Notre Dame Fightin Irish: Home of the Pansies?

Ok, I normally don't blog very much about football. I do love college football, though, and love it because A) Being an atheist, it's the only religion available to me. B) I played the sport from the time I was 5 until I was a freshman in college and got too dinged up, C) I am an Alabama alum, home of the most national titles in the sport, and D) It's a cultural thing, really.

That said, this post doesn't really have much to do with football. Actually, it's more about how the mighty have fallen, or how perceptions of toughness (and actual toughness) may not exist on the vaunted field in South Bend, Indiana. Home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Touchdown Jesus wants Notre Dame to stop acting like pussies.

So, that brings me to this pitiful story...

Notre Dame’s leading tackler, linebacker Manti Te’o, has a broken nose but should be OK to play this Saturday when the Irish visit Southern California.

Coach Brian Kelly said that Te’o had his nose set on Sunday, is doing well

Huh? What? Please tell me that a reporter (preferably an idiotic student reporter) asked this question. Or, please tell me that it was a joke? A slow news day? For chrissakes, it's football. Te'o is 6'4" 240 pounds. He's a middle linebacker, notorious for being the nastiest position on field. And there was even a question that a broken nose would keep him sidelined? Really?

Put it this way: little boys break their noses in little league and pee wee and rough-housing all the time. What do they do? Certainly not hold press conferences, and certainly not even raise the question that their activities, a full week in advance, would perhaps be impeded.

Pictured: tougher than a college football linebacker?

-d.s.

Old School Sexist Ads...

They say they just don't make 'em like they used to anymore. Usually that statement is for the worse. But, sometimes it is for the better.

I wonder how many amphetamines are in these "vitamins"?

Relatedly, I'm pretty sure she's actually really sporting a post-O glow judging by the grip she has on the business end of that duster.

 * * *

Subtle sexism. Oh, 1975, you cad. 

Also, I'm pretty sure you'd never get laid, even in the 70's, kicking around in one of these.

* * *

As understated as the Subaru ad was, the Midol ad from 1974 is definitely lacking in subtlety. 

The entire ad screams "DON'T BE A PSYCHO! DO IT FOR YOUR MAN!"

I was going to comment that this might be an effective post-feminism ad today, but I really don't want to get bitten by a certain woman who may or may not read this, and may or may not be a hormonal terror machine when she does. 

* * *

This may look sexist, but really, what special broad in your life doesn't want a nice electric mixer?

Empirical fact: The skirts make better bread than just regular ole' guys.

Bonus points to this one for cliched emotional warfare, as well.

* * *

The Del Monte ad from 1962 is tits-out awesome. Simple in its message, sparse in its verbiage, and 100% "chicks are weak" screaming out at you from the decades gone past.

I give hippies a lot of shit, and I give self-serious doctrinaire liberals even more shit (despite being lefty, go figure), but reasons like this are absolutely why our mothers lost their fucking minds in the '60s and '70s. They had a pretty good reason to.

-d.s.

Something for your weekend: Miss Mosh

From "Rod and Culture" Magazine and Ms. Mosh's site, the MoshRoom.

Mosh, latex fetish, pinup gal. 

The Shadow is not normally a fan of blondes, but she is absolutely adoreable, and really does it for me.

Anyway, enjoy your weekend, and I'll see you sporadically over the coming week: I'm taking a real life vacation which will include reading a lot of excellent books, lounging by the pool, some kayaking and paddle-boarding, playing my guitar, and getting caught up on sleep. 

It's a hard life, I know, but someone has to do it.

-d.s.

Shadowy Bookshelf: The Nine

Every so often, I whip it out for you guys.

Literary Critic, Spider Monkey, says "Put that away. You'll put your eye out".

By "it", I mean of course the latest book I've read, or one that I particularly enjoy/detest, and wish to share with you. Today brings us Jeffrey Toobin's "The Nine". I have read many legal nonfictions, as well as novels, particularly those emphasizing the High Court and the personalities which comprise the most powerful body in the world. I must say, however, that I don't think any of them captures the  unique humanity of the Justices and the institution quite like Toobin's book does.

  Now available in paperback, minions.

While the book technically addresses the "nine", it is much more a critical look at the crucial role that Justice O'Connor played as the all important swing vote, and politico on the Bench. Much treatment is given to waning days of Chief Justice Rehnquist's last years as well, including his administrative touch, the substance of his rulings, the Federalism revival which fell flat, and of course his death. The rest of the gang is here, as well: Souter's quiet discomfort as a 21st Century Jurist; Thomas' self-proclaimed victimhood and fringe ideology, Breyer's unique humor; Scalia's acerbic wit, etc. It is a great read for court-watchers, for dedicated law nerds, and for lay persons wanting a better understanding of how the seemingly-baffling pronouncements from on-high become governing law. There are some criticisms though, namely, the exceptional deference shown to the Chief, despite him being one of the most conservative, paleoconservatives since the Four Horsemen of FDR's era.  Still, I can't complain too much.

Publisher's Review Thinks:

It's not laws or constitutional theory that rule the High Court, argues this absorbing group profile, but quirky men and women guided by political intuition. New Yorker legal writer Toobin (The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson) surveys the Court from the Reagan administration onward, as the justices wrestled with abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty, gay rights and church-state separation. * * *  His savvy account puts the supposedly cloistered Court right in the thick of American life. 

 Not in the book, but did you know that a federal judge once made a ruling a la "Green Eggs and Ham?"

A Critic Digresses:

THE WRITER IS SO LIBERAL THAT HE THINK THAT IF THE "NINE" DO NOT AGREE AND DO AS HE THINK , THEY ARE BAD OR EVIL . FOR CONSERVATIVE IT IS A WEST OF TIME TO READ IT AND FOR LIBERAL IT IS WHAT YOU BELIVE IN NO METTER WHAT ...SO WHY READING THIS JUNK 

Shadow's Take:

You could do far worse than this entry into the court-watcher catalogue. Author's undoubted liberalism will annoy some, but even moderates would have to agree that Justice Scalia is a bitter old hypocrite and Justice Thomas is a fringe idiot. Nice pace, nice mix of the personalities with the political saga playing out, especially in the religion and Bush v. Gore cases. All things considered, not a bad effort.

 

Three and half out of Five Spider Monkeys

-d.s.