Mark Bossingham

World Cup weenies

I'VE ONLY managed to make it all the way through one World Cup match. No, I take that back. When Japan decided to quit playing against Australia, I was too ashamed to watch any more. Nevertheless, I have reached the following conclusion about soccer: I would rather watch four drunks play Foosball in a bar than watch another World Cup game.
    • A few of observations. Imagine the reaction if Ichiro covered his face in his hands like a little girl every time he struck out? Soccer weenies do it all the time. Actually that sounds unfair to girls. They have more balls than the Italian players.
    • In a related weenie observation: Stoicism is hardly a trait one associates with the "beautiful game." Imagine the next time Hideki Matsui is plunked in the ass with a fastball. Instead of trotting down to first base (one of the early lessons I learned in Little League was "never rub"--never show the opposition that it hurts), he were to fall to the diamond and start frantically rolling around in the dirt and playing grab-ass with himself, accompanied by facial contortions appropriate to a limb amputation without anesthetic?
    • Imagine an ESPN highlight reel of a baseball game that ended in a "nil-nil draw" with the announcers waxing enthusiastic over a couple of soft grounders to the infield, a fly ball to the warning track, and a particularly graceful strikeout.
    • Or how about the only run your baseball team scores is when a deep fly bounces off THE OTHER team's center fielder's head and into the stands? Hahaha. We could call that an "own run."
    I could go on ... and I think I will, later in the tourney I am not watching.

   

British nutcases

THE PEW poll found that British Muslims are far more likely than their European counterparts to harbour conspiracy theories about the September 11 attacks. Only 17% believed that Arabs were involved ... .

'Say No to Racism' (Europeans)

HAVE YOU noticed the "Say No to Racism" sign displayed in the middle of the pitch as required by FIFA before every match? How embarrassing is that? How pathetic. The ever-so-quick to lecture Europeans have been forced to announce their dirty little secret to the world on a daily basis. And make no mistake, an accurate sign would say: "Europeans Say No to Racism." Ask any black playing in Italy, Spain or anywhere else in the self-rightious EU, what they think of the monkey noises, the banana jokes and all the rest. Old Europe. Some things never change.

New Bike

HERE'S MY new bike. Rode it to work the other day across three bridges. Took 25 minutes. Not bad. It's a tossup trying to decide whether I'm more likely to get squashed flat riding in the street or knocked over by a nut going to fast on another bike on the sidewalk. Too many people in this city. Not a decision I have to make now. Rainy season, and the bike stays in the garage until the monsoon goes away.

World Cup

QUICK THOUGHTS on the footie tournament in Germany. The hosts looked good in their opening match against a weak side. They could take it all. England looked lousy in their opening win against a better side. Only an own goal saved their bacon. The British fans haven't changed a bit. Still boorish whiners. I picked France to win it all in the office pool, mostly because the return on picking Brazil is sure to be low.

Dead at last

OF COURSE, I was pleased to hear Zarqawi was blown up with a handful of confederates. And I mean "hear." I've stopped reading or watching mainstream news, so when the slaughtering sheik got his, alarms when off in the news room and a disembodied voice announced from speakers in the ceiling that he was dead.
    The event was greeted with a predictable response from the transnational Marxist Democrats in the States.
    A typical leftist on the day prior to the killing: "How come you and your incompetent redneck miliary can't catch al-Zarqawi? He's a "terrorist superstar" (to quote the despicable Michael Ware)."
    Same leftist on the day after he was killed: "(Expletive, expletive), he was just one of many. Just a thug. Five more will pop up to take his place. So what? (expletive, expletive), what about bin Laden?"
    This brings us to why I would rather ride my new bike than read the news. I am simply tired of people in my profession and their limitless arrogance attempting to shape history. You can write thousands of news stories on how the Earth is in imminent danger from you-name-it but the Earth doesn't care or even read those stories. You can write puff pieces on what a great guy the lunatic president of Iran is, but that doesn't make it so. Events move at their own pace.
    Of course, it's not just media-ists that are at fault. It appears Condoleeza Rice has been dragged into the muck that is the U.S. State Department. Our very own domestic U.N., State is genetically predisposed to inaction and vacillation. Sure, we can have talks with Iran, but we have been down this road before. Who is actually foolish enough to believe that the mullahs will not stall until they have the bomb? And how stupid do they we think they are? "Here, we'll give you all these goodies (incentives) if you will be good. The Iranians would be criminally ignorant not to take out freebies and then do whatever the hell they want.
    Commonsense doesn't matter. It's all a show. After a few thousand news stories about talks with Iran, events will move as they will, not as the journalist/appeasers hope, but as they must. Iran will continue to sponsor terrorism; Iran will attempt to "wipe Israel off the map;" or Israel or the U.S. will bomb Iran. Or both. A supine Europe and hippie America will whine. Ann Coulter will tell it like it is, and cowardly conservative Web sites will cluck-cluck while secretly agreeing with her.
    There is a whole host of other issues I could list but why bother? Pretending that France isn't hostile to Jews or that members of the Religion of Peace don't really want to blow up Canada changes nothing. So I read about Ichiro, and watch his batting average go up.
    I wonder what the speakers in the newsroom will announce next?