Friedman lets 'em have it

Thomas Friedman gives it to the GOP here in this op-ed. He, like many of us on the Left, are tired of this run around that W has given us. He's been so obsessed with things like outragious Social Security reform that doesn't fix anything and forced democracy in Iraq, that he's ignored much of everything else.

There's little doubt in my mind that we'll look back on the eight years of W and say, 'wow, what a disaster'. Nothing got done, this country took a step backwards, and didn't fix any future problems. His greatest domestic policies, tax cuts and No Child Left Behind, haven't solved much of anything besides giving more money to the rich and teaching kids how to take standarized tests (in other words, limited reading, writing, and math skills; and ignoring intellectual thought and science). Well anyway, read Friedman, he's nails it here.

Random Thoghts Heading into the Weekend

The White Sox are 16-6… it’s also April 29. I have no clue what to expect, but they’ve made it clear that they’re going to be in this race this year. With all these games against the Tigers and Royals, they won’t go away. The Twins are going to be around too. The Sox have the highest RPI in the majors at .562. They've played the 11th hardest schedule in the majors so far, 4th hardest in the majors. The teams they've played so far have a winning percentage of .507; meanwhile the team chasing them, the Twins, have played a schedule of teams with a .495 winning percentage good for 17^th toughest (including five games against the best team in the majors, the Sox). At 16-6, if they play .550 baseball from here on out, they'll finish with 93 wins, which will put them in the division and wild card race. Playing .575 baseball gives them 96 wins, if they play at a .600 clip, they'll have 100 wins and be in the playoffs. And if they play at their 22 game projected winning percentage of .640, they'll finish with 106 wins.

Of course this team can tank and expecting them to play at anything above a .575 clip is a little foolish, but so far this team has managed to win games despite having Ozzie "let's leave these guys from the pen until the load the bases and have Timo bat 5th" as their manager.

And you know it's Mother's Day when... Outback starts playing those really dumb commercials on the radio, you know the one's where they're singing, 'no one loves you like your mum' in their best Australian accent.

I think a story or play on Simone de Beauvoir and Nelson Algren would make an UNBELIEVABLE story/play. It would take place between Chicago and Paris, each showing the other their city, and you could have Sartre as an important character, but not one of the main... it would be fantastic if only because you'd have Algren and Sartre in a play.

I tried the Cheeseburger Pizza last night… I know I know… but I wanted a cheeseburger and pizza and Domino’s gave me a chance to have both. It wasn’t bad.

Since the President went on and on about how he’s willing to do almost anything to get some sort of Social Security reform done, he pushed back Survivor to 8pm. That put it head to head against the Apprentice. The Apprentice won out over Survivor, though I flipped back between the two often. Alex was finally fired last night, he just wasn’t doing anything to help his team, doing just enough not to get fired. Tana for some reason decided to make it interesting in the boardroom, but in the end, Trump realized that Alex had to go. This is Kendra’s to lose at this point. As for Survivor, Caryn solidified herself as one of the worst players in the history of the game… what she was thinking I’m not sure. She’s only there because her team hadn’t lost. She doesn’t bring anything to the team/camp… she’s going to be beaten by Tom and she’s got a chance to vote off Tom. Yet for some reason she decided to help Tom out by telling him what was going on and they voted Stephenie off… amazing. There is basically no reason to watch the rest of the season after that disaster. Stephenie was the only one I liked and now it’s basically a clear path to the finish for Tom and Ian. But I think Gregg wins this just because he might ‘have it’ in the end. Tom has made a pact with just about everyone and that’s going to catch up with him. I’m not sure what Caryn was thinking since she’s now the next person in line to be voted off. I can’t get over how stupid a move that was. Whatever.

The Skill Gap and an Illegal War

Tow things I want to address today.

First, researchers at U of C (University of Chicago) have seen a “stagnation” of the “skill gap” between white and black students on test scores. During the 20^th century, we saw a closing of the gap between the students of different races, but then I the 1990s the closing of the gap stopped, and we’ve seen the same continuous gap between test scores. While test scores have improved across the board, what we see is that there still is a lot of work to do. White students are still out performing black students and parity seems like a pipe dream at this point. Education is often the key to economic success, and without a doubt the key to networking and opportunity. While better test scores are a positive thing to look at, the gap between the scores are a cause of worry. If this country wants to try and achieve full economic and social equality (let alone political) in all races, then we must educate all our children without any prejudices. Blacks have been behind the 8-ball since 1619 (the first time they came to this country, or what would become this country), progress has been very gradual since 1865. While huge strides were made in the 20^th century, specifically the latter half of the 20^th century, we are still, as a nation, far, far away from judicial, political, social, and economical equality. While education is only part of the answer, it is one part of the equation that the government can fully control, along with judicial equality (social and economic trends are much more difficult to enforce). Achieving parity on educational test scores would be a huge step towards achieving some sort of equality.

Secondly, the full report of the legal advice that Tony Blair received during the lead up to the war in Iraq was released to the public today. Why is this important? Because it shows that Blair and the government were worried about the legality of the war, as far as to think that a international court may find the war illegal. The British government was fully aware of that this was (or might be) an illegal war, which means a lot of things. It means that the White House was fully aware that this war was (or might be) illegal. It means that the White House didn’t care, and knew the American people wouldn’t care either and that if an international court tried to do anything it would only enrage Americans. It means that the public’s trust of Blair might be next to nothing. It means that Labour might be in for a tougher time in these elections next week than anyone can expect. What will probably save Blair in the end is the fact that the Torries also supported the war. If there was a clear cut alternative to Labour and the war on Iraq, Blair would be a sitting duck. While the Liberal-Democrats were against the war and still are, the public is still wary of them as a political party. But this might be one of those elections were we begin to see the rise of the Lib-Dems as an opposition party.

From Exit in Guyville to the Mix

What happened to Liz Phair? I was listening to “Exit in Guyville” tonight and it makes me wonder why she went to crap pop music. She had it right there in “Exit” yet after a few relationships and a kid, she’s writing bad love songs that XRT can’t get enough of. I don’t get it, but hey maybe I’m not suppose to, she didn’t make it then and she should have. But she was so much better in the early 90s.

Boeing and Airbus

This might not be the most interesting rivalry out there, but it’s a good one: Airbus vs Boeing. The two are going head to head over the future of the aviation industry, Airbus with the A380, a double-decker plane that is the largest commercial aircraft in the world and Airbus thinks the A380 will replace the 747. Boeing, meanwhile, is going with the smaller 787 Dreamliner, the thinking being that the point-to-point means of air travel that airlines like Southwest operate, will choose the smaller 787 over the A380.

The A380 had her maiden flight today, and by all accounts it looks as if it was a success. But not to be out done, Boeing received a bunch of orders from Canada and India for the Dreamliner. Everyone’s a winner at the moment.

I see no reason why both airlines can’t find their niche in the market. The A380 is for long distant flights, those over the Atlantic or Pacific, and maybe even a few from New York to LA. While the Dreamliner could become the most popular aircraft at a place like, O’Hare or in Atlanta. Time will tell of course.

Social Security, North Korea, and the Mob

Sixty days later and nothing has changed. The White House’s idea of private accounts is at the same point that it was almost sixty days ago when this all began... not looking good. The Democrats have held firm, and it looks like this deal might be dead. The White House will come up with something, and I’m sure they’ll work something out in due time, but it looks as if private accounts may never happen. Of course John Tierney thinks other wise, that some how private accounts will solve the problem. Okay, maybe you’ll make more money, but that doesn’t solve the problem at hand… that Social Security is going to go broke in whatever year the White House made up. Why don’t people understand this? What is so hard about that to understand?

For some crazy reason, Kristof thinks that ignoring North Korea wasn’t a good idea. Suddenly they have more nukes than Iraq ever had and can make more nukes, which Iraq never could have done, and we are some how safer because Saddam is gone.

Syria has peaced out of Lebanon, but they still politically control the country. It will be interesting to continue to watch what happens there.

Meanwhile, back in the bizarre-o world of Chicago and Chicago media, the mob is dying a slow death. Personally I love the names and the pictures of ‘dese guys. I wonder if they are serious or humorous pictures, like something for a high school year book. The sort of picture you take just in case you ever get nabbed, and if you do you can look in the paper and laugh and go ‘hey I remember that picture, that was pretty funny.’ And the White Sox keep winning (8 in a row), but not many people seem to care. If this were the Cubs, they’d be running ads for World Series tickets at this point. But Sox fans, realizing that it’s only 20 games, are sort of excited about all this. Remember folks April is the cruelest month. It snowed on Saturday and we still have September and October to deal with. April is the cruelest month.

NFL Draft round up

I think the best thing about this draft as a Bears fan was... the Lions and Packers. They helped the Bears out big time by drafting guys that for value and not need. Williams should be good, but I'm not sure they realize that they have two other WRs plus Joey Harrington as their QB. I don't think they got better. They'll score more points, but that doesn't always mean wins.

The Packers taking Rodgers doesn't help a team who is on the way down as it is. Why did they take him? They don't need a QB, and if you're thinking future, why not take someone in rounds 3-7 and groom that guy? Dumb pick.

The more I read and think about Benson, the more I think the Bears made the right call. Ronnie Brown, for as great as his 40s and other stuff was, I'm starting to worry about. Maybe he'll still be the stud that I thought he was going to be, but maybe he's a flash in the pan who isn't able to do it in the NFL. But I still think he's more Tomlinson than Enis. I'm just not as sure.

As for Bradley, he can fly and as long as he runs the right routes, I don't care how stupid he is (he had a 11 on the test they give the kids at the combine). Kiper loved him because of his addition on special teams next year. Plus he's going to be the #4 or 5 WR as it is: Muhammad, Wade, Barrian, and then Gage is in that mix. If in two years he's starting to do something, yay for the Bears.

Orton was a great pick in the 4th round. He's a bigger Drew Brees who struggled after the Wisconsin game, where prior to the Starks forced fumble, he was looking like a guy that might be winning the Heisman and going in the first round. I'm not sold on Grossman, so Orton should be cool in two years as the backup. Maybe even giving Rex a run for his money in 2006.

I think the Bears D-line is going to blow up this year. If that's the case the rest of the D should be cool with Briggs and Bri-U (I love making up nick-names) and a secondary while not great, but should get the job done for the most part. That means the O's gotta come though, if Grossman shows signs like he did this year and Muhammad can give them a guy that can catch some touchdowns and open up the passing game a bit, it all comes down to Thomas Jones and Benson. Now 1,400 yards out of Benson seems just a bit high (Jones in Detroit lead all rookies with 1,133). That said, there haven't been the number of quality
running backs like Benson, Caddy, and Brown to enter the league in some time:

2004 - Kevin and Julius Jones, S. Jackson
2003 - McGahee, L. Johnson, Musa and O. Smith, Chris Brown
2002 - Duckett, Foster, Portis, Westbrook, Green, Gordon
2001 - Tomlinson, Deuce, Barlow, Bennett, Henry, Rudi Johnson
2000 - T. Jones, J. Lewis, S. Alexander, Droughns, Dayne

As far as that list, only J. Lewis is the sort of runner that Benson is, his rookie year he went 309/1364/4.4/6tds. That would be
fantastic. Duckett is another sort of similar runner, he went 130/507/3.9/4tds, that would be a huge disappointment. Ricky Williams struggled his rookie year (and got hurt) 253/884/3.5/2tds. Ann then there is Edgerrin James, who is a big RB like Benson, he had a the best rookie year of all: 369/1553/4.2/13tds.

So what can the Bears expect from Benson? My guess is 288/1152/4.0/7tds. If that's the case, plus another 400 to 500 yards from Jones, the Bears very well may be looking at the wild card. I say nine wins for the Bears.

Other thoughts.... I like the Colts getting Anthoy Davis in the 7th round, good pick for them... the Ravens just keep reloading every year, it's amazing they don't have more playoff wins...The Raiders might have gotten the steal of the draft in Anttaj Hawthorne, he tested postive for pot a few months ago and that's why he fell so much, but if he can clean up his act, and I see no reason why he won't, the Raiders got a first round talent for sixth round money...If the Eagles didn't get three starters (two years from now) from this draft it's either because of bad luck or having the worst scouts in football...I still can't figure out how the Lions are going to be able to use those three WR and Kevin Jones. Joey Harrington should always have someone open now, but he'll find a way to blow it...Mel Kiper Jr should be just about every male's hero...I think the Browns drafted as if they wanted the #1 pick for next year, they're going to be really bad next year...Is 2005 the year the Bengals make the leep?...I know it's early but I'm penciling in the Eagles, Vikings, Falcons, Seahawks, Cowboys, and Panters for the playoffs in the NFC; in the AFC Patriots, Ravens, Colts, Chiefs, Jags, and Bengals. Super Bowl? Ravens and Vikings. Don't hold me to these picks.

Worst Sport Ever

Girls Lacrosse? I really can't think of a worse sport than one that has no boundaries and you can't play defense.

White Sox are 15-4.

The Chicago White Sox are 15-4.

Then again it snowed in Chicago yesterday.

Life ain't perfect, but it's goin' well.

2005 NFL DRAFT!!!!!

Tomorrow is truly one of the great days of the year. The NFL Draft. It's a day of sitting around, cursing, watching insane New Yorkers, Mel Kiper Jr., weird interviews, even weirder picks, and trades that don't make sense. Then people get way to excited about it all, start making bold predictions, and the true is, the draft two years before is the draft that actually matters, and this draft still needs two years to really make a difference in the NFL. But nonetheless, here are my predictions for the first 18 picks.

1) San Francisco – Alex Smith – Everyone says he's the slightly better of the two QBs. SF picks him or trades him, but he's going #1. Let me put it this way, Smith ends up costing himself money if he doesn't go #1. Agents aren't stupid remember. Maggs is going to get $75 from the Tigers and maybe play three games for them. Edwards just doesn't make sense in the end either.

2) Miami – Ronnie Brown – The real question is, does someone trade up for Edwards here? If that's the case, and I think it may be but I'm not sold on it yet, then this draft goes to shit. But I think in the end, Miami can't find anything, and takes Brown.

3) Cleveland - Braylon Edwards – They like him a lot, I doubt they panic and switch with the 'Fins. If someone moves up for Edwards, then I have no clue what they'll do here. None. If that were to happen and the Browns were to say, "you know what, we've messed up so many high first round picks, we're just not going to draft this year", I would nod my head and say, good move. But I think Miami ends up taking Brown, and Edwards goes to the Browns.

4) Chicago – Cedric Benson – This draft is just insane, the top two teams drafting have no clue what they're doing, the team drafting #4 is either totally lying about Benson or in love with him. I have no clue what the Bears do here, everyone says they're in love with Benson. I'm not sure. They could take the Caddy or Williams here trying to get someone, anyone interested in Benson, but that doesn't seem very likely since Benson isn't rated my many teams as the second or best back. So I think they really do like Benson, and take him.

5) Tampa Bay – Carnell Williams – And they do cartwheels all the way to St. Pete.

6) Tennessee – Antrel Rolle – I hate it when you've got two players of the same position who are about the same when it comes to 'ranking' them. Everyone thinks player A is that little bit better, and then on draft day player B is taken and Andera Kramer interviews the head coach and we get something like "We liked this guy more" and everyone looks dumb for picking the other guy. But Rolle played the U and I think if it comes down to someone from the U or any other school in the nation, take the guy from the U (but USC is going to test this
theory next year). As for them taking a QB, don't people realize that Billy Volek isn't a bad QB?

7) Minnesota – Mike Williams – And to think other wise is nuts. Williams is going to be a good to great WR, the guy from South Carolina has Donte' Stallworth written all over him. The Vikings know this. You don't draft Stallworth #7.

8) Arizona – Adam Jones – Let me put it this way; I was too young to really remember the Pac-Man craze. Jones is younger than me; calling him Pac-Man is a joke. With that cleared up, it's a shame they hired Dennis Green because if anyone else was in Arizona right now, this pick would be Alex Baron or Troy Williamson or some other guy the would reach for and didn't really need. But Green is here now, and I'm not sure what they'll do. Something that makes sense… what does this team need though? You'd figure QB, but no one has them taking a QB, so Jones is the pick. But if they take Rodgers, remember you heard it hear first, just the experts talked me out of it.

9) Washington – Aaron Rodgers – Rodgers is falling… do they take him? Or maybe the take the other Rodgers (Carlos) but I think yes, Aaron, I think they realize that he's probably a better player than Campbell, they take him and wait and see where the rest of the first round plays out at #26. They may also trade up with someone like the Vikings before and take Rodgers to make sure they land him. Trying to figure out what the Redskins are doing is like trying to figure out what the Cardinals used to do. So we've got that going for us in terms of the new insane franchise in the NFL, but since they spend money they're always a little bit better than the Cards. I also wouldn't rule out Pat Tillman here since I'm sure Snyder would do anything for a little media attention.

10) Detroit – Derrick Johnson – Two things about this pick:
1) Johnson will either go to the Lions at 10, or they won't draft him and he'll slip… this is the pick of the draft that everyone agrees on, and either everyone is right or everyone is wrong. Has anyone seen a mock draft where Johnson doesn't go to the Lions?
2) I'm still disappointed that Detroit isn't spelled DetRIOT or that we haven't changed the spelling of riot to roit. There's still time.

11) Dallas – Shawne Merriman – I don't really care to be honest. I'm not sure there is a city I hate more than Dallas and the teams that play in Dallas. Dirk makes it okay, but that's it. Everyone else I'm not a fan of. Thumps down to Dallas because I said so. Houston is a close second.

12) San Diego (from the NEW JERSEY Giants) – Marcus Spears – But I'm guessing, they could go with Demarcus Ware who may be a better fit… if Johnson is still here they take him, but I say Spears. He's a beast
and preformed great at the college level. Seems like a poor man's Richard Seymour waiting to happen.

13) Houston – Troy Williamson – This will be the Texans first draft without having the worst name in sports (thank you Washington Nationals!) and they pick Williamson after the run of tweener LB/DEs… though maybe they take Ware here. I have no clue, but Williamson sounds good.

14) Carolina – Alex Baron – Considering that most of their line is on 'roids, it seems to me that getting a guy that probably is not is a good idea. That said, there might be nothing more anti-climatic than drafting an offensive lineman in the first round. Either that or watching a Boston College vs Notre Dame game.

15) Kansas City – Erasmus James – And we have a steal! We have a steal! Erasmus, maybe the best player in college football last year, goes fifteen because he got chop blocked in the Purdue game. This guy played like a top five pick last year, but a bad hip a few years ago and a cheap block in a Big Ten game has him drop? And the funny thing is, if Surtain doesn't get traded, he probably continues to fall. Plus Erasmus wins the "guy I'd most want to be in this years NFL draft" if for no other reason than to be able to say this some day:
Person – "Mr. James?"
Me as EJ – "Call me Erasmus."
Yep, let's add Erasmus to the list of names I'd love to name my first-born male children (with Teemu, Jean-Yves, and Jesus) but my wife will never let me.

16) New Orleans – Carlos Rodgers - But seriously does anyone care? They and the Falcons were in the same place five or six years ago, no one cared who they drafted who was on their team… they were the two
most bland and character lacking teams in all of sports (did anyone have any feeling either way towards these two teams?). Then the Falcons drafted Vick and we all care. The poor Saints. No one cares. They could draft George W. Bush and still no one would care.

17) Cincinnati - TRADE - They're trading this pick and this is the point in the draft where someone moves up and takes someone a little high, and Berman goes 'Wow' and Mel Kiper Jr looks down at the desk, shakes his head, and goes "I wouldn't have done that if I was Team X". Since I've got to put someone down, Dan Cody. Then again this could go the other way and Mel gets all excited and it's Demarcus Ware.

18) Minnesota - Demarcus Ware – But no! Ware goes to the Viks at 18! And Mort looks around and goes, 'I can't figure this one out', and Mel goes, 'well they must think he can get bigger' and Berman is murdered by a Jets fan… I really don't care any more.

My Pop Culture and more on Benedict XVI

Note, if anyone reads this, I totally messed up the links this morning, they should be fixed now, sorry about the mistakes.

I thought I’d do a few quick reviews of what’s on TV, what I’ve read, and whatever else comes to my mind…

I finished Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity for the second time (I last read it about five years ago) and it was much better than I remember it. It helped that I was older, have been in more serious relationships, and knew where most of the places in London (at least the neighborhoods) were located. I was a bit disappointed in it’s lack of intellectual curiosity but all in all, not bad at all, a good quick read that’s thoroughly enjoyable. Basically it’s life as the modern single male (well in the mid 90s)… but it’s also amazing how technology has changed in ten years. If someone were to write the same novel (a man breaks up with his long time girlfriend and then examines past relationships to fully understand how he got to the point he was at in life and who he is and what he wants out of life, and how his passions (pop music) work within his life and relationships…) it would be a very different novel. E-mail and cell phones have completely changed relationships and breakups. Interesting idea no doubt to do a new High Fidelity. But good book and worth the read if you’ve got the time.

Tried to watch Batman last night… wasn’t happening. Not good times. Not good acting. Ouch. I lasted forty-five minutes and the movie wasn’t going anywhere fast. I bailed.

The Karate Kid is a classic and has aged wonderfully over time. Well worth the watch.

As for TV… 24 is so outrageous at this point I’m not sure why I’m still watching it. Jack Bauer may be the most ridiculous character in a long time. There isn’t anything this guy can’t do and hasn’t thought of… as the roomie and I joke in our best South Side accent, ‘Bauer vs terrorists? Bauer. Bauer vs US Constitution? Bauer. Hey, here’s one for you, Bauer vs Ditka.’ I don’t have the answer for that one yet.

Lost… where is this going? Is there any chance that this show will be good the second season? If nothing else, it was a fantastic first season even though at this point the show is like a starting pitcher who’s thrown 120 pitches and is just too tired to finish the game. I’m not sure what they can do in the second season, but at least we’ll have the first season.

Yes, I watch Survivor. No I don’t like this season that much. I don’t hate anyone, and the person I like Stephenie, I don’t like as much. But then we were given The Apprentice, and Trump is just awesome in this. I mean, unbelievable. I’m not sure if he knows he’s being funny or if he’s being serious, but no matter, he makes this show fantastic. Big ups to Trump for being the Donald. He’s the best. Great show too btw, if I were to pick a winner I’m going with Tana, but Bren and Kendra are right there. So who really knows on a show like this.

And now the ‘fallout’ of Benedict XVI election (I don’t like the word fallout, but can you think of a better one?) Today he did say that he was going to continue the dialogue with other religions, unite Christianity, and fulfill the reforms at Vatican II (a reversal on Humanae Vitae?) Time will tell what will happen, but that doesn’t sound as bad as saying that homosexuality is a disease and that Turkey shouldn’t join the EU because they are an Islamic nation. Finally, here are a bunch of editorials from the election of Pope Benedict XVI:

LA Times

NY times

Michael Novack

The Guardian

The Chicago Sun-Times

John Paul II, Spirituality, and the new Pope

Say what you will about conservatives and liberals and moderates and anyone else you want to throw in there, but in the end personal, political, social, economic and so on views are just want they are… views or opinions. They are what they are, and usually not correct or incorrect.

People usually don’t care what ones views are if the person is good, or in some why greater or larger than the situation. We want our politicians to unite us, even if we don’t see eye to eye with them. We want our bosses to be compassionate, even if your work environment is cut throat. We want our judges and law enforcement agents to be fair, even if they see something as personally wrong. We want our spiritual leaders to be spiritual, even if we don’t agree with some of their religious or doctrinal views.

Politicians like FDR and even Ronnie Reagan were able to do this, they were some how able to unite most of the country. Pope John Paul II was able to over come whatever differences in his doctrinal, moral, or social views because he was spiritual. His charisma, courage, and compassion didn’t hurt either, but he was some how greater than personal beliefs. So even if people didn’t agree with him on his political or doctrinal views, his spirituality seemingly over came all that.

Pope Benedict XVI has huge shoes to fill no doubt. And he closely follows the same set of doctrinal beliefs as JPII. But there in lies the problem. JPII wasn’t beloved because of his doctrinal views, he was loved because of his spirituality and courage and charisma and compassion among other things.

So the question now becomes, will Benedict XVI be able to become greater than being a doctrinal lap dog? Will he be able to connect to people in the Church? Or will he simply just be a political, polarizing figure?

Time will tell of course, but Pope Benedict XVI has a lot of work a head of him. Just as many people are shaken and upset by his election as are happy because he appears to be a man driven by doctrine. What he needs to show, has to show, is that he is a spiritual leader who is willing to let his doctrinal views be just that… personal views.

Pope Benedict XVI

I'm not thrilled by his election. I'll take the wait and see mind set, but it seems to be that the fix was in from the get go. It was just a matter of time before those not voting for Ratzinger did so. I'm not sure they could have made a worst choice. But the Sox are in first place, so I should look at this glass half full right? So why Ratzinger (aka Benedict XVI) and what to expect? I already said that Ratzinger and JPII had probably set up a bloc of cardinals who were going to vote for him and then hold out until others realized that this was going to be the way it was. That's my total guess. But what to expect?

There was a lot of information out there saying that as great as JPII was as an ambassador and figure for the Church, he wasn't the best administrator. Things inside the Vatican weren't in great shape, and Benedict XVI is probably going to come in and clean things up and sort things out inside the Vatican. I'm not against that.

Now reading as for Benedict XV; he was pope during WWI, 'fought' for peace but was unable to achieve it (I know and orginzed religion is the root to all wars eh?). He spend much of his life and time in the Vatican prior to becoming pope, much like Benedict XVI. He had previously fallen in bad favor with Pius X (who was a consecrative to say the least), but by no means was he a liberal. Judging by the name, Benedict XVI is going to fight for peace in the war on terror, but that's a total guess. Benedict XV published the Code of Canon Law and pushed for non-European priests in the Third World. Expect Benedict XV to do much the same, push for continued growth in the Third World and enforcing Canon Law.

We'll have to wait and see, hopefully Benedict XVI realizes that his positions on my Church stances aren't in favor with many Catholics and he'll back off of them. He'll reorganize everything inside the Vatican, which needs to be done. Push for growth of the Church in the
Third World, and promote peace. I doubt he'll be the ambassador that JPII was, and he'll have a struggle from the get go in Europe, the US, and Canada; but he could be a pope that sets the table for the 21st century. JPII bridged the papacy to the end of the 20th, but the last years of his papacy were taking place in the 21st century with a 20th century mind set. Time seemed to have passed him by, his views on many things seemed dated. Benedict XVI may be a 20th century figure, but he probably realizes that if the Curch is to continue to flourish in the 21st century, the remaining aspects of the 20th century in the Vatican must be changed.

And yes, in his younger years, he was a member of the Hitler Youth and fought in WWII. Doesn't seem either were by choice, and his father did not like Hitler. The Guardian's view on him.

God Bless him and us all.

The Conclave Begins

The New York Times is running some wonderful pieces on the next pope, the process, history, and future of it all. Click on the various interactive links and enjoy. Just some amazing stuff.

As for the next pope and who it will be… I have no clue. The bookmakers favorite, Cardinal Arinze from Nigeria, would be an interesting choice and profound choice, much like JPII was 27 years ago. But I think the ‘favorite’ status means he won’t win. Cardinal Bergoglio, the Argentinean, looks like he could be a compromise selection being a Jesuit but conservative, but he’s not Italian, and I still think we’ll see an Italian pope. Cardinal Ouellet is starting to pick up a lot of steam, but he’s probably too young. Cardinal Policarpo from Portugal has come out of nowhere, but I think the ‘hype’ surrounding him going into the Conclave will hurt him in the end. Cardinal Ratzinger will be working the room behind the scene, but I don’t think he’ll be elected pope, he’s probably too political in the end. Cardinal Schonborn is again, probably too young, but he may be the best bet if you’re looking for a non-Italian European frontrunner (he's Austrian), he may be your best bet. I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes down to being between Cardinal Scola and Cardinal Tettamanzi. Flip a coin at that point.

But odds are it will be none of the men listed above. But then again maybe it will, interesting times… interesting times. The Cardinals are in the Conclave as we speak. We’ll know in a few days, probably sometime Wednesday, who the new pope is. May God bless them and us all.

Vince Carter and Fantasy Basketball

What should us fantasy owners do about Vince Carter? I'm in the Final right now, and if I lose this thing because Vince is a bum, should I still pretend that I won? Could I sue Vince for the money if I lose this thing? I mean, no one, who drafted Vince back in Sept/Oct thought he’d become the Vince of 2000. No one. I hate Vince Carter.

That got me thinking, is this the first time in fantasy history when a single player ruined fantasy leagues because, not because he came out of no where or finally made the leap, but because he dogged it in one place, got traded, and then started playing like he should have been playing for the past two or three years? I seriously can't think of anyone else who’s done this.

Sox Win, Tied for Best in the AL and Central

Okay, you're Jon Garland. You're a young kid. You've got some great stuff. Tonight that stuff is working. Tonight is the night you get over the hump. You're looking great. You're pitching well. You've faced 15, you've retired 15. You've faced 18, you've retired 18. You've faced 19, you retire 19. And then you lose it. You lose all of it. What is going trough your mind?

Classic Garland, maybe tonight was the night he gets over it, whatever it is. This is a guy was some nasty stuff, and he can't get it done. He can't finish anything. He's money for five, struggles a bit in the 6th, finally loses it in the 7th. My theory is that it's impossible for him to have a great start.

When Hawk and DJ say hi to Frank, does Frank say hi back?

Uribe won this game today. Yay Juan.

No, I'm not the Taxman

The Bush Administrations (Rove) use of gay issues and stirring up homophobia, has created the aura that it’s okay to treat gays differently. Unfortunately it’s costing some people their jobs. In Texas, a basketball coach was fired because she was a lesbian. Fair? Of course not. But there is a fine line we are walking right now, gays are being marginalized at second-class citizen, much like the Jim Crow South. Dread Scott put this country back years in terms of civil rights, the idea that some citizens were separate but equal. This is starting to happen now with gays in this country. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud before it gets to anything like Jim Crow, but as of right now, I’m worried.

Krugman takes another look at the health care system in this country. It’s a poorly run system, when no one likes each other. I read an interesting article in the Economist about a month ago where the new idea is to pay doctors and hospitals on follow up care, for making sure patients take their medication, get their blood drawn, and everything else. So often people go to the doctor, are told what they need to do to stay healthy, and no one does anything about it. Doctors don’t follow up on what the patients need to do. This alone would say millions in health care spending.

And finally, there was yet another incident of fans over stepping their boundaries in a game and it causing a player reaction last night. This time, some moron in Boston took a swing or at least tired to impede Gary Sheffield from making a play in fair territory. Sheffield fielded the ball, shoved the fan, made the throw in, and then turned and jawed at the fan. Nothing happened beyond that, but it could have been really ugly. Hopefully the fan will be at least suspended from Fenway for a year or two, Sheffield fined (just a slap on the wrist, he really didn’t do anything wrong). And I’d like to see baseball really make a statement, something that David Stern and the NBA did not do, but have the Red Sox play one game in front of an empty stadium. Send a message to fans out there that they are not part of the game and they cannot cross the ‘line’ between the game/action and spectators.

But man are these Boston fans out of control or what? Please, just go away.

CTA to stink like Bush, NJ Giants?

Looking at the world again today…

Reason #5,395,482 that George W. Bush is a disaster…the CTA is set to go to a Sunday schedule in a few months if Springfield doesn’t bail them out. Yep, that’s going to suck royally, and I especially feel for the tourists who take the Red Line to and from Wrigley. I’m not sure if I could think of things much worse than this for the city and the people in Chicago.

But why is this Bush’s fault? That’s easy, Bush cut taxes to the point where the federal government has a huge deficit. To of set some of this deficit, the White House has shifted a lot of finical pressure on the states. States have been experiencing huge budget problems for well over two years now (State governors hate Bush, doesn’t matter what party), and the federal government has just shrugged and said, sorry but can you take more of our burden because we want to cut taxes again. So states are slashing public programs: health care, Medicaid, education, mental health centers, the up keep of parks and public areas, child services, and so on and so fourth. But at least you have more control over your money.

Does this mean they’ll FINALLY call them the New Jersey Giants? Only New York could put a team in ANOTHER STATE let alone city, and no one would or could question it. If the Bears played in Gary, Indiana or the Eagles played in Wilmington, Delaware do you think New Yorkers would ever let anyone hear the end of it? Same goes for the Redskins and playing in Maryland, but whatever. New Jersey Giants it is.

Liverpool tied Juventus in Turin yesterday, thus moving on to play Chelsea in the semis of the Champions League. That means an English team will be in the final in late May to play either Milan or PSV Eindhoven. It’s exciting, and hopefully Liverpool can beat Chelsea, the real New York Yankees of Europe.

Tony Blair decided that 2005 would be a good year for governments to start helping out Africa (I guess Live Aid only did so much). Now it seems like Germany is going to jump on board with this idea and that means the rest of Europe too. Japan, desperately wanting to be on the UN security counsel, has also pledged a bunch of money. Of course the ‘moral and Christian’ USA is doing next to nothing. But hey, when you spend more money on ‘defense’ (aka weapons and bombs to blow people up, only if needed of course) than the rest of the world combined, giving money to Africa can only be seen as a threat to national security. Should you or I tell President Bush and the neo-cons that the best way to keep the terrorists in check is by giving them economic opportunity and equality? Then again, who doesn’t love the idea of mass conversion to democracy? Hey, if the Spanish didn’t threatened to kill all those Mexicans, Peruvians, and other members of the Americas in the 16^th century, they wouldn’t be Catholic.

i-Pod 15

One of the best things about the i-Pod and i-Tunes is that they keep track of how often you listen to a song. You quickly find out how obsessed you are with songs and bands and begin to wonder if you have problems. I thought it’d be cool to run down my Top25, I think maybe I just list my top fifteen for now, and then every few weeks or month, take a new look at what the Top25/15 are. So with out further Freddy Adu…

1) “Letter from an Occupant” by the New Pornographers – This is the closest a song has come to crack in some time. For the first 1:54 of this song, it’s a catchy pop tune that you enjoy, but nothing more. And then they let Neko Case go wild and she lets her voice put this song over the top. I can’t stop listening to it even though the lyrics, I think, mean nothing. Not that I’m a big lyric fan, but still… no matter “For the love a god you say.”

2) “Nothing” by Mason Jennings – Jennings has been a personal favorite of mine for some time. “Nothing” is one of his more solid songs, nicely put together, nicely sung, and one of those songs you can’t help but tap your foot to. Plus, if you’re a sucker for cute love songs, this one fits the bill.

3) “American Baby” by Dave Matthews Band – This is why you never ever should let someone else uses your i-Tunes. What a bad song. But if you live with someone who may or may not consider Dave as Jesus, well you get stuck with this crap. Don’t listen, just run, whiny Dave was never good and has never sucked so well.

4) “Take Me Out” by Franz Ferdinand – I still don’t know what to do with this song, the first 45 seconds or so of just straight up rock/indie is cool and I love it… and then it turns into disco and you can’t help but grove. Why this song isn’t played at every bar I’ll never be sure.

5) “The Late Greats” by Wilco – My favorite track on A Ghost is Born, just a catchy tune from Tweedy; I like his voice, the fact that he says Romeo, and keeps saying radio.

6) “Maps” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Yeah, I think the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are overrated. Yeah, I can’t get into them. But if you can’t get into this song I feel for you. When Karen O starts lyrically waxing “Wait, they don’t love you like a love you” over and over, but never singing it the same way twice, nothing truer rings true.

7) “Dedicated” by Amps – You had to know that Kim Deal would show up here somewhere, and here she is. I’m actually not a big fan of the start of this song, and then “Demons in the spring, ba-bum” and the song becomes this sort of heartstring pulling lovely. Yeah so the solo is a little lame, but I love the “ba-bum” and “I can hear them sing” and finally “dedicated all to you”. And you realize, hey there are/were times in your life when that is so true.

8) “Crown” by Mason Jennings – Jennings makes his second appearance, and this song one of his most recent, sounds like so many of his others… a late night in the rural Midwest on a train or listening to a train in bed. And then comes the chorus “I don’t want none of this love for you honey, deep deep down in my heart.” Maybe a little cliché, but it’s sung so well.

9) “Where is my Mind” by Pixies – Okay this probably doesn’t make the list a week ago, but things can change quickly in life. “And you ask yourself, where is my mind?” I’ve been asking myself.

10) “New Slang” by The Shins – This is one of those songs that when you first hear it, you want to skip it because it takes too long to get going, but then you think well it is a good song, and then you let it play, and you go, okay this song is great. “Garden State” says that it will change your life, I don’t agree, but it’s a hell of a song.

11) “The Rat” by the Walkmen – I still believe this was the best song of 2004, it just pounds itself into your head and stays there. It sounds so chaotic on so many levels, like there are too many guitars and drums going at once and who ever is singing may or may not be getting killed, but it all works. And the lonely bridge is just perfect for summer, when forwhateverreason you don’t hang out with your peeps as much, or maybe just because there is more day light.

12) “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” by The Arcade Fire – I think I should feel bad about this song being on here and the rest of the album not, but I don’t. The way the song builds up and signing about digging tunnels from my house to yours… well there is something so beautiful about this song that you have to listen to it.

13) “Romeo” by Basement Jaxx – It’s Friday, I’m walking home from work, I’m listening to “Romeo”. Unless you think dancing is as bad as the Devil, you can’t not move when this comes on, gets me pumped for a Friday or Saturday night.

14) “Big Sur” by Mason Jennings – This one just won’t get away. I like the idea of writing for someone “this is the song to give you hope” and then there is that great guitar work later in the song.

15) “Whatever Happened” by The Strokes – I think this is one of the best-crafted songs in some time, if only because it’s one of the few songs that has a ring composition, peaking at “You don’t miss me… I know.”

What a joke

The NCAA is on the verge of allowing a 12th football game for Division I-A and I-AA schools. The NCAA claims they are all about educating kids, but I'm not sure anyone believes this, and the three people that still believe that the NCAA is there for the kids, I hope this seals the deal for you.

Not that I really care that much, but just pay the kids at this point. You're not educating them, you're not helping them, and you’re only exploiting them and using them to fill your pockets. Pay the kids and get on with it, especially the football players since the NFL blocks them pursuing their economic opportunities.

The NCAA is a joke, and the sooner the public realizes this the better. The fact that hypocrites like this have been able to get away with this crap so long is amazing. But, hey!, we better not let them gays marry!

Another day, another yawn

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that this information is coming out now, about eight months after the fact, but it is. So what they were arresting people for fun, who cares that people getting food were getting plunked off the streets, it was to protect the President from being, umm, protested against? Not like it matters any more any way, in a way, does anyone even care that Bush is President besides a few GOPers and Christian fanatics/extremists? (and yes, if we can throw around Islamic extremists, then I’m throwing around Christian extremists) I do have to wonder how their fight against abortion and gay marriage is going.

Krugman calls a spade a spade, and we all yawn and most of the country could careless. The White House realizes that health care isn’t a winning issue, and the Democrats have no clue what’s going on, I wouldn’t be surprised if they still think they have a baseball team in Montreal. Anyway, health care in this country is out of control and don’t look now, but I’m willing to bet your benefits suck (I call insurance companies, that’s part of what I do for a living, odds are they do). Krugman correctly points out that most Americans think they have the best health care in the world. I can’t say for sure if it is or isn’t, but the fact is odds our are benefits stink and you’d never know it until a) a family member gets really sick, injured, or dies or b) you get really sick or injured. HMOs usually have good coverage and are a pretty good deal, but they’re also usually a pain in the ass. PPOs give you freedom and flexibility, but you’re paying way too much out of your pocket. I don't feel like saying or talking about this any more though, sorry.

Again, not like anyone cares, but the trade deficit in this country continues to grow. If it weren’t for the dollar, we’d be in big trouble. And if it weren’t for the Chinese needing the dollar more than anything else, we’d be in really big trouble. Anyway, Germany is the worlds biggest exporter, the US is now second. If you care, and I’m sure you don’t, you can join me in throwing up my arms and saying, Bush sucks.

A slow day in the British press, but Bayern Munich plays Chelsea this afternoon (night) in Germany for the right to go on to the final four in the Champions League. Chelsea is up 4-2 and should move on tonight. There is also another Milan derby, but odds are that game will end 0-0.

Stuff to Check Out

As an American Catholic, I found this article in the New York Times interesting and worth the read. I tend to agree with what many people in the article said. I too find the Church a little too backward on many issues, to controlling and over stepping and/or abusing their authority on personal matters of the individual. For me, the Church is an institution to help me with my faith, not a place to tell me what to do or what I can't do.

I know I said that I wouldn't get caught up in the upcoming British elections, but this read from the Guardian was too hard to pass up.

And as a side note, it looks like Becks finally had a good game in Madrid, his first in what seems like ages. Owen even decided to score. A big win for Real over Barca, even though Barca will probably win this thing in Spain, at least Real will try and make this interesting. Of course, Real could still win this, just as Man U (with help from Beckham, man does that seem long ago) caught the Gunners in 2003. (And yes, I'm sorry I can't do that little 's' under the 'c' on Barca. I know it would make this page look at lot cooler, but oh well, there are bigger fish to fry).

I would post something about the White House saying they're going to bring the troops home in two years, but I'm call B.S. on that one.

A Letter From Rome

With the recent events in Rome over the past ten days or so, I figured I'd contact a friend who lives in Rome at the moment and get her view on things. I got back a great e-mail giving a picture of Rome than the TV cameras ( CNN and MSNBC) could only die for. Here it is:

Dear Bobby,

This was a busy week like most, compounded by the fact that I have been downtown trying to participate in all the mourning and celebrating that is happening here for John Paul II. It is neat, to speak mildly. I was actually in Venice on Saturday when he died, and came back Sunday night. On Monday at 10pm, I was finally free to go downtown and check out the square, adn get in line to see him lie in state. For a variety of reasons I was by myself and ended up waiting alone in a line of hundreds for three and ahalf hours until i made it through the doors of the basilica at about 1:30 am. Besides the fact that the experience itself was overwhelming and awesome, I'm glad I went down when I did because the line only got longer - by Thursday the patriarchs of Rome and the police were urging people NOT to get in line. At that point, the people who were waiting were in a 55 hour wait!

At the beginning of the week back in Rome, it seemed to me that as you moved away from St Peter's, it was almost as though nothing had changed. There were posters up all around the city with his photo and different prayers printed on them, but traffic was more or less normal and it seemed like everyone was doing their regular business. Closer to the square and later in the week, that was not the case. Authorities estimated that by Friday there would be 2 million pilgrims in Rome; two million pilgrims came from Poland alone. When I was down on Monday night, it was packed. The line moved like what it was - a mass of tightly packed, anxious bodies, in big halting chunks about ten or twenty meters at a time. Even that early in the week (that was right after they opened St. Peter's up for public viewing) they had screens along Via della Conciliazione set up, broadcasting images from Pope John Paul's life and prayers, and they were playing music and Scripture readings over the loudspeaker. Truthfully, it was a moving spiritual experience, maybe even more so because at that time I was alone (if you can call it htat in a crowd of hundreds). I only walked by the body for a total of maybe 10 seconds and barely glimpsed it, but it was worth it.

On Friday I was at the funeral. I left the Center Thursday night at 7pm with a group of Rome Center students and PJ and we went in centro to try to meet up with a group of seminarians from the North American College that we know, to find a good spot to camp out for the night so we could see if we could in or anywhere near the square the next morning. They were supposed to open up St Peter's square at 5 or 6 in the morning. We found the seminarians really easily, which was a feat considering the massive crowds. There were people EVERYWHERE - a lot of people were leaving or milling around that had been waiting in lie to see the pope but they had closed the doors. We had a great spot really near the colonnade and settled down - about 10 Rome Center students and bunch of guys from the NAC. We were in an area where a ton of other people, mostly young people, had settled. People were praying and singing and trying to sleep. Naturally, the Italian police kicked us out after a period, even though that had told the guys from the NAC, who had been there since 4pm, that they woudl be near the entrance and could stay there all night - we spent the next few hours litigating with various guards, trying to get our seminarian friends with their clerics to bust us in to where it was possibel to wait in line. I won't fill this email with all the adventures of the night, but due to the concerted effort of one seminarian named Dude, he got us through the barricades and onto Via della Conciliazione(the wide straight street that runs directly up to St Peters) which was sort of like being on the VIP list. It was basically as close as you could get to wait, there were many less people camped out there. We set up shop within close sight of the basilica, all lit up and beautiful at night. It was amazing. I think I probably slept, or at least laid down, for maybe 45 minutes. Honestly, we were all having too much fun being together, praying together, eating candy, and chatting with reporters and other people who were waiting. I ended up the next morning at 10 am in Piazza San Pietro, to left and slightly forward of the obelisk, within good sight of the screen on the left and a diagonal view of the altar and casket. I don't know if you watched any of it, but the Mass itself was beautiful.

Those 20 hours with good friends, praying and waiting for the funeral and participating (we actually managed to get Communion!) were some of the most memorable of my life. I think the word that characterizes the atmosphere around Rome for this entire word is joyous, rather than mournful. The crowds were incredible - huge, and loud, and totally involved. I think people were mourning, but it wasn't as somber as I think a funeral week would have been for another world leader, probably because Pope John Paul was as sick as he was, and as old. There was a lot of prayer, but there was also a lot of laughing and fun happening in the crowd too, a sense of celebrating John Paul's life and just plain appreciating him and loving him. I've never been in a crowd that large in my life that had a similar feeling of purpose. You could almost say that it was like camping out for a rock concert, except that there genuinely was a feeling of something important going on. Obviously, there was no ruckus or drinking like you'd find in that atmosphere. There was food, guitars, and candles, all very young. I think Pope John Paul would have loved it. I feel blessed to have been able to participate.

Since then I've been recovering, as in sleeping. I think it would be amazing to be in the square at the end of April to see the white smoke go up. I don't know how easy that will be, since I can't exactly hang out for three days straight, but it would be cool.

Anyway, that's my story in the short form. Rome is a very special place to be right now. I'll have to show you my photos.

Take care

Paul Shirley's Road Ramblings

This is an absolutely wonderfully written journal of life on the road as the twelfth man on an NBA team by Paul Shirely. Not only is it very interesting, it is also, as I said, well written and funny. A must read if you're a fan of the NBA or sports in general. I suggest starting with at the bottom of the page and reading the entries in chronological order from the beginning. Enjoy.

Other than that, thoughts on the weekend...
The White Sox (my true love) are now 4-2 to start the year, taking two of three from the Twins in Minnesota. I'm being very cautiously optimistic at this point. But it's hard not to feel a bit of excitement. Between spring starting here on the South Side and the White Sox winning ways, I can dream a bit.

It was nice to see Tiger win today at the Masters. But I really didn't care that much, sure I watched, but golf will always lack the drama of other sports since it's so... so... golf.

Nothing in the news has caught my eye, it's been a crazy two weeks, so the low key weekend was some what of a welcoming sign. And I don't want to bore myself by following the British elections yet. I'll wait two more weeks, but my gut feeling is that Blair and Labour may be in some trouble.

"Where is my Mind?" The Pixies... Where is my mind? I always thought that "In God's Country" by U2 was the best credits song at the end of a movie I'd ever heard when it closed out "Three Kings". But upon further review, my greater appreciation of:
1) The Pixies
2) Growing older and having to face your past more often...
Well the Pixies classic coming in as they role to credits in "Fight Club" has now moved into first place.

What makes one a man of the High Life?

I'm just throwing this out there...

One who is able to sit outside without a shit on drinking a High Life.
A man who is attached to a nagging woman, but still drinks a High Life at will.
Someone who works in his garage.
A man who enjoys baseball.
You must have a deep voice.
A sense of humor.
The summer.

Feel free to add. But I think my new found goal in life is to be a man of the High Life.

Bears Drafts

With the NFL Draft just two weeks away, I thought I'd look at the Chicago Bears past few drafts, just like I did with the Eagles bellow.

1997: No First Round Pick (Rick Mirer trade)
This draft killed the Bears. Meyer sucked. Walter Jones was picked where they were to draft (he'd be awesome still today at OT). They missed out on guys like Gonzalez and Dunn in the first round. And then drafted John Allred, who naturally for a Bears TE sucked. In the third round they picked up Bob Sapp, who may or may not be the guy that does the ultimate fighting in Japan. And the fourth round saw them bring in the likes of Darnell Autry and Marcus Robinson. Okay, so Robinson wasn't a complete waste, but he only had one nice year for the Bears. Van Hiles? Shawn Swayda? Mike Miano? Marvin Thomas? Really what was going on in the Bears war room on these days? Did they leave Wanny in alone or something?

GRADE - D- (only because Bob Sapp turned out to be the same Bob Sapp that won the IWGP World Heavyweight title from Kensuke Sasaki on March 28, 2004 in Tokyo, Japan.)

Now the 1998 draft, a draft I remember because we were playing a baseball game deep on the South Side by the lake and I wanted the Bears to draft Moss... At #5 the Bears took Curtis Enis (just add a P to the beginning of his name and that pretty much explains how he did with the Bears).
6 St. Louis - Wistrom, Grant
7 New Orleans - Turley, Kyle
8 Dallas - Ellis, Greg
9 Jacksonville - Taylor, Fred RB
10 Baltimore - Starks, Duane

So yeah, it would have been nice to get Taylor instead of Enis, but while Taylor has been a much better player, he always seems to be hurt (though hasn't he basically stayed healthy the last two years?) Injuries hurt Enis more than anything else, he wasn't a top 5 pick, but he wasn't a total bust (then again maybe I'm just saying that because we're talking about the Bears). Yes I am. The Bears would have been about twenty-three times better off with Taylor. Turley is insane, Ellis hasn't made an impression on me, and Winstrom is a tad overrated. While all those guys could have helped, it's the guys that followed Tra Thomas, Takeo Spikes, and Moss who the Bears really missed out on.
In the second round they picked up Tony Parrish who was a nice player for a few years. The biggest prize came in the third round in Kreutz. But who can forget Alonzo Mayes in the fourth round... has there ever been a player that I was more happy in the Bears drafting (first round talent they said)? I don't think so. Too bad he sucked and did something really stupid a few years later, what I don't remember.
GRADE - B-

1999: #12 Cade McNown
13 Pittsburgh - Edwards, Troy
14 Kansas City - Tait, John
15 Tampa Bay - McFarland, Anthony
16 Tennessee - Kearse, Jevon
17 New England - Woody, Damien
#50 Tampa Bay - King, Shaun QB

This draft killed the Bears because they blew their first round pick. They traded down and 'got the guy they wanted' but in the process missed out on Culpepper. Who knows if Philly would have traded up with them, but I remember everyone in the City wanting them to trade up to get McNabb. Amazingly, Tait has helped the Bears more than Cade, and everyone on that list, expect the bust Edwards, would have been a million times better than McNown. In the second round they got Russell Davis. They got Rex Tucker in the third round a good pick, too bad he's still hurt. D'Wayne Bates also came in the third round, also an okay pick. They picked up Marty Booker in the third round, who was very good for a number of years and then turned into Adewale Ogunleye. Overall a great pick, not only was Booker very good with the Bears, they turned him into a good player a few years later. Warrick Holdman came in the fourth round, another good pick. Too bad the first two sucked so much and Cade put this team back five years (and winning in 2001 didn't help).
GRADE - C- (just think if they didn't draft Cade how great that draft would have been?)

2000: #9 Brian Urlacher
10 Baltimore - Taylor, Travis
11 N.Y. Giants - Dayne, Ron
12 N.Y. Jets - Ellis, Shaun
13 N.Y. Jets - Abraham, John
14 Green Bay - Franks, Bubba
28) Indianapolis Morris, Rob MLB

This worked out well for the Bears. And they got Brown in the second round, who has been fantastic. Dez White in the third round was a good pick that didn't really work out as some expected. Reggie Austin didn't help us that much in the fourth round. But landing Urlacher was huge, he has been the center piece of a defense that, though up and down at times, has been much better than the offense. While Urlacher is a bit overrated, he’s still probably the second best middle linebacker in the NFL. A superstar no doubt. Hard to feel bad about a draft when you land a superstar.
GRADE - A-

2001: #8 David Terrell
9 Seattle - Robinson, Koren WR
10 Green Bay - Reynolds, Jamal
11 Carolina - Morgan, Dan
12 St. Louis - Lewis, Damione
13 Jacksonville - Stroud, Marcus

No real miss here when you look back. Even the next two WR off the board Gardner and S. Moss aren't anything to write home about and would have sucked with the Bears. In fact you could argue that Robinson is just as big as a bust as Robinson. Stroud would be a nice player to have now, but Morgan would have no use on this team. The A-Train in the second round was a good pick and helped them in that miracle season. It's too bad that he wasn't able to play like he did that rookie season (rookie of the year remember on the offensive side of the ball), Gandy came in the third round and wasn't bad filling in nicely when needed. Karon Riley didn't pan out in the fourth round.
GRADE - B-

Anyway, on to 2002:
After the miracle season the Bears got stuck at 29 taking Marc Colombo.
30 Pittsburgh - Simmons, Kendall
31 St. Louis - Thomas, Robert
32 Washington - Ramsey, Patrick
END OF FIRST ROUND
33 Houston - Gaffney, Jabar
34 Carolina - Foster, De'Shaun

Injury problems have been Colombo's biggest problem. And Simmons would have a much better pick up even though he is a guard. I see a lot of Rex in Ramsey, but whatever. The Bears traded their 2nd round pick passing up on Antonio Bryant (who the 'boys picked there) and Deion Branch. They ended up moving up in the 3rd round and got Roosevelt Williams. Terrance Metcalf came later in the round. Metcalf has been average at best and Williams lasted one year. But the real gem of this draft was Alex Brown in the 4th round. A great pick. The other rounds were blah. A weird draft in that they traded their second round pick, but didn't pass up anyone amazing. Their first round pick just didn't work out, but they did get Brown.
Grade - C-

2003 (Bears traded out of the #4 slot and ended up with two first round picks)
Michael Haynes (14) and Rex Grossman (22):
4 NY Jets - Dewayne Robertson
5 Dallas - Terence Newman
6 New Orleans (from Arizona) - Johnthan Sullivan
7 Jacksonville - Byron Leftwich
8 Carolina - Jordan Gross

Then
15 Philadelphia - Jerome McDougle
16 Pittsburgh - Troy Polamalu
17 Arizona - Bryant Johnson
18 Arizona - Calvin Pace
19 Baltimore - Kyle Boller

23 Buffalo - Willis McGahee
24 Indianapolis - Dallas Clark
25 NY Giants - William Joseph
26 San Francisco - Kwame Harris
27 Kansas City - Larry Johnson

I'm not sure what to make of this draft. They could have had Leftwich at #4. But they might have lucked out on passing on Robertson since Tommie Harris (2004 first round pick) seems like a stud. The question is, was moving down and passing on Leftwich worth picking up Haynes? Considering that McDougel went right after Haynes and he's done little to nothing thus far for the Brids besides being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, I'll call it a wash. Haynes did show some signs, but he doesn't seem to be a first round pick. Polamalu would have almost made the deal worth it, but who knows. The picks that followed Grossman don't seem like anything the Bears missed out on. In the second round they scored Tillman, a huge pick up. The third round brought in Lance Briggs, another great pick. Todd Johnson came in the 4th round, not bad value wise. And Ian Scott came in the 4th too, another great pick.
GRADE - B (The later round picks yielded three starters, not bad. But Haynes hasn't done much of anything (they traded for another end after a year) and Grossman... the jury is still out. Leftwich would probably be a better pick than Grossman, but again, time will have to tell. Also of note, if they don't do the deal, they don't get Ian Scott).

"Fever Pitch" and Red Sox fans

“Fever Pitch” comes out today as a bastardized version of Nick Hornby’s outstanding memoir of his love affair with Arsenal, a footie team in England. Who knows how bad the movie will be but just a few thoughts about the entire idea of this movie:

Hornby’s memoir is about a football team. The movie is about a baseball team. Not only that, Arsenal is nothing like the Red Sox. The Gunners have had some success over the years in English football, winning a few league titles and FA Cups along the way, both in the memoir and in the last five to ten years (they along with Manchester United have dominated English football during this time). The Red Sox have lost, and lost, and lost again. Only getting close a few times. If a Red Sox fan were to write a twenty-five year memoir of the Red Sox experience they’d get nothing like what Hornby’s experience.

Is anyone not sick of the Red Sox and Red Sox fans at this point? Did we really need this, yet another media creation about the angst of being a Red Sox fan? I know Red Sox fans claim they don’t like these media ‘creations’, but someone has to buy all this stuff up don’t they? I mean is anyone in Europe going to see this movie? Is any White Sox or Cub fan going to see this movie? Wait… forget I said Cub fans. The point being, if Red Sox fans hate this stuff, why does the media keep churning stuff like this out?

Someone wrote this morning that the joke is on Red Sox fans and “Red Sox Nation”. I’m not sure truer words have been spoken in some time. These fans have managed in five months to turn the ENTIRE country against them. I’m sick that I ever rooted for them… just sick that I was that stupid. At least I’ve never rooted for the Cubs… but that one is too obvious. But the Red Sox fans are actually the Cub fans of the NL analogy should have been made years ago. How did we over look this? Were we that blinded by the Yankees?

Speaking of the Yankees, I think “Fever Pitch” would be about a billion times better if it was about a Yankee fan. The Yankee fan would be a villain from the get go and we’d root against him and the Yankees and… well I’m not sure how the movie would end, but I’m telling you, everyone would go to this movie. Or people would treat it like “Gigli”. But if done right, it really could be a fantastic movie. You couldn’t root for the guy, you would try not to like the guy, you’d get to root against the Yankees, and the ending of movie would be classic no matter (win or lose, but especially if they lost). Can you imagine the feeling the theater if the Yankees lost and we’d all be so happy and the poor guy on the screen would be all upset and no one would feel bad for him? I’m sure this would be a fantastic movie.

The Red Sox being the new ‘champs’ defeating the Yanks was a celebration at first. But now I think it’s a lot like what happens in politics all the time. It was like, ‘we finally got rid of Saddam!’ but instead of Saddam you get chaos and the Iranian government in Iraq. So we replaced the evil empire, the Yankees, with an even worse government. Again, we should have seen this coming.

Finally, after seeing the Red Sox win, the Cubs winning would be the worst thing that could happen to this country. Yes, worse than George W. Bush declaring himself dictator for life.