Our Favorite Comic Strips from the Sunday Washington Post: It's Shark Week

What does a shark, a goat and a deer have in common? Well, all three were featured in our 10 favorite comic strips from the Sunday, Oct. 27th edition of "The Washington Post."

Some of our favorite strips like "The Argyle Sweater" and "Reply All" missed the cut, while some that we don't normally enjoy as much, including the education-oriented strip "Mark Trail" made our top ten.

Here we go:

1, Sherman's Lagoon (Image One, the strip revolves around a shark named Sherman)

2. Foxtrot

3. Lio

4. Doonesbury

5. Dustin

6. Pearls Before Swine (Image Two, a goat is one of the main characters)

7. Knight Life

8. Brewster Rockit

9. Judge Parker

10. Mark Trail (Image 3, the strip from Oct. 27 revolved around how to avoid hit bambis)

Virtual Postcard of Turkey (in honor of Republic's Day): Burgaz Island, Istanbul

Since we were not online on Oct. 29th, we wanted to share this image of Burgaz Island, near Istanbul, it is one of the secret gems of the city. Oct. 29th was Republic's Day in Turkey. The Republic of Turkey was established on Oct. 29, 1923, by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Futbol Notebook: Two Red Cards for Standard Liege

It is very unusual for three cards to be issued in one game, but yesterday, in Europa League play, M.Carcela-Gonzales and his Standard Liege (a Belgian team) teammate Kanu, a Brazilian national, both got sent off. The winning team Salzburg (Austria) also got a red card; Salzburg won the game 2-1.

By pure chance, another team from Belgium (Genk) played another team from Austria (Rapid Vienna), that game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Here are some of the Europa scores from yesterday (a whopping 24 games were played in total):

Betis (Spain) 1 Guimares (Portugal) 0

Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) 3 Thun (Swiss) 0

Salzburg (Austria) 2 Standard Liege (Belgium) 1

Freiburg (Germany) 1 Estoril (Portugal) 1 (tie)

Genk (Belgium) 1 Rapid Vienna (Austria) 1 (tie)

PAOK (Greece) 3 M. Haifa (Israel) 2

For more scores, go to our sister blog:

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Futbol Notebook: Europa, Europa

It may seem hard to believe for people in Antwerp, Belgium, or Zagreb, Croatia, but soccer is gradually becoming more popular here in the United States. In fact, futbol has entered our pop culture as the late Naser Hejazi, the goalie for the 1978 Iranian World Cup team which played in Argentina, was mentioned in the last episode of "Homeland."

Since 24 games were played in the Europa League yesterday, we don't have much time for detail or analysis. But, we caught the tail-end of the Swansea-Kuban game. The English Premiere League team Swansea was winning 1-0 until the team's German goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel (pictured here) collided with a player for the Russian team Kuban in the (ouch!) 92nd minute of play. As a result, French national Djibril Cisse kicked in the penalty and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Here are some partial scores from Europe League play:

Lyon (France) 1 Rijeka (Croatia) 0

Swansea (England) 1 Kuban (Russia) 1 (tie)

Anzhi (Russia) 1 Tromso (Norway) 0

Waregem (Belgium) 1 Maribor (Slovenia) 3

Shanktar Karagandy (Kazakhstan) 2 AZ Alkmaar (Neth.) 1 (tie)

Apollon Limassol (Cyprus) 0 Lazio (Italy) 0 (tie)

For more results, check out our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time":

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Quote of the Day- Carlton Fisk

Since the baseball pennant races are in full swing (no pun intended) here in America, we thought we'd quip some famous baseball all-stars of yesterday.

Carlton Fisk, 65,a catcher,  played his entire long career for just two teams, a rarity today, the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox.

He is perhaps best known for hitting a 12th inning grand slam home-run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series which the Red Sox ultimately lost to the Cincinnati Reds, a team which also boasted an all-star catcher in Johnny Bench.

Here is Fisk's quote:

"It's not what you achieve, it's what you overcome. That's what defines your career."

http://www.carltonfisk.com

http://www.redsox.mlb.com

Hooray..........the Shutdown is Over

Park rangers, Washington DC-area taxi drivers and museum guards can rejoice, the federal government shutdown is over.

WRAL-TV out of Raleigh, NC, listed all the House members who voted for and against the House bill that ended the shutdown. Every Democrat in the House supported the measure, but a fair number of Republicans decided enough is enough as well.

In the Tarheel State, the three Republican congressional members who voted to cease the shutdown were Congs. Howard Coble, Robert Pettinger and Patrick McHenry.

The Republicans who towed the arch conservative party line were: Renee Ellmers, Virginia Foxx, Walter Jones, Richard Hudson, Mark Meadows and George Holding.

The Democratic members from North Carolina are: David Price, Mike McIntyre, Mel Watt and G.K. Butterfield.

Both the Great Smoky National Park and the Wright Brothers National Memorial will now be in full operation once again.

http://www.ncdp.org

http://www.ncgop.org

http://www.thehill.com

For a look at how Virginia Congressional members go to our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

DC Week (8 of 8): Afternoon Tweets__The Shutdown May End By Sunrise????

From what we gather, and we don't have PBS talk show hosts Gwen Ifill and Charlie Rose to verify this, the federal government shutdown may end by late tonight. We put a strong emphasis on the word MAY.

So, we decided to post tweets about this crucial issue du jour instead of posting an entry about the new play "Love in Afghanistan" being produced by Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. or the fact that Ford's Theatre can now perform its play "The Laramie Project" at the Ford's Theatre instead of an alternate venue.

But, we are hoping to find some time for those entries by the weekend, in the mean time, here are the links:

http://www.arenastage.org/

http://www.fordstheatre.org/



We also learned today that the term 'tea bag' is a dirty slang word, we won't say what it means, but you can find out what it means in the Urban Dictionary:.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/

Here are the tweets which mention New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (pictured top) and right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh (pictured bottom):

1. David Wolman (with "Wired): I guess bipartisan agreement is now what House Republicans say they've kneeled before Zod." (this is an apparent reference to the antagonist in "Superman II.")

2. The Fix: RT Omar Villa France_ "I'm curious to know who gets the Worst Week in Washington crown this week. And it's only Wednesday."

3. The Onion: "Blood-soaked Mayor Michael Bloomberg Announces Homelessness No Longer a Problem in New York City." ("The Onion" is a faux news publication)

4. Slate: "Ted Cruz is now basically the Sarah Palin of the Senate."

5. Mark Harris ("Entertainment Weekly"): "I assume the next step for the Tea Party is to start referring to the shutdown on 'The Noble Cause' and staging cosplay repleacements." (Cosplay is a type of Halloween costume).

6. Cong. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.): "Should have happened weeks ago. Sen. Reid announces deal to debt limit; reopen government."

7. Cong. Steve Pearce (R-Pa.): "Former White House official calls Obamacare roll-out 'excruciatingly embarrassing.'"

8. Politico: "Rush Limbaugh says GOP created 'one of the greatest political disasters I've seen in my life."

http://www.theonion.com

http://www.politico.com

DC Week (7 of 8): Meet the Ambassadors

Wow! I'm amazed that Javier the Intern found this spinning globe for us!

Today, we are going to list 20 ambassadors representing their respective nations in Washington, D.C. (between our two blogs) We must apologize to the likes of Iraqi ambassador Faiy Lukman and Finnish ambassador Ritav Koukku-Ronde for not finding a slot for them.

And, on our sister blog, we will name ten other ten ambassadors, including Dutch ambassador Rudolf Bekink, who we mentioned on this blog last week.

On our sister blog, we also jokingly suggested that Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va) meet with Turkish ambassador Namik Tan (pictured top) for lunch at Ezme, a Turkish restaurant in Washington, D.C. This is the link for that particular entry:
http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2013/10/dc-week-teaser-perhaps-cong-morgan.html

http://ezmedc.com/

The joke was that with a government shutdown, perhaps members of Congress could engage in some activities they never can while working on Capitol Hill. But, as it turns, both the House and Senate members are burning the proverbial midnight oil.

The ambassador pictured below is Jan Mattysen, the Belgian ambassador to the United States. We had a coin flip conducted by Javier the Intern and as a result we chose him over Bulgarian ambassador Elena Poptodorova for the below image.

For the daily goings-on in the diplomat circles, we highly recommend "The Washington Diplomat." http://www.washdiplomat.com/

And we learned from The Washingtonian magazine several months ago that Roble Olhaye of the northwest African country of Djibouti is the longest serving diplomat in the nation's capital.

Here is the list, we have put the serve they started their Washington missions in parantheses:

1. Turkey, Namik Tan, (2010)

2. Slovenia, Bozo Cerar (2013)

3. Israel, Michael Oren, (2009): Oren was actually born in New York.

4. Czech Rep., Petr Gandalovic (2005)

5. Djibouti, Roble Olhaye, (1988)

6. Belgium, Jan Matthysen (2009)

7. Bulgaria, Elena Poptodorva (2010)

8. Egypt, Mohamed M. Tawfik (2012)

9. Azerbaijan, Elin Suleymanov (2006)

10. Mexico, Eduardo Medina-Mora (2007)

http://vasington.be.mfa.gov.tr/

http://www.azembassy.us/

http://74.81.82.58/~bulgaria/

http://www.diplobel.us/

DC Week (6 of 8): Cong. Reps from Blue States

Today, Cong. Chris Van Hollen (pictured top) made headlines when he was informed by Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who was presiding in the speaker's chair, that Democrats in the House could not introduce legislation to end the government shutdown. The video of the spat went viral, and the incident was subject of stories in both "The Salt Lake Tribune" and "The Baltimore Sun."

Since the government shutdown has just concluded the 15th day of deadlock, we thought we'd post two boxers as the middle image.

The first image is of Cong. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) who should be mistaken for ventriloquist comedian Jeff Dunham. While the House has a reputation for being a group of grumpy old men, Denham is only 46 years and there are two House members on this list who are younger than him.

Denham is also one of only 17 House members (from both parties) who lives in a competitive district, according to "The San Francisco Chronicle."

Here are 10 House members from Blue states:


1. Chris Von Hollen (D-Md.), fifth dist., 54, budget committee

2. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), 48, 23rd  district, minority whip; financial services

3. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), 35, 15th dist., energy and commerce; foreign affairs

4. Pete Welch (D-Vt.), 66, energy and commerce

5. Jim Langevin (D-R.I), 49, 2nd dist., Armed services

6. Pete King (R-NY), 69, 2nd dist., Financial services; foreign affairs

7. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) 46, 9th dist., agriculture; transportation and infrastructure

8. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.), 56, 5th dist., science, space and technology; transportation and infrastructure

9.Niki Tsongas, (D-Mass.), 67, 3rd dist., Armed Services; Natural Resources

10. Michael Grimm (R-NY), 43, 11th   dist., Financial Services


http://www.baltimoresun.com/

http://www.sltrib.com/

http://denham.house.gov/

http://www.sfgate.com/news/

http://vanhollen.house.gov/

http://www.rollcall.com

DC Week (5 of 8): Ten Swing State Congress Reps

Cong. G.K Butterfield (D-NC; pictured top) is one of only four Democrats representing North Carolina in the House as fellow Democrat Brad Miller got gerrymandered out of office.

Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va) and Cong. Mike Coffman (R-Col.; pictured bottom) are among the relatively new members of the House. Both have made provocative statements about the government shutdown which appear to be tailored to the Tea Party. Griffith was cited today by "Mother Jones," a liberal publication, for stating that it might be better for America in the long run if America went into default.

The oldest person on this list is Cong. John Dingell (D-Mich.) who at age 87 is the oldest member of the House. The youngest member of this list is Cong. Sam Graves (R-Missouri).

Here is the list:

1. Cong. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) 1st District. Age 66

2. Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va). 9th District. Age 55

3. Cong. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.). 6th District. Age 58

4. Cong. John Dingell (D-Mich.) 12th district. Age 87

5. Cong. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) 3rd Dist. Age 63

6. Cong. Sam Graves (R-Missouri). 6th District. Age 49

7. Cong. Ann Kuser (D-NH). 2nd dist. Age 57

8. Cong. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) 5th Dist. Age 50. (Ellison is the first and only Muslim in the House).

9. Cong. Steve Pearce (R-N.Mex.) 2nd dist. Age 66

10. Cong. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) 1st dist. Age 58.


http://thehill.com/

http://www.motherjones.com/

http://www.rollcall.com

http://www.c-span.org

DC Week (4 of 8): A Quote from SCOTUS Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Today, we have a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 80, who is one of the Supreme Court's more progressive justices. She recently made headlines by presiding over a gay wedding at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Ginsburg was also profiled for the cover story of "The Washington Post Magazine" in the Oct. 6th issue. The article was written by Robert Barnes. Reading it is on our 20 things to do list.

Before we get to Ginsburg's quote, I want to wish our readers in other parts of the world "Good Morning." It is now 8:30 a.m. (08:30) in Istanbul and Athens while it is almost 9:30 a.m. (09:30) in Dubai.

Here is Ginsburg's quote pertaining to the abortion debate:

"The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality."

For a quote from one of the more, if not the most, right-wing SCOTUS member, check out a quote from Clarence Thomas (not an endorsement), one our sister blog: http://www.politicscultureanotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com

DC Week (3 of 8): The Onion's Take on Congress

The images here are of: 1) Cong. Howard Coble (R-NC), who at 82 is one of the oldest members of the House though he is a few years younger than Cong. John Dingell (D-Mich.; born in 1926); 2) A poster for "D.C. Cab" which starred cult acting sensation Mister T, who is now 61! and 3) Den. Mark Warner (D-Va), who at age 58 is three years younger than Mister T.

Warner, along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), is in a group of party centrists trying to resolve the government shut down. which is actually causing economic problems for DC-Metro area cabbies.

Here are the tweets, concerning not only the federal shut down, but also other things going on in Washington, DC:

1) Howard Coble: "14 Democrats agree U.S. has a spending and debt program."

2) Washington Diplomat: "Embassy warns Americans in Egypt that weekend protest could turn violent."

3) Jonathan Chait (a liberal journalist with "New York" magazine): "Once Republicans realized shutting down the government wouldn't stop Obamacare, they already printed up the t-shrts."

4) Roll Call: "Susan Collins Stands Behind Plan as Leaders Attempt Larger Deals."

5) Arizona Democratic Party: "It's time we let the tea party know the future of our country is not a game! #EndtheShutdown."

6) "The Onion" (a satirical news publication): "Psychiatrists Deeply Concerned for 5% of Americans Who Approve of Congress."



http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://www.theonion.com

 http://www.rollcall.com/

http://nymag.com/

http://azdem.org/

http://coble.house.gov/welcome/

http://www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/

DC Week (2 of 8): Tweets About the Nation's Capital and the Government Shutdown

With images of 1) Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah); 2) Mabry Mill, near Roanoke, Va., which has been closed due to the federal government shutdown; and 3) Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), we begin our first of two entries in this eight-entry series geared towards Washington, D.C.

"The Roanoke Times" reported that Mabry Mill, which is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway, could be reopen. Today, President Barack Obama said that states could re-open national parks with state funds. As a result, The Statue of Liberty, The Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore are likely to re-open.

Cong. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) is considered to be the most conservative Democrat in the House, while Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is considered to be the most progressive Republican in the Senate. Both are reportedly working diligently to find the proverbial common ground to restart the federal government, which is now in Day 10 of a shutdown.

Here are the tweets:

1) Cong. Jim Matheson: "Glad Utah National Parks are open. Too bad we can't vote on a clean CR (Continuing Resolution) to operate rest of the government."

2) National Review (a conservative magazine): "Barack Obama can close our parks, but he's never block American enterprise."

3) The Hill: "Chris Christie (New Jersey's Republican governor): If I was in the Senate right now, I'd kill myself."

4) Embassy of Greece: "The Embassy and Consulate will be closed on Monday. Happy #ColumbusDay weekend."

5) Politico: "New York is donating $369,300 to have park service employees reopen the Statue of Liberty."

6) Bruce Bartlett (a Republican political aide): "David Frum: Will the Republican Moderates Please Stand Up."

http://matheson.house.gov/

http://www.roanoke.com/

http://thehill.com/

http://www.politico.com/

http://www.collins.senate.gov/public/

http://www.nationalreview.com/

DC Week (1 of 8): A Quote from George Washington

We start DC Week with a simple entry featuring a quote from America's first president George Washington. Of course, thanks to the likes of Cong. Eric Cantor (R-Va., forgive the editorial commentary), the Washington Memorial is closed as are all national parks in Washington, DC, and around the nation.

One fiasco that the shut down caused was the scheduled cross-country journey of a Tyrannosaurs Rex skeleton belonging to a 67 million-year-old dinosaur, whose name is Wankel T-Rex, from Montana to the nation's capital where it was to be displayed at the Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History.

Oh well................

As for Washington, his face is on our one dollar bills (I suppose those of you in El Salvador, Moldova and  Zimbabwe already knew that) and if one is to find a one-dollar bill at the Beach Bum Café in Honolulu, Hawaii, you can see where it originated_ perhaps it originated at a gas station in Passaic, NJ.

Here is our quote from the first prez:

"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."

Oh, and we should add that there is a high school in Danville, Va., named for GW.

http://www.gwmemorial.org

http://www.mountvernon.org

http://www.wheresgeorge.com

http://www.beachbumcafe.com

http://www.danville-va.gov/

The Show Must Go On: Ford's Theatre Handles Fiasco Due to Federal Govt Shutdown

Humorist and author Sarah Vowell said in her book "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" (if our memory is right on that) that: "No one goes to the Lincoln Theatre to see the play." Her comments are in reference to the fact that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at the theatre.

But, as it turns out, many patron attend Ford's Theatre to see the play. Currently, the stage company, which is private, is performing "The Laramie Project," a 2000 play about the murder of a gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard which occurred in 1998.

At first, Ford's Theatre staff members thought the play would go on at the Ford's Theatre. However, they were informed that the play would have to be performed elsewhere as the Ford's Theatre not only could not be open for the daily tours, but at night, for the stage play production as well.

As a result, Ford's Theatre is now performing a play at somewhere else besides the Ford's Theatre.

The alternate venue for the play is the First Congregational United Church of Christ, located near Ford's Theatre.

Tonight's performance of the production is free to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Starting tomorrow night, tickets for the play will be $25, but previous ticket-holders for the Ford's production can simply swap in tickets to see the show.

The play was also performed by the University of Mississippi where homophobic hecklers attempted to disrupt the production of "The Laramie Project." Read about it here at our sister blog (will be available after 3:00 p.m., eastern time): http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

SIDEBAR: It was certainly a bad week in Washington, DC, for most folks, but for the George Washington University's women's volleyball leaving town was beneficial. The Colonials went up to Kingston, Rhode Island, to defeat the University of Rhode Island 3-2 in a five-set match over the weekend.

Freshman Chidima Osuchukwu had 15 kills, while senior Rachael Goss added 11 kills.

Links:

http://www.laramieproject.org

http://www.fordstheatre.org

http://www.gwsports.com/sports/w-volley/

DC Week Teaser (2 of 2): No Pandas, No Problem

Yes, talking heads are bickering on CNN with Anderson Cooper acting as a pro-wrestling referee as we speak, and we imagine that over on Fox News Sean Hannity is blaming his jock itch on President Barack Obama (we don't go there that often, but we couldn't resist!).

On Thursday, we will start a week-long tribute to Washington, DC, the nation's capital, which many Tea Partiers who profess patriotism ironically seemingly hate with a great passion. For those of you in Uzbekistan, there is a federal government shutdown in the United States, which is affecting Washington, D.C., as well as national parks in such red states as Wyoming, Arizona and Utah.

The images pictured above are of: 1) Alex Ovechkin, the star player of the Washington Capitals (ironically, a Russian is the star player for the Caps!); 2) a panda..........currently the National Zoo which had been running a pandacam for a baby panda cub is closed due to the shut down; 3) Cong. Walter Jones (R-NC; he coined the term Freedom fries).

http://washington.org/

http://capitals.nhl.com/

http://jones.house.gov/ (Not an endorsement)

Teaser for DC Week (1 of 2): Meet the Dutch Ambassador

On Thursday, we will begin a one-week, eight entry series entitled "DC Week" (We chose not to name it "Washington Week" because we don't want Gwen Ifill, our favorite television political/government reporter, who host a PBS called "Washington Week" to sue us for $2.3 million).

We will feature all sorts of fun things, which we aren't quite ready to disclose yet, and we are also weary of the fact that Edward Snowden may have too much time on his hands, and in his spare, he may opt to surf the internet, where he could come across this blog.

The reason for this series is to support our nation's capital during a time of great economic turmoil for the city as the federal government, which oversees the Smithsonian Institute, is closed for business as is the city's historic Ford's Theatre.*

In case you are wondering about the images, they are of: 1) Cong. Gerry Connolly (D-Va., who represents the northern Virginia suburbs of DC); 2) The Lincoln Memorial (which is alas closed for business due to the shut down) ; and Ambassador Rudolf Bekink (pictured with President Barack Obama) who is the Dutch ambassador to the United States.

*- But, the current production of Ford's Theatre's play "The Laramie Project" may continue at another location in DC; we hope to have that info to you the blog-reader in Latvia by tomorrow.


http://connolly.house.gov/

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/

http://www.fordstheatre.org/

http://dc.the-netherlands.org/

http://www.washdiplomat.com/

http://washington.org/

Sports Desk_ Weekend Soocer Results from Obscure Countries Around the World

Today, we were debating if we wanted to post up a political entry making fun of Congressional Republicans, such as our pal Cong. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah, we actually don't know him), but then we also thought a UEFA Champions League update, but then we thought: "Well, everyone in Europe knows the scores and few people here in America care."

So, we decided to post scores from four relatively obscure countries, which don't make the ESPN FC highlights. Here, we will give partial scores from Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia. On our other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time": http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com we shall provide partial scores from weekend play in Azerbaijan and Serbia.

As always, we like to salute soccer's bad boys, or players who got sent off with red cards, and this week's poster men are Macedonian international Vanco Trajanov who is also the captain for C. Burgas and Saudi Arabian international Mishel Al-Agmi who plays for Al Shoalah FC.

Here we go:

Bulgaria

Beroe 2 Litex Lovech 3

N.Burgas 0 Lok. Sofia 2

CSKA Sofia 3 C. Burgas 0

Lok. Sofia 1 Ludogorets 2

Tables:

1.Ludogorets

2. Litex Lovech

3. Botev Plovdiv

Saudi Arabia (very confusing, as all teams start with Al):

Al-Ittihad FC 2 Al-Taawan 1

Najron 1 Al-Ettifaq 0

Al-Nasr 2 Ah-Shoaloah 0

Al Nadha 1 Al Ahli 5

League Tables

1. Al-Hilal

2. Al-Nasr

3. Al Ahli FC

http://bulgariatravel.org/

http://www.air.bg/en/

http://74.81.82.58/~bulgaria/

http://www.saudiembassy.net/

Sports Desk: College Volleyball Notebook...........A Good week for Tarheels and Highlanders

There were an unholy number of women's college volleyball games played over the weekend, as unlike some college sports, such as gymnastics and lacrosse, virtually every school in the country seems to have a women's volleyball, even The Citadel, a military institution in Charleston, SC, which only let women become students in recent years.

Let's start with the University of North Carolina Tarheels, as the team swept Notre Dame, a new ACC member, for a second time this year. This particular match being at home in Chapel Hill, NC.

Jovana Bjelica (pictured top), a graduate student from Belgrade, Serbia, who formerly played for Florida International University, had 16 kills, five digs and four service aces in the win over the Fighting Irish.

For her efforts in that game, as well as a win over North Carolina State earlier in the week, Bjelica was named ACC Player of the Week. The 'Heels are now 13-0, and ranked #11 in the country.

The other UNC_ this being the University of Northern Colorado Bears in Greeley, Colo._ had a tough bout with Weber State which ended in a 3-2 affair that was won by the school from Utah. But, Kendra Cunnigham, a junior from Eaton, Colo,, had 20 kills for the Bears.

And, Rachel Wiechecki, a junior from Wilmington, Del., had 14 kills and 20 digs to help Radford University in Radford, Va, your's truly'a alma mater, to a straight set win over arch rival Liberty. It was a home game for the Highlanders, and the team's first win over the Flames in several years. The Highlanders also won tonight over North Carolina Central 3-2 in Durham, NC.

Here are 15 weekend women's college volleyball games and their results:


Harvard 3 Darthmouth 0

UNC-Asheville 3 Gardner-Webb 1

Georgia 3 LSU 2

Virginia Tech 3 Wake Forest 1

*UNC 3 Notre Dame 0

JMU 3 William and Mary 2

Colorado 3 UCLA 2

Princeton 3 Penn 2

Duke 3 UVA 0

Ohio State 3 Michigan 1

*Weber State 3 Northern Colorado 2

Miami (Fl) 3 Boston College 2

Kentucky 3 Alabama 1

Long Beach St. 3 UC-Santa Barbara 2

*Radford 3 Liberty 0

*-Featured games

Incidentally, the middle image is a replica of the volleyball that was a companion to Tom Hanks in the film "Castaway."


http://www.ruhighlanders.com/index.aspx?path=wvball&tab=1

http://www.goheels.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&SPID=12977&SPSID=668175&SITE=UNC&DB_OEM_ID=3350

http://uncbears.com/sports/wvball/index

http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com