Nobody 797

Sunday, December 20, 2009
Nobody # 797

Nobody Asked Me But:

I've been a little discouraged lately. Let me count the whys.

FIRST THE PETTY ONES:

Tiger – as I have often written, I am not a hero person, but I am a huge fan. And I am disappointed. Not so much for what he did. Sex appeals. If it didn’t, advertising would go under and take capitalism with it. But leaving right or wrong for another debate, I clearly fault the way he did it. There is an old political saying that applies to celebrities as well, “It is dumb to do it in the street and scare the horses.” Tiger was dumb.

Also, since Tiger has always seemed to be about class, if he were going to surrender to temptation I would have thought and wished that he would have chosen classy partners. These ladies were not even close.<<<

Bruin basketball – The Bruins have fallen far and fast. The only people to have fallen farther and faster are the Bruin fans who are calling for Coach Howland’s head. Yes, there are more than a few of these with their small IQs and short memories.

As for the players, they will either buy into Ben’s way, which is to get tough and play intensive defense and turn disaster into decent or I will go back to tiddlying my winks.

Forget the winks. The Bruins looked much better Tuesday. They played hard, shot well and scored a hundred. GO BRUINS!

Ah, a set back yesterday against the Irish. But I still think they will turn it around and have a decent year, leading to an excellent one next season.<<<<

And did you ever stop and think that being a fan is a LITTLE like being in love. To feel the pleasure of winning you must open yourself to the pain of losing. Or to paraphrase the old saying – it is better to have cheered and suffered than never to have cheered at all.<<<

The Dodgers - by doing NOTHING this winter, they seem to have chosen the down glide path. Since the McCourts bought the team it has been baseball on the cheap. Now, with their impending divorce, it is baseball on the cheapskate.<<<

GREATER IMPORTANCE – THE AMERICAN POLITICAL PROCESS

“If you compared it to the alternative, it looks good,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, about the prospect of moving ahead with a measure that does not have a public health insurance option. “If you compare it to the possibilities, it looks pretty sad.”

The quote above pretty much says it all. Right now I am sick to my stomach that a minority can not only impede progress but too often block it outright.<<<

And there is more:

Action: “In a surprise setback for Democratic leaders, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, said last Sunday that he would vote against the health care legislation in its current form.”

Reaction: A majority of Democrats when asked for a reaction said they were not really surprised by this sudden switch. Joe, they said in a composite statement, is “a perfect balance of overinflated ego and tremendous asshole”.

Reaction # 2: On any list of biggest political mistakes of the decade, the people of Connecticut re-electing Traitor Joe is right up there at 1-2.<<<

Action: Obama's Illinois prison plan faces a high wall - the GOP.

Reaction: This is disgraceful – obstructionism for its own sake. Why don’t the people see the Senate Republicans for the villains they really are?

Reaction # 2: How many prisoners of war did we inter in the United States during WWII? How much damage did they do? Rarely have I felt such contempt for anyone not named Lieberman or Palin.<<<

Action: Speaking of Sarah the P., did you hear her recommendation that our criminal courts should “err on the side of punishment?”

Reaction: Apparently she wants to reverse one of our basic principles of justice to read, “It is better that 99 innocent people be convicted than one guilty person go free.”<<<

And still more

POOR MEMORY OR JUST STUPID?

Last week 27 Democrats AND EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN voted in opposition to a modest bill to put brakes on some of the very same Wall Street excesses that got us into the mess that we are still scrambling to get out of.

How long, if ever, before we learn that -

The unregulated free market is the friend of the moneyed class. The regulated free market helps almost everybody.<<<

IGNORE THIS IF YOU HATE FOOD

We ate at Louise’s Trattoria before the Bruin game last Tuesday. It was a delight at a reasonable price. My side Caesar, $3, was the best this side of La Frite and the perfect size. Barb' chicken parmesan, $12, was excellent, one of the best she (we) have had. My fuseli with sweet assuage, onions and peppers in a garlic cream sauce, also $12, was excellent++, as was my Mondavi cab at $7.<<<

INTERESTING FACTS

On their 2008 Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index there was 3-way tie for this least corrupt between Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand.

There was also a tie for last between Somalia and South Carolina. Just kidding about South Carolina – I think.<<<

When Ted Kennedy played football at Harvard, the sportswriter for the student paper was David Halberstam.<<<

I watched “Oprah at the White House” this past week and rediscovered one of my favorite things about our president. He makes me smile.<<<

Your reading assignment for the coming week is the David Brooks column written on December 15 and linked below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/opinion/15brooks.html?_r=1

IN MY UTOPIA

Fans at Pauley Pavilion will give a standing ovation to the very elderly couple in our section who attend every Bruin game, even though they have to be helped down the steep stairs and into their seats.<<<

The LA Times recently asked their readers to chose the three best baseball movies of the past twenty-five years from their list of eleven. Here are the results. For a change, my three corresponded with the poll winners. How would you have voted?

A League of Their Own 10% (82 votes)
The Rookie 3% (21 votes)
Field of Dreams 21% (166 votes)
The Benchwarmers <1% (2 votes)
Rookie of the Year 1% (4 votes)
Bull Durham 21% (166 votes)
Angels in the Outfield 2% (12 votes)
Major League 11% (84 votes)
The Natural 20% (158 votes)
For Love of the Game 5% (38 votes)
The Bad News Bears (Walter Matthau version) 7% (53 votes)
875 total votes

TURNER’S TIPS – READ OR SEEN LATELY AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Books
“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” - Stieg Larsson
“The Girl Who Played With Fire” - Stieg Larsson
“Wolf Hall” – Hilary Mantel

Movie
“An Education”