Monday, December 05, 2005

The day Caleb would have been Four

Today marks a solemn day, one that should have been a joyful day. It would have been my son's fourth birthday. Caleb was born this day in 2001, at 10:30pm, but was too young to survive on air, and he passed away during delivery.

We mark the occasion every year on this day with a cake, candle, his photo, and one of the ornaments we made in his memory for Christmas 2001. Only this year, his little sister got to participate, (at least more fully than last), even singing part of happy birthday.

She definitely makes it easier to deal with, knowing that she is here with us because of Caleb's sacrifice, and that her big brother is looking out for her from Heaven.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

2nd Ave Subway to get funding

Yesterday's New York Times brought news of money allocations toward the 2nd Avenue Subway by the New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority:

The New York Times
November 16, 2005
Transit Agency Authorizes Funds for 2nd Avenue Line
By SEWELL CHAN

After months of uncertainty about the pace and progress of the Second Avenue subway, a project that seems to be forever on the drawing board, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority intends today to authorize spending $150.4 million for the final design of a first segment, from East 96th to East 63rd Streets.

To be sure, the amount is but a fraction of the estimated $3.8 billion cost of the 2.2-mile segment, which is not projected to be completed until 2012 at the earliest. The entire 8.5-mile line would extend from 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Harlem to Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan and cost $16.8 billion.

Still, the decision is the biggest financial affirmation of the authority's support for the project since November 2001, when its board awarded a $200.5 million contract to two engineering companies - Arup, a British company, and the DMJM Harris unit of Aecom - for preliminary engineering and design.

The move comes in the week after New York State voters approved a $2.9 billion transportation bond act that provided $450 million for the Second Avenue subway. The next step for the authority is to approach the Federal Transit Administration for an agreement that would secure support for the project. The authority wants the agency, part of the United States Department of Transportation, to pay about one-third of the total cost.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/nyregion/16mta.html

The article continues with a brief history of the 2nd Ave subway:

A subway line under Second Avenue has been an unfulfilled wish since 1929, when it was proposed as a replacement for the Second and Third Avenue elevated lines, which were later demolished. State voters have approved new debt to support the project before, in 1951 and 1967, and tunneling began in 1972. It was halted a few years later by the fiscal crisis.

The project's latest incarnation began in 2000, when the authority pledged $1.05 billion to revive the effort. Planners believe the new line would relieve congestion on the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 lines, which run under Lexington Avenue and are among the most crowded in the system.

To complete the first segment by 2012, the authority will have to move quickly. Officials said yesterday that they hope to award actual construction work by the end of next year - even though the final design could take until 2008 to complete. The biggest task is boring a two-track tunnel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/16/nyregion/16mta.html

It should be noted that the site NYCsubway.org has a detailed page on the history of the 2nd Avenue Subway that goes into far greater detail.

Here's hoping this year's bond doesn't go the way of 1951 and 1967...

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Browns 21 at Steelers 34*

Nearing the half, Steelers up 10-7, driving, despite having a touchdown disallowed on replay.

Charlie Batch scores on a Quarterback sneak with 0:06 left in the 1st half to make it 17-7 steelers, moments after Hines Ward was ruled down on the 1 inch line with the clock running and the Steelers out of time-outs.

First drive of the 3rd quarter features Tommy Maddox under center. Completed an early pass for a first down, then Randle El throws a 51-yard touchdown to Hines Ward on an end-around play, and just that quickly the score is 24-7 Steelers.

Browns get the ball, and Dilfer throws a long pass, complete, but the receiver is hit after one step, and fumbles the ball, and it is returned to the Cleveland 20 yard line. Steelers would get a field goal after two incomplete passes from the 15.

The near last gasp for the BRownies with 12 to go in the game sees the browns throw incomplete on four straight downs from the Steeler 30, turning the ball over on downs.

With four minutes to go, the Steelers attempted a field goal to go up 30-7, but it was blocked an run back for a TD by Cleveland, score 27-14. Cleveland attempts an onside kick, that Cedric Wilson for the steelers recovers at the Browns 29. That drive finishes off with a 10 yard TD run by Verron Haynes just after the two-minute warning, score now 34-14. Steelers kick deep, but the Browns make up lots of yards on a long reception that Troy Polamalu just missed picking off. All told, the Browns score on 4th down with 21 seconds to go, making it 34-21 Steelers. Browns once again attempt an onside kick, but it goes out of bounds untouched. Cowher doesnt rub it in, but simply downs the ball and runs out the clock to take the win to the house.

The night was one for the Ages for Hines Ward, who passed John Stallworth for the top spot on the Steelers all-time reception list.

The win improves the Steelers to 7-2, and in first place in the AFC North on head-to-head tiebreaker on division foe 7-2 Cincinnati.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Election Day in Virginia

This is an experimental (as I have time) entry to be updated throughout the day on the Election in Virginia.

Up are three statewide offices: Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General. Also up is the entire House of Delegates.

The polling has been volatile (as RCP has kept track of), but the race is neck and neck, within the margin of error in all the polling. Survey USA thought they were trending Kaine, as they had him +9 on Sunday, but only +5 on Monday, with things trending Kilgore. Their methodology was suspect, given that they polled on a big football night (Va Tech-Miami) on Saturday and again on Sunday (Redskins-Eagles), making the internals completely off, thinking that Kaine was winning the rural vote and leading amongst conservatives. Then you find out of the 1200 polled, only 600 were "likely voters" in their mind... And Survey USA has finally realized they screwed up.

House of Delegates member, and blogger on Commonwealth Conservative, Chad Dotson examined this late last night over on Redstate, coupled with his predictions in the races yesterday on redstate gives hope and reason that Kilgore will prevail.

QUOTE(SurveyUSA correction)
UNUSUAL VOLATILITY IN VA AS VOTERS GO TO BED ON ELECTION EVE: Interviews in the Virginia governor's race conducted by SurveyUSA tonight Monday 11/7 (but before President Bush appeared in Richmond) show a swing back towards Republican candidate Jerry Kilgore, causing SurveyUSA to now update its final projection in the Virginia Governor's Contest. This morning, based on interviews conducted Friday, Saturday and Sunday (11/4/05 through 11/6/05), SurveyUSA released data that showed Democrat Tim Kaine 9 points ahead of Kilgore. However, because of intra-day volatility in that data, SurveyUSA continued to poll throughout the afternoon and evening today Monday 11/7. When interviews from the most recent 3 days -- Saturday, Sunday and today Monday -- are averaged, Kaine's lead shrinks now to 5 points. When interviews from just the past two days -- Sunday and today Monday -- are averaged, the contest is closer yet. When interviews from Monday only are considered, the contest is tied, but the Margin of Sampling error from just the one day of interviewing is high enough, and the results aberrant enough, that SurveyUSA is uncomfortable reporting just Monday-only data. For the record, SurveyUSA goes into the clubhouse with its final projection (based on Saturday, Sunday and Monday polling): Kaine 50%, Kilgore 45%. A closer outcome still is possible.


It should be noted that Bush drew 7000+ (many more were turned away) in the largest rally in statewide office history in Virginia last night...

UPDATE: 11pm

WOW. Kilgore loses by 5 points, but the GOP candidates for Lt. Governor and Attorney General win...
by 2 points and 0.25 points respectively.

http://sbe.virginiainteractive.org/

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Fake TV Debates with real news logos

NBC did it this time, running its "West Wing" program live tonight, featuring a presidential debate "moderated" by their newsman Forest Sawyer. Alan Alda (certainly not a conservative activist by any means) was tasked with being the conservative republican candidate, while Jimmy Smits was tasked as the Dem candidate.

Alda did a remarkably good job, but one has to guess it was scripted, and he was simply memorizing lines, as opposed to him speaking from the heart.

And NBC's website, where they want the audience to go vote on who was the "winner" of the debate gives an error if you select Alda's character...

http://www.nbc.com/The_West_Wing/Campaign/

I did not see the whole thing, only the last 20 minutes. The script was set up to make the republican candidate look bad, at one point with the Dem candidate trying to frame it up by "taking a pledge not to go to war over oil" with the Alda character unwilling to make such a foolish pledge, likening it as useless of promising not to "go to war over sugar". Smits Character attempted to pose the question of whether the "country was ready for a latino president" as opposed to running on qualifications.

Alda's character's overarching theme was open-market solutions rather than government, while the Dem was feel-good Clintonesque attacks. One has to wonder how many of the audience believed it really was on "NBC News Live" as the logo in the bottom right of the screen showed...

Friday, November 04, 2005

Needless delay until 2006

(Extended from Altio thread in PDT's forums)

The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled its hearings on the Alito nomination for January 2006, yes you heard right, January, or more than 10 weeks past the nomination date, or far longer than the five weeks that had been scheduled for Miers, so reports the AP.

There is no reason, given Alito's history, record, and prior vetting, that the Judiciary commitee could not have begun hearings on 11-7 when originally scheduled for Miers. The Dems were behind this, I'm sure, hoping to get a case or two decided by O'Connor before Alito receives his commission and takes his oaths.

Shame on Arlen Specter for allowing the Shenanigans. A post over on Redstate's Redhot section notes that this gap will have been the longest since Bork in 1987:
QUOTE(Blanton@Redstate)
That will be when hearings begin on Sam Alito. This is another failure of leadership on Bill Frist's part. Not since Robert Bork has there been so much time between nomination and hearings. This will mean there is ample time for the left to get its anti-Alito operations in gear and sabotage the nomination
http://www.redstate.org/redhot_history/4526/#4526

Blanton has it right, Frist's inability to keep Specter in line, and the caucus together as a whole on judges has been his undoing. And I am not sure, save a Santorum or McConnell, if there is a real leader in the GOP senate caucus for when Frist retires.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Crosby named NHL rookie of the month (October)

Pittsburgh rookie center Sidney Crosby has been named NHL Rookie of the Month for the month of October, going 2+12 for 14 points in 11 games.
NHL Press release: http://www.nhl.com/news/2005/11/241566.html

In other news, 2003 first overall pick Marc-Andre Fleury was named the AHL goalie of the month for October: http://www.pittsburghpenguins.com/team/press/arts/1442.0.php

9th Circus at it again: Parents have no right...

As Howard Bashman of Howappealing summarizes in FIELDS v. PALMDALE SCHOOL DIST:

QUOTE(Howard Bashman)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that "there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it." Today's ruling from a unanimous three-judge panel was written by Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt in a case involving elementary school students. The final paragraph of Judge Reinhardt's opinion states:

QUOTE(9th Circuit in FIELDS v. PALMDALE SCHOOL DIST)
In summary, we hold that there is no free-standing fundamental right of parents "to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs" and that the asserted right is not encompassed by any other fundamental right. In doing so, we do not quarrel with the parents' right to inform and advise their children about the subject of sex as they see fit. We conclude only that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on that subject to their students in any forum or manner they select. We further hold that a psychological survey is a reasonable state action pursuant to legitimate educational as well as health and welfare interests of the state. Accordingly, the parent-appellants have failed to state a federal claim upon which relief may be granted. The decision of the district court is affirmed.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinion...pdf?openelement
http://legalaffairs.org/howappealing/110205.html#007598


While it appears on its face that the ruling is based on standing, and not on the underlying question, the net effect is the ruling will be taken as limiting parental rights. It is listed as being a 3-judge panal of the 9th circuit, but only two of the judges were 9th circuit judges, as the third was a senior judge from the 8th circuit.

Erick at Redstate has a post on the ruling tonight:

QUOTE(Erick@Redstate)
Interestingly, while the court ruled that parents have no "right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which children might be exposed," the public schools, according to the Ninth Circuit, can only expose children to sex. Exposing children to prayer or the Pledge of Allegiance would indoctrinate the children unfairly.

As a legal matter, the case was most likely rightly decided based on the law. But, we should all be outraged at the lack of respect the Ninth Circuit showed to parents -- who should be the the only party introducing seven year olds to issues of sex. As Neodanite said, if the town pervert had grilled the seven year olds on masturbation, it would have been a crime. In the same way, I can hardly imagine the Ninth Circuit upholding a law that would give parents the exclusive right to education their children about sex. And that is just not right.
http://www.redstate.org/story/2005/11/2/22125/7274

Erick goes deeper, by examining some of the questions posed to 7-year olds about sex in a psychological survey. The plantiffs in the case, the parents, are ticked off that the true nature of the survey was not disclosed upfront, as they would not have given their consent had they known the true nature of the survey:

QUOTE(Erick@Redstate)
The School District sent a note home to parents asking for parental consent to engage their children in a survey of early trauma. The survey was prepared by Kristi Seymour, a volunteer "mental health counselor" at Mesquite Elementary School while she was enrolled in a master's degree program at the California School of Professional Psychology. The School District, collaborating with the School of Psychology and Seymour, developed and administered the questionnaire to first, third, and fifth grade students. While parents were informed that the survey would cover "baseline . . . exposure to early trauma (for example, violence)," it specifically did not mention sex.


A wee bit over the line in my book. The School District should be ashamed of themselves for such a stunt, but this is California we are talking about -- it's been a long time since Reagan was Governor out there.

QUOTE(9th Circuit opinion)
When parents of schoolchildren in Palmdale, California learned from their sons and daughters that they had been questioned in their public elementary school about sexual topics such as the frequency of “thinking about having sex” and “thinking about touching other peoples’ private parts,” some of them exercised their constitutional right to take their grievance to the courts. The questioning was part of a survey the Palmdale School District was conducting regarding psychological barriers to learning. The parents brought an action in district court against the School District and two of its officials for violating their right to privacy and their right “to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex.” They brought both federal and state claims. The district court dismissed the federal causes of action for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted and dismissed the state claims without prejudice to their right to re-file in state court. We agree, and hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. Finally, we hold that the defendants’ actions were rationally related to a legitimate state purpose.
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinion...pdf?openelement

When a closer read is taken of this opening paragraph of the opinion, it appears they have determined far more than standing. I would hardly agree that misleading parents into consenting for something they would otherwise not consent to is a "legitimate state purpose". Small consolation that the plantiffs have leave to re-file in state court...

Monday, October 31, 2005

Monday Night Football: Steelers edge Ravens

Edge is the best way to put it. The Final Score was 20-19, closer than it ever should have been, but a W is a W is a W in the NFL. The Steelers got OUTGAINED by the WORST offense in the league coming in, some 316 to 262 yards. There were mistakes on both sides, from muffed snaps on a punt at midfield (Steelers) that led to Baltimore's go-ahead FG with 4 minutes left (19-17), to an earlier miss (wide right) by Baltimore's K Matt Stover, which caromed off the right upright and out.

The way the game started, it looked to be trouble for the Ravens. The Steelers took teh opening kickoff back to their 22, and proceeded to rack up a 15-play, 78-yard Touchdown drive that took 8:57 of time off the clock. Baltimore, not shaken, spent 4+ minutes driving down to get their own touchdown, largely on the strength of the pass, and a questionable defensive holding call on an incomplete third down pass, where the receiver did a spin-move, avoiding the defender completely who was flagged for the "holding". It was also questionable as to whether Ravens receiver Chester Taylor was out of bounds prior to the end zone -- he was given the TD, and steelers did not challenge. The ball was out at the 2 yard line, but Taylor was apparently given credit for being in the air, with the ball crossing the plane of the goal line out of bounds.

The Steelers then drove a ways before stalling on the Baltimore 37, and lined-up with Roethlisberger still in as to go for it on 4th down. Ben pooched it where it was downed inside the 1. On Baltimore's next play, RB Jamal Lewis was almost tacked in the end-zone for a safety, but escaped, only to be stripped of the ball, and the Steelers recovered on the Bal 12 yard line. The Steelers could not take advantage of this opportuntiy, and after a pair of no-gain plays, Ben was sacked for a 13 yard loss on 3rd down. No worries, though, as Jeff Reed made good from 41 yards out to make it a 10-7 game.

After Baltimore's next possession, the Steelers fumbled a punt return in the 2nd quarter, setting up a Baltimore field goal that tied the game. The Steelers also survived Roethlisberger's 2nd interception thrown on the season without giving up any points. The 2nd quarter wound down, with Baltimore making one last stab to get into field goal range. Inexplicably, with no timeouts left for the Ravens, and the clock winding down, the Steelers called a timeout with 0:08 left in the half. Coach Cowher said is was to make sure the correct personnel were on the field, but the clock may have expired prior to the Ravens getting the play off. It turned out ok, as Ike Taylor picked off Baltimore QB Anthony Wright in the endzone to end the first half tied at 10-10.

Chris Hope intercepted Wright on the first Ravens' possession of the 2nd half, and, despite a successful Baltimore challenge that negated a 22 yard return, the Steelers drove down for another Heath Miller touchdown catch, his 2nd of the night, for a 17-10 Steeler lead. Like the first half though, the Ravens did not give up, and came right back down the field, but were forced to try a field goal, but the 3rd quarter expired with the score still 17-10. First play of the 4th quarter was a Baltimore field goal to make it 17-13.

The Steelers drove, but could not get close enough for another field goal try, while Baltimore racked up another field goal, this time making it 17-16. Enter the aforementioned Steelers drive, to their own 45, where a botched 4th down snap, on what was to be a punt, turned into a Morey rush, pitched back to Gardocki (the Punter) who attempted a forward pass to Morey, who briefly had possession, but was far from the first down marker. This would lead directly to a Baltimore field goal, giving the Ravens their first lead of the day at 19-17.

Three and a half minutes to go, and the Steelers give the ball to Ben Roethlisberger, and he proceeds to hit good passes to Quincy Morgan and good runs by Jerome Bettis to drive down to the Ravens 19, forcing the Ravens to burn their timeouts, setting up Jeff Reed's game winning field goal with 1:45 to go.

Friday, October 28, 2005

Review of Battlestar Galactica Season 1 DVD

To come in this space, Rel's review of the Battlestar Galactica season 1 & miniseries DVD. Below is the working draft.

Let's start with the packaging. Season one comes as a 5-disc set, the first of which contains the minseries, with the other four discs containing the 13 season one episodes. The outer container is of a sleeve design, containing five smaller, "slim"-type DVD containers. Imagine the thickness of a slim-CD case, but the lenghth/width of a standard DVD case.

Began watching the miniseries on the night of October 30th, and made it some hour and ten minutes in, before finding it necessary to break to give our 17 month old a bath. Having seen all of Seasons One and Two on Sci-Fi as they aired (courtesy of TIVO), but not the miniseries, the miniseries sure fills in some gaps, and while similar in concept to the 1978 series pilot, the circumstances surrounding the Galactica itself are quite different.

The remake version opens as the Battlestar Galactica being readied for decommissioning, after more than forty years since the last Cylon was seen. Like the original, the Galactica was one of 12 ships, one for each colony, with Galactica representing Caprica. Under the remake, however, it is simply represented that the Galactica was the last of her class in service, now some 50 years old. In the original, the other eleven were destroyed during the Cylon sneak-attack, the Galactica only escaping because it left to check on Caprica.

The civilian government's representative to the decommissioning is the Education Secretary, Laura Roslin. Adama sees his son for the first time in two years, as a photo-op for the decommissioning, since Adama's other son was killed in a Viper accident. The Younger Adama ("Apollo") holds much resentment for his father over this event, blaming it on the Father's expectation of the family following in his footsteps. (It is revealed in a later episode that the brother's death was facilitated by one Lt. Kara Thrace, aka "Starbuck") The tension between the two Adamas is palatable.

Apollo is tasked with flying Adama's old Viper from years ago, which had been resurrected by Chief Tyrrell and his hangar staff. His duty is as the last flyby during the decommissioning ceremony.

While the Galactica's main squadron is out, the Cylons have conspired to make a sneak attack on four of the colonial homeworlds with Nukes. Enter Dr. Gaius Baltar, who inadvertently is responsible for allowing a Cylon agent access to the Defense mainframe, publishing the Colonial positions to the Cylon fleet. The Cylons have developed a way of neutralizing the Colonial computers, and just such an attack on Galactica's squadron leaves them sitting ducks, and they are all destroyed. Only the raptor with "Helo" and "Boomer" in it escapes, but is hit, loses fuel, and coasts its way back to Caprica.

Back on Galactica, they have been alerted as to the attack, and sound battlestations. The crew is surprised, thinking they had been decommissioned. All they had left on the ship were older Vipers meant for a musuem that had been made out of one of Galactica's hangar bays. Chief Tyrrell and crew knock down the museum barriers, and move the relics into the active hangar bay in preparation for combat.

A standing order on prewar Galactica prevented the integration and networking of the computer systems, and this would serve to save the ship.

11-3-05: After a few days, I got through some more of the DVD, but not the whole way.

On Caprica, Boomer and Helo have landed amidst the mushroom clouds of Cylon nukes. Helo guards the ship while Boomer repairs their broken fuel line, and they find themselves surrounded by misplaced Capricans wanting a way off the planet. The space on their Raptor is limited, and after taking the children, they draw numbers for the remaining three spots. Helo recognizes the genius Dr. Gauis Baltar amongst the crowd, and offers up his seat so that Baltar may also escape. (This fills in the reason why Helo spent the first season-plus on Caprica)

On the ship now known as Colonial One (formerly Caprica flight 498), Secretary of Education Laura Roslin hears word that the President of the 12 Colonies of Kobol and the cabinet senior to her are dead. She summons a priest to administer the oath of office, the callsign of the ship changes to Colonial One.

On the Battlestar Galactica, a Cylon raid delivers three nukes at Galactica, two of which are destroyed prior to impact. The third takes out a major section of the ship, causing fires, but most of the radiation is avoided. A major command decision has to be made on extinguishing the fire, one that could cost the lives of many men. XO Tigh is forced to make the decision, and after a few seconds hesitation, saves the ship by ordering the sealing off of the section, and venting to space. Chief Tyrrell argued for more time to get more men out, that simply 40 seconds more would have worked to get most all of them out.

Colonial One (Roslin) wants the Galactica to help them rescue survivors after Adama had decided to regroup at Ragnor station for resupply. Just then a Cylon raider appears over Colonial One, which survives due to an instinctive trick by Captain Lee Adama to fake out the Cylon.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

whose curse is next to be broken?

With the White Sox exorcising their curse of the black sox last night, beating the Astros 1-0 to complete a sweep, in winning their first series since 1917, on the heels of the Red Sox ridding themselves of "the curse" last year (they had last won the year after the White Sox, 1918), the question presents itself, which curses or streaks of futility are left?

Worst of the list has to be the Cubbies, who last won the series in 1908. Beyond that have to be the Indians and the Giants

Never won:
Houstoun, Montreal/Washington, Seattle, Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay, Texas Rangers/2nd Washington Senators, San Diego, Colorado


97 - Chicago Cubs
81 - Washington Senators * (Records should be with Minnesota though)
57 - Cleveland Indians
51 - SF/NY Giants (As NY Giants)
26 - Pittsburgh
25 - Philidelphia Philles
23 - St. Louis Cardinals
22 - Baltimore Orioles
21 - Detroit
20 - Kansas City Royals
19 - NYMets
17 - Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers
16 - Oakland/Kansas City/Philadelphia A's
15 - Cincinnati
14 - Minnesota Twins/1st Washington Senators
12 - Toronto
10 - Atlanta/Milwaukee/Boston Braves
5 - NYYankees
4 - Arizona
3 - Anaheim
2 - Florida
1 - Boston
0 - Chicago White Sox

It should be noted that MLB on its website separates the multiple city teams into separate ones, while at the same time shows all the historical record for each. For example, theirt records pages include the 1901-1960 Washington Senators as part of the Minnesota Twins, and counts the 1925 series win as one of 3 for the Twins, when the Twins themselves only won in 1987 & 1991.

I did not take the trouble to splitting the A's or the Braves out. And I can't believe how few titles the Phillies have won.

Is it time for the line-item veto?

Virginia Senator (and former Va Governor) George Allen was on Hannity yesterday (Monday) afternoon (what little bit I head of it amongst sports stations), and he was advocating anew a constitutional amendment to give the line-item veto to Presidents on spending bills.

Right now, the purse is in the hands of Congress. All the President can do is say yes or no to their spending bills -- if he says no, it will be spun to say he's against this program or that program or some other program he may actually support. The President often gets the blame for the country spending so much, when in reality he has very little control at all.

Congress has for decades taken advantage of the spot Presidents are put in by cramming these omnibus spending bills with pet projects and other measures unrelated to the spending to get them through when they otherwise could not.

Giving the President a line item veto to do something that Congress should be doing already is not a step to be taken lightly. In one sense, I would be against it, for Congress (and the media and the People) could then rightly blame the President for any spending since he would have had the opportunity to say no. On the other hand, the Presidential veto carries a heavy burden to override -- and I don't know that the left will want to give up that power to a republican president.

In the abstract theory, the current system should work. It is apparent it does not, as Bush 43 has not vetoed anything in his near 5 years in office. Granted, his party has been in control of both houses during most all that time, so instances should have been far and few. I for one would have liked to see McCain-Feingold vetoed, but we all know where that went.... straight to SCOTUS.

Congress themselves are each out to bring their own jurisdiction back more and more money. Big names such as Rostenkowski, Byrd, Murtha and Shuster come to mind as MCs that brought large chunks home, and now many things are named after them in their respective states.

The failure last week of the Coburn amendment, which would have axed the $220M bridge to nowhere in Alaska (a 5 mile bridge to an island with a population of 50 to replace a ferry) in favor of rebuilding a major bridge down in Louisiana post Katrina, by a whopping 84-15 tells us there is a long way to go to get to fiscal sanity. If we can't get more than 15 votes in the senate, getting 67 for a constitutional amendment is going to be damn near impossible.

(See redstate chronicle of the Coburn amendment from last week: http://www.redstate.org/story/2005/10/20/154945/43)

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Steelers handle Bengals on the road 27-13

The Steelers took a step toward regaining the top spot in the AFC North by defeating the previously 5-1 Bengals in Cincinnati to close within a half-game of first place in the north, even in the loss column.

The Steelers survived two red-zone trips by Cincinnati in the 1st quarter only giving up 3 points, and quickly responded in the 2nd quarter with a Touchdown drive led by QB Ben Roethlisberger. Tight End Heath Miller was the prime target on this drive, and it was Miller who was the recipient of a 3 yard TD pass from Roethlisberger.

The officiating seemed heavily biased against Pittsburgh in this game, but they did make the right call on a Pittsburgh challenge of an apparent Cincinnati touchdown on the Bengals' first posession. The receiver had been out of bounds with his forearm before getting his second foot down, but the official on the field had ruled touchdown. The Bengals dropped a potential TD on the next play, and then missed a 30 yard field goal wide left.

The Bengals scored to make it 7-6 shortly before halftime, aided by some more questionable personal foul calls on the Steelers defense. The most glaring was one where the defender simply tackled the receiver, yet was called for unnecessary roughness.

The third quarter, however, belonged to the Steelers. They scored a 27-yard field goal after a stalled drive following an interception return to the Bengals 15. They quickly got the ball back from the Bengals on a Kimo Von Oelhoffen tipped pass that defensive lineman Aaron Smith caught. The Steelers made quick work, capped off by a 37 yard touchdown run by Willie Parker to make it 17-6. Jerome Bettis found some heavy work during the following Steelers drive to extend the lead to 24-6 on a Hines Ward touchdown as the quarter expired. (Hines had been shaken up on a pass in the end-zone earier in the drive, on a play that it appeared he had possession and both feet, before dropping the ball when he hit the ground)

Jeff Reed added a 39 yard field goal in the fourth quarter as the Steelers did nothing but run. Willie Parker secured his 100 yard game on this drive, emphatically going from 98 yards to 129 on two plays. Verron Haynes would come in on the next possession, and after some good runs, fumbled just outside the Cincinnati 20 yard line. The Bengals would take the ball all the way down, but got the benefit of a long "completion" where the receiver got one foot before falling out of bounds, but was awared the catch. This being just before the two minute warning, Steelers coach Bill Cowher, who had won his lone challenge in the 1st quarter, did not challenge (much to the chagrin of the crowd at Brittany's in Woodbridge) and the play stood. The Bengals would score to close to within two touchdowns, but their onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, as Hines Ward recovered.

The hooplah coming into this game was Bengals QB Carson Palmer having nine straight games with a QB rating of 100.0 or greater -- he fell far short today, finishing with a rating of 53.8, or 100.0 points short of Perfect. Roethlisberger was 9 for 14 with 2 TDs and one INT, his first of the season. The Steelers defense promptly got that one right back, with a Chris Hope interception of Carson Palmer in the 3rd quarter, returned to the Bengals 15. Ben's rating was 93.2, and he still leads the NFL in passer rating to this point of the season.

Up next for the Stillers are the Baltimore Ravens, who come to Pittsburgh on a monday night Halloween game.

Saturday, October 22, 2005

Bowyer wins at Memphis Motorsports Park

Running thread for the Busch race at Memphis, the fourth race from the end of the season. At this point, Truex has a 120 point lead over Clint Bowyer, and only the top four drivers are still mathematically alive for the title.

Bowyer started deep in the field, overcoming a spin during qualifying, and raced to the lead midway through the race. Bowyer ended up winning, leading the most laps, while Truex finished 3rd. Although Truex also led, the finish order was enough to cut Truex's lead from 120 to 100 with 3 races to go. Next up is Texas after a week off, then Phoenix and Homestead. At this point last season, Truex was up some 300 points on current Nextel cup rookie Kyle Busch.

Long story short, with 3 races to go, the max number points per race is 190 for a win leading the most laps. Over 3 races, that is 570 max points. The minimum points for last place (43rd position) is 34 points, or 102 points. Bowyer being down 100 is guaranteed at least 102 points if he starts all three races, but so is Truex. So the max that matters over three races is 468, and Bowyer is already 100 behind, so Truex can clinch by gaining 368 points over Bowyer. Averaged over three races, this is 123 points per race net, or such that scoring 157 points per race, or a 4th place finish without leading or 5th with leading a lap, and Truex wins no matter what Bowyer does.

The third and fourth place drivers, Carl Edwards and Reed Sorensen, are 371 and 429 points behind respectively. This means that Truex need only gain 97 and 39 points respectively to eliminate those two drivers from contention, something that can happen in the next race.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

The travesty that was Charlotte

NASCAR had 14 cautions during the 300 mile Busch series race Friday night, almost all on tire problems, with many hard crashes. Two of the top winning drivers this year, points leader Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle, both crashed twice in testing here a few weeks back.

You would think that would be a red flag, after the spring race at Charlotte featured a NASCAR record 22 caution periods.

Despite all the prior problems this year and this past weekend, NASCAR ran the race anyway, and paid for it with 15 cautions, almost all courtesy to tire problems, including Tony Stewart yet again, Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth among the chasers, and Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kevin Harvick, and Elliott Sadler among those outside the top 10. Stewart at 6 laps down after his crash into the outside wall managed to finish 25th, a testament to how many other cars had problems.

There was not a single set of green-flag stops -- as no green flag run lasted longer than 23 laps. 23 laps! They could have dispensed with the rest of the race and simply held a 20-lap shootout for all the 500 mile race was worth.

NASCAR would have done well to postpone the event, but instead risked the safety and lives of the drivers by continuing with the race.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Rel's take on Miers

I still don't know enough.

And while I have great deference to President Bush, and faith that he will fulfill his promise to appoint originalists in the mold of Scalia and Thomas, I am not sold on Miers. But likewise, I can't say I oppose her as much as I harbor some disappointment in those who could have been...

Miers' responses to the questionnaire from the Judiciary Committee were released yesterday. NRO has them posted in PDF format. There is nothing in the answers that screams "VOTE HER DOWN NOW". The answers don't completely alleviate the concerns I might have, or my prior disappointment for those not picked for this slot.

This quip over on Redstate today might say it best:
QUOTE(Erick@Redstate)
The President believes that Miers will satisfy the conservative base. “He hasn’t sold out and all the rhetoric that he is not a conservative is bull[ ],” I’m told. Miers, says he, if she can get on the Court, would side with the right on the parental consent issue. That’s the only major abortion case on the horizon right now except possibly partial birth abortion and, again, she’d more likely than not side with the right.

More importantly, Miers will be a better business conservative than O’Connor, I’m told. She has a business background and enough practical experience to not only persuade academics on the Court, but also to write reasonable, easy to understand opinions.

I’m told that the White House has the votes. “There’ll be some in the party who oppose her, but they’ll never vote against her on the floor,” says he. “It’s a long time till 2008, for them to oppose Bush now.” He says that the senators most likely to oppose her (and he thinks Brownback, Kyl, and Coburn are three of them) will make a lot of noise, but will in the end let her through.
http://www.redstate.org/story/2005/10/19/83615/279

Perhaps Bush knows something we don't, in that there is another vacancy on the near horizon, say next June at the end of OT 2005. He knows that if Miers votes against the right that he will pay a huge price for it. One has to think this is in the calculation. And one has to think that if Miers knew she could not side with the right, she, based on her friendship with Bush, should not have accepted. The early speculation for the next vacancy would be 85 year old John Paul Stevens, which, if replaced with a Bork, Luttig, Alito, McConnell, Jones, etc., would really be a meaningful shift.

Miers, at best, seems just slightly to the right of O'Connor, but not quite all the way over. Granted, similar was thought on Clarence Thomas prior to his nomination. And Souter was thought to be rock solid. It's this crap-shoot nature in court picks that has the right in a frenzy over the stealth trend.

Pens lose 3-1 to Lightning

In the first of several correspondent reports from live game attending is this one from last Saturday, October 15, 2005, at Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena.

It was good to see hockey back, and this game marked a standing room only sell-out of 17,132 fans. The game started off well enough for the Pens, holding Tampa to only 6 shots in the first period, but managed to trail 1-0 after 1.

The 2nd period might have well been dubbed "lets keep the pens in the box" period, as the Pens spent much of the period shorthanded. It was during one of those penalties that a Tampa player committed what should have been called a high sticking penalty, where his stick struck Pens player Mark Recchi in the face. 10 seconds later, Tampa scores on the Powerplay to go up 2-0. Tampa added a third goal in the last minute of the 2nd period to end the period up 3-0.

The Pens owned the third period, but could not manage more than a single goal in the first few minutes from Ziggy Palffy, assisted by Sidney Crosby. The goal extended the point-streaks of both players, now to 6 games for Crosby to start his career, ringing in at 2g, 7a on the season. The Recchi-Palffy-Crosby line has worked out really well so far, and was the best line for the Pens in the game. The Malone-LeClair-Lemieux line got to that point in the third period, but it was too little too late.

OVERALL OBSERVATIONS:
The crackdown against the trap was not successful in this game, as Tampa trapped all game long. The penalty calls were one-sided, and the missed calls or bad calls energized the fans in a way the Igloo had not seen in ages. The Pens will get better and win games, as evidenced by their comeback against the Flyers the night before, when they were down 5-1 in the 2nd before tying the game at 5 with 8 mins to go in regulation. Through six games, they have lost twice, but this loss was much better than their opening 5-1 loss at New Jersey.

And the place is infant friendly, and ours had fun, was awake the whole time, and has added "hockey" and "lee mooo" to her vocabulary...

Monday, October 03, 2005

Unsatisfying or secret weapon?

Unsatisfying? or "secret weapon"?

That's the spin amongst the conservative blogosphere this AM about the Miers nomination to replace retiring associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

And the lack of immediate response from PFAW and the other left-wing groups is disturbing. But Jonathan Turley is against, so perhaps the pick wasnt so bad after all.

I still think I would have preferred Samuel Alito of the third Circuit, Michael Luttig of the fourth Circuit, Michael McConnell of the tenth Circuit or Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit.

Do I take some solace in Hugh Hewitt's thoughts? Perhaps.

QUOTE(Hugh Hewitt)
Harriet Miers isn't a Justice Souter pick, so don't be silly. It is a solid, B+ pick. The first President Bush didn't know David Souter, but trusted Chief of Staff [John] Sununu and Senator [Warren] Rudman. The first President Bush got burned badly because he trusted the enthusiams of others.

The second President Bush knows Harriet Miers, and knows her well. The White House Counsel is an unknown to most SCOTUS observors, but not to the president, who has seen her at work for great lengths of years and in very different situations, including as an advisor in wartime. Leonard Leo is very happy with the choice, which ought to be enough for most conservatives.

As I wrote last night, Judges Luttig and McConnell are the most qualified nominees out there, but I think from the start that the president must have decided that this seat would be given to a woman, and it is very hard to argue that she is not the most qualified woman to be on the SCOTUS for the simple reason that she has been in the White House for many years.
http://hughhewitt.com/archives/2005/10/02-...dex.php#a000302

Though one must say, there are few voices that positive amongst the conservative punditry.

Hewitt closes:
QUOTE(Hewitt)
If there is another opening, we will get the Attorney General, and for the first time in I don't know how long, there will be a block of Article II enthusiasts within the preserve of Article III. If we get two more, a Justice Luttig or McConnell will rise.

The president is a poker player in a long game. He's decided to take a sure win with a good sized pot. I trust him. So should his supporters.


His bottom line: it comes down to FAITH. Faith that Bush has done what he said he would do. Hewitt had a very good point to lead his post -- GWB has known Miers for ten years. GHWB did not know Souter but took him on recommendations from others.

Beldar is out there cautionsly optimistic as well:
QUOTE(Beldar)
Harriet Miers may be virtually unknown to you. But she isn't to Dubya — and that's the main point of her nomination.

With even a half-hour's worth of hindsight, I declare myself unsurprised that the President chose Ms. Miers. It's absolutely consistent with his appointment style for other positions going back to his days as governor of Texas: George W. Bush has consistently preferred those who are well known to him, of proven qualities and proven loyalty, over perhaps bolder or more popular choices with flashier résumés.
http://beldar.blogs.com/beldarblog/2005/10...iers_nomin.html

Beldar also hits on the consequences to Bush if he picks unwisely:
QUOTE(Beldar)
But that is emphatically not the case from the perspective of George W. Bush. And the Constitution does, after all, give him the nomination power — not "the White House," not "the Republican Party," nor "conservatives generally," nor even "us'n who put him back into office." And he knows, and he's always known, that the blame for an appointee who turned out to become "another Souter" would likewise be placed on him. It's a responsibility and an opportunity whose benefits and risks he sought, but that he obviously takes very seriously indeed, because from Dubya's perspective, Harriet Miers was the one prospective female nominee about whom he personally felt that he could be most certain in predicting what sort of Justice she will become.


Beldar makes a strong close on the "trust Bush" argument:
QUOTE(Beldar)
We're likely to see another stretch of bitching and moaning from the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee over how essential it is for the Administration to waive attorney-client, work product, and executive privileges and fork over every document that says at its top "To: George W. Bush, From: Harriet E. Miers." Expect the White House to hang very tough on this.

Conservative skeptics, I remind you that even though you haven't seen this stuff, Dubya has, so let your comfort level be in inverse proportion to the sounds of frustration and gnashing of teeth from the liberals. Sen. Brownback, your demand for guarantees as to how this nominee will vote on your key issues is like a fan in the stands insisting that the quarterback's play calling in the huddle be broadcast all over the stadium; whether you approve of the call or not, your team's odds go into the toilet when there's a microphone in the huddle.


Meanwhile, another positive voice out there tonight is Patrick Ruffini, who ran the Bush/Cheney 04 website/blog:
QUOTE(Patrick Ruffini)
At the risk of drawing the undying enmity of The Herd, I'm going to state categorically that conservatism is sitting pretty at this hour. That's because Harry Reid has just been hosed – and he doesn't even know it.

The navel gazers are nabobing about another Souter. That's silly. The Court will almost certainly move to the right as a result of the nomination and confirmation of Harriet Miers. And here's why.

It's true. Little is known about the views of Harriet Miers. But what is known, through official and unofficial channels, paints a picture of a conservative Texas lawyer with rock-solid beliefs on life, strong religious convictions, and a modesty that should allay fears of a renegade Justice determined to remake society through the courts. John Roberts was the silver-tongued, inside-the-Beltway pick for the Court; Miers is the plain spoken red stater.
http://www.patrickruffini.com/archives/200...iet_miers_c.php

His post goes on, also drawing from others in the blogosphere that view the nomination positively. Conversely, Michelle Malkin leads a similar post on her blog on the other (pessimistic) side of things, titled "Utterly Underwhelmed", where she pulls together some of the most notable negative thoughts out there.

And not to be undone, Redstate as a group has done a formal non-endorsement.
QUOTE(Redstate editorial)
There is profound disappointment today on the right. Harriet Miers was rumored as the next pick for the Supreme Court, but many people laughed off the suggestion. Some of those who were laughing are now crying. Still others are abandoning hope. Said one correspondent, "This Presidency is adrift." From what we have seen lately, we tend to agree.

For all we know, and we know very little, Harriet Miers is the second coming of Antonin Scalia. But, we do not know. What we know is encouraging to the extent that she might be right on life issues. She did actively oppose the American Bar Association's position. Assuming that Miers is a conservative jurist, we still cannot, at this time, accept or endorse this nomination

My take:


After the day's review, of bloggers both pro and con, I have to lean a bit to the side of the "trust Bush" crowd, even if Miers would not have been my first choice. Reagan's old phrase was "Trust but Verify" in dealing with the USSR. Those against are right to bring that up, but Bush has had a clear track record in his previous judicial appointments, from Roberts to the appellate circuit judgeships to the federal district level. If there has been one area of consistency, that is it.

A gut in me says there will be at least one more vacancy left during this term, likely a liberal being replaced by a onservative, as opposed to conservative for conservative.

My advice for those on the right -- walking away will only serve to repeat 1992. Bush has the Dems on the ropes... now is not the time to leave the fight.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

PSU 44 - Minnesota 14

Minnesota won the toss, and elected to receive. PSU kicked off, with their starting running back Maroney returning to the Minnesota 15. PSU's defense quickly forced a punt, and PSU's offense went to work, holding the ball over 4 minutes on a touchdown drive that featured 9 runs and only 2 pass attempts.

Penn State had a great first half, taking a 20-0 lead before allowing a 49 yard TD pas with a minute and a half to go in the 2nd quarter. Minnesota's other five drives featured 3 3 and outs, one fumble, and one missed field goal. Penn State drove down to attempt a 51 yard field goal as time expired in the half, but just missed wide right.

At the half, Penn State found itself up a little better than 3:2 in time of possession, a stat they found themselves on the bad side of a 2:1 ratio, or 40 minutes held by Northwestern and only 20 by Penn State. The first half touchdowns were runs by freshman receiver Derrick Williams.

Minnesota opened the second half by kicking off, and for the first time in three years, did not onside kick the opening kickoff, which they had done the last two years to open the game, recovering both. But the third quarter belonged to Penn State, scoring 17 points on the strength of 2 touchdowns by Tony Hunt and a 3rd field goal by Kevin Kelly. Score 37-7. The third quarter saw both Hunt and PSU QB Michael Robinson top the 100 yard mark rushing the ball.

Minnesota scored early in the fourth quarter, after barely (by the nose of the football) converting a fourth down. Penn State came right back down the field, run after run, with Robinson coming out in favor of Morelli with 7 minutes to go. Morelli directed the rest of the drive, ending in a 10 yard TD run by Rodney Kinlaw.

Minnesota drove down again, but was picked off in the endzone by Penn State with 2 minutes remaining, final score 44-14 Penn State over #18 Minnesota, taking the lions 5-0 on the season for the first time since 1999, and extending their overall winning streak to 7 games dating back to last season. The win was Paterno's 348th as Head Coach, making 350 now very makeable this season with 6 games remaining.

All told, PSU held the ball for 35:18, or a heck of a lot better than the 20:12 the week before. This was a complete win for PSU, the first real complete win this year. (yes, they beat Central Michigan 40-3, but they turned the ball over 3 times that game) They now must get ready to host Ohio State next saturday night -- Ohio State was off this week, something Penn State won't see until their 10th game on November 5, where they get a week off before playing Michigan State.

AP recap can be found here on foxsports.com. This win should vault PSU into the rankings, and with the losses by #18 Minnesota, #11 Michigan State, #22 Purdue, #23 Iowa State, #5 Florida, and #14 Arizona State, PSU could jump in to the lower teens, like Wisconsin and Minnesota had last week, after their wins over Michigan and Purdue, respectively. One would expect Michigan to break back in, even at 3-2, after beating #11 Michigan State. Today should surely improve in the computer rankings as well.

Beefcake has pointed out that PSU ranks unseemly high in some of the computer polls, as high as #1 in two different ones and #5 in another after the Minnesota win.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Cincinnati subway?

Given my interest in trains/transit, stories such of these interest me. (See link to nycsubway.org in the links at left, one of the most comprehensive transit sites out there) I came across this site today, oddly enough, from a link on politcal blog. (NRO's The Corner).
user posted image
QUOTE(Introduction from pages devoted to Cincinnati's abandoned subway)
Abandoned tunnels are often the object of urban legend, but Cincinnati is in fact the site of the country's largest abandoned subway tunnel. But "abandoned" is not quite the word, as construction slowed to a stop in 1925 before even half of the 16 mile line was completed. Seven miles between Cincinnati's central business district and the industrial suburb of Norwood were tunneled, bridged, or graded, but no track was laid and no subway cars were ordered. No passengers ever rode between the six stations that were built.

The incomplete Cincinnati line sat fallow through the Great Depression and WWII. Bridges, stations, and retaining walls along the surface stretches deteriorated to such an extent that a few items actually collapsed. Nearly everything above ground was bulldozed to make way for portions of I-75 and the Norwood Lateral in the 1950's and 1970's, respectively. The mute two mile tunnel that remains under Central Parkway is unknown to many Cincinnati natives, and what most who do know of it know consists largely of hearsay and speculation.

This page is the most comprehensive and most accurate source of information regarding the subway either on the web or in print. It is by far the most popular subject on www.cincinnati-transit.net, and tens of thousands have visited it since its appearance in 1999.
http://www.cincinnati-transit.net/subway.html

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Battlestar Galactica (new)

If you missed any of the first season, or never saw the original 4-hour mini-series of a pilot (like me), during the Sci-Fi mini-marathon of season one episodes last tueday they announced the release on DVD of season one + the original miniseries as part of the bonus items. Release date was 9-20, advertised as available at Best Buy.

As for season 2, it started turned on its head, had some lulls in the middle, and finished strong, with some more new twists. I had seen some rave reviews for the episode named Pegasus, which aired originally on 9-23.. It took me until 10-22 to finally catch up to that episode, and it did not disappoint.

We've talked on BG in the forums, at this thread.

Best Buy advertises season one at $48.99, seems a little steep. But I guess when put side-by-side with the sole and only season of the 1978 original at $92.99 that's not so bad. If you only have $22.99, you can buy the miniseries pilot to the current BG.

Costco has the Season 1 DVD combined with the Miniseries for 36.99 or 37.99, depending on which Costco. One in Florida (Clearwater) had it for 36.99, while one in Virginia had the 37.99.

Season 3 is due to premiere on SciFi in January 2006. There are lots of other things to watch between now and then, but SciFi has done well to move things along, by airing two seasons in the same calendar year. Sure, they are closer to British-length seasons than American ones, but that does serve to keep things fresh. The hokey-ness of the original 1978 BG has been avoided, and this, amongst the performances of the leads in the new one, will keep it on the air for some time to come, and far surpass the original.

Exasperating to lose in "extra 0:52"

THIS JUST IN: NFL admits 60:52 was played, and instead of scoring with 0:01 left, NE actually scored 0:51 after regulation should have ended. The NFL won't change the outcome, of course, but NE could not (and did not) drive down into field goal range in only the 0:29 they should have had left.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2173143

An NFL press release is admits as such this evening, and cane be viewed at this link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8895637


original draft below
Off the heels of Penn State's exasperating win yesterday, New England's place-kicker Adam Vinatieri did it again, kicking a field goal with 0:01 left to go up 23-20 over the host Steelers. While the Patriots' #4 won it, the game was a back and forth defensive battle. Either team had the opportunity to take a 10 or 14 point lead early on, but both defenses arose to the challenge.

The loss snapped the Steelers' 16 game regular season winning streak, and QB Ben Roethlisberger's personal 15-0 start as a starter. Ben threw no picks, and drove down to tie the game with less than 2 minutes remaining, but the Steelers scored too soon, leaving New England with 1;31 to go.

NE got a good kickoff return, to start on their own 37. NE had burned all of their timeouts previously, so they turned to Tom Brady, who completed 3 big passes on the drive, and on two of them, his receivers were able to get open fast (the rush was coming, knocking Brady down on two of the plays), catch the ball, avoid a tackle or two, gain the first down, and get out of bounds. (SEE ABOVE ABOUT THE EXTRA 0:52)

Friday, September 23, 2005

Polls,Bowls stand in way of playoff

Useless early season polls
Preason polls (and even early polls during the season) are more the conjecture of the voters rather than anything based on actual performance. It's a crapshoot at best. Part of the world of College Football has learned this -- the B©S standings did not begin to be released until October, but part of the basis of the BCS were the two major polls, the AP writes and the Coaches, so the BCS inherited the biased heirarchy of the early season polls.

Tendancy for split-titles
The bias inherent in these polls goes back a long way, even as an undefeated team finished worse than #2 last year (Auburn), it has happened to major teams in the past as well. Just year before last, USC was left out of the BCS title game, but the AP went with them. A similar split happened in 1997 between Michigan and Nebraska. In 1994, Penn State won the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl, but lost the Poll titles on sympathy to Tom Osbourne's Nebraska Cornhuskers, who had come back to beat Miami in the Orange Bowl the night before the Rose Bowl. Paterno had been down that road before -- he had 3 unbeaten seasons in six years (1968, 1969, and 1973), including an unbeaten streak of 30 games between 1967 and 1970, but was never voted #1, and one of the years, was voted #5 after President Nixon had declared Texas the champ.

Money
The whole thing in College Football is the money. The Major bowls pay out millions, even to the losing school. NCAAA division I-AA, II and III playoffs don't pay out a pittance compared to that. The Bowls live off the poll system, wanting the best possible matchup to bring the most fans in. Sometimes numbers of fans outweighs a ranking. Penn State has been such a team -- one season they signed a bowl contract with the Blockbuster Bowl before the season began, contingent upon PSU winning 6 games. As it was, they had a 7-4 regular season, and lost the bowl game that year. Why did that bowl sign the advance contract? Simple. Money. PSU's fan draw was a huge factor, greater chance of a sell-out. Count other schools, such as Michigan or Nebraska in the same category. What makes this possible? Huge alumni contingents spread about the county, and more alumni willing to travel to bowl games. This in turn makes those schools a better choice on the bottom line than another school that might be close or slightly better on the field of play.

Solution: Playoff Likelihood: SLIM to NONE
Even an 8 team playoff among the Major conference winners (Big Ten, Big East, ACC, SEC, Big 12, Pac 10) and two wild cards (what the BCS currently consists of) would be a major step in the right direction. This would add three games to the bowl season beyond the current four - Orange, Sugar, Rose, Fiesta - that make up the current BCS. Even a one-game runoff would be an improvement, as it would allow for split years, or years with three or more unbeatens going into bowl season, to come away with one champ. The NCAA is unwilling to even go this far.

Ah, what I wouldn't give to have seen 1994 Nebraska play 1994 Penn State...

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Judiciary committee members pontificate...

In one of the longest votes of recent memory, the Senate Judiciary Committee today is allowing its members 10 minutes each to announce their vote and the reasons behind it, before actually voting later this afternoon.

Most of the GOP members have not used the full 10 minutes, with Orrin Hatch coming in at just over 2 minutes used. All of the Dems have used the full time, and have split 3 for, 5 against:

All GOP For (10 members)

Dems For (3 of 8)
Leahy (VT)
Kohl (WI)
Feingold (WI)

Dems Against (5 of 8)
Kennedy (MA)
Biden (DE)
Feinstein (CA)
Schumer (NY)
Durbin (IL)

For a final tally of 13-5, or not that much different than when Roberts was up for the D.C. Circuit two years ago, when he got 3 no votes in committee before being approved unanimously by voice vote on the floor of the Senate. (Feinstein & Biden voted for Roberts in committee in 2003)

The Dems voting For the nomination have left a caveat to allow them to vote against a future nomination solely on the basis of a White House refusing to share privileged documents, as they did in this case with the Solicitor General's office memos.

We know Wisconsin almost went Red last November, and is trending that direction. I think that helped give Kohl and Feingold an excuse to support Roberts. One of the two is up next year for re-election.

12;55pm: the vote is done, 13-5, and the nomination has been forwarded favorably to the Senate Floor.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

When both teams deserve to lose...

Monday night's late card on the Monday Night Football lineup was the Washington Redskins at the Dallas Cowboys. Throughout most of the game, the Skins could not get a thing going offensively, while Dallas was stifling on defense. With 56 minutes down of 60, things changed on a dime. Dallas was up 13-0, and had the Skins down to a 4th and 13 do or die situation, with 3:46 to go in the game.

All of a sudden, the Washington Quarterback, Mark Brunell (formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars) bought enough time to heave a long pass that was caught by Santana Moss. Moss broke a tackle and was quickly in the end-zone, score 13-7. Skins kick off to Dallas, trusting their defense to get it done. All Dallas needed was a first down or two, again, to seal the game. They could not.

The way Washington played for the first 56 minutes, they deserved to have lost. The way Dallas played in the last four minutes, when they could have clinched the game on several occaisions, they also deserved to have lost.

So given that both teams then deserved to have lost, and a tie was not possible due to Dallas's previous scoring combination, the equities then weigh against Dallas in my mind, mostly due to being a Steeler fan (Dallas, Pittsburgh & Washington were in the same division in the 60s prior to the NFL-AFL merger), and that Washington was due. I still think Joe Gibbs should have stayed in NASCAR, but nice to see a nice guy win.

Extended post on Isaac's storm in forums

I've placed an extended post on the hurricane of September 8-9, 1900 that struck Galveston, Texas over in the history channel forum.

As the story goes, even though Isaac Cline was absolved by the US Weather Service, he felt he bore responsibility for not seeing the signs in time to have evacuated Galveston Island. Losing is pregnant wife didn't help him any, and he left Galveston permanently for New Orleans.

Another anecdote from a story I mentioned in the forums is below, indicitive of Cline's resolution to never see Galveston repeated:

QUOTE(Heidi Lutz @ Galveston County Daily News)
Cline told his grandson stories about the Mississippi River floods of 1903 with pride. A flood threatened the Mississippi River valley all the way south to New Orleans. Cline forecast water levels would reach 21 feet at the city.

The U.S. Weather Service office disagreed and urged him to rescind that warning and continue with flood warnings that omitted any forecasts on flood levels. He disobeyed orders and continued to forecast such high water.

The levees at New Orleans were not high enough to keep the Mississippi River in its banks were the river to hit 21 feet. Cline urged the Levee Board to raise the levees, if only temporarily, to avoid the disaster that would follow if the river overflowed into the city.

Though he met resistance in the beginning, he was persistent, and the Levee Board agreed to construct a temporary levee of sandbags and raise the levee from two to four feet - and as high as five feet in some places.

This temporary levee prevented the river from flooding the city for some four weeks, with the river cresting at 20.7 feet.

"He really made his mark with his work on the Mississippi River floods," Vorus Williams said.
http://www.1900storm.com/isaaccline/index.lasso

William Cushing, 3rd CJOTUS?

As I had some excerpts on the forum side, I thought I would make some extended comment over the story today on law.com that argues that John G. Roberts, Jr. will be the 18th Chief Justice of the United States and not the 17th as mentioned in his formal nomination to the Senate.

Briefly, Justice William Cushing was one of the original appointments to the initial 6-man Supreme Court, whose justices also had to ride circuit (forerunner to today's eleven appeals courts), acting as an appeals court composed of two Justices of the Surpreme Court and the district judge where the appeal was heard, with the caveat that the district judge could not rule on appeal on a case he heard originally. There was no such pre-emption on Supreme Court justices.

This "riding circuit" would last well past Cushing's tenure on the court (his death in 1810 ended it), and it was often a reason for short tenures on the court. As it stood, Cushing was the only original Justice to make it into the John Marshall era. (until reading the law review article, I had not realized that Adams had originally appointed the first CJOTUS, John Jay, to the position again upon Ellsworth's resignation. The Senate confirmed Jay, but he declined, resulting in Adams' nomination of John Marshall)


A few excerpts below:
QUOTE
In a 76-page law review article, set to be published next spring, Davies makes a forceful argument that William Cushing, a mostly forgotten associate justice appointed by President George Washington, in fact served as chief justice for two days in February 1796 before resigning and returning to the associate justice seat he had held since 1790.
QUOTE
In any event, Washington next turned to Cushing, sending his nomination to the Senate on Jan. 26, 1796. The Senate confirmed him unanimously the next day without hearings, and Washington signed the commission. It all happened without Cushing's knowledge, apparently, because he only learned of the appointment when Washington introduced him at a diplomatic dinner as chief justice.
QUOTE
What happened next, however, is disputed -- which is why most history books do not list Cushing as a chief justice. The rough minutes of the Supreme Court's Feb. 3-4 sittings list Cushing as chief justice, though those two words were crossed out at a later date, according to Davies. Cushing was having serious cold feet about serving as chief, partly because of the earlier turmoil. "He had cancer and thought he was going to die. He didn't want to be in the middle of a firestorm," Davies says.

Cushing soon sent a letter to Washington, in which he returned the commission, citing his "infirm & declining state of health." By Feb. 5, the minutes of Court proceedings lumped Cushing in with the "associate judges." He continued serving as associate justice until he died in 1810, at age 78.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1127207113073

If John Rutledge, a recess appointee to CJOTUS that was rejected by the Senate, is among the recognized for a four month period, then any time served in that official capacity ought to be recognized. I have not yet read Ross Davies' 76 page paper, but have found the link on the University of Toledo Law Review Website (thank google for making it easy). In short, the table of contents for the article PDF indicate that Mr. Davies lays out what it takes to be CJOTUS, and what oaths Mr. Cushing took.

He goes on to examine contemporary appointments, and the use of resigned vs. declined in their nomination and confirmations. He presents evidence that both George Washington and the Senate considered Cushing CJOTUS -- as his replacement's, Oliver Ellsworth, nomination mentioned Cushing's resignation.

In short, Davies presents a compelling argument as to why Cushing should be remembered as the nation's 3rd Chief Justice, even if only for two days. A bill to effect such recognition was proposed in 1857, but lacked the documentary record Mr. Davies has amassed.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Back to the future?

user posted image
Looks amazingly similar to the Apollo technology, right?

Now I heard over the weekend that the goal year was 2018... See this release from NASA.
QUOTE(NASA release)
In just five years, the new ship will begin to ferry crew and supplies to the International Space Station. Plans call for as many as six trips to the outpost a year. In the meantime, robotic missions will lay the groundwork for lunar exploration. In 2018, humans will return to the moon
The image below is their new launch vehicle:
user posted image

Their main page, nasa.gov, points to a flash presentation on the new vehicle, which purportely combines the best parts of the Apollo & Shuttle programs.

I for one would consider it amazing if NASA got this new launch vehicle going in five years. One has to wonder what type of urgency it has with the recent re-grounding of the remaining active shuttle fleet (Discovery, Atlantis & Endeavor -- Enterprise never had engines and now resides at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport). The shuttle fleet was 60s-70s technology, and was due for a major overhaul. The new system, whether intentional or not, appears heavily based on the old Saturn 5 rocket of the 60s.

At this point, one has to think the shuttle program is all but dead. With the cost, if they want the new platform up and running by 2010, that doesn't leave much for the shuttle program itself. NASA's Return to Flight webpage has Discovery, which just returned from STS-114, flying as STS-121 in the next shuttle flight with a 6-man crew. It does not give a timetable, only tentatively labeled as March 2006, but at least indicates some intent to keep the program, even if only minimally, until the new vehicle is ready. At the rate they are going, we're probably talking 8 or 9 total shuttle launches at this two-a-year pate.

At the end of the Return to Flight article is this snippet, explaining the change in orbiter for STS-121:
QUOTE(NASA Return to Flight)
Discovery will be used for STS-121 instead of Atlantis, putting NASA in a better position for future missions to the Space Station. Atlantis will fly the following mission, STS-115, carrying Space Station truss segments which are too heavy to be carried by Discovery. By changing the lineup, the program won't have to fly back to back missions with Atlantis, as was previously scheduled.
I have to think the grounding of the program allowed this change to be made, as that greatly increased the amount of scheduled time between STS-114 & STS-121.

Another source for information on the new launch vehicle is this exetended article over on space.com

Monday, September 19, 2005

The preseason begins... the shootout sucks

Of all the rules changes the NHL has made this offseason, most pronounced is the elimination of ties by going to a soccer-like shootout after a 5 minute sudden death OT.

This concept is about as ludicrous as the college football overtime rules. At one point in the past, there was no regular season overtime -- a tie was a tie. Then a five-minute sudden death overtime with normal skating rules was added --- winner got two points, tie was one point each, and loser got zero points. This led to an incentive to preserve the tie by teams, forcing the NHL to come up with the OTL category in the win-loss-tie record, with the overtime loss retaining one point instead of zero, allowing both teams to fight it out for the win without threat of losing the point, except if they allowed an empty net goal. The first year they included the OTL category in the total loss category as well. Ever since, it has been a separate stat.

A few years into that system, the NHL felt it necessary to open things up by reducing the number of skaters in regular season overtime to four on four. This stayed pat for five or six seasons before the instant change.

Playoff overtime is still full 20-minute continuous overtime with intermissions until somebody scores.

Why, you ask, am I so against this new method? Simple. It awards an extra point to a team for a "win" that is not earned at full game speed. Just like College football eliminates special teams, punting, and even the clock, by placing the ball already in field goal range, allowing little buffer, and only having a play clock. That "win" of an extra point could add up in the end of the year and potentially get a team in or keep a team out that would have been in under the old system.

Steelers sack Carr 8 times in 27-7 road win

The Steelers left no doubt, scoring on their first drive enroute to a 20-0 halftime lead over the host Houston Texans. Roethlisberger had a week similar to week 1, but passing a little more. 14/21 for 254 yards and 2 TD passes to Hines Ward. Willie Parker had a 10 yard TD run, and Jeff Reed had 2 FGs to break Gary Anderson's team record for consecutive field goals. He entered the game tied with Anderson at 19 straight dating back to last season.

user posted image
(Clark Haggans (53) sacks David Carr (8) in one of 8 sacks by the Steeler D)

The Steelers did not commit a turnover for the 2nd straight week, and Willie Parker amassed another 100 yard game on the ground. Safety Troy Polamalu was the defensive star among stars, recording 3 sacks amongst 6 tackles

Steelers.com recap
NFL.com recap
ESPN.com recap

The win extended the Steelers' regular season winning streak to 16 games, and Ben Roethlisberger's regular season record to 15-0. The all-time record is 18 games, a streak that the Steelers ended last season when they beat New England on Halloween. (Prior to NE's streak last year, the record was held by the 71-73 and 83-84 Dolphins at 16 games) Roethlisberger had a small letdown from his week 1 perfect rating, as he came in at a 138.0 (** League says it's 139.8 in the offical stats) rating for today, still not too shabby, with an overall season rating of 153.7, or one-tenth below perfect. All in all, a satisfying but frustrating game, at least in the 3rd quarter, when Houston was able to score. But the Steelers answered right back. Hard to believe that the Steelers only allowed 221 total yards from watching the game, and held Houston to 108 net yards passing after the 59 sack yards lost.

Steelers team stats through 2 games

Up next is New England at Heinz Field on 9-25, who lost 27-17 at Carolina.

Tempers flare at New Hampshire

Several drivers blew their cool at Loudon, New Hampshire yesterday, in incidents involving both Busch Brothers (defending champion Kurt and rookie Kyle), Scott Riggs, Kasey Kahne, Micheal Waltrip and Robby Gordon.

The most pronounced of these were an incident between Kahne and Kyle Busch on lap 165. Busch blatantly wrecked Kahne into the wall. After Kahne refired his car, he waited on the apron until Busch was coming up on him, and proceeded to cut him off on the track, damaging his car slightly. Busch would still finish, but Kahne's car was parked by NASCAR and Kahne given the rest of the race off. (Nevermind that his car was in such bad shape his day was over anyway).

Another was between the 15 NAPA Chevy of Michael Waltrip and the #7 Jim Beam Chevy of Robby Gordon. They had been beating and banging for 3rd and 4th on the track when a caution came out behind them on lap 191. Apparently Gordon slowed quicker than Waltrip, and Gordon got spun. Like above, Gordon waited for Waltrip the next lap, but didn't find him, instead causing havoc including forcing Tony Stewart, the points leader, to stop on the track to keep from hitting him. So Gordon got out of his car, waited a lap, and then threw his helmet at Waltrip's car, this time being almost hit by Stewart again as they played dodgeball with Robby Gordon... Gordon later cursed on a TV interview, and will most assuredly get docked money and points for that offense, based on recent and past history over the last 18 months. (Busch series points leader Truex faced a 25 point hit for a similar offense last week, as did then-Cup series leader Dale Earnhardt, Jr., last fall after winning at Talledega, albeit the latter was in jubilation and not anger)

In what might have been the most civil disagreement of the day, was one where defending Cup champion Kurt Busch was wrecked by the #10 of Scott Riggs on lap 3. Busch did have a temper, and proceeded to confront the crew chief of the #10 on top of the #10's pit box. At least from the video, it appeared to be a discussion only, with no fists or anything, but NASCAR is likely not happy with Busch putting himself in a position to get into an altercation. Busch finished 35th, and fell to last of the top 10, 142 points behind leader Tony Stewart.

A story on NASCAR.com forwarns of fines, points hits, probations and even possible suspensions, threatened from as short as 1 race to as many as 9 (rest of 2005 season).

On a side note, both the 24 of Jeff Gordon and the 8 of Dale Earnhardt Jr had competitive weekends after making crew changes, starting 2nd and 3rd, respectively, before finishing 14th and 5th, respectively, with both leading laps. It was Earnhardt's best qualifying effort of the season.

PENALTIES UPDATE (11:00 pm, 9-19):
Brian Vickers (#25 GMAC Chevy), Crew chief fined $10,000 & placed on probation until end of year; team hit 25 driver & 25 owner points
Kasey Kahne (#9 Dodge Dealers Dodge), fined $25,000 & hit 25 driver & 25 owner points & probation through end of year
Michael Waltrip (#15 NAPA Chevy) fined $10,000 & hit 25 driver & 25 owner points for inappropriate gesture on a TV broadcast
Robby Gordon (#7 Jim Beam Chevy) hit twice -- 25 driver and 25 owner for each of the following: inappropriate language on a TV broadcast and attempting to hit another competitors car during a caution period. First was $10,000 fine, 2nd was $25,000 fine.
details on NASCAR.com

Saturday, September 17, 2005

Is there ice forming in Hades?

WaPo (gasp) supports Roberts' confirmation (HT: Redstate):
QUOTE(Washington Post @ 9-18-05)
JOHN G. ROBERTS JR. should be confirmed as chief justice of the United States. He is overwhelmingly well-qualified, possesses an unusually keen legal mind and practices a collegiality of the type an effective chief justice must have. He shows every sign of commitment to restraint and impartiality. Nominees of comparable quality have, after rigorous hearings, been confirmed nearly unanimously. We hope Judge Roberts will similarly be approved by a large bipartisan vote.
QUOTE(Washington Post @ 9-18-05)
For this reason, broad opposition by Democrats to Judge Roberts would send the message that there is no conservative capable of winning their support. While every senator must vote his or her conscience on the nomination, the danger of such a message is considerable. In the short term, Mr. Bush could conclude there is nothing to be gained from considering the concerns of the opposition party in choosing his next nominee. In the longer term, Republicans might feel scant cause to back the next high-quality Democratic nominee, as they largely did with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5091701133.html

My take is that the Post realizes the fight is lost on Roberts, and that they need to save their capital for the fight on the O'Connor replacement. This brings me to some speculation from Erick at Redstate:

QUOTE(Erick@Redstate)
As Robert Novak is reporting this morning, many in the Senate think that whoever Bush nominates to the Supreme Court to fill O'Connor's spot will be filibustered by the Democrats, if they can hold it together. The President would like to avoid that if possible -- hence Larry Thompson's name has been floated. The thinking is that Thompson could pass through the Senate without a filibuster and that he would be to the right of Alberto Gonzales. The President is still not considering Gonzales.
QUOTE(Erick@Redstate)
The President is going to have to find someone who is considered "top notch" that can keep Senators in line and also keep conservatives happy.
http://www.redstate.org/story/2005/9/17/112359/844

I see it as a wee bit distressing that they are even worrying about polls. If the Dems try to filibuster, the democrat half of the "gang of 14" will either break the filibuster by keeping their word, or force the GOP half to keep their word by voting for the constitutional option, killing judicial nomination filibusters once an for all. Either way, whomever Bush nominates will get confirmed.

It is often said the difference between 40% in the polls and 60% is action vs inaction. Clinton was in the 60's but didn't do very much at all, and as such is still searching for a legacy. For all the complaints, no one can say that Bush has done nothing. The one thing never asked in those types of polls is why those polled approve or disapprove. A breakdown between disapprove because of doing too much, or disapprove for doing too little would be nice.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Cheney's surgery excuse to elevate Condi??

The following story brings me to the long anticipated (by me at least) thought that Cheney would use a medical excuse to resign, and Bush to appoint current Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to the office of Vice President. She's been confirmed by the Senate twice, most recently earlier this year, so I don't see her having a problem being confirmed.

Such a scenario would immediately vault her to frontrunner status as heir-apparent for the 2008 GOP nomination. (That field is still wide open, with Virginia Sen. George Allen and former NY Mayor Rudy Guiliani leading early straw polls, such as the one that Patrick Ruffini runs monthly.)

Granted, the surgery described in the article below appears to be minor.

QUOTE(AP)
Cheney to Have Surgery Next Weekend
Sep 16 5:26 PM US/Eastern
WASHINGTON

Vice President Dick Cheney will undergo an elective surgery next weekend to treat an aneurism in an artery behind his right knee.

The condition, discovered earlier this year during a routine checkup, needs to be treated "as to not become a problem over time," Steve Schmidt, counselor to the vice president, said Friday.

"The procedure will be performed under local anesthetic," Schmidt said. "It will take place next weekend. It will involve a short hospital stay. The vice president will return to work shortly thereafter."

Schmidt said more details will be announced next week.

fan favorites Jr & Gordon see crew changes...

This week, after star drivers Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. missed the 10-race chase to the Nextel Cup, their teams have undergone major crew changes. Each now has a new crew chief, with Gordon jettisoning the pit box chief that led his 2001 title effort, and Earnhardt reuniting with his cousin Tony Eury, Jr., who had been car chief on his team for 6 wins in 2004.

Of the ten drivers who made the chase this year, five are from Roush Racing. Those are Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth. Of the ten, there are only two Chevys (the defending manufacturer's champion), leader Tony Stewart and 2004's most-wins driver Jimmie Johnson. The remaining three are Dodges of Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield.

Those on the best momentum streaks right now include Stewart, Busch and Kenseth. Under the old system, Stewart would win running away, as his point total after Richmond would have been 250+. Now he is only up 5 points on 2nd place. Kenseth was down 610 points, now he's down 35. Kenseth was 24th in points 10 races ago -- he finished tied for 8th. That is one hell of a climb, all the while Tony Stewart was finishing with top 10s. Stewart had won 5 of 7 races at one point early in the summer.

Wallace and Martin are in their final full-time seasons in the series, Wallace with 56 career wins and Martin with 34. They might be sentimental favorites, but I'd be highly surprised if they crack the top-3.

Many greats leaving the league...

In the last week, two of the top four scorers of all time have decided to retire from the NHL, in Mark Messier (#2 overall) and Ron Francis (#4 overall). Franics is #2 on the assist list, behind Gretzky, with Messier 3rd on that list.

All time scoring, total points (#6 & #7 active for 2005-2006 season):
CODE

1. Wayne Gretzky 2957
2. Mark Messier 1887
3. Gordie Howe 1850
4. Ron Francis 1798
5. Marcel Dionne 1771
6. Steve Yzerman 1721
7. Mario Lemieux 1701

(next closest active player is Joe Sakic (Colorado Avalanche) at 16th overall with 1402 points)



Yzerman (Detroit Redwings) has a chance to pass Francis this year, as does Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins). Lemieux with an average season could get to Howe at #3, with a 149 point season (accomplished 4 times in his career with a high of 199 in 1988-1989 season, and most recently 161 in 1995-1996). Lemieux has said he will play 2-3 more years including this one; Yzerman has made no such commitment, signing only a one-year contract with the Wings. Both could set themselves up to finish #2 and #4 or #3 and #4 alltime.