The View From The Deck - Week Ending 6/6/10

I'm back - I have a very nice tan so traveling to Arizona wouldn't be advisable at this time. However, I am happy to report that I do have less than 5 players on the DL on my fantasy baseball team (down to 2), but all of my other hopes from last week went unfulfilled.

• On the BP Disaster, as they kept saying they need 48 hours every 48 hours to assess if the "top kill" was working, it was pretty clear to me it wasn't working and they were just biding time with the media to come up with plan D. Plan D turned out to be the "cap" which they're lauding as a success because they claim they're collecting half of the gusher! Call me crazy, but even if those estimates are accurate (I'm skeptical as I don't trust BP or Tony 'I want my life back' Hayword one iota), half a mega disaster is still a mega disaster. Every time I see those tar covered birds, I feel sick. While I was in east central Florida, I noticed that the BP station was selling their gasoline for 9 cents less per gallon than everyone else. I paid the extra at a 7-11.

• On Wednesday, we probably watched the worst call ever when umpire Jim Joyce's blown...and I mean blown call robbed a young Detroit Tigers pitcher of a perfect game. At the risk of sounding like a complete smartass, Stevie Wonder could've made that call! He probably would've heard the ball hit the glove waaay ahead of the batter's foot hitting the base. Armando Galarraga's classy response left him personally victorious from this mess. His remarkable grace in handling this entire situation should cement him as one of those guys everyone just roots for from this point forward. Right after Joyce made that unbelievable call, Galarraga reacted with a smile, he was empathetic to the umpire's plight following the game, and the two men shook hands the next evening when Galarraga brought out the Tigers lineup card. Every step of the way, Galarraga took the highest possible road. The umpire tearfully admitted he blew it and cost that kid a perfect game, batter Jason Donald admitted he was out, yet Commisioner Bud Selig will not reverse the call as I feel he should. This blown call did not affect the outcome of the game, it cost the guy not only a perfect game, but a no hitter.  I'm sick of the so called "baseball purists" saying that an overturning this call would set a new precedent. To them I say bullsh*t.  It has already happened. We only need to go back to 1983 when George Brett's homerun was disallowed (too much pine tar on bat), he went ballistic and had to be restrained from hitting the umpire. The call was overturned, the homerun was reinstated and the game picked up the next day. Maybe had Galarraga acted like a rabid madman like Brett did, Selig would've been more empathetic.

• Right wing hate radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, 59, married Mrs. Limbaugh IV, Kathryn Rogers, 33 and blonde, just like all of Faux Newz women. I'm sure this is true love and has nothing to do with his multi-million dollar empire.  Just look at him, so suave and handsome, even George Clooney is jealous - NOT! What really bothers me is this; Elton John, 63 and gay, serenaded the 400 guests Saturday night to celebrate the marriage. I'm sorry, but EJ is a sellout. I don't care how much money he was paid, any gay person who would perform for this horrible evil man in light of all the things he has said and continues to say about gay folks. If Elton John actually needed the money, he's still a loser as he's had a wildly successful career.

• Finally, it seems that Maine Republicans are backing away from the Tea Party platform. The state prides itself on its independence and moderation, that is not what the Tea Party represents. Last month with inspiration from a small block of tea partiers, Maine Republicans adopted a party platform last month that raised eyebrows nationally, with planks calling for the elimination of the Department of Education, calling global warming a "myth" and a declaration that health care "is not a right. It is a service." Etc... Apparently it occured to someone that the state generally favors centrists such as Republican Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and former independent Gov. Angus King. Adhering to a rigid platform right wing may be a turnoff to voters who will be choosing party nominees Tuesday. Don't look now, but people might be coming to their senses!

Quick Note: MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" is again the only cable news show nominated for a Television Critics Association award. TRMS is 2 for 2 since it's September 2008 inception! The show is nominated in the Outstanding Achievement in News & Information category alongside Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," ESPN's "30 for 30," History's "America: The Story of Us," and Discovery's "Life." You know who I'm rooting for!