Colts shock Patriots 35 to 34, remain undefeated and rule Twitter

I was watching the Colts v. Patriots game over dinner at 13 views at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco and saw my Twitter page light up with the Colts updates. It was better than ESPN. Before the Colts scored to shock Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, about 1,500 tweets were issued within a second; when the Colts scored, that number jumped to 9.648 tweets in a second.

Wow.

Twitter aside, that was one of the best games of the year. As the NFL Network's analyst seemed anxious to tell us, the Patriots passing game was giving the Colts Defense fits. On top of that, Quarterback Peyton Manning was throwing some ducks for a while there. But no matter because the Pats beat themselves.

In a game Tom Brady will relive in his dreams, New England thrice lost the ball on plays at the one or in the end zone. On top of that, New England Head Coach Bill Belichick thought his team was stronger than the Colts Defense and went for it on fourth and two - and didn't make it.

Why he did that is stuck in his fertile imagination, but he did it.

No matter. Colts win. But I have a feeling these two are going to see each other in the playoffs again. As a Colts fan, I can't wait. The Pats didn't get the Colts best game, and still lost.

Wow.

BCS rankings November 15: Five Pac-10 teams in

The BCS rankings for November 15th are out; I know Carrie Prejean must be happy that something's taking the Internet's interest away from her.

The BCS rankings have find Florida, Alabama, and Texas ranked one, two, and three, with the undefeated TCU Horned Frogs at number 4. But this week Pac-10 Football is well-represented, as five teams - Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, and USC - are in the BCS rankings.

After a dramatic 24 to 16 win over Arizona at Berkeley that left me so horse I could barely talk this morning, Cal knocked Arizona out of the BCS and was helped by Notre Dame's loss to Pitt, and Oklahoma's 10-3 loss to Nebraska, dropping the Fighting Irish and the Sooners out of the BCS as well.

The way Notre Dame's fallen I've got to believe Head Coach Charlie Weis' job's in trouble. Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick said:

"We said at the beginning of the season that we wanted to be in contention for and in the discussion of the (Bowl Championship Series) bowls, and for a while we were. But we didn't stay in contention as long as any of us would have liked.

"It's not like you don't evaluate during the year; you evaluate all year. But my practice is to make sure I've got the full season's worth of information and then conclude the evaluation."

That doesn't read good for Weis and if Stanford hammers Notre Dame the way the Cardinal nuked USC, Weis may see his final year at the helm of the Fighting Irish.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal rolls on.

After blowing out USC 55 to 21, Stanford is at 17th and one ahead of the same USC team it clobbered yesterday, which is now at 18.

As Cal (25th ranked) and Stanford play in the Big Game this Saturday, the annual contest now means a lot more than just bragging rights. A Cal win could knock Stanford out of contention for the Pac-10 Championship.

BCS rankings November 15:

1 Florida 10-0
2 Alabama 10-0
3 Texas 10-0
4 TCU 10-0
5 Cincinnati 10-0
6 Boise State 10-0
7 Georgia Tech 10-1
8 LSU 8-2
9 Pittsburgh 9-1
10 Ohio State 9-2
11 Oregon 8-2
12 Oklahoma State 8-2
13 Iowa 9-2
14 Penn State 9-2
15 Virginia Tech 7-3
16 Wisconsin 8-2
17 Stanford 7-3
18 USC 7-3
19 Oregon State 7-3
20 Miami (FL) 7-3
21 Utah 8-2
22 Brigham Young 8-2
23 Clemson 7-3
24 Houston 8-2
25 California 7-3

President Obama's bow to Emperor of Japan and racism in media

Aside from "Miley Cyrus dead", which is not true or funny, the Internet's abuzz with media commentary on President Obama's bow to The Emperor and Empress of Japan upon his visit Saturday.

The LA Times' blog asked "How low will he go" in their complaint of the President's actions.   ABC News' Jack Tapper contacted a friend to ask if Obama's bow was correct.   The conservative blog HotAir said the President looked like "an idiot" and referred to Tapper's blog.  And of course Michelle Malkin can be counted on to offer her off-base and typically nasty view, calling the President a "waterboy." 


I don't know why some are surprised or for that matter angry about Obama's actions. It's not the first time President Obama's bowed to a foreign dignitary, and I think it shows the proper level of respect. There seems to be this macho idea that American Presidents have to show they're tough and one way to do that is to avoid bowing to the Emperor of Japan, or for that matter Saudi King Abdullah, as President Obama did in April of this year.

Obama bows to Saudi King Abdullah

Moreover, some Americans forget that kings and emperors are not elected officials, they're royalty. But in this, I have to point out a racial component to the conservative argument against Obama's bow to Japan's Emperor that's disturbing to me.

When Obama visited the Queen of England, much was made of what the protocol was for approaching Her Majesty. President Obama did bow slightly to her, but that was what he was supposed to do as one is to avoid overt gestures; a man is suppose to bow his head from the neck, and no more. That's what Obama did.

That fact escaped a number of people, particularly the Coach Potato Conservative "Freepers" over at Free Republic, who claim that Obama did not bow at all.

But Obama's correct "slight head nod" versus his full bow to King Abdullah was noted in this video, by CQBlogger on YouTube, but even then CQBlogger mistakenly wrote about the head nod as if Obama was in error; the President was not.



And the LA Times showed its total ignorance of Japanese culture, not even taking time to explain "bow" protocol in Japan, which I know all too well from my personal interest in Japanese Culture and visit to Japan.

There are three kinds of bows: the first is just about five degrees and is a greeting for friends; the second is about 10 degrees and is for a boss or senior in business; but the third one is at a full 15 degrees and is reserved for heads of state or The Emperor. 

Obama's 15 degree bow to The Emperor of Japan was correct.  I disagree with ABC's Jack Tapper in that it is proper for one to give their hand in greeting while bowing.   So both the right and Tapper are wrong.  But I do give Tapper credit for at least trying to check President Obama's effort with protocol, much as he would do if Obama were greeting the Queen of England. 

Are Couch Potato Conservatives and the mainstream media complaining when Obama bows to any non-white monarch, but scoring his or First Lady Michelle Obama's every small move with white royalty, what we should expect in the Age of Obama? It certainly seems that way and that's a very sad pattern for America to display.

If Couch Potato Conservatives  had their way, the kind of cowboy behavior of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney would be the order of the day: white monarchs would receive the proper greeting protocol and non-white royalty a simple hand shake.  It's no wonder President Obama has to do so much work to do in restoring America's popularity around the World.