Michael Nutter – Mayor of Phildelphia

Michael Nutter - Mayor of Philadelphia

Michael Nutter, after a long stint as a Councilman in the city of Philadelphia, won election as Mayor of the same city last year.  After 8 years of John Street’s reign of terror, Nutter is a breathe of fresh air.   If his first year is any indication, he is more than willing to address the problems that face the city in a direct and honest fashion.   Whether or not he can resolve the issues remains to be seen.

He has worked hard with the police department to implement policing techniques to reduce a murder rate that skyrocketed during Street’s term.  He has taken the cesspool of DHS (Department of Health Services) and completely changed the direction of the division with the courageous hiring of Anne Marie Ambrose.   Also, I have long admired Nutter for his fighting spirit.   Over and over again Nutter pushed for a smoking ban in restaurants and nightclubs.   Time and time again he was defeated due to a lack of support from Mayor Street.  Finally, Nutter (partially) won the battle and now there is a smoking ban (with exemptions) in Philadelphia.   He is also clearly a man of the people, which is the direct opposite of John Street whose style was autocratic to say the least.  Not that he is perfect, mind you.  After the Republican National Convention, Nutter, in a televised press conference called it the “Repulsive National Convention”.    If a Republican mayor of a large city made such a comment about the Democratic National Convention, the main stream press would have called for his/her resignation.  Of course, it is hard to find any Republican mayors of large cities these days.  

Mayor Nutter must address huge challenges facing the city of Philadelphia.  Hopefully, he will be up to the task.  It is in the best interest of the city and state that he succeeds in tackling the obstacles ahead.   Let’s examine some of the issues facing the city today.  I won’t pretend to have solutions for every problem.  If easy solutions to the cities problems existed, they would have been implemented by now.

Iowa Defeats Penn State

Heart Breaking Loss

 

As a 1988 alum of Penn State, the loss today to Iowa hurts.   All hope of bringing a national championship to happy valley were dashed today by the scrappy kids from Iowa who played well and deserved to win.   Additionally, I do not think that the Nittany Lions were as good as at least 6 other teams in the top 10.  Today’s loss proves that, I guess. 

Still, there are some questions that need to be answered:

Why did Galen Hall call 3 straight pass plays to start the game in the face of a 25 mph wind?  That decision cost Penn State 7 points at the beginning of the game.

Why did Joe Paterno, who is supposed to be the head coach, allow that to happen?   The Paterno I know would have been adamant about pounding the rock in that situation.

After having great success with the run, why did Penn State seem to move away from the run in the 2nd half?  From what I could see, Iowa did not have 8 men in the box for most of the day.

Is it time to address the issue of Joe Paterno?  We will discuss that in detail on another day.

In the end,  Iowa defeats Penn State and ends any chance of bringing home a national championship.

Danny Bonaduce – 94.1 WYSP

Danny Bonaduce - WYSP Mornings

Danny Bonaduce, originally a native of the borough of Folsom in southeast Pennsylvania, is making a return to the Philadelphia airwaves as the new morning man for 94.1 WYSP beginning this Monday.    Bonaduce, whose troubles with alcohol, drugs and law enforcement are well documented,  previously worked in Philadelphia during the late 1980′s as a side-kick on the morning show for 106.1, then called The Eagle.  

While Bonduce has been the lead on radio programs in other markets, his employment with 94.1 WYSP marks the first time for Bonaduce as a headliner in his hometown.   As with everything else for the artist formally known as Danny Partridge, the real question is can Danny Bonaduce stay out of trouble long enough to build to rebuild his tarnished image?   The trans-gender community (are you reading this New Hope?) is now on full alert as Danny Bonaduce returns to Philadelphia as the new morning man for 94.1 WYSP.

Ed Rendell – Senate Run in 2010

Rendell - Senate Run in 2010

Reliable sources report that Pennsylvania’s Governor, Ed Rendell is seriously considering a run for the United States Senate in 2010.   Anyone who has followed Rendell’s career certainly is not surprised that he is already thinking about what comes next when his second term as Governor ends in 2010.  In Pennsylvania, the term limit for a Governor is set at 2 terms.   Therefore, it makes sense that someone like Rendell, whose love of publicity knows no end, would consider the high profile position of United States Senator.  However, they are some variables in play that make a Rendell run for Senate in 2010 very interesting.

Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett to Marry

Kendra Wilkinson - Hank Baskett

Did you really think I was going to insert a photo of Hank Baskett?  Heh.   Kendra Wilkinson, one of the stars of the E channel’s reality series, “Girls Next Door”  has announced that she is going marry to Eagles wide receiver, Hank Baskett.  Personally, I would have thought she would be more attracted to a tight end.  Relax, I am just kidding.

The amply endowed Ms. Wilkinson served as one of Hugh Hefner’s 3 (yes 3) live in girlfriends on the show.   Word has it that the other 2 hotties are no longer with Hugh Hefner either.  Shed no tears for Hugh.  It is reported that twin 19 year olds have moved into the playboy mansion.  You have to love Hef! 

Kendra Wilkinson is probably the reason why Hank Baskett has only 19 receptions in the Eagles first 8 games.   Looking at the above photo, I can see why he would be, shall we say, distracted.   Marriage should take care of that problem.   Again, Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett to marry, date still to be determined.

***Update***

It has been announced that Baskett and Wilkinson will marry in June at the playboy mansion.  My respect for Hugh Hefner grows by the minute.

Ed Rendell – Obama Cabinet Pick

Obama Cabinet Pick

Now that the Obama transition team is in full swing,  it is rumored that Pennsylvania’s Governor, Ed Rendell, is in line as a possible Obama cabinet pick.    Specifically,  sources state that Ed Rendell is being considered as a possible Obama cabinent pick for  Secretary of Transportation or Energy.   While these types of rumors may give the “journalists” at the Philadelphia Inquirer or Daily News something to write about now that their candidate, Barack Obama, has been elected, it is impossible to imagine Ed Rendell being part of an Obama administration.

Phillies World Championship – Sports Illustrated Negative Cover

by MDefl

As a resident of Philadelphia or the greater metropolitan area, unless one has been in a coma or Obama induced stupor for the past month,  you have been celebrating the Phillies unexpected trek to the World Series championship.   For those of you who may not be aware of the pain suffered by Philadelphia’s sports fans, it had been 25 years since one of the professional sports teams in Philadelphia had won a world championship.   The definition of “professional” in this case includes only the major sports – baseball, football, basketball and hockey.   Sorry, as much as some people enjoy lacrosse and arena league football ( I am a big Soul fan myself), they just don’t qualify as major league sports. 

What has been our shining moment,  a time when the shackles of being labeled perennial losers have been discarded to the trash can of history,  Sports Illustrated decides to publish a cover on the World Series that is decidedly negative. 

In short, Sports Illustrated made a decision to air their grievances with major league baseball on the cover with a bright yellow banner that diminished the picture of the Phillies celebrating the cities long awaited championship.    While I agree with the sentiments expressed by the author of the article, Tom Verducci,  what factor(s) made Sports Illustrated determine that it was OK to list these concerns on the cover?   The negative cover from Sports Illustrated only serves to perpetuate the myth (yes, myth) of Philadelphia as “negadelphia” when in reality our fans have a deep knowledge of sports that is equaled by no other city.   Thanks to Sports Illustrated, our shining moment has now been diminished in the eyes of the rest of America.

Perhaps Sports Illustrated was affected by all of the negative ads during the election season and made a decision to stick with that them.  Regardless, a big thumbs down to Sports Illustrated for going negative with their cover.

McCain Versus Obama – Pennsylvania

by MDefl

If you happened upon this site, then I welcome you!   This will serve as the inaugural post for this blog.   If my handle, MDefl, looks familiar, then you have probably read my rantings at Right Pundits or in the comment threads at The Hedgehog Report.   The purpose of this blog will be simple and straightforward.  I will be commenting on anything and everything (that appeals to me) regarding Pennsylvania.   A large part of this blog will be focused on politics but I will not hesitate to deviate and discuss any other issue of the day. 

As I type this, it has been approximately 45 hours since it became apparent that Barack Obama won the election to be President of The United States.   As a Republican, I was less than thrilled.  However, I do understand why this is such an important event in our history given the racial strife that has existed for centuries in our country.    If Martin Luther King were alive today,  I hope he would be warmed by the fact that enough Americans judged Barack Obama by the content of his character for him to be elected to the most powerful position on the face of the earth.   The fact that his brand of politics and cult of personality are exactly what this country does not need will be discussed on another day. 

John McCain’s campaign spent an incredible amount of time and money in Pennsylvania.  For some reason, they seemed to believe that he had a chance to win.  How they came to that decision is unclear.   In the end, despite the monumental effort from John McCain‘s campaign,  Barack Obama bested John McCain by 11%, which represented an increase of 7.5% from John Kerry’s performance in 2004.  This is quite a feat when you consider how hated Bush was in the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs in 2004.  Let’s take a look at exactly what happened.