The St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting on a libel case filed against a Minnesota blogger. The case which involves a story posted by self-described Republican operative Michael Brodkorb, in which he claimed that public criticism of the congressional campaign of Coleen Rowley by PR Executive and Democrat Blois Olsen stems from a summer 2005 decision by the campaign not to hire Olsen’s firm, New School Communications.

Olsen contends that while an employee contacted the campaign, he did not do so in an official capacity and his criticism had nothing to do with a job offer. He is seeking $50,000 in damages and a removal of the offending post from Brodkorb’s website, MinnesotaDemocratsExposed.

The courts will be left to decide whether to hold the blog to the same standards as traditional media such as print or TV, or to cut the blog some slack since it lacks any professional standing.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

Congrats to Brian Dupuis (a.k.a. “DUP”), who came from behind to win the Irish Trojan’s first annual College Bowl Pick ‘em contest, finishing with 35 of a possible 50 points and clinching victory when the buzzer sounded on Texas’s national-championship victory over USC.

Josh Rubin, who would have won the contest if either Florida State had won the Orange Bowl or USC had won the Rose Bowl, finished second with 34 points.

Mark Gardner — who, like Dupuis, correctly picked both Penn State and Texas — finished third with 33 points.

Eric S., the only contestant to guess the exact combined score of the championship game (79), finished fourth, winning the tiebreaker over Greg Rauen and Alex Whitfield as a result of that prediction.

Doc, Joanna Mari, Courtney and Matt Scarborough round out the Top 10. Complete standings here.

Not a single contestant managed to correctly predict all four BCS bowls. Ohio State, West Virginia and Texas were all considered underdogs, according to the aggregate picks of all contestants.

Joe Loy, guestblogging ~

* May God bless Ariel Sharon, and preserve His people Israel; and

* may He also bring solace to the loved ones of the lost miners in West Virginia; AND, in connection therewith,

* if He still has some Mitzvahs left over after that Tall order, may He teach us somehow Not to demand that all the Facts be known before they are, in fact, Known. / Or, as his good & faithful servant John Cardinal Newman put it:

“…We mourn for the blossoms of May because they are to wither, but we know withal that May shall have its revenge upon November, in the revolution of that solemn circle that never stops and that teaches us, in our height of hope ever to be sober, and in our depth of desolation, never to despair.”

Well, sh*t. Longhorns 41, Trojans 38, final. The winning streak ends at 34. Congrats to Texas, the national champions.

Vince Young scored the final touchdown and a last ditch effort by the Trojans came up short.

FINAL

Texas 41
USC 38

Congratulations to Vince Young and the Horns, that was what a Championship game should be played like. I fully expect to see Texas atop the rankings if Young stays.

And if the voters have any sense it will be

1 Texas
2 USC
3 Penn State

In the final rankings.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

Guestblogger: Josh Rubin

OK, with 3:00 left in the game, USC has a 5-point lead, ahead of Texas 38-33 …

Not only is the “game on the line” as the announcers keep saying, but so is the race between myself and DUP for the Brendan Loy Pick ‘Em Contest …

Update:With 2:09 left, USC failed to get the necessary 1 yard on a 4-and-1. Texas has enough time to score the 6 that they need and they’re at their own 44!

Update 2: With :57 left, they have to REVIEW a possible fumble … Which is probably not a fumble … So they’re giving Texas an essential time-out!

Update 3: :30 … and Texas is inside the 10!

Update 4: :26 … 4th and 5

Update 5: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO … Texas scores! :19 left on the clock, Texas up 39-38

Update 6: Only :19 left … Texas up 41-38 … Now a field goal will only tie it …

Update 7: Texas wins. And I still haven’t won a friggin’ LRT/IT Pick ‘Em.

Did you see that?!?! DID YOU SEE THAT??!?!? THAT my friends is what a Heisman trophy winner looks like.

USC 31
Texas 23

I’ll keep the posts coming since Brendan is having modem difficulties.

UPDATE
Looks like Texas got away with ANOTHER lucky break. Instead of a reception, fumble and Trojan recovery its ruled an incomplete pass. Count your blessings Longhorns.

Holy Cow though, how many times are they going to allow the Texas O-line to shove the Trojans FROM BEHIND.

UPDATE 2
USC bottles up Young and holds Texas to a field goal, which this time Texas makes.

USC 31
Texas 26

UPDATE 3
Leinart to Jarrett! Touchdown USC!!!

USC 38
Texas 26

And a big injury for Texas, CB Tarell Brown #5 appears to have broken his arm, as he was taken off the field with his forarm in a splint after a collision with Jarrett and another Texas player. Brown has been a big force for the Longhorns secondary in this game.

UPDATE 4
And Vince Young scores almost singlehandedly.

USC 38
Texas 33

4 minutes left.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

The perfect people at Google — who are brilliant, rich, creative, and apparently have loads of free time — decided to band together and get a bulk order of that childhood toy, silly putty. Hilarity ensued.

So: What would you do with 250 pounds of pliable fun?

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Texas 16, USC 10, start of the second half.

All right, Pete Carroll & co., do your thing…

UPDATE: USC took a 17-16 lead… then Texas took it back, 23-17… then USC took it back again, 24-23, and that’s where things stand now, with 3:54 left in the third quarter.

LenDale White has scored all three of the Trojans’ touchdowns so far, which just goes to show that if your defensive scheme involves putting multiple defenders on Reggie Bush, the Trojans have plenty of other ways of killing you.

This will probably be my last update until after the game is over, because my cell-phone modem is being really, really slow, and it’s driving me nuts. I’m sure all you commenters can keep things up to date. :)

GO TROJANS!!!!!!!

Here we go!

source file

UPDATE: Texas defense completely stopped USC’s vaunted offense on its first drive, 3-and-out. But then on the punt, USC’s much-maligned special teams forced a fumble, the Trojans got the ball back around midfield, and the offense took advantage. Trojans 7, Longhorns 0!

UPDATE 2: Texas just got a 46-yard field goal, a career long for their kicker, so it’s now 7-3 Trojans in the second quarter. The ‘Horns wouldn’t have had the chance for the FG, if only USC had recovered Vince Young’s fumble two plays earlier. By my count, there have been four fumbles in this game, and Texas has recovered three of them. One of the three was a rare bonehead play by Reggie Bush on the preceding possession — an unnecessary lateral-turned-fumble that probably cost the Trojans a touchdown.

Overall, both defenses are playing well. Vince Young is easily the player of the game so far. I’m not feeling at all comfortable at this point. It feels like Texas is winning, even though they’re behind on the scoreboard. A nice long Reggie Bush run — that doesn’t end in a fumble — would be just what the doctor ordered.

UPDATE 3: Texas scores a non-touchdown that’s incorrectly counted as a touchdown (why do we have replay again?), then misses the extra point. So it’s Texas 9, USC 7. Or, if you prefer, USC 7, Referees 6, Texas 3.

Quasi-senile ABC announcer Keith Jackson lays the blame at the feet of the USC coaching staff, saying the Trojans should have called timeout so the officials would have had time to review the play. BULLS**T. The officials had plenty of time, and USC should not have to waste a timeout in order to make the officials do their jobs!! It’s the officials’ fault they didn’t review a clearly incorrect call, not USC’s fault.

Okay, that’s the last you’ll hear from me about that. Unlike a small but vocal minority of Domers who are still upset about the “Bush Push,” I’m not a sore loser, and if USC ends up losing this game by the margin of that non-touchdown, I’ll accept the loss without further complaint. (Besides, Texas probably would have scored a touchdown anyway, given the way Young was picking apart the Trojan secondary on that drive.)

C’MON TROJANS!

UPDATE 4: USC suddenly can’t tackle. Texas scores again. Longhorns 16, Trojans 7, with 2:34 left in the first half. Time for some Pete Carroll Second Half Magic ^TM…

UPDATE 5: And now a bad call goes USC’s way. Texas had an interception there, but it wasn’t called, and no review. Again: why do we have replay?? Well anyway, now the teams are even on really important bad calls. But this officiating crew needs some Second Half Magic as well.

UPDATE 6: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE USC COACHING STAFF TODAY??? Why did we let, like, 13 seconds run off the clock before calling timeout??? Jeez!

UPDATE 7: Dinello hits the 43-yard field goal. Texas 16, USC 10 at halftime.

Guestblogger Kristy says…

I am no mathematician, so perhaps that is why I find this article so fabulous. The best line is the professor’s quote, “We’re super excited.” It’s the little things in life!

Guestblogger Kristy says…

I have a challenge for anyone who is up for it: I started a new position this week and will be in charge of all sales and new business accounts for the also-new video and collateral print production arm of our marketing company. This new Division is in need of a new name! The previous name got shot down, and now I’m charged with brainstorming ideas for a new one. SO, your mission should you choose to accept it, is to come up with the name of my company! (Know, however, that your suggestions become the property of myself and TEO, Inc. and the only thing you win is the satisfaction of knowing that you came up with the name of a new video prod outfit in NH.) Keep in mind I am currently the only employee of said business.

Fire away! Sky’s the limit…

Some visitors may have noticed that the homepage was a little messed up this morning. Apparently this was due to some code somewhere in guestblogger Josh Rubin’s post regarding the Dover Pennsylvania’s recently reveresed decision regarding the teaching of Intelligent Design in schools. I temporarily removed the post in order to troubleshoot the problem, but I wanted to assure Brendan’s loyal readers that no censorship was occuring. As soon as the issue is resolved the post will be restored.

Guestblogger: David Kreutz

Guestblogger: Josh Rubin

OK, so that’s a lame title … But the Dover, PA School Board has recinded its landmark decision to allow Intelligent Design to be taught alongside Evolution. Of course, this is in response to the decision handed down by the local District Court. But then again, most of the board members who voted to put this policy into place last year were defeated in the November Election, so we’re talking about new folks sitting on the board …

Here’s a video clip of me getting splashed by the Nakalele Blowhole, then walking away just before another, even larger “eruption.”

source file

We also saw the Dragon’s Teeth and swam in the Olivine Pools as part of our tour of northwest Maui today.

There are many more pictures, of course, but like with the wedding photos, you’ll have to wait a while to see ‘em all. :)

Oh, but before I forget, here’s a picture from Monday — an aerial view of the Fiesta Bowl! Our flight was actually delayed a few minutes because of airspace restrictions during the pre-game festivities, but when we finally took off, we flew directly over Sun Devil Stadium and I was able to get this shot with my telephoto lens:

Pretty cool, eh? Judging by the red and white flags, it looks like Ohio State was coming onto the field just then.

Alas, that picture was my last contact with any sort of information regarding the Fiesta Bowl until, upon arrival at Kahului nearly seven hours later, I asked a guy sitting at an airport bar, “Hey, do you know who won the Fiesta Bowl?” Noticing my ND t-shirt, he replied, “Not Notre Dame.”