January 31, 2008
To date, the United States has 3,940 confirmed deaths in Iraq. Back in May, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, a battalion leader, very nearly found himself on that list. An IED (improvised explosive device) thoroughly shattered his body. Only 70 pints of blood, the exceptional field work of men in his 1st Infantry Division and the skill of doctors saved his life.His legs weren't so fortunate.
The New York Giants, however, consider themselves blessed to have made this double-amputee's acquaintance. They credit Gadson, who played football at Army with New York wide receivers coach Mike Sullivan, with helping to salvage their season and making it something approaching superb. His stirring pregame speeches and his living example of courage and perseverance have inspired them all the way to Super Bowl XLII.
These men got the opportunity to meet Lt. Col. Gadson in September, when they played the Redskins in Washington, with a record of 0-2. And it was then that something very special happened.
The Giants' defense had allowed a total of 80 points in their two previous losses, to Dallas and Green Bay, and they were trailing the Redskins 17-3 at halftime. But the Giants scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second half, the last one a 33-yard pass from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress with 5:22 left.Burress did not spike the ball. Instead, he sprinted to the Giants' sideline and dropped it into the lap of Gadson, who was sitting in a wheelchair.
"That's when," Gadson said, "I became one of the Giants."
And for the NFC championship game in Green Bay, gadson was an honorary team captain. And Gadson again received a little bit of NFL history.
The wind chill was below zero, but Gadson didn't want to watch the game from the warm suite the Giants had arranged for him."He wanted to be right out there on the front lines, so to speak," Sullivan said. "You'd see players would go up to him and he'd look them right in the eye, and you could tell they were feeding off his courage and his inspiration."
The game was in overtime when Webster intercepted Brett Favre's pass at the Packers' 34-yard line. That ball too was deposited in the hands of Gadson.
"I felt like he deserved the ball," Webster said, "because he's a big motivating factor for me, personally, and for the team."
Four plays later, Lawrence Tynes kicked the winning field goal and, improbably, the Giants were on their way to Phoenix. Yes, of course, Gadson will be there. He has become part of the team. Burress, who also comes from the Tidewater region of Virginia, calls him regularly and exchanges text messages with him.
Lt. Col. Greg Gadson has become the inspiration and good luck charm for this team. The Giants haven't lost a game he has attended, and he will be at the Super Bowl with the New York Giants on Sunday. And it is my fervent hope that we see him, when it is all over, holding the football from the game-winning score -- and the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
After all, Gadson is a true champion, and one of our nation's heroes.
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January 30, 2008
A Houston Chronicle blog asks readers to vote on the question: Is Angelina Jolie pregnant?Perhaps I have been in a coma for a decade or so and donÂ’t realize the scientific advancements that have made online polls powerful enough to make a celebrity with child! I can only pity Brad and Angelina as they wring their hands waiting on the decision from the Chronicle.
Will tomorrowÂ’s Chron ask whether it should be a boy or girl?
I understand that celebrity news might perk up the circulation of the local rag (which we just allowed to lapse), but this question is utterly ridiculous – hence the necessity of ridiculing it.
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January 28, 2008
And what a post I was directed to by Andrew Sullivan -- a rather thorough listing of various varieties of pizza, classified in so complete a manner as to virtually have them classified with phylum, genus, and species.
Last week on Serious Eats, community member HeartofGlass asked: "How many different kinds of regional varations of pizza exist?"
I figured I'd compile a list of all the styles I've eaten or heard or read about. Sorry it took so long, HeartofGlass. It's a long list, and it appears after the jump.
I’ve got to tell you – the listing itself is mouthwatering, with enough variety to fill a couple of weeks of dining pleasure (assuming you could do all the travel necessary to eat them all).
My personal favorite? The Stuffed Pizza.
Stuffed PizzaAnother Chicago specialty that is often confused with deep dish because of its similarity. It's assembled and cooked in a similar manner to deep dish, but it has a top layer of crust and is usually taller and more densely packed with toppings.
YouÂ’ll sometimes encounter this with a layer of toppings on top of that top layer of crust, for a great gastronomical experience. And the Deep Dish Pizza right above it in the listing is a near second in my book, and is done admirably down here in the Houston area at J. ChristopherÂ’s on Atascocita Road in Humble and Northpark Road in Kingwood, as well as at their sister restaurant, OÂ’BrennanÂ’s on Marina Bay Drive in League City (near Kemah).
And then there is this pizza heresy, a cursed concoction that I pray never to be confronted with again – Saint Louis-Style Pizza.
Saint Louis–Style
Might be mistaken for a Chicago thin crust at first, just on looks—and maybe for the fact that Saint Louis and Chicago are only a few hundred miles apart. But this style's very thin, crackerlike crust is unleavened. And it's topped with a special three-cheese blend (provolone, Swiss, white cheddar) called Provel that's used in place of mozzarella (and sometimes, but not often, in addition to mozzarella). Like Chicago thin crust, it's usually done party cut. Imo's Pizza is thought to be the originator.
Let me add that it is every bit as awful as it sounds, and is one of the few things that I do not miss about my years living in the St. Louis area.
Anyway, folks – dig in to your favorite!
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January 27, 2008
It takes Big Bucks an average of 3.64 seconds to throw a cowboy off his back.And he keeps getting better. Last season, the 7-year-old, 1,350-pound bull shaved his time to 3.48 seconds; this month, he trotted out of Madison Square Garden as the top-ranked bull in the 2008 Versus Invitational, the opening event in bull riding's major leagues.
But these days, with steroid scandals clouding many top sports, doubts waft in the bullring, too, and Big Bucks finds himself facing a question about what makes him a winner:
Is it the Mexican fighting bull in him, the Brahman influence, his Texas upbringing — or something else?
Big Bucks hasn't ducked the question — instead submitting to a needle-wielding veterinarian and making history in the process as the first bucking bull to be tested for anabolic steroids under the Professional Bull Riders' plan to keep the sport clean.
Dogged by internal rumblings that bull owners seek an advantage in the arena by injecting the creatures with steroids, the association recently decided it was time for the truth.
Steroids, I guess they are everywhere, in every sport. I had never thought about injecting one of these behemoths with the stuff, but I suppose it would have an impact. I hope we don't find that this has been going on -- especially given the likelihood that a bull with roid rage could kill someone.
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January 23, 2008
José Canseco, the former major league slugger and admitted steroid user who exposed other players in his 2005 best-selling book “Juiced,” offered to keep a Detroit Tigers outfielder “clear” in his next book if the player invested money in a film project Canseco was promoting, according to a person in baseball with knowledge of the situation.Four people in baseball confirmed that referrals were made from Major League Baseball to the F.B.I. regarding Canseco’s actions relating to the six-time All-Star outfielder Magglio Ordóñez, who was not mentioned in Canseco’s earlier book or in any other report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. All four insisted on anonymity because they said they didn’t have authority to speak about the events.
The F.B.I. did not open a formal investigation because Ordóñez said he did not want to pursue the complaint.
Canseco denied that he — or any associate of his — ever asked Ordóñez for money to keep his name out of a book titled “Vindicated.”
“Absolutely not,” Canseco said in a telephone interview Wednesday. He also said he had not been told about being the subject of F.B.I. referrals.
This strikes me as the sort of thing that should be pursued by the FBI regardless of Ordóñez desire to pursue the matter. Given some of the disputes that have gone on recently over steroid abuse allegations, there ought to be some clarity as to the accusers and their motives. It seems that there are some credibility problems at work here. And with no fewer than four different sources bringing the information to the attention of the government, I think that we have a prima facie case that something happened.
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His fourth wife has only been missing three months, but Drew Peterson appears ready to plunge back into the dating pool.“Win a Date with Drew Peterson” is scheduled to air at 8 a.m. Thursday on Steve Dahl’s morning show on WJMK-FM (104.3). Peterson agreed to the stunt when he appeared with his attorney on the show this morning.
Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police sergeant, told Dahl his only caveat with the date was “no three-way stuff.” Dahl said he would likely send a chaperone on the day “just to be on the safe side,” before adding, “I’m kidding.”
PetersonÂ’s fourth wife Stacy vanished on Oct. 28 from the coupleÂ’s Bolingbrook home. Drew Peterson said the mother of two young children left with another man. Police have called her disappearance a possible homicide investigation and labeled Drew Peterson a potential suspect.
Drew PetersonÂ’s third wife, Kathleen Savio, was found dead in a bathtub at her home after the couple separated. Police are reinvestigating her death in the wake of Stacy PetersonÂ’s disappearance.
It's sick.
It's tasteless.
It's classic Steve Dahl!
After all, this is the guy whose obituary will begin "Dahl, a longtime mainstay of Chicago broadcasting, is best remembered for causing the Chicago White Sox to forfeit a game due to a riot cause by his 'Disco Demolition Night'." Setting up a date with someone who probably has killed two wives is right up his alley. I'm just surprised that Peterson's attorney went for it -- after all, it won't look good to the jury in either murder trial.
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January 22, 2008
At 3:31 p.m., according to the police, a masseuse arrived at the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street, between Crosby and Lafayette Streets in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. As the news reports spread quickly, throngs of people gathered in the neighborhood.The police said they did not suspect a crime. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday. Around 6:30 p.m., city workers rolled Mr. Ledger’s body, in a black body bag on a stretcher, out of the building.
Again, heartbreaking -- one more entertainer dead of an overdose at a young age. We've seen this story too many times in the past to even be surprised.
But let's consider the amount and the prominence of the media coverage of Ledger's death. With all that is going on in the world -- war, economic problems, the presidential race -- did this death really merit the sort of coverage that it got from the media? I mean no disrespect to the deceased, but is his death important enough to knock those stories from the front page and the lead position on the news broadcasts? Have we in this country become so celebrity obsessed that this story matters more than those other stories?
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January 17, 2008
This guy was just careless.
A little housecleaning nearly cost the Rev. Walter Hermanns a seat at Sunday's National Football Conference championship game.Hermanns, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, was getting some help from a friend last Friday when he asked him to take care of a stack of papers left in a bin for shredding.
When his friend got to four Green Bay Packers tickets bundled together with a rubber band, he took off the band, put one in the shredder and then stopped short.
"Something rang a bell and he said, 'Are you sure you want to shred these?'" Hermanns said.
Fortunately, Hermanns was treated well by the Packers organization, and his ticket was replaced when he provided the shredded pieces and other evidence of purchase.
On the other hand, this guy deserves no mercy whatsoever.
Upset that his 7-year-old son wouldn't wear a Green Bay Packers jersey during the team's playoff victory Saturday, a man restrained the boy for an hour with tape and taped the jersey onto him.Mathew Kowald was cited for disorderly conduct in connection with the incident with his son at their home in Pardeeville, Lt. Wayne Smith of the Columbia County Sheriff's Department said. Pardeeville is about 30 miles north of Madison.
The 36-year-old Kowald was arrested Monday after his wife told authorities about the incident. Kowald was taken to the county jail and held until Wednesday, when he pleaded no contest, paid a fine of $186 and was released.
Kowald's wife filed a restraining order Wednesday, so Kowald will not be able to have contact with his family, Smith said. Smith said other domestic issues have surfaced, though he wouldn't elaborate.
I'm somewhat taken aback that all this guy got was a fine. What the hell was he thinking – or was he thinking at all?
Which is just my way of saying:
Go Eli! Go Giants! Beat the Packers!
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January 15, 2008
I think we saw a couple of the most strange American Idol moments ever last night.
Take, for example, this guy.
Creepy! And the more time we had to consider the performance during the commercial, the more disturbed we became. You have to hope that Paula Abdul sought a restraining order after that one. Sick sick sick sick sick!
Did I mention that this guy was really sick?
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January 13, 2008
I was right.
And wrong at the same time.
To the surprise of many people who follow the N.F.L., the San Diego Chargers, not the Indianapolis Colts, will meet the New England Patriots next Sunday for the American Football Conference championship and the right to play in Super Bowl XLII.
* * * The Chargers won their eighth consecutive game despite 3 touchdown passes and 402 passing yards by Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. But Manning also threw two interceptions on tipped balls, and receiver Marvin Harrison lost a fumble after a catch and run, leading to San DiegoÂ’s first touchdown. All three turnovers were in Chargers territory; two came inside the 20.
And yet the younger Manning, the NY Giants' Eli, kept his team alive with the help of a defense that simply dominated the Cowboys.
Tony Romo can go wherever he wants with Jessica Simpson now. Eli Manning and the New York Giants knocked him and the Dallas Cowboys into the offseason Sunday.Having to wait out long, slow drives by Dallas, Manning made his few chances count, throwing two touchdown passes to Amani Toomer and getting a 1-yard touchdown run from Brandon Jacobs for a 21-17 victory that put New York into the NFC championship game for the first time since the 2000 season.
"I won't get tired of hearing that this week," Manning said. "No one's given us much credit and probably still won't. But that's OK. We like it that way."
Manning is heading to his first NFC championship game, at Green Bay next Sunday. Manning had a much better day than his brother, Peyton, whose Indianapolis Colts were stunned by the San Diego Chargers.
"I know he was watching and rooting for me," said Eli, who was 12-of-18 for 163 yards.
I know I'll be rooting for the Giants next week against the Packers -- in the hopes of setting up a rematch of the marquis game of the regular season's final weekend, when the Giants lost a hard-fought game to the Patriots. I'd love to see Eli Manning and the Giants pull that upset in the big game.
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January 12, 2008
OJ Simpson cussed his way back to a Las Vegas jail when he tried to contact a wit ness in his case with an expletive-fueled message, a judge ruled yesterday.Clark County District Attor ney David Roger accused Simpson of violating the terms of his bail by leav ing a voice mail for bail bondsman Miguel Pereira - in which he asked the moneyman to pass on some choice words to co-defendant Clarence "CJ" Stewart.
Simpson, previously free on $125,000 bond, was barred from talking to any witnesses, victims or co-defendants.
"I just want, want CJ to know that the whole thing all the time he was tellin' me that s--t, ya know, I hope he was telling me the truth; don't be trying to change the motherf--- ing s--t now," Simpson said in a rambling voice mail left on Nov. 16, according to court documents.
You aren't allowed to contact witnesses. You aren't allowed to contact co-defendants. Why on earth would you leav one a message on an answering machine? Do you LIKE jail?
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January 07, 2008
The Golden Globes, the ceremony known for getting HollywoodÂ’s awards season off to a rollicking start, will be reduced to a news conference Sunday by the writers strike and will likely draw picket lines and lack star power.Despite the revamped ceremony announced Monday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Screen Actors Guild said it was encouraging its members to skip the show in support of the two-month walkout by the Writers Guild of America.
“The WGA informed us they will picket the event on Sunday,” the actors guild said in a statement.
Frankly, who cares. Over the years such shows have become increasingly less relevant. More to the point, do we really need hours upon hours of redundant awards shows with thanks being given to friends, faily members and obscure acquaintances from decades earlier in life.
Just send out a press release, and I'll be happy.
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January 05, 2008
Warner Bros. Entertainment said Friday it will release movie discs only in the Blu-ray format, becoming the latest studio to reject the rival HD DVD technology and further complicating the high-definition landscape for consumers.Warner Bros., owned by Time Warner Inc., was the only remaining studio releasing high-definition DVDs in both formats.
It is the fifth studio to back Blu-ray, developed by Sony Corp. Only two support the HD DVD format, developed by Toshiba Corp.
Both formats deliver crisp, clear high-definition pictures and sound. But they are incompatible with each other, and neither plays on older DVD players, which means consumers seeking top-quality playback face a dilemma.
Warner said it decided to go with Blu-ray because consumers have shown a stronger preference for that format than HD DVD.
"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger," Warner Bros. chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement.
"We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers and, most importantly, consumers," the statement said.
Market-share seems to have settled the matter, especially Since some major retailers have indicated that they are Blu-ray only distributors. And given that a Blu-ray disc holds 20GB more data than an HD-DVD I'm not surprised that people would prefer that format. For that matter, it probably spells the end of the "Bonus Feature" disc, since that material can likely be incorporated on the same disc as the original movie.
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January 03, 2008
A child custody standoff between Britney Spears and employees of ex-husband Kevin Federline lasted three hours and ended with an intoxicated Spears releasing the children before she was carted away in an ambulance. home Thursday night.Foxnews.com have confirmed that the Los Angeles Police Department was called to Spears' home to investigate a "custody dispute" around 8 p.m. Pacific Time.
Federline's bodyguards intended to collect their two toddlers at 7p.m. but Britney reportedly refused to hand them back.
Officers were called to the home around 8 p.m., and the 26-year-old singer turned over the children around 10:50 p.m., Officer Jason Lee, a police spokesman, told City News Service.
At around midnight Britney was wheeled out in a gurney, following hearsays that "someone" inside the home was in a very hysterical, possibly intoxicated state. Police officer Jason Lee told the Associated Press that no injuries were reported yet Spears was believed to be under a the influence of an "unknown substance". The mother-of-two has since been placed on "medical hold" in an unknown location and is awaiting medical evaluation.
Let's see what we have here.
Interference with child custody arrangements.
A stand-off with police.
Emergency detox/mental health treatment.
Can anyone really argue that this woman is not a danger to those kids? Is there any basis for suggesting that they are safe in her custody? Heck, one has to ask whether Spears is not a danger to herself or others and in need of longer-term commitment for her obvious psychological problem
Closing question -- am I the only person shocked to conclude that Kevin Federline is really the better parent out of this pair?
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