random facts, tidbits, articles and most importantly my thoughts about things that i find while aimlessly surfing the web...
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Architecture, College Football, Baseball, Hockey, March Madness, The Economy, Corporate Corruption, Incomptent Leadership, Tulane, Atlanta, Florida, etc.
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travacado's thoughts
or at least "others'" thoughts that I find interesting...
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Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Osprey struck by ballplayer has died
MAITLAND -- Ozzy, the male osprey hit in the head with a baseball last week, died Sunday at the Audubon Birds of Prey Center in Maitland.
"He wasn't doing well," said Lynda White, eagle watch coordinator at the center.
"He was real depressed."
The bird was one of a breeding pair that lived for years atop a light pole in left field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach.
Witnesses said a pitcher for the minor league Daytona Cubs, a Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, threw several balls at the 3-pound bird before hitting it in the right eye at a pregame practice last Monday.
Ozzy fell off his 40-foot perch and landed in right field.
The Audubon Center conducted a necropsy, the animal equivalent of an autopsy, Monday but did not have results available, White said.
Ozzy's mate, Harriet, will raise her recently hatched chicks and probably take a new mate next season, White said.
Another osprey already has been seen at the park helping feed the babies.
Daytona Cubs general manager Buck Rogers at first said he had no comment about Ozzy's death, but added, "This whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. It was a bird."
The pitcher, 19-year-old Jae Kuk Ryu, was demoted Wednesday to the Lansing Lugnuts, a lower Class A team in Michigan.
Before he left town Thursday, he was charged with attempting to kill, injure or molest a migratory bird, a second-degree misdemeanor.
Ozzy's death doesn't change the charge, said Lt. William Hightower, the investigator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who charged Ryu.
"Basically, if he injured it or killed it, the charge is the same," he said.
Ospreys are designated a species of special concern in Florida.
Injuring one carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and 60 days in prison, though the Chicago Cubs could punish Ryu further if he's convicted, said Oneri Fleita, the organization's director of player development for the minor leagues.
"We have to see what happens," he said.
"It will all be handled internally."
Ryu, who received a $1.6 million bonus when he first signed with the Cubs, was scheduled to pitch Monday night in the Lugnuts' game against Michigan's Battle Creek Yankees, his first time playing since being demoted last week. (By Tania deLuzuriaga, Orlando Sentinel)
Buffy lives . . . no more
An unlikely pop culture icon prepares to bow out
When Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) sacrificed her own life, for the second time, to save Earth from the fiends of hell, her epitaph was simple but to the point:
"She Saved the World -- a Lot."
Returned to life (again), she kept doing just that for the past two years, aided by bumbling pal Xander (Nicholas Brendon), lesbian witch Willow (Alyson Hannigan), on-again-off-again sex partner and reformed vampire Spike (James Marsters) and her proper British watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head).
As "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" rips through its last four episodes on the way to its May 20 series-ending finale, some of the show's devoted fans wonder whether Buffy will meet the Grim Reaper for yet a third time, even as they celebrate a seven-year love affair that was more than just a TV show.
"Buffy was designed to be a pop culture icon," says Joss Whedon, the show's creator. "She became that, and so she exists beyond her ratings. It's true we've never found an enormous audience. At the same time, we've retained our cult status in that our viewership has never been as large as the awareness of us."
And so we come to praise "Buffy," not to bury her, as she and the whole Scooby Gang head into the syndicated and DVD sunset, leaving Sunnydale (and the greater TV landscape) a much better place. (By Steve Murray and Phil Kloer, The Atlanta Journal-Consitution) View the entire article
Eustachy's party behavior called 'poor judgment'
Iowa State University men's basketball coach Larry Eustachy, the state's highest-paid public employee, told the school's president and athletic director that he used "poor judgment" and made "bad decisions" at an after-hours party in late January near the University of Missouri campus.
Bruce Van De Velde, Iowa State's athletic director, said Eustachy came to him and university President Gregory Geoffroy this month after learning that a student at the party had provided photographs of Eustachy to The Des Moines Register.
The 12 photographs show Eustachy during the early hours of Jan. 23, with beer, and in several photos embracing and kissing women on the cheek or being kissed on the cheek.
Eustachy, 47, went to the party at a student apartment with Missouri men's basketball player Josh Kroenke hours after the Cyclones lost, 64-59, to the Tigers in Columbia. In his postgame news conference, Eustachy had described himself as "as disappointed as I've been in a long time" and criticized his players, saying: "This is the real world. Our guys have to get tougher."
That wasn't Eustachy's first campus party after a road game, according to students in another Big 12 Conference town. (ByTom Witosky, The Des Moines Register) View the entire article
See the photos taken by a student at the party
TIDAL 12:46 PM
Monday, April 28, 2003
Magic take charge
They do not have the time, or the tolerance, to comprehend what they're doing.
Basketball right now is too much fun for the Orlando Magic. They are young, high strung and living off a special kind of unity and spirit. There's no need to get analytical about it, though.
Just throw them a ball and watch them mature seemingly with each dribble.
This Magic team of toddlers and outcasts, of forgotten role players and one unforgettable star, is one victory from releasing its first-round burden.
Orlando beat Detroit 100-92 Sunday before a giddy sellout crowd at TD Waterhouse Centre, took a 3-1 playoff series lead and shuffled closer to its first second-round appearance since 1996.
Leave that historic stuff to everyone else. The players just want to stay on the court and reside within their spirit.
"With every win, we change as a team," Magic Coach Doc Rivers said. "We grow. And we have to keep growing. We just want to ride this emotion."
They are on quite a trip. (By Jerry Brewer, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
Just forget about it -- put this series in books
David Stern dropped by before Sunday's game for a little chat with reporters. Among other things, he was asked if the first round of the playoffs were a success.
Without even checking to see if the Lakers were still alive, the commissioner issued the following decree:
"I hereby declare it a success."
In the spirit of David Stern, and at the risk of ruining Darrell Armstrong's bedtime reading, I hereby declare Orlando's series against Detroit a success.
It's over. The Pistons' only chance of winning will be if Orlando's team plane gets lost and lands in Newfoundland. The Magic can't say that, but anyone who saw Sunday's game can.
"It is the same [bleep]," said Chucky Atkins, who obviously did not enjoy his weekend homecoming.
By bleep, we assume he was talking about Detroit's offense. Sunday again hammered home the obvious. If the Pistons were a car, they'd be a two-cylinder Yugo.
They ran on high-test defense all season. But in a seven-game series, an opponent can easily figure out what to do. Then it's just a matter of doing it.
"We're playing the same type defense they are," Armstrong said. "And we're a much better offensive team than they are."
We would explain exactly how the Magic have stripped Detroit's offensive gears, but simply making wisecracks apparently has a similar impact on the proceedings. After Tracy McGrady scored about 79 points in the Game 2 loss, your favorite local newspaper carried a harsh review of his disappearing teammates.
"That stuff in the paper, I appreciated that," Armstrong said. "It made me focus."
He said some crack about playing like a chipmunk got to him. I'm not sure what he was referring to, though it was probably something Mike Bianchi wrote. If insults motivated him the past two games, would compliments remove the edge going into Game 5?
"No, no," Armstrong said. "We don't ever lose our edge."
Okay then, Darrell. You've been playing quite well, certainly better than any chipmunk could ever dream of. So have the other members of the McGrady supporting cast. When that happens, the supposed difference between the No. 1 seed and the No. 8 seed vanishes. (By David Whitley, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
TIDAL 5:42 PM
Saturday, April 26, 2003
Balanced scoring helps Magic to series lead
Tracy McGrady drove to his left, almost galloping, and flipped a no-look pass to Drew Gooden, who was fouled as he tried to dunk over two Detroit Pistons.
As Gooden shook with intensity and screamed, McGrady walked toward midcourt where Darrell Armstrong met him with a nod and a smile. The two players did their special handshake.
The Orlando Magic resurfaced Friday, all of them. McGrady passed, other players dropped in shots, and basketball was played like basketball again.
With all their parts operating, the Magic defeated Detroit 89-80 and took a 2-1 lead in this first-round NBA playoff series at TD Waterhouse Centre.
On this night, there was no need for McGrady to score 43 or 46 points. Twenty-nine sufficed.
On this night, you saw Pat Burke steal a pass, dribble down court and attack the rim. You saw Gooden rediscover his shooting touch. You saw Gordan Giricek loosen up and Armstrong dive face-first and Jacque Vaughn dash into Ben Wallace territory for a basket.
You saw the maligned, the mistaken and the supposedly mediocre do their job.
They always have been resilient.
"It was a pride check for everybody," Armstrong said.
"We had to man up," Gooden said.
"I really didn't have to do too much," McGrady said. (By Jerry Brewer, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
Magic effort merits fans' strong support
It sounded like old times, except for Ginger.
She was about the only living being that didn't leave TD Waterhouse Centre hoarse. She came as a horse.
"She's a pony," said her owner, Lynda Lewis.
As such, Ginger is too young to remember the days Friday hearken back to, when a monster named Shaq roamed Orlando's Earth and playoff tickets were more precious than seats on Noah's Ark.
Now the Magic use animals to lure people aboard. There was petting zoo outside the arena Friday, featuring chicks, rabbits, hens, roosters, goats and Andrew DeClercq.
It was all part of the hoopla Orlando created to seal a sellout. Add 17,000 Thunderstix, the Bethune-Cookman drum corps and a Pistons jalopy that fans could sledgehammer for $1, and you had the kind of atmosphere people used to take for granted.
Back when the playoffs were as automatic as a missed Shaq free throw, the Magic sold out 20 straight playoff games. Now the Magic have to work their butts off to get butts in the seats. The final ticket to Friday's home playoff opener wasn't sold until 6:50 p.m.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. There are a lot of things you should be ashamed of in life: Still believing pro wrestling is real; Not washing your hands before returning to work; Buying more than one lottery ticket a year.
Skipping the NBA playoffs is not one of them. Sure, it would be nice if every night were as energized as Friday. And do the Magic deserve the support?
If you base it on the effort and entertainment provided, they do. There's certainly nothing in this market quite like a pro basketball show, especially when the symbiotic relationship between team and fans is at full boil. (By David Whitley, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
Three and easy: Mavs put Blazers on brink
Nowitzki scores 42 points as Mavs win, 115-103, to take 3-0 series lead
PORTLAND, Ore. - Not known as the earthquake capital of the world, there were two in the past two days. The one on Thursday came from Mother Nature and was strong enough to shake only homes and nerves.
The one Friday night was far more damaging to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Mavericks were the ones inflicting the harm, shaking the life out of the Blazers with a 115-103 victory at the Rose Garden. Dirk Nowitzki had another huge night, scoring 42 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.
They can complete the sweep Sunday at the Rose Garden. No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.
"It's feeling good," said Nick Van Exel, who had 14 points and seven assists off the bench. "We've got work to do. But being up 3-0 on a good Portland team, we'll take it."
The Mavericks owned the Blazers in the fourth quarter, when Nowitzki hit all six of his shots and the defense held Portland to 18 points.
"It was a sensational game for us," coach Don Nelson said. "We had a little lapse in the second quarter, but in the second half, I thought we were really sharp."
So if this series is all finished except for the rubber stamp, the Mavericks have Nowitzki to thank for their advantageous position. He was simply unstoppable when the Mavericks needed him.
"Dirk's been killing them all series long," said Raef LaFrentz, no slouch himself on this night with 20 points.
Said Nowitzki: "It wasn't easy. We wanted to come out with the same intensity we had in the first two games and I think we did that." (By Eddie Sefko, The Dallas Morning News) View the entire article
TIDAL 1:47 PM
Thursday, April 24, 2003
T-Mac needs some help from his teammates
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- At halftime Wednesday night, the Detroit Pistons' dance team did a tribute to legendary Motown artists Diana Ross and the Supremes.
Meanwhile, in the same old song and dance we've seen so many times before, the Orlando Magic again did their tired imitation of Tracy McGrady and the Pips.
Tracy McGrady is a great player, an exceptional player, a phenomenal player, but there is a limit to his brilliance. McGrady is so much better than anybody else on the floor, it's laughable. He's Fred Astaire; everybody else is Fred Mertz. But even Astaire needed Ginger Rogers.
Unfortunately, the Magic's supporting cast played more like Ginger Grant during Wednesday night's 89-77 loss to the Pistons. The Pistons' motto this season is "Goin' to Work." The Magic's motto Wednesday was "Call in Sick." Everybody except McGrady failed to show up.
McGrady tied the Palace scoring record with 46 points, and no other Magic player scored more than nine. It reached such a preposterous point that the Magic's best scoring alternative in the second half was Andrew DeClercq. DeClercq is a hard worker and a tough-nosed player, but he couldn't score if it was 2 a.m. on prom night.
"I was trying to get the other guys going." McGrady said. "Every time I gave up the ball, they were a little tentative. ... I can't win it by myself. I'm pretty sure they understand that." (By Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
2-0 and in control: Nash, Mavs hang on, 103-99
Mavs' point guard scores 28 points to help offset Portland's Wells' 45
A riveting night of basketball turned out splendidly for the Mavericks on Wednesday night, when the two members of their Big Three who were virtual bystanders in Game 1, came up huge.
There was no watching Dirk Nowitzki pull them out of the fire this time. Instead, Steve Nash poured in 28 points, including a gigantic, game-tilting 3-pointer over 6-11 Dale Davis with 29.7 seconds left, and Michael Finley stoked the Mavericks' emotional fires as they withstood a frantic effort by Portland for a 103-99 victory and a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 first-round series.
"It's huge," Nash said of the victory. "You can't say enough about it. To go to Portland up 2-0 instead of tied is just huge."
Only seven teams in NBA history have climbed out of a 2-0 hole to win a seven-game series. And nobody has done it since the Houston Rockets rallied against Phoenix in 1995. Game 3 is Friday in Portland.
A mesmerizing fourth quarter was highlighted by back-and-forth action in front of 20,356 wild fans, which broke Saturday's record for the largest crowd in American Airlines Center history.
With the Trail Blazers intent on not allowing Nowitzki to burn them as he had with 46 points in Game 1, Nash and Finley stormed to the rescue.
"No team can rely on one guy over and over," said Nash. "Even Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen. Other guys had to step up."
And they did. Nash finished with eight assists; Finley had 17 points and seven rebounds. Combined, they were 17-of-26 from the field.
"We knew they were going to do everything they could to take the ball out of Dirk's hands," said Nick Van Exel, who stepped up with 12 points and six assists. "Steve took advantage of that." (By Eddie Sefko, The Dallas Morning News) View the entire article
Happy Birthday Nicole!
TIDAL 6:59 AM
Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Montreal's house of horrors
In 1991, after a 55-ton beam that had been part of Montreal's Olympic Stadium tumbled to a walkway and forced the Expos to play out their remaining home schedule on the road, Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette wrote an obituary for the troubled ballpark. "There is apparently some doubt as to whether or not Mr. Stadium is actually dead or whether he is still clinging to life," Todd wrote.
It was, unfortunately, still clinging to life.
The stadium, half-built in time for the 1976 Olympics, has a well-deserved bad reputation. With a grandiose design, poor construction, frequent mini-disasters (explosions, fires, falling beams, roof cave-ins, etc.), and a patchwork quilt of ineffective fixes, the tomb-like structure has saddled Montreal with a mountain of debt and driven away baseball fans in droves.
In that same obit, Todd even called for a return to Jarry Park, the Expos original grounds, "where -- once upon a time -- we all had fun watching baseball."
Twelve years later, Expos fans indeed have been able to have fun watching Expos home games again, in a cozy outdoor park built for baseball.
They just had to be willing to fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to enjoy the action.
Over the past 25 years, the taxpayers of Montreal and Quebec have ponied up about $217 million just for the design, storage, installation, repair, repair, repair, redesign, and reinstallation of the ugly roof. And last May, even the second field cover, made of Teflon, was deemed unsafe with the stadium's overseers calling for a third roof.
The entire stadium, nicknamed "The Big Owe," will have cost $2.4 billion when it's paid off in 2006. By then, of course, the Expos will probably be long gone, to D.C., or Northern Virginia, or Portland.
That's $2.4 billion -- about $100 million a year. That's a commitment to baseball. (By Jeff Merron, ESPN.com) View the entire article
And since it is NFL Draft week, Gregg Easterbrook is back with his TMQ column! Which brings us back to Chargers cheer-babe Sarah Reichert, Sarah Michelle Gellar from Buffy fame and former Chargers cheer-babe Charisma Carpenter of Angel. Not bad!
TIDAL 6:52 PM
Monday, April 21, 2003
Sitting on Top of the World at Fenway Park
BOSTON, April 17 — You are on the top of the Monster. Really. You are sitting atop the fabled Green Monster in left field at historic Fenway Park, 37 feet up and 310 feet from home plate. You swivel comfortably in a front-row stool with only a 12-inch countertop and an 18-inch ledge separating you from leaning too far for a baseball and becoming a flying object.
You feel close, so close, to the Boston Red Sox. You feel like reaching out and tugging on Manny Ramirez's braids. Every ball hit to left makes you jumpy. When a ball smashes off the wall, it feels as if the airline passenger in front of you reclined too far. When a ball scales the wall, people around you shriek and turn into wobbly wide receivers.
You are in the Monster seats, the name for the 274 stools that are now attached to the Green Monster in the coolest terrace spot in the city. Several fans who froze here tonight slept on the street for 12 hours to pay $50 for a seat or $20 for one of the 100 standing-room-only tickets behind the three rows of stools. They smile proudly while recounting their sacrificial tales.
"So this is what it feels like to climb Mount Everest," declared John Witt, who had a glove on his left hand and a Red Sox cap on his head, his eyes locking in on every fly ball. "It's cold up here. But it's kind of the Mount Everest of baseball."
The Monster was already a Mount Everest, a massive, ancient wall that lords over the left side of the 91-year-old park in an inviting and intimidating way. No other stadium has anything like it. But it was inaccessible to fans. You could see it and admire it, but you could not touch it or feel it. Home run balls were swallowed by a 23-foot net or landed on Lansdowne Street. Yawn.
Now everything has changed. Because Fenway has a capacity of less than 35,000, the smallest in the major leagues, the Red Sox devised a novel way to add more fans and a projected $1 million in revenue. They put a snazzy crown on their Shrek of a wall. They enhanced the Monster with a 231-foot section of green stools that might as well be painted gold, making it something fans can touch and feel.
"I thought I would be a baseball purist and hate them, but this is cool," said Nick French, a student at Emerson College who covers high school sports for The Boston Globe. "I love Fenway. I don't want to see them tear it down. But this is the best idea ever."
Larry Lucchino, the chief executive of the Red Sox, has paraded through the seats since the section opened eight days ago and said fans had been effusive in their praise. He did hear one complaint: a man asked why the Red Sox did not give the Monster this face-lift last year.
"I think the fact that you're so high and so close is what distinguishes it from other places," Lucchino said. "There are places that are just as high, but not as close. Also, you're not situated on a baseball icon."
Fans start climbing Mount Everest about two and a half hours before tonight's first pitch, scooting to the front row and peeking over at the field below. Some are young, but even the adults act like children. Even one player acts like a kid.
Ramirez, who is one of the most aloof players in baseball, waves to the fans in the first minute of batting practice. When a woman pleads with Ramirez for a ball for her son's birthday, he obliges and tosses one softly to her. She catches it.
"It's great because I had people behind me when I played in Cleveland," Ramirez said. "It's nice to see. You know they're there. I look up and give them a wave."
After Ramirez was told how giddy the fans became when he flipped balls into the seats, he was giddy for a few seconds, too.
"I'm going to have to get up there," Ramirez said, "and take a look."
He would see people like Witt, who calls himself the Fenway Ballhawk and claims he has snagged more than 2,200 balls at major league games in the past 25 years. Witt spews scouting reports on where each player is likely to hit the ball and stops talking in midsentence to hustle to various parts of the concourse, which is flanked by two concession stands. The seats have increased his competition drastically.
"I used to stand on Lansdowne and wait," Witt said. "It was me and one other guy."
Ramirez would see French, who teases his friend Matt Dunne for not stretching a little more to corral a ball near the top of the Monster.
"What's a broken bone or two?" French said. "If you fall, they'll have to give you the ball."
Actually, the Red Sox are wary of overzealous fans. One fan's nose was bloodied by a ball hit during batting practice. Lucchino said there could be adjustments in a section that opened 17 days ahead of schedule, with the possibility of a protective railing being added to the front row.
The K-Men, mostly college-age fanatics from Harvard, Boston College and Holy Cross, are in the house tonight, representing those who like to paint their faces red, wear red shirts and red pants, and hold up K's whenever Pedro Martínez records a strikeout. They are typical Red Sox devotees: dedicated and passionate, fatalistic and cynical.
Center fielder Johnny Damon throws a ball into the seats and one K-Man, who is 15 feet from where it lands, wryly notes, "If he had a better arm, it would have come to us."
Some fans criticize the sightlines because it is impossible to see deep left or left-center field and say that spectators sacrifice by not seeing the Monster, Fenway's hallmark. But others say they would take the new seats over box seats, and counter that anyone in Boston with a pulse and a preschool diploma has seen the Monster.
Lucchino said television monitors could eventually be added to minimize blind spots. "We still have a few kinks and wrinkles and issues to work out," he said.
So, you are standing near Section 5 and shivering because the wind makes it feel like 23 degrees. But your face is painted red and you are wearing a Ramirez jersey, so you have to try to act warm. Suddenly, Boston's Kevin Millar drills a shot to left and you feel warm.
The ball keeps soaring toward you. You walk down one step, then another, and the ball is on you. It crashes off your left palm and falls to the pavement. No one challenges you. You scoop it up and the K-Men mob you. Your name is Rudy Miranda, you have a scuffed ball and a swollen hand, and you are an instant deity in the Monster seats.
"It hit the middle of my hand," Miranda said. "If it hit anywhere else, it would have taken my fingers off. At least I know I still got it in me to do something like that."
At least now you have the chance. The chance to climb baseball's Mount Everest. (By Jack Curry, The New York Times)
Cool is the rule
AUBURN HILLS, Michigan -- In the final huddle before victory, the Orlando Magic players thought about how not to celebrate.
"Yo, make sure we walk off the court," Tracy McGrady demanded. "No celebrating."
Darrell Armstrong nodded. "Act like we know what we're doing," he said.
When the buzzer sounded, the Magic took their 99-94 victory over Detroit, stuck it in their pockets and walked away, as quiet as a stunned Pistons fan.
Don't celebrate.
Don't dare celebrate.
There's more to come. That is what the players' body language said.
Maybe they do know what they're doing.
The Magic played with youthful confidence and zeal, supported McGrady for three quarters, and then followed his brilliance during an uneasy fourth quarter.
Now, this is a series. Game 1 went to the underdog, the eighth-seeded Magic, and now No. 1 seed Detroit must show its worth during Game 2 on Wednesday.
Despite the pregame hype, this may not be a complete team matching up with a one-man team. And you know what? That one man still reigns as the most unstoppable force in this series.
McGrady scored a playoff career-high 43 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, as the Magic took home-court advantage from the Pistons.
He starred, and when he looked behind him, help wasn't too far behind. Rookie forward Drew Gooden had 18 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks and roamed freely in the post with Ben Wallace looking rusty. The bench outscored the Pistons' more-celebrated reserves 28-16. The defense limited Detroit, not one of the more gifted offensive teams, to 31.6 percent shooting.
The Pistons were shocked. (By Jerry Brewer, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
9-11's aftermath spurred senator's desire to run
WASHINGTON -- Past the police officer carefully buzzing people in, past the security guard confiscating all cell phones, beyond the vaultlike metal door and inside the wood-paneled top-secret Capitol hearing room, a presidential campaign was born.
Sen. Bob Graham of Florida had been to the room many times during his years as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
But it was only in the weeks and months after terrorists attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001, as he headed the congressional inquiry into what went wrong, that he developed an intense concern the country was headed in the wrong direction -- and a desire to do something about it.
Already, Florida's 66-year-old senior senator and former governor has paid calls on potential supporters in California and New Hampshire, and collected $1 million for his campaign.
By early May, Graham is expected to formally launch his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.
Graham's work on the intelligence committee changed him from a little-known workhorse lawmaker who focused on Florida issues to a national authority on the war on terrorism.
It motivated him to drop his usual bipartisan approach and take on the president over what he saw as a misguided war against Iraq.
And it is pushing him to join a crowded Democratic primary months after others have geared up their campaigns, with characteristic Graham willingness to take on long-shot efforts.
Graham had quietly begun thinking about a presidential campaign in the spring of 2001 as President Bush pushed through a tax cut that Graham thought was too generous just as the economy was faltering.
During his first 14 years in the Senate and the eight years as governor before that, Graham had not thought himself ready for a national campaign.
Three times, Democratic nominees had considered him for the vice-presidential slot, but on each occasion he was passed over. When he began thinking of his own presidential campaign, he talked little about it with others.
The presidential mulling turned into "outrage," Graham said, after countless hours dissecting the nation's intelligence failures. (By Tamara Lytle and Mark Silva, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
TIDAL 6:15 PM
Sunday, April 20, 2003
Today is Fenway Park's 91st Birthday
Which of course means that I am now 30. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the following people who took time out of their busy schedules to wish me a Happy Birthday: Jack Plaxco, Jeff Wierenga, Matt, Kris and Chelsea; Philip Bess, Casius, Patrick Pinnell, Warren (Z-Dog), Nicole, Katie, Justin, Brad, Latham, Rebecca, Ben (Dover), Mary, Drew and Monica; Aunt Sharon, Grandmommy, Tonnie, Aunt Dianne and Uncle Pat; Aunt Bev, Uncle Danny and Stephanie; Julie and Brent; Mr. Mabry, Mom and Dad.
Dirk and 'D' give Mavs Game 1 win over Blazers
Nowitzki scores career-high 46 points in 96-86 victory
The Mavericks got everything they needed Saturday night in their playoff opener.
The house was rockin' with the biggest crowd in American Airlines Center history. The big, blond superstar was knocking down shots and a franchise record. The injured shooting guard made a triumphant return.
But most importantly, the Mavericks opened the first round against Portland with a hard-nosed 96-86 victory because they played some of the best defense they've ever displayed during a take-charge third quarter.
While Dirk Nowitzki was pouring in 46 points, the most by a Maverick in a playoff game, the grit they showed during a momentum-swaying third quarter came not from their trademark offense but from the other end of the court.
With all apologies to Frank Sinatra, the Mavericks didn't do it their way. In fact, they did it closer to Portland's way.
"We made a simple speech at halftime," coach Don Nelson said about his team's 10-point deficit at the break. "We told everybody we have to guard them and we have to rebound. We really went to work, and it paid off. We guarded them well, and we held our own on the boards after that. That was the difference."
It was enough to put the Mavericks up 1-0 in the best-of-7 series. Since the NBA went to 16 teams in the playoffs in 1984, the team winning Game 1 has gone on to win its series 84 percent of the time, compiling a 239-46 series record.
For now, the Mavericks are simply thrilled to have won the opener with three days off before Game 2 on Wednesday. (By Eddie Sefko, The Dallas Morning News) View the entire article
He has been long shot before
ALBANY, Ga. -- Few held much hope for Bob Graham when he set out to run for governor of Florida 25 years ago.
The son of a well-to-do dairyman who also had run for governor, Graham was bright and driven to succeed. Yet he appeared aloof, and even friends wondered how he ever could connect with voters.
Few hold much hope for his presidential ambitions today, save for his daughters and wife, who gather for frequent reunions here at a favorite retreat, their family cattle ranch near Albany. In the magnolia-shaded, red-brick homestead at the Graham Angus Farm, 10,000 acres of rolling pastures for Black Angus cattle and old pecan groves, Graham and wife Adele spent last Thanksgiving with just daughter Gwen and her family.
"I've known for a long time that he was thinking about this," says Gwen Logan, firstborn of four daughters. "Did I encourage him to run? Yes. My comment to him was that if this was something he really wanted to do, for him to look back on his career and say 'I wish I had run' would be a shame."
Daniel Robert Graham, 66, already has a remarkable career for a political leader who never really fit the mold. He is a Harvard-trained lawyer and millionaire real-estate developer who remade himself as "Bob" with 100 "workdays," shoveling out horse stalls and scaling mullet in his first campaign for governor. (By Mark Silva and Tamara Lytle, Orlando Sentinel) View the entire article
TIDAL 4:14 PM
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
HERE THEY ARE AGAIN!!!
Courtly Love: The Dallas Mavericks Dancers
This month, in her never-ending quest to ferret out the secrets of sex, Stuff’s Dawn Yanek does Dallas with the Mavericks Dancers—women who have seen more guys score than anybody on the planet.
I guess that we have to buy the May issue of Stuff to find out what Jennifer said...
Here's a photo of Jennifer. And while Jennifer is still my favorite, Cerissa is quite attractive as well.
TIDAL 9:38 PM
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Mavs Dancer Jennifer Swift can lease me an apartment anytime!
Jennifer Swift
Age: 27
Day job: Apartment leasing agent
Favorite Mav: Michael Finley
FHM BASKETBALL QUIZ-A-THON
How much time is on the shot clock?
Twenty-four seconds. (Correct)
What is Maverick forward Popeye Jones’s real first name?
I have no clue(Wrong - Ronald)
What country is Raef LaFrentz from?
I think he’s American. (Correct)
Who holds the team record for averaging the most points per game?
Michael Finley. (Wrong - Mark Aguirre)
Essay question: What’s it like working for Mark Cuban?
Mark sent me and four other cheerleaders to perform at an Army base in Killeen, TX, for 60,000 soldiers. We got to fly on his Gulfstream jet. Each seat is equipped with a flat-screen monitor where you can watch TV or even a live video feed of the plane landing, which is shot by a camera attached to the hull.
GRADE: B+
See Photo (FHM, May 2003)
Personally I think that my favorite "mega cheer-babe" (hmmm, excuse me, "dancer") was robbed on the quiz! She has only been a Mavs Dencer for 4 years -- that's not long enough to remember the glory days of Mark Aguirre. In fact the tainted history of Roy Tarpley wipes out any memory of Mark Aguirre... And who cares what "Popeye" Jones' first name is? If my name was Ronald Jones I'd go by "Popeye" as well. I bet three-quarters of his classmates at Murray State (that's in Murray KY) in the early 1990's don't know that his name was Ronald.
TIDAL 6:27 AM
Thursday, April 10, 2003
ONE-ON-ONE WITH JANET MARIE SMITH
Fenway's new seats of power
Janet Marie Smith is the architect in residence for the Red Sox. Her official title is vice president/planning and development - which means she's the one who will be exploring ideas of how to improve the fan experience at Fenway Park. Smith is given a great deal of credit for the much-praised atmosphere of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
That stadium, of course, was new, but Smith already has had a major impact on Boston's ancient edifice.
Smith gave a walking tour of Fenway for the NESN ''SportsPlus'' one-on-one interview and addressed questions about Fenway. Here are edited excerpts:
Q: What can you tell us about the new seating?
A: ''One of the things that we did this year was to add two rows of seats behind home plate, which not only gave people an opportunity to sit in an excellent section, but we put a new screen behind home plate. Those fans, all the thousands of them, will have a much better view than they have had in years past, just because they'll have a better visual to look through.''
Q: And the seats above the Green Monster?
A: ''[The idea] for Green Monster seating has been around for years and we were thrilled to be in a position to implement this. We haven't changed the configuration of Fenway. We haven't changed its occupancy, but we've removed some of the standing-room seats. People who were standing in a congested aisle in years past will now have a place to go. We worked hard on the Green Monster seats to make sure they weren't overpowering Fenway, that they didn't overshadow the importance of the Green Monster, either literally or figuratively. We hope fans will feel like we struck the right balance.''
Q: How many seats are there?
A: ''There are about 270 seats up there and another 100-plus standing room. It's a cool place to be, and the only place in major league baseball where not only are you on top of the celebrated icon, the Green Monster, but you're looking down on the field, and looking back you can see the city and beyond without even moving.''
Q: Is there a screen?
A: ''There is no screen as there was in the old days. The seats are actually in the envelope of the screen, so that they are identical in their configuration over Lansdowne [Street], which means the fans should see a lot of home run balls.''
Q: Will the board report batting averages?
A: ''There will be a new career batting average after each at-bat. It will be updated after each pitch, it will be updated how different hitters react to different pitching and left-, righthanded hitters. It will present the diehard fans with the type of information that they yearn for. This is a little thing but we also painted all of that old brown corrugated metal that was put up years ago Fenway green. So for instance, the center-field scoreboard is Fenway green this year, and we think it makes it feel much more a part of the ballpark.''
Q: What about the new dugout seating?
A: ''These are the two rows of seats that we added this year. The seats are parallel with the dugout. We were able to do this by redoing canvas alley. We were pleased that in the course of all of this we were able to improve our accessibility issues here at Fenway.''
Q: What about the changes to the foul territory?
A: ''The foul territory at Fenway Park was reduced by 6 feet, and we did a survey to look at how we compared to major league ballparks and felt comfortable with this reduction. Even with this reduction, we fell literally in the middle of the pack.''
Q: And what can fans expect with the new concourse?
A: ''We have literally doubled the amount of concourse space in right field and the bleacher area by taking all the service functions and moving them out of this area. Some of them we moved into the parking garage, some of them are moving into other places in Fenway Park. We've been able to take a concourse that in the past was only 30 feet wide and increase it to 55 feet wide. We've been able to create an area of about 7,000 square feet.'' (By Alan Miller, The Boston Globe)
The Smith interview, edited for TV, will be broadcast on the Globe's ''SportsPlus'' on NESN tonight immediately following the Red Sox game. To view the interview in its entirety, log on to Boston.com after tonight's broadcast.
In fact Save Fenway Park! explored this idea in August 2000!!!
Hartford Courant article | Chicago Tribune article
TIDAL 6:23 PM
Wednesday, April 09, 2003
Excerpt from "The Reason Why"
Following the 9/11 tragedy at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the entire world was united in sympathy and support for America. But thanks to the arrogant unilateralism, the bullying and the clumsy, unimaginative diplomacy of Washington, Bush converted a world of support into a world united against us, with the exception of Tony Blair and one or two others. My fellow South Dakotan, Tom Daschle, the US Senate Democratic leader, has well described the collapse of American diplomacy during the Bush Administration. For this he has been savaged by the Bush propaganda machine. For their part, the House of Representatives has censured the French by changing the name of french fries on the house dining room menu to freedom fries. Does this mean our almost sacred Statue of Liberty--a gift from France--will now have to be demolished? And will we have to give up the French kiss? What a cruel blow to romance.
During his presidential campaign Bush cried, "I'm a uniter, not a divider." As one critic put it, "He's got that right. He's united the entire world against him." In his brusque, go-it-alone approach to Congress, the UN and countless nations big and small, Bush seemed to be saying, "Go with us if you will, but we're going to war with a small desert kingdom that has done us no harm, whether you like it or not." This is a good line for the macho business. But it flies in the face of Jefferson's phrase, "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind." As I have watched America's moral and political standing in the world fade as the globe's inhabitants view the senseless and immoral bombing of ancient, historic Baghdad, I think often of another Jefferson observation during an earlier bad time in the nation's history: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."
The President frequently confides to individuals and friendly audiences that he is guided by God's hand. But if God guided him into an invasion of Iraq, He sent a different message to the Pope, the Conference of Catholic Bishops, the mainline Protestant National Council of Churches and many distinguished rabbis--all of whom believe the invasion and bombardment of Iraq is against God's will. In all due respect, I suspect that Karl Rove, Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice--and other sideline warriors--are the gods (or goddesses) reaching the ear of our President. (By George McGovern, The Nation) View the entire article
TIDAL 10:18 PM
Hold Your Applause
UMM QASR, Iraq — It's hard to smile when there's no water. It's hard to applaud when you're frightened. It's hard to say, "Thank you for liberating me," when liberation has meant that looters have ransacked everything from the grain silos to the local school, where they even took away the blackboard.
That was what I found when spending the day in Umm Qasr and its hospital, in southern Iraq. Umm Qasr was the first town liberated by coalition forces. But 20 days into the war, it is without running water, security or adequate food supplies. I went in with a Kuwaiti relief team, who, taking pity on the Iraqis, tossed out extra food from a bus window as we left. The Umm Qasr townsfolk scrambled after that food like pigeons jostling for bread crumbs in a park.
This was a scene of humiliation, not liberation. We must do better.
I am sure we will, as more relief crews arrive. But this scene explained to me why, even here in the anti-Saddam Shia heartland of southern Iraq, no one is giving U.S. troops a standing ovation. Applause? When I asked Lt. Col. Richard Murphy, part of the U.S. relief operation, how Iraqis were greeting his men, he answered bluntly and honestly: "I have not detected any overt hostility."
Overt hostility? We've gone from expecting applause to being relieved that there is no overt hostility. And we've been here only 20 days. As I said, I'm certain things will improve with time. But for now, America has broken the old order — Saddam's regime — but it has yet to put in place a new order, and the vacuum is being filled in way too many places by looters, thugs, chaos, thirst, hunger and insecurity. A particular problem here in the south is the fact that British troops have still not totally secured Basra, the regional center. Without free access to Basra, the whole southern economy is stalled.
It would be idiotic to even ask Iraqis here how they felt about politics. They are in a pre-political, primordial state of nature. For the moment, Saddam has been replaced by Hobbes, not Bush. When I asked Dr. Safaa Khalaf at Umm Qasr Hospital why the reception for U.S. forces had been so muted, he answered: "Many people here have sons who were soldiers. They were forced to join the army. Many people lost their sons. They are angry from the war. Since the war, no water, no food, no electricity. . . . We have not had water for washing or drinking for five days. . . . There is no law, no policeman to arrest people. I don't see yet the American reign of running the country."
The scene at Umm Qasr Hospital is tragic. A woman who delivered a baby an hour earlier is limping home, and her mother has the baby tucked under her black robe. An old orange Dodge speeds up and a malnourished teenage boy moans on the back seat. A little kid is playing with an X-ray film of someone's limb. In the hospital lab, the sink is piled with bloody test tubes, waiting to be washed when the water comes back on.
What is striking, though, is that after people get through complaining to you about their situation, they each seem to have a story about a family member or cousin who was arbitrarily jailed or killed by Saddam's thugs. They are truly glad to be rid of him. America did good in doing that, so now we must build a peace we can be equally proud of.
But this is such a broken land. Its spirit was broken by Saddam long before we arrived, and now, because of this war, its major cities and iron-fisted order are being broken as well. Killing Saddam alone will not bring America the thank-yous it expects because Iraqis are not yet feeling free. Only replacing Saddam's order with a better order will do that. "There is no freedom because there is no security," said Dr. Mohammed al-Mansuri, the hospital's director.
We are so caught up with our own story of "America's liberation of Iraq," and the Arab TV networks are so caught up with their own story of "America's occupation of Iraq," that everyone seems to have lost sight of the real lives of Iraqis.
"We are lost," said Zakiya Jassim, a hospital maintenance worker. "The situation is getting worse. I don't care about Saddam. He is far away. I want my country to be normal."
America broke Iraq; now America owns Iraq, and it owns the primary responsibility for normalizing it. If the water doesn't flow, if the food doesn't arrive, if the rains don't come and if the sun doesn't shine, it's now America's fault. We'd better get used to it, we'd better make things right, we'd better do it soon, and we'd better get all the help we can get. (By Thomas L. Friedman, The New York Times)
TIDAL 5:54 PM
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
Axle of Evil
The New Republic's Gregg Easterbrook (of ESPN Page 2's TMQ) describes "America's Twisted Love Affair With Sociopathic Cars." View the entire article
OK, while I am obviously trying to make a point about SUV's... Finding an "intellectual" article by Mr. Easterbrook reminds me of the (not so crisp; I live in Florida, after all) autumn days of mega cheer-babes which gives me yet another excuse to provide the following link to scrumptous "mega cheer-babe" Jennifer S. of the Dallas Mavericks Dancers!
Halliburton an irritant in plan for Iraq
Perhaps President Bush has perfectly good reasons for allowing American companies with White House connections to get secret contracts for rebuilding Iraq. Perhaps the president has considered the ramifications of giving billions in business to companies such as Halliburton, where Vice President Dick Cheney was CEO.
Nevertheless, the president should reconsider the process for awarding bids for the reconstruction. It's bad enough that the insider deal-making feeds the conspiracy theories of loonies such as former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney -- who infamously suggested that Bush allowed the terrorist atrocities of Sept. 11 so that his defense industry friends could profit from an ensuing war.
But worse, far worse, is the way that the profiteering, which started before the first bombs fell, fuels the fear and resentment of skeptics around the world -- notably Muslims, who already believe the war is largely about American greed. With the difficulties facing an American occupation, the White House cannot afford to generate more ill will.
Though the war has proved more difficult than many hawks predicted, an American military victory is still assured. But a political victory -- winning the hearts and minds of Muslims throughout the Middle East -- is not. Indeed, so far, the United States is losing that battle.
The American-led invasion has fanned the flames of Muslim resentment, with Islamist clerics calling for volunteers for the "jihad" in Iraq.
Still, the Bush administration steamrolls forward with its plan for occupation; it is in the process of awarding bids for a total of about $1.5 billion, not only in secret but also excluding all but American companies. Even corporations from Great Britain, our staunch ally, have so far been excluded.
The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which quietly requested proposals for rebuilding Iraq in January (when the Bush administration supposedly had not yet decided to go to war), has defended the process, saying that the agency needed to act quickly and depended on firms that already had security clearances. That included Bechtel, which once employed several Reagan administration officials, and Fluor, which includes among its high-ranking officers a former Army secretary.
Writing recently in USA Today, USAID's Andrew Natsios said:
"Critics have implied that inviting only the big firms to compete . . . is a sign of cronyism or favoritism. This is far from the truth. If you need a surgeon, a lawn service, a real estate agent or a college, you seek out the names with the reputation for quality and the ability to get the job done."
That proved quite convenient for Halliburton, which was struggling with financial problems. While Halliburton declined to bid on the major $600 million contract to rebuild infrastructure such as bridges, it is still primed to become a subcontractor -- a pretty good position for hefty profits. Last month its Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary was awarded a contract, for an undisclosed sum, to extinguish oil well fires in Iraq.
Of course, Halliburton's stock in trade is oil-related contracts. If it gets substantial work in rebuilding Iraq's oil fields, the conspiracy buffs will have a field day linking the war to oil. So will fundamentalist Muslim clerics.
Bush's bid to impose democracy in Iraq -- indeed, to sow democracy throughout the Middle East -- is an enterprise fraught with risks, more likely to fail than to succeed. Iraq, after all, has tribal conflicts, feuding religious factions and no history of strong democratic institutions.
But if the democracy-building effort is to have any chance for success, the United States must proceed with the greatest diplomatic sensitivity -- inviting an active U.N. presence, restarting negotiations for a Palestinian state and avoiding even the appearance of using an occupation to enrich well-connected American corporations.
So far, the White House effort looks more like old-fashioned colonialism. (By Cythnia Tucker, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
TIDAL 7:00 AM
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