Monthly Archives: February 2010

Rafa’s Silhouette

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Yeah… I’ll stand with Rafa. Love the diplomacy.

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez may soon be joining his players in the gym after a grilling by the Romanian media in Bucharest ended with a bizarre conversation about the Spaniard’s weight.

Following a typically diplomatic performance in which the Liverpool boss refused to be baited by questions about alleged disrespect for Europa League opponents Unirea Urziceni and sack-related chants from the stands, one journo decided to deliver a body blow.

“Mr Benitez,” the Romanian reporter said. “The last time I saw you was at the 2005 Champions’ League final, and your, erm, silhouette seems to have changed since then. Why is that?”

Breaking into a grin, Benitez replied: “It is the stress of having to answer so many questions from the press. Thank you and goodnight.”

via Dominic Raynor: The two Ronnies – Global – ESPN Soccernet.

The Dominated Condition, Revised

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This month’s D&D Rules of the Game column explains the thinking behind recent revisions to the Dominated condition, and it gave me pause to reminice…

One of our very first 4E experiences was a Paragon delve. Just a little something to test out the new powers and rules. We faced a bunch of nameless brutes/soldiers backed up by a succubus. (I think my memory is correct.) We were making reasonable progress until the succubus managed to dominate one of us… and then another of us… and I think maybe even a third one of us.

Did we kill each other, unleashing our own powers against each other? No, nothing so obvious. It took us each about three seconds to realize that the real danger lie in granting combat advantage around so many hard-hitting foes. At the same time the DM went, “Whoa! Yeah!” and each of us players went, “Oh, No!” We then cringed as each dominated PC took a nice run through the enemy ranks granting opportunity attacks – with combat advantage – to as many of them as possible.

After all, why spend one at-will attack on another PC, when you can target the dominated PC five… six… seven… eight times.

via Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page – Article (Rules of the Game). (sub. req.)

Robert Reich (Bust Up the Health Insurance Trusts)

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I can certainly get behind this. It’s competition one of the basic tenets necessary for a functioning free-market economy?

Regardless of what happens at the White House’s health care meeting… we’ve got to make sure health insurers compete for every one of our dollars. The Federal Trade Commission should launch an investigation immediately, and end the health care trusts.

via Robert Reich (Bust Up the Health Insurance Trusts).

Who Cares About the 75th Finisher? I Do

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I’ve been bitten by the Olympic bug. For nearly 1500 days, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about snow cross, Nordic combined or short track speed skating. But for these two weeks I’m hooked. So, as the snow falls outside I’m watching the end of the ladies’ 10K individual free cross country skiing event. The race has long been decided, but the camera’s are still on watching each of the 78 competitors cross the finish line.

And that’s why I love the Olympics. Most of the time we are so single-minded in our focus on winning. We can barely pay attention to who finished second, much less last. But when the Olympics are on, for some reason we slow down just a bit, and we take note of everyone who participates. We seem to understand what it means just to get to the Olympics. We are led to appreciate the dedication, the sacrifice, the luck, and the effort. And because we do, we slow down. We take the time to watch all 78 competitors cross the finish line. In two weeks, these athletes and their sports will disappear for another 1500 days. But for the moment, I am hooked.

For the record: Vera Viczian of Hungary finished 75th.