There's an interesting account of Congressman Mike Ferguson's Wednesday night on the town in Friday's Washington Post (via Daily Kos). Regardless of what exactly happened or didn't, a member of Congress and his staff should know better than to be at a college hang out at last call interacting with 21-year-old women.
October 05, 2006
The World Cup in Boston
Full slide show at Boston.com, including this caption:
"The World Cup trophy visited Boston on Wednesday, making stops at several locations in Boston’s North End. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (holding the trophy) was front and center at Strega restaurant on Hanover Street. Restaurant owner Nick Varano is at left, State Senate President Robert E. Travaglini is next to him, and Sal LaMattina, Boston City Councilor, is at Menino’s right."
NBA Europe?
David Stern is reportedly giving serious consideration to a proposal (from Vlade Divac among others) to put five NBA teams in Europe. Reportedly, "
The lack of suitable venues -- not travel or scheduling problems -- remains the biggest single obstacle to possible European development."
Wouldn't travel and scheduling be issues here too? Teams have a hard enough time flying across the continental US, imagine transatlantic trips. Also, adding five teams would put the NBA's total at 35 franchises. How would that work out exactly?
I'm all for expanding the sport abroad, and the Euros have certainly shown themselves worthy in recent years. I just would like to have a bit more of this sketched out since I'm wondering how it all would function as a league.
Meanwhile, the Sixers lost to FC Barcelona on Thursday night. The AP story notes that this is the sixth time an NBA squad has lost to an international team, with three of those coming at the hands of Maccabi Tel Aviv (who beat the Raptors last year).
September 30, 2006
September 29, 2006
Chess Prima Donnas
The New York Times caught my attention with the headline "Bathroom Dispute Halts Chess Championship."
The world chess championship came to a halt today when a player who had been locked out of his private bathroom after insinuations that he was cheating refused to play and forfeited the fifth game of the match.
Here's his opponent sitting around waiting for the bathroom protester, who never showed.
I really enjoyed the justification for the chess player's many men's room breaks as well as the opponent's demands.
Mr. Hensel said that the reasons for Mr. Kramnik’s frequent trips to the bathroom were that he drank a lot of water during the games and because Mr. Kramnik likes to pace, and the private rest area used by each player was too small so he “uses the space of the bathroom as well.”
The letter said that Mr. Kramnik would not play unless the federation was “ready to respect Mr. Kramnik’s rights, in this case to use the toilet of his own restroom whenever he wishes to do so.”
Mr. Topalov also was not satisfied by the ruling. His manager, Silvio Danailov, wrote in a letter sent to journalists and to the appeals committee that the players should be accompanied to the bathroom by a match referee, as the new ruling allows Mr. Kramnik “to visit the new bathroom an unlimited number of times without being subject to further control.”
I find it amazing that these guys are allowed to go use the bathroom while they think about the next move they are going to make. Seriously, how long does a game of chess take? Can't you go right before and hold it until afterward? They should just have to stay there and play the whole game in one sitting, though I'm not much of a chess aficionado, I admit--maybe rest room breaks are an accepted part of these competitions, who knows.
UPDATE: Tyler Cowen has been blogging about this multiple times this week. He quotes a chess web site that says, "After each move Mr. Kramnik immediately heads to the rest room and from it directly to the bathroom. During every game he visited the relaxation room 25 times at the average and the bathroom more than 50 times – the bathroom is the only place without video surveillance..."
Takes One to Know One
Rep. Mark Foley, protector of children from predators:
The Internet has provided the world with a new medium that connects people across the globe, sends information within seconds and has brought new opportunities for education and economic growth to millions. Unfortunately, law enforcement and child protection experts also tell us the Internet has made child pornography easier to disseminate, easier to produce, and easier to turn a profit on. Recent congressional testimony and a New York Times expose inspired by Justin Berry, a teen who was a victim of the online child porn industry, has brought national attention to this issue.
Foley knew what he was talking about. For more, Wonkette is all over this, it's a congressional sex scandal after all.
September 22, 2006
Jerry McDermott Picks a Fight He Can't Win
Boston city councilor Jerry McDermott wants to get rid of the landmark Citgo sign outside Fenway Park after Hugo Chavez called Bush the devil the other day (the AP explains that "Citgo is a subsidiary of Venezuela's state oil company"). Clearly this graduate of the "Freedom Fries!" school of politics hasn't learned the lessons of history:
CITGO decided to dismantle the deteriorating sign in 1983, but the people of Boston came to its rescue. Claiming the sign was an excellent example of urban neon art, and as Boston as baked beans, they stopped the demolition crew. Groups fought to have the sign declared a landmark.
The ever-informative Wikipedia adds that, "The association with Fenway and the Red Sox is so strong that some local little league fields often are decorated with replicas of the Citgo sign, as in Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine, home of the Boston Red Sox' AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs."
Certainly this will get McDermott's name in the paper, but it also makes him look like a fool. The man should know better than to get between Bostonians and their baseball traditions.
Somnolescence Saturday
After last week's "Separation Saturday" of big college football clashes, tomorrow's slate of games looks a lot less enticing.
The moniker-happy ESPN crew (which must be waiting until a bigger weekend to use "Showdown Saturday") will be in Columbus for OSU-PSU, one of only two clashes of top 25 teams on Saturday. If I watch anything, it will be Boston College and NC State, as the Eagles, who have won two consecutive double-OT thrillers hosting Clemson and BYU, go on the road with their #20 ranking. I also might take a peek at Notre Dame primarily to see if they lose again, which I would enjoy.
