Expanded expectations

The Columbus Blue Jackets have made the playoffs - for the first time in their eight years of existence. ESPN writer E.J. Hradek announced to Columbus hockey faithful that their "long, local nightmare is over."

Setting aside the idea that there probably should be no major sports events in Ohio that don't involve the Buckeyes, I was struck that eight years is apparently a long time to wait for a postseason berth in sports. Forty years ago the 1969 Mets set a record for the fastest postseason appearance for an expansion team - in their eight season. (Even that was considered a miracle.)

But things move a lot faster now.

With players moving more easily from team to team, and with more teams spreading out the talent, it's easier than ever to build a winner using pieces from outside an organization. And expanded playoffs have helped too - multiple rounds mean more invitations, so franchises who don't build a champion can at least build a team good enough to play a few extra games. (In the NBA, for instance, a losing record doesn't mean you're missing the playoffs.)

Add to the fact that there are more media voices (through talk radio and blogs) following teams, and it adds a bit of heat to owners - who have to answer to taxpayers as well as fans, since their venues which are frequently publicly funded.

The Blue Jackets are heading to the postseason after eight seasons - just like the 1969 Miracle Mets in terms of time, but also completely different in terms of impact and significance. I suppose it makes sense: after all, Columbus was a minor league city to New York for years.

Culture shock

Culture11 - a site dedicated to conservative-leaning cultural commentary - abruptly laid off its entire staff this week. While the site's backers maintain that this isn't the end, the future looks bleak without an influx of money.

Joshua Trevino chronicles a few key flaws of Culture11. The site sprang up not from a grassroots groundswell, but from a few key investors who apparently did not see a return on their investment quickly enough to justify further expenditures. Trevino argues that other popular blogs started much smaller and were allowed to "grow into" their ultimate size and influence.

There's another problem with a site like Culture11, which seemed to be intended as a conservative alternative to The Huffington Post. Overt and admitted conservatism turns off a certain audience - usually who would claim to be simply uninterested in politics but extremely interested in entertainment. That's why the overt-but-unadmitted liberalism of mainstream media outlets has such an impact.

Playing a new game

My brother Mike had the best summary about the constant harping on Sarah Palin over the past 60 days: "Everyone seems to be mad because she doesn't play the game." She certainly is the biggest outsider of the race.

Pundits are quick to point out that despite appearing on Saturday Night Live, she hasn't appeared on any Sunday morning talk shows. True - but she also probably understands Saturday Night Live is probably more relevant in shaping public perceptions outside of the beltway than the Sunday morning talk shows. Fourteen million viewers tuned into NBC for Saturday Night Live last weekend. That's 10 million more than how many tuned into NBC's Meet the Press the previous week - and that was the top-rated show.

(And who ever imagined we'd see a national candidate raising the roof at the Weekend Update desk and not looking like a complete doofus? At the very least she raised her favorability numbers.)

Palin even criticized her own campaign (politely) for using automated phone calls, candidly saying they are annoying. Sure, that's common sense - but it's quite a step to admit that political campaigns are tedious for the average American. This understanding creates opportunity for connection that, really, no other person on a national ticket has made.

As I mentioned previously, the question now is whether Palin can build on this to create a stronger connection with the American people - and to become a national spokesperson for the people who respond better to her style of politics. Based on the way she rolled with the punches on Saturday, her chances seem decent.

Nazis for McCain/Palin

Last night's Family Guy featured a sight gag I missed until I saw it on Digg today. Apparently, Nazis are all about McCain/Palin:



I'm assuming Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane did this because of the image of McCain's cult of personality inspiring massive crowds in Germany last summer... Oh, no, wait, that was Obama. Well, maybe it was because of the way McCain has targeted one segment of America as having too much money, and has promised to re-distribute their wealth (as Hitler did with Jewish businessowners)? Nope, that's Obama again.

It must have been campaign finance reform.

Punishing success

Listening to the rhetoric this campaign season, and looking at polls that say people feel the country is heading in the wrong direction or that a deep recession or another Great Depression is right around the corner, one gets the feeling that our national confidence isn't high.

The criticism heaped on a high school team that won 91-0 - even after pulling their starters and laying off their hapless opponents - may have a connection. Is our Gross Domestic Self Esteem Index low because we are afraid to succeed?

Our pursuit of terrorists turned into a nation-building exercise rather than a kill-people-and-break-things mission. The candidate who will likely win the White House has a campaign predicated on the idea that America as it is currently constituted is set up to ensure failure for certain classes of people. And when he gets in, his tax policy will punish anyone making over $200,000 per year.

America has, from its founding, been suspicious of power. It seems we are equally suspicious of ourselves.