Debate I

I’ll be watching the presidential debate tonight at the San Marcos Bar on St. Marks Place with a supposedly bipartisan cast of bloggers and other political observers. Analysis of the debate and the just-as-important media coverage will come later tonight- because, after more than two months in my apartment, I finally got cable and high speed internet today.
UPDATE: I only saw the first third and last third of the debate, but from what I saw, Kerry won. He was on tonight- which was especially noteworthy, because Kerry’s not on often. The start of another comeback, or a last hurrah? The next month will tell.
More tomorrow. I’m blogging on the high-speed modem with MSNBC in the background- our long dial-up nightmare is over.

Debate II

Before it’s even started, Bush backers say media bias will make it appear their guy will lose the debate. So do Kerry backers:
Paul Krugman: �Let’s face it: whatever happens in today’s debate, cable news will proclaim US President George W. Bush the winner. This will reflect the political bias so evident during the party conventions.�
Glenn Reynolds: �Unless Kerry melts into a puddle on the floor, the media spin will be that he did well and helped his campaign. This is for two reasons. One is, as Newsweek’ Evan Thomas remarked, that the press �wants Kerry to win.� The other, of course, is that they want the race to remain interesting.�
I’m with Glenn on the second point.
UPDATE: Krugman was completely wrong. As usual.

Debate III

Michele Catalano of A Small Victory and satirist Neal Pollack engaged in a debate about Iraq and other foreign policy on BlogCritics the other day. The two went back and forth using capable albeit very familiar arguments. That is, until nature got in the way:

Neal Pollack: We’re not killing people because they’re Muslims. We’re killing people and they happen to be Muslims. But why should their grieving families understand that?
Michele Catalano: Ok, I can’t do this. I’ve got water coming under the office floorboards.
Moderator: oh shit
Neal Pollack: Likely story. You just fear my wrath.

I�d love it if that happened during the real presidential debate, with Jim Lehrer shouting “oh shit,” and Kerry accusing Bush of “fearing my wrath.”

The maniacal drama queen plus the two dimwitted bumpkins plus the gay black supremacist equals, so far, the best �Real World� season in years. I agree with the EW recapper who said the new Philadelphia season �harks back to the pre-Trishelle days of the show, back when roommates were allowed to be a little bit surprising (instead of just pretty, drunk, and slutty).�

Sexual Perversity in the WWF

John Kerry�s new self-tan remind you of Hulk Hogan�s? Check out this hilarious newsboard discussion thread, a compendium of pro wrestling�s most outrageous urban legends. It�s now at 68 pages and counting, though I won�t risk a libel suit from Ric Flair or Bam Bam Bigelow by repeating any of it here. Still, some of the funniest stuff you�ll ever read, even if you�re not a wrestling fan.
(Via Scott Keith)

You probably all heard today about the Cleveland Indians pitcher, Kyle Denney, who got shot while riding on the team bus in Kansas City. But Daniel Geffen found one minor detail at the bottom of the AP story that the rest of you may have missed:

Swain said all of Cleveland’s rookies were dressed in cheerleader outfits as part of an annual ritual — Denney’s choice was Southern California — and the mood on the bus was jovial until Denney was shot.

Can you say �burying the lede�? Luckily for the pitcher, there were no photos published anywhere of blood gushing from a bullet wound of the cheerleader-clad Denney; not sure he ever could�ve lived that down. Sort of like his former teammate Kazuhito Tadano, the guy who copped to having appeared in a gay porn film.
But still, it�s not as cool a hazing incident as last year, when the Yankees put all their rookies in pimp suits.

Worst Stadium Name Since Enron Field

The erstwhile Candlestick Park in San Francisco, site of among other events the final Beatles concert, has been rechristened �Monster Park.�
Not only is it a ridiculous name that�s more appropriate for a theme park aimed at 1o-year-olds than the home of an NFL team, but as Eric points out, anyone hearing the name will likely think �Monster.com,� when in fact the �Monster� in question is a local electronics company that has nothing to do with the job-search site.
Adding insult to insult, the 49ers got the comically low sum of $6 million for the rights. I�ve heard of such deals being for eight or even nine figures.

Brock and Scott

There was an extremely bizarre item in last week�s Sports Illustrated about the very close friendship between University of Miami quarterback Brock Berlin and Scott Stapp, former frontman for the now-defunct Worst Band on Earth, Creed. The two men, separated in age by almost a decade, are so close, in fact, that Stapp recently moved to the Miami area to be closer to Berlin. Hmm. Are there jealousy issues related to the breakup of the pseudo-Christian band Creed that we don�t know about?
The story isn�t online but an SI on Campus version is, and it describes the two men as �best friends forever� (?), and reveals both that Stapp�s son calls Berlin �Uncle Brock,� and that it was Berlin�s mother who taught Stapp how to sing. Oh, so it�s HER fault.
Also in Sports Illustrated, a special appearance by Aaron Gleeman. The next day, I saw an �Everybody Loves Raymond� re-run in which Ray�s sportswriter character is plagued with feelings of inadequacy because his writings have never appeared in SI.

Again With the Damn Draft

For the second time in the last few months, the Star Tribune puts they�re-bringing-back-the-draft hysteria on its front page, despite no evidence at all that one is forthcoming. Yecch.

Esoteric Website of the Day

It�s the Crazy Eddie Insane Tribute Page!
And fresh off his mention by Sports Guy the other week, it�s a tribute to another informercial legend, Tom Vu.