Quote of the Day/Week-Bruce Jenner

This month in honor of the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London, we are quoting American Olympic medal winners with an emphasis on gold medal winners.

On our other blog "The Daily Vampire," we quoted Alicia Sacramone, 24, a silver medalist and former Brown University gymnast over Mary Lou Retton, who won two gold medals in women's gymnastics the year that Sacramone was born...oh well!

Here, we are quipping Bruce Jenner, 62, who won a gold medal in the decathlon during the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Jenner may have become a forgotten seventies star, like Marie Osmond, but he happens to be the step-father of Kim Kardashian and her sisters: Kim and Khloe.

Here is his quote:

"First of all, I try to be a positive role model."

Both Jenner and Retton appeared on Wheaties cereal boxes after winning their respective gold medals.

SIDEBAR: We had prematurely said that the men's basketball team from Harvard was the Ivy League champion yesterday. But, now we can say that as Princeton downed Penn 62-52. If Penn had won the game, they would have played Harvard in a one-game playoff for the league title.

Quote of the Day/Week- George McGovern

Hmmm...for some reason, we are seemingly popular in Iraq and Slovenia these days.

Today, we start our series on quotes of men who couldn't quite become king as we profile and quip men who lost the presidency of the United States.

On our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," we quoted Bob Dole, 88, the Republican nominee who lost the presidency in 1996 to Bill Clinton.

Here, we quote George McGovern, 89, the Democratic nominee who lost the presidency to Richard Nixon in 1972. McGovern is the oldest man to have either run for or become president. He edges out Dole as well presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, who are both 86.

McGovern is also considered to be the most progressive candidate to have run for president in the modern era, though some may argue that Al Gore, known for his environmental politics, is more liberal. Ironically, McGovern represented South Dakota, a conservative state in the U.S. Senate.

This quote reflects McGovern's strong opposition to the Vietnam War:

"I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."

CLARIFICATION: Apparently, the Harvard men's basketball team is not on their way to the NCAAs quite yet. Apparently, the Penn Quakers can tie for first place with a win over Princeton tonight and force a one-game playoff. The Ivy League is the one remaining conference in NCAA Division-I basketball without a conference tournament.

Yesterday, Virginia Commonwealth, Loyola (Md.) and Davidson were among the teams to win their respective tourneys.

Quote of the Day/Week-Ethan Hawke

Today, since we were all born in 1970 here, we are going to quote famous people born that year. On our other blog "The Daily Vampire," we quoted Uma Thurman, so to be 'fair and balanced,' we are quoting her ex-husband the actor, singer, novelist Ethan Hawke, who will turn 42 on Nov. 6. Thurman turns 42 on April 29.

Here is his quote:

"Memory is a wonderful think if you don't deal with the past."

SIDEBAR ONE: Kudos to the Harvard Crimson men's basketball team as they won the Ivy League title by beating Cornell on the road in Ithaca, NY, 67-63 to capture the crown.

The Crimson (26-4) won over the Big Red thanks to Oliver McNally who scored 17 points, and Brandyn Curry, a junior from Huntersville, NC, who added 12 points, including three 3-point shots.

SIDEBAR TWO: Yes, English soccer games can air pretty darn early here in the United States. So, in case you didn't get up at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday to watch the match either, I thought I would mention that Arsenal won over rival Liverpool 2-1.

For the winning side, both goals came from Dutch superstar Robin van Persie (31st, 92nd mins.) and for Liverpool the lone goal came from French player Laurent Koscielny.

Silly Image to Fill Space- Birthday Cat

Yes, since today is my 42nd birthday, I thought I would post a birthday image. As I rudely found out several years ago, for some reason, it is quite difficult to 'borrow' birthday cake images as they are popular clip art images which are apparently highly sought after.

So, we have this cat instead....oh well!

Sidebar: The answer to our Rabbit Ears Quiz from last week is B) Ben Jones served two years in Congress.

From the Record Collection (8 of 8)_ The Psychedelic Furs

We conclude our series on records from the vinyl collection with the debut record "The Psychedelic Furs" (1980) from the band of the same name.

Like all things Psychedelic Furs, the record is quite surreal and it focuses on the arbitrary of shallowness based on looks and fashion in society. Though songs which were released on later records, such as "Pretty in Pink" and "Ghost in You," perfected these themes, their roots can be found on this record in songs, such as "We Love You," "Soap Commercial" and "Imitation of Christ."

The lone single from the record is "Sister Europe," the second song on side one, which is an edgy song that pays homage to the Velvet Underground and David Bowie.

The band had a loyal following, but like many of the artsy new wave bands, such as The Smiths and The Cure, as opposed to the commercial new wave bands like The Thompson Twins and Men at Work, there were not many 'hits' for the Furs. In fact, "Heartbreak Beat" (1987) was the band's only top 40 hit in America.

Much of the band's legacy can be credited to the success of the song "Pretty in Pink," which became the title of a 1986 John Hughes comedy about the difficulties and awkwardness of teen life. The movie starred Molly Ringwald, who was the leading lady for many Hughes films of the '80s, including "The Breakfast Club" and "Sixteen Candles," which have surprisingly found followings with teenagers of today's generation.

The members of the band include lead singer Richard Butler, who is known for his raspy vocals, and his brother Tim Butler, who plays bass guitar. The band is also set to go on a North American tour. It kicks off at the State Theatre in Falls Church, Va., near Washington, DC, on St. Patrick's Day.

From the Record Collection (7 of 8) Devo "Freedom of Choice"

Today, we feature the third studio album from the Akron, Ohio-based punk band Devo, which is "Freedom of Choice."

The record features the band's signature song "Whip It," which features a video with the band wearing hats that look like flower pots. Amazingly enough, Devo, a band known for covering songs of other bands ("I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones; "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan), were covered by Pearl Jam when they performed "Whip It" on stage complete with the flower pot hats and the yellow raincoats, that Devo is known for.

They Might Be Giants also covered the song "Through Being Cool," which is not on "Freedom of Choice."

The members of Devo are two sets of brothers, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Gerald and Bob Casale. It may seem startling today, but the industrial city of Akron, Ohio, was a thriving place for New Wave punk bands, including Devo, in the 1980s.

One of the other famous bands from the area during this era was The Waitresses, which is best-known for the holiday punk classic "Christmas Wrapping."

Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of The Pretenders, is also from Akron and has even lived there in recent years though her band actually formed in London where Hynde was living abroad in the late '70s.

The name Devo comes from the term 'de-evolution,' which states that man is regressing back to the caveman years rather than moving forward.

Among the catchy tunes on "Freedom of Choice" are "Girl U Want," which is about how difficult it is to really be with the girl you want and the title track which is about the contradiction between rigid American conformity and the possibilities one should have in a free society. The song is made more ironic because it came out the same year that Ronald Reagan, arguably the poster boy for modern political conservatism in America, was elected president.

The album was recorded at Record Plant in Los Angeles, and produced by Robert Margouleff, who had produced many Stevie Wonder records.

In 2009, Devo re-released both "The Freedom of Choice" and their debut record "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo" and toured performing both albums in their respective entirety.

Sports Desk- Utah Edges Stanford in Women's Gymnastics

Senior Kyndal Robarts scored individual victories on the vault beam helping the Utes win its home meet over Pac-12 rival Stanford 196.3-196.1. Robarts had a career-high 9.975 on vault, a 9.875 on beam and a 9.80 on floor.

Robarts was also awarded with the Special Performance of the Week for the Pac-12 Conference; she became the third Utes awarded with that title this season.

Her teammates senior Cortni Beers and sophomore Corrie Lothrop are the other Utes gymnast who won the honor.

In a vastly different part of the country in Ithaca, NY, on the campus of Cornell University, the home team Big Red finished second to the Penn Quakers at the Ivy League classic over the weekend. The other two Ivy schools with women's gymnastics programs Brown and Yale, finished third and fourth respectively.

Tiffany Chen of Cornell won the Ivy title on vault. The Big red scored a 191.85, the team's highest score of the year.

For the Quakers, senior Laura DiPaolo helped pave the way to victory with a 9.725 on vault, and her freshman teammate Amber Woo scored a 9.725 on beam.

The scores for the visiting teams were: Penn (192.65), Brown (191.075) and Yale (190.725).