Former Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro resigned from Hillary Clinton's campaign Wednesday, one day after making a racially insensitive comment about Barack Obama.  In truly moronic form, the first female ever to appear on a Presidential ticket (with Walter Mondale in 1984) said of Obama, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” 

She then went on to say that it was not a statement of racism, but a statement of fact.  Really?  That is a fact?  Let's see what Merriam-Webster has to say about that:

It has been the mecca of baseball for over 75 years.  It has hosted 37 World Series and called 26 of its teams World Champions.  Without question, Yankee Stadium is baseball's holiest cathedral.  So when news broke this week that the final sporting event in this legendary baseball stadium will be a hockey game, I nearly became sick.

With all due respect to the New York Rangers and the NHL, this may be the worst idea I have ever heard.  I love the idea of outdoor hockey and really enjoyed the New Year's Day game in Buffalo this year.  I understand that the Rangers are New York's hockey team and despite the recent drop in popularity of the sport as a whole, they have a great tradition in the city.  But you just cannot have the last game in Yankee Stadium be anything other than a Yankee game.

That the Yankee front office seems to be just fine with this idea makes me angry.  I would be much more supportive of the first game in the new stadium being a hockey game.  Eight decades of baseball history is going to end with hockey?  Its just not right.    And I have to believe that other teams would feel the same way about their stadiums. 

Would the Red Sox be okay with the Bruins playing the last game at Fenway?  Would the Cowboys be okay with the Stars closing out Texas Stadium?  How about the Blackhawks shutting down Wrigley?  These ideas seem crazy, no?  So why should it be any different in the Bronx?

Thirty-seven World Series.  Twenty-six champions.  Babe Ruth.  Lou Gehrig.  Joe DiMaggio.  Mickey Mantle.  Yogi Berra.  Whitey Ford.  Reggie Jackson.  Ron Guidry.  Don Mattingly.  Mariano Rivera.  Derek Jeter.  Henrik Lundqvist?  Jaromir Jagr? 

Yankee Stadium is the mecca of baseball and the home of its most storied franchise.  Its final act should be a Yankee baseball game, not a Rangers' hockey game.  Its as simple as that.

Wow.  I mean, this guy is worse than Kerry!

By the way, this election season, I'm starting movement to remove "flip-flop" from the American political discourse. The term makes no sense in relation to a politician's positions because either the pol flips or flops the positions, not both. 360 degrees gets you back to where you started. These are flip-flops, a perfectly good means of transportation, and using them for another purpose only sullies their name. Really, who doesn't love "thong sandals?"

So I'm calling for everyone to start using U-Turn instead. It has actual political roots that date back more than 4 years and the British use it and we all know everything the British do is cool.

McCain is also in my opinion a "bargain," but we'll get to that once the general election starts heating up.

He was oftentimes belligerent towards referees, school administration, and his players.  He employed intimidation as his key tool in getting what he wanted from each of those groups.  He threw a chair across the court during a game.  He sometimes embarrassed his school and himself with his verbal transgressions.  But over four decades as the head basketball coach at Indiana University, Bobby Knight never broke NCAA rules.  Ever.  Well, he never broke recruiting or eligibility rules, anyway.

It is worth mentioning that neither did his immediate successor, Mike Davis.  Davis was fired after the 2005 season when it became apparent that he was not going to be able to recruit the caliber of players Indiana needs to compete for Big Ten and NCAA championships.  And that brings us to the current head coach, Kelvin Sampson.

Let me first say that as a Hoosier fan, I was very excited when Sampson was hired.  His resume seemed to fit the mold of an "up and coming" coach that was ready to make his mark with a top-level  program.  Most recently before coming to Indiana Sampson turned Oklahoma, an undeniable football school first and foremost, into a legitimate Big 12 basketball contender.  He brought them to the 2002 Final Four where he was, ironically enough, knocked out by Mike Davis and Indiana.  Nevertheless, it looked like a very good hire and hope was high at IU for 2006 and beyond.

But Sampson brought some baggage to Bloomington.  While still at Oklahoma he was reprimanded by the NCAA and put on probation for making illegal phone calls to recruits (turns out it was well over 500 calls- ouch).  It wasn't exactly the scandal of the century but Sampson had clearly violated NCAA rules and he was appropriately punished.  Indiana was well aware of this when they hired Sampson and made it very clear that repeat violations would not be looked upon favorably.  Obviously Sampson assured the University that this behavior was behind him and would not happen again.

Oh the songs that liars sing.

Indiana had a nice first season under Sampson, making the NCAA tournament and losing a hard-fought battle to eventual Final Four representative, UCLA.  Fast forward to October 2007.  The University revealed that Sampson had participated in three-way phone calls with recruits; calls that violated NCAA rules and obviously the terms of his probation.  Sampson claims he did not knowingly participate in the illegal calls and former assistant coach Steve Senderoff, who has since resigned as a result of this incident, states that he did not advise Sampson of the nature of the call (forgive me if I have a hard time believing this).  As a result, the school made Sampson forfeit a $500,000 raise and took away a scholarship.

Now the stakes have been raised.  The NCAA is claiming that Sampson provided "false or misleading" information to investigators.  Sampson has vehemently denied intentionally misleading the NCAA and in a statement given last night said "The allegations that I knowingly acted contrary to the sanctions that occurred while I was at Oklahoma are not true.  I have never intentionally provided false or misleading information to the NCAA. I intend to work within the NCAA process on this matter, and I look forward to my opportunity to do so."  He would not answer any further questions, citing the NCAA's June hearing on the matter.

I am a firm believer in due process and I am not going to call for Kelvin Sampson's head until all of the facts are clear.  I will wait for the NCAA to complete their investigation and find answers to all of the questions they have.  However, at best this is a major distraction at the worst possible time for the team.  For the first time in six years Indiana has a team that can legitimately go deep into March.  They are tied for second in the Big Ten with only two losses and are 20-4 overall.  And they are in the midst of playing their three biggest games of the year- last night against #14 Wisconsin, which they lost, Saturday against #9 Michigan State, and next Tuesday against the Big Ten leaders, #23 Purdue.  This team needs to be focused on basketball, not their coach's conduct.  

At worst this is a disgrace to a program that has conducted itself with the utmost integrity since their last major NCAA violations in 1960.  If it turns out that Sampson not only misled investigators about his conduct while at Oklahoma, but also committed the same violations multiple times at Indiana, then the choice is quite clear.  He must be fired.  Serial violations of NCAA rules simply cannot be tolerated.  And if the University decides it has to fire Sampson sooner than later then that is a decision I am prepared to accept.

It's a shame because he is a hell of a basketball coach and kids obviously want to play for him.  But that is not good enough.  Indiana University is a basketball institution, but its an institution of higher education above all.  And as such it has to value honor and integrity more than NCAA tournament wins.  As a fan I want to win- badly.  But not at the expense of the program and the school's integrity.  

You can say what you want about Bob Knight, and as much as I hate to admit it, a lot of the bad stuff you'd say is true.  But even when he screamed and swore and berated referees and players, he never did this.  He never put his school in the position they're in now.

Waiting for the NCAA hammer to come down.  And come down hard.

I have never been so happy to be wrong.

Hours before Super Bowl XLII kicked off in Glendale, AZ, I predicted in this space that the Patriots would have no problem beating the Giants. In fact, I said they would do so 38-20. And that was without mentioning that I thought the Giants would add a garbage-time touchdown to get to 20 points. I guess they showed me.

But even as a seasoned, full-fledged Giants hater, I cannot be more appreciative of what they accomplished Sunday night. Sure I'm already sick of Michael Strahan's gap and I can certainly do without a vindicated, reenergized Mercury Morris blabbing about his '72 Dolphins, but it's a small price to pay.

It's a small price to pay to NOT have to listen to all of the pundits gush over these Patriots and tell me for the rest of my life that they are the greatest team ever. Because as impressive as 18-0 was, it doesn't mean a damn thing now. In fact it may even be a source of entertainment as I look back at this team and remember that they couldn't seal the deal. The only "greatest" tag you can place on this Patriots team is that they may be the "greatest team to not win the championship." I like the sound of that much better.

Its not only the fact that this insufferable team and their insufferable fans will have to live with this disappointment their entire lives, but it's the way that it happened. Watching Pretty Boy Tom get knocked around the field like an overmatched high schooler made me so happy I almost forgot I was watching the game with a 102 degree fever and the worst sinus infection of my life.

To watch Tedi Bruschi and Junior Seau embrace after the Patriots went ahead 14-10 like they knew the game was over, only to let up the game-winning drive minutes later may have been ever sweeter. But the icing on the cake was watching the classless, "genius" coach leave the field before the game was over because he is quite simply the biggest baby and worst sportsman in the entire world. He sure didn't have a problem waiting until 0:00 was on the clock when he was passing with 35 point leads in the 4^th quarter and running up scores during the regular season.

So thank you to the New York Giants. Thank you for sparing the sports world the agony of listening to 19-0 in all of the forms that it would have come. Thank you for knocking the smugness out of a team and its fans who were in abundant supply. Thank you for helping people remember that Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana never lost a Super Bowl. Thank you for helping people remember that the 1984 San Francisco 49ers and the 1985 Chicago Bears were 18-1 but won their Super Bowls.

But most of all, thank you for returning New York to its rightful spot atop Boston in the sports world. ESPN's Bill Simmons, an avid Boston fan of all colors, said it best in his Monday column.

" Yes, it's safe to say the Boston-New York rivalry has been taken to new heights. As a tennis umpire would say, "Advantage, New York."

Let's assume the race is down to the two major candidates on either side:  McCain and Romney; Clinton and Obama.  On balance, I'm still convinced that this election is the Democrats' to lose, given the national distaste for the conduct of a Republican administration over the past 8 years, and the war fatigue.  The war fatigue is ironic, though, because at the same time, I also think people want a strong, internationally engaged leader.  We're fed up with our over-exposure abroad, yet we're not quite ready for a completely domestic policy-focused president.

I haven't been inspired enough by any candidate to openly support one yet.  I'm an unregistered independent in New York, so I can't vote in the primary.  I've tried to remain open to this amazingly diverse field, but I still have some unmoved tendencies that have been hard to explain.  The most surprising to me, is that I just don't get Obama.

I hero worship, I constantly ask why we don't have inspirational figures like those of the 1960s, I complain about institutionalized politics and pragmatic moderates, and I used to think Al Gore was too conservative.  All these traits would suggest I might jump on board with Obama and charge full steam ahead.  But, I just don't buy it.

After 8 years of Bush, I want to make sure that the next president is, most importantly, not a Republican.  But also, the next president has to be able to accomplish as much policy change in federal government as possible in their short time in office.  For many reasons, I'm convinced that person, for better or worse, is not Obama.  It's Hillary.

I don't like her personally.  She fails to inspire me in any substantial way.  She is very much politics as usual.  But she is powerful.  She is composed, firm, motivated, dedicated, and she has powerful friends.  And her husband is Bill Fucking Clinton.

I know some people are uncomfortable with Bill being around.  I know many people are disgusted with the aggressive, maybe even dirty tactics the Clintons have used during the campaign.  But for me, I love it.  It doesn't bother me at all.  In fact, I find a strange comfort in their ability to win...at all costs.  It makes me comfortable to think that they won't put up with any shit from the eventual Republican candidate.  I gives me solace to think they will tell Putin to sit the fuck down.  That they, and their friends, are some of the smartest, most competitive, and most connected people in the world—kick ass.  The last time Democrats whined about dirty tricks, the Republicans still ended up in office.  Complaining doesn't win elections, winning does.

This time around, I actually don't want the grand inspirational figure as my president.  I want a tough, seasoned executive to get things done.  To know how federal government works and change what happened over the past 8 years.  To appoint judges, change administrative rules, dispatch diplomats, and bring intelligent people back into public service.  That's what I'm looking for.

Moving on to general election matchups.  Aside from the general vulnerabilities that Obama has (age & inexperience) which make him seem like the weaker candidate on the Dem side, I think the Clinton-McCain matchup poses a serious vulnerability for the Dems.  I think there's a certain breed of voter who is particularly motivated to vote McCain when the other choice is Hillary.  Sort of unaffiliated independents who respect McCain for his personality and his integrity and find neither in Hillary.  Romney is the Dems dream candidate.  He is such a phony, any independent who makes up their mind on common sense and personality will run screaming from that mannequin.  He sucks.  I won't even talk about him anymore.

Anyway, for a lot of reasons, I could be one of those people who are attracted to McCain over Hillary.  I have immense admiration for his life of public service, for his campaign finance reform fight, and for his integrity.  I think many of the traits I claim Hillary will bring to office, McCain could as well.  But one nagging thought stops me from making that choice at this point.  McCain will not bring with him to office one of the most important of those traits, and that is who he brings with him into government.

When Dubya came into office, he won the prize of appointing some 3,000 political operatives into the federal bureaucracy.  If a Democrat wins the presidency, he or she will have the privilege of accepting the resignation of each of those people and bringing his or her own people into government.  Judges, bureaucrats, diplomats, staffers, and the rest.  John McCain will fire some of Bush's employees, but not all.   And when he goes to fill the jobs of those that do leave, he will have to go to the well.  And that well is not stock full of fire-breathing Vietnam War vets who know right from wrong and up from down.  The well is stock full of more Republican operatives and conservative ideologues.  That's who John McCain will bring with him to Washington.

So, although it makes me a little uncomfortable to admit it.  For now, Hillary's my girl.

Hey! I finally get to exercise my civic duty and let my voice be heard, kinda sorta.

I'm currently pulling for O'Mania right now as I'm a bit tired of the old guard. But frankly, I'm bit worried if he loses. If Obama is not nominated, we risk a fractured coalition, with all these "new" new Democrats being so turned off we could not just squander the moment, but hurt Democratic chances for years to come.

It is exciting that Obama is generating not just lots of interest, but a certain type of interest; an uplifting message that appeals to many Americans. But will these Americans leave aside their differences and their torn hearts if the old guard pulls off yet another win? In my opinion, that remains to be seen.

This is the first year in awhile that one of us hasn't actually bothered to blog the President's SOTU. For my part, I just didn't care to watch it, but I hear it was real inspiring stuff.

But it was his last, finally. Visit here(http://www.cogitamusblog.com/2008/01/his-last-fuckin.html) to read a post by Sir Charles from Cogitamus, a good blog that has started to really blossom over the past 6 months. Good stuff!

• It is utterly fascinating to me that only five days ago everyone in the media had doubts about whether the Giants and Eli Manning could win a playoff game and now just about every so-called expert I've seen has picked them to beat the Cowboys.  By no means am I guaranteeing a Dallas victory, but I have never seen a 13-3 top seed coming off a bye week playing at home written off like the Cowboys have been this week.  Especially when they're playing a team they beat twice and scored 76 points against.  I have a hard time believing this would be the case if the G-Men were playing King Brett and the Packers.  Maybe as a fan I just can‘t look at the situation honestly, or maybe the media's opinion changes faster than the northern Vermont weather.

• Has any defending champion ever gotten less attention than the Indianapolis Colts are getting this week?  This team won 13 games and is better than last year, but few seem to notice.  I'm guessing that's just fine with Tony Dungy.

• For those "fans" of West Virginia football that are sending death threats to departed coach Rich Rodriguez and harassing his adolescent children, you need to get some help.  You embody everything that is wrong with sports.  Over the years I have said some pretty horrible things when the frustration of sports has gotten the better of me, but I've never once really meant any of them.  To act out in this manner is simply appalling.  You are quite simply pathetic human beings and you better believe that karma will take care of you.
  

• I know that no one cares about the NBA anymore but I have to mention that we are seeing some incredible play from point guards around the league.  And its not just the usual suspects like Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, and Chauncey Billups.  Chris Paul is quickly becoming one of the league's best players and his fellow third-year man Deron Williams is not far behind.  And then there are always steady guys like Tony Parker and blossoming talents like TJ Ford.  I could go on.  I'm telling you folks, we very well may be in a golden age of PG in the NBA.

• Thank God Congress pushed back the testimony of Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee so they could "gather more evidence" for the hearings.  With all of the partisan gridlock we hear so much about I'm glad these guys are spending their time wisely and for a cause that will greatly benefit the American people.  Because having hard evidence (which is unlikely, anyway) that Clemens used steroids is sure going to fix what is ailing this nation.  I wonder if this has anything to do with these Congressmen wanting to get their names in the news in an election year? 

There is a "Facebook" debate on ABC tonight.  I wonder what older folks in NH think Facebook is.  It's the Repubs then the Dems back-to-back, they had all candidates from both sides out on the stage in between their separate debates.  Funny to see all the Hillary-bashers have to shake her hand.

Ok, random thoughts as the debate goes along...in attendance we have from left to right: Edwards, Obama, Richardson and Clinton

Charlie Gibson came right out and asked Obama a foreign policy question -- Clinton's dream question, attack the rookie on his weakness -- specifically about nuclear terrorism and Obama's threat to bomb western Pakistan without their consent.

Edwards wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons.  Impossible.

Richardson wants to use diplomacy first.  Groundbreaking.

The camera keeps panning to the candidates' wives (or Chelsea in Billary's case), like it's an NBA game or something.

There is no one on this stage that commands much respect in foreign policy.  I want to hear from each of them who their dream Secretary of State would be.  I want Hillary to tell us how she's going to use Bill--Supreme Court? Cabinet?  Diplomacy?

Switching to domestic policy, Charlie Gibson sets Hillary up with the fattest, slowest softball ever thrown and let's her directly question Obama on whatever she wants...AND SHE TOTALLY CHOKED!  She was reluctant to confront him and ended up sort of accusing him of health care inconsistencies.

Now Obama let's Hillary step on her toes and she swings for the fences.  Obama remains polite and presidential, Hillary seems a tad aggressive but it's not too much.

Obama and Edwards seem to be separating themselves from Hillary.  Edwards is going for the jugular here with Hillary, shutting her out of the party and making it about him and Obama only.  Is he auditioning for VP again?

Richardson comes in with the zinger of the night:  I've been in hostage negotiations that were more civil than this.

Richardson seems to be defending/siding with Hillary now.  "What is wrong with having experience?" he asks.

This debate can be broken down to the following:  Change vs. Experience.  So much for substance.

Switching to the third and final topic -- IRAQ

No one had anything interesting to say whatsover.  They all "vigorously agree" as Hillary put it.

Breaking News...Romney wins the Wyoming caucuses.  Yes, apparently, there really was a Wyoming caucus.  So, wy no news trucks in Laramie for the past six months?  It went Romney, Fred Thompson, then Duncan Hunter of all people.  It is so ridiculously inconsistent for all this attention to be paid to Iowa and New Hampshire and there's Wyoming wanting to help choose the president and getting ignored.  Why is it these cold, white states that get to vet the candidates?  Questions, but no answers.

G'night.