Debate report

Thoughts on last night's debate...

-McCain played the "old" card a lot, even starting with a reference to Eisenhower. He later blasted Obama's experience and referred to a bunch of things he did or observed 20 or 30 years ago. History and experience are important, but if you value history and experience this much how can you choose the least qualified running mate ever?

-McCain uses this rhetorical device of starting statements by saying "My friends." Lieberman does the same thing. No you are not my friend and I won't believe what you're telling me.

-Obama could have made a statement like "John, how can we believe you on this fact when you and your running mate have run a campaign full of lies?" I'm not sure why he didn't--maybe there are too many people who would feel sympathy for the old guy? There are just so many documented lies at this point. Obama did say "Not true, not true" to several of McCain's statements however.

-I agree with the pundits who said Obama held his own on foreign policy. I think John McCain and Sarah Palin not only want another Cold War with Russia, they actually want a real war this time around. I don't think Obama, though, could make this comment because of his initially soft posture toward the Georgia conflict--a posture that generally wasn't well received from what I understand. What else would it be though but war if NATO defended Georgia against Russia? And do you think Putin wouldn't fight back if we sent troops into Georgia?

Third down

Tonight's episode of "Project Runway" was a shocker. I really don't have a good sense of who will win this season, but I do believe that THIRD PERSON should not have been eliminated tonight. THIRD PERSON designed a "rock-and-roll" outfit for Jerrell that really wasn't all that bad. Kenley designed a disgusting pair of "mom jeans" for Leanne that were supposed to be "hip-hop." Not only were the jeans an affront to hip-hop, they were an affront to all fashion. The inexplicable high-risers wouldn't be appropriate for any genre.

There were many other times earlier this season when I thought THIRD PERSON should have been eliminated but not tonight. So THIRD PERSON departs leaving us with four survivors. Really, this season feels like Stephen King's early novel "The Long Walk."

Fired up

Young sighing

Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan writes that this year's National League Cy Young race is a referendum on whether young Sabremetricians--those who swear by statistical analysis--will topple the Old Guard in the journalists' voting for the award. Passan states that victories have typically been the barometer by which Cy Young candidates are judged, earned-run averages and other stats be damned.

I take the position that victory totals, while an imperfect measure, still matter. There's something about playing behind a winning pitcher, an ace, a stud, that gets a team going. Winners keep teams in the game--guys like Jack Morris come to mind--and throw a lot of pitches while doing it. Workhorses matter.

In this year's NL race, it's come down to Brandon Webb of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants. Lincecum sports a gaudy ERA and Webb a slightly better win total on a better team. In all fairness the award could go to either guy, though I think Lincecum has been more dominant.

In the AL, it's no contest. Cliff Lee should make it back-to-back Cy Youngs for the Cleveland Indians. Despite playing on a .500 team, he leads the league in wins (21-2) and ERA.

Vicious bicycle

I'm not really sure what to make of Lance Armstrong's comeback. On one hand, I have a cynical view and don't believe it's all about cancer awareness. On the other, I missed watching him in the Tour. But I would find it strange if he does ride for Team Astana, which was booted from this year's Tour because team leader Alexandre Vinokourov was doping in 2007. It's also strange that Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's longtime team director with the U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel, is leading the sketchy Astana team. Even more strange is how much the Team Astana Web site reminds me of the Sacha Baron Cohen character Borat (OK, maybe it's just the Kazakh flag).

I thought seven straight Tour wins was plenty for one career, especially one that managed to avoid ever testing positive despite all the "smoke" billowing around. But this will make next year's Tour a lot more interesting.

Big picture

The Republican National Convention is part hilarious, part deeply disturbing. The first two full days have been filled with head-scratching comments, tepid applause and a lot of shots of the same five (only five?) 35-year-old women in the crowd.

-By far the most absurd moment of either convention took place on Tuesday. Ohio Rep. John Boehner organized the convention photo, asking that everyone stand still for one to two minutes. The compliant delegates stood statue still, including the expressionless Congressman and all of the dignitaries on stage. It was like an old-fashioned photograph where everyone had to stand motionless for a really long time. If I missed it and the Democrats did anything like this, please leave a comment.

-The music for this convention differs from the Democratic convention. So far, mostly music that sounds like the score from a made-for-TV movie. Then Journey came on. No one really danced to it, just half-heartedly waved their signs back and forth to it.

-A speaker called the Vice Presidential nominee "Sarah Pawlenty," combining the little-known governor's name with the name of one-time VP possibility Tim Pawlenty.

-There's an Abraham Lincoln lookalike in the crowd. You wonder if he got named a delegate just for his costume and beard.

-Finally, full disclosure, I caught a Sen. Obama flub on C-SPAN 2. Speaking in New Philadelphia, Ohio, he called the town "New Pennsylvania."

Conventional wisdom

The first three days of the 45th National Convention of the Democratic Party have been wildly entertaining. Random observations as we prepare for the big rally tonight in the Broncos' stadium.

-I like the panel seated at the table on stage. They remind me of the Politburo watching a boxing match (veiled "Rocky IV" reference).

-The "Town Hall" hosted by the great Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was strange. TV commentators made it sound like no one in the arena was paying attention to it. In fact, I don't even think the audience had any questions when Sen. Brown asked at the end.

-When the Democrats air an elegy to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, I like to picture all the Republicans across the country becoming nauseous. Other moments that had Republicans reaching for their Leanne-approved barf bags: all of Sen. Clinton's speech, the Sen. Ted Kennedy tribute, President Clinton's speech and when all of the female House members took to the stage.

-The best of the convention takes place in the late afternoon/early evening. It's kind of CNBC's badminton to NBC's gymnastics--far more interesting without all the hype. (For a good story on the frustrating Olympics TV coverage, click here. Thanks to a patternless area correspondent for finding this.)

-CSPAN is by far the best network for watching the convention. No commentary, constant video feed. Yesterday, they kicked off their coverage by showing an assortment of delegates dancing to live music for about 8 minutes. I like the delegate in the donkey costume.

-I liked the camera that followed all of President Clinton's reactions during Sen. Clinton's speech on Tuesday. Sen. Biden is a close second on most entertaining reaction shots.

-DNC Chairman Howard Dean is the best. Even watching him read a motion yesterday was fun.

-Finally, how did celebrities Omarosa and Jennifer Garner get tickets? Egad.