Wisconsin Mass

Now it's time to throw the "Hail Mary!"

Our French Allies Again?

Reports have been made that the centre-right candidate for the French presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy, has an affinity for Franco-American relations. So much so that his Socialist opponent has accused him of wishing to replace British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, as Washington's "poodle". Funny how any cooperation with America always results in accusations of toadying.

Despite being tagged as being President Bush's new "yes man", Sarkozy has long been on record as being against the war in Iraq and against the execution of Saddam Hussein. He does however take a more balanced view regarding Israel as opposed to past French administration's blind allegiance to the Arab states.

Sarkozy still has to get past his Socialist opponent but he would definitely be a bridge to strengthen French-American ties which have long been strained. I can think back even to the Reagan years when America wanted to fly over French airspace to strike Libya with a squadron of F-111 bombers. The cheese eating surrender monkeys refused, opting instead to protect their relationship with the then-leading terrorist state. Things haven't gotten any better since then.

If Sarkozy (the son of a Hungarian immigrant) gains the French presidency, the U.S. will undoubtedly take steps towards solidifying relations. The next American President, Republican or Democrat, will need to take a new approach to the French but having someone in Paris who doesn't reactively oppose every American initiative would be nice.

Uh Oh, It's Kerry Sheets

Or is it Ben Prior? Or Ben Dover? Ugh. Ben Sheets is hurt again. Injured his groin. He's fragile enough to be a Cubs starter. I really don't know how a baseball player injures his groin. If you warm up properly, you shouldn't have any trouble. Yet, Sheets always finds away to get hurt.

Ironically, Sheets got hurt on the same day that the Cubs' Mark "The Porcelain Doll" Prior was shut down for the year. Unfortunately, Sheets' injury allowed the Cubs to salvage the final game of the series against the Brewers today. He had shut them down for three innings before coming out and his no-name replacement got lit up. But Milwaukee is still in first place. Hopefully, Sheets won't miss too much time. He's still the Brewers' ace at least he would be until the next injury.

When asked about the decision to shut Sheets down after three innings, Mark Maddux, the Brewers pitching coach commented that a groin isn't something you want to mess with. Really? I spent much of my single life doing just that.

For more on Sheets' injury, click here.

Brewers 5, Cubs 4 (12 Innings)

After trailing most of the game, the Brewers rallied for 2 runs to tie the score 4-4 in the 8th and then won on a Prince Fielder home run in the 12th inning. The Cubs threatened several times after the Brewers had tied the score but some timely fielding kept the game alive until Fielder could win it.

Because closer Francisco Cordero had been used extensively over the weekend, Derrick Turnbow, came on in the bottom of the 12th for the save. After giving up a bloop single to Derrick Lee to lead off, Turnbow popped up Aramis Ramirez, struck out Jacques Jones on a pitch in the dirt and got Mark DeLaRosa to strike out looking (on a questionable outside strike). It should be noted that the umpire had been giving the outside strike all night to both sides.

So, the first place Brewers take game one of the series and continue self-proclaimed Cy Young Candidate, Carlos Zambrano's, frustrating season. Although the "Big Z" pitched well, the bullpen's inability to hold the lead stole his chance for the win. My heart breaks.

There She Is, Miss America...Hands Up!

Miss America from 1944 apprehended a burglar at gun point. Confronting the criminal as he emerged from her barn, the criminal tried to escape in his car. Unfortunately for him, she drew her revolver and while bracing herself against her walker, shot out his tires.

For the full Yahoo! News story, click here.

My Brain Is Literally Gonna Fall Out of My Head

I absolutely can't stand the way that no one apparently knows what "literally" means. It's misused in a variety of forums but the most frequent offenders tend to be sports writers and/or broadcasters. A few weeks ago during a Chicago Bulls broadcast, Johnny "Red" Kerr announced that one of the players was "literally hacked to death" during a drive to the basket. Yet no one was thrown out of the game much less arrested.

Then in a review of the pros and cons of top wide receiver prospect, Calvin Johnson, of Georgia Tech, John Murphy of Yahoo! Sports reported that Johnson "literally exploded out of the gates" during his 40 yard dash at the NFL combines. Wow. That was really not widely reported. One would think that if the best athlete in the draft "literally exploded" it would have been given a couple of seconds on SportsCenter.

I know they mean "metaphorically" (even if they don't know it). I guess it's kind of funny to think of how the "literal" version of their metaphors would play out in real life but geez you'd think that a professional communicator would figure it out at some point.

American Superheroes

Just finished reading a review of Spider-Man 3 which has been released in Japan. The review finished by complaining of the gratuitous shot of Spidey in front of an American flag representing a return of the hero from his earlier dabbling in the forces of darkness to being on the side of all things that are good and right (read: American). Oh, horrors!

The article was then tagged with hundreds of comments about the reviewer's contempt for the showing of Old Glory. The majority of commentators noted that Spider-Man is an American superhero and if the rest of the world doesn't like it, don't see the movie. I couldn't agree more. One European complainer noted that James Bond doesn't pose with the Union Jack, although a spy posing with a flag would be seemingly counter-productive. Nevertheless, he is working for a British agency ostensibly to serve "Queen and Country" (and to bang his way through the world's female population and drive nifty Aston-Martins and Jaguars).

I remember when Superman stood for truth, justice and the American way. Even as recently as the 70s and early 80s, Christopher Reeves' Superman proudly waved the Stars and Stripes. Now, for some reason, American superheroes have been forced to give up their nationalities. What is next? Captain America recast as "Captain Multi-National Force"?

A flag is supposed to instill a sense of national pride. If certain citizens of the E.U. and United Kingdom don't understand that, then that's their problem. Go watch "Hot Fuzz" or "Mr. Bean".