DINING Nourish the Mind It’s really too bad we can’t support our public libraries by reading, but I guess when it comes down to it more people appreciate a good meal over a good book. Do your good deed tonight and come sample the local flavors at the Twin Cities Restaurant Week Kick-Off Event, benefiting … Read more
Sen. John McCain who stuck his polished loafer deep in his mouth when he said recently that Americans weren’t getting a realistic picture of the situation on the ground in Iraq — because of that damned negative media constantly obsessing over a few hundred truck bombings and a couple hundred tortured bodies flopping into the … Read more
My old compadre, the grizzled and venerable, Nick Coleman, asks the question I thought somebody in town should have asked at least a month ago. Namely, was U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger’s abrupt departure 15 months ago in any way connected to the ever-burgeoning Rove-Bush-Gonzalez USA firings scandal? Heffelfinger, a self-described moderate Republican, (remember those people?), … Read more
I spent part of the weekend kicking around thoughts on the coming season with Britt Robson and David Brauer over at On the Ball, Britt’s new home on the world wide web (or whatever the hell you want to call this impossibly dense and increasingly confusing constellation of monkey business). Go check it out. I’ll … Read more
With the Twins 2007 season less than 30 hours away, and with an itch to expand this blog beyond NBA basketball (which is why I chose the title On the Ball), I decided to solicit a pair of dear friends whose passion and knowledge of the game of baseball exceeds my own, and engage them … Read more
I just got word that Herb Carneal has died. I’m sure the basic information is up at the Star Tribune by now. I honestly don’t know what to say. Going back to my childhood the man’s voice has been a permanent fixture in my life, and he was always a model of modesty, decency, and … Read more
Show me a man who can’t trust, he used to say, and I’ll show you an untrustworthy man. It was lies that broke his spirit and drove him out of the arms of…what? America? The human community? The lies of culture and commerce, public and private lies, political lies –virulent dishonesty propagated by sociopaths, a … Read more
Regular Season Game #72, Home Game #35: Miami 92, Minnesota 77 1. The Fab Five Strike Again The Timberwolves were being blown off the court by the supposedly aged Miami Heat. In the space of 67 whirlwind seconds, the Heat had stolen passes, leaked out on Minnesota’s missed shots, and just generally hustled themselves into … Read more
Look, this has to stop. There are bigger issues out there. This US Attorneys things is starting to feel like the Oak Island Mystery, where every time you break through one layer of cover you dig a bit further and hit another. Now there’s this squirrely GSA business. (Thematic linkage: Throat-slitting partisan careerists politicizing every … Read more
To me, one of the great mysteries of 2006 was how Joe Mauer, a guy who had an on base percentage of .429, somehow managed to avoid scoring or driving in 100 runs. Three guys who hit behind him combined for 337 RBI (Morneau: 130; Cuddyer: 109; and Hunter: 98). Mauer had 86 runs scored … Read more