Tough sports day

Tough day for sports in New England. The Red Sox were eliminated by the Angels in a 3-0 sweep. They were leading in the top of the 9th inning 6-4 and then Jonathan Papelbon gave up three runs and they lost 7-6. I did not have really high expectations of them since they limped into the playoffs but it is always a let down when they end their season. It usually means a long, cold winter is right behind.

The Patriots lost today to Denver 20-17 in overtime. The are not off to the fastest start particularly for Super Bowl contender. Tom Brady and the offense still have a lot of work to do as they did not score in the second half. Hopefully they will get their problems figured out to make a run at the playoffs and we will see what happens from there.

In better news, I ran my first 10K today along the Tidal Basin area/Potomac Park. When you do it for the first time, the goal is to finish and that is what I did!

Obama gets Peace Prize

This was a surprise to many, including the President himself. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today. It was surprising because he has not had a lot of accomplishments. It left the White House looking for a way to try and spin this-especially since they did not create the news. They did the best they could by saying it was a call to serious action for America to engage in diplomacy to solve the world's problems. A lot of it had to do with the fact that his policies were different from President Bush. He also said that he will donate the money to a charity. There is always the option of keeping it with the promise of starting a foundation after his presidency is over.

Red Sox fall in Game 1

Red Sox lost the opening game of their best of five ALDS against Anaheim 5-0. I did not stay up for most of the game, however, the game breaker was Torii Hunter's 3 run homer in the 5th inning. There were also two controversial calls by the umpires. The Angels still have to two more games, however you never know when the momentum swinger is going to come in a playoff series and that one hit might have been all the Angels needed to turn the series their way, especially in a best 3 out of 5. Game 2 is critical for the Red Sox otherwise they would have to make a return trip to the West Coast to win the series. If I played for an East Coast team, I would dread having to play a series against a team from the West Coast, especially with the cross country trips. It does not both the Red Sox as much because they are a veteran team and have had enough success against the Angels.

Its Rio!

Rio de Janiero was selected to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Surprisingly Chicago went out in the first round. Madrid got to the final so at one point I was giddy with excitement about a possible return to the place I lived for four months. At least I won't have to wait that long. While it was not my top choice I am pleased that a barrier was broken and the Games will head to South America for the first time as the early part of this century has seen a lot of barriers broken down such as this (and I expect more).

Unfortunately, the conservatives were actually pleased that Chicago did not get the Olympics because it meant a setback for President Obama. I thought it was somewhat unpatriotic to be supporting Madrid and these people are happy that we did not get it. I think the Olympics transcends politics and this is going to new lows. I also would not be cheering if Bush had done the same for New York four years ago and the result had been the same.

Olympic decision tomorrow

Tomorrow the International Olympic Committee will decide the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games. As someone who studied in Spain, I would be thrilled to see Madrid get them. However, I have visited Chicago twice and believe it would make an extraordinary host for the Games. The other two cities are Rio de Janiero and Tokyo. Rio would break a barrier and Tokyo is a world class city as well. President Obama made a last minute decision to over to be part of the final bid presentation. Critics are saying that he should spend more time on health care and Afghanistan. However, it is a short trip and should Chicago get awarded the Games, it would be one of his major accomplishments to date. Also the other candidate cities have heads of state as part of their presentations. Because of this, if Chicago did not get the Games he would be criticized for not going. May the best city win! Opening ceremonies will be here before you know it.

Red Sox in the playoffs

The Red Sox clinched their wild card berth in the playoffs when Texas lost to Anaheim on Tuesday night. It was a muted celebration as they clinched it on a five game losing streak. Having said that, since the MLB playoff field is so small, there is really no way you can just "back into" the playoffs. They went on a hot streak from mid August to mid September so they earned their berth. It should be interesting to see if they can go on yet another run this year. The Angels feel they will get them at some point but many experts feel they are the second best team in the American League. It will be exciting to see it all play out. Go Sox!

Earthquake/tsunami in the Pacific

There were two earthquakes this week in the Pacific Ocean, one of which created a tsunami that devastated the islands of Samoa and American Samoa. Having the two earthquakes near each other seemed like the TV miniseries 10.5, about a huge earthquake that destroyed the entire West Coast. The other one was in Indonesia near where the 2004 tsunami struck. It is a "double whammy" to many of these parts of the world because they are so poor to begin with. It is also difficult to predict/evacuate when there is a possible tsunami or not.