My first article is much better than this one, but I'll attribute that to the fact that the first game was a much better game to cover with a better storyline. Here it is:
You can't win them all, or so the saying goes.
On a steamy Sunday afternoon, Mercy defeated West Haven 1-0 to win the 2011 SCC softball title and claim its elusive first win of the year against a team that had already beaten it twice.
Blue Devils ace Camdyn Morgillo dominated the Tigers' lineup from top to bottom, only surrendering three hits while striking out five. Yet a costly throwing error by the sophomore starter in the top of the fourth inning allowed Christie Idiong to reach second base after the ball trickled past first baseman Cindy Johnson following a bunt. A sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly later, the only run of the game scored.
The Blue Devils hitters were unable to pick up their pitcher, as they only recorded three hits of their own against Tigers starter Haylle Reidy. They had their opportunities, though, twice stranding runners in scoring position with less than two outs. Even after Morgillo escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning, West Haven was not able to capitalize.
"It's really tough to beat the same team three times in a row," West Haven coach Frank Biondi said. "You just don't do that. Hitting with people on base has been our problem all year; we lost five games because we couldn't score."
Exiting the stadium that bears his name in honor of his three decades of coaching softball at West Haven, Biondi said that the loss could potentially be a good thing. After all, his Blue Devils square off against Mercy again on Tuesday in the first round of the CIAC state tournament.
"Hopefully, losing to them will take some pressure off the girls. I've had teams that were undefeated and the pressure was so enormous, the games stopped being fun," Biondi said.
West Haven came into the SCC tournament as the fourth seed, while Mercy was seeded sixth.
They changed my article around a little bit, but around 90% of that is still me
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
My First Article As An Official Sportswriter
By: Chris Barca
NAUGATUCK- Sometimes, winning a game, or in this case a championship, all comes down to one pitch.
In the bottom of the 9th inning of the Naugatuck Valley League championship, Seymour catcher Maggie Crocamo sent that one pitch over the head of Holy Cross left fielder Melissa Grocki for a game winning double, capping off a dominant 21 win season and claiming the 2011 NVL district title with a 1-0 victory.
After eight innings of spectacular shutout pitching from both Tori Cheske of Holy Cross and Stephanie Burt of Seymour, seeing the winning run finally cross home plate sent Wildcat fans, players, and coaches alike into a celebratory uproar. Assistant coach Jamie Yakushevich even took the customary championship Gatorade cooler bath from his players. With ice cold water dripping from the bottom of his shirt, coach Yakushevich said “After a nine inning game, I’ll take it. It’s such a relief to finally get that hit”
Alone in the dugout while packing up her softball bag, Crocamo, in between excited giggles, boldly calls that hit “my biggest hit ever. It’s an amazing feeling”. What makes this win even sweeter for the senior catcher and her teammates is that they achieved it against arguably the best pitcher in the league. “Tori really wanted to beat us” Maggie said. “Especially because we beat her in the regular season too”
For a seven inning span, it did not look like Tori Cheske and her Crusader teammates were going to lose to Seymour for a second time this season. In fact, Cheske held the Wildcats hitless from the first inning until the eighth, allowing only one base runner to reach first base via a fourth inning walk. As incredible as her 17 strikeout, four hit performance was though, she was outdueled by Wildcat pitcher Stephanie Burt, who hurled a resilient game herself.
The senior team captain countered Cheske with 14 strikeouts of her own, including a streak of six batters in a row late in the game. She wiggled out of jams in the fourth and eighth innings where she allowed two base runners to reach, but besides these scares, Burt kept Holy Cross’ lineup in check.
“She just kept getting better as the game went on” said coach Yakushevich, drenched cargo shorts and all. “She got in a groove and never looked back”.
Crocamo, still smiling from ear to ear, said of Stephanie Burt, “she was really awesome. She knows she can get everybody out and that’s what she tried to do”
She didn’t get everybody out but, paired with Crocamo’s game winning drive, she pitched like a champion.
What do you guys think?
NAUGATUCK- Sometimes, winning a game, or in this case a championship, all comes down to one pitch.
In the bottom of the 9th inning of the Naugatuck Valley League championship, Seymour catcher Maggie Crocamo sent that one pitch over the head of Holy Cross left fielder Melissa Grocki for a game winning double, capping off a dominant 21 win season and claiming the 2011 NVL district title with a 1-0 victory.
After eight innings of spectacular shutout pitching from both Tori Cheske of Holy Cross and Stephanie Burt of Seymour, seeing the winning run finally cross home plate sent Wildcat fans, players, and coaches alike into a celebratory uproar. Assistant coach Jamie Yakushevich even took the customary championship Gatorade cooler bath from his players. With ice cold water dripping from the bottom of his shirt, coach Yakushevich said “After a nine inning game, I’ll take it. It’s such a relief to finally get that hit”
Alone in the dugout while packing up her softball bag, Crocamo, in between excited giggles, boldly calls that hit “my biggest hit ever. It’s an amazing feeling”. What makes this win even sweeter for the senior catcher and her teammates is that they achieved it against arguably the best pitcher in the league. “Tori really wanted to beat us” Maggie said. “Especially because we beat her in the regular season too”
For a seven inning span, it did not look like Tori Cheske and her Crusader teammates were going to lose to Seymour for a second time this season. In fact, Cheske held the Wildcats hitless from the first inning until the eighth, allowing only one base runner to reach first base via a fourth inning walk. As incredible as her 17 strikeout, four hit performance was though, she was outdueled by Wildcat pitcher Stephanie Burt, who hurled a resilient game herself.
The senior team captain countered Cheske with 14 strikeouts of her own, including a streak of six batters in a row late in the game. She wiggled out of jams in the fourth and eighth innings where she allowed two base runners to reach, but besides these scares, Burt kept Holy Cross’ lineup in check.
“She just kept getting better as the game went on” said coach Yakushevich, drenched cargo shorts and all. “She got in a groove and never looked back”.
Crocamo, still smiling from ear to ear, said of Stephanie Burt, “she was really awesome. She knows she can get everybody out and that’s what she tried to do”
She didn’t get everybody out but, paired with Crocamo’s game winning drive, she pitched like a champion.
What do you guys think?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
City of Blinding Lights
At 2am on a Friday morning, I was looking for something to distract me from my studying. Earlier in the night, I had noticed that the window in the conference room I was in was covered by a blind. I decided to go on an adventure/study break for a bit and take a peek outside the window. The beauty of what lies beyond that pane of glass simply captivated me, as it does every single time I see it.
Only rivaled by the beauty of my girlfriend's kaleidoscope eyes as she smiles lovingly at me was the beauty of the Manhattan skyline outside that window. New York City. The City. My City. My home. My home I desperately do not want to leave.
People take Manhattan for granted, and that is quite unfortunate. People who live in Manhattan or spend considerable time in the borough are more preoccupied with the blaring horns of morning traffic or the tourists aimlessly snapping pictures and clogging up the sidewalks. Since coming to St. John's in August 2009, I definitely have transitioned from the tourist to the person cursing out the tourist under their breath as they speed by. But what many Manhattanites (is that right?) don't recognize on a daily basis is how beautiful their home really is.
I believe that you need to view the city from a far in order to truly understand how magnificent of a city we occupy. Yes, staring at the Chrysler Building while at the entrance to Grand Central Terminal is awe inspiring, just as much as walking through Times Square is. But I encourage everyone to drive over the Throgs Neck Bridge in the direction of Queens and look out the passenger side window. Better yet, I encourage all people of all walks of life to stand at the top of the Great Stars, with a fountain at your back and seashells under your feet and just stare straight ahead. If you can physically remove the glance of your eyes away from the city, then you don't understand true beauty.
"Neon heart, day glow eyes
A city lit by fireflies
They're advertising in the skies
For people like us"
That's how an Irishman, strangely enough, described this city in 2005. And these four mere lines define New York City. The powerfully pulsating heart of the city glows like neon, as does the heart of anyone seeing the city for the first time. All eyes a glow in wonder and awe at the city's beauty. The lights of the billboards in Times Square, the top of the Empire State Building, and the headlights of the more than 10,000 taxi cabs illuminate the landscape as they flicker both in the sky and the still waters of New York harbor like fireflies. And these lights undeniably scream one's name. More enticing than a glass of lemonade on a warm summer evening or a camp fire on a cool New England night is the City. New York City. My City.
This city is glorious. It's beauty is indescribable to one who has not witnessed it for themselves.
I know I'm droning on and on, but I just can't help feeling inspired and purely happy at the signt of my City, my home. I don't want to leave it and go back to a place of dark country roads and people as dull and as similar as nearly every single other person in New Fairfield. That same Irishman said of the City in 2000:
"In New York freedom looks like
Too many choices
In New York I found a friend
To drown out the other voices...
In New York you can forget
Forget how to sit still
Tell yourself you will stay in
But it's down to Alphaville"
In New York, I've found best friends for life. Friends I will grow old with. Friends who's children will refer to me as "Uncle Barca". In New York I've done so many things that I only dreamed of doing. I have twice been to Ground Zero on 9/11. I celebrated the lives of 2,977 people at Ground Zero after the death of Osama Bin Laden last week. I have been to 2 NFL Drafts, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert, a season of ranked college basketball, and will soon experience the magic of Coney Island. In New York I've met the most beautiful girl in the entire city, and the best part is that I get to kiss her lips, hold her hand, and drown in those kaleidoscope eyes amidst a silky smooth pastel face I'm so lucky to touch. In New York, I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free.
I do not want to leave this City of Blinding Lights.
Oh yea, that Irishman I was talking about...he loves this city as much as me. Here's my proof. Please check them out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9E8d74hGh8
City of Blinding Lights (album version)-U2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd01FObU3Q4
City of Blinding Lights (Live at the Brooklyn Bridge)-U2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvBsYYE3n3w
New York (Live in Boston)-U2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYFxIkvpwIw
New York (album version)-U2
Only rivaled by the beauty of my girlfriend's kaleidoscope eyes as she smiles lovingly at me was the beauty of the Manhattan skyline outside that window. New York City. The City. My City. My home. My home I desperately do not want to leave.
People take Manhattan for granted, and that is quite unfortunate. People who live in Manhattan or spend considerable time in the borough are more preoccupied with the blaring horns of morning traffic or the tourists aimlessly snapping pictures and clogging up the sidewalks. Since coming to St. John's in August 2009, I definitely have transitioned from the tourist to the person cursing out the tourist under their breath as they speed by. But what many Manhattanites (is that right?) don't recognize on a daily basis is how beautiful their home really is.
I believe that you need to view the city from a far in order to truly understand how magnificent of a city we occupy. Yes, staring at the Chrysler Building while at the entrance to Grand Central Terminal is awe inspiring, just as much as walking through Times Square is. But I encourage everyone to drive over the Throgs Neck Bridge in the direction of Queens and look out the passenger side window. Better yet, I encourage all people of all walks of life to stand at the top of the Great Stars, with a fountain at your back and seashells under your feet and just stare straight ahead. If you can physically remove the glance of your eyes away from the city, then you don't understand true beauty.
"Neon heart, day glow eyes
A city lit by fireflies
They're advertising in the skies
For people like us"
That's how an Irishman, strangely enough, described this city in 2005. And these four mere lines define New York City. The powerfully pulsating heart of the city glows like neon, as does the heart of anyone seeing the city for the first time. All eyes a glow in wonder and awe at the city's beauty. The lights of the billboards in Times Square, the top of the Empire State Building, and the headlights of the more than 10,000 taxi cabs illuminate the landscape as they flicker both in the sky and the still waters of New York harbor like fireflies. And these lights undeniably scream one's name. More enticing than a glass of lemonade on a warm summer evening or a camp fire on a cool New England night is the City. New York City. My City.
This city is glorious. It's beauty is indescribable to one who has not witnessed it for themselves.
I know I'm droning on and on, but I just can't help feeling inspired and purely happy at the signt of my City, my home. I don't want to leave it and go back to a place of dark country roads and people as dull and as similar as nearly every single other person in New Fairfield. That same Irishman said of the City in 2000:
"In New York freedom looks like
Too many choices
In New York I found a friend
To drown out the other voices...
In New York you can forget
Forget how to sit still
Tell yourself you will stay in
But it's down to Alphaville"
In New York, I've found best friends for life. Friends I will grow old with. Friends who's children will refer to me as "Uncle Barca". In New York I've done so many things that I only dreamed of doing. I have twice been to Ground Zero on 9/11. I celebrated the lives of 2,977 people at Ground Zero after the death of Osama Bin Laden last week. I have been to 2 NFL Drafts, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert, a season of ranked college basketball, and will soon experience the magic of Coney Island. In New York I've met the most beautiful girl in the entire city, and the best part is that I get to kiss her lips, hold her hand, and drown in those kaleidoscope eyes amidst a silky smooth pastel face I'm so lucky to touch. In New York, I'm free. I'm free. I'm free. I'm free.
I do not want to leave this City of Blinding Lights.
Oh yea, that Irishman I was talking about...he loves this city as much as me. Here's my proof. Please check them out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9E8d74hGh8
City of Blinding Lights (album version)-U2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd01FObU3Q4
City of Blinding Lights (Live at the Brooklyn Bridge)-U2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvBsYYE3n3w
New York (Live in Boston)-U2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYFxIkvpwIw
New York (album version)-U2
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
For The Love Of The Game
America The Beautiful will primarily cover the world of politcs, but the beauty of America doesn't just exist along Pennsylvania Avenue or Capitol Street. It exists at a waterfall at the US-Canadian border. It exists as a big red bridge in California. At sandy beaches that lines the Sunshine State. At a deep canyon with a river at the bottom in Arizona. And it exists within the warm, friendly confines of every single baseball field in America. Tonight, I just want to veer off my political theme for a little bit to recognize a big anniversary in the world of sports, or at least my little piece of it.
On May 3rd, 2005, New York Yankee Robinson Cano sprinted out of the visitors dugout at Tropicana Field to take his position at second base for the first time in his Major League career. 6 years ago today, my current favorite athlete began his torment of opposing pitchers, coaches, and teams that puts nothing but a tremendous grin on the faces of Yankee fans across the globe.
Since that day that will go down in Yankee history as the day a future Hall of Famer first took the field, Robbie has a very solid career line of .309/.346/.630/.840 (batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage/OPS). He's accumulated 1,107 hits in just 6 years, which is absolutely stellar. He's hit 124 home runs and driven in 524 runs while scoring 527 runs himself. He placed 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting in 2005, twice selected as the starting second baseman in the All Star Game (2006, 2010), twice the winner of the Silver Slugger award at second base (same years), mashing 4 home runs in last year's ALCS against the Rangers, and finished 3nd in MVP voting while winning a Gold Glove award last season. He undoubtedly, in my mind, has been the best second baseman in the league since his debut and can arguably be considered one of the top players in all the league.
He has averaged 202 hits per season in the last 2 years and if anyone can continue this pace, it's him. At this pace, he will reach 3,000 hits and the guarantee of a plaque in Cooperstown at age 37 in his 16th season, which is almost exactly the season and age Derek Jeter will accomplish this feat.
Cano has averaged 27 home runs during the last 2 seasons as well, and if he continues at this pace, which he more than likely will, he will be nearing his 400th home run around the same time as he approaches his 3,000th hit. A feat only 8 other players have ever accomplished, all Hall of Famers.
His swing is eerily similar to the Kid's, a sexy, silky smooth, effortless swing that generates so much power it's scary. Robbie is so graceful on defense that looks like he's picking flowers instead of fielding ground balls. He has the range of a cruise missile which ironically travels at the speed of a ball thrown by Cano. You can count on him in a big spot to deliver a key base hit, to record an out on defense, or to send the ball deep into a New York night. His infectious smile and pure love of the game can be respected by all, even by Red Sox fans. Right here, I would make a comparison to a Hall of Fame player and tell everyone to watch out as the new version of said player is upon us but there is truly no player like Robinson Cano.
Congratulations Robbie on achieving what many little league sluggers, high school aces, college ballplayers, and Minor League prospects dream of, and that is taking the field for a Major League team. Cano took advantage of his opportunity and is making the best of it, just look at his numbers. Or better yet, sit down, turn on the YES Network, and watch the 28 year old superstar from the Dominican Republic crush the baseball and make seemingly impossible plays in the field, all with the smile of a young child picking up a bat and stepping up to the tee for the first time. Dontcha know? It's Robbie Cano
On May 3rd, 2005, New York Yankee Robinson Cano sprinted out of the visitors dugout at Tropicana Field to take his position at second base for the first time in his Major League career. 6 years ago today, my current favorite athlete began his torment of opposing pitchers, coaches, and teams that puts nothing but a tremendous grin on the faces of Yankee fans across the globe.
Since that day that will go down in Yankee history as the day a future Hall of Famer first took the field, Robbie has a very solid career line of .309/.346/.630/.840 (batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage/OPS). He's accumulated 1,107 hits in just 6 years, which is absolutely stellar. He's hit 124 home runs and driven in 524 runs while scoring 527 runs himself. He placed 2nd in Rookie of the Year voting in 2005, twice selected as the starting second baseman in the All Star Game (2006, 2010), twice the winner of the Silver Slugger award at second base (same years), mashing 4 home runs in last year's ALCS against the Rangers, and finished 3nd in MVP voting while winning a Gold Glove award last season. He undoubtedly, in my mind, has been the best second baseman in the league since his debut and can arguably be considered one of the top players in all the league.
He has averaged 202 hits per season in the last 2 years and if anyone can continue this pace, it's him. At this pace, he will reach 3,000 hits and the guarantee of a plaque in Cooperstown at age 37 in his 16th season, which is almost exactly the season and age Derek Jeter will accomplish this feat.
Cano has averaged 27 home runs during the last 2 seasons as well, and if he continues at this pace, which he more than likely will, he will be nearing his 400th home run around the same time as he approaches his 3,000th hit. A feat only 8 other players have ever accomplished, all Hall of Famers.
His swing is eerily similar to the Kid's, a sexy, silky smooth, effortless swing that generates so much power it's scary. Robbie is so graceful on defense that looks like he's picking flowers instead of fielding ground balls. He has the range of a cruise missile which ironically travels at the speed of a ball thrown by Cano. You can count on him in a big spot to deliver a key base hit, to record an out on defense, or to send the ball deep into a New York night. His infectious smile and pure love of the game can be respected by all, even by Red Sox fans. Right here, I would make a comparison to a Hall of Fame player and tell everyone to watch out as the new version of said player is upon us but there is truly no player like Robinson Cano.
Congratulations Robbie on achieving what many little league sluggers, high school aces, college ballplayers, and Minor League prospects dream of, and that is taking the field for a Major League team. Cano took advantage of his opportunity and is making the best of it, just look at his numbers. Or better yet, sit down, turn on the YES Network, and watch the 28 year old superstar from the Dominican Republic crush the baseball and make seemingly impossible plays in the field, all with the smile of a young child picking up a bat and stepping up to the tee for the first time. Dontcha know? It's Robbie Cano
Bin Laden Minus The Terrorism
My American Presidency professor (who shall just be known as Professor X) is not a professor. She is an ideologue. As we sit here and discuss everything Bin Laden, I am struck by the fact that she is no different from him. Now before I get accused of calling my professor Bin Laden, let me explain.
She is not violent, she is not an Islamic extremist, and she is not a terrorist. The Osama Bin Laden I compare her to is the man who was blinded by his biases and the man who refused to acknowledge anything that went against his opinions as right. Bin Laden's mind was hell bent on defending his opinions and stopped at nothing to prove it. He sent out videotape after videotape preaching anti-American rhetoric and after 9/11, you could not remove him from the global spotlight if you tried. Professor X, in a way, is very similar.
From the first class, her long winded lectures have proven to the class and I that she bleeds blue. Hell, she probably has a pet donkey named either Blue or Barack. She constantly defends every single decision made by the President and stops at nothing in order to blame any shortcomings of the Obama administration on George W. Bush, who left office a full 29 months ago. Barack Obama and the Democratic Party can do no wrong while President Bush and the Republican Party ooze it. High unemployment? Bush's fault. Iraq? Still Bush's problem. Obama campaign promises concerning the economy that have yet to come to fruition? Bush's fault. Wait, aren't government professors supposed to leave their political positions at the door in order to give students an objective view of the government?
Listening to her drone for 160 minutes a week about the glory of Obama and the Democratic Party and the evil of the red elephant pisses me off, but what inspires this rant is the disgusting amount of ignorance and disrespect spewing from her lips concerning George W. Bush's involvement with the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
There have been dozens of reports and statements from U.S. officials saying that the beginnings of the mission to take down the world's most wanted man began in 2007 during the questioning of a detainee at the controversial Guantanamo Bay (the proving of the prison's effectiveness will be covered in a future post). A prisoner, supposedly under "harsh questioning", gave up the pseudonym of OBL's closest, most trusted courier. It was from there that, under Bush's watch, this courier was shadowed for two years until his real name was learned in early 2009. It was from there that Obama's intelligence team took over and finally completed the mission.
Let me say right now before someone else accuses me of not giving Obama credit. Barack Obama's decision to pursue this mission is one of the ballsiest decisions in Presidential history and I will forever praise him for it. He deserves a huge amount of credit and this world (at least right now) is a better place partly because of him. Also, the Navy SEALS and the rest of the military personnel who carried out the mission are forever American heroes. Their tremendous efforts cannot be fully explained in words. We truly do have the greatest soldiers on Earth. I am continually amazed when I think about their actions in the face of grave danger.
But with that being said, it is fact, it is truth, that Osama Bin Laden is not rotting at the bottom of the Arabian Sea with two American bullets in his heart and head with fish picking at his flesh without the efforts of George W. Bush. Without Guantanamo Bay or the CIA prisons in Eastern Europe, Osama Bin Laden lives to plot another day. Without "harsh questioning" techniques, America will continue to face the dangers that OBL presented to us. It is downright disrespectful and repulsing to hear my professor debate the validity of these reports that state it was under Bush's watch that this operation began, when I know, she knows, and the whole class knows the only reason she does it is because she refuses to acknowledge any good done by the Bush Administration. We have even had debates before concerning Bush's popularity and his speeches after 9/11 but thats for another time another place.
Give credit where credit is due, so give Bush some credit. But my professor won't, she will never compromise or endorse a belief that she is not a subscriber too. She will forever try to dispute and crush your opinions simply because she hates them and is blinded by her own. Hmmmm, kinda sounds like someone in the news these days...
She is not violent, she is not an Islamic extremist, and she is not a terrorist. The Osama Bin Laden I compare her to is the man who was blinded by his biases and the man who refused to acknowledge anything that went against his opinions as right. Bin Laden's mind was hell bent on defending his opinions and stopped at nothing to prove it. He sent out videotape after videotape preaching anti-American rhetoric and after 9/11, you could not remove him from the global spotlight if you tried. Professor X, in a way, is very similar.
From the first class, her long winded lectures have proven to the class and I that she bleeds blue. Hell, she probably has a pet donkey named either Blue or Barack. She constantly defends every single decision made by the President and stops at nothing in order to blame any shortcomings of the Obama administration on George W. Bush, who left office a full 29 months ago. Barack Obama and the Democratic Party can do no wrong while President Bush and the Republican Party ooze it. High unemployment? Bush's fault. Iraq? Still Bush's problem. Obama campaign promises concerning the economy that have yet to come to fruition? Bush's fault. Wait, aren't government professors supposed to leave their political positions at the door in order to give students an objective view of the government?
Listening to her drone for 160 minutes a week about the glory of Obama and the Democratic Party and the evil of the red elephant pisses me off, but what inspires this rant is the disgusting amount of ignorance and disrespect spewing from her lips concerning George W. Bush's involvement with the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
There have been dozens of reports and statements from U.S. officials saying that the beginnings of the mission to take down the world's most wanted man began in 2007 during the questioning of a detainee at the controversial Guantanamo Bay (the proving of the prison's effectiveness will be covered in a future post). A prisoner, supposedly under "harsh questioning", gave up the pseudonym of OBL's closest, most trusted courier. It was from there that, under Bush's watch, this courier was shadowed for two years until his real name was learned in early 2009. It was from there that Obama's intelligence team took over and finally completed the mission.
Let me say right now before someone else accuses me of not giving Obama credit. Barack Obama's decision to pursue this mission is one of the ballsiest decisions in Presidential history and I will forever praise him for it. He deserves a huge amount of credit and this world (at least right now) is a better place partly because of him. Also, the Navy SEALS and the rest of the military personnel who carried out the mission are forever American heroes. Their tremendous efforts cannot be fully explained in words. We truly do have the greatest soldiers on Earth. I am continually amazed when I think about their actions in the face of grave danger.
But with that being said, it is fact, it is truth, that Osama Bin Laden is not rotting at the bottom of the Arabian Sea with two American bullets in his heart and head with fish picking at his flesh without the efforts of George W. Bush. Without Guantanamo Bay or the CIA prisons in Eastern Europe, Osama Bin Laden lives to plot another day. Without "harsh questioning" techniques, America will continue to face the dangers that OBL presented to us. It is downright disrespectful and repulsing to hear my professor debate the validity of these reports that state it was under Bush's watch that this operation began, when I know, she knows, and the whole class knows the only reason she does it is because she refuses to acknowledge any good done by the Bush Administration. We have even had debates before concerning Bush's popularity and his speeches after 9/11 but thats for another time another place.
Give credit where credit is due, so give Bush some credit. But my professor won't, she will never compromise or endorse a belief that she is not a subscriber too. She will forever try to dispute and crush your opinions simply because she hates them and is blinded by her own. Hmmmm, kinda sounds like someone in the news these days...
With Liberty, And Justice For All
I don't even know how to start my inaugural blog post. Do I say something witty to grab your attention or jump right into what I want to say? Well I can figure out effective blog post openings as I go along. But I do have, what I think, is a very solid and powerful first post for America The Beautiful.
Last night was one of the greatest nights of my life, a night I spent with thousands of my fellow countrymen. I want to bring all of you, who were not as lucky as I was to be able to experience it, to Ground Zero during the chaotic celebration occurring during the early morning hours of May 2nd, 2011. Well, here goes nothing, enjoy...
I was down at Ground Zero celebrating from 1:30am to 5:30am this morning and upon returning to St. John's, I have never felt more American. I felt in my heart that I needed to be there. I needed to celebrate the fact that the 2,977 souls that lay interred just feet away from me at the intersection of Church and Vesey Streets now have closure. I met a girl in the crowd who's father was killed when the South Tower collapsed on top of him and she told me that she felt like the ghost of her dad was calling her down to the site of his death. She said it was the first time in 10 years that she had come to the site and not cried. Her and other people who lost relatives on 9/11 now say they no longer see the site as the place where their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, or children were killed, but the place where thousands of Americans celebrated their lives and the fact that justice has finally been realized.
On a personal level, you truly had to be there to completely understand what was happening. The feelings of unity, love, patriotism, memorializing, remembrance, and justice...you could literally feel them in the air and in the hugs and high fives of random strangers who embraced you as a best friend and fellow countryman. I had my arms wrapped around total strangers as we all sang the Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America, New York New York, Born in the USA, We Are The Champions, America The Beautiful, and Amazing Grace accompanied by bagpipers and trumpeters. We chanted "U-S-A, U-S-A" and "New York City" until our voices literally would not produce sound, and at that time we mustered whatever grunts we possibly could in order to participate in the chants. We held moments of silence as we bowed our heads and prayed that the 2,977 victims of Bin Laden's vicious act of terror are smiling down on the crowd, happy we still remember them 10 years on.
Last night, we celebrated much more than a death. We celebrated the ending of the saddest and most tragic chapter in American history. The man who sent 2,977 people to their deaths was finally eliminated by a nation that NEVER rests when it comes to the pursuit of justice. George W. Bush promised that we will never cease in our mission to bring him to justice and last night, his mission was accomplished.
With his arm around a retired firefighter who came down to aid in the recovery effort, Bush declared that "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!". Last night, the last sounds Osama Bin Laden heard before a bullet pierced his hate filled brain were not just American army boots in his doorway and their voices barking orders his way. They were the cries of every single American who lost a family member, the sound of metal hurtling over a thousand feet to the ground, and the sound of soft crying at candle light vigils like the one a ten year old Christopher Barca attended on his street 10 years ago. It took 10 years, but somewhere Bush is smiling, knowing Bin Laden has finally heard from all of us.
The amount of Patriotism displayed last night be people of all different races, colors, and religions was indescribable. I was wearing a New England Patriots sweatshirt and a man in a New York Jets shirt came up to me and told me "on a normal day, I would look at you and despise you but tonight I look at you as my brother" and he hugged me in a warm embrace. I felt the unity of the American people. I am a Republican and my friend Alex, who I went to Ground Zero with is the President of College Democrats at my school and we were arm in arm singing all as one all night. Last night, there was no Republican or Democrat. No more red or blue, just Red, White, and Blue.
CNN reporter John Avlon said it best when he wrote this morning "I have never been so happy to hear that someone is dead. It's not bloodlust -- it's justice.
Ten years ago at this time, Osama bin Laden was in Afghanistan planning the terrorist attacks that killed more than 3,000 of our fellow Americans in cold blood.
Now he is dead and the families of his victims can have a measure of comfort. The healing can deepen. And if there's a celebration in the streets outside the White House and ground zero -- just as there was celebration after the death of Adolf Hitler was announced on May 1, 1945 -- it is deserved. It is 10 years overdue." An eye for an eye has the possibility to make the whole world blind, but in my opinion, the world now is that much closer to attaining perfect vision, as this man can no longer blind us with his hate
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/02/avlon.binladen.killed/index.html?hpt=T2
I feel like a better American and a better human being that I ran down a Queens highway at 1am with one of my best friends and someone I really didn't know (Alex) in order to catch the subway, as the 2,977 victims were calling me to Ground Zero. I go to that place on every anniversary of 9/11 and their voices called me there because one time, just this one time, we can smile at Ground Zero. We can laugh there, we can sing there, we can cheer there. Our tears are not those of sadness, but of joy knowing that their deaths are no longer without justice. The man who ended their lives is descending to hell just as Americans from all parts of the city descended on Ground Zero to celebrate life that now teems at a place where 10 years ago was a pile of death amid twisted metal and flames.
One will not completely understand what that crowd at Ground Zero means unless you were there, unless you sang along as bagpipers played Taps, Amazing Grace, the National Anthem, and God Bless America while sitting on top of phone booths. One will never completely understand why we were "celebrating more death" unless you were actually there chanting "Ne-ver for-get" as we looked upon One World Trade Center as it rises above Ground Zero. One will never understand the love that Americans share for their nation unless you actually experience that love, which I did last night.
Last night was the greatest night of my life. Last night, I was not a white, Republican, almost 20 year old college student. Last night, I was only an American. Last night, I sang my heart out with thousands of other proud Americans. Last night, I did not celebrate a death. Last night, I celebrated and honored 2,977 lives of my American brothers and sisters who were unfairly taken away from us. Last night, I celebrated justice. We celebrated justice
Last night was one of the greatest nights of my life, a night I spent with thousands of my fellow countrymen. I want to bring all of you, who were not as lucky as I was to be able to experience it, to Ground Zero during the chaotic celebration occurring during the early morning hours of May 2nd, 2011. Well, here goes nothing, enjoy...
I was down at Ground Zero celebrating from 1:30am to 5:30am this morning and upon returning to St. John's, I have never felt more American. I felt in my heart that I needed to be there. I needed to celebrate the fact that the 2,977 souls that lay interred just feet away from me at the intersection of Church and Vesey Streets now have closure. I met a girl in the crowd who's father was killed when the South Tower collapsed on top of him and she told me that she felt like the ghost of her dad was calling her down to the site of his death. She said it was the first time in 10 years that she had come to the site and not cried. Her and other people who lost relatives on 9/11 now say they no longer see the site as the place where their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, or children were killed, but the place where thousands of Americans celebrated their lives and the fact that justice has finally been realized.
On a personal level, you truly had to be there to completely understand what was happening. The feelings of unity, love, patriotism, memorializing, remembrance, and justice...you could literally feel them in the air and in the hugs and high fives of random strangers who embraced you as a best friend and fellow countryman. I had my arms wrapped around total strangers as we all sang the Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America, New York New York, Born in the USA, We Are The Champions, America The Beautiful, and Amazing Grace accompanied by bagpipers and trumpeters. We chanted "U-S-A, U-S-A" and "New York City" until our voices literally would not produce sound, and at that time we mustered whatever grunts we possibly could in order to participate in the chants. We held moments of silence as we bowed our heads and prayed that the 2,977 victims of Bin Laden's vicious act of terror are smiling down on the crowd, happy we still remember them 10 years on.
Last night, we celebrated much more than a death. We celebrated the ending of the saddest and most tragic chapter in American history. The man who sent 2,977 people to their deaths was finally eliminated by a nation that NEVER rests when it comes to the pursuit of justice. George W. Bush promised that we will never cease in our mission to bring him to justice and last night, his mission was accomplished.
With his arm around a retired firefighter who came down to aid in the recovery effort, Bush declared that "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!". Last night, the last sounds Osama Bin Laden heard before a bullet pierced his hate filled brain were not just American army boots in his doorway and their voices barking orders his way. They were the cries of every single American who lost a family member, the sound of metal hurtling over a thousand feet to the ground, and the sound of soft crying at candle light vigils like the one a ten year old Christopher Barca attended on his street 10 years ago. It took 10 years, but somewhere Bush is smiling, knowing Bin Laden has finally heard from all of us.
The amount of Patriotism displayed last night be people of all different races, colors, and religions was indescribable. I was wearing a New England Patriots sweatshirt and a man in a New York Jets shirt came up to me and told me "on a normal day, I would look at you and despise you but tonight I look at you as my brother" and he hugged me in a warm embrace. I felt the unity of the American people. I am a Republican and my friend Alex, who I went to Ground Zero with is the President of College Democrats at my school and we were arm in arm singing all as one all night. Last night, there was no Republican or Democrat. No more red or blue, just Red, White, and Blue.
CNN reporter John Avlon said it best when he wrote this morning "I have never been so happy to hear that someone is dead. It's not bloodlust -- it's justice.
Ten years ago at this time, Osama bin Laden was in Afghanistan planning the terrorist attacks that killed more than 3,000 of our fellow Americans in cold blood.
Now he is dead and the families of his victims can have a measure of comfort. The healing can deepen. And if there's a celebration in the streets outside the White House and ground zero -- just as there was celebration after the death of Adolf Hitler was announced on May 1, 1945 -- it is deserved. It is 10 years overdue." An eye for an eye has the possibility to make the whole world blind, but in my opinion, the world now is that much closer to attaining perfect vision, as this man can no longer blind us with his hate
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/02/avlon.binladen.killed/index.html?hpt=T2
I feel like a better American and a better human being that I ran down a Queens highway at 1am with one of my best friends and someone I really didn't know (Alex) in order to catch the subway, as the 2,977 victims were calling me to Ground Zero. I go to that place on every anniversary of 9/11 and their voices called me there because one time, just this one time, we can smile at Ground Zero. We can laugh there, we can sing there, we can cheer there. Our tears are not those of sadness, but of joy knowing that their deaths are no longer without justice. The man who ended their lives is descending to hell just as Americans from all parts of the city descended on Ground Zero to celebrate life that now teems at a place where 10 years ago was a pile of death amid twisted metal and flames.
One will not completely understand what that crowd at Ground Zero means unless you were there, unless you sang along as bagpipers played Taps, Amazing Grace, the National Anthem, and God Bless America while sitting on top of phone booths. One will never completely understand why we were "celebrating more death" unless you were actually there chanting "Ne-ver for-get" as we looked upon One World Trade Center as it rises above Ground Zero. One will never understand the love that Americans share for their nation unless you actually experience that love, which I did last night.
Last night was the greatest night of my life. Last night, I was not a white, Republican, almost 20 year old college student. Last night, I was only an American. Last night, I sang my heart out with thousands of other proud Americans. Last night, I did not celebrate a death. Last night, I celebrated and honored 2,977 lives of my American brothers and sisters who were unfairly taken away from us. Last night, I celebrated justice. We celebrated justice
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