Category: Sports

God Hates the Beijing Olympics

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Insurrection in Tibet, Earthquake Algae Bloom, Floods, and The most protested torch relay in history.

And now a plague of locusts in China.

I agree with the author of the piece, “Locusts? What is going on here? The litany of near-biblical woes would seem to lack only a famine, frogs and smiting of the first born.”

Dude, I understand that you are all officially atheists and all in the PRC, but slaughter a few dozen goats or something.

You’ve done something to piss him off.*

*Note: this is humor, not serious. I’m making a joke in bad taste, not suggesting that God is actually punishing the Chinese people.

A Brilliant Solution in Zimbabwe

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In a New York Times OP/ED, Peter Godwin muses on what to do about the brutal war that Mugabe is waging on his own people.

He notes that the international community should delegitimize the Mugabe regime, and take steps to recognize the government in exile.

Then he has his moment of genius:

Of course, South Africa could use its economic power to draw Mr. Mugabe’s rule to an end in weeks rather than months. Yet Mr. Mbeki has steadfastly refused to act, providing a protective cloak for Mr. Mugabe’s repression. And just a few weeks ago, even as opposition members were being tortured, Mr. Mbeki visited Zimbabwe, allowing himself to be garlanded at the airport and displayed on state-run TV with a broadly grinning Mr. Mugabe. In the United Nations Security Council, where South Africa currently has a seat, Mr. Mbeki has opposed attempts to put the political situation in Zimbabwe on the agenda.

If Mr. Mbeki’s cost-benefit calculus has been such that he hasn’t seen it necessary to take tougher action, perhaps it’s time to change that calculus. Perhaps, for example, now is not the time for you to book a safari to South Africa. Or for you, or any institution that manages your funds, to make new investments in the country.

Most important, there is the FIFA soccer World Cup, for which South Africa is to act as host in 2010. That may seem like a long way off, but South Africa is already investing huge amounts both financially and politically, for what is supposed to be its triumphal coming-out party. Maybe Zimbabwe should become to the South Africa-hosted World Cup what Tibet has been to the Beijing Olympics — the pungent albatross that spoils every press conference and mars every presentation with its insistent odor.

Perhaps it’s time to share the Zimbabweans’ pain, to help persuade Mr. Mbeki to bear down on its source by threatening to grab the world’s soccer ball and take our games elsewhere.

I don’t follow soccer, so I was unaware that the World Cup would be in South Africa.

This is brilliant, and people should start lobbying FIFA now to change the venue.

Well Hello Dalai Lama

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Well, China is now saying that it will hold talks with representatives of the Dalai Lama, and I just could not resist the pun.

The Dalai Lama has welcomed the opportunity to talk, though state run media seems to indicate that the Chinese are not quite as eager to talk as they are eager to be thought of as willing to talk, with the standard “running dog” screeds continuing.

My guess is that in the end, nothing meaningful happens, and that the Chinese claim that the Tibetans were unreasonable.

Congresscritters Missing the Forest for the Trees

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So, Reps. Neil Abercrombie, D-HI, Lynn Westmoreland, R-GA have decided that a Congressional investigation of the college football bowl system is warranted.

They are missing the bigger point, which is that the US taxpayer is funding NCAA Division I sports are not a non profit activity, they are a for profit activity in which a cartel of institutions have conspired to prevent their employees, so-called “student atheletes”, from being paid, and for which alumni donations are tax deductible.

Red Sox Stand Up For the Guys Who Stand Behind Them

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I’m not a great Baseball fan, but to the degree I am, I’m a member of Red Sox Nation, and the players just did the right thing when they briefly struck to ensure that the coaches and other support personnel for the team actually got paid for the exhibition games in Japan.

The net result was an hour delay in one game, and the coaches got paid.

I could insert a Yankees slam here, but it would spoil the moment.

The Danny Snyder Clown Show

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Jim Zorn has been hired as the new head coach of the Redskins.

Let’s see, Joe Gibbs quits, and Snyder hires everyone but the head coach anyway, and now Jim Zorn, originally slated as offensive coordinator after a stellar turn as QB coach of the Seattle Seahawks ends up double promoted to head coach.

No one wanted the job unless they got to hire their own staff, and since they could not do that, it got handed down to Zorn.

Danny Snyder has spent more, for less results, than any owner in the league.

On the Superbowl

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I didn’t have a dog in the hunt, I am a Redskins fan, though my wife is bumming. My congratulations to the NY Giants.

However, I don’t think that this is the greatest upset ever. That honor still goes to Joe Namath and the Jets in Super Bowl III.

My favorite ad was the dancing lizards.

Your favorite ads below.

More on Fascist Catholic Archbishop in St. Louis

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Saint Louis University’s basketball couch Rick Majerus tells fascist Archbishop to piss off regarding said cleric’s suggestion that disciplinary action be taken against him because he showed up to a Hillary Clinton rally, and made pro-choice statements.

Ignoring the towering idiocy of demanding that a basketball coach towing anti-woman, anti sex line of Archbishop Raymond Burke, there is also the matter, rasied in my last post on this issue, that St. Louis University just won a court case regarding a tax financing for a new sports arena because they had demonstrated they were not, “controlled by a religious creed”.

This is not the first time that this moron has damaged both the reputation and the institution of the Catholic Church:

Burke has spoken out before against Catholics or Catholic institutions that stray from church doctrine. During the 2004 election, he said he would not administer Holy Communion to presidential candidate John Kerry, a Catholic, because he supported abortion rights.

Last year, Burke dropped his seat on the board of a charity that let singer Sheryl Crow perform at a benefit concert. Crow supports abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research.

On Tuesday, Burke said he would ask Saint Louis University officials to take “appropriate action” against Majerus after the coach gave a TV interview at the Clinton rally during which he said he was Catholic and pro-choice.

In 1942, the Bishop of Father Coughlin to STFU. Perhaps it might be advisable for someone in Burke’s chain of command to do the same.

And From the Fascist Wing of the Catholic Church

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St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke calling for Rick Majerus, the St. Louis University basketball coach, to be disciplined for making a campaign appearance for Hillary Clinton and expressing support for Roe v. Wade.

This is not a priest, this is not a professor in the divinity department, this is a freaking BASKETBALL COACH.

I understand that St. Louis University is a Catholic school, but demanding that employees who have absolutely nothing to do with the religious mission of the school have to toe their political is outrageous, particularly given this:

Last year, St. Louis U. celebrated a legal victory that affirmed it is not controlled by the Catholic church or by its Catholic beliefs.

The Missouri Supreme Court agreed with the school in handing down a decision that the city of St. Louis did not violate state and federal constitutions by granting the university $8 million in tax increment financing for its new arena.

Opponents of the $80 million arena sued the school in 2004, halting construction.

The Missouri Constitution prohibits public funding to support any “… college, university, or other institution of learning controlled by any religious creed, church or sectarian denomination whatever.”

The debate came down to two words: “control” and “creed.” Does the guiding mission of a Catholic university align with the specific system of religious faith espoused by the Catholic church? And if so, does that system of faith control the actions of the university?

In a 6-1 decision, the court said SLU “is not controlled by a religious creed.”

As I recall*, Rush Limbaugh’s cousin, Stephn N. Limbaugh, Jr. serves on this court, and had been nominated by Bush to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Hmmm….I guess that Rush is the smart one of his family…Scary thought.

*And by, “As I recall”, I mean checking the Wiki.