This morning, I was watching the FOX outlets, News and Business News. Why watch FOX? For crap like this.

On a FOX Business News rerun:

Obama Supporter: "It's all on the Internet. You can find any earmark in the bill."

FOX Host: "You can't expect anyone to go through 9,000 pages of the bill."

First they complain about not knowing what's in the bill, then when it's pointed out to them that you can find out, they turn the argument to it's too cumbersome or not everyone has access to the Internets. Aaaargh! It pays to know how these doofuses (doofi?) operate.

Then on FOX News this a.m., Mike West, the CEO of BioTime, comes on and talks about stem cells and how you don't need embryonic cells for research, you can use adult cells combined with 4 molecules in some sort of cellular time machine, in effect, bypassing the embryonic stem cell issue. Totally flummoxing the host who wanted to pursue the embryo angle immediately. West hijacked the angle and delivered a monologue on the benefits of stem cells and how precious time was wasted with the previous ban. On FOX News!!! So the host got owned and will be fired soon, I'm sure.

Meal of Links

If you are a city dweller and a Catholic, this weekend was D-Day as the diocese started announcing parish closings yesterday. I understand why some of these parishes had to close. Operating costs, declining neighborhoods, negligible attendance, etc. My old church, Our Lady of Good Counsel, is going to be merged with Corpus Christi, which is just up the road a piece. It has to get a new name though as Our Lady Christi of Good Corpus Counsel won't cut it. I wonder if they'll have a naming rights contest? Perhaps booking your passage to heaven if you win.

But, all kidding aside, it's really torturous to see some of the churches that were picked for closing. These are churches you may not have attended, but have known about or seen all of your life. St. Colman's down on 65th. Never been in it, but even I know on St. Patrick's, it's a big deal there. And when you come home using 65th as your route, it is magnificent to see that beautiful structure lit up on a summer night. A shining beacon in the night. Very sad.

Same with St. Ignatius on Lorain and West Boulevard, another one of those lit up at night. Truly stunning that it will close, as it seemed to be thriving. Man, St. Procop's down on 41st is 145 years old!! Gone. It looks like Downtown, they are funneling everyone to St. John's, eschewing St. Peter's, a popular parish, and a second one. While St. Malachi's made the cut, one other Downtown location should have survived. St. Patrick's in West Park. Gone. But St. Pat's on Bridge, another fine structure, will stay open. Maybe that's where the Irish can relocate. Slavic Village seems to be in turmoil over their closings. Have they given up on that neighborhood? And all the Hungarians now have to go to Buckeye? Really?

Let's hope when they close, the city can protect these buildings from the vandals. That's a lot of property to just sit there. Here is the list.

Social networking is the new e-mail. And, no, I am not on Twitter.

Joe Biden can now take Amtrak to Home Depot. Not really, but Amtrak gets a a bunch of cash.

Two funny things I've seen recently: "South Park"--"She's a notorious whore...". And Will Farrell's George Bush stage play. BTW, I think Edward Norton was sitting next to that Shakespearean scholar in the nickname portion.

Exercise Yard

I was down at CSU for the March Madness Selection Party. CBS wasted no time with CSU, as they were in one of the first brackets revealed. They drew a #13 seed against #4 Wake Forest. The game will be Friday in Miami. Wake was ranked Number One at least once this year, maybe twice.

Early thoughts:

If CSU can play a zone, they have a shot. Much like CSU, Wake's fatal flaw is their inconsistent outside shooting. Maryland slapped a zone on Wake in the ACC Tournament and defeated them, as Wake shot 29% on 22 of 74 for the game, and hit only 3-25 on threes.

If Wake can run or get us in the man-to-man with better shooting, it may be a short run for the Vikings. Depth inside will play a big role, as Wake is probably going to try and jam it inside and that's where that zone can help. Another plus is that Wake is a young team.

On paper, it looks like a not-so-good matchup. Between the lines, it's a winnable game.

BTW, I still haven't been contacted about tickets. I guess that's my responsibility to find out or maybe I'm not even close on the priority list. Besides, CSU wins two and they play in Indy next week.

At the gathering, Coach Waters assured us that winning the Horizon League Tournament was not their goal. He also had each team member and coach introduce themselves and say where they were from. If you watched STO, you saw what a fine group of guys are on the team.

The brackets are here.

Visitor

None, it's a sunny Selection Sunday.