Sunday Morning Open Thread

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 08:52:27 AM EST
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I'll pick some football games a little later.

This is an Open Thread.

My football picks - Colts (-6.5) over Broncs. Vikes (-6.5) over Bengals. Bucs (+4) over Jets. Chiefs (+2) over Bills. Bears (+4) over Packers. Falcons (+10) over Saints. Lions (+14) over Ravens. Fish (+2) over Jags. Pats (-13) over Panthers. Seahawks (+7) over Texans. Titans (-13) over Rams. Raiders (+1) over Washington. Chargers (+3.5) over Cowboys. And finally, painfully, Iggles (-1) over Giants.

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Sunday Morning Open Thread | 52 comments (52 topical)

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Big congrats to Annise Parker (5.00 / 2) (#1)
by andgarden on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:24:31 AM EST

and the people of Houston, TX:

Houston became the largest city in the United States to elect an openly gay mayor on Saturday night, as voters gave a solid victory to the city controller, Annise Parker.
[. . .]
Ms. Parker appeared before ecstatic supporters at the city's convention center and then joked that she was the first graduate of Rice University to be elected mayor. (She is, by the way.) Then she grew serious.
"Tonight the voters of Houston have opened the door to history," she said, standing by her partner of 19 years, Kathy Hubbard, and their three adopted children. "I acknowledge that. I embrace that. I know what this win means to many of us who never thought we could achieve high office."

And they have a free HOV lane (none / 0) (#6)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:51:56 AM EST

on the Katy Tollway. Dallas got Dubya (I thought Houston did but not so) after he didn't need the pig ranch anymore and for that I'm deeply sorry Dallas.

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I'll be watching Texas (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by andgarden on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:55:23 AM EST

I believe that it will have a blue future, but I don't know if that necessarily means a more liberal future.

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I love San Antonio (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:13:43 AM EST

When I grow up I want to live in a loft in downtown San Antonio. I love the people, the food, the art, and there is a sheer joy in celebrating multiculturalness there. I wish my kids had grown up experiencing more of that. Colorado is far more proud and celebrating of its multiculturalism than the South.....which has had so much more recorded time being multicultural. When I went on Joshua's field trip to Fort Jackson and Fort Toulouse I did get to meet some of the existing Native Americans of this area who preserve the history, but outside of the keepers of the story the stories seem lost and discourged in Southern culture.

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That's my daughter's favorite (5.00 / 1) (#20)
by Inspector Gadget on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:32:46 AM EST

city, too....San Antonio.

Everyone should have the experience of mingling with our Native Americans...keeping in mind every tribe is different. We have several tribes in WA State that actively keep their heritage alive and share the performance side with the community whenever asked. I have friends who are Lummi indians, live on the reservation and know a great deal about their history and customs. The most enjoyable temporary job I ever had was in the community development group at Ft McDowell - Yavapai Indian reservation. They were in the process of collecting all the stories they could from those who knew them, trying to revive their language, dance, customs, and even the native flora that had once had meaning to them. The current members regretted the loss of those things. Wonderful people.

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: One of my great grandfathers (none / 0) (#23)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:40:35 AM EST

was Cherokee. The stories are lost though prior to Oklahoma. It would seem that his family sought very new beginnings as they traveled even farther away from their roots to Rio Dosa NM and then settled there. He was named after a President though, Grover Cleveland. I guess it was a common practice to name children after leaders. My daughter also has some Morning Star Cheyenne heritage and her grandmother preserves that knowledge. My daughter plans to visit her this summer and she is now curious about such things.

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My family is going to Austin for (5.00 / 1) (#45)
by oculus on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 01:42:20 PM EST

Christmas week and plans include a day trip to San Antonio. Also to a 1547 feet above sealevel "mountain" bearing my maiden name. How's that for exciting?

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Perhaps (5.00 / 1) (#46)
by CoralGables on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 02:15:07 PM EST

Mt Polanski?

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: Fled the country. (5.00 / 1) (#47)
by oculus on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 02:22:31 PM EST

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War is Peace (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by pluege on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:34:28 AM EST

I don't see too many in the progressive uselessphere (other than Greeenwald of course) picking up on the fact that after years of republican/conservative Newspeak, it was the democrat, obama that officially delivered 1984 this week in Oslo: War is Peace.

: Also, other parts of the Media. (none / 0) (#22)
by KeysDan on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:34:41 AM EST

None of the famous NYt columnists even mentioned it. Frank Rich correlated "Up in the AIr" with "Grapes of Wrath"; Maureen Dowd covered the snub to Gates by Maliki and the policy rebuttal by Karzai, along with Gates learning that Aghan military training starts with reading and writing, not to mention Gates "eye opener" of needing to match the salaries of the Taliban. Friedman, well, he is learning the relationship between lending and jobs. By, the way do we ever learn where the Taliban is getting its funding and the source of its weapons? And, has anyone tried to interfere at that point? But, no more comments, it seems, on "Hawks over Oslo".

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No sense of the ridiculous (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by ruffian on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:57:06 AM EST

Village media fixture Bob Schieffer lamenting that people will do anything to get on TV. Maybe he should mention that to John McCain on his 200th appearance on his show.

For years (none / 0) (#3)
by CoralGables on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:44:08 AM EST

there have been stories of colleges using co-eds to recruit high school football players when they visit the campus, but Tennessee may be the first to send their co-eds on the road to visit players at their high schools.

I'm not sure if that's funny or just depressing (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by andgarden on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:55:49 AM EST

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: It's depressing (5.00 / 1) (#24)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:43:54 AM EST

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: It's sick! (none / 0) (#25)
by Radiowalla on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:00:22 AM EST

It's completely sick!

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Heh (none / 0) (#4)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:47:30 AM EST

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Got a link handy? (none / 0) (#7)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:52:51 AM EST

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Via SI (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by CoralGables on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:56:43 AM EST

Traveling Volunteers

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Is the blonde really still in college? (none / 0) (#34)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:40:36 PM EST

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: Fifth year senior. Redshirt. (5.00 / 1) (#40)
by oculus on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 01:05:38 PM EST

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How do these predictions work? (none / 0) (#5)
by theetruscan on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:49:53 AM EST

So, I don't know sports well, but is BTD picking teams to beat the spread, or to win the games?

What's the difference? (none / 0) (#8)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 09:53:39 AM EST

I honestly don't know

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The difference is that (none / 0) (#13)
by ruffian on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:00:01 AM EST

if he is picking teams based on the spread, he is not picking them necessarily to win or lose, but to win by a certain number of points (spread determined by Vegas odds). So a team can win the game, but if they don't win by enough points to 'beat the spread', they do not really win in Vegas - the person who bet on them still loses.

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Ahhhh....So is BTD giving us the spread (none / 0) (#15)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:02:32 AM EST

in Vegas or his own spread? I thought it was his spread but I'm obviously no pro.

Parent

Probably the Vegas spread (none / 0) (#17)
by ruffian on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:17:18 AM EST

BTD's a busy guy - probably does not take the time to compute his own spreads!

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What I get confused about is the + or - (none / 0) (#18)
by ruffian on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:25:30 AM EST

notation....I think, for example, that when he says Colts (-6.5) over Broncs, it means the Colts are giving up 6.5 points - they have to win by that much. And Bears (+4) over Packers means the Bears get 4 points and they just have to stay within 4 for BTD to win that pick.

Or else it is the other way around.

Someone will surely help me out here if I have it backwards!

Parent

In the case you mentioned (none / 0) (#21)
by rdandrea on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:33:25 AM EST

It means the Colts are 6.5 favorites. The minus means that BTD, who picked the Colts, has to subtract 6.5 points from Colts' score to determine if he's won or lost.

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: Thanks!!! (none / 0) (#27)
by ruffian on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:33:19 AM EST

I had the concept, but that helps me understand the notation.

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don't disrespect BTD. (none / 0) (#19)
by jeffinalabama on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:27:04 AM EST

Heck, there's no 'ctrl' button on BTD's computer, because he's always in control.

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All due respect (5.00 / 1) (#26)
by ruffian on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:32:04 AM EST

and I don't mean that in the sarcastic Soprano's way.

I'm sure BTD could compute spreads if he wanted to!!!

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But aren't his musings meaningless re (5.00 / 1) (#30)
by oculus on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:07:55 PM EST

football predictions unless we see the crosstabs, or whatever?

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Ha! he's lucky we aren't really sports experts (none / 0) (#31)
by ruffian on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:20:24 PM EST

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: I've wondered why (none / 0) (#39)
by jeffinalabama on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:52:18 PM EST

and how the spreads are calculated, and how they are so accurate. But I don't bet on sports, so it's not terribly important to me. If I did bet on sports, it'd be with emotion, not skill. Oh well, all the more reason not to bet on sports!

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BTW, BTD, who taught you "Iggles?" (none / 0) (#14)
by andgarden on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:00:51 AM EST

It's an old one (none / 0) (#28)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:35:19 AM EST

But sure, Atrios' using it reminds me of it.

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: It's totally true (none / 0) (#33)
by andgarden on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:30:17 PM EST

The funny side note is that in certain parts of south Philly, it almost rhymes with "bagels." the first "a" has a strange inflection that I can't quite capture--and I grew up there.
Patrick Murphy has it, and so does Frank Wolf.

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Eschaton's Jay Ackroyd: Obama Administration-Views (none / 0) (#29)
by Dan the Man on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:57:31 AM EST

Differ

Reading Taibbi, (none / 0) (#32)
by ChiTownDenny on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:25:56 PM EST

Digby on Taibbi, all the others on Taibbi, lends me to think that Obama will follow the Clinton method to grow the economy: make Wall Street bond traders happy by lowering the public debt. It worked for Clinton....

I don't think that can work now (none / 0) (#38)
by Militarytracy on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:43:40 PM EST

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: No judgement by me (none / 0) (#42)
by ChiTownDenny on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 01:14:19 PM EST

one way or the other. I think things are so screwed up in this country now that any approach to growht has to consider how deep in the hole we are. I do want to mention that Obama has been talking up the deficit.
Seems Jeralyn has started a thread on this topic.

Parent

Death of a Giant: Paul Samuelson (none / 0) (#35)
by Politalkix on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:40:46 PM EST

link

The Chargers (none / 0) (#36)
by Steve M on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:42:59 PM EST

have the longest December winning streak in NFL history, 15 games in a row. They have to lose sometime!

Percy has a headache (none / 0) (#37)
by nycstray on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 12:43:22 PM EST

Rats. I had grown to rely on a steady point count from him . . . .

I don't think I've heard of a player that had migraines before.

Surprised they don't all have a perpetual (none / 0) (#41)
by oculus on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 01:06:45 PM EST

headache. Brutal.

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: It's a very odd mix imo (none / 0) (#43)
by nycstray on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 01:19:07 PM EST

I don't think if I had migraines I would choose football as my sport! Have to give him credit though.
This isn't the first week he's been reported with a migraine, but is the first game he missed because of one.

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This has been going on for some time (none / 0) (#44)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 01:23:10 PM EST

Kareem used to get them too.

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: Scottie Pippen (none / 0) (#50)
by Steve M on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 06:29:11 PM EST

once missed a Game 7 with migraines. Wuss!

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Terrell Davis... (none / 0) (#48)
by MileHi Hawkeye on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 03:50:18 PM EST

had them and managed to still play.

Davis hasn't let Migraines stop him. During the first quarter of Super Bowl XXXII, playing for the Denver Broncos, he was hit hard and left the field with a towel draped over his head. The Migraine that was developing made the sunlight exceedingly hard to tolerate, and Davis missed the second quarter. He used Migranal Nasal Spray, an ergotamine Migraine abortive abortive, and was back in the game for the second half. In fact, he scored three touchdowns -- including the winning one -- and the Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl! Davis was named Most Valuable Player.

Link

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Lions over Ravens? Seriously? (none / 0) (#49)
by Anne on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 05:48:03 PM EST

So much for that prediction as Ravens roll over the Lions 48-3; they cover the spread 3-times over.

Don't care that the Lions are one of the worst teams in the league; I'll take a win any day over any team.

Because a day can't pass (none / 0) (#51)
by CoralGables on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 10:37:01 PM EST

without Tiger news:

Accenture, the giant consulting firm, ended its six-year marketing relationship with Tiger Woods on Sunday.

In a statement Sunday, the company said Mr. Woods, 34, was "no longer the best representative" for its advertising.

: That's the spirit. What will be the next (none / 0) (#52)
by oculus on Sun Dec 13, 2009 at 11:15:31 PM EST

big gossipy story?
P.S. NYT Style section today included photos of celebration of 800th year of Cambridge University. One photo: Steven Fry, Sir David Frost, and Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Parent

Sunday Morning Open Thread | 52 comments (52 topical)

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