The Newington High School football team returned to the Thanksgiving Day winner’s circle for the first time since 1993 — the first time at home since 1990 — with a 44-21 win over Wethersfield Thursday morning.

WOOHOO!!!! GO INDIANS!!!!!! :)

You can hear my “call” of the end of the game here. More game photos here.

With the win, the Indians clinched their first playoff berth since 1991, earning the #3 seed in Class L. They’ll play the highly regarded Staples Wreckers in a semifinal game Tuesday night.

Brooke wasn’t the only one amused by the “chicken” case in Contracts class. Professor Kaveny revealed today that it’s one of her personal favorites — and she got a kid in our class to give a dramatic reading of a key passage from the opinion. I’ve got an audio clip of it. :)

Also, from a few weeks back, here’s an audio clip from our viewing of that “How a Bill Becomes a Law” video in Legal Research class.

Howard Dean wants to be the new Democratic Party chairman. Cripes. That low rumbling sound you hear is the earth quaking as Jesusland steadily grows…

P.S. Remember Iowa, people…

You may recall my photos and narration of last Friday’s pre-Fall Break night out at The Backer. Well, here’s an audio clip from that evening (647 KB).

Also, remember that lame movie we watched in Legal Research last week? Well, I’ve got two audio clips from that (both also 647 KB). In the first one, you can hear the class laughing out loud at the movie’s absurdly contrived dialogue. :)

Here it is! My gallery of 168 photos from my 25-hour trip to Los Angeles — including 115 from the pre-game ESPN Gameday festivities at the Coliseum yesterday morning — is now available for your viewing pleasure!

Among the funniest pictures are the ones showing some of the homemade signs that USC students and fans waved at the cameras during Gameday’s broadcast. For example:

That last one is a picture of the big screen showing what was being broadcast live on ESPN. Yes, that’s Lee Corso, with the “Corso is a Trojan Man” sign perfectly positioned right behind him. Heh.

In addition to the signs, there are other photos highlights as well, including some I’ve already posted thumbnails of, like the shots of students reacting to Corso’s pick of USC over Cal:

This photo is also cool, and this one shows a cute kid. He’s got nothing on these kids, though:

Cutest. Trojans. Ever. :)

I ran into several people I know: Sean and Neil, also from the USC Class of ‘03, and Kim, Andrew’s and my former colleague and editor at the Daily Trojan.

Also, Paul Kovich, the USC political science adviser, was randomly on my flight from Chicago to Los Angeles, but I didn’t get a picture of him. Oh, and remember the infamous NCAA pool contestant Ben Eng? Well, I met him! And I met BoiFromTroy, too! (Hat tip to Andrew for the diagonal picture — maybe he thought a “straight” picture would be inappropriate? Heh, sorry Boi… :)

Anyway, you should really view the whole thing. There are three pages total in the gallery. Some of the photos are somewhat redundant, and a few are slightly blurry, because I included almost every single picture I took so that folks like Bretly5 who are looking for specific “faces in the crowd” will have the best possible chance of finding them. But there’s lots of good stuff in the gallery, so check it out!

P.S. I realized there’s a glaring omission from this photo-filled post: a picture of Bea! Well, here she is with Andrew amidst the Gameday madness yesterday morning:

P.P.S. The uploaded versions of these photos are only 640 x 480, but the originals are 1600 x 1200, so if anyone wants or needs a full-size version of a particular photo, please email me and let me know!

P.P.P.S. Here’s a sound clip of Chris Fowler talking to the crowd after the live show finished at 9:00 AM PDT.

Here’s an audio clip (284 KB) of the “WE! ARE! N! D!” chant working its way around the four corners of Notre Dame Stadium at today’s game.

Next week: Purdue at Notre Dame. An in-state rivalry, and a very big game to boot. The only frustrating thing is realizing how much bigger it would be if the Irish had beaten BYU in Week 1. If they had, ND-Purdue would be a battle of Top 25 undefeateds with possible national-championship implications for both teams. Alas. But even so, it will be big. And Becky will be here, and I’ve secured a ticket for her, so yeah. Woohoo! Go Becky! Go Irish! :)

UPDATE: My photo gallery of the ND-Washington game is now online, including my picture of this very funny t-shirt:

Heh. (As a matter of fact, I did see someone being bodily carried toward the stadium by several of his friends. Tailgating at Notre Dame can be intense.)

Here’s a photo of me and Dave in front of the Golden Dome:

You’ll notice that he’s in full Husky regalia, I’m in full Irish regaila — and we’re both flashing the USC victory sign. :) Once a Trojan, always a Trojan, baby!

Finally, here’s a pic of Dave walking out of Notre Dame Stadium through the tunnel, giving me the “W” sign:

Of course, it was Irish who got the “W” and the Huskies who “bowed down” this week. :) (Sorry, Dave, but it had to be said…)

Full photo gallery here!

P.S. I almost forgot: here’s a photo of the Washington Husky!

This led to some nerdy inside-joking among those of us in Gunn’s Torts class about how “if it looks like a wolf…” :)

Oh, and get a load of this guy:

Heh. Now that’s a Domer! :)

Courtesy of Boinkette, the exact quote from Convention Director Don Mischer, aired live on CNN:

“Go balloons… Balloons… What is happening balloons? There’s not enough of them coming down. All balloons! Where the hell, there’s nothing falling! What the f**k are you guys doing up there?!?”

Drudge has an audio clip of Mischer’s outburst. It is not censored, so parental discretion is advised!

UPDATE: An Australian news site has a more complete — and barely bleeped — Balloongate audio clip.

Drudge has now posted a longer version of the quote:

“No confetti. No confetti yet. Go balloons. Go balloons. More balloons. All balloons. All balloons. Come on guys, let’s move it! Jesus. We need more balloons. I want all balloons to go, goddamn! No confetti. No confetti. No confetti. I want more balloons. What’s happening to the balloons? We need more balloons. We need all of them coming down! Balloons. Balloons. Balloons. What’s happening? They’re not coming down. All balloons. Where the hell! Nothing is falling. What the f**k are you guys doing up there? We want more balloons coming down. More balloons. More balloons.

Below, my dad offers us three 12th of July audio posts (1, 2, 3). Here’s one more for y’all:

12thofjuly.wav (0:27, 424 KB)

Up the Republic! :)

BoiFromTroy has exclusive breaking news regarding once-and-future(?) USC wide receiver Mike Williams:

While most of Los Angeles sports fans are glued to their SportsRadio for talk about the pending trade of Shaquille O’Neil to the Dallas Mavericks, rumors are beginning to float about another noteworthy announcement coming during the noon lunch hour.

When he goes on KMPC 1540 at 12:20 PM, will USC Wide Receiver Mike Williams announce his successful reinstatement? Rumors broke late yesterday that he has gotten a provisional thumbs up from the NCAA, although no official announcement has been made.

Here is what the linked rumor states:

Its official!! the NCAA has given Mike an oppurtunity to be reinstated. Mike has to start school on [Wednesday] at SC and get no less than a B in his 2 summer classes. So the ball is now in Mike’s court.

If you have Real Player, you can listen live to KMPC 1540. (I am.)

UPDATE, 12:35 PM: Williams confirms that he is flying back to L.A. and will be starting summer school at USC next week. But it sounds like he is not officially reinstated yet; he is going to have to take the classes and continue with the process. He says there is no specification regarding what grades he has to get; he just has to do well enough to prove to the NCAA that he is serious about being a student. “Everything is going in the right direction, but I still…have my fingers crossed, I guess,” he said.

UPDATE, 12:45 PM: Here is a recording of the entire interview in WAV format: mikewilliams.wav (5 MB, 10 min. 59 sec.). (Note: This recording is provided as a public service only, for the benefit of those who may have missed the show, and will be gladly removed if the copyright owners so request.)

UPDATE: The AP reports:

Wide receiver Mike Williams is enrolled at Southern California for summer school, but there’s no word from the NCAA on whether he will be allowed to play college football next season.

Williams, who was kept out of the NFL draft by the courts, starts school next week, school spokesman Tim Tessalone said Thursday.

But Tessalone said the university hasn’t heard from the NCAA on Williams’ status.

“It’s ultimately the NCAA’s decision,” he said.

Smarty Jones is stunned on the stretch run by a surging Birdstone. Once again, a Triple Crown bid is denied at Belmont.

UPDATE: Here is the ABC Radio stretch call (WAV format, 1.0 MB, 1:10) by famed Triple Crown announcer Dave Johnson (Mr. “Down the Stretch They Come!”).

Here’s an AP article.

UPDATE: Now here’s something you don’t hear every day: “I’m very sorry that I had to win,” said Edgar Prado, Birdstone’s jockey, on spoiling the chances for the first Triple Crown in 26 years.

Don’t feel bad, Edgar. This would have been the worst-timed Triple Crown imaginable, coming on the day of President Reagan’s death; it would not been completely overshadowed in the news cycle, and thus would have failed to bring the surge of public attention and accalim to horse racing that the sport’s powers-that-be are so desperate for. Really, it’s better that Smarty Jones lost, thus extending the Triple Crown drought and giving another horse, someday, a chance to “break the curse” when he can have the spotlight all to himself.

On Easter, I put an MP3 of Jesus Christ is Risen Today on my blog, so it seems only appropriate that on May Day, I make the Soviet National Anthem available for download. (Turn your volume down; it’s a rather loud MP3.)

Heh. Mr. Lombardi, are you out there? [inside reference alert]

Oh, hey, and make sure to check out the Politburo Diktat blog. In honor of the occasion, you know.

P.S. I’m not really a communist. Honest!

Here’s an MP3 of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” (2:24, 2.2 MB). Enjoy!

Central Connecticut State — the last non-UConn Nutmeg State team left in the running for the NCAA Tournament — is mounting a valiant comeback in its Northeast Conference semifinal against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Blue Devils were trailing by 12 points earlier in the second half, but now they’ve just tied the game, 57-57 with 4:20 to go! I’m listening on Internet radio.

UPDATE: CCSU just took the lead, 59-57 — and the other team’s top scorer fouled out! Oops, FDU just tied it, 59-59…

UPDATE, 2:20 left: It’s Central by 4! It’s 63-59. (They took back the lead with a dramatic three-pointer, then added a free throw a while later.)

UPDATE, 1:30 left: FDU on a 5-0 run, takes a 64-63 lead.

UPDATE, 1:00 left: Central by 1, 65-64!

UPDATE, 16.2 seconds left: FDU leads 66-65, Central has the ball, calls timeout.

UPDATE, 2.9 seconds left: FDU stops CCSU … a controversial no-call on an FDU defender (after a controversial call on the other end that also went FDU’s way) … now FDU leads 68-65 … Central’s ball again, takes another timeout … last chance, needs a 3 to tie it…

UPDATE, 0:00 left: YES!!!!!! THREE-POINTER AT THE BUZZER!!!! WE’RE GOING TO OVERTIME!!!!

UPDATE, 2:00 left in OT: Central leads, 71-70.

UPDATE, 30 seconds left: Central leads by 5!!!

UPDATE, 4.2 seconds left: FDU scores 2; Central by 3, going to the free-throw line.

UPDATE, game over: Central wins!!! Missed both free throws, but FDU missed the 3-pointer to tie it! CCSU is one win away from the Big Dance!!! WOOHOO!!!

AUDIO UPDATE: Here’s a sound clip of CCSU clinching its win (30 seconds, 237 KB).

LOOKING AHEAD: The championship game will be on Wednesday at 5:00 PM Mountain time (7:00 PM Eastern) against either #1 Monmouth or #4 Robert Morris. It will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Central, remember, is the #7 seed, but they have now upset #2 St. Francis and #3 Fairleigh Dickinson. Woohoo! One more upset and they’ll be in the NCAA Tournament! (Probably as a #16 seed, matched up against somebody like Duke or Stanford. But nevermind that for now. :)

I’ve assembled a collection of highlights from my photo gallery of the festivities surrounding Thursday’s presidential debate at USC. First, though, some previously unreleased sound clips…

Fox News political analyst Carl Cameron talks about Edwards’s chances. (42 sec., 456 KB)

Best chant of the night, from the Deaniac camp: “Annoy the media! Vote for Dean!” (8 sec., 88 KB)

Kerry promotes “six of one,” Edwards stumps for “half a dozen of the other,” and Kucinich can’t get a word in edgewise in the “corporate media” puppeteer show. (58 sec., 636 KB)

Now for those photo highlights…

A pro-Sharpton, pro-reparations pick-up truck on Jefferson Ave.

Lucky bastards waiting in line to get inside Bovard for the debate.

One of the many satellite trucks on campus, with the VKC tower in the background.

Kerry’s supporters get the pre-debate chants going. “Whose house? Our house! What house? The White House! John… Kerry! President… Kerry!”

At first, the Edwards cheering section was undermanned compared to Kerry’s, and it took them a while to get the enthusiasm going…

…but before long, there were plenty of Edwardsians, screaming at the top of their lungs for their candidate.

Kucinich, of course, had the funkiest supporters.

Howard Dean and the youth vote. Crazy kids!

Presidential vegetables: Chris P. Carrot and Colonel Corn!

A woman dressed as a “John Kerry Flip-Flop.” Heh.

Guy dressed as Dubya: “Stop Me!” Again, heh.

Break-dancing for Kucinich.

A puppeteer on stilts, identified as the “corporate media,” controls his puppets, Kerry and Edwards, whose answers to every question were either “six of one” or “half a dozen of the other.”

John Edwards gives his supporters the thumbs-up after the debate.

Edwards speaks to the crowd while his wife looks on.

Kristy for Edwards!

Me and Kristy in front of the Edwards bus.

View all my debate-related photos here!

Becky and I went on an early-morning hike today, starting before sunrise. (The things I do for love…) By 11:00 AM, we had hiked six miles and were heading home! Anyway, I’m far too lazy to post a full photo gallery, but here’s a panoramic shot of dawn on the Superstitions that I created out of five digital pics using PhotoStitch:

Oh, and here’s an audio clip of birds chirping in the early morning.