Irish Trojan in Tennessee

Hillary values loyalty over competence. Sound familiar?

By Brendan Loy

It is sometimes said by Democrats who prefer Clinton to Obama -- or who simply have their doubts about Obama, on account of his relative inexperience -- that to elect him president would be to repeat the same mistake we made by electing an inexperienced neophyte named George W. Bush in 2000. Heck, I once voiced this concern, and although I think Obama has a lot of other things going for him, it's still something I worry about a bit.

I would argue, however, that the real history-repeating-itself danger would be in electing Hillary, in light of her managerial skills (or lack thereof) and her veritably Bush-like views on management, competence and loyalty:

[I]nterviews with campaign aides, associates and friends suggest that Mrs. Clinton, at least until February, was a detached manager. Juggling the demands of being a candidate, she paid little attention to detail, delegated decisions large and small and deferred to advisers on critical questions. Mrs. Clinton accepted or seemed unaware of the intense factionalism and feuding that often paralyzed her campaign and that prevented her aides from reaching consensus on basic questions like what states to fight in and how to go after Mr. Obama, of Illinois.

Mrs. Clinton showed a tendency toward an insular management style, relying on a coterie of aides who have worked for her for years, her aides and associates said. Her choice of lieutenants, and her insistence on staying with them even when friends urged her to shake things up, was blamed by some associates for the campaign’s woes. Again and again, the senator was portrayed as a manager who valued loyalty and familiarity over experience and expertise.

I've read similar observations about Hillary numerous times elsewhere, and they really concern me. Do we really want another "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job" sort of president? I think not.

Nutmeg pride & George Mason's return

By Brendan Loy

NEC #3-seed Sacred Heart this evening became the second Connecticut men's basketball team to reach a conference championship today, joining Hartford from the America East conference. Sacred Heart beat #2 Wagner to set up a Wednesday meeting on ESPN2 against #4 Mount St. Mary's. Because SHU has the better seed, they'll host the title game on their home floor (an unexpected treat made possible by the Mount St. Mary's upset of #1 Robert Morris).

In other Championship Week news, I mentioned earlier that #5-seed William & Mary upset #1 VCU, putting the latter on the bubble -- well, now we know who will be the Pride's opponent in tomorrow night's CAA title game, and it's none other than #3-seed George Mason. This will be Mason's second straight year playing in the CAA final; last year, they made a Cinderella run as a #6 seed, but lost 65-59 to VCU. (In 2006, the year they went to the Final Four, they were actually booted in the semifinals of the CAA tourney!) Tomorrow's game will be at 7:00 PM on ESPN.

Also tomorrow night, at 9:00 PM on ESPN2, it'll be Southern Conference top seed Davidson vs. the Cinderella story of this year's Championship Week to date, #7 Elon -- a team with a 14-18 record and an RPI of #231, now one win from the Big Dance (or rather, the play-in game).

Gonzaga hopes they'll be playing tomorrow night at 9:00 PM on ESPN, in the WCC title game. But first they need to beat Santa Clara in the semis, and right now they're trailing 35-34 with 13:04 left. Go Zags!

UPDATE: Gonzaga wins, 52-48! Not a great game for the Zags -- Pargo only scored 4 points -- but they survived and advanced (albeit with the help of yet another terrible call by the refs down the stretch, as a blatant charge was wrongly called a defensive foul, increasing Gonzaga's lead from 1 to 3). Tomorrow, they'll go for their ninth WCC title in ten years against either St. Mary's or homestanding San Diego.

Hillary: caucus delegates not "elected"

By Brendan Loy

In an interview with Newsweek, Hillary Clinton trots out a new bit of spin, offhandedly asserting that there are three types of delegates: "elected delegates, caucus delegates and superdelegates."

Unpacking that statement, I notice two things. Firstly, what happened to calling superdelegates "automatic delegates"? I guess that bit of Clinton spin has officially bitten the dust -- replaced with the equally silly notion that only delegates allocated by primaries are "elected," while delegates allocated by caucuses are not. That one doesn't pass the laugh test, but terminology aside, I think the Clinton campaign might be on to something here.

I assume the campaign's ultimate goal is to encourage the media to delineate the primary and caucus delegates in separate counts. Regardless of its merits or lack thereof (an arguable point, IMHO), I think this tack just might work. The Obama campaign had considerable success in arguing early last month that the media should stop conflating the pledged-delegate and superdelegate counts, and in light of her recent success "working the refs," I think Clinton may now be able to convince the media that a tripartite count is appropriate.

If she can accomplish that, she will then presumably try to argue that she is a legitimate option for the nomination if she's ahead, or within striking distance, among the primary (or "elected") delegates by the end of the primaries in June. I haven't done the math on it, but I imagine that's a much more realistic goal than coming within striking distance in the overall pledged-delegate count, and possibly even more realistic than winning the "popular vote."

(I hasten to add that, whatever the merits of a tripartite delegate count, a legitimacy argument based solely on primary delegates would be totally, well, illegitimate. It's one thing to argue that primaries and caucuses are different and should be treated as such, and that primaries should matter more. It's another thing to completely ignore the caucuses altogether, thus effectively disenfranchising all the voters in those states.)

Less likely to work, IMHO, is Clinton's attempt to re-raise an argument that her campaign floated and then quickly rejected last month: "Even elected and caucus delegates are not required to stay with whomever they are pledged to." If she starts making a public effort to "poach" pledged delegates, I think there will be a massive backlash.

One last point: her statement that "[t]his is a very carefully constructed process that goes back years, and we're going to follow the process" could very well come back to haunt her, if anyone remembers it (not that blatantly self-contradictory comments have stopped her before). Several of her spin tactics -- including the denigration of caucuses -- are in direct opposition to the notion of respecting this "very carefully constructed process that goes back years."

In other news, the New York Times Caucus Blog has the latest on Michigan and Florida. A pair of "do-overs" appear increasingly likely.

Revisiting the South Bend scenario

By Brendan Loy

Back in January, when I wrote about how the major candidates for president were campaigning "in or near practically every single place I used to live...as well as a place I may someday live...but NOT the place I currently live" -- a phenomenon which I referred to as "a vast left/right-wing conspiracy to piss me off" -- I noted that the only former Brendan Loy domicile they hadn't visited was South Bend. Then, as an afterthought, I added:

And come to think of it, if the Dem race really does drag on, there's an excellent chance they'll eventually hit South Bend! Between Pennsylvania (April 22) and West Virginia (May 13), the only primaries are in Indiana and North Carolina, both on May 6. So there's a two-week window for campaigning in just those two states. If Hillary and Barack are still going at it by then (probably unlikely, I admit, but certainly not impossible), they'll have more than enough time to travel up and down the entirety of the great state of Indiana trolling for votes, stopping in every major and minor city along the way. So they'd certainly make it to South Bend, which is [one of the] biggest cit[ies] in northern Indiana. Heck, forget South Bend, I bet they'd end up coming to Notre Dame itself, perhaps for a rally (or rallies) at the Joyce Center (as President Bush did on his Social Security Unplugged tour back in 2005).

Again I say, harumph.

Well, here we are, just over five weeks later, and that "unlikely...but certainly not impossible" scenario looks, well, likely. Unless Hillary loses Pennsylvania, you have to think the campaign will continue into May. And you also have to think Hillary, fresh off victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania, will focus heavily on the next logical target in her tour of economically depressed "rust belt" areas: northern Indiana. Forget visiting South Bend, she might practically move in. :) Obama, for his part, will presumably spend most of his time in large population centers with reasonably large black populations -- which would put South Bend high on his list, as well.

So basically, it looks like every single place I've ever lived except East Tennessee (Greater Hartford, NYC, Phoenix, L.A., South Bend), plus my possible future home (Denver), will have played host to one or more major candidate visit by the time this campaign is over. Jealousy, thy name is Brendan Loy.

P.S. With my luck, we'll probably end up moving from Tennessee to Colorado sometime in between the Democratic National Convention in Denver (August 25-28) and the presidential debate in Nashville (October 7), thus missing both events. ;)

American beats Army in patriotic clash

By Brendan Loy

American University's quest for its first-ever NCAA berth moved a step closer to fruition this afternoon as American beat Army, 72-60, in a conference semifinal showdown that put the "patriot" in Patriot League. I bet it was enough to make even Michelle Obama feel proud. ;)

American, the #1 seed, will play #3 Colgate in Friday's title game, at 4:45 PM on ESPN2. Colgate dispatched with Cinderella-minded Bucknell, 54-40, today. 'Twas Bucknell, of course, that ended the potential for a patriotic championship game by knocking out #2-seeded Navy last week in a stunning upset ending with a miracle shot.

Also advancing to a low-major conference title game: the #2-seeded University of Hartford Hawks, who beat Boston U. 59-52 this afternoon, and will face top-seeded UMBC at noon next Saturday on ESPN. Go Hartford!

UPDATE: Big bubble news from the Colonial Athletic Association, as regular-season champ Virginia Commonwealth loses in the semifinals to William & Mary. VCU now sits squarely on the NCAA bubble, and, like Illinois State, will now have a very long week of watching & waiting. Here's what Glockner said this morning about the Rams:

The Rams closed out the season in style, winning eight of their last nine to take the CAA by three games over George Mason and UNC-Wilmington. They're now into the CAA semifinals and may be one win away from having a very legit claim to an at-large bid. They beat Akron, Houston and Maryland in nonconference play, so there's some good stuff there, too. The committee seems to value conference regular-season championships, especially by multiple games in good leagues, so this bodes well for VCU's ability to overcome a conference tourney loss.

One thing's for sure: either #5 seed William & Mary, #2 UNC Wilmington or #3 George Mason will be going dancing as the CAA champion. (The latter two are about to tip off in a semifinal game. The title game is tomorrow at 7:00 PM on ESPN.)

Drake routs ISU in MVC final

By Brendan Loy

Illinois State, the alma mater of Irish Trojan contributor Mike Quinn (a.k.a. "isuquinndog"), is fighting for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the Missouri Valey Conference tournament championship game on CBS right now. I assume Mike is at the game; he goes to Arch Madness every year. Anyway, if he is there, he can't be happy that Drake has the early lead.

Even with a loss, though, Mike's Redbirds have a pretty decent chance of getting an at-large bid -- which is pretty amazing, considering that they had previously been an MVC bottom-feeder (as had Drake, for that matter) during the conference's recent rise to glory. But Drake's a lock, ISU is a bubble team, and everyone else is out. (NIT-ology has Southern Illinois and Creighton as NIT teams and Bradley as a CBI team.)

[UPDATE: Drake wins, 79-49. Ouch! Andy Glockner, who writes ESPN's Bubble Watch, wrote this morning that "[b]arring a disaster against Drake, the Redbirds should like their chances [of an at-large bid] at this point." I'm thinking that a 30-point loss in a nationally televised game would qualify as a "disaster," and Illinois State will have a looong seven days watching other bubble contenders play and wondering what the committee will do.]

In other mid-major action later today, Gonzaga plays Santa Clara and Saint Mary's plays San Diego in the West Coast Conference semifinals at 9:30 PM and midnight, respectively, on ESPN2. Both the Zags and Gaels are almost certainly NCAA-bound, so bubble teams around the country need to root against Santa Clara and San Diego, who could potentially crash the party and turn the WCC into a three-bid league.

Speaking of bubble teams, Kentucky got a huge win over Florida today. The loss probably eliminates the Gators from at-large contention, barring a deep SEC tourney run. Meanwhile, the Wildcats improve to 12-4 in the SEC and 18-11 overall. If they happen to flame out early in the conference tournament, they'll make for fascinating debate fodder on Selection Sunday. Which matters more: their horrible non-conference start, or their strong performance in the (admittedly weaker than usual) SEC?

Heh.

By Brendan Loy

Manhattan: Foley's Pub bans "Danny Boy" for the whole month :)

By Joe Loy

And here you always thought March Madness consists merely of Basketball, Politics, and half-arsed-baked Recruitment Center Bombings in Times Square but OH No: now it's Katie bar th' Door to boot ~

It's depressing, it's not usually sung in Ireland for St. Patrick's Day, and its lyrics were written by an Englishman who never set foot on Irish soil.

Those are only some of the reasons why a Manhattan pub owner is banning the song "Danny Boy" for the entire month of March.

"It's overplayed, it's been ranked among the 25 most depressing songs of all time and it's more appropriate for a funeral than for a St. Patrick's Day celebration," said Shaun Clancy, who owns Foley's Pub and Restaurant, across the street from the Empire State Building.

The 38-year-old Clancy, who started bartending when he was 12 at his father's pub in County Cavan, Ireland, promised a free Guinness to patrons who sing any other traditional Irish song** at the pub's pre-St. Patrick's Day karaoke party on Tuesday.

...At least one patron at Foley's was glad to hear the song was banned from the pub for the rest of the month.

The song is "all right, but I get fed up with hearing it — it's like the elections," Martin Gaffney, 73, said in a thick Irish brogue...

Particle-physicist Democrat wins former House Speaker Hastert's seat

By Joe Loy

Thus collapsing the Illinois GOP's quantum wave function. (Or if you prefer, the Measurement of the votes [Curiously enough] killed the Republicans' previously-Indeterminate kittycat. :) Links added:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Democrat on Saturday captured the Illinois U.S. House of Representatives seat former Speaker Dennis Hastert held for more than two decades before he retired.

Returns showed physicist and businessman Bill Foster beating dairy owner Jim Oberweis by 52 percent to 48 percent of the vote in a long-time Republican district that currently stretches across northern Illinois from the Chicago suburbs nearly to the Mississippi River.

...While the area has been a Republican stronghold for years, redistricting brought geographic changes and population shifts including more Hispanics and younger suburban families that changed its make-up. The 2008 edition of the Almanac of American Politics rated the district as "a tough one for Democrats to win but not impossible."

Evidently Not. / Mu on, Representative-elect Foster. :)

Irish tie for second in Big East

By Brendan Loy

Notre Dame edged South Florida on Saturday to finish tied for second place in the Big East -- ND's best finish ever. The Irish went 24-6 overall, 14-4 in conference. Woohoo!

Black & Green writes: "Coach Brey is third behind only Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim in all time Big East victories. There's a good trivia question for your next party. A guy who was on the hot seat two years ago is now going back to a top seed in the Big East tournament and could win his second straight Coach of the Year award."

Next comes the always-exciting Big East Tournament, starting on Thursday. Notre Dame will be the #3 seed, and will play the winner of Wednesday's 6-11 game between Marquette and Seton Hall (or Cincinnati?). Go Irish!

Upsets roil Southern Conference

By Brendan Loy

It was Upset Saturday in the Southern Conference, as the #5, #6 and #7 seeds advanced to the conference semifinals.

The wins by UNC Greensboro, Charleston and Elon (over #4 Appalachian State, #3 Georgia Southern and #2 Chattanooga, respectively) presumably clear the way for top seed Davidson, which walloped #8 Wofford 82-49, to waltz to a conference championship, NCAA automatic bid, and possible 8/9-ish seed in the Big Dance.

On the other hand, the upsets also raise the stakes for the #25-ranked, #44 RPI Wildcats (24-6), who would be a bubble contender if they were to need an at-large bid, because a loss in the conference tournament would now mean that they fell to a very bad team. The other remaining semifinalists are #138, #204 and #246 in the RPI.

In fact, if Davidson's going to lose (which they haven't done yet in conference play; they were 16-0 in the regular season), it might be better to do so in the semifinal against Greensboro (the #138 team) than in the final against either #204 Charleston or #246 Elon. But Charleston might be the biggest threat to pull the stunner, despite their distinctly unintimidating ranking and 16-16 record, since the tourney is being played in their back yard, in North Charleston. The semis are Sunday and the title game is Monday.

In other low-major conference tournament news, two Connecticut teams faced potential elimination Saturday, and one was in fact eliminated, while the other lived to play another day. MAAC #5-seed Fairfield lost to #4 Loyola, ending the Stags' season. But America East #2-seed Hartford beat #7 New Hampshire, and will face #6 Boston University in the semis Sunday at 2:30 PM. Also in semifinal action on Sunday: Connecticut's other remaining non-UConn team, NEC #3-seed Sacred Heart, which plays #2 Wagner in the semifinals at 7:30 PM.