CONGRATULATIONS TO

SOUTH KOREA!

The luminous Yu-Na Kim blew away the competition last night by a substantial margin, in the process setting a new world record for ladies' skating! Mao Asada won the silver and Joanie Rochette (who deserved, I think, silver) actually won the bronze!

The big surprise last night wasn't that Yu-Na Kim won - it was the SHEER SIZE of her win! The other surprise was the lively little 16-year-old Mirai Nagasu who placed a very, very respectable 4th place! Well done. Both American skaters were there to gain experience but in the process they accomplished a great deal more. Both Nagasu and Flatt, ages 16 and 17 respectively, showed the world what it's like to see two young women skate with joy and freedom! And, in the process, earning us additional skaters at the world championships some time in the future! That's a very big deal.

So that puts my percentage at 50% for my early predictions. Weathermen don't do as well so I guess I should be satisfied with that, eh?

I keep saying it over and over again - one jump does not a program make! Plushenko has learned that [hard] lesson and now Asada has done so as well! My final word to all the skaters is that they should follow the example of Lysacek and Kim and run through their programs several times daily in practice. Muscle memory can be a remarkable thing! And take you through some nervous moments and help you recover from an occasional butt-meets-ice moment!

And to finally answer a question everyone keeps asking - why do the women post lower scores than the men - it's pretty simple. Men have no HIPS and rotate in the air much faster and thus can do triple axels as if they were nothing (the forward takeoff is a real obstacle to success for many) and quads are much easier for them. That's why the first women doing triples - and eventually quads - will likely be girls of Asian heritage!

The Anchoress has more here.

NEW RESIDENTS OF CRANKYLAND!

You may have noticed the pictures of two handsome orange kitties on my site lately. Their names are Goldie and Buddy and they are coming to live with me this coming weekend. They are rescue kitties, 2 year old litter mates, who have been living with a foster mom and a bunch of other kitties near my home. They are now coming to live with me where they will be the kinds of the castle for sure! The mood chez cranky is going to improve a lot!

FROM TIME TO TIME, ANN COULTER
COMES UP WITH A PIP!

If they could, Americans would cut the power to the Capitol, throw everyone out and try to deport them. (Whereas I say: Anyone in Washington, D.C., who can produce an original copy of a valid U.S. birth certificate should be allowed to stay.) Ann Coulter , February 24, 2010

Memo to Ann, This is why I carry my birth certificate with me when I come to work in The District! It's a crummy commute (51 miles from/to Fredericksburg, Virginia on the horrendous I-95 in heavy traffic regardless of the time of day or day of the week) and I work for lawyers, but the money's good so I grit my teeth and soldier on!

IS OUR PRESIDENT SURROUNDED
BY A STAFF OF IDIOTS?

Who knew that the smarmy and offensive Robert Gibbs was just the tip of the iceberg when the incompetence of the President's staff is addressed. They have been whining that they haven't had access to the GOP's alternative plan for health care reform. Funnily enough, that plan WAS POSTED ON THE INTERNET IN NOVEMBER!

Are they morons or just partisan hacks - which may end up being the same thing! Mr. President, I'm beginning to suspect that YOU are less of a problem than that collection of Chicago political dimwits with which you've surrounded yourself. Shallow, sophomoric, insensitive and naive about the real world. Got a question - how many in your brain trust have ever held an ACTUAL job? Run a business? Earned a paycheck that wasn't at the government teat?

COURAGE!

Courage was visible on Olympic ice last night in the person of a 23 year old young woman, dressed in sequins and skating the program of a lifetime, despite the death of her mother 2 days previously. And she skated brilliantly, ending up in third place surpassed only by the incandescent Kim YuNa and the triple jump diva Mao Asada. While I am absolutely certain that the Gold will be won by Kim YuNa, I would be so stoked if ultimately the Silver goes to Joanie Rochette.

This was a true Olympic moment - not a quest for self-aggrandizement (are you listening Yvgeni Plushenko and Maxim Shabolin?) or national glory. This was a well-trained and talented athlete fulfilling a dream she shared with her late mother on the biggest stage of all. If you weren't in tears watching it, you aren't human.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of last night's skating performance by Rochette is that she worked very, very hard to not milk the emotional impact of her skating and that the Canadian audience absolutely went berserk when she stepped onto the ice and after she skated as well they should have done.

I was touched, moved and ultimately cheering for Joanie Rochette. She won't win gold but she has already won the respect and admiration of an awful lot of people.

I have also learned enormous respect and admiration for our two skaters, Rachel Flatt and Mirai Nagasu. Rachel skates as though she's on her home rink just flying around - she is as solid as a rock and as dependable as one. There's no evidence of nerves or self-doubt. And her technique and execution - while still a little rough around the edges - displays a confidence and security that is rather remarkable, given her relative youth. Mirai Nagasu, plagued by a nosebleed part way through her program, still managed to power her way through the adversity with style, skill and charm. She has a bright future in this sport. Both our skaters are in the final group and that is both a surprise and a pleasure to me. They won't win, although I wouldn't mind it if Rachel Flatt edged Mao Asada off the podium! (Can you tell I do NOT like Mao Asada - who, like Plushenko, seems to think that one jump should entitle her to victory - pfui!).

MUST BE SOMETHING IN THE RUSSIAN WATER!

The definition of "poor sport" in the dictionary must have Yvgeni Plushenko's picture next to it. Now this raving asshat has awarded HIMSELF a platinum medal for his Olympic program as skated.

Yvgeni you are making a fool of yourself and you are ruining the reputation of a very nice guy - yourself - by your nonsense! Look at the score sheet, lad, and you'll see that you and Evan Lysacek both got the same "components" (artistry) scores. However, his grade of execution surpassed yours and you really should sit down and take a look at a recording of your long program - the scratchy and wildly out of control landings to jumps that should be simple for you to perform. Your stamina sucks, Yvgeni. Unlike skaters who run through their programs - both long and short - multiple times every single day, 365 days of the year for 4 long years, Russian athletes tend to work on carefully selected specific portions of their programs. If that's how you want to train, so be it. But don't whine when your lack of stamina makes it necessary for you to "front load" a program, thus sacrificing the 10% bonus points on jumps performed in the second half of the program. The ISU rules were enacted so that skaters were forced to perform a complete program that included jumps, spins, and connecting footwork. Those are the rules, kiddo. If you chose not to abide by them, you have only yourself to blame.

You screwed yourself out of the gold medal, Mr. Plushenko. Now stop babbling and whining and generally making an ass of yourself and behave like the champion we all thought you were after the Torino Olympics. You are the father of a young child. Don't you think you should be showing him a good example of grace under adverse conditions? Don't you think you should quit trying to denigrate and degrade a victory for Evan Lysacek that was earned by his hard work and dedication. He was and is the best conditioned athlete at these games. And he has never uttered one derogatory word about you and that graciousness on his part only emphasizes what a dickweed you are showing yourself to be. Guess what, Russian skaters do not have a divine entitlement to anydamnthing. You have to earn your medals, just like anyone else! Knock off the crap, kiddo. You're only hurting yourself.

SORE LOSERS ONCE AGAIN!

And once again - it's the Russians (to the surprise of absolutely nobody). Domnina and Shabolin came in third. I was quite pleased by this outcome since I am convinced that they have always been overrated and received extra credit simply for being Russians. Shabolin said they skated their absolute best and "only came in third" (I'm sure Belbin and Agosto would be delighted to relieve you of your bronze medal since you value it so lightly) You ignorant whelps - you are only good enough to win third! Virtue and Moir skated incandescently and what they were doing was - contrary to the sour grapes of the 5th place Italians - exquisite dancing with technical excellence!

These whining little babies don't seem to understand that those honors are not theirs by divine right. You have to EARN the damned things.

And on the plus side, the very gracious losers - Davis and White and Belbin and Agosto - were fulsome in their praise of Virtue and Moir. Now that's what sport is all about!

IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE
U.S. DEAF?

"We the People" have spoken and continue to speak - telling this incompetent boob that we don't want his freaking Health Care boondoggle. He continues to try to push it down our throats, apparently in the arrogant belief that he knows more about what is good for us than do We the People.

Less than 10% of Americans are without health insurance coverage (I'm not including the illegals because they get treated free at hospitals and that's only because we are a benevolent bunch of idiots in this country - and anyway - they ought to go back from whence they came!). Most of those people don't have it because they don't want it. Reform should not consist of shoving health coverage down the throats of those who are unwilling to be covered. That isn't the American way!

You want to reform health care? How about tort reform? How about making it absolutely illegal to deny coverage due to pre-existing conditions? How about encouraging competition by allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines? These are real and effective reforms and they don't involve saddling the American electorate (remember us - we VOTE?) with a bunch of crappy health care reform that WE DON'T WANT and WE DON'T NEED!

I suggest that should you continue to screw with us in this fashion, Mr. President, we will teach you a lesson you'll never forget, come Election Day 2010!

YVGENI PLUSHENKO -
SORE LOSER!

Plushenko started trash talking Evan Lysacek long before the two men took the ice in the men's long program. He has continued to do so since winning the Silver Medal to Lysacek's Gold Medal and that's just wrong.

Plushenko and his team ignored the rules of the long program skate, believing as they did that the competition was about ONE JUMP and front loading the program with jump after jump after jump and incorporating no connective steps of any consequence and leaving multiple points on the table by doing damn-all during the second half of his program. The only person he has to thank for his Silver Medal is himself for being so arrogant as to assume that he could just "show up" and win. Evan Lysacek has worked hard, day after day, for 4 years since the last Olympics, honing his craft and devleoping his skills.

One of the principle differences between the two men is stamina. Lysacek has run through both his programs day after day after day throughout the season. He has run through them multiple times daily - from start to finish. Typically, Russian practice is to run through parts of programs but they seldom, if ever, do full run-throughs. That may well be why Plushenko front-loaded his program. He knew he'd have nothing left for the second half and filled the time by mostly "screwing around" and mugging for the judges! Anyone who has followed skating has noted that typically Russian skaters do have a stamina problem in the second half of their programs. Viktor Petrenko, as delightful as he is, had that problem; so too did Alexei Urmanov!

So shut the hell up Yvgeni. I love you a lot and think you're a brilliant technician. But a good loser you are not. Lysacek has been gracious and complimentary to you ever since justifiably beating you for the Gold Medal! It's time that you learned a second lesson from this truly great champion.

I'VE NEVER BEEN SO GLAD TO BE WRONG!

For all his trash talking, Yvgeni Plushenko had to settle for the Silver Medal in Men's figure skating at the Olympics on Thursday night.

It was Evan Lysacek's night - and in my estimation Johnny Weir's night as well. I have never seen either of them skate with the magnificence that they both displayed on the ice. Evan's skate was majestic and balanced with technical precision and artistry. Johnny Weir was a technical powerhouse and his artistry was brilliant throughout; I am upset with the judges that they didn't recognize and reward Johnny's brilliant skate. But somehow I think that putting that program out for all to enjoy meant quite a lot to him - maybe almost as much as winning would have done. At least I hope so.

Yvgeni - it isn't like the old days - you didn't get marked on reputation and your program - 2 minutes of jumps and 2 minutes of screwing around, wasn't well thought-out and in this instance, you were ill-served by either your own ego or your coach's lack of foresight.

So congratulations to Evan Lysacek and thank you for proving me wrong. I enjoyed every minute of it!

Daisuke Takahashi won the bronze and should receive a courage award since he came back from some major injury to achieve his victory.

All in all - a good night of men's figure skating!

I-75 just south of Lake City in Florida. They "get it"!

LAST NIGHT HE STARTED TO MAKE ME
LOOK LIKE A GENIUS!

Then Plushenko, having skated brilliantly, started in on his bullshit gamesmanship, giving Evan Lysacek a hard time because he doesn't have a quad included in his programs. Yvgeni, just shut the hell up and SKATE!

I have predicted you as the Gold Medal winner, and I'm not alone. But you keep running your mouth the way you do and you'll be booed on the medal podium! Not wise for future earnings potential lad.

Note to both Evan and Yvgeni: Shave dammit!

Johnny Weir skated exceptionally well and doesn't seem to be in it for anything other than self respect and national pride. But nevertheless, it was great fun to watch him "rock the tassel". I don't believe I'm saying this, but I am very hopeful that he will be on the podium. I doubt it will happen, but I'd like to see it!

THAT'S ONE!

With a slightly flawed skate that was still brilliantly executed in almost every respect, my picks, Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao won China its first pairs figure skating medal last night! The program was brilliantly planned, placing two of the most spectacular elements, the throw jumps in the second half of the program where they would earn a 10% bonus, which I suspect was the margin of victory!

The Russians, sore losers as always, stomped out of the rink in disgust after their pouty little pair failed to achieve the podium.

The second Chinese pair won the Silver and the Germans (my favorites in any other year and absent Shen and Zhao) won the Bronze.

Now on to the next event! I understand the people in Yvgeni Plushenko's camp are whining about his scheduling for the short program. Where have they been. It doesn't matter where you are scheduled to skate and in which group. Your performance is judged on its own merits and frankly, although I have predicted he will win the gold, Plushenko should have more faith in his own skill! And should get his cute little ass off to the barbers and get a decent haircut. That littel Dutch boy look is passe!

WHY I AM SUPPORTING MARCO RUBIO

Florida is lucky to have this magnificent young man seeking public office and this gives you a good idea WHY!

ROBERT GIBBS - NASTY LITTLE TWIT!

Amongst the many, many creatures wandering the White House these days there is a press secretary whose locutions and behavior is sophomoric at best and downright despicable most of the time!

Robert Gibbs thinks he's very amusing - he's not. He thinks he's witty - and what he is devolves the level of discourse emanating from the White House to a level that wouldn't be tolerated by that maven of poor judgement, Keith Olbermann. That's right folks - I'm comparing Robert Gibbs to MSNBC's resident idiot and Gibbs LOSES!

Whatever happened to civility and a new era of communication gentility that President Moonbeam was supposed to bring to the table? Apparently, the Rahm Emanuel model is more compelling than that being displayed by the First Lady who has been a paragon of tact of late. I still don't like her but I do admire the civility with which she is comporting herself!

MINNESOTA WISDOM!

PSALM 2010

Obama is the shepherd I did not want.
He leadeth me beside the still factories.
He restoreth my faith in the Republican party.
He guideth me in the path of unemployment for his party's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the bread line,
I shall fear no hunger, for his bailouts are with me.
He has anointed my income with taxes,
My expenses runneth over.
Surely, poverty and hard living will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will live in a mortgaged home forever.
I am glad I am American,
I am glad that I am free.
But I wish I was a dog .....
And Obama was a tree.

h/t Jack!

THE INCREDIBLE DEAFNESS OF THE LEFTWING DEMS & THEIR LEADER

Loud and clear, in tones unmistakable, the American people have told President Obama and his cohorts the execrable Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid that they do not want any kind of health care reform that may emanate from the Dem-controlled Congress. Apparently, all three of them are deaf as a yard of grass because they are still pushing for health care. Do these arrogants nits think they know better than WE do what we need and want or are they just so hungry for power over us that they think they can jam it down our throats?

What a bunch of boneheaded jerks!

JOHN MURTHA HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

John Murtha has died as a result of complications of surgery he had earlier this month or late last month. Since I was raised to not speak ill of the dead, suffice it to say that I send condolences to those who loved him and will miss him. I'm not one of them! In my view, he was a miserable little man.

SAM THE WONDER CAT - R.I.P.

Today at noon, Sam the Wonder Cat started to experience difficulty in breathing which he manifested by meowing his way all around the house. By 2:30 p.m. he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure and lungs filled with fluid and he was sent over the rainbow bridge with his heartbroken Mom and his Auntie Linda petting him and telling him he was loved.

Sam was a rescue and a genuine character. He was a street kitty when he came into my life and in our 9 years together he was frustrating, delightful and loving. He had no lacks in the personality department and he kept my life from being dull or boring. I will miss him all the remaining days of my life and I mourn his loss.

No more posting until next week sometime!