USA! USA! USA!

Well, first a few more topics more serious than sports. I am finished with the yakkers--even Charlies Rose who is probably the mildest of them all. Five minutes after Obama's speech about the BP oil crisis, Keith and his crew totally trashed the speech, Obama, and anything he has done so far. I really believe they want him down there with a pitchfork cleaning up the beaches with the rest of the workers. He got more out of BP in terms of cold hard cash than most people thought. What in the world is he supposed to do? He fired all those bureaucrats in bed with the oil interests and came down as hard on big oil as anyone ever has--probably what he should have done with Wall Street during that crisis. I am not Obama's apologist but enough already with every second guesser on cable. Oh, by the way, he was never going to be as liberal as a lot of people thought. He is more or less a middle of the road president who seems quite liberal compared to what came before (and what may come after) and compared to Congressmen who call him "liar" and who apologize to BP.

Charley Baker (the Republican nominee for Governor here in the Bay State) had his fingers all over the Big Dig but cannot decide what to tell any of us about it. He is getting killed by Patrick on the left (more or less the left) and is catering to the right in order to fight off the Independent challenge of a very conservative candidate. He is getting squeezed and deserves it waffling as he does so regularly.

OK--now all the rest is about the World Cup. Obviously I cannot control what you read but some of it is not specifically about sports but some random thoughts about the milieu and the gestalt of the whole scene. So you sports avoiders, you might want to take a look. Here goes.

1. The fact that this is occurring in South Africa at all is stupendous. It is in our lifetime that apartheid ended and sure South Africa has tons of problems. But to see the diverse and varied faces of South African people in these stadia is awesome.
2. France, England, and Germany all struggle with the "immigrant problem". Much like we are beginning to struggle with here. But what do those immigrant haters think about their soccer teams which are represented significantly either by first or second generation immigrants. Half of the French team are Black men whose families are from Africa. It must be ok if they play soccer but dont let them into my back yard.
3. Any player that waves his hand calling for the ball invariably mishandles it when it actually is kicked his way. This is especially true if that player has a head band or braids.
4. The clothing of the coaches is a squalid disaster. The English coach was the worst offender. Did you see his eyeglasses? The Chilean coach in his velour sweat suit looked like he badly needed a cigarette or was going to have a heart attack or both. I hate to admit it (especially to Steffen) but the German coach wins best dressed. Quite suave, that guy; but clearly did not buy his clothes in Europa. The ties worn were the worst.
5. The best uniform award goes to either the team from Cameroon or the team from Cote d'Ivoire--Ivory Coast for those of you not fluent in French like me.
5. Goalies who wax their eyebrows should be fired. same for goalies who wear tights. Those who wax and wear tights are beyond my vocabulary.
6. The U.S. team has lucked out in one game and gotten "reffed out" in another but in general have exceeded expectations. They have the capacity to beat Ghana but better be prepared to run for a full 90 minutes. Those Ghanaians (?) never stop.
7. New rules required: On throw ins, you cannot move 20 feet up the line and have to throw it in within 15 seconds. These guys move the ball anywhere they please and take forever to toss the thing.
8. In hockey, there are penalties for diving--for faking in other words. That needs to happen in soccer. Thanks to replay, 90% of these guys writhing on the ground are down due to nothing more than air passing by their shins. It is pathetic.
9. No sane person can ever explain off sides to me.
10. I love the Africans and the teams from Central and South America--more exciting, faster,and riskier than the Euro teams which seems so plodding. Even Japan beating Denmark today looked like they were playing a different game.
11. The best player I have seen is number 2 for Brazil--cannot remember his name but he is either a right mid fielder or right fullback. So strong on the ball and all over the place. The best American is the coaches son who is absolutely controlling the whole midfield and scored the tying goal against Slovenia.
12. The least pretty fans were from either Serbia or Slovenia. The men were all slobs.
13. I am surprised that the passing and shooting is not better. Also I remember now that so much of the game is in the air--but did not realize that an almost ideal header is down with a bounce up into the goal.
14. The Danish goalie spent the first 30 minutes screaming at his teammates and oh by the way let in two soft goals because he was caught leaning the wrong way.

Thats it. This is what happens when you get to watch daytime TV.

Sayonara.

DAMN--I DID IT AGAIN

Anna, I am desperate for your help!! I apologize for all the spelling errors and grammar errors in the earlier one. I also apologize for doing this in two parts--again. My fingers are so fat.

BP should go belly up. Barack is getting better and is more visible. But he better get further ahead of this or he will continue to be blamed for it. Disaster is not even a strong enough word.

I have a fantasy that the more these tea bag types get nominated by Republicans, the greater the chances of people like Joe Sestak--running for senate in Pa.and a former Admiral who is way outspoken about eliminating don't ask don't tell. One can only hope.

SPORTS TALK
Went to see the red flops last week. Dice K pitched and actually won--though watching a game with him on the mound is torture. Never on the plate, walks a lot of people, hits a few, and it makes for a less than snappy game. Discovered that you "enter" the park on Yawkey Way so that there is a big street scene before you actually move inside. $7.75 a beer and of course (my, how can they afford it?) folks are drinking it like water which itself is $3.50 a pop. Babs saw her boys win and big papi is coming back. but i would continue to be very worried about pitching if i were one of the fans. Meanwhile, check out what Robinson Cano is doing down there in NYC.

I am very worried about the Celtics tonight--an overused word is "must". But I believe they must win tonight. Cannot be in a position where they have to win 2 games over there on the left coast.

The world cup starts Saturday and lets be honest--the boys from America are over rated as usual but luckily are in a weak group. They may actually move on but i doubt they beat England.

What to make of the tom Brady contract tussle. they gotta sign him--right?

That's about it.

sayanora

I'M ABOUT TO OFFEND SOME PEOPLE

You have been forewarned. I cannot adequately or accurately put in words my feelings about Israel's attack on the Turkish boat. I continue minimally to be dismayed at the bully tactics of Netanyahu. We keep getting told that most Israelis want peace. Yet there he is in charge with a right wing coalition bolstered by the orthodox and ultra orthodox. If the majority want peace, why is he even in power. I no longer buy it--i believe you get what you pay for or in this case you get what you vote for. The problem is that there is another bully (this one much less smart) in Iran. Eventually, as we all know from childhood, two bullies in the same sandbox is a big problem. i am not ineterested in the fact that the folks 0n the boat had clubs. We all know that the Israeli Navy went in spoiling for a fight and killed people. Gaza festers and continues to raise children who hate Israel and the U.S.
It is full of poor and angry people. The naval blockade is only psychologically beneficial. I read today that the Israelis are allowing some food to get through--but nothing to allow people to build with because God only knows what they might build. I begin to feel almost embarassment at how my "bothers/sisters" are treating others. Rage soon follows and i dont want to hear about Israel's right to exist. these actions do nothing to guarantee that and, you could argue, only jeopardize its prospects.And, oh by the way, my new Senator totally supports what they did in a speech to an american based right wing Israeli lobbying group. I personally just made a contribution to J Street.

The we have Meg Whitman (she of ebay fame0 spending 71 million of her own mondy just to be governor of California--a job no one in their right mind should want given that the state is virtually bankrupt. The republicans also got Carly Fioria to run for the Senate--she claims to be a sucessful business person but actually almost ran HP into the ground. On the other hand there is something about women in politics that I suppose should be gratifying--ubt we cannot forget thier politics. Harry reid must be smiling today. The woman in Nevada who will oppose him wants to eliminate medicare, social security, and reinstate prohibition