Retro Baseball Opening Day Tweets (from one week ago): Will the Fish Make It....

Yes, for those of you who follow baseball here in the United States and in Canada, recognize that these images are meant for: 1) The Miami Marlins; 2) The Baltimore Orioles; and 3) The Detroit Tigers. We lost track of who was winning these games at time, but the tweets paint an interesting picture of the excitement from one week ago today (yes, we were hoping to post these tweets last week.........oh well!):

1) DodgerzGM (who is not really the Los Angeles Dodgers' general manager): "Happy Opening Day! Also the Miami Marlins have been eliminated from playoff contention."

2) Ryan Wagoner: "I can't really focus on my Washington Nationals until after the Final Four weekend. Go Gnats, regardless! Happy Opening Day!"

3) Dave Cutter: "Crazy hail and wind in Boston. Might not be baseball weather in Boston, but it's beautiful here in Baltimore."

4) Wendy Trum: "No matter where we live or who we love or we vote for, we have baseball. Together, we have baseball! Happy Opening Day!"

5) RedEye Chicago: "Chicago Cubs baseball is on the air on WGN 720! Happy Opening Day, Cubs fans!"

6) Cincinnati Zoo: "Opening Day! We are ready for the Reds parade!" (Alas, that day the zoo also had a tragedy as Suci, the zoo's beloved rhino, had died either on Monday or over the weekend).

7) Brad Miller (not the basketball player of former NC Congressman): "Baseball is back!! A healthy year for all! Happy Felix Day and Go M's!" (he is a Seattle Mariners fan).

8) Only in Texas: "It's just about Baseball Time in Arlington! Love Opening Day at the Ball Park! (For those of you in Hong Kong, former president George W. Bush owned the Texas Rangers before entering politics; we wish he had won the pennant!.....That's what we call a back-handed compliment!)

9) Chris Morgan: "The Saint Louis Cardinals begin their quest for world domination today. Sorry, Braves fans. This isn't your year- nor is it ever!"


http://www.baseballamerica.com/

http://espn.go.com/mlb/

http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb

http://cincinnatizoo.org/

Presidential Quotes (4 of 12): Woodrow Wilson

Today, we quote President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who as of this writing does not have a Washington Nationals mascot. Wilson served in office for two full terms (1913-1921) and he died three years after he left office in 1924.

Wilson had four alma maters, in Davidson College, the University of Virginia, Princeton and Johns Hopkins. He also has at least four high schools named after him, including Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, West Virginia.

Wilson's birthplace in Staunton, Va., and his residency in Washington, DC, are historic sites open to the public. He is also buried at the National Cathedral in the nation's capital.

Wilson was the eighth Democratic president since Andrew Jackson, and he would be the only Democrat to hold the presidency until Franklin D. Roosevelt came to the helm in 1933.

Here is Wilson's quote, which makes one think of the problems that President Barack Obama has faced with regards to Obamacare:

"If you want to make enemies try to change something."

http://www.woodrowilson.org

http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org

http://www.millercenter.org/presidentwilson

Presidential Quotes (3 of 16): William Howard Taft

Today, we are quoting William Howard Taft (1857-1930), the 27th president of the United States, who also the governor of Cuba (?!) before becoming prez, and a Supreme Court Justice after he was prez.

Taft also became the fifth presidential mascot for the Washington Nationals baseball team. But, he finished tied for last in the Presidents Race with Teddy (Roosevelt) as both had 11 wins. But, George (Washington) topped the victories list this year with 25 wins. The other two presidents represented by the mascot are Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

Speaking of which, the Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, where Lincoln was unfortunately assassinated is performing their annual production of "A Christmas Carol" based on the famous novelette by Charles Dickens.

Triad Stage will also be producing their production of "A Christmas Carol;" the Greensboro, NC-based theatre company will have productions of the play at their new second stage in nearby Winston-Salem.

Here is Taft's quote, which makes us think of Clarence Thomas (forgive the political humor):

"Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever."

http://www.fordstheatre.org

http://www.triadstage.org

Quotes from American Presidents (2 of 16): Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt

Greetings to our blog readers in Salt Lake City, Boston and Miami here in America, and to those of you in Lebanon, Belgium and Guatemala.

Our quote today is from Theodore Roosevelt, who is considered to be the most liberal Republican president in history, and thus he has admirers on the right and left. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) got in trouble during a campaign rally in Virginia Beach, Va., when he ran against George W. Bush, when he said that he wanted the GOP to more like 'Teddy Roosevelt's party than Pat Robertson's party.'

Teddy is also a popular Washington Nationals (baseball team) mascot. Since he did win a running of the mascots until the season prior to this one, a blog entitled "Let Teddy Win" was launched and its popular has gone beyond the Washington, DC, metro area: http://www.blog.letteddywin.com

Teddy has been played on film by many actors, most recently Robin Williams. And, there at least six high schools named after him, including one in Kent, Ohio.

Here is his quote:

"The most important single ingredient of success is knowing how to get along with people."

Tweets of the Night_ Politics, Sports and Religion

For those of you who are are yak herders in Mongolia or Buddhist monks in Bhutan, the first image is of Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) who is Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's arch conservative running mate. The other two images are of a college volleyball player (there was lots of college volleyball action tonight) from the University of South Florida and a Serbian priest, who to our knowledge has not endorsed either Romney or President Barack Obama, that is not the case with certain reality tv show 'stars.'

Let's jump in the pool:

1) @uncgsports (UNC-Greensboro Athletics): Women's soccer takes down Davidson on Senior Night 1-0.

2) @GatorZoneVB (University of Florida Gators Women's Volleyball): "No.11 #Gators Earn Ninth Sweep of 2012 with 3-0 Victory over Ole Miss."

3) @uncvolleyball (University of North Carolina Women's Volleyball): "Carolina Holds off Virginia 3-2 as the Tar Heels improve to 14-4, 5-3 (in ACC play) on the season," (the game was played in Charlottesville, Va.)

4) @AlexSemin (Carolina Hurricanes hockey player Alex Semin, a Russian national formerly with the Washington Capitals): "He may only be a teenager, but until Bryce Harper goes to Russia to play hockey for his grandmother, his accomplishments are miniscule." (Semin is referring to one of the star players for the Washington Nationals, a team that lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs by a 9-7 score tonight).

5) @TerryMoran (Terry Moran of ABC News): "Some idiot fired shots into Obama's field office in Denver.  Let's all try to calm down and respect each other."

6) @LOLGOP (LOL GOP): "If the math behind Mitt Romney's tax plan worked, George W. Bush would have spoken at the Republican Convention."

7) @theOnion ("The Onion," a faux news publication): "Joe Biden: I'm a flawed man, but there's love in my heart."

8) @VT_Volleyball (Virginia Tech Women's Volleyball): "Hokies drop 3-1 decision to NC State: Kathryn Caine knocked down 13 kills."

9) @MLBJesus (Major League Baseball Jesus): "Some of my best friends are Cardinals," this satiric statement made in reference to the St. Louis Cardinals.

10) @SecretCabDriver (Secret Cab Driver): "GOP: Vote for us because we have guns. And, remember we're not afraid to use them." (this tweet was meant to be satiric in nature)

11) @HuffPostPol ("Huffington Post Politics"): "Democratic Brad Sherman regrets grabbing Howard Berman during debate." (This is a tweet regarding the Congressional battle which actually pits two Democratic Congressional reps from the Los Angeles-area against each other; we have a special interest in this because the Armenian-American lobby sponsored one of the debates and Turkey was mentioned throughout the forum. Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations in spite of being neighboring countries due to a very ugly and controversial historical dispute).

12) @davidfrum (David Frum, a conservative pundit who has been critical of the current state of the Republican Party; he was actually profiled in an excellent article in "The Nation," a liberal magazine): "Message of the debate poll: Twitter loves politics, is bored with government."

Leftover Files- Strasburg Va. is NOT Going to Name Town After Pitcher

In a story we've been meaning to post for several weeks, but since our focus was on The World Cup, we never 'round to it, the town of Strasburg, Va., some 85 miles south of Washington, DC, actually contemplated renaming the town Stephen Strasburg, Va., just for a day.

Stephen Strasburg plays for the Washington Nationals, and last night the rookied sensation whiffed eight San Francisco Giants pitcher leading his team to an 8-3 win.

Strasburg's mayor Timothy Taylor did tell "The Washington Post" that he wanted to have a special week in the pitcher's honor and have him come down I-66 to visit the town of antique stores and drive-in diners.

There is an amateur baseball team in nearby Front Royal, Va. The Front Royal Cardinals play in the Valley League at Bing Crosby Stadium. I went to the field to cover the Valley League All-Star Game when I was a reporter in Woodstock, Va., which is 20 miles south of Strasburg. The Cardinals head down I-81 to play in Staunton, Va., tonight---presuming there is no rain.

In other Valley League is also home to the Rockbridge Rapids of Lexington, Va., where my mom sells antiques at Duke's Antiques Mall. I was there a few weeks ago, and I noticed there was an old $2,960 Blue Sunoco gas pump for sale. I imagine it will be there for a while. Tonight, the Rapids have a home game against the team from Covington, Va.

Quote of the Week_ George F. Will

Since we quoted Michael Moore on our other blog, we are moving to the otherside of the political spectrum (no, not me personally!......not that I'm quite as liberal as Mr. Moore) with a quip from conservative commentator and baseball fan George F. Will, who is a Chicago Cubs fan (as am I) who goes to Washington Nationals game but here he is wearing a L.A. Dodgers cap? Well, he doesn't believe in global warming either........?!

"The nicest part about being a pessimist is that you are cnstantly being proven right or pleasantly surprised."