Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Quote for the Day, 12/13/2005   "With all that's going on in the world today, who among us hasn't wanted to take an axe to a priest?"   -William Shatner (Denny Crane), Boston Legal, "Legal Deficits" 11:04:26 PM    comment []

Belated Quote for the Day, 12/12/2005   "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."   -Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan 11:02:27 PM    comment []

Pat Riley is the Devil   People who know me know I don't have any hate for President Bush, or Senator Trent Lott, or Representative Tom DeLay.  I think the President is probably a good guy, who has been promoted many ranks beyond his level of competence, which level of competence appears to be clearing brush from a desert wasteland.  And I think Sen. Lott is a racist and Rep. DeLay is a blackmailer and extortionist, but these are deeply troubled people, one of whom should be committed to a mental institution and the other a penal institution.  But I don't hate them.  I hate Pat Riley. Stan Van Gundy has been a better coach in the last two years than Pat Riley has ever been.  Pat Riley underperformed as coach of stellar New York Knicks teams, and then moved on to underperform as the coach of Miami Heats teams.   He coached Lakers teams to a championship that an infant could have coached.  James Worthy deserves more credit for winning the Lakers those championships than Pat Riley.  Miami will do worse under Riley than they would have under Van Gundy.  Under Van Gundy, I think they had a better than even chance of a championship.  Under Riley, there is absolutely no chance it will happen.  Riley was never that good a coach, and he's slipped tremendously since his heyday. Pat Riley brought in a bunch of new players in the off-season who had no experience with being coached by Riley when he was disastrously bad, as he was in the last couple years he coached in Miami.  It was clear then he intended to stab Stan Van Gundy in the back and push him out the door, so Riley could coach Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O'Neal.  But Riley was even more ruthless than that; he had no interest in coaching a mediocre team, which is what Miami has been while O'Neal was injured.  He waited until the day before O'Neal returned from one of O'Neal's prolonged injuries before Riley did his Brutus impression on poor Van Gundy. Stan Van Gundy claimed he was leaving voluntarily.  His loyalty is to be commended.  But no sane human being believed it.  He showed the same dishonesty and lack of class which has been a trademark of Pat Riley since he was an assistant coach.  I'm not really suggesting Pat Riley is the Devil.  But he could play him on TV. 6:37:46 PM    comment []

McCain Catches Giuliani   In the latest national poll, Sen. John McCain has caught up with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the first choice of Republicans, with each garnering support among 25% of Republicans.  Which is no real surprise, since Giuliani has spent the last several years cashing fat checks for giving speeches to corporate fat cats, while Senator McCain is trying to put an end to US government torture.  One of them seems just a little more public service-oriented than the other.  What’s perhaps more striking is that if Giuliani wisely elects not to run, McCain would be a big frontrunner, but in solid second place is...Newt Gingrich.  Yes, you read that right.  The disgraced former Speaker of the US House, who arranged to have President Clinton impeached for having sex with an intern while at the same time the Speaker was paying a woman he was having sex with (which would make her...?), is apparently regarded as a serious contender for the Republican nomination for President. Republicans only believe in morality, apparently, when it comes to judging others' behavior. 2:22:19 PM    comment []