Colts Got Fooled By Saints, 31-17

It's party time on Bourbon Street, as all the denizens who chose to remain in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina are celebrating the Saints' Super Bowl championship.  It's been a long time since they had a reason to celebrate anything.

The Saints, who had been big-time losers from the day they joined the National Football League, defeated the Indianapolis Colts in Miami 31-17.  Saints' coach Sean Payton's risk-taking and Drew Brees' MVP-caliber quarterbacking are what won them the game.  On the second-half kickoff, they recovered an on-side kick, which led to a touchdown.  Then in the fourth quarter, they went ahead with another touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion that initially failed, but was overturned after reviewing the replay.

Peyton Manning of the Colts threw for two touchdowns.  But it was those two interceptions he threw towards the end of the game, the first of which was run back for a Saints score, that defined his performance in this game.  Now he and Brett Favre of the Vikings have one thing in common.  Also, do the Colts have any second thoughts about not playing to win at the end of the regular season?

The Who provided the halftime musical entertainment, continuing the NFL's policy of showcasing only Baby Boomer talent after the Janet Jackson fiasco of a few years ago.  Here Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and whoever they could round up to complete the band played the Reader's Digest version of hits, which should be familiar to anyone who listens to KQRS, or watches the "CSI" shows.  (The game was televised by CBS, after all)  But they still knew how to rock.

Maybe you watched the game for the commercials.  There was the usual array of moronic beer ads (mostly Bud Light), movies that won't open in theaters for months, and ads that depict guys as spineless doofuses.  Then there was the one where Tim Tebow's mother told us she was glad she made the "choice" to keep her son, the superstar college quarterback.  No matter what you think of Focus On The (Christian) Family, the organization that sponsored this ad, hot-button political issues should be off limits on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Saints' winning a championship won't magically transform a city still trying to recover from Katrina, nor will it calm the lingering resentment over the government's handling of it.  But it will bring a lot of self-esteem to a region that sorely needs it right now.

Chill Out! Just Enjoy The Game

I know that a lot of you are still angry about the Minnesota Vikings failing to make the Super Bowl, and have threatened to boycott Sunday's game between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts.  We're hearing that every day through talk radio and the blogosphere.

I'm also aware that there is a petition running on Facebook pleading with quarterback Brett Favre to return next season.  But after seeing the beating Favre took against the Saints in the NFC Championship game (and the pictures of his damaged joints that accompanied it, I'm not so sure he should.  Favre and his family need to think long and hard before committing to another season.

There are fans and then there are fanatics.  There are those who live and die with the home team, and there are others who move on.  It's great when your team makes it to the Big Game, but when it finally comes you become so obsessed with it that you can't enjoy it.  It's also true when you personally know someone who's playing in that game.  And when that player is injured, nothing else matters.

It may be heresy to say this, but I think it's best for one's mental and physical health if your team is NOT playing for the world championship.  If your team wins, that's great.  Go celebrate like there's no tomorrow.  If they lose, especially if the score is close, don't take it out on your furniture or your loved ones whether or not you've had one too many beers.  It's a game, folks, not a matter of life or death.  The sun will rise tomorrow morning no matter what the result.

This is what fans in New Orleans and Indianapolis will face this Sunday.  They won't care about how well the other team played, or how good the commercials were.  They just want to see their team win.  The rest of us will be noshing on snacks and enjoying the game.
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As for who we think will actually win the game, we're going with the Colts.  Never bet against Peyton Manning.

Unfinished Business At The State Capitol

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The Minnesota Legislature has reconvened for its 2010 session, faced with the same problems they left behind last year:  a monstrous budget deficit--$1.2 billion--and a lame-duck governor who thinks he can "unallot" his way out of red ink.

There's something else this year.  It seems that half the legislators, such as House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelleher (a Democrat) and Rep. Marty Seifert (a Republican),want to run for Governor Tim Pawlenty's job, and the distraction factor is high.  Pawlenty is currently running a pseudo-campaign for President in 2012.  And at least one--assistant Senate majority leader Tarryl Clark, a Democrat--wants to end the reign of weirdness that is Third District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a Republican.

In the statewide caucuses that were held Tuesday night, those who bothered to show up (no Obama fever this year) chose Seifert in the GOP straw poll, and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak for the Democrats.  Former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton, considered the front-runner in terms of finances (he's reportedly funding his own campaign), chose to sit this one out and wait for the primaries.

Meanwhile, back at their day jobs . . . Among the early items on the Legislature's to-do list (once they slay the budget dragon) is a focus on getting people back to work, a bill to fund new building projects, and an effort to restore cutbacks in health care for the poor.

And there's that new Vikings stadium.  Governor Pawlenty made the suggestion that, now that Minnesota has joined the Mega Millions lottery game, some of that money should go toward funding the stadium.  But legislators are still awfully ambivalent toward giving the football franchise the money to build their new playground, money they should be spending themselves.

Of course, all of this is subject to the approval of Governor Pawlenty, for whom the word "compromise" is not in his vocabulary.  It's up to him if he wants to see Minnesota succeed or fail based on what he does with his trusty veto pen before he leaves office.  And whichever one of those legislators manages to stand up to Pawlenty, then that person's chances of succeeding him in the Governor's Mansion improves greatly come November.

At The Grammys, The Rewards Go To The (Taylor) Swift

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It was billed as "Ladies Night" at the 52nd Grammy Awards Sunday night with Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift leading the pack (and CBS' promotional push) in nominations and in-demand performances.  And that it was, but there were a couple of interlopers.

Six Grammys went to Beyonce (a record for a female performer) mostly for "Single Ladies", one of which was for Song of the Year, an award that goes to the songwriter.  Considering that she's a married lady now, she's already got her ring courtesy of Jay-Z.  So for her, the song is out of date now, isn't it?

Taylor Swift's album "Fearless" won some Grammys, including Album of the Year.  And Kanye West was nowhere in sight.  She even performed with Stevie Nicks, which might not have been a wise idea since Nicks' voice is more powerful than Swift's.  It'll be more interesting to see how her career pans out when she's had a little more life under her belt.

We mentioned the interlopers.  Record of the Year didn't go to a woman, as was expected.  Instead, it went to "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon.  And the Best New Artist went to the Zac Brown Band, who will now take their place with those past winners who have since found success.  If we only knew who they were.

Other things we took from the Grammys:

• Lady Gaga opened the TV show duetting with Elton John.  Which is only appropriate because both of them share a taste for outrageous wardrobes.
• The Grammys' inevitable tribute to Michael Jackson, who died last year, was wasted on a weak "heal the world" tune that was broadcast in 3D.  (Even without those glasses, seeing it can still induce headaches)  Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Smokey Robinson and Usher became backup singers to an invisible voice. For this Jackson received a special award, which was accepted by his two children. But it was better than an all-star cast attempting to sing Jackson's classics.
• Instead of the usual pronouncements of celebrities pretending to care for the plight of Hatians, we got Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli collaborating on "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as their musical tribute to that earthquake-stricken country.  One thing:  In Haiti, those bridges crumbled.  And the ones that are still standing aren't the ones you'd want to be anywhere near right now.
• We also got a rap collaboration between Drake, Eminem and Lil' Wayne, in which half of the lyrics were bleeped out by CBS.  And you wonder why hip hop is so popular.  

Welcome To The Real World, Mr. President

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Last night's State of the Union address by President Barack Obama was the most informal I've ever seen, which for all its usual stuffiness and formality was really saying something.  But then, I suppose it had to be that way.  The President had a tough crowd to work with, in and out of the House chamber.

In the year since he took office, the President's approval ratings have dropped from their inevitable highs to something around 50 per cent.  Why is this?  First, everybody who voted for Obama thought he'd wave a magic wand, and all the sins of the Bush/Cheney era--two wars and a bad economy--would just disappear.  Didn't happen.  Then he pumped billions of dollars into a stimulus package that has yet to flower.  And he spent the bulk of his legislative efforts on health care reform, which is currently in critical condition in Congress.

The other problem was that Obama was facing a Congress with Nervous Nellie Democrats too timid to take advantage of the majority they had, and with Republicans who still worship Reagan.  Former First Lady Nancy Reagan, that is.  The one who coined the phrase "just say no", though in a much different context.

This time, instead of lofty goals more worthy of Don Quixote than the federal budget, the President opted for more modest proposals.  He made a jobs bill his top priority this session, announced a spending freeze on all federal programs except for the military and homeland security (whose own budgets are sky high, but too much is never enough for these guys), and asked for the rescinding of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy among gays and lesbians serving in the armed forces.  He didn't, however, spend much time on foreign policy.

Obama also took the time to chastize the Supreme Court for its ruling allowing corporations to spend tons of money on political ads, while challenging Congress to pass new laws to address this.  On TV, it looked like the justices were sitting like statues, save for Samuel Alito, who shook his head when the President made his comment.  So what were they doing there if they knew they were going to be insulted like that?

Throughout the speech, we were witness to another SOTU tradition:  the endless standing ovations the party in power (in this case the Democrats) gives its President each time he says something they agree with, while the opposition (that would be the GOP) sits on their hands.  That's visual evidence of what Obama was talking about when he said that Washington is a place "where every day is Election Day".  And it needs to stop.

The plea for bipartisanship by the President is likely to go unheeded by Republicans, who just sent Democrats cowering in fear for their political lives after former male model Scott Brown won the Senate seat in Massachusetts previously held for decades by Ted Kennedy.  But they don't seem to have any ideas of their own besides "no new taxes" and parroting whatever Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity says.

As for the chances of Obama's proposals getting past Congress, no one really knows in an election year.  On the one hand, they could push everything back to 2011.  But then their opponents could snap back with :do-nothing Congress" as their campaign mantra.  Anything they do pass, however, might come back to haunt them if it's seen as pandering to anyone but the folks back home.

Perhaps Obama's main accomplishment with his first State of the Union address is that he realizes he needs to come down to Earth.  Health care reform and climate change initiatives are important, but people need jobs so they could afford insurance and fuel-efficient cars.  What they don't need is, in the words of William Faulkner, more sound and fury signifying nothing.

It Didn't Come Easy In New Orleans

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Here in Minnesota, the football-loving populace is shrouded in purple misery after yet another Vikings team found a way to avoid their first Super Bowl since 1977.

Losing 31-28 in the NFC Championship game in overtime to the New Orleans Saints at the Louisiana Superdome Sunday, it was not the greatest game ever played.  Not even close.  Oh, there were a lot of points scored, but neither team seemed to want this game badly enough.

It is said that the team making the most mistakes tend to lose games.  So it went for the Vikings, with Adrian Peterson becoming a liability with his fumbles, quarterback Brett Favre throwing an ill-advised pass in the dying seconds of regulation, and the offense getting caught with too many men on the field.  The Saints were handed this game on a silver platter.

The Saints defense revealed Favre to be an old, beat-up quarterback who could barely move at game's end.  But he was an old, beat-up quarterback with a high threshold of pain, and for that he earned people's admiration.

After another successful but unfulfilled season, we're into the by-now-annual game of whether or not Favre wants to play another year.  ESPN reports that Favre says it's "unlikely" he'd come back.  If that's the case, then the Vikings should plan on signing a veteran free agent quarterback.  Otherwise, check back with us in August.

We must congratulate the Saints for making it to their first Super Bowl since the franchise was founded in 1967.  After all the team and the city of New Orleans has been through the last few years, they deserve this one.

They will play the AFC champion Indianapolis Colts February 7 at Your Name Here Stadium in Miami (actually it's Sun Life Stadium, the seventh name that place has had since it opened).  Good luck trying to get past Peyton Manning, one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL, who has already led the Colts to the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Back in Minnesota, people will be spending another cold winter's day wondering what the hell happened to a football team that had a successful season, but fell apart at the wrong time.

Democracy For Sale?

This is what happens when a Supreme Court made up of five conservative makes decisions that benefit other conservatives, never mind the consequences to the country.

Not content to simply hand George W. Bush the 2000 presidential election, the justices voted 5-4 to allow corporations and practically anyone with an unlimited amount of money to fund political ads that attack or support causes and candidates in an election year.  Funding through political parties would remain illegal.

That means corporations, if they wanted to, can spend whatever it wants to influence the elections of everyone from the President of the United States to the local dog catcher.  And they can also weigh in on whether or not hot-button issues such as health care reform or same sex marriage becomes law.  Which gives themselves a significant advantage over not-so-well-funded organizations that might have an opposing view.

Yes, we know this has been going on forever.  Lobbyists representing top companies and organizations routinely try to convince lawmakers to see things their way.  And some of those elected officials have been known to put a little corporate cash into their bank accounts.  Nothing new here, except the Supreme Court just made it legal.

For Republicans, this is a win-win.  Being the party of big business, its candidates can now expect oodles of money to come their way and eventually dominate politics for years to come.  For Democrats, who usually rely on unions for their support, the impact of the ruling is not so good.  Unions have been losing members, money and clout for decades through concessions to big business.  And the moment any of these elected officials grow a spine and refuse to take corporate money, they risk being outspent and outwitted by better-funded opponents.  The parties might risk being more irrelevant than they are now.

The corporations claim that they wouldn't use their money to exert their influence over the political process, because they don't want to offend the consumers who buy their products.  Which begs the question:  Since when has big business actually cared about consumers?

Keith Olbermann made a rather alarmist rant about the Court's ruling Thursday night, painting a bleak picture of America under the control of corporations.  This all sounds rather depressing, until you realize that Olbermann's broadcast airs on General Electric-owned MSNBC.  And his sponsors include drug companies and the petroleum industry, which makes him no different than most other newscasters on TV.

Members of Congress are talking about limiting the effects of the Supreme Court's ruling by passing emergency laws.  But do they really want to do that?  Baby needs a new pair of shoes, you know.

If there was ever a Political Golden Rule, it should be updated.  The rule should now read:  "He who has the gold makes the rules, and anyone who disagrees may do so at their peril".