politics: gail collins's new niche

I think Gail Collins might have a new niche in the sphere of political commentary: lambasting loony politicians. Her spot on analysis of the Mark Sanford situation is here. Althougth, she should have added Rick Perry to the loony governor list.

football: nicknames

So why can't the USA have a cool nickname like Bafana Bafana or the Socceroos. UMNT just doesn't have a single ounce of coolness to it.

And yes, I realize three football posts in one day from somone who has not blogged in over year is both obsessive and overload.

football: the political argument

Apparently even a soccer match, even an important one, cannot occur without the attendant political commentary from the right and the left. Gary Schmidt's argument that Americans don't follow football seems superious at best. I know he's streching for that old canard that because the socialist nations in Europe and Latin America play soccer, Americans need to abhor the sport, but his point about football not being democratic because it allows dogged teams to prevent other, presumably better teams from scoring is just plain odd. I'll admit the USA didn't attack anywhere near as much as Spain did, but they just plain out defended them.

football: tim howard

It's no secret that part of the reason I watch international football has markedly less to do with national pride and more to do with, well, the cuteness of the players. I've had a soft spot for footballers ever since that 8 am calculus class with half of my undergraduate soccer team. So, it's not suprising that I find Tim Howard attractive.

I find the whole USMNT dropped dead gorgeous, however, when they manage to pull off wins like they did against Spain yesterday in Bloemfontein, South Africa. (Side bar: I'm really enjoying saying the word Bloemfontein for unknown reasons.) It was remarkable. They shouldn't have won. They had just slinked their way into the semi-finals. As much as I love the USMNT, they weren't the best team on the field last night. They didn't control the ball, they didn't have the finesse of Spain, or the speed. But, none of that mattered. They held the line. The whole team held the line, diving in front of balls, players, and everything else. Tim Howard was a big part of that.

sanford

When I thought Mark Sanford's disappearance was, well, just a guy ducking out of being governor for a week, it was amusing. It was fun to speculate on just what took this guy to Argentina and how he would go about ditching his security detail. Now that I know it was about an affair, it's gone from being a funny story about politicians run amok to being sordid in the worst possible way. I can't help but feel sorry for all involved and angry about a culture that requires repentant confessions from public figures without really listening to them. Gail Collins had a great column on this when Eliot Spitzer made his confession last summer, and thank you Sanford for not putting your wife on camera with you to share in your public humiliation. Sanford's political career is probably over, and I kind of miss the blase guy I had in my head who said "see you suckahs later" and hopped on a plane to Buenos Aires.