PHUCK YEAH!

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS. HOW SWEET IT IS!


_John

It's the Economy Stupid Wednesday

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

The Greenspan files:
here, here, and below




And there was a rate cut yesterday and the Dow is still like a wild roller coaster ride, I am not sure what it all really means at this point because the PHILLIES WON THE WORLD SERIES.


_John

World Series bound

And it is off to the World Series for the Phils for the first time in 15 years. I do remember that team, but I sure as hell don't remember the Wheeze Kids of 1983, who lost to the O's, or the 1980 team that won it all. That is not to say I don't know who they are or that the image of the Tugger striking out Willie Wilson of the Royals for the first ever World Series championship for the Phils isn't also burned into my retinas. I remember them in the way that Philly sports fans remember their winning teams, like the 1983 Sixers with the Doc, Moses, and Mo Cheeks, or the Stanley Cups that came to the city of Brotherly Love in 1974 and 1975. Heck, we even remember Jaws losing in the Super Bowl in 1980 – the Birds are the only major sports franchise in the city without a city without winning it all. (Yes, they won the 1948, 1949, and 1960 NFL championships, but come on the last of these was a few years before the merger the first Super Bowl. I count them like I count the Phantoms, Wings, and Soul championships. They are what they are, but they aren't the championship of a major modern sports teams.)

So it is with this team that we faithful of Philly sports will hang our hat on this year to bring an end to our 25 year championship drought. Oh we have tried in the years intervening: The Flyers in 1984-85, 1986-87, and again in 1996-97; the Phils in 1993, the Sixers in 2001, and most recently the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005. Most of these teams were underdogs and ended up completely over matched, but in Philly we wouldn't have it any other way. A city of dynasties we are not. A town of legions of fans who know more and care more about sports than any city I have ever spent time in. We boo because we give a care, maybe too much some times. And we prefer an honest effort and emotion over elite skill set. Which brings me to this years team and last night's win. The quote speaks volumes, and probably means more in Philly than it would in any other city.

"You know what? It hasn't hit me yet," [Jimmy] Rollins said. "We still have a lot of work to do. We've got to find a way to win four more games. That's our goal. Our goal is to win the World Series. The goal was not just to win the National League. The goal was not just to get to the World Series. We qualified. That's all we did. So we've still got work to do. "But when it's all said and done, and my career's over, and hopefully we win the World Series, then that legend of the Phillies in 2008 will be a great story. But until then, we've still got four games to win."

Read all of Jayson Stark's article here. (By the way his coverage, despite not picking the Phils to beat the Dodgers, has been excellent. I would expect nothing less from a man who cut his teeth following the Phils for many years for the Philly Inq.) Oh, and how sweet it is that all of the cheerleading for the Dodgers by Fox Sports, especially Joe Buck and Idiot Tim McCarver, went for naught. I know that it would have been ratings gold for them to have Manny and Joe Torre return to Fenway. But the fact of the matter is the Sox aren't going to win their series, so why not try to turn the story in the the bad luck Phils versus the up and comer Rays. Fox and its announcers just couldn't bring themselves to do it. Their dream died hard, but mine lives on.


_John

image: from Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Presidential Debate #3

What did I miss? Seriously, I checked over only a few times during commercial break and pitching changes as my beloved Phils phucked the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine last night. It's off to the World (cough, US/Canada) Series for the first time in 15 years. More on that in a minute.

And yes Virginia that is an actual unphotoshopped image right after the debate ended.


_John

image: from Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty

The bulldozers await

It's strange when you see things you vividly remember from your youth primed for destruction. I know exactly where the Perikomen Bridge Hotel is located having seen it from every seat of my parents' cars as we passed it for many various and asundry reasons, though mostly soccer games and camping come to mind. The description of the intersection does not do it justice, it is so horrifically bad that it is beyond anything that letters can describe. The area itself is not aesthetically pleasing as more having lost it's charm with constant modern additions, including the recent cookie cutter box strip mall put in just around the corner to further scar the landscape. The towns roads did not make the conversion from horse-based transportation to automobiles very well either. Tight quick turns, a narrow bridge, and narrower roads, and, of course, the Perkiomen Creek made for some tight grips on the steering wheel.

We are still living the sins of urban renewal and what we are left with are some of these century old structures deteriorate in locations that are not conducive to modern roadside businesses. Saving these structures comes down to a a choice between expensive preservation and potential money to be made on the land. I generally think things are more complicated than they first appear, but in cases with our collective physical history decisions are easy. The objects remain or the disappear into stories told over pictures. I am aware that not everything can be saved, nor should it. There is always a business component and historical societies are not wealthy enough to occupy every historic structure worth saving. In the case of the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel, I really hope they save it because I have a personal attachment to seeing that structure at that insane corner. A corner, which makes getting to the property so difficult and frustrating that I don't see any great advantage to the location for any business.

For me it is not just a part of history, it is a part of my history that I hope remains real. The hotel, which for generations has been the landmark for that hard left turn off Main to wind along the Perkiomen creek into the wilderness of Montgomery County will be gone forever. It is one of the historic landmarks that deserves to be saved. It certainly deserves better than being replaced by a nondescript box store surrounded by an endless parking lot, which is what I am sure some developers have already decided on.


(picture from the Philadelphia Inquirer)

What you will find here

Well let's see what this will look like for now. I currently live inside the beltway, so politics is going to be found here potentially quite often. I will probably point out things that I find interesting rather than go into too much analysis. (There are too many learned people on the web who I could only bask in their shadow (see links on the right). And I am not talking to you Tim Russert or the rest of the Washington Press corps. You need to start doing your job like Dana Priest.) Sports will also be found here. I am a passionate Philadelphia sports fans -- love us or hate us, but we care deeply about our sports. Science will also find a place here because of my passion for exploring the intersection of science and society. As for personal stuff, it might come in time, but not to start. I will get around to explaining the title in due time. So away we go with sports today...

Philly already has a complex about being an overlooked major city because of its proximity to the Big Apple, couple that with the fact that the last championship in the city was 1983 -- the quickly forgotten Sixers -- and we are really chomping at the bit these days. Yes, we have been in championship series and games in all of the sports since then, but sadly no parades down Broad. The thing you have to realize about Philly fans is that if you are a blood and guts player, they will love you forever. If you look like you are taking a play off or are aloof, it is going to be a long year for you -- and that goes for you Santa. We boo because we care not because we are mean. Suck it up or get out like Billy Wagner did. Baby.

If this were a normal year, the posts would be chalk full of Flyers posts as the prepare for the playoffs. Opps, they laid a huge egg this year and now occupy the basement of the league. It is a weak draft this year, so looks like they will be adding a player we will hopefully see in 3 years. The Phils are in spring training and I don't pay attention to them until they fly north. The Sixers will be good in a few years, I not a huge basketball fan (a post on why basketball players have no guts soon). That leaves the Birds, which don't start playing until September. They draft in late in the first round again this year, and they rarely make a draft day move, so I don't really care about the draft. And Andy Reid family problems are his family's and they will not be fodder here.