Danica and Lorena

Number One Son and Indy resident and race fan and Audi fanatic and Danica Patrick fan insists that I make some kind of comment on Ms Patrick's win at the Indy Japan 300 (espn's coverage which also lists the location of the race - in the mountains nw of Tokyo). That would be a first for the tiny lady and a first for any woman. Breaking down the doors to all those male thingees that we are finding out aren't necessarily exclusively male thingees.

And another young lady continues to shine and play the best golf of any golfer on the universe. That would be Lorena Ochoa who won for the fourth time in four weeks earlier today. Wowzer.

Strange Quiet

Pictures: Girls walking in the park yesterday.

Diane and Danielle went off to Wal-Mart with Naomi and Leah. March Madness continues but not till a bit later (I think, haven't checked). And Tiger's show doesn't come on till mid afternoon. Suddenly verrrry quiet here in the home atop the hill. What to do, what to do.

Did watch a movie till the wee hours last night: Summer Palace. A dark tale of lust and love in China during the student revolt in the late 80's and the ten years following. A love story that doesn't end well, or at least not with the lovers joining hands and marching off into the sunset at the end. Diane and Danielle went to bed way before the middle of the film. Was late though and the day had been filled with the youngsters.

Cool and cloudy - might head over to the golf course for a walk. Again not very pleasant weather for the golfers among us.

And if you didn't notice:

-Tiger one behind at Doral.
-Irish play Washington State today - WSU is Diane's sister's husband's alma mater (don't know if I've ever seen three possessives in a row - for the grammarians out there - is it a no no? doesn't appear to be too awkward).
-IU lost last night. What happened to Eric Gordon? DJ White very impressive.
-Nice to see a bunch of upsets though am glad the Irish survived, handily.

Barack's Mom, Big Boy Golf, Irish Woes

News of Note;

-from the NYTimes, an article on a fascinating woman whose life was way too short: Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro. The article explains the 'Stanley'. Her first child: Barack Obama. Characteristics I would give this woman from reading the article: independent, adventurous, a world citizen, generous, demanding, a wonder. Go read it...

-from the LATimes, a brief recap on how Obama is leading - the numbers. But can he win PA? And if he doesn't, is it important? Hillary's camp says it is important; Barack's thinks otherwise. I say if it's close, and that's the way it looks right now, doesn't amount to much more than bragging rights. Question then is: are the super delegates influenced by brag? My suggestion to the two Democratic candidates: aim your pointy comments at John McCain, not each other.

-Freddie leading at Bay Hill. Tiger 5 back. Anybody counting Tiger out yet?

-Irish lose in Big East tournament. Marquette whips up on the conference player and coach of the year, Luke Harangody and Mike Brey. From the espn.com link, the ND coach: "I am glad we won't be playing Big East games next week," he said. "I've had enough and I'm sure other coaches feel the same way." Really? I guess when he says next week, he's assuming that the Irish will be in the big dance and that they won't play a Big East team either midweek or on the weekend. Is that really how it works?

Daybreak here on the hill and a little rain. Diane still sleeping - she's been doing that fairly well these last few days and, yes, she still is not back to her good old self. But maybe today...

Halberstam, Siegelman, Tiger

Finished David Halberstam's The Next Century this morning. A book he published in 1991 about Japan, America, education, establishments and oligarchies, business, national security and nationaly security states, Russia, Mexico as a threat and a lot more. As I was finishing it, I very much wanted to sit down with the author and carry on the conversation especially in light of the 17 years that have passed and the very different geopolitical climate that exists now - think the American economic success in the '90's, the rise of China, the 'war on terrorism'. More later on this book which does talk about the next century, the one we're in now, by never talking about it. Very much worth a read - it's a quick read since it is a small book, very much unlike most of his books.

60 Minutes last night had a segment on the Don Siegelman story. tpm.com has a summary, a comment (surprised?), and a clip of the full segment. That story, according to tpm, is:

the prime example of selective prosecution in the Bush Justice Department

and, might I add, a pretty darn good example of justice run amok. Certainly these guys, Rove, Bush, Gonzales, and all their minions, will someday pay the price for their misuse of power.

And on a lighter note: Tiger and Stewart had a nice walk in the park yesterday, didn't they? No pressure on TW, maybe a bit of embarrassment for SC.

Time to get something to eat...

Sunday Funnies: IU's quandry, Annika, Jeeps

The MSU coach says hold on a minute to all those calling for Kelvin Sampson's head. Go read this article by Steve Grinczel to get a different read on that 'cheating' situation. Go here for an AP story which asks the question: will the decision be based on saving/protecting Indiana's reputation or its pocketbook?

Annika Sorenstam gets a win. Kinda like stepping back in time a year or two. Wonder what Lorena was thinking as she watched the former #1 come out with guns a-blazing? Don't imagine she was trembling in her boots but rather calmly waiting for her turn at the plate. (I know, this is golf not baseball; it's just that 'turn at the plate' is a lot more common than 'turn on the tee box' which actually sounds like something you might do in a sports bar or something...)

Jeeps blew away the Wood Memorial team last night, 67-51. Go Jeeps!

Time for breakfast and more of The Coldest Winter.

Knight, Clemens, Rain, Voting

Bob Knight resigned from coaching. Hope he finds the pasture where he's headed pleasant. Did you happen to see the cbssports.com article and the attached polling question? Haven't heard yet from daughter Danielle, a basketball player and fan, but both sons have come in with mixed feelings about this complex man. My own feelings and thoughts are far less mixed.

Roger Clemens testifying in Washington. Insists he did not use illegal drugs or performance enhancing drugs. I'll take him at his word, at least for now.

Number 1 son Marty noted how his Sunday started with Tiger doing amazing things over in Dubai and ended with the Giants doing some amazing things down in Arizona. His words:

Regarding Tiger and this day in sports: I watched the Dubai tourney on the Golf Channel early in the day . . . and while I was prepared for Ernie to win, I was inspired watching Tiger buckle down and do what he had to do to take the win from Ernie. Magnificent athlete, I'm fortunate to be alive while Tiger does his thing. Wow. Then, the Super Bowl, another inspiring experience, watching a team (not an individual) do that same thing that Tiger did. Reach out and grab the win, showing the world they were better than the mighty Pats on this day. What a great day in sports.

It was.

It's mild and raining. Yippee for the mild and darn for the rain.

Super Tuesday and a lot of people are out casting a vote for who they hope will get the nomination and eventually the presidency. Heard some comments on pbs news last night when they were discussing the last Bush budget just presented to Congress that the next president was going to be handed a whole raft of problems with which to deal. You can say that about more than the economy, or at least some of us could. If I were voting today, I'ld be voting for the lady; that would be Hillary, HRC, Senator Clinton. But, alas, got to wait a bit. The pundits are already talking about the votes down the road a piece and how important they might turn out to be. Might even get to Indiana (do I remember May 6th correctly?) where our votes could be critical. Wow. That's something.