No one following the Democratic primary will be surprised that John Edwards stepped out of the race today. It didn’t happen and certainly wasn’t just wasn’t about to happen. I find his withdrawal sad, not because I’m especially enthused about him, the Democratic party, or our particular brand of democracy, but only because he was such an uncanny presence – he talked about poverty. And this is part though not nearly enough, of the Time magazine story on his candidacy: why Edwards did not catch on… Read the rest of this entry »
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I really just don’t get So You Think You Can Dance? judging. Which is to say, I think I bring the wrong set of principles. Naively, I’ve been watching the show with the expectation that marginal dancers are on the way out, exceptional dancers staying around to develop. Especially since this year’s group is exceptional. This week’s goodbye to Jimmy means I’m wrong. Read the rest of this entry »
Is baseball still America’s sport – that is, where we take “America” to be the United States? I think so, especially in light of the new discussion of race and baseball. The new discussion: the crisis (for better or worse, that’s the rhetoric) of falling African-American participation at all levels. The statistics have taken a pretty simple and straightforward trajectory: from 17.25 percent in 1959 (year following integration) to 30 percent in the mid-seventies to 8 percent this season. That’s stark. That’s strange. That’s certainly worth thinking about. What does it all mean? Some thoughts… Read the rest of this entry »