Just Another Manic Monday

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One of the great things about writing for a website like this is the ability to freely give one's opinions to the, oh, half-dozen people that make the effort to read them. Because these opinions are "published" also lends some credibility to the writer-- although not much, since you can get away with writing anything on the Internet..

The downside of this freedom of expression is the work that one actually has to... well... express those opinions in a coherent and entertaining manner. Don't get me wrong, I'm a great fan of prose. But there are some days (like today-- you'll see why below) where I feel like taking the culturally-accepted easy way out-- bulleted lists.

To that end, I'm introducing the first installment of "Weekend Yeas and Nays," in the spirit of Newsweek's Conventional Wisdom. This little formulaic gambit will pop its head up every time I'm slated for a Monday gambit, every third Monday if you're scoring at home. Now...

YEAS

• Potential voters for recognizing Kerry's dominance over Bush in last Thursday's debate. I got to see the end of it, and Kerry seemed calm, eloquent, lucid... and Bush looked like Howdy Doody. I saw him respond to each question by saying "You can't be a leader if you switch positions." That's all well and good-- but if that's his only answer, he's in trouble. I thought I might have had the impression of Kerry's win only because my disfavor for Dubya. Guess not.
• The Piano Man marries again. She's 23. Good for him. She certainly wouldn't want a short, balding man with a propensity to wrap his car around trees slip away. Oh, and he's eligible for the senior discount at Embers. But, again-- good for him.
• All Twin City Marathon Runners, including Bounce. It takes an amazing amount of self-discipline to train for a marathon, more than I think I have.
• Your Golden football Gophers, ranked #19 in the land and possibly rising, after beating Joe Pa's Nittany Lions on Saturday. Granted, they should have shellacked Penn State, and next week brings the Michigan Wolverines (who the Gophers haven't beat since 1986.) But Mason and the boys have made me mildly interested in college football, something I didn't know was possible.

NAYS

• Aussie Grant Balfour. The Twins needed a win to secure home-field advantage, and were down 3-2 in the ninth. Balfour had two outs and a "capacity" crowd of 30,000 cheering him on, wanting to let the Twins bat down a single run. Grant's response? Give up two runs on a triple and a wild pitch. That's what you like to see out of your relievers in a pressure situation.
• Colds. In my zeal to take advantage of the beautiful weekend, along with sitting in the cold on Saturday helping with my mom's garage sale in Austin, I've acquired some sort of bug. Although I'm home from work today, so I guess that's not so bad.
• NBC, for the latest helping of slop in reality TV: The Biggest Loser. Nothing like exploiting a serious health issue. Although one could argue that this show at least has some merit in its results, unlike something like "Fear Factor" where you eat worms.
• Republican conspiracy theorists. I think right-wingers are officially scared-- see Drudge for foolishness.

There you have it, then. Like it? Hate it? Ambivalent? Let me know.

What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.