Month: August 2009

Quizzo Power Rankings

absolute_powerA wild week of quizzo leads to a big mixup on the Power Ranking board. Here we go:

  1. Steak ‘Em Up: Their wins were hardly commanding (they would have finished 5th with the same scores at Black Sheep or Ugly American), but hey, wins are wins, and in a week where many big dogs went down, they did not. Not #1 with a bullet, but #1 nonetheless. Last week: #2
  2. The Jams:A two point upset loss at the Vous costs them the crown. Last week: #1.
  3. Axis of Evil Knieval: The highest jump since we started the Power Rankings, but with good reason: A dominant 112 at the Black Sheep on Wednesday on what was a really tough quiz. Last week: NR
  4. Duane’s World: A 104 was only good enough for 2nd at Black Sheep on Wednesday, but make no mistake: this is the team to beat at the Sheep.
  5. My Dog Peed on my Eagles Jersey: I said last week that they had to prove that they weren’t a one week wonder. They did with a 2nd straight win. Last week: #10
  6. But My Mom Says I’m Cool: With two team members moving out of town, they send them off with an inspirational 97-95 win over the mighty Jams. Last week: NR
  7. Urban Achievers: WHere did these guys come from? A perfect score in Round Four gives them a 108-105 victory over the No Talent Ass Clowns. Last week: NR
  8. L. Ron Hubbard’s Diabetics: A week after a commanding win, they finish out of the money. The once dominant Diabetics are suddenly shaky.  Last week #3. 
  9. Why’s John’s Rum Gone. A two point loss at O’Neals prevent them from a Top 5 standing. Last Week: #6. 
  10. Hurtin Bombs. Finish 3 points behind Steak ‘Em Up, but a tiebreaker lands them in 4th place. On the bright side, their bar tab is a lot lower without Rene on the team. Last week: #7.

Others receiving votes: Narcotyzing Dysfunktion, No Talent Ass Clowns, Just the Tip, Tooth Wind and Fire, Forth Estate, Dorksided

Ted Kennedy and Michael Vick

mary_jo_kopechne_31Bob T. just sent me an article by Mark Steyn about how news people are airbrushing the Chappaquiddick incident out of the national consciousness. Overall I think Stein’s point is pretty lame: when Ronald Reagan died, not a lot of people made note of the fact that he started his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, MS (where Civil Rights workers had been murdered in 1964), that he once called Jefferson Davis a hero, or that he was a big supporter of pro-apartheid South Africa. As a public figure, these things were certainly fair game, but to bring them up would have been in poor taste during his funeral. Furthermore, Steyn is just flat wrong. It doesn’t get much more mainstream than ABC News, and here is a pretty comprehensive piece they did on Kopechne shortly after Kennedy died.

Ted Kennedy made a series of horrific decisions 40 years ago, and I certainly think that plenty of people have every right to not forgive him for it. It will always be a part of his legacy, regardless of what Steyn believes, and it almost certainly prevented him from ever making a viable run at the Presidency. But keep in mind, this was his funeral, and it is not customary to rip someone as they are riding down the street in a hearse, even if they were a jerk. It’s kind of tacky. 

But it brings up an interesting question: who is more deserving of our forgiveness, Ted Kennedy or Michael Vick? Vick did something awful, and it was cold and calculated. At the same time, it involved animals and not humans. Kennedy, on the other hand, made a series of awful decisions and it resulted in a dead young woman. He got drunk, he drove a young woman who wasn’t his wife towards her hotel. He drove off a bridge. He emerged alive but decided not to call for help and instead “sleep it off”. While not as calculated as Vick’s situation, it was perhaps even colder. But it was passive and not aggressive. Vick killed dogs with his bare hands. Kennedy certainly did not intend to kill Mary Jo Kopechne, but he left her to die after he made a decision to sleep it off instead of diving down or calling for help. So I am curious as to what you guys think: who is more deserving of our forgiveness?

Quizzo News and Notes

etpA wild week at quizzo this week. Going to be interesting to see how it affects the standings. Steak ‘Em Up wins twice, but neither time in dominant fashion. The Axis has the best performance of the week by far, and Duane’s World, the Jams, and L. Ron Hubbard’s Diabetics all lose. How will it shake down? Find out Monday.

Meanwhile, I have found a venue for our Fall Smackdown (there’s a snippet of it to the left. See if you can figure it out.) It is going to be extremely cool. I still need to find a date, but I think we’re looking mid-October. I’ll get a definite date by next week.

Alright, I’m heading to New Hampshire for the weekend. I’ll see you kids next week. In the meantime, read about why J. Whyatt Mondesire is a disgrace. And don’t forget to join the Large Marge Fan Club!

The Philadelphia Riots of 1964

frankrizzoAn enormous riot started in Philly on this date in 1964, wrecking North Philly, and while the looters may have gotten a few free goods, they destroyed any hope of future businesses coming to the area for decades. While local leader Cecil B. Moore tried to stem the looting, people ran wild, stealing everything they could get their hands on. This from TIME’s 1964 report on the story:

Rioters ran through the streets, shattered virtually every storefront window in a four-square-mile area. Looters dashed into the stores, grabbed racks of clothing, cases of liquor, groceries, furniture—anything they could move. They overturned cars, set fires, burned down a hat shop. Burglar alarms rang constantly.

Negro Leader Stanley Branche stood on a box at a street corner, used a bullhorn to plead: “Please go home. Please go home. This is doing us no good.” The mob answered with hoots, threw stones, bricks and bottles at him, hit him in the leg. Philadelphia N.A.A.C.P. President Cecil Moore shouted: “Come out of that store! Quit looting that store!”

As for the police response, they decided to pull back and let the rioting go on. This was severely criticized by Frank Rizzo, and the mayhem that ensued helped his political rise to power.

Policemen, severely outnumbered by the rioters, were ordered by Police Commissioner Howard Leary, who grew up in what had been the Irish Catholic section of North Philadelphia and worked his way through Temple University Law School at night, to do nothing. Frank Rizzo, who was to become, before the end of the 1960s, the police commissioner, and by 1971, the mayor, and was in 1964 the famous, most admired, and most hated, cop in Philadelphia, intensely disliked this strategy, feeling that a strong show of police force would nip the riot in the bud. He called Leary “a gutless bastard.”

The riots destroyed the neighborhood.

By Sunday, the fury was all spent, but nearly every store on Columbia Avenue, the central shopping district of North Philadelphia, had been destroyed. The riot signaled the beginning of the end of North Philadelphia as a largely working-poor neighborhood…Many of the stores never reopened, and the neighborhood began its descent into the chaos of an underclass realm.

It was a depressing time to be in Philly, as a couple weeks later, the Phils started their famous swoon.

Top Scores at Bards Thursday

img_0871First Place: Steak ‘Em Up 94

img_08692nd Place: Becky’s Last Stand 91*

img_08683rd Place: Just the Tip 91

img_08704th Place: Hurtin Bombs 91

*Three teams tied for 2nd. Becky’s Last Stand won the tiebreaker, Just the Tip was 2nd closest to the answer and the Bombs were 3rd closest. 

Quizzo Tonight

peeweeLooking like we’re going to have quite a shakeup on the Power Rankings this week, and going to be interesting to see how some of our top teams perform tonight with a potential #1 ranking on the line. Kick it off at Ugly American at 8 p.m., then we move to the Bards at 10:15 p.m. Been able to raise a lot of money so far this week for the program, btw. You guys rock. Hope to see ya tonight!