Hillary's Conundrum

She tried being (somewhat for her) nice to Obama leading up to Super Tuesday. It did not work. She fired her campaign manager and took the gloves off for the last few primaries, sharpening her attacks on Obama. She has gotten thoroughly thrashed since then (it's 10 in a row now). The conventional wisdom is that negative campaigning works. Well, it did not work in Wisconsin for Hillary, as Obama beat her by more than two touchdowns (58%-41%).

So, does she play nice and try to win by drawing contrasts with Obama, or does she turn her negativity amp up to 11 to try to squeeze out wins in Texas and Ohio on March 4? I think I know the answer to that query.

And, this brings me back to where I started in this election process. People do not like Hillary Clinton. They like the IDEA of Hillary Clinton.

Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History

First, the good news: experts suggest that the chances of a major health crisis caused by this meat is "remote."

Now, the bad news:

The Humane Society of the United States showed videotapes on January 30 showing workers at the plant using several abusive techniques to make animals stand up and pass a pre-slaughter inspection. These included ramming cattle with forklift blades and using a hose to simulate the feeling of drowning.

These animals COULD NOT STAND on their own. It's illegal to slaughter an animal in this condition because IT IS SICK and should not be consumed. This was discovered because of some undercover video work at Westland and Hallmark Meat Co. How often is this happening when there are no cameras around?

This is the largest beef recall in U.S. history: 143 million pounds of it. And where do you think much of this meat was destined? Why, the Federal School Lunch Program and fast food chains, of course!!! In other words, kids--mostly.

I'm not a (mostly) vegetarian because of any moral issues with killing animals for food. I am a (mostly) vegetarian because of the meat industry. I am also not an evangelistic (mostly) vegetarian. But, if I don't catch it or kill it myself out of the wild, or if I cannot purchase free range or wild meats, I simply do not eat it if at all possible.

And, this situation is a big reason why.

Fattening of America

The Freakonomics blog addresses an issue near and dear to me. I've been teaching this in my classes for years. I find some of the conclusions and rationale suspect, but here's an excerpt from an interesting interview with health economist Eric Finkelstein that talks about his (and co-author Laurie Zuckerman's) new book The Fattening of America :

In sharp contrast, children are unable to make rational choices, unlike Uncle Al. I think that the government (and parents) have a critical role to minimize the possibility of children growing up to regret the diet and exercise choices they may have made as uninformed youths. Most government interventions are focused on schools, which makes sense given that the food the lunch ladies serve up is too often not that different from the birthday fare my son receives at Chuck E. Cheese. And then, of course, there’s the school vending machines. In my book, we discuss what’s happening in America’s school cafeterias, gymnasiums, and classrooms, and what can be done to help tomorrow’s adults make informed diet and exercise choices.

If we TRULY want a healthier America, we might have to take our legislative medicine when it comes to protecting kids.

Go Arithmecrats!

Your average Joe/Jane (or Republican who does not care about the Dem primary) might have glanced at Tuesday's results and said, "Well, Hillary is going to win again." After all, she took the big prizes in California and New York, and some papers even touted her "win." But, headlines and conventional wisdom do not nominate candidates. Delegates do. And, the Arithmecrats on Slate.com remind us of this fact. In that count, it was a dead heat, with both sides claiming a small win on Tuesday.

Add to that that Obama has closed a MASSIVE poll gap on Clinton in the last two months and won 13 states to Clinton's 8 on Tuesday, and it seems to me that Obama has both math and momentum on his side. The more people see Obama, the more support he garners. Further, the next several races favor Obama (Maine, Nebraska, Washington state, Louisiana, and the three Potomac races). If he wins all five, that is going to help with momentum in upcoming delegate-rich states like Texas and Ohio, where Clinton currently leads. Clinton has focused on the big prizes, which makes sense. However, Obama is cleaning up in smaller states and has drawn even in national polling numbers. If that trend continues and he pulls off a win in Texas or Ohio, it's trouble for Clinton.

Also, he hauled in $32 million in support in January while Hillary Clinton just wrote a $5 million personal check to her campaign.

Hmmm. I thought only Mitt Romney was doing that? EDIT: And Romney dropped out soon after I typed this.

Point of No Return

I have paid my entry fee. I have ponied up the dough for the flight. I have secured a place to stay for free!). All that is left is 13 weeks of training.

The Boston Marathon is on the horizon. Please pray for health, safety, and good training. I had a frustrating fall filled with injuries and setbacks which caused me to bail on both the BG 10k and my fall marathon, but I am rounding back into shape.

More updates from training for Boston as warranted.

Why I Will Watch the NFL Playoffs

I have spent some time pointing out the reasons that college hoops is the best spectator sport, but today I offer an olive branch to you NFL fans. I will watch the NFL playoffs this season with great interest...even though it will require me to watch an INSANE amount of commercials for Gillette and terrible beer. And, love them or hate them, it is because of the New England Patriots. The undefeated, 16-0 Patriots.

This does not happen in big-time sports very often. There are way too many (82 total...and 40 of them meaningless) NBA games for a team to go unblemished. Baseball? HA! 162 games. Hockey? They count ties in their point system for crying out loud, and again, too many games. The NFL? The 1985 Bears were close, but they lost one game to the Dolphins. It does happen relatively often in college football, but their championship system is a farce. I am talking about an undefeated season where the champion is decided on the field (not by a poll) in a winner-take-all tournament setting.

Only once in my lifetime have I had the opportunity to watch this play out. It was the 1991 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, and the UNLV Runnin' Rebels, led by their towel-chewing coach Jerry Tarkanian, rang up a 30-0 regular season record. Their ballyhooed "Amoeba" defense perplexed and dominated the opposition. Their roster was littered with future NBA players like Greg Anthony, Larry Johnson, and Stacy Augmon. They had won the NCAA Championship the year before. They were a juggernaut. A sure bet. Unstoppable.

They dispatched four teams fairly easily on their way to the Final Four where they met Duke. And, they lost by 2 in a shocker. They were a great team that lost, but it was a great story. If they had won, it still would have been a great story. Fans could not lose in this scenario (unless you were a UNLV fan, of course).

See, no matter what happens with New England, it will be high drama. It will be full-on, parade-inducing, confetti-flying, glory for the ages for the Pats, or it will be euphoric pandemonium for the team that upsets them.

I have no dog in this fight, so it will simply be good sport regardless of the outcome.

Hoops Season

If you REALLY like college hoops, check out my Bracketboard blog. That's where I'll be doing a lot of writing during hoops season.

The Sports Prof shares my sentiment about the NBA hurting the game and focusing too much on "sizzle" and not enough "steak."