Republic to the top of the gold medal count, America is home to the finest female atheletes in all the world.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones

Via the AP, I just thought I should make a brief comment about the death of Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones.  She died of a brain aneurysm yesterday at age 58.  Tubbs Jones was the first black woman to represent Ohio, and one of a very small number of female minorities in Congress.  She was an active opponent of the Iraq War (even way back in 2002 when it was a more radical idea), and other such liberal causes.  Just thought we should give some props to an intelligent woman who by all accouts was a tireless advocate for the greater good.

For Congress in New York’s 13th

The New York Times endorsement of Michael McMahon:

 

For Congress in New York’s 13th
Published: August 18, 2008

When New York voters go to the polls on primary day, Sept. 9, one of the most compelling races will be a hard-fought Democratic Congressional contest in Staten Island and part of Brooklyn.

The 13th Congressional District is currently represented by Vito Fossella, the only Republican in the New York City delegation. Mr. Fossella announced his retirement earlier this year after being caught up in a scandal, leaving a wide-open race for his seat.

On the Democratic side, two appealing candidates are facing off. Stephen Harrison, a lawyer who ran a spirited campaign against Mr. Fossella two years ago, has strong community ties in the Brooklyn part of the district and has demonstrated an admirable passion for public service.

He does not, however, have the record of accomplishment of his opponent, Michael McMahon. Mr. McMahon has done an impressive job representing Staten Island in the City Council since 2001, showing leadership on some of the city’s thorniest issues. As chairman of the sanitation committee he was instrumental in overhauling the waste management plan to make it fairer and more environmentally sound, and he has been a steadfast champion of recycling, ushering through pioneering legislation on electronic waste.

Mr. McMahon also has a deep understanding of transportation and infrastructure issues, including a strong commitment to mass transportation. He would be a valuable advocate on these fronts in Washington.

As the only Democrat in the Council from Staten Island, Mr. McMahon has proved adept at reaching out to moderates and conservatives. That broad appeal would be an advantage in representing this conservative- leaning district, which gave 55 percent of its votes to President Bush in 2004. Mr. McMahon wins our endorsement in the Democratic primary.

 

Some of you have been asking for some background profiles of candidates for the 13th Congressional District.  I figured that this New York Times’ editorial was good to give you some background on Mike McMahon.

EA Sports Wins (Tiger Too)

So a fan of Tiger Woods 2009 posted a video on youtube pointing out a glitch in the game that lets Tiger walk on water when the ball goes in, rather than the ball being taken out. Anyway, here is the response from EA sports:

Birthday Shoutouts

Happy Birthday to Usain Bolt, the world record holder and Olympic gold medal winner in the 100m and 200m dashes.  Usain turns the ripe old age of 22 today.  WOW.

Next up for Bolt is the 4×100, where he will team with his Jamaican national team, including former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell.  I smell another World Record breaking, gold medal winning performance coming up…

Also celebrating a birthday today is Chicago Cubs pitcher and Tottenville HS product Jason Marquis, who turns the big 3-0.

400m Final Results

Okay, so the only person that shouldn’t read this post until tonight is the B-crat. The rest of you should

McMahon’s Push Polling

I remain agnostic on the issue of which democratic candidate is better suited to represent our district in Congress, but that agnosticism was strained last night when I received a call from a polling agency that was plainly push-polling. It was a machine calling and it asked me a series of questions. Here is the rundown, each answer I write is tied to a button I pressed:

1) How likely is it that you’re going to vote this fall?

Very likely.

2) Who are you going to vote for in the primary? Press one for McMahon or two for Stephen Harrison.

Stephen Harrison

3) Who are you going to vote for in the general election? Press one for McMahon or two for Stranierie or nine if you are undecided.

Unsatisfied with the choices given, I chose undecided. It repeated the quetion, I chose undecided again and it hung up.

Morning News; August 21st, 2008

1) Mets won behind a complete game three hitter by Mike Pelfrey, Yanks finally won a game, and the American Softball team lost to Japan in the Gold medal game. The last bit is the most surprising because, well, they were a “steamroller” in world competition for the past few years.

2) The Bush administration does not agree with artificial withdrawal timetables….

3) McCain, truly a man of the people, doesn’t even know how many houses he has. Although wealth is certainly not a disqualifier to the office of the presidency (often, unfortunately, it’s been a prerequisite), it find it hard to believe that a man who is unaware of how many houses he really has can make the charge that Obama is out of touch. While Obama paid off his law school loans only a few years ago, McCain married into wealth (and beauty)- forgetting the injured wife who stayed with him during his POW stint, of course. So in touch!

4) Anti-Mexican/immigrant sentiment apparently fueled a series of truck attacks in Port Richmond. Points go to the cop/citizen who finds and beats this man.

NFLPA Union Director Gene Upshaw dead at 63

NFLPA EXEC DIR GENE UPSHAW DIES AT AGE 63

Upshaw Dies At Age Of 63

Multiple sources have confirmed that NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw has died at the age of 63. Upshaw had been fighting pancreatic cancer. Upshaw had held the Exec Dir position since ‘83. His contributions include guiding the league through the ‘87 strike and overseeing the advent of free agency. 

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said, “If you identify perhaps the 5 most important figures in NFL history, Gene Upshaw will be among them.” ESPN’s Josh Elliott: “His executive career … led to the burgeoning of what has become the dominant sports league in American sporting history” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 8/21).

 

Upshaw was a great man, and paved the way for the current labor peace in the NFL today.  With the possibility of the players opting out of their deal in 2010, the NFL will miss Upshaw and his ability to maintain order in negotiations.