RNC - I'm Starting To Get Nervous....

I live in St. Paul. I really like St. Paul. And, as I have written before, the Republican National Convention is coming to St. Paul from September 1 - 4. While I'm happy for the city, the whole thing makes me a little jittery. Here's why:

1. The Xcel Energy Center is being transformed for the Convention. The X is, hands down, the nicest arena in the Twin Cities. Yes, it even beats THE METRODOME. Now, I read today that the arena is being "transformed" for the RNC. This is a little like handing over a Lamborghini to someone who is going to "change things up a little." Here is some background from today's Star Tribune:

The keys to the Xcel Energy Center were turned over to the national Republican Party this morning (Editor's note - HOLY CRAP!) in an informal ceremony, as construction crews begin a multimillion-dollar, six-week makeover, transforming the complex into the home of the party's national convention, Sept. 1 to 4. After the arena's general manager Jack Larson handed over a ceremonial key to the facility this morning, about 100 workers began removing 3,500 seats and turning the hockey/concert venue into a massive TV studio where Sen. John McCain will be nominated as the Republican Party's candidate the first week of September.

...Xcel Energy Center Senior Operations Director Mark Stoffel said that the zamboni has been put in secure storage and 30 of the 72 suites will be stripped of seats and furniture and converted into TV studios.

...Meanwhile, 800 to 900 seats to the left and right of the podium will be removed, replaced by tables for news media, with phone and laptop hookups. More than 20 miles of cable will be strung through the complex to handle the data, telephone and video that will make this the most high-tech convention yet.

...One of the big construction jobs, starting this week, will be transforming 23 suites that look out onto the arena into mini-studios and work spaces for the television networks. Three rows of seats will be removed from the suites and drink stands torn out, to be replaced by platforms that will extend into the arena where television anchors will sit. Some suites will have glass enclosures. Nine suites are being created for television on the first level on the Washington Street side. The upper level ordinarily used by sports media will be made available for radio broadcasters and bloggers (Hey!).

That, friends, is a lot of stuff being done to my favorite arena. I hope those guys know what they are doing. And I hope they don't "have a few bolts and screws left over" when they put everything back in place like I do at the end of most projects. Be gentle with the X, guys.

2. Anarchists planning on protesting the RNC. This obviously does not surprise me. And, before I go any further, I want to reiterate that I am not against protesting. The right to free speech and to peaceful protest is an American right that men and women have died to protect. If I remember correctly, there were some guys in Boston (not you Phil) who protested British "taxation without representation" by throwing tea in the harbor. I welcome peaceful protesters who know WHY they are there and WHAT they are protesting.

But then there are the guys who are there to break shit. I am talking about the self-appointed Anarchists. By the way, how do you get to be an Anarchist? Are there clubs? Are there rules? And if there are rules, that would seem to defeat the purpose of being an Anarchist. Here is what I learned in today's Pioneer Press about the Anarchist's plans for the RNC:

WALDO, Wis. (Editor's Note - WALDO, WISCONSIN??)— About 150 anarchists from the United States and Canada are in Wisconsin this week training for demonstrations at the Democratic and Republican conventions. The anarchists are attending four days of workshops in Waldo in Sheboygan County. Some of the workshops focus on strategies for the upcoming conventions.

The sessions are organized by the CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective, an underground group that has published anarchist texts such as "Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook."
CrimethInc. rejects government, capitalism and conformity.

Media liaison Pinkerton Xyloma would not say why the anarchists are meeting in Wisconsin but said they have no interest in violence or terrorism.

Waldo Village President Mike Hintz says the group is meeting on private land and has caused no problems.

The Democratic convention is Aug. 25-28 in Denver. The Republican convention is Sept. 1-4 in St. Paul.

Workshops. They're attending Anarchist workshops in Waldo, Wisconsin. What the hell do they do at the workshop? Paint? Read? Set fires? They say they reject government, capitalism and conformity. I wonder if a few of them thought it was kind of bogus to "conform" and meet in the same place (Waldo) for the workshop? I wonder if a few of them asked "Where's Waldo?" (I just made myself laugh). Seriously, a few of them probably showed up in Sheyboygan just to piss the others off.

I found another article in the Pioneer Press that outlined some of the stuff that has happened in other cities. Here's what that piece had to say:

On a November day in 1999, Seattle police lost control of their city.

During a meeting of the World Trade Organization, protesters blockaded intersections, cut off delegates from the conference and rifled through local businesses, causing extensive damage. Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to control the crowd, but it took days to restore order.
A group of Twin Cities anarchists now is making similar threats against the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. But they also made threats against the 2004 conventions in Boston and New York, and little ever came of them.

The question is what to make of the anarchists? Are they for real? And how seriously should the city take their threats?

Interesting. Those are hard questions to answer. Mainly because it's hard to find an Anarchist to talk to. I mean, they don't hang out at Target or Dairy Queen. From that same article, however, here is some background on one of the Big Whigs:

The anarchists say they won't talk to "corporate media," but one of the nation's best-known anarchists is John Zerzan, a Eugene, Ore.-based author and host of Anarchist Radio. When contacted by phone, Zerzan said he regards the Seattle protest and riots as a success because they spotlighted anarchists' antiglobalization message.

Zerzan — a confidant of Theodore Kaczynski in the mid-1990s while the Unabomber awaited trial — said anarchists want to end corporate domination of the planet and roll back technological advances. His new book is titled "Twilight of the Machines."

Eugene-based anarchists were instrumental in the Seattle riots, and Zerzan does not back away from the methods. While he doesn't condone violence against other individuals, he doesn't see property damage as violent — "Certainly not corporate property," Zerzan said.

(For those of you that used to watch The Young Ones, this reminds me of the time Vivyan says to (P)rick - "Oh, what are you going to do, Rick, burn your bra?" )

These are the guys, people, that want to break shit. RNC, WTO, HBO - it doesn't matter. Whether or not they actually get a chance to carry through with that threat remains to be seen. The St. Paul police and other local authorities are taking steps to make sure the city will be safe.

It's going to be interesting. What do you think? Am I over-reacting? I realize there is a chance that absolutely nothing will go down. But, you never know.

I guess we'll see what went down in those Workshops.

Jeff

Friday Humor

I read this in The Onion last night and could not stop laughing.

Girlfriend Wants To Leave Game Now

BOSTON—According to eyewitness reports, Jennifer Holleman, 25, wants to leave the game now despite the difficulty and expense of obtaining tickets, the strong playoff implications of the contest, and the fact that the final result of the hotly contested tie game is still in doubt. "Are you still watching this? Or can we leave soon?" Holleman asked boyfriend Ian Pickett, who had been looking forward to the game for weeks and had in fact initially invited his best friend before finally being coerced by Holleman to bring her instead. "Let's go watch a movie or something. Or I could call Liz and Michelle and meet up at a bar that's playing the game there.Then you could still watch the end of the game. We've been here for an hour already and no one's even winning." Earlier in the evening, Pickett had missed the only scoring of the once-in-a-lifetime sporting epic while waiting in line at the gift shop to purchase a pink version of the home team's hat.


I absolutely love that article.

Happy Friday,

Jeff

This Whole Favre Thing Just Keeps Getting Weirder By The Second...

Twins First Half

It's that glorious time of year in which America's pastime (no, not NASCAR) takes a breather. It is time for Major League Baseball's All-Star break. It's also time to ponder the Minnesota Twins' first-half performance. As I have said, if anyone would have told me before the season that the 2008 Twins would be 53-42 and 1 1/2 games out of first place, I would have signed that person up for meth treatment. But, that is exactly where they stand.

There is no question that the Twins have overachieved after losing Johan Santana, Torii Hunter and Carlos Silva (well, that might be a stretch) in the off-season. Here is a quick synopsis of what has gone RIGHT:

--Joe Mauer is healthy again and the starting catcher in the All-Star game.

--Justin Morneau has MVP numbers again.

--The young starting rotation has not only been competent, but actually good.

--Joe Nathan has been Joe Nathan. The best closer in baseball.

--The Twins have discovered a second baseman that can hit and field - Alexi Casilla.

--Brian Buscher has been an adequate fill-in at third and at the plate. This means Mike Lamb has not had to play.

--Somehow, someway, Livan Hernandez has won 9 games.

--Carlos Gomez has brought a spark to center field, the leadoff position and on the bench.

--Denard Span has proved he can play in the big leagues.

--Delmon Young has started to hit. Sort of.

Off the top of my head, those are some of the things that have gone right for the Twins. Now here are some of the issues the Twins face in the second-half if they have any hope of catching the White Sox and winning the division:

--Can Livan Hernandez continue to win games with his 83 MPH fastball and "smoke and mirrors?" I have read that Hernandez has been one of the best influences on the young pitching staff in years. But although he has 9 wins, his ERA is ballooning at 5.44. Sometimes he just gets rocked. How long can the Twins wait during the second half to bring up Fracisco Liriano (7-2, 3.53 ERA at AAA) to replace Hernandez? I love that the Twins have allowed Liriano time at AAA, but he is throwing in the mid to high 90's and appears ready.

--How long can the Twins stay with Carlos Gomez at the leadoff position in the batting lineup? Gomez has been great, and I love his attitude. But his average has fallen from .280 to .253. His OBP is only .287, which is terrible for a lead-off batter. If you remove bunts and infield singles, his average would be about .120. As mentioned, Denard Span is hitting .324 with a .429 OBP while filling in for the injured Michael Cuddyer. Can the Twins keep Span out of the lineup?

--Can the Twins find a set-up guy to pitch the 8th inning and get to Joe Nathan. This position used to be filled by Pat Neshak before he injured his elbow and was lost for the season. They have tried Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier with some luck. Neither, however, is a true set-up guy. This may be something the Twins need to address in a trade.

--Can the Twins beat the teams ahead of them in the standings? The Twins have proven they can beat the teams behind them in the standings and the whole National League. They had a horrible series in Chicago, however, and got swept by Boston before the break. They need to prove they can beat these teams before we start talking about a Division championship.

--Can the Twins not pinch-hit Mike Lamb? That is just my throw-in. I hate it when Lamb pinch hits.

It will be an interesting second half. The American League Central will probably take 90-95 wins to clinch the division. What do you think - can they do it?

Jeff

Stranger Than Fiction??

This from a espn.com report:

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Three days after a conference call with Green Bay Packers team officials on Tuesday in which quarterback Brett Favre emphatically expressed his desire to play in 2008, Favre on Friday formally asked for his contractual release from the Packers in a letter, sources close to Favre and the team said.

The letter was sent by Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, via overnight mail on Thursday and arrived at the Packers facility Friday morning.

...Favre wants a mutual parting rather than having to force the Packers' hand by writing a letter to request his reinstatement to the active 80-man roster. Under league policy, the team would have to comply or release him.
Cook's letter did suggest that Favre's accomplishments for the franchise merited the team honoring his request to be released, also asking that the action be taken "with no strings attached." Favre does not want to be traded, sources said, because he wants the freedom of choice to play for any other franchise.

Folks, if Brett Favre gets his wish and forces the Green Bay Packers to unconditionally release him, I'd put that odds at better than 50/50 that he is the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings in 2008. I am dead serious about that.

Now, having said that, the Packers would be insane to grant Favre's wish. INSANE. But, do they keep him after basically stating that they do not want him back, awarded the starting job to Aaron Rodgers and drafted two quarterbacks?

ROCK. PACKERS. HARD PLACE.

Get it?

Are we heading for a parallel universe?

Jeff

Oh, Jesse.......

If I was Barack Obama, the last man on Earth that I would want on my side is the Reverend Jesse Jackson. No wait, Jackson is second. The Reverend Al Sharpton is the last man on Earth that I would want on my side. The Obama campaign has done a great job keeping Jesse at bay.

Until today.

It turns out that Obama has been speaking in black churches lately about the importance and responsibility of black fathers to their children (gasp - the GALL!). Here are the details from a report on cnn.com:

In a recent Father's Day speech at a black church, Obama took absent black fathers to task, saying, "We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child -- it's the courage to raise one."

Amen to that. Obama is right on the money with his statement on fatherhood no matter if you are white, black, green or orange. But, I guess Jesse doesn't think so. Jesse thinks there are more "pressing issues" to deal with like "high levels of unemployment, home foreclosures and violence." By the way - many of these problems could be rectified with a better upbringing from mom and dad, as Obama was eluding to. But that is just me. More from the cnn.com story:

The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized Wednesday for "crude and hurtful" remarks he made about Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama after an interview with a Fox News correspondent.

The remarks came Sunday as Jackson was talking to a fellow interviewee, UnitedHealth Group executive Dr. Reed V. Tuckson. An open microphone picked up Jackson whispering, "See, Barack's been talking down to black people ... I want to cut his nuts off."

Jackson told CNN's "Situation Room" that he didn't realize the microphone was on.

"It was very private," Jackson said, adding that if "any hurt or harm has been caused to his campaign, I apologize."

Obama's statement was "talking down to black people?" You know, one of Jesse's "handlers" should tell to just assume "the microphone is always on." Can you imagine some of the stuff that must come out of this guy's mouth when he is truly "not on tape?" I mean, some of the public stuff is downright crazy. Obama is literally months from becoming the nation's first black President, and you have wing-nuts like Jackson saying stuff like this. Somebody should lock Jesse in a basement until mid-November. That is what makes this Saturday Night Live cartoon so funny. Check it out - I wish I knew how to embed it from the SNL site, but that is a little too complicated for me. Here's the link:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=224714

Oh well. Jesse has apologized. Again. But, now the nation knows how he really feels.

Peace,

Jeff

Back To Reality

My family and I have returned from Sasquatch hunting in the woods of Northeastern Wisconsin. We spent the last week at the in-laws cabin north of Green Bay. Amazingly, once again, the Sasquatch eluded us. Several ticks and mosquitos found us, however. Even with the bugs it was a great week. I understand that several things happened on the sports front while I was away. Here are a few:

1. The Wild loses Brian Rolston to New Jersey and resigns Andrew Brunette. Free agency season has begun in the NHL. It's nice to see Bruno back in a Wild jersey, and I also like the addition of winger Antti Meittinen from Dallas. However, I'm not sure these moves will be enough to make up for the loss of Brian Rolston along with half of last year's squad. It looks like the Wild will be a whole new team next year. The problem is that I don't foresee them improving. I give the Wild a B+ for their drafting history, and a D- for their history in free agency. They simply never seem to improve their team through free agency.

2. Marian Hossa signs with Detroit. Speaking of free agency, Marian Hossa has decided to spurn some long-term offers (including one from the Wild) and sign a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings. Perhaps you have heard of the Red Wings. Geez, should we just skip next season and award the Red Wings the championship trophy? Or play for 2nd place, perhaps? This is a relatively new phenomenon in sports - players signing with an established team for far less money simply to win a championship. It's the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" syndrome. I understand where these players are coming from, but it seems that the "championship" they win with these "stocked teams" is a bit tarnished. But maybe that is just me.

3. Twins win 17 of 20 games. If you would have told me this spring that on July 6th, the Twins would be sitting at 49-38 and 1 game out of first place, I would have told you to put down the crack pipe. Remember, Johan Santana was traded and Torii Hunter left via free agency. Plus, I have socks older than most of the starting pitchers. Add that Francisco Liriano was not fully recovered from his Tommy John surgery and was sent to the minors. All of this had the making of a disastrous 2008 season. But Ron Gardenhire has done arguably his best job managing in 2008 and the Twins have found out that Alexi Casilla, Carlos Gomez, Brian Buscher and some other young players are much better than anticipated. And Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, Livan Hernandez, Glen Perkins & Kevin Slowey is not a bad 5-man rotation. Pretty amazing. I will have a detailed post on the first half of the Twins season during the All-Star break.

4. Favre gets "The Itch" to return. I learned while at the in-laws cabin that I was in "5 Country." That means Channel 5 out of Green Bay. I watched the 6:00 news one night and the 6:02 story was on Nick Barnett and the 6:03 story was on ESPN.com holding a contest to name "The New Titletown." Now, keep in mind that it is July, and Packer mini-camps don't even start for a month. The Titletown story was quite controversial on "The 5" but they were able to track down some individuals in local watering holes who had opinions on who the Real Titletown is. Problem solved.

The next night, " The 5" lead off their 6:00 news with the BOMBSHELL that Brett Favre is getting "The Itch" and wants to return to football. All I can say is that I was glad to be sitting down when I heard that. Once I put my head between my legs and breathed into a bag for a few minuets, I was able to compose myself. As I have speculated many times, once Favre mows the lawn a few times and takes out the stinky garbage in the ripped sack, he is going to want to return to the good life in the NFL. What remains to be determined is whether or not the Pack wants him back. There are rumors that - get this - Favre has asked for his unconditional release from the Packers. Could you imagine Brett Favre playing for another NFL team? How about the Bears or Vikings? That would be one serious parallel universe we'd be crossing into. And there would also be an ongoing suicide watch in "5 Country."

The person that I feel bad for is Aaron Rodgers. Here is a guy the Packers drafted in the first round quite a few years back. It feels like he was drafted back in the Reagan administration. I think he is already receiving AARP cards although he has never started a game. If I was Rodgers, I'd cringe every time I heard Favre talking about "The Itch." Rodgers has been "itching" to play since college.

This will be interesting. I truly believe in my heart that Favre will play again this fall. Whether the Pack wants him back, we don't know. I simply cannot imagine Favre in another team's uniform. Then again, I said the same thing about Kevin Garnett. And we all know what happened there.

Peace,

Jeff