- One of the many reasons I love riots, outside of the rampant property destruction, indiscriminate violence and clashes with authority figures, is that you can thoroughly enjoy them even if you have no real stake in the conflict itself. Take the protests in northern Iraq, where thousands of Kurds and their supporters took to the streets to take a stand against the Turkish Parliament’s decision to authorize the government to send Turkish troops across the border to root out Kurdish rebels who have been conducting attacks across the border into Turkey. It’s a tricky situation any time a border is involved and you’re going into another country to attack rebels who are crossing the border into your country. You can argue that a nation should not intrude on the border of its neighbor in this way for any reason or you could argue that if this is the best way the Turks can get after these militants, then they should do it. I prefer option #3, taking joy in the fact that thousands of average citizens banded together, took to the streets and took a stand against a government action they considered unfair and unjust. While I regret that no cars were set on fire or overturned and there were no violent clashes with police, I salute the spirit of rebellion wherever it lives, and so I salute the Kurds and their protest against the Turkish government, good work all of you.
- All good things must end, even for the Ol’ Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier. In his entire career, spanning stops at Duke, Florida and now South Carolina, the O.B.C. had never, ever lost a game to Vanderbilt – until yesterday. With his South Carolina Gamecocks ranked sixth in the most recent BCS poll (you still suck, BCS), Spurrier and his team welcomed Vandy to Columbia, S.C. and wound up on the wrong end of a 19-7 whuppin’. The loss throws South Carolina back into a mess of teams tied with two conference losses in the SEC East, but for all you O.B.C. haters out there, you just got plenty more ammo. Elsewhere in college football, a #1 team finally survived a week at the top of the heap, albeit with a late scare. Ohio State rushed out to an early 24-0 lead over Michigan State, then surrendered two late defensive touchdowns to MSU and a field goal that narrowed the gap to 24-17. Still, the Buckeyes survived and at this point, they’re doing a lot better than most teams who preceded them at the top of the polls this year. One of the teams chasing them and trying to overcome a loss, LSU, won in dramatic late-game fashion, beating a pesky Auburn team 30-24. The team that handed LSU its loss last week, Kentucky, saw its quarterback, Andre Woodson, throw for 415 yards and five touchdowns – and still lost at home to Florida 45-37. Also losing to end its national title hopes was California, which dropped a second straight game, 30-21 to a disappointing UCLA team that came from behind to down the Golden Bears. In-state rival USC had an easier time, handing Notre Dame its worst home loss ever, 38-0. It’s funny, back when I hated Notre Dame and rooted against them every week, they were great. Now, since I ran a marathon in South Bend that finished in Notre Dame Stadium and stopped hating the Irish after seeing their campus and feeling the great vibe on it firsthand, they totally suck and drop to 1-7. But back to the theme of teams losing for the second straight week after a long undefeated run to start the season….props to Cincinnati for showing why it’s still a long way from being a legit top program by dropping a 24-17 decision to a Pittsburgh Panthers team that had lost four in a row and had its coach, Dave Wannstedt, coaching from the press box instead of the sidelines after tearing an ACL this week and having surgery on it. A worse loss, though, was Nebraska and its 36-14 defeat to Texas A&M, a loss that came a week after the Cornhuskers’ worst-ever home loss and the same week that NU fired its athletic director, Steve Pedersen, and brought back NU legend Dr. Tom Osborne, the man who built the team into a national power, to be its new AD. Legend or not, it’s going to take a lot more than that to resuscitate a program that has fallen very far, very fast. Coach Beau Bridges, er, Bill Callahan, is set to be fired once the season ends and he clearly knows it. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Miami and Florida State did play this week, although with both teams unranked and uninteresting, the game that once was a bitterly heated rivalry that demanded the nation’s attention came and went with barely a whimper. The Hurricanes won by a 30-24 count, which should be yet another sign to FSU coach Bobby Bowden that it’s time for him to hang it up and give the program a chance to have a new voice and vision at the top. All in all, it was the most uneventful Saturday of college football in several weeks, which should mean that next weekend will be twice as tumultuous.
- Does Kiefer Sutherland need to be the next celeb to go to rehab several times, for varying lengths of time, before relapsing and going back again and again? If you believe reports that the diminutive star of 24 is a huge binge drinker, then the answer may be yes. Last month he got popped for a D.U.I., yet was spotted out on the town, ordering drinks two days later. Maybe he’s trying to chase away the fact that his show is dramatically behind its production schedule and that the new season has been thrown into chaos due to the repeated production delays. Or maybe his lush-like behavior and penchant for driving drunk are contributing to the show’s problems. Either way, it’s awfully hard for your star to make it to makeup in time and to learn his lines if you have to consistently bail him out of the drunk tank, so maybe try to keep it together for at least a few months, K., then you can go on one massive bender after the season wraps.
- Ah, bet you thought I was done with the social dissidence segment of this posting, but you would be wrong. I love all things riot and protest, so I had to send a shout-out to my peeps in Bolivia, a group of angry residents who stormed the country’s largest airport Thursday after the facility became a focal point of a battle between the federal government and the country’s largest province. About 220 air force troops and military police rushed to the Viru Viru (loose translation: Yes, your flight is delayed and no, you don’t get anything more to eat than a tiny bag containing five mini pretzels) Airport and fired tear gas at a group of rioters that included airport workers as they blocked an American Airlines plane on the runway and demanded that the company pay them landing fees in cash. Sure, people, the pilot will just break out the suitcase full of $100 bills he carries with him in the cockpit and peel off a few C-notes for you. Or maybe he can dip into the petty cash jar in the pilot’s break room to pay you. Regardless of the rightness of your claim, though, kudos for stepping in front of a plane weighing many, many tons and blocking it from moving at part of your demonstration. Also, bonus points for forcing the police to bust out the tear gas, that’s always a nice touch. Two major protests in a single day, I am a very happy person…….
- How very French of you, Nikolas Sarkozy. Following in a long line of Frenchmen (and women) who specialize in surrendering and waving the white flag, Sarkozy and wife Cecilia have filed for divorce. It’s the first divorce for a French president while in office, and if the history of his country is any indication, Sarkozy will accede to any demands his wife makes in the divorce settlement and will surrender all of his assets and possessions if she so much as threatens to raise her voice at him. Relax, Frenchies, I’m just tweaking you, I know you all are a smidge sensitive about being seen as a bunch of soft, wimpy surrender-ers.
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