Peter Gammons Calls Out A-Fraud

The dean of baseball reporting rips A-Fraud a new one live on SportsCenter last night for announcing his contract opt-out in the middle of the World Series (which, as Gammons says twice, Rodriguez has never played in). Sweet.



hat tip to Red Sox Monster

Sox Sweep 2007 World Series 4-0

Again, I am exhausted by another exciting, nail-biter of a game. Congratulations to the Red Sox and their organization. I was also really impressed by the Rockies fans who never gave up on their team. They were still cheering lustily with two outs in the bottom of the 9th.

Mike Lowell wins a well-deserved post-season MVP. Perfect. He was the regular season MVP, and he did everything right, especially in those two close games. You'd think he was fast from the way he ran the bases. But he was better than fast -- he was fundamentally sound and he took every inch the Rockies gave. Please God let the Sox resign him. At least don't sign the odious A-Fraud. Please, please, I'm begging you, don't sign him. Just step away.

Reason 728 why I love Jerry Remy: On the postgame show on NESN he is asked about Alex Rodriguez's agent announcing during the 7th inning of the World Series that Rodriguez is opting out. Remy spits out: "It's disgusting....disgusting and despicable." And of course the dopes at Fox were happy to hijack the attention from the Sox to the attention whore Rodriguez.

Like most of Red Sox Nation, I would be physically sick if the Sox signed the pretty loser, PayFraud. Although it would be fun to see how he gets along with Mike Timlin. I can see Timlin impaling him with the bullpen rake if they really got into it. Why would the Red Sox, a team that prides itself on character, associate the franchise with the hooker-patronizing StrayRod? And it's not like you'd be getting him for post-season production, 'cause he disappears when the stakes are high. Do you need to know more? That's why fans last night were chanting two things: "Re-sign Mike Lowell" and "Don't Sign A-Rod." Good advice, Theo. Take it.

Oh god, I'm pulling a Fox and getting distracted by He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Done with that.

Didn't you love Timlin's Ode to Wake, while standing right next to him, making them both cry? That was awesome.

Speaking of MVP performances, while I agreed that Lowell was the man, it was close. Coach Mom thought it would be Ellsbury. He did hit a scorching .438 in his first World Series, with an OBP of .500 and a SLG of .688. Those are just phenomenal numbers for our phenom. And he fielded every position they put him in like a pro, and his speed terrorized the Rockies pitchers and fielders. I wanted him to get MVP just so he could win the Rookie of the Year award next year after winning World Series MVP.

My friend G wanted Pedroia to get the award, but I think that was sentimental as much as anything. DP had a better shot at MVP of the ALCS. My favorite quote of the postseason by far is Julio Lugo in the clubhouse after the ALCS clinching game, speaking of Pedroia: "That little midget is THE MAN!"

The third player who should have gotten serious MVP consideration has to be Papelbon. Nails didn't give up a run, only 2 hits in 4.1 innings, with three consecutive saves to close out the four game sweep. He did get a lot of help from one Jacoby Ellsbury catch in the 9th inning last night at the wall. Can't wait to see Pap dancing on the duck boat tomorrow!

Final thought: People who weren't here for the entire season who deserve a full World Series share: Kason Gabbard -- his four wins while Schilling was out were huge, and Bobby Kielty -- the guy had one chance in the World Series and really had that one shining moment, a one-pitch home run that was the winning run of the clinching game. Seven years in the majors, four different teams, one pitch to win the World Series. Priceless.

Cloud Nine

Papelbon flies in triumph after closing out Game 4 for the World Champion Boston Red Sox.
(Getty Images Photo / Jeff Gross)

WaPo: Red Sox Have the World at Their Feet
Four-Game Sweep Clinches Second Crown in Four Seasons: Red Sox 4, Rockies 3

I Should Have Bought a Couch

Our new hero.
Boston Globe
Exhausted by another very satisfying, very late night Red Sox win. I wonder how many other people are thinking like me -- I should have bought a couch! Because the Red Sox are going to win this Series going away, and all those people who bought furniture at Jordan's in April are getting their money back.

Those rookies at the top were simply amazing. Ellsbury will be Boston's starting centerfielder for a long time to come. You knew he was special when he scored from second on wild pitch in his very first game in July, but setting records in the World Series? Who could have predicted this from a kid who was carrying his own equipment in Double A In Portland, Maine in April? And how is it possible that he was the 23rd pick in the baseball draft in 2005? That's like Tom Brady being a 6th rounder; it just defies the imagination. 22 teams saw that blinding speed and mad skills and said, nah, we'll pass. (Just looked it up; Troy Trulowitzki went #7. I can justify picking him. What an arm.)

Fucking Fox is trying hard to ruin my World Series experience. We ignore their lame pregame (except for the lineup announcements) and mute the commercials, but to hear the crowd we are forced to listen to dumb and bum, Buck and McCarver. Why do they hate Manny Ramirez so? Is it because he's hitting the lights out in the postseason? I think it's racial racism (edited 10/29/07 to be more direct). He's not a tight-assed white guy like them and they just don't like it. Why were they going on and on about his helmet falling off as he rounded the bases in the third inning? They started talking about his dreadlocks obsessively. They were this close to calling him a nappy-headed ho. Hey, morons, he's got dreadlocks because that's the way his hair grows. Read Pam Spaulding's terrific piece on The Politics of Hair to see how all this white obsession with cornrows is just plain old discrimination against black people. STFU and stop exposing your KKK attitudes.

Back to single Ks. Dice K was awesome. Love that little butt waggle he does before he delivers. When he's really on he does it before every pitch. It's so cute! I don't think I'd have pulled him as quickly as Francona did, but it worked out so I can't complain. He gets his first major league hit -- and in the World Series no less -- so he not only pitched for the win, he had two RBIs and until next year at least, his World Series batting average is .333.

Tonight I'm rooting for cancer survivor Jon Lester to cap his year of amazing comebacks with a win in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series. Plus, I need to start going to bed before 2:00 a.m. I need a win tonight, boys.

Yeah, the angst is gone. This year, I'm not afraid to say: We're going to win it all. One of my friends reminded me last night that I predicted this in July. I don't remember that, but I'm old and I don't remember much any more. But I'm pretty sure I'll never forget the 2007 Red Sox.

Somewhere Sherm Feller is smiling. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park and your 2007 World Series Champions, The Boston Red Sox.

Blogroll Updates

He's ready.
flickr: eurodana
A little housekeeping on a Saturday afternoon. Light rain, cool & grey, waiting for that 8:35 p.m. first pitch.

Removed: The Soul of Baseball. Joe Posnanski has suspended his original and is now posting at this eponymous JoeBlog, which has been added to the blogroll in its place. He still writes at length and obsessively. I look forward to his every post, even though sometimes they're so long I have to skim.

Removed: Don to Earth. Don last posted in March that he is not dead yet, but his blog appears to be.

Removed: Informed Comment, Booman Tribune, I Blame the Patriarchy, Overheard in New York, Tree Hugger, and Crooks & Liars. I've stopped reading them regularly so they're off the roll. It's not like any of them blogroll me, anyway. I think the only blog on this entire blogroll that blogrolls me is skippy the bush kangaroo.

Additions: Boltgirl on the Loose, who I have grouped with the women's soccer blogs, though she posts on gay issues as well as personal stuff. A good read. Plus my blogroll's not gay enough. I won't blogroll Americablog because I'm banned there (for complaining about John Aravosis insulting someone by calling them a "Big Girl"; what a maroon.)

Sideline Views, for Andrea Canales reports on women's soccer (she also writes for ESPN's Soccernet, but I won't blogroll ESPN as they hate soccer. Maybe if they fire Dave O'Baseball as soccer announcer I'd reconsider.

Kickster, another women's soccer blog.

I Wish I Wrote This

Esquire: TheSide: Blog
Why You Should Root for the Boston Red Sox
Because they represent everything that is good about America. (Of course, not everyone agrees with this.)

Read the whole thing; it's hilarious. For this:

I've left out some people, I'm sure, but that's basically your 2007 Boston Red Sox: two Japanese exchange students, a feisty runt, a tough-looking Jew, a Navajo Indian, an idiot-savant, a right-wing asshole, the human embodiment of charisma, and a man named after a breakfast cereal. That's America, right there. And, ain't that something worth cheering for?

And this:

Eric Gillin: The Colorado Rockies? Seriously? How can anyone cheer for the Colorado Rockies? They're like a bag of Wonder Bread with a jar of Miracle Whip -- a bland collection of forgettable ballplayers with candy-ass names like "Taylor" and "Jamey." If you could buy the Colorado Rockies in the grocery store, they'd come in a white box with giant black letters across the front saying BASEBALL TEAM. Their lineup looks like it came off a Mattel production line, a ball-free collection of multicultural Kens with the occasional goatee and the underwear already stamped in.

I know this is unfair, but I still consider the Rockies a bush league marketing ploy that allowed baseball to sell more black merchandise when all the pro sports leagues overexpanded in the 1990s. I know I'm going to regret this later, but right now I have trouble taking the franchise seriously. They play 5,000 feet above sea level. They've never won their own division. Their Website crashed when World Series tickets went on sale. Their uniforms don't have sleeves.

And this immortal video of Manny Ramirez petting Julian Tavares' head:

Manny pets Tavarez
Uploaded by bjs1234

Hat tip to Cursed to First.

Random Red Sawx Notes

Boston Globe
- I just drove by two girls, maybe 10 years old, in a park on the edge of Main St., holding up a sign that said "Honk if you Love the Red Sox", both outfitted in Sox shirts and sunglasses, screamingly gleefully at each car that honked as it went by. Pure joy.

- What's with Clint Hurdle and the bobbing cap? I've never seen anyone chew their gum so intensely that those little muscles on the side of your temples could move your baseball cap. It's really weird to watch.

- Someone please give Tim McCarver and Joe Buck a big cup of STFU. I would pay extra for a TV that let me mute announcers and listen to nothing but the crowd noise.

- What's with all the limp dick ads during the World Series? Pee medicine, erection medicine, ewwwwwwww. Last night I noticed that the first one came on at 10:00 p.m. Luckily the two kids in the room were already asleep, so I didn't have to explain weak stream or four hour erections to teenagers. Are baseball fans the target audience? Is there a high percentage of men with defective equipment watching the Series? Personally, I'm sick of hearing about it.

- Jonathon Papelbon is married. Can you imagine living with him? Does he make that face at home? Is it his Baby let's do it face? (That question is definitely influenced by all those limp dick ads I've been forced to watch for the last two weeks.) Dance? Talk crazy? I'd imagine that he is exhilarating, infuriating and exhausting, all in the same day.

- Did anyone else feel kind of icky hearing the bullpen band banging out the Atlanta Braves Indian tom-tom rhythm while Jacoby Ellsbury was batting? And a couple of them were doing the tomahawk chop. To me, that's racist and not cool. John Henry: a little education is in order here.

- Ellsbury a/k/a Tacoby Bellsbury wins America a free taco with an uncontested steal. Appropriate as he is the fastest guy on the field. This NYTimes writer is offended by the taped conversations in the dugout about the Taco Bell challenge; to me they make sense. These guys didn't come from money. They probably still go to Taco Bell while making their million dollar salaries.

- I love love love Pedroia the Destroia. Especially since I'm convinced I can look him in the eye. He's listed at 5'9", but Francona says he's 5'7", and on ESPN the other night Peter Gammons said what I believe to be true: He's 5'5". He's the Muggsy Bogues of baseball! Some other guy on ESPN said Pedroia has the smallest hands he's ever seen on a major league baseball player. They don't look freakishly small to me, but the camera does put on 10 lbs.

Feel the Pedroia love: Arizona Republic, USAToady, Boston Globe, The Republican, Braves.scout.com, East Valley (AZ) Tribune, Boston Herald (his mom), Dallas Morning News, Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union Tribune.

- Best sign of the night had to be the giant dancing Papelbon puppet. The swinging legs! The compression shorts! Two-dimensional Cinco Ocho.

- Hope the Sox resign Mike Lowell, if just to save me from the horror of having to watch Alex Rodriguez, the pretty loser. I just can't cheer for the guy. Let the Cubs have him; let the Cubs prolong their agony.

Boston Globe: Photoshopping the Sox

Genarlow Wilson: Free at Last

ABC: A handout photo from the office of his attorney, shows 17-year-old Genarlow Wilson, now 21. Wilson has currently served more than two years of a ten-year prison sentence for having consensual oral sex when he was 17 with a 15-year-old girl in 2003. (Genarlow Wilson)
cnn.com: Court says teen sex conviction 'cruel and unusual' punishment

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The Supreme Court of Georgia ordered Friday that Genarlow Wilson be released from prison, ruling that his sentence for a teen sex conviction was cruel and unusual punishment.

ABCNews.com: Court: Free Teen Jailed for Consensual Sex
Georgia Supreme Court Found a 10-Year Sentence for Oral Sex With Fellow Teen 'Cruel'

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote in the majority opinion that the changes in the law "represent a seismic shift in the legislature's view of the gravity of oral sex between two willing teenage participants."

Sears wrote that the severe punishment makes "no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment" and that Wilson's crime did not rise to the "level of adults who prey on children."

Edited to add: Click on the label "Genarlow Wilson", below, to read all posts on this travesty of justice. This kid served two years for a blow job; Scooter Libby committed treason & he's sitting home free.

Turkeys Everywhere

Boston Globe: Turkeys take to cities, towns

I saw a turkey on my daily walk yesterday, along with a circling redtail hawk, a kingfisher, and plenty of crows. The turkey had just drunk from the Wachusett Reservoir and was hurrying back to a copse of trees as I came along the path.

Greg Ryan

WaPo Soccer Insider: Ryan Out As Women's Coach

Better late than never. The guy should have been fired in the middle of the World Cup for pulling that stunt of changing goalkeepers midstream. I wouldn't want to go hunting with Sunil Gulati. By the time he decided to shoot, it would have changed seasons.

We're Melting

WaPo: At the Poles, Melting Occurring at Alarming Rate

For scientists, global warming is a disaster movie, its opening scenes set at the poles of Earth. The epic already has started. And it's not fiction.

The scenes are playing, at the start, in slow motion: The relentless grip of the Arctic Ocean that defied man for centuries is melting away. The sea ice reaches only half as far as it did 50 years ago. In the summer of 2006, it shrank to a record low; this summer the ice pulled back even more, by an area nearly the size of Alaska. Where explorer Robert Peary just 102 years ago saw "a great white disk stretching away apparently infinitely" from Ellesmere Island, there is often nothing now but open water. Glaciers race into the sea from the island of Greenland, beginning an inevitable rise in the oceans.

Animals are on the move. Polar bears, kings of the Arctic, now search for ice on which to hunt and bear young. Seals, walrus and fish adapted to the cold are retreating north. New species -- salmon, crabs, even crows -- are coming from the south. The Inuit, who have lived on the frozen land for millennia, are seeing their houses sink into once-frozen mud, and their hunting trails on the ice are pocked with sinkholes.

"It affects everyone," said Carin Ashjian, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute scientist who spent early September with native Inupiats in Barrow, the northernmost town of Alaska. "The only ice I saw this year was in my cup at the cafeteria."

At the South Pole, ancient ice shelves have abruptly crumbled. The air over the western Antarctic peninsula has warmed by nearly 6 degrees since 1950. The sea there is heating as well, further melting edges of the ice cap. Green grass and beech trees are taking root on the ice fringes.

Antarctica's signature Adelie penguins are moving inland, seeking the cold of their ancestors, replaced by chinstrap and Gentoo penguins, which prefer open water. Krill, the massive smorgasbord for a food chain reaching to the whales, are disappearing from traditional spawning grounds.

Hope Solo: The Backstory

Watch this video telling the story of Hope Solo and her father, who died this spring. And think about how abysmally her teammates treated her for daring to tell the truth, that their coach made a huge mistake by replacing her in goal for the Brazil game. Once you see this story, you'll see that their treatment of her was especially cruel. Like kicking a puppy. Just wrong.

Hat tip to Kickster.

Fire Him Or Else

If USSoccer doesn't fire Greg Ryan, they reveal themselves to know NOTHING about soccer. Nothing. I won't go to a USWNT game until he's gone.

WaPo: Greg Ryan Announcement Monday

USSF President Sunil Gulati and Secretary General Dan Flynn will address U.S. women's national team coach Greg Ryan's status during a media teleconference at 4 p.m. (Eastern) on Monday.

The sins of Greg Ryan:

(1) Adopting bootball tactics instead of the beautiful possession game.

(2) Blowing the 2007 World Cup by putting in rusty, over-the-hill Brianna Scurry for hot, best-goalie-in-the-world-right-now Hope Solo. Stupidest decision in the history of sports. Brianna Scurry was the best goalie in the world in 1999. Not 2007.

(3) Hired all male assistant coaches.

(4) Had the players practicing separately by position. What?

(5) Played Kristine Lilly too many minutes, in the wrong position. She's a midfielder, you dope.

(6) Losing to Brazil in a win-or-go-home game against Brazil, he made DEFENSIVE substitutions. Moron.

(7) Inability to adapt tactically, like having Cat Whitehill come from the back to take throw-ins while the US was down a man to Brazil (lead directly to the third goal in the game).

(8) Choked under pressure. Who can forget him chattering like a monkey on the sidelines during the North Korea game? I'd freak out if my coach acted like that during a game.

(9) Humiliating Hope Solo after she spoke the truth. She would have made those saves.

(10) Destroying the reputation of the greatest women's sports team in the world. Unforgivable.

Sweet

boston.com:
ALCS celebration
Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon celebrated on the field after the Red Sox won the AL pennant.
(Getty Images Photo / Al Bello)

USA Women Need A New Coach

Greg Ryan is the coach of the USA women's World Cup team, and he thinks he's a great soccer tactician. He DELIBERATELY has the US playing a bonehead, boot the ball up to the forwards style. Like Sir Alex Ferguson is a fool for teaching his players to possess. Guus Hiddink -- clearly knows nothing about soccer. Ditto Klinsmann. All those managers have it wrong. Greg Ryan has the superior tactical knowledge -- he thinks.

So if someone asks you why the US team is playing such ugly soccer, you tell them: BECAUSE THEIR COACH IS AN IDIOT. He doesn't believe in technique or possession. Let's hope our team's pure talent lets them win the Cup despite their coach's 80s tactics.

FIFA.com: Direct US reflect new realities

With Wambach's 78 goals in 96 internationals, this reliance on her forward power seems to have its benefits, even if it provides a contrast with the days when Hamm, Tiffeny Milbrett and Joy Fawcett were moving the ball around the field in a short-passing style. According to coach Ryan, though, the new way is simply a reflection of an overall improvement in the level of the women's game worldwide. "The game has changed so much in the last seven or eight years," Ryan told FIFA.com ahead of the Group B leaders' game in Shanghai against Nigeria.

"Back then, you could get away with playing little passes all over the field and have success doing it. But in the modern game, a team that just knocks the ball around the middle of the park is going to get killed doing it," continued Ryan, who replaced 1991 world champion-turned-coach April Heinrichs in 2005 and signalled a shift from the technique-driven short-passing game to a more physical and direct style.

The only way
"If you spend all your time trying to look pretty, you're going to end up with big problems the other way," said Ryan, who lined up alongside Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto in his playing days with New York Cosmos. "We try to attack, exploit the space and turn it into goals," he said. "This is the only way to play now. Look at what happened to China when they were risking things right in front of their own goal against Brazil. They got stuffed 4-0."

Wambach's second goal against the Swedes, her third in two matches, was as direct as you will see - a long ball from Lilly in midfield, controlled with the chest and hit ferociously on the half-volley. Far from ugly or overly simple, the strike was an artistic and elegant statement about the efficiency that has crept into the women's game.

Far from the backward step that some have labelled it, USA's new direct style speaks to improvements across the board - largely inspired by the Americans' previous dominance. But opponents and fellow contenders like Brazil, Germany, and Korea DPR, who still play an attractive short-passing game, would be mistaken if they thought the Americans had become a one-trick pony.

"Every game is different," said Lilly, who has seen it all in a career spanning nearly 20 years. "If we get something out of going up over the top, then we'll do that. But if we can get the ball down and move it around and beat a team that way, that would be great too." As the women's game undergoes undeniable changes and rapid shifts - all visible here in China - USA's desire to be the best is the same as it ever was.

The Decider on 9/11/01

I'm too enraged about politics, Bush's War Without End, Amen and the dithering Democrats to write much these days. So here's my 9/11 post.

From Buzzflash:

A 9/11 Reminder from a 2004 BuzzFlash Editorial: "Minutes of Silence That Should Live in Infamy: As Americans Leapt to Their Deaths from the Twin Towers, George W. Bush Sat Cluelessly in a Florida Classroom, Endangering the Lives of the Children Around Him, Until His Handlers Could Figure Out What to Do With Him."

I wish I had written this, but I'm just too pissed off:

Lawyers, Guns and Money: Anniversary

"I am not gay. I have never been gay."

Puppets from the Broadway show Avenue Q have a little fun at the expense of soon-to-be former Idaho Senator Larry Craig:



I don't think Larry Craig should resign because he's gay, or because he likes to have sex with men. I think he should resign because he's a hypocrite who has been voting against other people who share his sexual preference. I also think he should resign because he needs time out of the public spotlight to look closely at his behavior during his adult life. The rumors about Larry Craig are longstanding. He was identified in the page scandal in the early 1980s (when he also made the statement that he was not gay) and six months later he married his congressional aide and adopted her three children. Nice beard.

A grown man who's still having anonymous sex in public bathrooms needs to do a little soul searching.

Foudy Induction Speech Video

It's excerpts filmed by someone who was there, with a little clip at the end of Mia Hamm being introduced onto the field as a sub during the Hall of Fame Game.

hat tip to USA Women's Soccer

Kanye West Was Right

Hurricane Katrina hit two years ago today:



Heckuva Job Bushie and his Republican band of heartless cronies kill an American city:



And of course, Bush lied. He was warned about the levees:



Kanye West calls it:

All Hail the Wombat

The Women's World Cup starts on September 10, 2007 in China (ESPN TV schedule), and the US is led by Rochester's own Abby Wambach. She had a chat on washingtonpost.com last week, and they also had an article about her journey to becoming one of the world's best. Here are some videos for you Wombat fans:

Anti-makeup. Gotta love her. (hat tip to Bolt Girl on the Loose)

Her 2004 goals

At home with her family

Kinetic Sculpture

Someone on a listservice I belong to fowarded this cool kinetic sculpture video:

glumbert.com - Kinetic Sculpture

The sculptor's name is Theo Jansen.

2007 Soccer Hall of Fame Inductions

National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum, Oneonta, New York


National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction 2007 Julie Foudy Highlights Video

National Soccer Hall of Fame Induction 2007 Mia Hamm Highlights Video



Coach Mom & I got to see the induction of Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy to the Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, New York on Sunday. We got there about 11:00 a.m. for the noon time ceremony and the Hall of Fame was mobbed. In 2004 we attended Michelle Akers induction(the greatest player in the history of women's soccer -- Mia Hamm described her as the best ever in her speech), and got there at the same time & sat in the front row of the lobby where it was held then.

This year it was held outdoors on the grounds. We brought chairs and set up in the 10th row amid a bunch of grumbling people who were standing behind the last row of chairs. I wasn't going to set Coach Mom's chair behind a bunch of people standing up! One woman behind us asked, who's that other woman being inducted with Mia? Julie something? So I didn't feel bad about encroaching on their space.

Unlike Akers, who was inducted first in her class, the Hall of Fame did it right and inducted Foudy & Hamm last. Former National Team head coach Tony DiCicco & retired National Team captain Carla Overbeck inducted Julie Foudy, who then gave a great speech. Anson Dorrance inducted Mia Hamm, and they were both very inspiring. Julie Foudy talked about her daughter Izzy and the cameras panned over her while the crowd oohed. Mia Hamm thanked her husband Nomar Garciaparra and talked about their two daughters, Eva (Ava?) and Grace, but the cameras did not show them. I don't think those kids have ever been photographed and apparently Mia intends to keep it that way. Good for her.

But as usual it was a disorganized mess from an event planning perspective. The Hall of Fame was blocked off during and before the ceremony for the VIPs. You could get into the gift shop, but there was a long line. And they weren't selling Foudy and Hamm shirts. Or if they were, they ran out early. Morons. They should have had a stand up OUTSIDE and they would have sold at least 1000. They were selling David Beckham's Galaxy jersey and many girls appeared from the gift shop wearing those. But what a missed opportunity. Thousands of people there, soccer in their hearts, money in their pockets, and kids tugging on their sleeves. (The crowd was estimated at 5,000.)

The game was supposed to start half an hour after the ceremonies ended. I walked back to the car to dump off our chairs. We walked towards the field. Now it is after 2:00 and Coach Mom has to eat. But there are only two food concessions open. Two ines total. I got in the shorter line (the one that didn't sell french fries). After waiting 45 minutes in line (and missing the entire first half of the Hall of Fame game, when Hamm and Foudy played) they ran out of everything but nachos. So I got Coach Mom a plate of nachos, cheese crackers and a candy bar (so she wouldn't keel over) and told them they had to let me cut the line when they got real food. Luckily an old friend of ours spotted us as we got into line & I sent Mom to talk to her while I waited. Again, event planning 101, if you expect a crowd of thousands, more than half kids, you'd better have plenty of food concessions. The line I was in was being serviced by 6 women using an extra large home sized grill. A dozen burgers and a dozen hotdogs at a time. To feed thousands of people. Planning, people, planning!

So, we saw part of the second half of the Hall of Fame game, saw Christie Welsh score two goals, but missed Hamm, Foudy, Overbeck, & Tiffany Roberts play though. We saw a few more of Coach Mom's former players and students. Coach Mom won the Oneonta Soccer Club raffle and got a big basket of soccer shirts and ephemera. We left the game with 20 minutes left & went to Brooks's BBQ where we just got our takeout chicken before the hordes from the game descended.

Oneonta Daily Star: 5,000 greet soccer greats

Oneonta Daily Star: All eyes on Hamm and Foudy

Hall of Fame Magazine.com: Soccer Hall of Fame Induction Has Record Attendance

NYTimes: Hamm and Foudy Join Hall

Red Sox - Yankees Series Begins Tonight

8 games up on August 28th. Nice way to start the last month of the season. The Red Sox feasted on Chicago White Sox pitching over the weekend, and are primed for the Bronx bombers. Who gave up more than 16 runs twice last week. Ouch.

NYTimes: Tigers 16, Yankees 0
Ugly Outing by Mussina Casts Cloud on Future

Bridge Repair on the Cheap

Photo by Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune

Divers continued recovery efforts Friday at the scene where the I-35W bridge collapsed.


Minneapolis Star Tribune: MnDOT chose 'most cost efficient' of 3 options

In lay terms, they picked the cheapest fix. Bridge fell down. You get what you pay for.

Speaking of Van Gogh

The Ravine is not available online, so here's another Van Gogh:
Café Terrace at Night
Oil on canvas, 1888

A conservator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts has discovered a "lost" Van Gogh painting; behind another painting, which he apparently painted over. Why did he do this?

In his early years, van Gogh often reused canvases or turned them over and painted on the other side to make the most of his limited funds. But by 1889, a year before his death, he was being supported by his brother. Van Gogh painted over "Wild Vegetation" not because he couldn't afford to buy another canvas but because Theo was slow to send along new canvases, according to MFA curator George Shackelford.

"He was so eager to paint that he wasn't willing to wait," said Shackelford. "We deduce he decided to sacrifice a picture, maybe of the ones that he had that he liked the least, and he painted straight over the very highly patterned design of the first canvas without introducing a layer of white. It's fantastically amazing."

Blogtopia* Roundup, Saturday, August 4, 2007

From the Mel Kelly Life List

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
The Starry Night
Senate Democrats cave to Smirky McEavesdropper, give him even more power to wiretap, and unbelievably, put Serial Liar Alberto Gonzales in charge of oversight. 16 Democratic fools voted for this: thank heavens my Senators are more sane than these:

Evan Bayh (Indiana); Tom Carper (Delaware); Bob Casey (Pennsylvania); Kent Conrad (North Dakota); Dianne Feinstein (California); Daniel Inouye (Hawai‘i); Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota); Nancy Mary Landrieu (Louisiana); Blanche Lincoln (Arkansas); Claire McCaskill (Missouri); Barbara Mikulski (Maryland); Bill Nelson (Florida); Ben Nelson (Nebraska); Mark Pryor (Arkansas); Ken Salazar (Colorado); Jim Webb (Virginia).

Were they that desperate to go on vacation?

Wish you were at YearlyKos? (I do! Maybe next year.) TPM has videos of interviews with some of the attendees.

The Jose Padilla trial plods on; the government's evidence is so very weak that Padilla's attorneys put on no case. Not surprising since Bush's DOJ has a 29% conviction rate on terrorism prosecutions, compared to 93% elsewhere; they're all smoke and mirrors. Kind of like the entire Bush Administration. As Will S. said, all sound and fury, signifying nothing.

The Bush Administration killed a 4 cents a gallon gasoline tax in 2004 that would have gone to fixing the country's decaying roads and bridges. Heckuva job, George.

Speaking of Heckuva Job George, Monday is the 6th anniversary of the PDB that George ignored: "Bin Laden Determined To Strike In US". There'll be a blogswarm on the topic.

Main St. USA News, from BoingBoing: Bubblegum rocker Bobby Sherman has built a replica of Disney's Main St. USA in his backyard.

Since Congress, George W. Bush, and the Iraqi Parliament are all on vacation, I'm gong too. Posting will be rare for the next two weeks.

Sports Roundup, Saturday, August 4, 2007

Chad Finn loves loves loves Kevin Garnett:

I guess it's still just surreal that perhaps the most likable NBA superstar of the last decade is on the Celtics, and I'm still savoring the whole thing, four days after the trade. It's funny, I've been trying to explain how significant this is to the lapsed Celtics fans I know, and I just keep coming back to the same point: Kevin Garnett will restore Celtic Pride. I guarantee it. He is the perfect player in the perfect place at the perfect time. He's a superstar who plays with the hunger and desperation of a 12th man. He's maniacal about winning.

Soccer Hall of Fame gets smart, will have two women's teams in the Hall of Fame Game on August 26th when Hamm & Foudy are inducted. Hamm, Foudy and Carla Overbeck will all play in the game.

Washington Post with an article about and interview with Freddy Adu who is now in Portugal training with Benfica; Grant Wahl of SI also interviewed Freddy.

Former Boston College striker and New Hampshire native Charlie Davies happy in Sweden.

Welcome to Boston, Eric Gagne. We'll go Ga-Ga for you.

No Kidding

Reuters: Angry men get ahead while angry women penalized: study

Diane Feinstein Votes Racist Leslie Southwick Through Judiciary Committee

In this episode of 'What lie should we tell the dumbDemocrats?', Dianne Feinstein is Charlie Brown and Leslie Southwick is Lucy.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

The Republicans have been lying to the Democrats for six years.

Their judicial nominees have been especially skilled at this. Both John Roberts and Samuel Alito said they would follow precedents; then they voted to throw out 35 years of civil rights jurisprudence and limit the time limit for damages for employment discrimination cases to six months. Congress just passed legislation to restore the law they passed so many years ago.

Dianne Feinstein has been claiming to be surprised and shocked that Roberts and Alito lied to her. But when she had a chance to keep another neo-Paleo-conservative off the Fifth Circuit, she blinked.

She voted to let racist Leslie Southwick's nomination proceed to the Senate. Because he said he would be good. Just like Roberts and Alito promised to follow precedent.

He said he wouldn't do it any more. And she believed him!

Feinstein said she decided to break with her party over Southwick because she had met him and determined he is a "qualified, circumspect person."

"I don't believe he's a racist. I don't believe I'm a racist. I believe he made a mistake," Feinstein said.

Dummy. Doesn't matter how often they lie to you. You still believe them! Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Call your Senator and ask him/her to vote against this joker. I'm going to ask Kerry & Kennedy to filibuster his ass:

Congressional Switchboard: Senate (202) 224-3121

hat tip to Dover Bitch at Hullabaloo: Here comes another one

See also: Americablog: Dianne Feinstein votes to confirm anti-gay anti-black bigot judge, saves nomination from certain death

Schadenfreude

New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens looks at the ball after giving up the eighth run against the Chicago White Sox in the second inning as catcher Jorge Posada (L) walks to the mound during their MLB American League baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, August 2, 2007. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES)

Boston Globe: Clemens booed off mound after giving up eight runs
Yankees rally for eight runs in second after Clemens gets rocked

Anti-Abortion Nuts At It Again

An Ohio legislator, John Addams, (R-Looney Tunes), has introduced legislation that would bar a woman from getting an abortion without the father's consent. If she doesn't know who the father is, she would be required to give a list of her sexual partners, would then all be DNA tested to decide which man gets to decide whether she gets an abortion. Hey moron, if a guy doesn't want a woman to get an abortion, don't have sex. Or wear a condom. That's where the man's decision-making power begins and ends. Looney Tunes is a nice description for these sexist pigs.

The Consumerist: Proposed Legislation In Ohio Would Require Women To Get A Man's Permission To Have An Abortion

Corrente: Forced pregnancy loons on the march in the Ohio legislature

As Flo Kennedy said, if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

The Mittwit Talks Down

A waitress in New Hampshire asked Romney about what he is going to do to help Americans pay health care costs. He gave her some platitudes and pointedly didn't ask her anything about her own situation. This reminds me of the 1992 debate where George H.W. Bush responded to the woman asking how the national debt had affected each of them personally. He blathered about his policy proposals. Clinton then walked right up to the woman and said "Tell me how it's affected you again." No wonder the Republican field is running scared from the YouTube debate. They'd have to answer tough questions from people who don't have cushy health care like they do, for one thing.

How Many Bridges in Your State Are 'Structurally Deficient'?

ABC News: Minn. Bridge Collapse: Survivors' Photos
A side view of the I35 W after it buckled into chunks.
(Kimberly Brown and Kelly Kahle)

MSNBC has posted a chart that shows bridges that are "structurally deficient" for all 50 states:

MSNBC: State by state: 'Deficient' and 'Obsolete' Bridges

Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are the worst with over 50% of bridges "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete".

For Massachusetts, that's what 20 years of tax-cutting Republican governors gets you.

Manchester United Signs 9-Year-Old Phenom

Remember the name: Rhain Davis. He'll turn 10 in October, but he's already got a contract with Manchester United. Watch the video:

Security Camera Records Minneapolis Bridge Collapse

Bush Politicizes Minneapolis Bridge Collapse [Updated, below; Update Two]

The Chimperor is using his free cable time commenting on the Minneapolis bridge collapse to criticize Congress for not passing spending bills. He barely spoke on the bridge collapse. Of course, he doesn't really care about anyone. Psychopath.

Politicizing the bridge collapse less than 24 hours after happened. He is shameless.

Impeach his cold, lying ass.

UPDATE: RenaF at dailykos is far more eloquent than I: The Utter F---ing NERVE. She has a transcript of his absurd statements.

UPDATE 2: Somebody was counting: Bush used 139 words to address Minneapolis, then spent 509 words blaming the Democrats.

Dodgers Fans Greet Barroid*

Fans boo the Giants' Barry Bonds as he takes to left field during the first inning Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
(Lori Shepler / LAT)

latimes.com
Brothers Adam, 26, (left) and Marcus Boyd, 30, of Palos Verdes wear their sentiments, directed at Barry Bonds, during the game on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
(Myung J. Chun / LAT)

latimes.com
Dodgers fans let Giants slugger Barry Bonds know their feelings during his seventh inning at-bat, which ended up as a bloop single.
(Myung J. Chun / LAT)


Two baseball fans dress up as Barry Bonds and BALCO founder Victor Conte before the game Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
(Lori Shepler / LAT)

All photos are from this LATimes Photo Gallery.

Minnesota Bridge Collapse

The collapse left vehicles scattered along the rubble of the bridge.

Photo: Heather Munro/Star Tribune, via Associated Press


CNN interviewed the Minnesota governor this morning, and he said well, this bridge did show structural issues in an inspection last year, but there are 80,000 other bridges in the country with the same level of deterioration; and that's not the worst ranking. Apparently there's a list of tens of thousands of other bridges that are even more structurally deficient.

ABC News says that more than a quarter -- 27% -- of the country's 600,000 bridges are structurally deficient:

According to the Center for International and Strategic Studies, more than a quarter of the country's bridges are structurally unstable. A federal report in 2005 said Minnesota's Interstate 35W bridge was structurally deficient and may need to be repaired.

Ron Beasley at Middle Earth Journal puts it this way:

[W]e should be looking at the revenue starved collapsing infrastructure of the United States. A much greater threat than al-Qaeda could ever be.

And why is our infrastructure revenue starved? It's the crazy Republican fetish for tax cuts. And the absolutely insane Iraq war, where we will spend more than a trillion dollars according to the Congressional Budget Office. Imagine if we had used that money to repair our crumbling infrastructure. Some people in Minneapolis might be alive today.

Newcastle to Sign Alan Smith

Looks like Newcastle has won the Alan Smith derby. Big Sam has added a lot of quality players since he took over: Alan Smith, Mark Viduka, Joey Barton, David Rozehnal and Geremi. Newcastle is one of those teams where you always wonder why they underperform so. This signing should make Alan Shearer happy.

Where will Obafemi Martins find a place in this strike team?

BBC Football: Magpies make successful Smith bid

The Magpies are in talks with the 26-year-old, who has been linked to a host of Premiership clubs, and it is believed the deal is worth £6m.

Smith could even make his Newcastle debut alongside former Leeds team-mate Mark Viduka in a pre-season friendly against Sampdoria on Sunday.

Goal.com: Alan Smith Set For Newcastle - Report

The future of Manchester United's England striker Alan Smith could soon be resolved with the Manchester Evening News reporting that United have accepted a £6 million offer from Premiership rivals Newcastle deal for the former Leeds man.

Somth, 26, is apparently due to hold talks today with Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce over personal terms.

A transfer could then be completed this week.

Guardian (uk): Newcastle agree £6m Smith fee

Massive Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis

This video frame grab taken from KMSP television shows the scene of a freeway bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007. The entire span of the 35W bridge collapsed about 6:05 p.m. where the freeway crosses the river near University Avenue. (AP Photo/KMSP-TV)

WaPo (AP): Bridge Falls Into Mississippi River

MINNEAPOLIS -- The entire span of an interstate bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour Wednesday, sending vehicles, tons of concrete and twisted metal crashing into the water.

The Interstate 35W bridge, a major link between Minneapolis and St. Paul, was in the midst of being repaired when it broke into several huge sections.

"There were two lanes of traffic, bumper to bumper, at the point of the collapse. Those cars did go into the river," Minneapolis Police Lt. Amelia Huffman. "At this point there is nothing to suggest that this was anything other than a structural collapse."

I heard a Minnesota-based Foxbot talking to Shepard Smith about the bridge collapse. She said, in essence, that she didn't know if this was a factor, but Minneapolis has been in the grip of a heatwave all summer. They quickly took her off the air!

The collapse is much more likely due to the fact that it's a 40 year old bridge (opened in 1967) which, when inspected in 2006, was found to have "cracks in bridge superstructure that needed attention."

Best comment on the bridge collapse, from commenter xxdr zombiexx at dailykos:

Things crumbling was a hallmark of Soviet-era incompetence and dereliction of duty.

Blogtopia* RoundUp, Wednesday August 1, 2007

SI Neg. 95-9624. Date: 1995...Liddicoatitie (tourmaline family), Madagascar. ..Credit: Laurie Minor-Penland (Smithsonian Institution)
flckr

The 2004 election was stolen; conveniently for the vote-thieving Republicans, ballots in 56 of 88 counties have been destroyed, in violation of a federal order to preserve them.

Senator Stevens has been trying to weasel his way out of charges his house renovations were a sweetheart deal by saying "My wife and I paid every bill that was presented to us". Of course, there were probably many things that went unbilled, if you know what I mean.

CNN has given Laura Ingraham Paula Zahn's slot until Mrs. Dan Senor (the USRepublican spokesman in Iraq), Campbell Brown, takes over. At Hullabaloo, Dover Bitch remembers one of Ingraham's sycophantic interviews with Heckuva Job Rumsfield.

Speaking of Rummy, that psychopathic MF will testify in the Tilllman investigation by the House Oversight Committee today. I hope Henry Waxman rips him a new one. ACTION ALERT: Sign VoteVets petition to get Bush to release the Tillman documents he's covering up with a bogus executive privilege claim.

Home Depot (following Lowes) pulls its advertising from Bill O'Lielly's show. Or maybe they don't. Pressure is having an effect, for sure.

If You Lived In Iowa or New Hampshire: Barack Obama

hat tip to TPM Muckraker

Baby Footballers

Must see collections of baby photos of famous footballers. Look for [Fat] Frank Lampard, Stevie G., Thierry Henry and Christiano Ronaldo.

Metric-March: PICSPAM: Footballers...when they were young (Part 1)

Metric-March: PICSPAM: Footballers...when they were young (Part 2)

hat tip to Who Ate All the Pies?

The Celtics are Back

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett pumps his fist to his chest before the start of the basketball game with the Los Angeles Clippers in Minneapolis in this Nov. 25, 2006 file photo. Garnett is leaving Minnesota after the Boston Celtics agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer trade with the Timberwolves, a Celtics official told The Associated Press on Monday, July 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Andy King, File)

In a big way. Today's news of the signing of Kevin Garnett may change my opinion of Danny Ainge (formerly, I thought of him as the dumbest of the former Celtics). The Celtics have been boring and horrible to watch since the departure of Antoine Walker, and they weren't even that great then. Last year, riddled with injuries, they were pathetic. Now we'll find out if Paul Pierce is really a superstar. Garnett certainly is. And Ainge got him for "the Al Jefferson pu pu platter deluxe" (credit to Bill Simmons of ESPN for that delicious bon mot). Game on.

Boston Globe: The big one
Celtics agree on deal to land Garnett

Boston Globe: Jackie MacMullan
Move is just the ticket for once-proud team

Boston Herald: C’s cash in ‘Big Ticket’

Chad Finn's TATB: I think I'll go to Boston/I think I'll start a new life

[] Garnett might be the most dedicated superstar in the game, a selfless, driven, all-around force who plays as hard in a mid-January grinder in Utah as he would against Tim Duncan in the second round of the playoffs. Garnett cares, dammit, and he plays his heart out every freakin' night no matter what . . . Maybe this is hyperbole brought on by the joy and magnitude of the moment, but no matter, because I believe it to be true: Through sheer force of will, Garnett is capable of restoring Celtic Pride, and the alleged and lapsed Celtics fans who don't know this about him are going to be leaping on the bandwagon once they realize what a treat it is to watch this guy play night after night . . .

Bill Simmons, ESPNPage 2: McHale adds another notch to his Celtics legacy

My NBA guide claims that McHale retired from the Celtics in 1993, but apparently that's a misprint. How else could you explain his decision to trade Kevin Garnett to Boston for the Al Jefferson pu pu platter deluxe?

FBI Searches Senator Ted Stephens Home [Updated, below]

Anchorage Daily News: AL GRILLO / The Associated Press
Armed with a search warrant, agents from the FBI and IRS spent much of the day July 30, 2007, in, around and on top of Sen. Ted Stevens' Girdwood home, which was extensively remodeled in 2000. Investigators want to know whether the project was handled lawfully, an unnamed law enforcement official said.
WaPo: Alaska Senator's Home Is Raided
Stevens Scrutinized In a Wide Inquiry Into Corruption in the State

How will we remember Ted Stephens? For the Bridge to Nowhere? For "the Internet is not something that you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes." Or as a powerful man who let his powerful position as Chair of the Appropriations Committee corrupt him? He let an oil services company DOUBLE the size of his home. Nice work if you can get it.

I think the Tubes comment will win out.

Anchorage Daily News: Warrant served at Ted Stevens' Girdwood home
FBI, IRS examine residence; remodeling job under scrutiny

Stevens' Girdwood house

• 10 rooms, 2,471 square feet

• Assessed value in 2007: $440,900 (includes 1/4-acre lot)

• Extensive remodel in 2000 that involved jacking existing dwelling up and constructing a new first floor beneath it to roughly double the square footage.

• Investigators are looking into the role of oil field services firm Veco in the remodeling project.

UPDATE: An astute blogger notes that Senator Stephen's attorneys were tipped off about the search. Alberto Gonzales' DOJ strikes again.

Judi, Judi, Judi

Apparently it annoys Judith Nathan, Rudy Giuliani's social-climbing wife, when people call her Judi. Judi, Judi, Judi. From the article, it sounds like she's just perfect for crazy Rudy.

Vanity Fair: The 2008 Election
Giuliani's Princess Bride

A dramatic transformation has occurred, one she does not care to discuss, despite repeated requests by Vanity Fair. She had always been known as "Judi." "Judi is what she was born. I don't think we called her Judith ever," says her father, Donald Stish, 78, seated on his porch one sultry June day in the shade of a gray metal awning. He is a calm, thick-set man who marvels at his daughter's makeover. After her second divorce, she upgraded herself to "Judith" with such vehemence that, one former Giuliani aide confides, "at City Hall we were prohibited from calling her Judi. She would bawl us out if we did."

For years she appeared, in the public record, to have had only one failed marriage, but as it turned out she'd had two. It seemed that she had gone to Pennsylvania State nursing school, as The New York Times once reported, but she had not. She completed two years of nursing school, but left hospital work before a year was up. Nonetheless, Giuliani has publicly referred to her "expertise" in "biological and chemical" disasters, and believes she would be a help in the event of an anthrax attack.

The fact that Rudy Giuliani is being seriously considered as a Presidential candidate is one of the great mysteries of life.

Chief Justice John Roberts Suffers Seizure

Chief Justice John Roberts, pictured 16 July 2007, was out of danger and unharmed after a fall Monday near his vacation home in the US state of Maine, the Supreme Court said in a statement.(AFP/File/Stephane De Sakutin)

Yesterday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts had a seizure while vacationing in Maine. He is only 52 years old. Roberts suffered a previous seizure in 1993 at age 38. There was no public testimony about his seizure during his confirmation hearings, although Senator Spector said yesterday that senators were informed about it.

What does this mean for the future of the court? Probably nothing. His doctors will probably place him on anti-seizure medication. The HuffPo outlines the medical situation thusly:

Medical opinions differed on just what Roberts' seizures mean.

Someone who has had more than one seizure without any other cause is determined to have epilepsy, said Dr. Marc Schlosberg, a neurologist at Washington Hospital Center, who is not involved in the Roberts' case.

Whether Roberts will need anti-seizure medications to prevent another is something he and his doctor will have to decide. But after two seizures, the likelihood of another at some point is greater than 60 percent. "When it's going to occur, obviously nobody knows," Schlosberg said.

The National Institutes of Health's Web site says that "only when a person has had two or more seizures is a person considered to have epilepsy."

Epilepsy is merely a term for a seizure disorder, but it is a loaded term because it makes people think of lots of seizures, cautioned Dr. Edward Mkrdichian, a neurosurgeon at the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch.

Still, Mkrdichian said anyone who has had two otherwise unexplained seizures is at high risk for a third, and that he puts such patients on anti-seizure medications.

"Having two seizures so many years apart without any known culprit is going to be very difficult to figure out," agreed Dr. Max Lee of the Milwaukee Neurological Institute.

I think the guy is a disaster for the Court, but I want him to go out old and bitter, outflanked by all the Democratic appointees to the Court, not to some medical condition.

If Hurricanes Doubled in the Last Century...

This satellite image released by NOAA taken Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 7:30 a.m. EDT shows Tropical Storm Dalila off Mexico's Pacific coast. (AP Photo/NOAA)

What will this century be like? I shudder to think of getting 30 hurricanes a year instead of 15.

Reuters (via Yahoo News): Study blames climate change for hurricane rise

MIAMI (Reuters) - The number of Atlantic hurricanes in an average season has doubled in the last century due in part to warmer seas and changing wind patterns caused by global warming, according to a study released on Sunday.

[]

The new study, published online in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, said the increased numbers of tropical storms and hurricanes in the last 100 years is closely related to a 1.3-degree Fahrenheit rise in sea surface temperatures.

[]

In the new study, conducted by Greg Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and Peter Webster of Georgia Institute of Technology, researchers found three periods since 1900 when the average number of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes increased sharply, and then leveled off and remained steady.

From 1900 to 1930, Atlantic hurricane seasons saw six storms on average, with four hurricanes and two tropical storms. From 1930 to 1940, the annual average rose to ten, including five hurricanes.

From 1995 to 2005, the average rose to 15, with eight hurricanes and seven tropical storms, the researchers said.

Changes in sea surface temperatures occurred before the periods of increased cyclones, with a rise of 0.7 degrees Fahrenheit before the 1930 period and a similar increase before the 1995 period, they said.

"These numbers are a strong indication that climate change is a major factor in the increasing number of Atlantic hurricanes," Holland said in a statement.

Michael Bloomberg for President: Of Sexual Harrassers of America?

Read Laura Bush's body language.
New York City mayor, former Republican, newly minted independent Mike Bloomberg may be jumping into the Presidential race. If so, he can expect scrutiny of the sexual harassment suit he settled in 2000. According to an article in the Huffington Post, the following are things that Bloomberg has admitted saying:

Some elements of the case were made public at the time. An individual with direct knowledge of the case provided additional details to the AP.

The individual said Bloomberg admitted in a deposition, which never was made public, that he had said the words "I'd do her" about Garrison and other women.

[]

The public got a glimpse of this in 2003, when he told a pair of disc jockeys on a radio program that he would "really want to have" actress-singer Jennifer Lopez. A day later, Bloomberg backpedaled a bit and told reporters, as his face reddened, that he would want to "have dinner" with her.

"I like theater, dining and chasing women," he once told a reporter. "Let me put it this way: I am a single, straight billionaire in Manhattan. What do you think? It's a wet dream."

In his 1997 autobiography, he boasted of keeping "a girlfriend in every city" during his years as a young Wall Street up-and-comer in the 1960s and 1970s.

The things he admits to make it very easy to believe the other things he is alleged to have said:

Comments attributed in the suit to Bloomberg include: "I'd f--- that in a second," "I'd like to do that," and "That's a great piece of a--."

Once, according to the suit, Bloomberg pointed out a young female employee and told Garrison, "If you looked like that, I would do you in a second."

The suit also accused Bloomberg of referring to Mexican clients as "jumping beans" and saying of another female colleague who was having trouble finding a nanny that "all you need is some black who doesn't even have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building."

[]

A less-restrained Bloomberg was also portrayed in a book of quips, quotes and anecdotes attributed to him and put together by employees for a birthday present in 1990. It contains such statements as: "If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they'd go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale's."

Or, as he is quoted as saying about his invention, the Bloomberg computer terminal that made him rich, "It will do everything, including give you (oral sex). I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business."

Doesn't seem like he has crossed that bridge to the 21st century.

Bush's Lawyer Liar

Photo by Matthew Bradley
flckr
Out west, when they say "lawyer", it comes out sounding like "liar", which always makes me laugh. I think Albert Gonzales is from west Texas, and he certainly is a liar. The Wapo documents some of his greatest hits whoppers.

WaPo: Gonzales's Truthfulness Long Disputed
Claims of Misstatements to Shield Bush Stretch Back a Decade

Footie News

United States midfielder Leslie Osborne, right, turns toward the goal past Japan's Eriko Arakawa during the second half of an exhibition women's soccer match on Saturday, July 28, 2007, in San Jose, Calif. The USA won 4-1. (AP Photo/ Tony Avelar)

The US women defeated Japan 4-1 last night; game coverage from AP and ussoccer.com. Abby Wambach scored and is now tied with Cindy Partlow for #5 on the alltime US scoring list with 75 goals. Wambach scored her 75 in 94 games, an amazing strike rate; Partlow took 158. Captain America Kristine Lilly scored her 124th career Nats goal, still #2 on the all-time list, moving her one closer to Mia Hamm's record 158 goals.

From a few days ago, ussoccer.com with a Q&A with Abby Wambach.

The unfortunately named Pinkfootball.com has profiles of the teams going to the Women's World Cup in September.

Freddy Adu to Benfica (Portugal, the former club of Eusebio, among others). Good on ya, Freddy; European competition will raise your game. Your chances of making the 2010 World Cup team just leaped considerably.

Blackburn rumored to be after Eddie Johnson. Go east, young man.

American Eric Lichaj signed by Aston Villa. How exciting, to play for Martin O'Neill. Sal Zizzo of the U20 team signed a 3 year contract with Hannover 96.

Brian McBride interviewed by the Independent (uk).

And finally, we may be destroying their country, but we haven't destroyed their spirit: Miraculously, Iraq for the first time in its history wins the Asian Cup, a "fairytale ending".