Cup Crazy, distraction from lousy baseball and football

Thank the Good Lord for the Chicago Black Hawks reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Thanks to them, I don't pay as much attention to the lousy baseball that the Seattle Mariners are playing. Additionally, the Cubs and White Sox are no threat to the 1998 Yankees.

Sports thoughts

1) Congratulations to the Chicago Black Hawks for beating Vancouver in 6 games in the NHL's western semifinals. Now it's on to San Jose for the Western Conference Championship. Because I was at a social event, I missed a good portion of the game.

2) Can the Mariners do me a favor and a) cut Sweeney, b) Sign Jermaine Dye and c) trade for A.J. Pierzynski? The Mariners need a bad-ass or a guy with an attitude.

3) If I was running the Seattle Times sports section, I would consider bringing in another sports writer to replace Steve Kelley, who's hopelessly drifting off into liberal rants and stories on rejects like Ryan Leaf. I would consider taking the job.

affirmative action in sports journalism

Affirmative action isn't just giving a chance to "historically oppressed ethnic groups" like Blacks and Spanish speaking people or even those from the Indian subcontinent or of Arabic descent. It also means in sports hiring unattractive women or "tom boys" as sports reporters.

Let's take Fox Sports Northwest for example: They have Jen Mueller and Angie Mentink as their reporters. Neither of them is particularly attractive or that knowledgeable about sports, yet Fox Sports Northwest (or FSNW) continues to trot them out there much to the displeasure of young males, who comprise the majority of the viewing audience. Why? I have no idea.

In Portland, Comcast Sports Northwest (CSNW) has Rebecca Haarlow as the Blazers sideline reporter who a) knows sports, having been a student-athlete at Princeton and b) is an attractive blond woman. She's not as well known as Erin Andrews, but she's clearly superior to the FSNW tom boys.

I wonder if many Northwest sports fans agree with me on this or I am in the minority.

Great Book

I heartily recommend a new book that came out this year, called The Score Takes Care of Itself, by Bill Walsh, with Steve Jamison and Craig Welsh. It's a book about leadership and teaching and getting organizations to improve. For anyone who wants to be a better leader or teacher or executive, this is the book for you.

sad month for Seattle's Jewish community

This month, the Seattle Jewish community lost four people. One was a gentleman who is one of the primary families in Seward Park. I actually was at his house on the Friday night before he passed away as there was a Mincha/Maariv Minyan held at his house on Friday nights as it would be difficult for him to go up the hill coming back from synagogue.

Then my contemporary and friend from high school lost his son to brain cancer last week. That was very very sad. We said a lot of Tehillim (Psalms) for him and someone sold purple wristbands with his Hebrew name on it to raise money for Children's Hospital of Seattle.

On Monday my second cousin's father passed away. She married someone from the community who is a Jewish Studies professor at the University of Minnesota and they have a two year old daughter who is a doll. Her father was sick for quite some time, it's still sad, even if he was much older than my friend's son.

Then the Baal Tefillah of one of the synagogues for many years passed away on Monday afternoon. So it has been a rough month.

One bit of good news, my cousin's wife had a boy two weeks ago.

couple of things

1) Great event last night in Shoreline, Washington at the Shoreline Senior Center. The Shoreline Political Caucus had two guest speakers, Elizabeth Scott, who's running for 21st District State Representative as a Republican, and then they had Susan Hutchison, who I strongly support, for King County Executive. Both ladies spoke well and laid out a new vision for our state and county, which we so desperately need. Go to www.susanhutchison.com and www.elizabeth4state.com for more information on these fine candidates.

2) Congratulations to Megyn and Doug Kelly on the birth of a baby boy this morning. Are they Jewish? No. So who are they? Megyn Kelly is a Fox News Channel Anchor who is attractive, smart and tenacious. She will be on maternity leave for a couple of months. Here's a suggestion: Put S.E. Cupp or Ainsley Earheardt in that time slot.

3) Check out, Fat Guys Shouldn't Be Dancin' At Halftime, by my buddy Chet Coppock. What a funny read and great history of Chicago Sports. It's available on www.Amazon.com and most bookstores.

tom boys and affirmative action

For some strange reason, the sports television world is enamored with hiring sideline reporters who are tom boys or to put gently, women who wouldn't make the cut for homecoming queen. I understand that there are the Erin Andrews' of the world, but it seems like the tom boys rule the day. This is affirmative action in my humble opinion and should be discontinued.

People think that affirmative action is about giving blacks and Spanish speaking people an opportunity. Yes that is true, but we also see that women take advantage of it as well.

What is wrong with a tom boy such as Jenny working the Fox Sports Northwest Mariner game? Well, she put together a whole bunch of puff pieces like on the players' wives, the Mercer Island Little League team that made the Little League World Series throwing out the first pitch at the Mariner game, etc. Why someone who's more attractive such as Lisa Gangel of KING 5 or Nicole Zaloumis, who seems to have disappeared from Fox Sports Northwest, can't do these stories is beyond my conservative, male chauvinistic pig point of view. I must be re-oriented to think like a more sensitive male, even a metrosexual.

Stressful cities

Well, maybe it was a good thing that I left Chicago last year.

Read this story
http://http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/20/stress-unemployment-homes-lifestyle-real-estate-home-values-stressful-cities_slide_29.html
Top cities on the list, Chicago, LA, New York Cleveland and someone else. Seattle was 11th. Portland 14th. Miami 20th.

What is wrong with national sports media

I have a theory as to what's wrong with the National sports media. They are all Northeast people who want to see their favorite four or five teams win. For example, last September, how many people picked the Arizona Cardinals to go to the Super Bowl? Maybe a handful of people picked them to win the NFC West, but outside of the Valley of the Sun, I doubt that any "expert" picked the Cards to go to the Super Bowl. This week the Sports Illustrated annual NFL Preview issue came out and the geniuses there picked the Patriots to beat the Bears in the Super Bowl in Miami this February. Here are their picks
AFC East: New England, unholy/slavish devotion to Belichick and Brady
AFC North: Pittsburgh, defending champion get benefit of the doubt
AFC South: Houston, a surprise, for once, SI picks someone different. A safe pick would have been the Colts or the Titans.
AFC West: San Diego
Wild Card: Baltimore and Indy

NFC East: New York, what Northeast-centric writers pick, their default.
NFC North: Chicago, believe in Smith and Cutler
NFC South: Atlanta, decent pick
NFC West: Seattle, a surprise, for sure, only thought is a healthy Hasslebeck and the fact that Seattle made the playoffs for five straight years made them a safe pick. I would pick the 49ers. Singletary and a decent quarterback do it for me. I don't trust the Cardinals. Besides the 49ers have the biggest attraction or draw among teams in the NFC West because of their success in the 1980's and 1990's.

Wild Card: Minnesota and Green Bay, Minnesota is Favre worship. Can't explain the Packers pick as a wild card, except that they must hate Dallas.

These guys who work for SI are out of touch with the average sports fan. Fortunately, there are sites like www.fieldgulls.com, part of www.sbnation.com and www.bleacherreport.com to give one a different perspective. I won't even mention the Four letter word that starts with an E.

Good luck to all teams.

update

1) My sister-in-law in Teaneck had a boy last week. Congratulations to her, my brother and their family.

2) Seahawks are playing well in the preseason, going 3-0 after yesterday's win in Kansas City.

3) Jeff Clement will be called up to the Majors by the Pirates on Tuesday. Yeah for them.

Random sports thoughts

Things in the sports world that I have thought about, but haven't had time to dissect.

1) While the Mariners are an improved team from last year, I feel that they are too much of a "nice guy" team. They don't throw inside, argue with umpires or spike second basemen on double plays. We're in the major leagues, not in Little League. Act like Major Leaguers who actually want to win a title this century. Unfortunately, Don Wakamatsu, our manager, doesn't have the Ozzie or Lou mentality of fighting every so often for his guys. This isn't good.

2) If I were running the team, I would have cut Rob Johnson, traded Johjima and made Clement the catcher or DH and hit him fifth. I also would have cut Sweeney and Batista, two veterans, who need a new career.

3) The Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox are dirty scummy teams who need to be disciplined after their reprehensible brawl of two weeks ago. Rick Porcello, may be the most arrogant young schmuck in the game, he threw at Kevin Youkilis, after Youkilis was hit the game before. Who in the HOLY HELL is Rick Porcello to throw at anyone??? Go to the minors, Ricky. Jim Leyland is a phony and I never want to hear about how great of a manager he is and how he plays the game the right way, etc. A load of rubbish.

4) Can Fox Sports mount an effective challenge to the four letter entity that controls sports today. I can't tolerate their eastern-centric view of the world. That entity starts with an E and ends with an N. Go Fox and knock these people out.

Good news out of Seattle

For all of the wailing about the Obama administration and town-hall universal health care meetings, we have some good news out of Seattle, the Emerald City, and environs. First of all, we (Seattle) defeated the bag tax by a count of 58 percent to 42 percent (tree-huggers). So even in GREEN SEATTLE, there are enough sensible people to defeat a plastic bag tax. Secondly, we will have a new mayor, as the incumbent mayor, Greg Nickles, finished in third place in the primary on Tuesday. He officially conceded on Friday morning. Nickles is a WHITE Ray Nagin, ineffective mayor of New Orleans, who gained fame in the Hurricane Katrina debacle 4 years ago.

Lastly, Susan Hutchison, former KIRO TV anchor, got the most votes in the Primary for King County Executive. She will face off against KC Board member Dow Constantine, the most left-wing member of the KC Board. If Hutchison wins, Washington may be able to move from blue to purple in 2010 and 2012. For more information on the news in Seattle and King County, from a conservative perspective, go to www.kvi.com, www.susanhutchison.com and my blog, http://sewardparkinsights.blogspot.com as well as http://smartgirlpolitics.ning.com

Seattle Times love affair with Gregoire continues

I hope that my friends at KVI and KTTH have commented on this.

http://nowewont.ning.com/profiles/blogs/pathetic-governor-angling-for

How come Christine Gregoire comes under such little scrutiny and maybe since she's too busy meeting with Obama's Cabinet members, she should be recalled.

Mallahan and Hutch

Although King County and Seattle are bastions of liberalism and nanny-statism, I feel compelled to vote for the following individuals for Mayor and County Executive. Joe Mallahan, former T-Mobile executive is my choice for Mayor and Susan Hutchison is my choice for County Executive. Additionally all FRUM PEOPLE and people with LARGE FAMILIES should vote no on the bag fee at the supermarket. It is unconscionable to be charged 20 cents for a plastic bag. What business is it of Seattle people if I have an "green bag" or not? What if a large family shops on Thursday night and Friday afternoon for Shabat? This green bag fee will really impact them.

Enough with misguided eco-Marxism!!!! No on Referendum 1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go to www.stoptheseattlebagtax.com for more information.

For a more balanced view of the state politically, go to http://www.kvi.com/ or http://www.kingcountyyr.com .

Race for King County Executive

While the Seattle Mayoral Race next month would not interest King County/Pierce County Conservatives, because of a lack of a proven Conservative, or even a Rudy Giuliani type Law and Order, the King County Executive race is more interesting to me, because of Susan Hutchison, who seems fairly conservative on fiscal policy, which is EXACTLY what this County needs. After seeing the Democrats in control of the state since 1984, when Booth Gardner beat John Spellman to be governor, the Democrats have controlled all of the major offices of this state, Governor, Attorney General, Mayor, etc. It's time to give the GOP a chance to run the show, in my humble opinion. Curious to see if King County conservatives, liberals and libertarians agree or disagree and why.

Lack of clout, need change in WA state

The main reason why the three ladies who run this state of Washington need to go can be illustrated by the Ferry Fiasco. On Tuesday, it was announced that the State of Washington was 18th on the list of states receiving money from the Stimulus package for improving the ferry system. As anyone who lives here knows, we have a large ferry system. Naturally, Governor Gregoire and Senator Murray were annoyed at the lack of funds. The funds were given to our state, but the point is, that no one nationally thinks very highly of Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell and Christine Gregoire. For all of the Sarah Palin bashing and her being a hockey mom with lipstick and the teenage daughter business, Sarah Palin is a tough woman, unlike Murray, Cantwell and Gregoire. I'd take Palin any day. Heck, I might even take Maddow or Madcow of MSNBC or DNCTV over Gregoire.

Cupp of Knowledge

I recently read a great book, co-authored by young conservatives S.E. Cupp and Brett Joshpe, Why You're Wrong About the Right, Behind The Myths- The Surprising Truth About Conservatives. This book explodes a lot of myths about conservatives, particularly about the myth that Republicans are humorless and racist. For example, the smartest funny show in television is South Park which is NOT liberal. A show like South Park regularly rips both the Left and Right. Most of the comedy on Comedy Central is decidedly anti-PC. Conservatism believes in the power of the individual and for every social conservative, there are two or three libertarians who are part of the "Right". Cupp and Joshpe interviewed people as diverse as Newt Gingrich and Al Leiter, K.T. McFarland and Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, MTV DJ. The main point of the book is that the Right isn't monolithic. I heartily recommend this book and give it four stars.

Mercer Island

This past weekend, I spent a shabat in Mercer Island. It was very nice. The hosts were good and Shevet Achim is a nice synagogue. It would be nice to go there again, but given my schedule, that may take a while to get there, as I have other commitments in Seward Park and First Hill.

Yesterday, I spent an hour and a half in Mercer Island at the Summer Celebration handing out brochures for Susan Hutchison, former KIRO TV anchor, who's running for King County Executive. I hope that she wins because she seems to have a grasp on the issues and is the most qualified candidate. While we can't get Sarah Palin, Susan Hutchinson may be the woman with the most gravitas in this state. It was great to have met Reverend Wayne Perryman, an African-American pastor in the Seattle area who is friends with Pastor Ken Hutcherson, former NFL player. I purchased Rev. Perryman's CD on the historical legacy of both political parties on race. Very powerful and worth listening to, in my humble opinion. For more information on the Washington State Republican Party, go to www.wsrp.org and for information on Susan Hutchison's candidacy, go to www.SusanHutchison.com .

light rail a boondoggle

In two weeks, the Seattle area will get a look at light rail when the Sound Transit runs trains from SeaTac Airport to downtown Seattle. A number of the stations are located on Martin Luther King Way, which is in the neighborhood, about a mile west of Rainier Avenue in Rainier Valley. I hope that these city and county planners hope to get a lot of other people to ride, because I don't think that too many Seward Park residents will be using the light rail. Let's take someone who works downtown and lives near Seward Park Avenue as an example, he or she has to get to MLK Way and Othello or Beacon Hill, which would be a short car ride or a really long walk. For my new job, I walk to Rainier Avenue and take the #9 bus to Broadway and Denny Way, which takes about 40 minutes. Maybe there are a lot of people in the Rainier Valley and elsewhere who will ride the train. Bus service is standard to sub-standard at best, adding light rail will detract from the quality of service given to Rainier Valley/Seward Park.

If other Seattle people have thoughts on this matter, feel free to let me know.

Thank you and have a great July Fourth.

Letter to Seattle Times

In light of the fact that the Times routinely puts out progressive columnists such as Jerry Large and Nicole Brodeur, I wrote this letter to the Seattle Times editors

Dear Mr. Blethen:

As a conservative, I think that the Times is missing a great opportunity by not having a conservative or Libertarian on its staff on a consistent basis.