Third Baseman for the Bronx B*stards hurts his ankle and had to leave yesterday’s game against Seattle.  Also leaving the game due to injury was their pitcher Wang, who now is tied with a MLB-leading 17 wins on the season.

Pardon my Boston sensibilities while I snigger at the loss (at least temporarily) of two of the B*stards’ key players.  ::snigger::

In spite of our disheartening loss last night at the hands of the Bronx B*stards, a quick calculation shows that the Magic Number for the Sox to clinch the AL East is

24

Just an update from your friendly neighborhood Red Sox fan.

“School is not a place where young people go to watch old people work.”–R.L., one of the teachers I work with.

Today is Primary Election Day here in Maryland (and elsewhere). I haven’t made it to the polls yet, in part because I’ve been working on stuff for my Special Ed. degree, but also because of this rather disturbing tidbit:

Voters across Maryland rose early Tuesday and rushed to the polls to vote in a primary that could set the stage for radical change in the state’s political landscape, only to bump up against glitches at places throughout the state.

Officials attributed those problems to human error. In Montgomery County, officials urged early risers to vote later in the day or to use provisional ballots because cards that activate the electronic polling machines were not delivered in time to start voting at 7 a.m.

The voter access cards that activate the electronic voting machines were omitted in the supplies that go out to the chief election judges.

So I’m waiting to go vote so that they have time to correct this “human error.”

Seriously, how hard is it to remember voter access cards? The whole point of the system that Maryland uses is that those cards are used to help record votes! True, paper ballots were provided, but I smell a scandal that will require loads of recounts. I’m thinking around the lines of Florida in 2000 and Washington in 2004! Well, maybe not. But the Democratic primaries for both Senate and Comptroller have been very heated, and I don’t see major opponents going down quietly after this.

And let’s not forget the fact that Early Voting was struck down as unconstitutional last month by the State Supreme Court! Now that is something that might have actually helped relieve this situation.

Boy, do I miss Connecticut’s old lever machines. They aren’t hi-tech, and they aren’t easy to count, but there’s an automatic paper-trail and it’s sure as hell easier to physically cast your ballot.

Governor Gregoire of Washington has announced that the salmon design will be on the state quarter. (Previous posts here, here and here. Hat tip: Fark.)

The first second red card issued in this year’s World Cup (at least to my knowledge) was issued today in the 53rd minute of the 2-1 Korean win over Togo. The unfortunate recipient of this was Yaovi Abalo, a Defenseman from Togo. I have yet to see an article about it, but you can find out that the red card was issued by visiting this site.

Also interesting is that SI.com tells us how a goal was celebrated, be it by lifting one’s shirt over one’s head or by a dog pile … Riiiiiight.

PS: The first red card was given to Avrey John in Trinidad and Tobago’s first match, a tie for T&T to Sweden 0-0. Thanks to YanksFan for setting me straight. Yankees still suck.

The state legislature of South Carolina is currently considering expanding the death penalty to two-time child molesters.

Just your bright, happy fact for today.

Sorry for getting drool on your keyboard… But given my nerdiness growing up with Brendan (OK, so I’ve never actually outgrown it), I felt that I had to post this one on his site … Thousands of props, uniforms, etc. from Star Trek, its spinoffs, and its movies are going to be auctioned off later on this year.

I may not be the nerd I used to be, but this does make me wish that I had a few million bucks to spend :-)

Because I know Brendan is also a Sawx fan, I feel I can post this …

Red Sox 14, Yankees 3. Nothing else needs to be said.

OK, so not exactly… Swedish researchers have determined that hetero- and homosexuality may be linked to pheremones. People (men and women) who are attracted to men react positively to the male pheremone and people attracted to women react positively to the female pheremone.

I could say something about limp Swedish fish, but I won’t…

As a Little League, Rec League, High School League, and Men’s League umpire, I often find myself confronted with some degree of adversity. That isn’t to say that I don’t love my (part-time) job… (MLB’s “I live for this” slogan doesn’t begin to do my love of baseball justice). Anyway, two separate stories this week caught my eye, and because they involve umpires, made me tingle just a little bit.

And not necessarily in a good way.

Up first is the nationally-reported upon incident in Pawtuckett when the Triple-A Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay) squared off against hometown favorite Pawtuckett Red Sox (Boston). Delmon Young, the #1 prospect in the Devil Rays organization, not liking a strike three call he got from the umpire, argued the call. Now, I’ve been in my fair share of confrontations. Most of these end with the player mumbling and grumbling as he walks back to the dugout. Occasionally, I’ve had to toss people. But Young did something I had never heard of. He threw his bat, end-over-end, at the umpire who had tossed him out of the game! To be suspended is an afterthought. Of course, Young has been suspended. But there is a chance that Young will never play baseball again. In an organization as pathetic as the Devil Rays’, you are almost guaranteed a spot on the roster at some point in the future, when the team decides to try out its new talent. Young is an idiot, period. (I suppose I should add “IMO” here, but really, I’m not sure that this is an opinion-laden statement.)

In a completely unrelated story, in Montgomery County, MD (the county where I live and teach) this past week, a pitcher was ejected from her Varsity softball game by the umpire. The fact that this happened isn’t news in of itself. As I said, people get tossed all the time in baseball and softball for a variety of reasons. However, here is a situation where the umpire was clearly in the wrong. He ejected Candice Thompson, the Ace of Richard Montgomery HS’s rotation for “smiling” at him. Apparently, the umpire thought it was “mocking laughter” and warned her. He then proceeded to toss her from the game. Hell, I wish I got smiled at more. Usually, I get nasty looks. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say that constituted “unsportsmanlike conduct” and toss the player. If they don’t like my zone, that’s fine by me. Throw more definite strikes and fewer borderline pitches and we’ll have less to talk about.

Anyway, those are the two stories of the weird from the world of baseball and softball this week. I hope that the readers of BrendanLoy.com can forgive me for going on and on about the game I love :-)

PS: In case you’re wondering, Young is suspended indefinitely, and Thompson has been reinstated with no penalty for future games. (In HS baseball and softball, an ejection from a game warrants an automatic 1-2 game suspension. Thompson’s case was reviewed by the County’s Athletic Director, who reinstated her.)

Well, not so fast. But a top cardinal has reported that Pope Benedict XVI has asked the Church to look into OKing condom use to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Just an update from the resident Jewish poster to the ND community ;-)

As I set myself up to go back to school to earn (another) Master’s Degree, this one in Special Education, I find myself strangely attracted to the unconventional learning that our friend and frequent commentator Sean holds dear. Today the Washington Post printed an article (on Page A1, above the fold, no less) about the Fairhaven School in Prince George’s County, MD. Sean, having applied to work at this school, is likely more capable of writing about it, but I found the article staring me in the face at 5:30 this morning when I left for work.

Students follow no curriculum other than curiosity and whim. Sometimes they seek out a class or workshop, but they are not compelled to take English, geometry or any other subject. Often they just hang.

But the point is that at this school, like at all other Sudbury schools, students get to choose what they learn and when.

Isn’t this the purest form of education? I have always tried to model my teaching method in a way such that students make their own discoveries. Which is better? Being told about something in a lecture or actually going out and experiencing it? Most educational theorists will tell you that it is the latter.

The biggest drawback, IMHO, of Sudbury schools is that students do not (necessarily) fulfill all state requirements for education. Of course, you can make the argument that the requirements are pointless, too, but getting into college after attending one of these schools usually requires something more…

Students at Fairhaven earn no course credits toward a state-recognized high school diploma. Without conventional transcripts, graduates who aim for college rely on SAT scores, essays, letters of recommendation and interviews.

I’m going to step back for a while and let other folks comment … I’m really trying not to preach here on the main page…

I’ve been meaning to post this for a few weeks now, but I haven’t gotten around to it. And given that I’m not always up on everything posted on Brendan’s website, this may have already made news here …

In what is sure to be a grim vision of things to come, Major League Soccer’s team formerly known as the New York/New Jersey Metrostars have a major sponsor … And, as such, a new name. That’s right, they are now known as the New York Red Bulls.
I’ll save the editorializing, but give me a break! I see the future of sports ownership, and it ain’t pretty … I’m waiting for Disney to follow suit and name one of their sports franchises after Mickey Mouse. Because that’s going to strike fear into the hearts of opponents.

BTW: the Red Bulls tied DC United 2-2 yesterday in their opener at RFK Stadium in DC.

Guestblogger: Josh Rubin

Today, South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed into law a bill which will effectively ban nearly all abortions beginning on July 1, 2006. This represents the most recent challenge to the landmark 1973 ruling of Roe v. Wade, and it is expected that in the upcoming months the media will be talking about little else [/editorializing]. One thing is for certain, however. Now that Alito and Roberts have replaced the more moderate voices of the past, the scales may be tilted away from the pro-choice movement. William Saletan, writing on Slate.com, says that this might all be avoided with a move away from surgical abortions to more recently-discovered treatments which will cause a woman’s body to abort the fetus on its own, rather than having a surgical procedure done.