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Unfortunately the person who put this montage up on YouTube edited it out of sequence. And he left out the first clip that puts it all in perspective. But would we leave you folks hanging out on a limb like that? No, sir. Hopefully this will work properly. I tracked down the first clip -- which oddly is tacked onto the end of some unrelated clip, and then trimmed out this first unrelated clip. (As it appears on the screen below, the unrelated clip is with Mandy Patinkin and Tony Randall. But it should jump past that.) Then, the next clips should run immediately following. Should. (And even those are out of order. But they're close enough to make full sense of it. I think the last two clips are inverted.) This is from the David Letterman Show. Sitting at his desk, Dave began gargling out Broadway showtune, and mangling the words dismally. Paul Shaffer interrupted him and -- well, you'll see. It then became a running gag throughout the show. And this is the joyous result. But more me, the most fun is may watching the look of hero-worship and love on one of the participation's face throughout. And hopefully it will run properly. If it starts at 4:19 with David Letterman at his desk singing, then all should be well. And joyous.
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I love sports quotes. Sometimes, in fairness, it's because the questions asked are pretty lame. Albert Einstein would probably have had a challenge coming up with a good response to, "Some kind of game today, wasn't it?" But often, it's just because the thought process is...well, let's say, focused elsewhere.
Today's Sports Quote requires a slight background. I'm a big Chicago Cubs fan, so I've been following the travails of their star pitcher, Matt Garza. At the end of last year, he developed a strain in his pitching arm and was shut down for the rest of the season. Then, during Spring Training, finally ready to go, he pulled a muscle in his side. And just this week, his rehab almost finished, he developed soreness in his right arm, and will be re-examined. That brought about the following comment from Cubs manager Dale Sveum. "Hopefully, it's just routine normal soreness, dead arm, whatever you want to call it." Whatever I'd like to call it? Well, gee, okay, if it's all the same -- what I would like to call it is anything but a "dead arm." Last night, Elizabeth Cobert Busch and former Governor Mark Sanford had their debate for their race in the first Congressional District in South Carolina. Based on a few reasons, I think the election is over, and Ms. Colbert-Busch, the Democrat, will be elected. In part, it's because of an exchange the two hand during the debate. In a roundabout, though obvious way, Ms. Colbert Busch addressed Mr. Sanford's extra-marital scandal in Argentina. After giving a thoughtful answer about spending, she wove it another another direction, saying -- "When we talk about fiscal spending and we talk about protecting the taxpayers, it doesn't mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose." During the crowd reaction, the moderator said, "She went there, Gov. Sanford" This was when the former governor showed the moral courage of a four-year-old being told it was time for bed, putting his hands on his ears and making noises. "I couldn't hear what she said. Repeat it, I didn't hear it." To which Ms. Colbert Busch bluntly replied, "Answer the question." To which Mr. Sanford said again, "What was the question?" And then went off in a totally different direction. It's not that he avoided the question (though it is, in part), but mainly that he was just so childishly blatant about it, that even his strongest supporters probably had a hard time believing him, which is never want you want as a candidate. Not being believed. We show the video, you decide -- But a poor debate performance isn't why I think the race is over. Nor is it because of a good performance by his opponent. Or that she is ahead by nine points, with only a week to go before the election. Or that she has outraised him by almost two-to-one, meaning she has the resources during the last week.
No, it's none of that alone. It's all of that together -- and one other huge factor. Ms. Colbert Busch's favorability is 56%. The former governor's favorability is just 38%. It's not that 38% is dismal (which it is). It's that when you're a former governor, people know you. Moreover, they've had a long time to know you. And mostly, they know you well. And when voters in your Congressional district know you well and have decided that only 38% like you -- you're not going to win. And you're not gong to win, most especially, when 38% don't like you, you gave a poor debate performance, your opponent gave a good debate, is ahead by nine point and has outraised you two-to-one, with one week to go. And days before, you debated a cardboard cutout of someone you're not running against. Mark May 8th on your calendar to DVR The Colbert Report. The day after the election. A slight delay of things this morning. My overnight anti-virus run found an infection, and after quarantining it suggested rebooting the computer and running a boot-time scan. I also take such suggestions because...well, it's smart. It's also slow. A boot-time scan checks your system before Windows loads. So, unlike most scanning, it doesn't run in the background while you work, but you get to watch a lovely black and white screen with gibberish running across it. For three hours.
Fortunately, I eventually realized I have a back-up laptop, but still... It found a few other infections and quarantined them, though I'm not 100% that everything got cleaned out, so I'm running another system scan with several other anti-malware programs I have, just to be sure. (It's good to have several, since they all search differently, and therefore find different things.) But we are at least up and running. Yes, we're back to Carousel, one more time. But time is in large part the reason for it. For those of you who meant to watch the PBS production of Carousel on Friday but missed it, alas it's not being repeated, as is generally the case with Live from Lincoln Center. However -- it turns out that PBS is making the show available online, but only through May 3rd. So, if you want a last change to see the production, you can run over to their website here. Or, even easier, I've embedded it below. Know that you'll have to set aside your evening, since there doesn't appear to be anyway to fast-forward to where you left off. Pause and Play seem to be the only options. But it beats not having it available at all. Watch Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel on PBS. See more from pbs. NBA veteran Jason Collins today became the first player of a major American sport to come out and announce that he was gay.
Boy, some people will do anything to steal the attention from Jackie Robinson and the movie 42. (And yes, I'm joking.) This story has been getting huge media attention, being the lead story all day on ESPN. It's the cover story in the current issue of Sports Illustrated. Online analysts and newspaper columnists are writing about it. And all I could think was -- wait, you're telling me that there is someone who's gay playing in professional sports?!! Well, slap me with a wet fish. Honestly, I know this is a move that takes courage. Not just from a sports perspective, but a societal one. And being the first of anything is always more of a challenge and attention-getting. But at this point in life, how many people truly believed that there were no professional athletes today who were gay? Hands? Anyone? Even among the athletes themselves, how many there didn't think -- or didn't know -- that some of their teammates were gay? I'm not reacting to the news of the announcement or the fortitude of making it. I'm more marveling at all the press attention. It's big news that he's the first to announce that he's a gay pro athlete. But he's not the first gay pro athlete. Between all the four major sports, there are probably dozens. The best analysis of this I heard during the day came on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption where hosts Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser both say that while they expect there to be some thoughtless, lunkheaded reaction by a handful of players in the NBA, they expected the overall response to be totally accepting and only concerned about whether a player can help their team or not. The biggest impact, they felt, would be on how society outside the sport will now recognize and become more accepting of gays as part of the mainstream of life. One small quibble about the story. The news reports all refer to how this is the first time an active player in one of the major sports has come out as gay. However, the reality is that at the moment, Jason Collins isn't signed by any team and is a free agent. Now, he isn't retired, so maybe that is the fine line they're dancing on, but right now he isn't under contract to any team. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting.    
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