2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner speech

What a show. If you did not watch it for whatever reason go and watch both of the featured speeches.....and do so NOW. Barack Obama and Seth Meyers were both absolutely brilliant.

Going into the event I wasn't entirely sure I wanted Obama to even acknowledge Donald Trump but boy did he prove me wrong. Obama was absolutely masterful in his assault on Donald Trump. There are no words that will do it justice so go ahead and watch it for yourself.

According to Luke Russert of MSNBC even Terrell Owens took a shot at Donald Trump. 

If you dish it out, you got to take it too

That right there is the truth.





Every zinger was perfectly placed. From using "Real American" as his entrance music to his comments about 2012 GOP hopefuls there wasn't any letdown from the President.

Seth Meyers was even funnier. He went after Donald Trump (a fellow NBC guy) just as hard as Obama did. The jokes from Meyers about C-Span were hilarious as well. How great (and true) was Meyers turning to Obama and telling him that 2008 Obama could beat him in 2012 and that the 2011 Obama would have liked 2008 Obama. Brilliant. 


Barack Obama

There’s a vicious rumor floating around that I think could really hurt Mitt Romney. I heard he passed universal health care when he was governor of Massachusetts. Someone should really get to the bottom of that.

He [Trump] can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?

Paul Ryan couldn't be here tonight — his budget has no room for laughing.

Seth Myers:

CSPAN is of course the official network for wide shots of empty chairs. … CSPAN is one unpaid electric bill away from being a radio station.

Donald Trump has said he’s running for president as a Republican — which is surprising because I thought he was running as a joke. 

Donald Trump owns the Miss USA pageant, which is great for Republicans because it will streamline their search for a vice president.

If your [Obama] hair gets any whiter, the tea party is going to endorse it.

Trump often appears on Fox,which is funny because a fox often appears on Donald Trump’s head.

[Trump has] said he's got a great relationship with ‘the blacks.’ Unless the Blacks are a family of white people, I bet he's mistaken.

As for a potential Republican field that could include Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and Trump, that doesn't sound like a field of candidates -- that sounds like Season 13 of 'Dancing with the Stars.' And not the stars -- the dancers.

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2011 MLB Over/Under

Do any of you out there play over/unders for any sports? I'm not asking if you gamble on it. Just if you play them at all. I am going to try and doing these for every sport from now on. They are fun to look back at over the course of the season. 


These are the numbers I used to make my picks.  

Here we go:

• Arizona- Over
• Atlanta- Under
• Baltimore- Under
• Boston- Over
• Chicago C- Under
• Chicago W- Over
• Cincinnati- Over
• Cleveland- Over
• Colorado- Under
• Detroit- Over
• Florida- Under
• Houston- Under
• Kansas City- Over
• LA Angels- Over
• LA Dodgers- Over
• Milwaukee- Over
• Minnesota- Over
• NY Mets- Over
• NY Yankees- Under
• Oakland- Under
• Philadelphia- Under
• Pittsburgh- Over
• San Diego- Under
• San Francisco- Over
• Seattle- Over
• St. Louis- Under
• Tampa Bay- Under
• Texas- Under
• Toronto- Over
• Washington- Over

Faraz and I decided to a friendly game where each of us picked six teams. The only condition was that we both couldn't pick the exact same team going in the same direction. We were allowed to pick the same team going in different directions. 


Me

Brewers Over

Angels Over

Cardinals Under

Mets Over

Orioles Under

Diamondbacks Over

Faraz

Blue Jays Over

Royals Under

Cardinals Over

Twins Over

Giants Over

Braves Under

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2011 MLB Predictions

I realized that I hadn't gotten around to putting my 2011 MLB predictions on here.

AL 

East
Red Sox
Yankees
Blue Jays
Rays
Orioles

Central
Twins
Tigers
White Sox
Indians
Royals

West
Angels
Rangers
Athletics
Mariners

MVP - Adrian Gonzalez
Cy Young - Jon Lester
Rookie of the Year - Kyle Drabek
Manager of the Year - Mike Sciosca

NL

East
Phillies
Marlins
Mets
Braves
Nationals

Central
Brewers
Reds
Cardinals
Cubs
Astros
Pirates

West
Giants
Rockies
Diamondbacks
Dodgers
Padres

MVP - Prince Fielder
Cy Young - Roy Halladay 
Rookie of the Year - Aroldis Champan
Manager of the Year - Ron Roenicke

Playoffs

Division Series

Angels over Yankees
Red Sox over Twins
Phillies over Brewers
Giants over Reds

League Championship Series

Red Sox over Angels
Giants over Phillies
'
World Series

Red Sox over Giants

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VIDEO: Kevin Na shoots a 16 on the 9th hole

Kevin Na shot a 16 on the par 4 9th hole at the Valero Texas Open today. Yes, you read that part right, he shot a 16. I just saw this on Sportscenter and am trying to find the ESPN highlights online. If one of you finds it please send me the link. In the meantime watch the clip from the PGA Tour.



Card

Here is the play by play from the PGA Tour.

Shot	Shot/description
1-2	Tee shot right. Went down and found ball and declared an unplayable lie.
3	Went back to the tee box and hit another tee shot which went right in to the woods. Then hit a provisional left (Abandoned provisional). Found second tee shot on the right and played it.
4-5	Played ball in the woods and hit a tree and the ball hit himself and took a one shot penalty.
6	Took unplayable where ball came to rest.
7	Hit ball in woods.
8	Hit ball in woods (Left-handed and missed ball).
9	Hit ball in woods (Left-handed and advanced ball).
10	Hit ball in woods (barely moved the ball).
11	Hit ball in woods and did not get out of the trees.
12	Hit ball in woods and advanced to the rough.
13	Hit ball from woods in to rough.
14	Played from rough to the fringe.
15	Played from fringe on to green.
16	Made putt from 5 feet, 10 inches.

One of the craziest sights I have ever seen in pro sports. Na, finished 39th on the PGA Tour money list last year and 19th in 2009. Have to be impressed with him going out and having a pretty decent back 9. He gave an interview to PGATour.com after his round.

4/15/11 EDIT: I can't find the SportsCenter clip from last night with John Anderson and Scott Van  Pelt anchoring but here is one with Stan Verrett and Neil Everett.



The craziest part of the story might be that there were three other golfers who shot worse than him for the round.
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FoxNews.com Bizarrely Connects College Student’s Suicide To Obama Speech

FoxNews.com Bizarrely Connects College Student’s Suicide To Obama Speech

Nothing Fox does really surprises me anymore but this is ridiculous even by their standards. I just checked and the story is still up on their website. Why are they asking the White House for a comment? What do they have to do with this kid committing suicide?

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A conversation with Rachel Maddow

Earlier today I attended "A conversation with Rachel Maddow" at Rutgers University. It was an event organized by the "Eagleton Institute of Politics" at Rutgers University as part of their "It's all Politics" series. It was a fun event event that lasted roughly 90 minutes.

It was done in a Q&A format with the Director of the Eagleton Institute, Ruth Mandel serving as the moderator. The first of it involved the moderator asking Rachel Maddow questions and letting her run with it. For the second half of selected students and the general audience got to do the same. Format wise it reminded me a lot of a "West Wing" episode called "Celestian Navigation" where Josh Lyman is at a similar Q&A session.

It was an interesting look into the behind the scenes aspects of the Rachel Maddow Show. I have long said that it is the best researched news show on TV so it was definitely interesting to see listen to her point out how unorganized they are at times. She mentioned that multiple times they have had a guest sitting in studio for the next segment and decided to call an audible and do something different. She made a point to mention that everyone on her staff from top to bottom pitches stories, does research for them and writes them. She was asked if she pictured a certain audience sitting on the other side listening to her. She said she didn't. She explained her job as being able to explain things going on in the world with the added benefit that someone willingly would watch the show. When asked to talk about the MSNBC and Fox being similar she made sure to point out that it is in her contract that MSNBC executives will not tell her what to cover and what not to cover. She also emphasized that no one from MSNBC has ever told her how to cover a story either and she pointed out her reporting of General Electric related stories. She was asked if she had an agenda and her response to that was great. 

I have a point of view and an opinion, but not an agenda.

I think that was a pretty honest response. I have never seen her let her view or opinion get int the way of reporting something objectively. The moderator mentioned what is visible to anyone who watches the show on a regular basis and that being that Rachel Maddow legitimately looks like she has fun doing her job. Her response?

The truth is, I'm a grump! I'm a grump and a depressive.

Somehow I have a hard time picturing that. She didn't take many direct shots at Fox and gracefully sidestepped question on the issue by saying the only TV she watched were British cop shows. She mentioned that she doesn't like to do live shows because the energy from the crowd ends up taking too much out of her and it is difficult to pace the week. She was still extended an invitation to come back and do her show live from Rutgers. I'll embed the video of the event when it is available. 

There was something I disagreed with her on though. She mentioned Pakistan as a threat and how Pakistan "wants nuclear war with India." I grew in Pakistan and that couldn't be farther from the truth. Pakistan and India having nuclear weapons is probably the only thing that has the two from having gone to war at some point in the last 15 years when tensions have been quiet high at times. It is fairly easy to mention that most Pakistanis don't like the US without looking into the situation deeper and what caused that sentiment in the first place. Pakistan has paid a heavy toll for what has gone on in Afghanistan in the last three decades. Pakistani military has faced heavy casualties. Violence and crime within Pakistan has gone up thanks to the influx of weapons into the region that began when the US armed the "Mujahedeens" in the 1980s. It is easy to say Pakistan is a "police state" from afar but even with Pakistan's less then spectacular history with Democracy that is quiet a stretch. It is easy to point out military rule in Pakistan but doing so without mentioning US backed military rulers is dishonest. Mentioning a lack of a history of democracy in Pakistan while ignoring American support for Zia-ul-Haq who overthrew and hung Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto is being dishonest. Yes, privately owned media outlets are a new phenomenon in Pakistan but the way they question everything done by the Pakistani government is not something that we regularly see here in the US when we need to. I respect Rachel Maddow and what she does but her views on Pakistan are just a little bit off base.

As part of the series the Eagleton Institute will welcome White House advisor Valerie Jarrett on May 2nd at 5 PM. Former Bush 43 White House and John McCain campaign Communications Director, Nicolle Wallace was on campus two weeks ago. Her appearance is available on YouTube. 





Edit:

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This date in Manned Space Flight.....

If you're been reading this blog for a while you are well aware that I am a big NASA guy, more specifically I'm a big fan of Manned Space Flights. Today marks two major milestones in that journey.

Fifty years ago today Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. It is without a doubt one of our greatest achievements. The Telegraph has more on how Russia is honoring one of its greatest heroes today.



Google is honoring the Gagarin's launch with a special doodle today.

That is not the only anniversary being celebrated today. On this date 30 years ago, the first orbital mission of the Space Shuttle program was launched as Space Shuttle Columbia took off with Commander John Young (who is one of 12 men to have walked on the moon) and pilot Robert Crippen on board. The mission only lasted two days but obviously was a monumental step in space travel. The shuttle was way ahead of its time and I honestly don't know when we'll have a space craft like this again.


As part of the anniversary NASA announced where each of the remaining Space Shuttles will reside once NASA retires the fleet later this year. The prototype Enterprise, will be moved from the Smithsonian extension near Dulles Airport just outside of Washington D.C will be moved to New York City. It will be replaced there by Space Shuttle Discovery. Really looking forward to seeing both of them in the near future.

William Shatner narrated a fifteen minute video for NASA to commemorate this anniversary.



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New Era Commercial - The Trash Talking Begins

This is actually pretty funny commercial from New Era highlighting the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry.



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ESPN: Manny Ramirez retiring due to failed drug test

According to ESPN, Manny Ramirez is retiring due to a failed drug test. What a shame. Makes sense that he would retire rather then sit out 100 games though. Had a great career and was definitely the most feared right handed hitter of his generation.

Career Stats

Counting down to weeks of Yankees fan calling WFAN about Red Sox championships being tainted despite Yankees having Pettite, Clemens, Jeff Nelson, Grimsley, Jose Canseco, Glenallen Hill, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch having played for championshio teams in Bronx.

Also, Kevin Brown, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and A-Rod played for them.


.....and I'm sure I'm still missing guys.

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NY Times: Glenn Beck to End Daily Fox News Program

"Glenn Beck will end his daily Fox News Channel program later this year.

His departure was jointly announced on Wednesday by Fox and Mr. Beck’s company, Mercury Radio Arts. The companies said they would “work together to develop and produce a variety of television projects for air on the Fox News Channel as well as content for other platforms including Fox News’ digital properties.”

As expected, a senior Fox News executive, Joel Cheatwood, will join Mr. Beck at Mercury Radio Arts."

Link

Glenn Beck being off TV (for the time being) is a win for sane people everywhere.

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Shaka Smart - Ironman Drill

This is footage of VCU coach Shaka Smart during practice on Friday ahead of the Final Four game against Butler. Seriously, how do you not root for a guy like that?

By the way you can find him on twitter as well.
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