| La-La Land of the Giants
I should have listened to my wife. She told me to wash my car. But I'd been on the road just about every weekend for three months, covering NFL games, and a carwash didn't register on my list of priorities.
So the other day I wheezed up to the Beverly Hills Hotel in my one-headlight Volvo that's covered in dust and bird droppings, and filled with old newspapers, water bottles, my son's basketball, and -- disturbingly -- my daughter's collection of stripped-bare Barbie dolls.
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NEWS IN BRIEF
PASSPORTS: No final word yet on when U.S. citizens will need a passport or an as-yet-to-be-created alternative for land and sea border crossings involving Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. But the State Department is preparing now.
As early as next month, department officials will begin accepting applications for a "passport card" that is cheaper and smaller than a passport and good only in the circumstances noted above. The limited-use card, which lasts 10 years, will cost $45 for adults ($25 of that will be waived if you already have a passport, including one up for renewal). Children 16 and younger pay $35 for a five-year card.
And, a reminder: As of Jan. 31, to cross the U.S. border by land or sea into Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean (except for Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Behind the Edwards Surge: Right Message at the Right Time
Much was made of Illinois Senator Barack Obama's superb speech to a huge crowd of Iowa Democrats at the mid-November Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines. Without a doubt, it helped to propel Obama ahead of New York Senator Hillary Clinton in polls conducted in the weeks after the event. But Obama's speech in November may not turn out to be the definitional statement of the fight for Iowa. What could turn out to be the most critical comment of the campaign came from John Edwards in the last debate between the Democratic contenders — and the former senator from North Carolina may well claim the caucus-night victory that is the reward for delivering the right message at the right time. It wasn't a great rhetorical flourish. It wasn't even a new statement.
Biz Buzz: 2 stores closing on one SLO block
Biz Buzz: 2 stores closing on one SLO block Black Sea Gallery and Lil Grom spaces are for lease; the area on Marsh Street is proposed to be converted to a large retail-condo complex The retail locations for Black Sea Gallery and Lil Grom, two stores in downtown San Luis Obispo on Marsh Street between Broad and Garden streets, are for lease. "They just did not have the business success they hoped," said John Rossetti, owner of Rossetti Co. and one of four partners who own the properties. Black Sea Gallery manager Moe Sari believes his furniture business was affected by the slowdown in the housing industry. "Black Sea Gallery has closed four stores already in California and plans to close two more," Sari said. "It's getting to look like a recession to me, and it's not going to get better any time soon.
I speculated about the sociological reasons coaches are being ...
First, the illusion of control. Obviously some coaches are better than others I'd certainly rather be coached by Pete Carroll than Nick Saban. (More on Saban below.) But as sports become ever-more important and ever-more analyzed, there seems an increasing tendency to want to believe that everything on the field happens for a reason. The ball didn't just bounce into some guy's hands, good coaching put the guy into the right position. The receiver didn't just run fast and get open, hours of round-the-clock study enabled the coach to determine precisely what pass pattern to call. It wasn't that the Colts played well Saturday while the Chiefs had an off day, this happened because Tony Dungy did an astonishingly good job of preparing his team using subtle psychological tools plus mega-brilliant game planning, while Herman Edwards did a poor job of preparing his team.
Mail | What readers are saying
The worst thing the Mariners could do besides trading Ichiro is trade Adam Jones. He has the opportunity to become a phenom, a present-day Ken Griffey ("Keeping Jones is Mariners' best move — for now and future," The Seattle Times, Jan. 17). This young kid has the potential to have Hall of Fame numbers. At just 22 and starting for an American League contender, this kid is soon to be the face of the Seattle Mariners. Trading him for a pitcher that half of the Seattle area has never heard of is absurd. Jones still has at least 12 good years in him, and he is not even close to hitting his prime. The Mariners are infamous for signing big names, and those same big names becoming duds in the Seattle uniform. We have a good thing in Adam Jones. Don't blow it! — Tony Reavis, Covington Ramirez no answer Well, the Mariners should finally be set for 2008.
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