misunderestimation

Leave it to the Gallop folks to ask the question that is on a lot of people’s minds. Who is worse, Rosie O’Donnell or Donald Trump?

The national poll taken last week finds that Americans rate both celebrities more negatively than positively, however. Rosie gets 63% unfavorable ratings while The Donald clocks in at 48% (with 41% voicing approval).

“Women have essentially the same opinion of both celebrities, but men are much more negative in their ratings of O’Donnell” Gallup reports. “Younger men view Trump most positively, while younger women view O’Donnell most positively.”

So, it turns out both of them are annoying. I wonder how much longer we are going to be interested in propping-up the careers of two unlikeable individuals.

You know, I started blogging on this topic when Rosie started her current insanity run with a very irresponsible statement about Kelly Ripa and then here Ching Chang Chung insult to Asians. I never believed this thing would go the distance.

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Barry Bonds, a name that immediately conjures-up emotions in anyone with baseball knowledge.

Barry Bonds the incredible 5-tool player for the Pittsburgh Pirates who was well on his way to being one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

Barry Bonds, the Giants media-hating superstar who has been know to eat sports writers for lunch.

Barry Bonds, the egomaniac who, according to the book Game of Shadows, became obsessed with McGwire and Sosa and decided that a little chemical enhancement just might get him the attention he deserved.

Barry Bonds, the home run record-holder who averaged 33 home runs a season over 15 seasons until he hit 73 in 2001.

Barry Bonds, the poster child for steroids in baseball and a central figure in the Balco Investigation.

Barry Bonds, the broken-down masher trying desperately to cling to the game long enough to be the all-time home run champ.

And now possibly, Barry Bonds, the unemployed.

On Thursday, news came out about Barry failing another drug test, this time for amphetamines:

Giants outfielder Barry Bonds tested positive for amphetamines in the middle of last season and told several people on the team about it at the time, a major-league source told the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday.

The positive test was first reported by the New York Daily News, which said Bonds initially blamed it on a substance he had taken from the locker of teammate Mark Sweeney. The Chronicle’s source confirmed the accuracy of the report and then stated Bonds’ amphetamine test was known on the team because Bonds himself talked about it.

Many yesterday were wondering just what was Barry doing grabbing drugs out of teammates lockers? Is he just too busy to go to a store or what? Secondly, why is he throwing yet another teammate under the bus? Later yesterday, Barry came to his senses and appoligized to Mark Sweeney:

“He is both my teammate and my friend,” Bonds said in a statement Thursday. “He did not give me anything whatsoever and has nothing to do with this matter, contrary to recent reports.

“I want to express my deepest apologies especially to Mark and his family as well as my other teammates, the San Francisco Giants organization and the fans.”

It turns out that Barry has a verbal agreement with the Giants for 2007, but not a signed contract. Will this latest round of issues be enough to tip the scale and end Barry’s career with the Giants?

If the team somehow wriggles out of its as-yet-unsigned contract with Bonds, the prospect of mayhem, like the heist of Hank Aaron’s home run record, might not come to pass.

Assuming that the deal gets done, though, the Giants’ clubhouse should be a miserable place, filled with denial and forced camaraderie that eventually will become genuine camaraderie built on shared exasperation with the media.

Barry will likely work things out with the Giants and will literally continue limping toward the magical 755. Only 21 more to tie Hank Aaron; then we will have Barry Bonds, the undisputed home run king*.

(* Records established in the late 1900s and early 2000s were potentially influenced by steroids and other performance enhancing substances and should be consider tainted.)

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Congratulations to the two new inductees for Baseball’s Hall of Fame, Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken.

Ripken, a 19-time All-Star and two-time AL MVP, played in a major league-record 2,632 consecutive games to break Lou Gehrig’s mark of 2,130. He also set a new standard for power-hitting shortstops with 431 home runs and 3,184 hits.

His hot-water heater didn’t work Tuesday morning, making him laugh and recall starting his pro career at Bluefield in 1978.

“I was sitting there remembering the cold-shower days,” Ripken said.

Gwynn, a 15-time All-Star, compiled 3,141 hits and a .338 batting average during his 20-year career with the San Diego Padres. He woke up at 4 a.m. on Tuesday, couldn’t get back to sleep and was fidgety and nervous before he received the call from Jack O’Connell, the BBWAA secretary-treasurer.

“I broke down right away,” Gwynn said. “My wife came over and put an arm around me.”

Congratulations to two of the game’s best on this well-deserved honor.

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Mark McGwire has impressive numbers as a baseball player; hall of fame type numbers. So, why did he fall so short in his first bid for induction into baseball’s hall of fame?

McGwire’s name was included on just 128 of the 545 ballots cast by baseball writers who took part in the voting, a 23.5 percent showing that fell far short of the 75 percent needed for induction. Because this was McGwire’s initial appearance on the ballot, the vote was viewed as one of the first verdicts to be handed down on baseball’s troubled steroids era, a period that began in the early 1990’s and apparently continued unabated until recent seasons.

The voters must believe that McGwire’s performance was enhanced and if it was, they are not sure if they can induct someone what could have played for the East German Olympic Team. At the time, steroids were not official banned in baseball, but they were illegal and cheating is as cheating does.

I suspect as memories fade and other “juiced” players names start appearing on the ballots McGwire will appear less objectionable. After-all, Sammy Sosa likely juiced and we no for sure he corked his bat. Once you cross that line…

Cheating is cheating and if you break a rule, you should pay. Pete Rose bet on baseball and he is not in Cooperstown. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, et al should not be allowed in either.

Captain’s Quarters: If any of the steroid-era players could have expected a pass from the BBWA, it would have been McGwire. After a disastrous lockout and the first cancellation of the World Series in ninety years, major-league baseball looked as though it had lost its fan base for good. McGwire and his smashing of Roger Maris’ 37-year-old single-season record captured the imagination of the nation, and his good-hearted inclusion of Maris’ family in the celebration as well as his friendly competition with Sammy Sosa created a lot of goodwill — and it showed at the turnstiles.

Cold Hearted Truth. In a word, that’s why he got major-league dissed by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He took them – that’s all but certain. And then he utterly embarrassed himself in front of Congress in 2005 by testifying – when asked whether he used them as a player – that Congress should only concern itself with current steroid usage, not past usage.

Cafe Hayek: A lot of the steroids controversy comes down to one very ugly word: cheater. Cheaters don’t belong in the Hall of Fame. But when you chew on the word for a while, you realize that cheaters come in lots of different flavors.

Baseball Crank: Cheating of one sort or another has always been rampant in baseball – the old National League Orioles used extra baseballs in the outfield, skipped bases, mauled baserunners, etc. Multiple spitballers are in the Hall, including guys from the era when “everybody did it” (e.g., Ed Walsh) and guys who were clearly breaking the rules (Whitey Ford, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton). Leo Durocher’s 1951 Giants made a science of illegal high-tech (for the 50s) sign-stealing. Do we really need to discuss corked bats here? Or, for that matter, segregation?

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OK, now we’ve really gone over the edge with the Rosie O’Donald stuff. In an article on cnn.com,

Rosie O’Donnell says Donald Trump is a man obsessed.

“It’s the way I look. He can’t resist. I love when people say you’re fat like you don’t know,” O’Donnell joked Monday on ABC’s “The View.” “… It’s always the first comment of someone who disagrees with you if you happen to be on the plus side.”

In the same article, Trump responds:

Trump, in a statement to The Associated Press, CNN and other news organizations, said O’Donnell had gotten it wrong.

“I used the word ‘slob,’ I used the word ‘degenerate’ and I used the words ‘not very smart.’ The word ‘fat’ played a very small role, if any, in my description of her,’ ” he said.

All of this got me thinking. If Trump is obsessed with O’Donnell, just what would their love child look like?

Clearly, it’s not meant to be.

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Mitt Romney had a very good day yesterday. On top of raising $6.5 million, he received a somewhat unexpected endorsement:

Former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld has emerged as a major backer of Mitt Romney, despite a long friendship with Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who is a potential Romney rival in the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
[...]
Weld disputed accounts yesterday that he was disappointed by the lack of public support from Giuliani.

Looks like it’s time for the Giuliani campaign to start making a positive impact or his race will be over before it begins.

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Former governor Mitt Romney’s campaign kicked into high gear yesterday with an all day, high-profile fundraising effort that netted $6.5 Million in one day.

“They blew me away with their success,” Romney told reporters at an evening news conference. “And we will be able to continue to build slowly but surely a highly successful financial effort and campaign. This is not, if you will, a big flash and disappearance.”

Tom Tellefsen, a private investor from California and one of Romney’s national finance cochairmen, said the daylong blitz would “send a very strong message” to others in the race, both to top-tier rivals such as Senator John McCain of Arizona and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and to “those that are considering or haven’t really yet laid the groundwork that maybe they should have.”

This fundraising campaign took a different route than most:

Traditionally, supporters would get an invitation to a fund-raiser and be asked to write a check. But Romney’s committee took it one step further, asking those who already support him to come with their own Rolodex or holiday card list and ask family members, friends or business associates to support Romney, Zwick said. Callers could take credit card donations right over the phone, or pledges for checks to be mailed to the campaign headquarters.

Callers had a bit of a script to follow and had access to information on Romney’s stance on certain issues, but mainly spoke on their own to people they were calling.

Jerry Lewis has nothing on Mitt Romney.

The fall-out from this fundraiser will be interesting. With these type of numbers being raised as a campaign is starting means we could be in for some truly obnoxious numbers before it’s all over. The size of the numbers may scare away the candidates who were hoping to test the waters before jumping in with both feet. The price for swimming just went up.

Ankle Biting Pundits: That said, let us be clear: This was a publicity stunt; a very impressively executed stunt, but a stunt, nevertheless (right down to the distinctive 70’s-style telephones). According to data released by the Romney camp to Hugh Hewitt—who maintains his impartiality on the subject—the $6.5 million take was the result of approximately 15,000 outgoing phone calls. Additional reports state that the day’s events cost the Romney committee roughly $300,000 to put on. Now anyone who has worked on a political campaign can tell you that it would normally cost a phone vendor about $5,000 to $7,000 to call 15,000 existing donors and ask them to re-up. We’re looking at a $293,000 press release here.

Rhymes With Right: Not a bad single day total — and indicative that there is a base of support among Republicans unhappy with the other two front-runners.

Betsy’s Page: A week ago, the storyline on Romney was the difficulty he was having convincning social conservatives that he was sincere on issues that they care about since he is perceived as flipping on those issues when convenient. This week, the story is about what a clever campaign he’s begun to run. The Romney people gotta love that switch.

Captain’s Quarters: However, the real benefit of this big score will come from its deterrent value. Until now, the field had appeared to have a wide opening for a dark-horse candidate. With Romney arriving with such a splash, the less known candidates will have to consider whether the race will have enough room for a surprise from the sidelines. Candidates such as Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter have to consider whether the ante might force them out of the game before they hit the table.

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Congratulations to the Florida Gators on an impressive and unexpected 41-14 annihilation of Ohio State in Monday’s BCS championship game.

The Gators finished atop The Associated Press Top 25 after upsetting Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS national championship game Monday night, a matchup Florida lobbied hard for late in the regular season when it looked as if the Gators would be left out.

The Buckeyes had been No. 1 since August and were looking to become the third team to hold the top spot in the media poll from preseason through the bowls. Florida State was the first in 1999 and Southern California did it in 2004.

Instead, Ohio State finished No. 2. LSU was third, and Southern California and Boise State rounded out the top five.

After Ohio State returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, the rest of the game belonged to the Gators. Florida was a team that few outside of Florida expected would even compete with Ohio State. In reality, Florida out-played, out-coached, and out-classed Ohio State from start to finish.

Congratulations to the Gators!

More misunderestimation

Very exciting news today regarding a new source for Stem cells:

Stem cell researchers reacted with enthusiasm and reservations to a report that scientists have found stem cells in amniotic fluid, a discovery that would allow them to sidestep the controversy over destroying embryos for research.

Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University reported Sunday that the stem cells they drew from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women hold much the same promise as embryonic stem cells.

They reported they were able to extract the stem cells from the fluid, which cushions babies in the womb, without harm to mother or fetus and turn their discovery into several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver and bone.

Basically, Stem cells can be used to generate other types of cells and may have a tremendous impact on the way we treat injuries and even disease. Until now, the primary source of Stem cells has been human fetuses and “harvesting” those cells is not without moral and ethical peril.

So, we have a new source that is not politically-charged. Will it be the answer? They are not sure yet:

However, it is not known how many different cell types can be made from the stem cells found in amniotic fluid, as opposed to stem cells taken from embryonic stem cells, which can turn into any of the more than 220 cell types that make up the human body.

Scientists are working to develop treatments using the cells to repair damaged organs in need of healthy cells, but many people, including President George W. Bush, oppose the destruction of embryos.

If this new source lives up to the billing, an entire new field is about to be created in the medical community, replacement parts.

Instapundit: If this pans out, it will be bad news for politicians, but good news for the rest of us.

Iowa Voice: This kind of research, I’m sure, would satisfy a number of people. It would satisfy the left, because research could then continue and be federally funded. It would satisfy the right, because our concern over the destruction of life is solved.

World Views: The jury’s still out on whether these newly discovered stem cells can generate as many tissue types as embryonic ones. Still, it makes my head spin to see how quickly the emphasis shifted (with this scientist anyway) from curing incurable and chronic diseases, to answering “questions about early human development,” when a new discovery raised the possibility of stopping research that destroys human potential.

Stem Cell Research Blog: The finding points to a promising avenue of research that sidesteps the hurdles facing embryonic stem cell research, which has been stymied by moral objections to the destruction of embryos that occurs when cells are harvested.

Lifelike Pundits: It’s funny. When science supports the conclusion that it is not necessary to destroy human organisms in the embryonic stage, it can only be interpreted as a loss for the Democrats. Why? Because the abortionists want to not only make abortion legal, but virtuous. This is some cold water:

More misunderestimation

Whitney Houston is now part of the Rosie vs. Donald mess:

In an interview with Newsweek several years ago, Whitney Houston called Rosie a “fat b***h” because O’Donnell had suggested that Houston had a substance abuse problem. But, according to reporter Allison Samuels in her new book “Off the Record” (via Page Six), the magazine decided not to run the item, because it was too “demeaning” and – here’s a real shocker – “Whitney was clearly not in her right mind.”

Ok, so it’s reaching to go back “several years”, but you know who is going to get some mileage out of this one.

More misunderestimation