...you gotta be impressed with what they've done this year. And you've got to give Vandy a lot of credit for their win today.  But this game contained one of the most egregious examples of bad sportsmanship and judgment from a head coach since Woody Hayes slugged an opposing player who was headed for a touchdown.

After Vandy made a basket, coach Kevin Stallings grabbed the "live" ball and held it away from Joakim Noah to keep Florida from running a fast break.  That's bad enough and should have been an automatic technical.  But it gets worse.

When Noah reached for the (once again, live) ball, Stallings slapped at his arm.  This is a grown man, mind you.  The officials then rushed in to pull Noah away from Stallings as if he were the problem.  It embarrassed the officials (in their sad impotence), the conference, certainly Vanderbilt University and every team member.  The coach was disgraceful.

What made all of this even worse, is the fact that it gave Vanderbilt an even bigger advantage by breaking the focus of Florida.  Stunned at what they saw and how the officials reacted, they fell quickly behind and could never catch up.  On Fox Sports radio, the host asked a great question, "what if Bobby Knight had done this?".  I think the answer is, Bobby Knight would never do that.

It's a sad day for the University of Vanderbilt and it's fans.  In the middle of what should be a huge celebration, is disgrace.  Stallings will always be remembered for this.  Not much else.

sharp

First of all, let me say that Obama is as charismatic as advertised. He's smart, good looking and appears quite humble (an oddly American requirement - this country that the world thinks is so arrogant).

But the road to the White House is long and difficult and is littered with the bones of once-great politicians.  Remember the Monkey Business?  Gary Hart was measuring the White House for drapes and it all ended suddenly.  It's an almost impossible path from citizen to President.  Bill Clinton went from media darling to ravaged target prior to his election in 1992.  But that testing made him stronger.  George W. Bush, after a fairly easy path (cleared by some dirty business in South Carolina) through a pathetic Al Gore candidacy, was battered and bruised before even entering office (remember, "selected, not elected").  Ronald Reagan lost in 1976 to a nearly incompetent and personality-free Gerald Ford before rolling in 1980.

So I predict that the love affair will end (almost a shame, he's doing quite well except for falling back on tired class warfare populism ((not the sole forte of Hugo Chavez))).

He will be tested.  By Hillary.  By the press.  By the Republican candidate.  And if he survives, he will be far better for it.  We're all hopeful for that new leader that might emerge and lead us beyond the bitter politics and failures of the past.  But I don't think it's possible without the testing.

And maybe we're all the better for it.

Oh, yes.  The prediction.  Obama will stumble on the way to a hotly contested and close loss to Mitt Romney in 2008.  But he'll be very, very good.  And with a bright future.

sharp

While Nancy Pelosi got off to a stumbling start by supporting corrupt members for leadership positions, exempting a favorite San Francisco company from the minimum wage increase she lathered on everyone else and then demanding a 64 seat jet to sport her around (perhaps to anti-carbon emissions rallies), she has only been guilty of the major sin of not realizing the transparency of her position.

But Democratic leaders in Congress have just shown us how corrupt they intend to be..all the while a crocodile grin flashes at the cameras. David Obey praised the Democrats for taking the tough step to remove all earmarks from the federal budget. Sounds great, right? Yes, if it were true. But the truth is far seedier than the overt earmark process that brought down corrupt Republicans. You see, they're now contacting federal agencies and demanding that they spend against the same earmarks as last year (at least the ones they liked).

What that means, in a nutshell, is that they can claim they cut earmarks while only cutting Republican earmarks. Since these agencies depend on these very Congressional leaders for their annual funding, they are very reluctant to say "no".

Robbing us blind was bad enough in the last Congress. Save us the speeches about how pious and self-sacrficial you are while you do it.

sharp

From Michael Richards rant to John Edwards staffers' blogs, bigoted statements come in all forms from all places.  It seems like folks are quick to rush into "counseling", but I'm cynical enough to think of that as pat answer to a complicated question.

The ugly stain of bigotry (racial, gender or religious) has been on this country and every other country that has ever existed.  America has had a distinct advantage in that, we've had to deal with it head-on and we've got such a muliti-cultural society that it's difficult to insulate comments and attitudes in a homogenous place.

We all grew up in a place where we believed the people in our town were better than the people down the road.  It's not until we get to know the people in the next town that we realize they're just like us.  And those who spend their lives in the most single-minded cultures lack the wisdom of self-reflection and restraint. 

I have a friend from Chicago who is a hard-left liberal.  He's a good guy on almost all fronts, but he thinks Republicans are evil.  Not misguided, not wrong about taxes or health care...evil.  But he grew up where everyone was a Democrat and the folks from the next town, the Republicans, weren't as compassionate, as generous, as sincere or even as intelligent as the folks from his "town".  He's quick to become insulting and has an exceedingly thin skin where politics are concerned.  But, as I said, he's also a very good individual.  He gives to the poor, cares about those who are needy and tries to be inclusive of all around him.

The point of all of that is, that maybe this "counseling" thing makes sense, despite my misgivings.  It seems to me that my friend from Chicago is "bigoted" towards Southern Republicans because he's never been forced to confront the reality of that position.  It's never been challenged.  He's been able to mock others beliefs in an environment of complete acceptance of that attitude.  But forced to examine and defend those beliefs, we've all had our extreme positions collapse for lack of a true foundation.

Thoughts?

sharp

For the next 12 months the Colts will hold the trophy.  Peyton Manning will be the NFL MVP and the naysayers will have to move on to something else. 

This is the end of any doubt that Manning is the best quarterback in the NFL and maybe the best ever.  Certainly he'll hold every passing record unless he gets hurt.  I'm glad to see the monkey off his back.

As for Dungy, he lost his son before the Colts first playoff game last year.  The journey is still just beginning to deal with that grief.  I hope this provides some relief.  He has more class than anyone I've ever seen in pro sports.

Congratulations Colts.

sharp