My Sick Mind

This sounds like a nice story ... until you read it : Just as the latest Powerball jackpot rolled over to $212 million, a New Jersey woman has claimed the March 13 jackpot, whose annuity prize also was $212 million. Sandra McNeil's ticket had the cash option, though, so she'll get $101.6 million, before taxes, according to New Jersey Lottery spokesman Dominick DeMarco. "I give God all the glory for this blessing that He has given to me," she said, according to a statement released by the New Jersey Lottery. "He has seen and knows the highs and lows of my life, and knows the good I have done, and the good I hope I can continue to accomplish in His name." The ego on these people! Their belief in this mystical spirit extends to the idea that he (pardon me, He ) sees them as somehow different than millions of others and somehow deserving of a special monetary award. The mind is powerful enough to convince us of almost anything, I suppose. The next time (and ...

BOSTON - Sarah Palin rallied the conservative tea-party movement near the scene of its historical inspiration Wednesday, telling Washington politicians that government should be working for the people, not the other way around. Addressing roughly 5,000 people , the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee accused President Obama of over-reaching with his $787 billion stimulus program. She also criticized the administration's health-care, student-loan and financial regulatory overhauls. "Is this what their 'change' is all about?" Palin asked the crowd at Boston Common. "I want to tell 'em, nah, we'll keep clinging to our Constitution and our guns and religion, and you can keep the change." She really said that. Honestly. Some things are too crazy to make up - even here. Read that last line again. The one that goes like this: "I want to tell 'em, nah, we'll keep clinging to our Constitution and our guns and religion, and you can k...

These are, in no particular order, a group of photos I took before and during the Phillies/Nationals game at Citizen's Bank Ballpark on Wednesday night. After an early struggle, the Phillies won 14-7, which left a few minutes for wandering. A look from the concourse of the 300 level during the game - including the disembodied right foot walking past. Fans gathered inside a ballpark pub (for some reason) during the game. It's the bottom of the fifth and the Phillies were in a bit of trouble. The fans were sitting on their hands until the locals broke it open with 4 runs in the seventh. They call it the High & Inside Pub, which I suppose is a play on words. It's inside, you bet. But I wonder why someone would pay for a ticket to get into the game and spend their evening in a bar watching the game on TV. People are strange. Looking down from the 300 level onto the concourse and Pattison Avenue. The long stairways down from the upper levels to the street. It...

Now, I'm seeing that the embrace between Phil and Amy Mickelson is big news . I suppose that's for one or two reasons. 1 - It's a response to her breast cancer diagnosis and 2 - It's the anti-Tiger thing. Either way, it's kind of creepy and extremely - human. We respond to something called Schadenfreude - taking joy in the misery of others. We also respond to the opposite, which is to say we take joy in what we would want to experience ourselves, that is, overcoming adversity to achieve something we perceive as great. Winning The Masters golf tournament is one of those things, or so we hear. It's the lottery and a game of skill all rolled into one. The Holy Grail of achievements, and we think so because TV tells us so. We're gullible that way. It has theme music, a pastoral setting and big money, which are three ingredients to what we refer to as success. It must mean that, if we won that tournament we would be successful. The next time you're out...

The world's most self-important sporting event is over. The Masters, a golf tournament so self-involved that it has its own theme music and has persuaded a major television network to broadcast it with limited commercial interruptions, is finally over. If only Simon Cowell were that powerful. As Tiger Woods strolled off the 18th green today, Jim Nantz said that "he somehow managed a 69 through all of this." The little kid in me chuckled. Sports should bring out the little kid in us all. That Nantz is a wordsmith. That's why he makes the big bucks, I'm guessing. I bet Nantz gets an e-mail from the suits at CBS and the even stauncher suits at Augusta. It's interesting to me the way Tiger wears his sunglasses on the back of his hat, so not to obscure the Nike logo on the front of his hat. He's all about the marketing. Meanwhile, Lee Westwood's shirt looked like a NASCAR suit. Ads on the lapels, sleeves and both sides of his chest. Can golf get any mo...