Friday, February 11, 2005
Back for the First Time
Oh yea that’s right, the Patriots won the Super Bowl. As a New Englander, I feel obligated to comment on this although I have nothing interesting to say. I watched the game on Super Bowl Monday in a crowded sports bar in Sydney at 1030 AM. There were an even mix of hardcore Pats and Iggles fans, but Philly garnered more support by virtue of having most neutral fans on their bandwagon. The highlight in terms of fan interaction for me was some guy wearing a Steelers hat trying to start a shit talking battle. I just laughed at him. God entitled arrogance is fun.
As for the game itself, I mean we should have known the Pats wouldn’t blow anyone out. Of course in calculating our predictions, the Your Thoughts staff all assumed TO would have no impact and, given the performance of the rest of the Eagle wideouts, its pretty clear that without TO a blowout would have occurred. Even if Eugene Wilson hadn’t gotten hurt, the score would have been greater than three. No matter, a win is a win is a win. That is the greatest lesson of this Pats championship run. It doesn’t matter how sexy your offense looks, or if you have a bunch of characters on your defensive line, it’s the scoreboard.
So what next as a New England sports fan? The same as any other year, bitching about the Celtics and the Red Sox. I can’t wait.
Another New Englander had a good week, as Howard Dean became the only candidate in contention for the position of chair of the Democratic National Committee. Now normally this position hasn’t been glamourous in the public sense: I could not point out outgoing chair Terry McAulffie in a police lineup. Or spell his name correctly. Dean’s status as a public figure with a compelling story (his rise from nowhere followed by his media-induced collapse: he’s the comeback kid!) will hopefully lead to the position becoming a spotlight within the press for Democractic reaction over the next four years. Lord knows the Democrats need somebody, as their current opposition leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid don’t inspire anyone. Now all they need is Bill Clinton to become Secretary General of the UN.
I think Dean is the right man for the job: he has shown he is a skilled at raising grassroots support, gaining buzz for the party, and sniping at the opposition. But since he won’t be running for anything, he’ll be immune to having to portray himself as something he isn’t and partially immune to Republican counterattacks…after all what’s the point of bashing someone who isn’t running for anything? As long as Dean can keep his hands out of elections and focus on moving the party in a focused direction, whatever that may be, I believe it’s a win for the Dems. For too long their party has been splintered without leadership or direction of any kind.
As for the game itself, I mean we should have known the Pats wouldn’t blow anyone out. Of course in calculating our predictions, the Your Thoughts staff all assumed TO would have no impact and, given the performance of the rest of the Eagle wideouts, its pretty clear that without TO a blowout would have occurred. Even if Eugene Wilson hadn’t gotten hurt, the score would have been greater than three. No matter, a win is a win is a win. That is the greatest lesson of this Pats championship run. It doesn’t matter how sexy your offense looks, or if you have a bunch of characters on your defensive line, it’s the scoreboard.
So what next as a New England sports fan? The same as any other year, bitching about the Celtics and the Red Sox. I can’t wait.
Another New Englander had a good week, as Howard Dean became the only candidate in contention for the position of chair of the Democratic National Committee. Now normally this position hasn’t been glamourous in the public sense: I could not point out outgoing chair Terry McAulffie in a police lineup. Or spell his name correctly. Dean’s status as a public figure with a compelling story (his rise from nowhere followed by his media-induced collapse: he’s the comeback kid!) will hopefully lead to the position becoming a spotlight within the press for Democractic reaction over the next four years. Lord knows the Democrats need somebody, as their current opposition leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid don’t inspire anyone. Now all they need is Bill Clinton to become Secretary General of the UN.
I think Dean is the right man for the job: he has shown he is a skilled at raising grassroots support, gaining buzz for the party, and sniping at the opposition. But since he won’t be running for anything, he’ll be immune to having to portray himself as something he isn’t and partially immune to Republican counterattacks…after all what’s the point of bashing someone who isn’t running for anything? As long as Dean can keep his hands out of elections and focus on moving the party in a focused direction, whatever that may be, I believe it’s a win for the Dems. For too long their party has been splintered without leadership or direction of any kind.
# posted by Marmaniac @ 7:29 PM 
