Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Hooray! Republican Michele Bachmann Not Running In 2014

Ding Dong! The witch is dead ...
Michele Bachmann (Republican U.S. House Representative from the 6th District in Minnesota) a right wing
U.S. House Rep. Michele Bachmann (Republican) is not running in 2014.
ideologue who has been a political lightning rod ever since her inflammatory statements about some members of Congress being "anti-American"  on MSNBC's "Hardball" political show with Chris Matthews in October of 2008, announced she is NOT going to run for another term in the 2014 mid-term elections.
Thank God!


Monday, May 27, 2013

Spurs Sweep Memphis in Western Conference Finals

The San Antonio Spurs are headed  back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2007 after sweeping the
The Spurs, led by the "Big Three" are looking to win another NBA title.
Memphis Grizzlies in four games with a 93-86 win on the road. Tony Parker led the way with 37 points.
San Antonio will face either Miami or Indiana in the NBA Finals and will be seeking their fifth overall NBA championship.
The Spurs are led by the Big Three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

Memorial Day - Then and Now

On this Memorial Day, let us remember those who served their country in the military and gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have in this country of ours.
That is what the Memorial Day Holiday (actual Memorial Day is May 30) is about and unfortunately, it seems to be politicized too often, especially the last few years with Barack Obama serving as our nation's 44th President of the United States of America.
Remember the Fox News Channel lambasting President Obama at a wreath laying ceremony in recent years?
What is that all about?
There were those too that bashed former President George W. Bush when he was doing the annual honors at Arlington National Cemetery in our nation's capitol.
Just four short years ago, right here in Illinois (where yours truly resides) when Obama came to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in the "Land of Lincoln," there was a torrential downpour on Memorial Day when the President of the United States came for the ceremony.
Fox (and others) cynically remarked the rain was an "ominous sign" about Barack Obama, who was just five months into his first term.
In 2003, GW Bush was riding high on the Memorial Day holiday just a few weeks after the "Mission Accomplished" ceremony that declared the Iraq Mission was over (at least combat wise according to Bush) and that things would be winding down on a military scale in that country.
Bush was lauded at the time by Fox and other network news broadcasts at the wreath laying ceremony at that point.
However, five years later, the country was ready to welcome a new President of the United States as Bush was in the final months of his second term while laying the wreath in the ceremony. Future POTUS Barack Obama was pulling way ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic polls heading into that year's historic Presidential election.
The fact is both of these men are or were our nation's leader and they deserve the respect of doing the honors of the Memorial Day ceremony without partisan bickering entering the conversation.
The men and women who served in our country's military and gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have is what it is all about on Memorial Day.
So on this Memorial Day here's hoping we don't see or hear any of the sniping on the cable news networks, especially on Fox which makes its hay doing just that sort of thing.
Enjoy the holiday and remember those who gave all in service for the United States of America.










Monday, May 20, 2013

Ray Manzarek Dead At 74

The Doors founder and keyboardist Ray Manzarek died today at the age of 74. Along with vocalist Jim  Morrison (who died in 1971), Manzarek helped to form one of the most influential bands of the 1960's and in Rock and Roll history.


Saturday, May 18, 2013

The Preakness Stakes - So Much For Orb

Orb, the overwhelming favorite after winning the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, finished a disappointing fourth in the Preakness Stakes as Oxbow (at 15-1 odds) went wire to wire to win the race.
So once again there will be no Triple Crown winner in horse racing for the 35th consecutive year. The last horse to do so was Affirmed in 1978, a year after Seattle Slew accomplished the feat. But the greatest of them all, Secretariat, did it as well in 1973... 40 years ago.
Enjoy this video of Secretariat sealing the deal of the Triple Crown by crushing his foes in the Belmont Stakes.





Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The Greatest NHL Team Ever


                                 THE 1976-77 MONTREAL CANADIENS

The Montreal Canadiens went 60-8-12 for 132 points in the 1976-77 NHL season, which is still a record for points in a season by a team. Montreal outscored the opposition 387-171 during the 80-game schedule.
The Canadiens were led by the likes of Hall-of-Famers Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson and goaltender Ken Dryden. Steve Shutt and Jacques Lemaire were part of the first line along with Lafleur. Robinson anchored the league's best defense along with Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe. Hall-of-Famer Scotty Bowman was the Head Coach of the legendary team.
Bob Gainey and Yvon Cournoyer were also stalwarts on the record setting club, which lost just one game (33-1-6) at home that season and only eight games overall, a record which still stands for least amount of losses in a full season.
Montreal won the Stanley Cup that season by sweeping the Boston Bruins in four games and went 12-2 in the playoffs. It was the second consecutive Stanley Cup title in a run of four straight from the 1975-76 to 1978-79 seasons by the Canadiens.




Sunday, May 12, 2013

Major League Baseball - One Month Into The Season

Here it is nearing the middle of May already and the Major League Baseball season is six weeks in and there have been surprises all around the league.
Starting with the New York Yankees, which has been perhaps one of the biggest surprise success stories so far this year.
Yes, that is correct ... The New York Yankees have OVER achieved through the first 35 games they have played in.
Consider they have not had half of their regular lineup this season and have been led by the likes of Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes and soon to be 41-year old Andy Pettitte as their top starting pitchers. Throw in Mariano Rivera (43 years old and coming off major knee surgery a year ago) as the closer and you have to be scratching your head.
No Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson or Mark Teixeira in the lineup and this team, with the likes of aging re-treads such as Vernon Wells, Lyle Overbay, Travis Hafner and Kevin Youkilis (who is currently injured) still has been able to compile a 22-13 record which has them in FIRST PLACE in the rugged American League East.
Wow!
The Boston Red Sox, a team supposedly in  "rebuilding" mode this year, has been raising eyebrows as well.  The Bosox are just one game back of their nemesis in the AL East and have been getting lights out pitching from Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and John Lackey so far. But, they have closer problems once again as Joel Hanrahan has been lost for the season with arm trouble and Andrew Bailey (who was out last year) is also on the disabled list.
On the other side of the coin, the Toronto Blue Jays, which tons of so called baseball experts had winning the AL East, are in the basement, 9 1/2 games behind the Yankees with a dismal 14-24 record.
The Jays were supposed to challenge the Yankees for the division crown after picking up pitchers Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey along with infielder Jose Reyes and outfielder Melky Cabrera. But Reyes is out until the All-Star Break (at the earliest) and Dickey and Buehrle have struggled mightily so far in the 2013 season.
The Los Angeles teams, the Dodgers and Angels, both have been stuck in low gear so far after adding star power to their rosters last winter. Big factors in the LA teams struggles have been Matt Kemp for the Dodgers and Josh Hamilton for the 'Halos. Kemp has been harnessed with injuries and Hamilton has yet to get it going at the plate.
The Dodgers are in last place in the National League West (14-21 record) and the Angels are 14-22 and nine games behind AL West leading Texas.
Other surprises have been the St. Louis Cardinals leading ALL of baseball with a 23-12 mark and starting to show signs of running away with the National League Central division. Their pitching has been stellar and they have been getting consistent hitting to open up a three game cushion on the Cincinnati Reds.
Colorado has been flaming out lately but they are still within striking distance of the first place San Francisco Giants in the NL West after a hot start. The Rockies have indeed been a pleasant surprise.
Back to the American League where the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins have been playing solid baseball through the first six weeks and both are within three games of the mighty Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.
So far it has been an interesting ride in Major League Baseball, but as the quarter pole nears and the teams continue to settle in, look for some of the current bottom feeders to rise up and make some noise and for some of the top surprises to start to fade as things "even out" this summer.
























Saturday, May 11, 2013

Susannah Collins Of Comcast Sportsnet Has A Freudian Slip

Although this happened a little over a week ago, it's worth watching this 31 second clip because NOBODY should be fired from a job for one slip up. Take a look at the video ... 







Wednesday, May 8, 2013

More GOP Fairy Tales Finding Their Way Into The 'Mainstream News'

Regarding Benghazi and a so-called controversy that the Republican leadership in Washington, D.C. seems  hell bent on finding ...  Enough already!
Darrell Issa (R-CA) lives in fantasy land regarding Benghazi.
It seems that Fox "News" is doing non-stop coverage of the Darrell Issa (Republican leader of the Oversight
Committee in the U.S.House of Representatives) led charge against the "situation" regarding four U.S. citizens (including a U.S. Ambassador) being killed in a raid against the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi last September.
The Republicans are SO DESPERATE to create a "Watergate style conspiracy" against the Obama Administration that they have resorted to this sort of chicanery and COMPLETE WASTE OF TAX PAYER DOLLARS with these so-called investigations and hearings in our nation's capitol.
Plus the fact that Hillary Clinton was the U.S. Secretary of State at the time adds to the drama Issa and company are intent on creating in an attempt to smear her name as a 2016 Presidential candidate.
Hey Issa, what about the tens of thousands of people (including nearly 5,000 U.S. troops) that have died in Iraq over the past TEN YEARS because of the George W. Bush and Dick Cheney Administration LIES about weapons of mass destruction and "mushroom clouds" and "smoking guns"  that led to the build up and eventual  U.S. invasion of Iraq?
Silence... crickets chirping ... nothing ... nada... zip... zilch!
The fact is there is NOTHING TO HIDE regarding Benghazi and the tragedy that took place at the Embassy last September.
So, Darrell Issa and Lindsay Graham (Republican U.S. Senator from South Carolina) and everyone else chortling on and on about this "conspiracy"...  ENOUGH ALREADY and just shut the fuck up and start doing things in Congress that the people of the United States of America are calling for.
Things like introducing a jobs bill that Republican John Boehner (Speaker of the U.S. House) promised would happen THREE YEARS AGO!
But don't count on it because Issa (ass wipe that he is) won't concentrate on things of that nature that would actually benefit Americans and our country as a whole. No, instead this numb nuts in a suit and tie continues to squander TAX PAYER DOLLARS on fantasy and fiction rather than doing something in real life.
But then again, that's life in the United States Congress these days.
What a shame.








Sunday, May 5, 2013

LeBron James Wins 4th NBA MVP Award

Love him or hate him NBA hoops fans, but LeBron James won his fourth NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2012-13 season just concluded and appears to be well on the way to leading the Miami Heat
to a repeat championship this spring.
James missed by one vote becoming the first ever unanimous selection and his latest MVP puts him up there with only four other players to win at least four MVP trophies ... Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the late Wilt Chamberlain.