June 2009 Archives
The
If you don't know soccer, and maybe don't really care a whole lot, our beating both
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The United States national soccer team stunned the soccer-loving planet by upsetting the best team in the World, Spain, and ending Spain's amazing streak of 35 consecutive games without a loss, including 15 straight wins.
No matter how convulsed some here may be by Mark Sanford's tale of his distinctly foreign adventure, nothing will match the horror in Madrid, Barcelona and other capitals around the world. The U.S. beat Spain?! For sure, it was in a tournament in South Africa without any real consequences. It wasn't like we won at the World Cup, the once-every-four years of soccer.
But it was a big stage, nevertheless, and came after we were abysmal in defeats to Italy and Brazil, only luckily qualifying for this game by defeating Egypt as Italy was demolished by Brazil.
I wrote here that we were boys among men after those first two games. I now happily eat red, white and blue crow. We may not have a single player good enough to start for Spain's team but we actually performed as a team and, on this South African night, were better. I'm sorry Mark Sanford didn't have nearly as good a day.
06/23/09 12:43 AM
Kodachrome, the lush and seductive colors of our lives, dies at 74. Why we should mourn.
Eastman Kodak Co. announced Monday that it's bidding farewell to Kodachrome, its oldest and the first commercially successful film. At first, it seemed like another moment to engage in brief, Pavlovian nostalgia of the rotary telephone or monophonic record album sort.
There were pro forma histories of the film and mention of its invention by two young musicians; its early use by Hollywood; how sales are just a smidgen of Kodak's total sales; and how it's so difficult to process that only one joint in Switzerland and one in Kansas handle the film.
Then I wondered: Might this be different? Is there be a reason to be sad, even in this wondrous digital age in which hacks like me can stumble onto a great image, perhaps quickly juice it up and, then, voila, send it to every village and hamlet on the globe (not to mention CNN or MSNBC)?
06/19/09 11:23 AM
Boys among men as the U.S. plays soccer versus Brazil
Only the most heavily-medicated American partisans would not have felt humiliated Thursday when the U.S. national team was embarrassed, 3-0, by Brazil. This followed a similar, 3-1 spanking the other day at the hands of Italy.
We displayed technical inferiority, tactical confusion and gross immaturity. For the second consecutive game, an American was thrown out of the game for a dumb foul, forcing his team to compete with one less player. So, given the state of soccer in our land, should one bring in a band of shrinks to divine why a Chicago-based company has decided to spent a reported $130 million to have its logo on one team's shirt?
Not really. Check out my dispatch on a new romance between an insurance brokerage and the most famous of all soccer teams at http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200906u/manchester-united-sponsorship
06/17/09 4:56 PM
The alluring Sammy Sosa Cocktail: One part steroids (maybe), five parts media (definitely)
Even non-sports fans may have had a difficult time avoiding word of baseball slugger Sammy Sosa being inducted into the Cultural Hall of Shame late Tuesday. Now, please, take one or two steps back and consider this tidy example of how our news is made and consumed.
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06/12/09 12:27 AM
A Guantanamo prisoner is quietly released: the low-profile finale to an ignominious tale
You surely don't know the name nor should you, really. But Jawad Jabbar Sadkhan Al-Sahlani was quietly given his freedom Thursday by the U.S. Government and finally allowed to exit the prison at
"Our client, Jawad Al-Sahlani, was released from GTMO today,"
His client was never charged with a crime after being labeled an enemy combatant as a result of claims he'd been associated with the Taliban. He denied the charges and was not allowed to call witnesses to refute the claims. Nobody ever alleged he was with al-Qaeda or was involved in any hostilities against us or any of our allies.
06/11/09 6:48 PM
The Big Bang theory of regulation: The Obama administration cuts a great American rite some slack
The Federal Register, which is the most alluring and largely unread document in English, informs us that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a division of the Department of Transportation, has a very important request from the American Pyrotechnics As
It's applied for a limited exemption from rules that drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) can't drive after "the 14th hour after coming on duty." This exemption would apply just to the driving of CMVs by employees of 14 companies involved with staffing fireworks shows celebrating Independence Day during the periods of June 28-
06/04/09 10:17 PM
A new angle on a historic event, what it says about us and why we should have paid for it
With a single image, the New York Times made news Thursday---a day not lacking in the eventful, given President Obama's speech in
We all know the photos of the defiant "tank man" standing in Tiananmen Square in
06/03/09 7:33 AM
Assembly line pathos: Eviction Court in Chicago. By comparison, Sotomayor is going lawn bowling
On Monday morning, the young
"What's going on here?" said a semi-incredulous Judge Diane Shelley, looking at the woman. "You're filing against your brother?!"
Indeed, sister is trying to evict brother from a house she owns on
"You believe in tough love!" said Shelley, slightly raising her eyebrows and shaking her head.
