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

Quote of the Day/Week- Bart Starr

Today, we go 'old school' as we conclude our month-long quotes from Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks with a quip from Green Bay Packers great Bart Starr, 78, who guided his team to victories in Super Bowl I in 1967 (35-10 over Kansas City Chiefs) and Super Bowl II in 1968 (33-14 over Oakland Raiders).

Starr was also a star quarterback at the University of Alabama, and we are quoting his fellow Crimson Tide great Joe Namath on our other blog, "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time" today.

Here is Starr's quote:

"Athletic competition clearly defines the unique power of our attitude."

SIDEBAR: Yesterday, we mentioned how several Big South Conference schools fared in the annual college basketball bracket busters.

And, jut last night, High Point University Panthers guard Nick Barbour (senior, Danville, Va.) set the school's men's basketball scoring record by recording 44 points against the visitors from Campbell University, in eastern North Carolina.

The school which is conversely located in High Point, NC, won the game by a 98-60 margin. The Panthers finish the regular season (12-14, 8-10 Big South) and await their first-round opponent in the Big South Tournament.

Quote of the Day/Week- Peyton Manning

Since it is highly possible that current Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who turns 36 on March 24th, could be playing for another team, perhaps the Washington Redskins, we will just use the image of the team's helmet. The Colts originally played in Baltimore, so technically Manning lead the team to its second Super Bowl win back in 2007 (the team won its first Super Bowl as the Baltimore Colts in the early 1970s).

For those who have not paid attention to the American sports media, which at times seems as heated as political talk (and this is an election year), there are many reports suggesting that there is tension between Manning and Colts' owner Jim Irsay.

Manning has a large salary and the Colts are likely to draft star quarterback Andrew Luck from Stanford, who finished second for the Heisman Trophy.

To make things more annoying for Manning, who played college football for Tennessee, is that his younger brother Eli Manning just won a second Super Bowl for the New York Giants some ten days ago.

But, nevertheless, Peyton Manning, who lost out a chance to win a second Super Bowl for himself when the Colts lost Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010, to the New Orleans Saints, remains a fixture in the sports world domestically.

And, here is one of his most quipped quotes:

"Pressure is something you feel when you have no idea what the hell you are doing."

SIDEBAR: A blogger running for president? Well, it is not happening here in the United States though Republican libertarian candidate Ron Paul, a sitting member of Congress representing his district in Texas, is arguably the most successful American fringe political candidate of all time. In fact, he even has the endorsement of kitsch music superstar Barry Manilow.

But, in Russia, where Vladamir Putin, is the odds on favorite to win back the presidency in Moscow, he faces a challenge from the right (?!) as the BBC is reporting that Alexie Navalny is trying to become a 'conservative populist.'

We suggest that he not ask current American Republican candidate Newt Gingrich, currently running a distant third in the polls (just ahead of Ron Paul), for advice.

Virtual Postcard from South Carolina

At the moment, I am not actually in South Carolina, but I was over the weekend. This image, for those of you logging from Singapore today (and, yes, I saw someone from that city nation was checking us out!), this image is from the Peach water tower in Gaffney, SC, which motorists can see as they drive on the interstate.

There is an event called the South Carolina Peach Festival in Gaffney every year.

A strange thing happend when I was in Charlotte, NC, for a sidetrip. A panhandler with a walking stick who had just given me directions to a Starbucks (keep in mind, this was when the Carolina Panthers were playing a home football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a game which the Panthers won 16-10, and there were lots of folks flooding the downtown area) asked me for a dollar so 'he could buy a cup of coffee.'

Well, about five minutes later, I saw him at that same Starbucks with a cup of coffee. A part of me felt like I was scammed since coffee at Starbucks is more expensive than most places, but another part of me said: "Well, he said he wanted a cup of coffee."

SIDENOTE: I was actually going to take a week-long hiatus from the blog, but ultimately it is too much like going a long time without making fun of Republicans (especially Rick Perry, Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann) or some iced vanilla coffee from Starbucks. In short, all of us, to a degree, have our vices!

Speaking of Ron Paul, I gather the state of Montana has a substantially high number of UFO sightings, so perhaps he is on his way there as we speak to meet up with his fellow little green men.

Silly Picture to Fill Space- Cleveland Browns Fans

We normally post the Silly Picture to Fill Space on Tuesdays, but we were preoccupied with many, many other things two days ago.

So, today we are showcasing Cleveland Browns fans, who hang out in a place called The Dawg Pound. The original team scandolously left for Oriole Town and became the Baltimore Ravens in 1995.

But, the new Cleveland Browns resurfaced in 1999. The current team is 0-3 this season, but they play a home game against their arch rival the Cincy Bengals on Sunday. According to the Browns' official web site, there are three days and 45 minutes remaining until kick-off. Perhaps, someone will watch the game via satellite at the American embassy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan!

Famous Browns' players from the original team include quarterbacks Bernie Kosar and Brian Sipe.

SIDEBAR: One of our "High Schools of the Week" is East Side High School in Youngstown, Ohio. We have no idea if Browns legend Bernie Kosar actually played for the school, which closed in 1998, but reopened in 2007, but he is from the industrial city in northeast Ohio. The team mascot for East High School is the Panthers.

We're Rooting for the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl

I may have dubiously picked the New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings to win their conference title games this weekened (at least, the Vikes lost in OT), but we are rooting for Drew Brees (pictured here) and the New Orleans Saints as they face the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl on Feb.7.

I know my friend Brian Clarey, managing editor of "Yes Weekly!" newspaper in Greensboro, NC, is one of the few people who was a Saints fan before the season started!

This will be the very first time that the Saints have ever played in the Super Bowl. Somehow I don't expect the city's other pro sports franchise (the struggling New Orleans Hornets in the NBA) will be reaching such heights anytime soon!

My NFL Picks for this Weekend

Last week, I actually picked all four NFL playoff games correctly. This is amazing since up until this year I had hardly watched football in years! In fact, I used to say that I was the only one in my small North Carolina town who didn't go to church on Sunday or watch the Carolina Panthers game.

But, perhaps as my friend Chris Knight I should go ahead and call myself Tilly the Turk (my take on Jimmy the Greek; I am half-Turkish).

So, here are my picks for this week- don't take these with you to Las Vegas:

Baltimore Ravens* over Indy Colts

San Diego Chargers over the NY Jets

Minnesota Vikings over Dallas Cowboys

New Orleans Saints over Arizona Cardinals

*-my favorite team, this is also the only upset I'm picking.

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!

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Dolphin Photo

I don't regularly watch football, but I heard that the Miami Dolphins lost to the San Diego Charagers by a 23-13 count on Sunday. Yeah, I know made your day.