Really, A-Rod?  That was the best you could do?

A week ago I was ready to go to war for this guy because he is, after all, a key ingredient to my favorite team's success.  It was a "we can bash him but you can't" situation, similar to the way you may act when someone attacks a sibling.  I thought the Gammons interview was a good first step (despite the partial admission) and looked forward to his arrival at Yankee camp so he could address the media and get this story behind all of us.

That press conference was today.  But instead of complete honesty we got the same old Alex.  He qualified his mistake, danced around the tough questions, gave ridiculous implications about how this may have been avoided had he gone to college instead of heading to major league baseball right out of high school, and blew his best chance to regain his credibility and put the steroid scandal behind him.

I wanted so much more from this press conference.  Not because my feelings are hurt or because I think he owes me, as a true fan of this game, an apology.  I wanted the whole truth for what it means for my team.  I wanted the truth so we can get on with the baseball.  But I did not get what I wanted. I got the same old Alex.

Now the story lives on because there is no way these hysterical writers are going to accept these answers as the end of it.   And I can't say I blame them.  Not after today.

Because I could probably write 10,000 words on the subject and all of its peripheral components, I've decided instead to just list some thoughts I've had over the past 24 hours regarding the A-Rod steroid admission and its coverage.

Rooting for the Yankees and Cowboys is like rooting for Ringland Brothers.  Its a traveling circus with both of these teams.  And I'm starting to get tired.

I am sick that we have to talk about steroids again.  Aside from Brett Favre's annual decision whether or not to keep playing football, there is no sports story that I care about less than steroids.

A-Rod is a complete moron for testing positive in the first place.  He knew tests were coming and still did not cycle off the drugs.  That is just stupid.

It is absolutely appalling that the Players Union let this happen.  They should be sued for this oversight.

Why do we consider steroid use in baseball an almost treasonous act?  These guys did not join Al Qaeda, they just tried to get better at sports using drugs.  And why does the NFL get a complete and total pass on their players' steroid use?  The Chargers Shaun Merriman was caught for steroids last year and the same writers who crucify baseball players voted him third for the Defensive Player of the Year.  Lets see if we can find a bigger double standard in sports.

I love how the $18 million man, Commish Bud Selig, has escaped criticism for his "oversight" during this tainted era.

If the political media had been as ravenous in questionning the bullshit we were fed by President Bush six years ago as the sports media has been about steroids, maybe we wouldn't have gotten into this pointless endeavor in Iraq.  Good thing we have our priorities straight in the United States.

I heard numerous people on the radio knock A-Rod for the outfit he had on during the Gammons interview.  What should he have worn, sweats and a ripped t-shirt?

These self-righteous reporters who demand an apology, get it, then do nothing but say how it is insufficient make me want to pull my hair out.  If you aren't going to accept the apology why were you screaming for it?!?  Do you want to write it yourself?  By the way, where were you all when these guys were turning themselves into WWE characters?  Oh yeah, sitting at their lockers in awe of the numbers they were putting up.  Maybe they wouldn't  be so hard on these guys if their collective conscience wasn't so dirty.

Now its the degree of the apology that matters to the writers.  We need to know what specific steroids he took and when.  Why does this matter?  Why?  The media has already made up their minds about this so does it matter if he was on a monthly or weekly cycle?  He did it once, he did it.  His numbers will never be looked at the same.  That's good enough for me.  These writers are like a wife whose husband cheated on her and after he admits it she's more concerned with who the other woman was rather than the fact her husband cheated in the first place.

Anyone who speaks definitively about A-Rod's legacy while he still has almost a decade to play is silly.  We just can't say now.  It may be better, it may be worse.  Drop it at this point.

I have heard so much that because he already lied we can't believe anything that he says, including that he has been clean since coming to New York.  The negative tests aren't enough?  Not for a writer from the Chicago Tribune who said that the absence of positive tests are not enough to believe he is clean.  My God, what is going to satisfy these people?

FOX has a new show called Lie To Me, starring Tim Roth (Wed 9:00).  Essentially he is a human lie detector who has mastered the art of determining if a person is lying by examining their facial expressions while being questioned.  Roth's character is based on a real person.  Today on the Max Kellerman radio show, he had as a guest this gentleman's protege.  She had some very interesting insights into what A-Rod really was saying.  But most important she said that without question she believes he is telling the truth about quitting steroids before coming to New York.  Take it for what its worth, which is a lot to me.

A-Rod had ample opportunity to throw former teammates, MLB, and especially the Players Union under the bus.  He didn't.  In fact at one point he clearly said this is no one else's fault, no one else is to blame for his mistake.  How many times have writers begged to hear this?  Now they do and its still not good enough.  Unreal.

We have heard a lot about how fragile A-Rod is and how can he handle such a monster cloud over him.  And there will be a lot more questions to answer, for sure.  But when all is said and done I think he is in for a monster year.

For his sake and the Yankees, he better be.

Those are the two things needed to create a great dish; fresh, seasonal ingredients and good, learned or natural technique.  I've come to the conclusion that a good dish can be created with one or the other.  Good ingredients often don't need technique to extract the inherent flavor.  Great technique can often turn sub-par ingredients into fairly good tastes for the pallet and the tummy.

These ideas were reinforced by a book I'm currently reading: Think Like A Chef by Tom Colicchio.  Colicchio is a world renowned Chef, owner of NY's Gramercy Tavern and Craft, and head judge of the series Top Chef, which I've just become a fan of in recent weeks.  In this book, Colicchio breaks down method and technique in a way that gets you thinking about the what is done to the food when its being cooked. It allows the reader to ignore the traditional recipe format to cooking; 3 lbs of meat or vegetables, 1 cup of this, 2 teaspoons of that, etc.

To cook this way, however, you need to have a basic understanding of techniques and also access to fairly good ingredients.  For example, there is no need to mask the flavor of meat with a heavy sauce when you braise a good cut of steak.  What I like most about the book is the idea that once techniques are understood and mastered, I could just walk through the supermarket, making a note of what is fresh, and "create" a recipe right then and there based off what I find.  So if asparagus is looking fresh, its mostly going to be spring, and so green onions and fresh wild mushrooms will be in season and there is probably about a dozen ways to put those together.

Anyway, I've fallen in love with the technique of braising. This includes a combination of wet and dry heat cooking. Usually this means searing the meat quickly to lock in the juices, then cooking at a low simmer in oven-proof skillet or dutch oven with just enough braising liquid to run up the half the side of the meat. The idea is to create a juicy cut of meat or fish with a nice caramelized outside.

The following recipe, or more pointedly "technique," is mostly from Think Like A Chef. I'd recommend the book (and the TV series) to anyone in a heartbeat. But I took Colicchio's advice to heart and came up with a combination of recipes and ingredients that I think worked well together. I have lots to learn though, and I really hope to try this recipe again with a different starch and slightly modifying my braising technique. I took some liberties with this recipe. For example, it calls for "home made" brown chicken stock which I'm sure would have made the final result even better. Make sure to use a pan large enough to fit all of the ribs in one layer. Also definitely use bone in short ribs. I used a combination of boneless short ribs and small rack of baby back ribs, and the former would have helped with the bone and the latter was just too fatty.

Braised Short Ribs with Couscous Over Arugula with Warm "Quick Braised" Artichoke Hearts and Lemon-artichoke Vinaigrette

Cooking the ribs:

1. Heat oven to 350.  Heat oil in a large deep oven-proof pan until it shimmers. Salt and pepper ribs then brown all sides of the ribs in the pan. About 20 minutes.

2. Remove the ribs, then add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and 2 sprigs of thyme, salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes until vegetables soften, then add the peppers. (If using canned peppers, add them in step 5.) Continue cooking until the vegetables are browned and soft, 5 to 10 minutes more.

3. Return the ribs to the pan, then add the vinegar and enough stock to bring the braising liquid up the sides of the ribs, but not over. Add the tarragon and the rest of the thyme and bring to a simmer. Transfer dish to oven and cook for 1 hour at a gentle simmer. (I messed around with the temp a little but didn't really need to in the end.)  Turn the ribs and continue cooking for 1.5 hours more until meat is tender and falls off the bone.

4. Cook the couscous according to package directions.

5. Transfer the ribs and vegetables to a plate, bring the pan back onto the stove and simmer to skim off the fat. Reduce the liquid slightly (to add some body) then return the vegetables and ribs to the pan for just long enough to reheat the ribs.

Making the salad:

1. Heat small skillet over medium high heat.  Melt butter until it slides easily around the pan. Add artichoke hearts to the pan and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

2. Add white wine vinegar and a bit of chicken stock to the pan to slightly cover the artichokes. Simmer until juices reduce by half, about 5 minutes. Set aside and allow juice to cool slightly. Transfer juice and half of artichoke hearts to blender, food processor, or magic bullet.  Add lemon juice and blend to emulsify. Add oil a little at a time to mix thoroughly.

3. Arrange arugula in middle of plate and surround with shaved parmesan and remaining artichoke hearts. Top arugula with 2 ribs and top ribs with topping of cooked chopped vegetables. Add couscous on the side and serve.

61 points is nice, but a triple double is better.  And that is just another piece of evidence as to why King James trumps Kobe.

Look, the performance Kobe put on at Madison Square Garden on Monday night was just awesome.  61 points will do that.  But LeBron's line last night, also at The Mecca, of 52 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds blows the 61 away.  There have been a lot of great scorers in the NBA but there have not been a lot of guys who have the potential of putting up a Triple on any given night.  And that is exactly where we are with LeBron right now.  His January was the best statisical month since Larry Legend in 1987.  That's good company.

Kobe is as gifted a scorer as we have seen since Michael graced the courts of the League.  And if I had one shot to win a game it would not take me one second to pick Kobias over LBJ.  But if you're looking at a player's entire game there is nothing anyone could do to convince me that they would rather have Bryant than James.  It is just that simple.

So while the Knicks faithful may have sereneded Kobe with chants of MVP on Monday, their thoughts last night were of a day when King James' court will be at West 31st and 8th.

Coming summer 2010.

Looks like Yankees jersey #6 will be available, after all.

Before this weekend I held the view that sometime in the next decade, after Derek Jeter and Joe Torre retire from baseball, all Yankee numbers from 1-10 would be retired.  That was before I knew of Joe Torre's new book, The Yankee Years, co-written with Tom Verducci.

The excerpts are all the rage in New York this week, of course.  Without a New York team in the Super Bowl, the Knicks fighting for respectability, and spring training weeks away, nothing gets more play than Yankee controversy.  Knocks on A-Rod (aka A-Fraud), the Steinbrenners, and GM Brian Cashman from a well respected figure will do that in the Big Apple.

The truth is, well, I don't know what the truth is because I have not yet read the book.  And I am going to hold off on judgment until I do.  But in all honestly, is anyone surprised by what we have heard?  Joe didn't like A-Rod.  Does anyone?  Joe thought the Steinbrenner's contract offer was insulting.  He said exactly that shortly after parting ways with the Yankees.  Joe felt betrayed by Brian Cashman when the GM did not speak up in his defense during the afore-mentioned contract negotiations.  Wouldn't you?

One of Torre's greatest skills during his time with the Yankees was the way he handled the New York media.  Considering the amount of coverage his new book has gotten in New York over the past two days, it looks like he still knows how.

Hall of Fame women's basketball coach, Kay Yow, passed away on Saturday after a two decade long battle with breast cancer.

After working her way up through the high school and lower college ranks, Yow most famously led the North Carolina State women's team for 34 years.  It was there that she would reach iconic status, leading the Wolfpack to four ACC championships and 20 NCAA tournaments, including the 1998 Final Four.  She was a member of the 700 Club, amassing a career record of 737-344 over 38 years, and led the olympic team to a gold medal in the 1988 games.

Even with that resume on the court, Yow was most famous for her very public and even more courageous battle with cancer.  And though she ultimately lost that battle, her legacy will forever remain in tact.  In 2007, Yow established the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund in partnership with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, named after her colleague at North Carolina State, Jim Valvano.  Cancer may have won its battle with these two coaches, but they will continue to fight, even in death.

Through this foundation, Kay Yow and Jim Valvano will leave their mark on far more than college basketball.

Tonight I'm going to talk about a guy who should get into the Baseball Hall of Fame rather than a guy who shouldn't.  Because this guy just went out and played and put up really, really good numbers.  And no one thinks he needed drugs to do so.

Jeff Kent called it quits today after a 17-year career.  Kent was surly and fairly aloof and was never someone whose teammates loved him.  But he played hard and he played well and an examination of his career numbers show that he should have the stage in Cooperstown on some future summer day.

Too many writers make selection to the Hall a popularity contest and that needs to stop.  It took fifteen years for Jim Rice to finally make it because he was no friend of the media during his day despite the fact that he should have been selected over a decade ago.  Whoever had a problem with Kent during his career, and that may be more than a few, needs to get over it in the next five years so they can vote for him when he becomes eligible.

On name alone he may not seem like such a sure thing, but consider these facts.  No second baseman in history hit more home runs.  Only Rogers Hornsby has more career RBIs for a second baseman.  And baseballreference.com lists among comparable playersYogi Berra, Johnny Bench, Ryne Sandberg, Jim Rice, and Carlton Risk.  Look closely and you will see that Kent's are better in most important categories than almost everyone on the list.  That is hall of fame company.

I just hope for Kent's sake that the sometimes senseless, vindictive baseball voters agree.

If you would, let me add to what my colleague and friend Whoj said yesterday.  5 of us started this site with large, and fairly naive, post-college aspirations of changing the world and emerging from the early 21st Century blog craze with something special. It didn't happen (we just weren't that good) and the reelection of our 43rd President added cynicism to our young minds. 6 years later this site has become a hobby for most of us. But the passion for politics still exists deep in our hearts, because we recognize the impact that governments have on people's lives.

I don't think I'd ever say "President Barak Hussein Obama" in my lifetime. There will be great literature written about this period in our lives. I'm certain it won't simply be written about the fact that an African American with a Muslim name became President of the United States. It will also be about the next 4, and hopefully 8, years and the great things we accomplished as a nation. I couldn't be more happier to be a part of it.

Its been a long wait but The Day is almost here.

January 20, 2009 seemed so far away for so long that I don't know if I've properly acknowledged that its only four hours away.  But after all of the waiting, the frustration, the blood-boiling rage, its finally over.  George W. Bush's historically disasterous presidency is finally over.

I imagine this is how prisoners feel when they are in jail.  Because quite frankly, that is how I felt for most of this presidency.  Watching as he bungled one thing after another, how he force-fed this nation a far right wing agenda, how he in so many ways disgraced the Office of the President, it was as helpless as I have ever felt.  But now that is all over.

Over the past few months, as his approval ratings remained at all-time lows, I sometimes began to feel sorry for President Bush.  Then I remember.  I remember the ideology.  The arrogance.  The complete lack of far-sighted thinking that defined this man and his presidency.  And that is when I stop feeling sorry for him and start again to feel the joy of knowing that the United States will no longer be subject to such leadership.

Tomorrow it will all be different.  Tomorrow we will start anew.

If you are like me, you probably gained about 5-10 pounds this past month. I know its cliche, but seriously, I need to go on a diet. The remedy: Salads! The South Beach diet used to be my recipe for success. I lost about 30 pounds on it. During that time, I got to know many different recipes for salads. This weeks recipe comes courtousy of this month's Cooking Light magazine.

Ranch Steak Brushetta Salad (For Two)

• 1 14-16oz Sirloin Steak
• 1T Fresh Ground Pepper
• 2T Ground Coffee
• 1.5T Ground Cumin
• 1.5T Ancho Chili Powder
• 4T Ranch Dressing
• 1.5T Prepared Horseradish
• 1 Chopped Shallot
• 1/4 cup Chopped Basil
• Handful of Chopped Roasted Red Pepper (Bottled or Freshly Made)
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon
• 10 Cherry Tomatos Halved
• 3 Cups Arugula
• 4 Slices of Toasted French Bread

1. Preheat outdoor grille to 400 degress.

2. Prepare Steak. Mix ingredients from pepper through chili powder above, then rub against outside of steak, packing in as much spice as possible. Let stand for 10 minutes.

3. For the salad dressing, mix 4T Ranch Dressing with 1.5T prepared Horseradish. Chill for 10 minutes.

4. Cook steak for 5-7 minutes per side depending upon thickness. Ours were well over an inch thick and so needed more time to cook.

5. Combine ingredients from shallots to tomatoes in a mixing bowl and toss well.

6. Arrange 1.5 cups of arugula on each plate and top each with 2 slices of toast. Cover toast with tomato mixture. Cut steak diagonally across the grain in thin slices. Divide steak evenly between 2 plates. Drizzle dressing over steak and serve immediately.

Next up: Cara and I each got soup recipe books for the long, cold winter. Can't wait to try one.

Congratulations to Tony Dungy for leaving his sport the way so few players and coaches do- on his own terms.

Dungy walked away from the game yesterday, at 53 years old.  Walked away from a team that won 12 games, walked away from its future Hall of Fame Quarterback  But there is no sense of desertion.  Not with this man. He has earned this right.  Through his efforts on the sideline and in the communities of Tampa and Indianapolis, he has earned this right.

His loss will not be felt by the Colts alone; the entire NFL is a lesser place because Tony Dungy is no longer a part of it.  At a time in which we spend so much energy discussing jerks like TO, Pacman Jones, Plaxico Burress, and Mike Vick, the league needs more Tony Dungys to talk about, not less.

Now he will give more time to his family and the social work that is his other passion in life.  And if that means he gives more time as a role model to young men, men who badly need such an influence, then Dungy will continue to do what he has always done - make people around him better.

Lets first get one thing straight - the Dallas Cowboys dumping of cornerback Pacman Jones on Wednesday has nothing to do with a sudden turn towards morality.  It has a lot more to do with cutting ties with an overhyped, underperforming criminal who yet again is accused of being the central figure in a nightclub shooting.

If only he were so prolific in the defensive backfield or returning kicks.

Nevertheless, the Thug of Thugs is gone.  And despite Jerry Jones' less than moralistic reasons for doing so, it was the right move.  Pacman brought nothing to the Cowboys besides distraction and disappointment.  I should admit that despite my initial reservations to Jones' acqusition, I did talk myself into the move when the peramaters of the deal were disclosed.  It was low risk, high reward for the Cowboys.  I, and all those who knew better deep down, should have trusted our gut instincts.

We were all fooled by Jones' potential; the potential that led the Titans to use the sixth overall pick on him back in 2005.  Nevermind that he had sat out a full year for behavioral issues and was going to come back a step slower.  We forgot a lesson that many teams have learned over the years- that just because someone was picked at number six does not mean they will produce as a number six pick should.

So Jones came into a combustible locker room and while he alone cannot be blamed for its implosion, I find it hard to believe he helped it in any way.  The experiment failed and now it is over.  Thankfully.

But Jerry Jones would be remiss if he did not continue the purging of the malcontents.  Next up should be Tank Johnson.  Nothing I read during the course of the past year suggests Johnson did anything to put him back on Roger Goodell's blacklist.  But nothing I saw suggests Johnson is anything but another overhyped bust who delivered more to the Dallas writers than to his Dallas teammates.  As the Dallas Morning News' Jean-Jacques Taylor noted, "few things are worse than a average player who thinks he's an All-Pro."  The Tank is a free agent and Jones and Co. would be wise to point him to the EXIT sign.

The housecleaning should continue with none other than TO.  He's 35 years old, unhappy, and not the player he was just last year.  He has already begun the sabotage routine he made famous in San Francisco and Philadelphia, where he also played with All-Pro Quarterbacks.  Once TO starts this nonsense it does not stop, it only gets worse.  Jerry Jones needs to suck it up, take the salary cap hit (one that our fearless owner is dramatically overstating, by the way), and release Owens now so this team can try and move on.  The Cowboys got three years out of Owens, more than I think most people would have believed when he was signed back in March 2006.  Its time to cut ties before this lunatic really blows things up next year.  And while we're at it, Jones should send TO's buddy, Slickhands Crayton, out the door too.

Jerry Jones did not all of a sudden find religion.  He dumped Adam Jones because he is a lousy football player and a much worse human being.  But regardless of his motives, it was the right move.  He needs to continue cleaning house.  That is the only way this Cowboys team will ever reach its potential and erase the most embarassing and disappointing season in franchise history.

If he does not, expect an encore performance from the Cowboys in 2009.

As if we needed another reason to hate the BCS.

The 2009 song sounds quite a bit like 2007 and even more like 2005.  For the second time in five years the Utah Utes will finish the college football season undefeated.  This time they will be the only team who can make such a claim.  And there is no doubt that their impressive 28-17 win over Alabama in the Sugal Bowl is very satisfying for the program and the University.

But the shame of the situation is that it has to end here for the Utes.  There will be no chance for 14-0.  No chance to show another national power that they are the real deal and most certainly belong on the same field.  No chance to hold that glass football high and call themselves Champion.

As college football fans, this is our fate.  This is the tyranny of the BCS- a system that lets only the rich and powerful in the door.  Oh sure sometimes they let the little guy in, like Utah this year, and Hawaii, Boise State, and Utah in the past.  But they don't really let them in.  They give Utah a consolation prize and tell them that they are lucky to get even that.  That as second class citizens of college football they should be happy with a seat at the table.  And nothing more.

The structure of the BCS is such that a team like Utah can simply never win the whole thing.  Coming from a non-BCS conference like the Mountain West (which, ironically, was undoubtedly a better conference than the Pac-10, ACC, Big East, and arguably the Big Ten this year), the Utes need an at-large selection to be selected to a BCS game and at-large bids rarely, if ever, will be chosen for the championship game.

As has been shouted so many times, a small tournament would put this argument to bed forever.  But its just not in the cards.  Not when so much of the decision-making power lies in the hands of those who benefit from the current system.  Make no mistake about it, its about money.  Money that the BCS schools divy up amongst themselves.  A big surprise, the rich get richer and perpetuate their power at the expense of those who just want it to be fair.

So Utah settles for a Bowl that doesn't really mean anything.  And when they beatdown a media darling and former #1 like Alabama, in a de facto home game for the Tide, people still tell them that despite beating everyone who stood in their way, fourth is the best they can do.  Because even though we don't get to see so on the field, Utah is simply not better than USC, Oklahoma, and Florida.  And probably Texas, too.

I am not going to tell you that Utah would beat any of those teams.  But at 13-0, shouldn't they at least have the chance?

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season and spending quality time with family.  I will be back after the holidays to discuss the MLB Hot Stove (Merry Christmas, Yankee fans!), NFL playoffs, the seemingly unstoppable Boston Celtics, and whatever else may be happening in the world of sports.

Until then, I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

OK, let me first make clear that the title of this post is a shout-out to the classic Seinfeld episode with guest star Kathy Griffin.  Despite Terrell Owens' best attempts at convincing the nation of this, I do not believe that Ed Werder is actually the devil.

T.O. can make all the claims in the world that last week's fiasco was a creation of the media.  He can literally talk about it until he is blue in the face.  No one believes it.  Any fan of the NFL who does believe it must have a short memory.  When you have burned two teams in the past and all reports suggest that you are in the process of trying to pull the same stunt with your third, people tend to not give you the benefit of the doubt.

Ed Werder has a reputation as a distinguished reporter.  Owens' gutless attempt at demonizing the messenger shows, once again, the type of self-obsessed, delusion man that he is.  I can only hope that this locker room cancer does not destroy the Cowboys season before it has a chance to resolve itself of its own accord.

With his track record, I'm not holding my breath.

The American Auto Industry is in trouble. They are currently asking the American people, via Congress, for what they term as "bridge loans," and for what others would term as "bailouts," in order to weather the current financial crisis and come out stable and healthy on the back end. What they seem to have become, however, is a public whipping post for both anyone concerned of their own political ambitions and anyone whose goal is union busting.

Congress asked the CEOs of the Big 3 to appear before Congress to outline their plans for this money. They were ridiculed, both understandibly, but also simply as a distraction, for taking private jets and for not having any concrete plans. So they came back, basically on their knees, driving their fuel efficient cars from their current lineup and presented more detailed plans. Click here for a good roundup of their individual plans.

American manufacturers are indeed in trouble.  They don't have enough cash on hand to pay out current liabilities through the next few months. Sales have decreased in light of the recession and sales forecasts for next year are dwindling. American manufacturers on the whole have a higher operating budget then their foreign counterparts and it is unquestionable that some restructuring will need to begin in order to be competitive in the next decade. But those costs are mostly borne from legacy decisions as the manufacturers have renegotiated current and future obligations with the UAW. Maybe it make sense for a merger so the Big 3 becomes the Big 2. Restructuring will certainly need to happen to lower costs and remove dealer networks which are simply too large.

Some would tell you that Detriot hasn't built a good, solid competitive car in decades. But this just isn't true. I attended the New England Auto Show this weekend and in my personal opinion the current and 2010 lineup from both Ford and GM is both impressive and competitive.  The Chevy Malibu, a bread and butter mid size sedan that competes with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord in the largest segment in the U.S, just topped JD Power's Initial Quality Study. The Ford Fusion also topped that list and the 2010 model looks and feels just that much better.  Both GM and Ford already have hybrid versions of their mid-size vehicles.  Ford also plans to bring back the fuel efficient Fiesta to the states as part of its One Ford strategy which brings popular European models to the states.

What I find most appalling about the groveling is that when the financial industry needed a true bailout, the CEOs of these companies weren't required to appear before Congress and be belittled by members of Congress. Instead, they had explicit support from the federal government itself in the form of Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson, who himself partially contributed to this mess as CEO of Goldman Sachs. If the current Treasury Secretary was a former CEO of an automotive company, don't you think that person would have appeared before Congress in support of these bridge loans?

The American Automotive Industry, both directly and indirectly through suppliers, school systems, retail and commercial outlets, employs millions of Americans. In a time of recession when already a million people have lost their jobs this year, it would be insane not ensure the industry's current and long term survival.

It was thirteen years ago on this very night that my life changed forever, for the better.  On December 4, 1995 at the University of Massachusetts Mullins Center I went to my first Phish concert.  Few, if any, experiences in my life have been as surreal and profound as that night in Amherst.

I suppose it is a very long time, thirteen years.  Which makes it truly amazing that as I listened to the show at my desk today I could clearly picture everything about the show in my mind's eye.  The stage, the arena, where each of my friends stood.  And of course the frenzied "lot scene."  But what is most amazing of all is how I could remember exact moments from the music; certain notes from each of the band members.  Sure that could be a result of having listened to this show about 500 times since that night but I like to think it is the magic of my first show that helps me remember so clearly.

Thirteen years later it still seems like yesterday.

You know how sometimes in a really nice neighborhood there is this crappy looking house that has no business among its neighbors?  You know how this house sort of devalues the entire group?  Well, that is what prior American League MVPs must be feeling today with the announcement of the newest winner, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

I've heard the arguments and I know the stats.  And I'm not saying he didn't have a good year.  But an MVP year?  Come on.  You can make a strong case that he was not even the MVP of his own team (teammate Kevin Youkilis finished third in the voting).  Was Pedroia really the catalyst for this team?  Does anyone really believe that the Sox would not have been playing the Rays in the ALCS had Pedroia put up normal second base numbers?  These are fair questions, and when you can legitimately ask these kinds of questions about a player than they are simply not the most valuable in the league.  I have even had two different Sox fans tell me that as they watched Pedroia this season there was nothing that suggested he was the most valuable player on the Sox, nevermind the entire American League.

The bottom line is there was no clear cut MVP in the American League for 2008 so in that regard I can forgive the voters.  But I can't forgive them for the random way they seem to choose this award.  Two years ago Derek Jeter hit seventeen points higher than Pedroia did this year, had three more hits, drove in fourteen more runs, scored the same amount of runs, stole fourteen more bases, and only hit three fewer home runs but Jeter was runner-up to (this year's runner-up) Justin Morneau of Minnesota.  The reason many writers gave was that the sexiness of the long ball always tips the votes towards a power hitter.  Guess that didn't matter too much two years later.

So now I have to live in a world where Dustin Pedroia is an MVP.  But I don't have to like it.