Take 2: Tonite's Gamers

This afternoon, the Rays went up 1-0 on the ChiSox behind two Evan Longoria dingers. This evening we have Brewers-Phils, Dodgers-Cubs, and Biden-Palin. At least one of these contests is important. Go Dodgers! Should be an interesting/cringetastic evening. Comment here.

Comments

[YF]

Phillies kicking ass.

I'm rooting for Gwen Ifill!

[SF]

Dodgers romping again. Whose blood alcohol level is higher, those drinking every time Palin drops a G or Cubs fans?

[dc]

"...I'm rooting for Gwen Ifill!..."
odd sentiment yf...from all accounts she may successfully hide her bias, but there is a bit of of a shadow cast given the book she's currently preparing for publication...so far she's doing fine, so i have a well-earned respect for her...

sf, huh?
palin is a 'g'-dropper, as i pointed out here days ago, but that hasn't prevented her from moppin' the floor durin' her debatin' of that speech fakin' fraud biden...

don't get me wrong guys, i'm grateful for liberals and the extreme left wing media...endless source of humor for me...

[Sam-YF]

HR #2 for Manny this october. Cubs are brutal.

As far as the debate goes, it really didnt feel close to me. Refusing to answer questions multiple times doesnt look good...

[Atheose]

Yeah, Palin did a far better job than Biden... he said "Umm" and "uhh" several times per sentence.

And as for dropping her G's... language evolves. Deal with it.

[Sam-YF]

Im not sure if you were agreeing with me or dc Atheose but I felt that Biden waxed Palin in that debate. She simply read lines off a sheet in front of her and repeated canned answers. If she didnt have one prepared for the question asked, she simply answered a question that wasnt asked of her. (she essentially admitted as much during the debate). Biden was very well spoken, umms and uhhs happen to basically everyone...

[SoxFan]

I personally was hoping for some "Manny Being Manny" moments from Palin.

[Paul SF]

Palin did a far better job than Biden

In-debate polling indicates independents picked Biden over Palin by a 75-25 margin. So I'd say that statement's pretty inaccurate. As an independent moderate myself, I was impressed by Palin and highly impressed by Biden.

Biden got the win on the actual substance of the debates, but based on the expectations going in, Palin probably will be viewed as the winner. The question is: Does this election really hinge on the success or failure of Sarah Palin? The answer was, is and will continue to be no. It will hinge on the success or failure of John McCain and his ideas. Latest polls -- both national and state-by-state -- show McCain and his ideas are in trouble...

[attackgerbil]

> And as for dropping her G's... language evolves. Deal with it.

or devolves, as the case may be.

[attackgerbil]

> but based on the expectations going in, Palin probably will be viewed as the winner

That's an interesting and disappointing concept.

[attackgerbil]

Most curious and entertaining line of the night for me was when Palin lead with (as best as I recall), "Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again," taking Biden to task for comparing what McCain will bring as a leader to Bush's leadership, distancing McCain from Bush while channeling Reagan herself. Classic stuff, and a baseball quote!

[SoxFan]

I think Palin won on her MILF HAWTNESS quotient alone.

She can drop her G's anytime she wants!

[dc]

yeah, i'm ok with her g-droppin' if my original comment didn't make that clear...anyone who thinks anything should be read into her tendency to do that is grasping...as for polls paul, i'm not sure you can read much into that so quickly...and it would be interesting to know who conducted the poll and how...you'd have to agree that you'd see far different poll results on msnbc than say fox news, which i did...you said biden probably won on substance, but palin will probably be "viewed" as the winner...uh, isn't perception what really matters?...i reckon most of us had our minds made up prior to the debate anyway, so it's the fence-sitters [who are not necessarily independents] that i'd be interested in hearing from...as for palin not answering every question exactly as asked, i believe the moderator had that issue with biden to some degree, as a matter of fact after the very first question...i thought it was good that she digressed at times to take the opportunity to challenge biden on some of his misstatements...she could have hit him below the belt on his past transgressions and crazy delusions, or his potential future boss' relationships with seedy characters, and to what extent he might have benefitted from freddy mac and fanny mae running amuck...that's just me though, she took the high ground and left the character issues out of it...probably the right thing to stay on track like she did...

[davey yf]

No link to the Simmons on Manny piece? I hope he's right about the pinstripes. They need to pickup 200 runs in offense and Tex ain't doing it himself. Hilarious piece and insights though.

With the $80 million they'll have available on next year's roster, sign:

CC - 20 million
Manny - 25 million
Pettitte/Moose - 15 million
Teixeira - 20 million

Not a bad way to improve the Yanks, and with only cash. Great rotation and lineup too with the kids to fill the gaps.

[YF]

dropping "gs" isn't an evolution of the language. it's a regional dialect. whether you like it or not is subjective. If Marge Gunderson were running for VP, there might be a different attitude. What I find curious, and Tina Fey played on it, is that Palin accentuates that accent, and falls back on her "folksiness" when she seems uncomfortable. inasmuch i think it can seem a bit disingenuous. for me, that feeling is only accentuated when she talks about removing partisanship from the political process and then asserts that her opponents are waving the "white flag of surrender," which i think is insulting to anyone who feels it's time for our troops to come back from iraq (ie, most independent voters), and a mischaracterization of her opponents position. and it's especially hard to fathom insofar as her interlocutor is actually sending his own kid to iraq.

[dc]

good point yf...folks do tend to slip into the familiar when they get nervous, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise if her "folksiness" comes and goes, but i also don't think it's accidental...is it disingenous as you suggest?...probably to some degree, but you'd have a hard time finding a politician that wasn't a bit disingenous...they think theyr'e smarter than we are, and we'll fall for their act...and, sometimes we do...there's a lot of scrutiny of politicians these days, and every pimple, gaffe, and faux pas, is magnified...it's no secret that both candidates were coached extensively about what might work...i heard that advisors told biden not to be too condescending and keep his famous temper in check, and i'd guess that palin was told that folksy=cute and approachable, like joe.6-pak [by the way, an annoying reference to common folk apparently]...the theory is that this approach has a positive ring to it, particularly with the segment of voters who feel that politicians think they're stupid...i referred to the g-droppin' as a colloquialism here the other day, but i think your description of it as an example of "regional dialect" is more accurate, and really what i was trying to say...

[Paul SF]

folks do tend to slip into the familiar when they get nervous, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise if her "folksiness" comes and goes

This is the most generous possible itnerpretation of what I find to be an intensely annoying trait that does her -- and the region from which she comes -- no favors. When she's on the spot, she gets cutsey and "adorable," which screams out to me that she's used to getting out of scrapes by winking and smiling and saying, "Doggone it!" when the cop is thinking about writing her a ticket. She did a lot of things very well last night, but that tendency -- plus the overuse of "maverick" to the point that it no longer has any meaning whatsoever, except as an example for "trite" -- really drove me crazy.

[dc]

...almost forgot...

"...mischaracterization of her opponents position..."
i dunno, there's a fair amount of spin, parsing of words, and misrepresntation to go around on both sides, and some of the exchanges between them brought that out loud and clear i thought...look, i'm not an expert, but i like to discuss, so here's my take...nobody wants to see troops in harms way, i don't care who's loved ones they are, so when i hear either candidate accuse the other of voting against funding the troops, or being against an accelerated troop withdrawal, it really irritates me...as far as i can tell the major differences between the 2 candidates are that the candidates disagree on where the war on terror should be fought...that, and one doesn't want to set an arbitrary timetable for withdrawal and the other does...there are arguments for both sides frankly, but one is bound to be less popular than the other for obvious reasons...to suggest that the candidate, who doesn't think it's wise to make that commitment, and certainly wouldn't want to announce those plans to the enemy in any event, is callous about the safety of the troops, is inaccurate...

[dc]

"...This is the most generous possible itnerpretation of what I find to be an intensely annoying trait that does her ..."

well paul, you should know by now that i'm a very generous fellow ;)

and yet, we do agree...i don't like the candidates being so well coached...we don't ever get to know the real person, warts and all...the folksiness could be charming instead of annoying if it felt like it always came naturally...unfortunately for her, it doesn't...one of biden's annoying traits is that big toothy smile...he must have some osmond dna in his ancestry...