Monday, February 21, 2011

Violence in Libya

The Crisis in Egypt is starting to have a domino effect on the Middle East. There have been protests and demonstrations in nations like Bahrain, Iran and Libya. Only problem-these nations are not close to pseudo democracies that Egypt is. In Iran they are calling for the deaths of protesters and Libya is actually doing air raids on the protests. I don't have a good feeling that these are going to go as well but to see this spectacle of change and people having a voice in this nation is impressive, the more they crack the "iron fist" eventually it will break.

February is dead month in sports

This post is just to state the obvious. After the Super Bowl February is the dead month in sports. There are no major championships until you get to March and the NCAA Tournament. There are, however, important college basketball games that start to separate the good teams from the great teams. The top four teams in the nation all last week and they need to watch their records going into the conference tournaments if they plan on getting an number one seed (not to mention they do not want to lose momentum). This will no doubt be a very wide open tournament this year with any Big East team having a chance to make a run as well as no clear top team. Even when there is a top team (see Kansas 2010) that is not even a guarantee. At least this month give us something to look forward to.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Down goes Egypt!

After days of protests and even violence at times, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak finally resigned ending 30 years of rule with an iron fist. We had a relationship with them as they were a democracy, however they were a "puppet" democracy.

It will be very interesting to see how this change of power plays a role in the future of Egypt and, more importantly, the Middle East as we have many foreign policy interests there and the stability of this part of the world is a huge part of the War on Terror and national security.

Overall, the events here were more fascinating than anything happening in Boehner World or in Richmond for that matter. I also hopes this is a turning point in the role of the Middle East in world peace.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Green Bay wins Super Bowl

As I predicted, Green Bay one the Super Bowl over Pittsburgh 31-25. It did not seem like there was a memorable play like the past few years that defined this one but the game was close and entertaining so I cannot complain about that. Green Bay was the better team throughout forcing three turnovers and capitalizing on a lot of opportunities.

Unfortunately, this Super Bowl will probably be remembered much more for the snafus than anything that happened in the game. Christina Aguliera botched the national anthem, 400 people were denied admission, weather, a not so great halftime show, and controversial commercials. Hopefully there will be one next year with the lockout looming.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Super Bowl weekend

Even though it isn't official this an an American holiday. Getting ready for parties and all of the pregame, game and post game rituals are as much of a tradition as putting up a Christmas tree or serving turkey on Thanksgiving.

This year's game features the Green Bay Packers vs. The Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. While there is bitterness that it isn't the Patriots, I have taken a step back and realized that this year's version is America at its finest. Tradition is meeting progress. The Packers and the Steelers are two of the NFL's most storied franchises and have combined for nine Lombardi trophies. Most importantly, this game is about the fans. On one side it is the steel workers from western Pennsylvania vs. the farmers and meatpackers in Wisconsin. These are the people that define America and they do deserve to watch their team play in this game. Cowboys Stadium is also the most state-of-the-art stadium built in the world and represents American progress.

As for the game, I like the Packers 33-30. Aaron Rodgers is determined to get out of the shadow of Brett Farve in this game and their defense will step up.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Egypt getting very dangerous

The level of violence in Egypt has escalated beyond normal but it is not a war. I cannot define what it is. All I know is that it will continue until Mubarak steps down from power. Also, it is very difficult to categorize this as a Democratic society with this level of violence and defacto revolution. I feel bad for Americans who are studying abroad in Egypt as it is a very exotic and interesting place as it has storied history.

Snow

Half of the nation was paralyzed under a winter storm this past week that stretched from the Midwest to New England. The DC/Arlington area was left out other than a light freezing rain. While a snow day is nice every now and then, this magnitude of a storm would have paralyzed the city for almost a week. Unfortunately I have a feeling that we will get one really big storm before the winter ends.