Pre-Convention Tweets from Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC

One ironic thing we found out while putting this together is that the Carolina Panthers, the football team for Charlotte, NC, the city hosting the Democratic National Convention (DNC) will be playing their first game on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Tampa, Fla., is the city that hosted the Republican National Convention, which ended with Mitt Romney's platform speech on Thursday night.

But, today, we are posting tweets from earlier this afternoon regarding the DNC in Charlotte. The images above are of: 1) James Taylor, the folk/adult contemporary singer will be performing at the DNC on Thursday; Taylor is a North Carolina native. 2) The donkey is the traditional mascot of the Democratic Party and 3) a cheerleader for the Carolina Panthers.

Here are the tweets:

1. @DavidCornDC (David Corn, a liberal journalist who works for "Mother Jones"): Already time for another convention. Anyone have any suggestions what to do in Charlotte tonight?

2. @BuzzFeedAndrew (Andrew Laczynski): Occupy Protestors of DNC Banks got bailed out. Charlotte got sold out. Remind me again what stadium the DNC is in.

3. @karentravers (Karen Travers): 10 copies of Sunday NY Times at 7-11 near my Charlotte airport hotel. I can't even find it in Northwest DC sometimes! Well done Queen City!

4. @TheClothier (William Wilson): 90% of the population of Uptown Charlotte are police officers. I've never felt so safe, yet so trapped.

5. @ChuckTodd (Chuck Todd, a White House correspondent for NBC News): In place on floor of Charlotte Convention, will be doing a quick report on gender battleground state politics for @meethepress.

6. @debprice50 (Deb Price, a right-wing Tea Party activist): Obama campaign says it will fill football stadium for convention finale....yeah...right.

7. @LOLGOP (A satirical pro-Democrat tweeter): Silence has asked Mitt Romney to stop using its stuff at his rallies.

http://www.demconvention.com

http://www.demconvetnion.com/blog/

http://www.ncdp.org

http://www.motherjones.com

http://www.nbcnews.com

http://www.panthers.com

My Top Ten Favorite NFL Teams

The NFL season is gradually winding down as the Indianapolis Colts (13-0) and the New Orleans Saints both remained undefeated today.

To be honest, I haven't watched much pro football in YEARS, but as it is the national obsession here in the United States (and perhaps Canada) and there is nothing open in my zip code in North Carolina on Sundays except some fast food joints and gas stations, it was perhaps inevitable that I would lay on the couch hours after "Meet the Press" aired and watch some meaningless game as I did last week when I watched the Carolina Panthers beat the Tamp Bay Buccaneers 16-6.

Here is a rundown of some of the games that were played today:

New Orleans 26
Atlanta 23

Indianapolis 28
Denver 16

Baltimore 48
Detroit 3

Minnesota 30
Cincy 10

Green Bay 21
Chicago 14

New York Jets 26
Tampa Bay 3

New England 20
Carolina 10

Washington 34
Oakland 13

And, here are my top ten favorite teams. The Chicago Bears were my favorite team as a kid starting at the age of nine. Before that, when I was seven, I rooted for the Dallas Cowboys but I quickly got sick of them and they are not even on my top ten favorite teams list here. And, given their QB's relationship with pop singers, I am not about to jump on their bandwagon right now.

But, in recent years, I have taken a liking to the Baltimore Ravens which perhaps because I am an English teacher (the team's nickname is a reference to the Edgar A. Poe poem "The Raven") that is most appropriate.

Here are ten favorite teams in the NFL:

1. Baltimore Ravens (pictured)
2. Chicago Bears
3. Carolina Panthers (pictured)
4. New York Jets
5. Cincy Bengals
6. New York Giants
7. New Orleans Saints
8. Minnesota Vikings
9. Denver Broncos (pictured)
10. Washington Redskins

The next nationally televised game will be on ESPN Monday night. The game is between the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco '49ers. I take it Joe Montana is no longer the niners' starting QB!