Thirsty Turtle: The End of an Era

With the recent stabbings that occurred at the Thirsty Turtle in College Park, rumors are swirling that the polarizing bar will be shut down for serving alcohol to minors. The Turtle has long been known as the easiest spot to utilize your fake I.D. in the region (I've always said that if a girl had a pulse, she could show the bouncer a baseball card and he'd let her in.) The bar is generally packed on Thurs-Sat nights, but also on their $2 pitcher night on Tuesdays and has a reputation for being a "freshman bar" as well as a place to meet women of "ill repute" whom one could take home with little to no effort.

Many in College Park, however, are completely oblivious to the overt racism that goes on at this establishment. Being a person with a diverse set of friends and, as has been on display in this blog for years, a keen sense of racial relations, I was quick to notice the way the bar treats it's non-white patrons. For instance, the bar on most nights has a policy that you must be a student at the University of Maryland to gain entrance, however, white people are never asked to show student I.D.'s while, specifically black and latino people are. I have seen on a number of occasions, droves of white people - most of whom were clearly underage - enter the bar with no hassle at all, while a black friend of mine was given trouble beyond belief at the door. On one particular night, a black friend of mine who attends another University had gained entrance earlier in the night, paid his $5 cover, and shown a legitimate I.D. to get in. When he returned a half hour after leaving the bar, he was told he would not be able to re-enter because he was not a student. No refund was given. He was told that if he did not leave, they would call the police. On another, even more egregiously racist occasion, I witnessed two UMD students in line at the same time, one a white student, one a latino student. Both wearing white t-shirts. The white student showed both forms of I.D. and was let in. The latino student does the same, but was told he may not enter due to a policy they have wherein which "no white T's are allowed".

So, while even the staunchest Turtle-goers would concede there is a certain "douche-factor" to the place, they can write that off as a sort of charm. The racist practices, though, can not be written off. It amazes me how few people are even aware of this, but that really just goes to show how most people are generally only concerned with themselves and their own trivial life-dramas. I'd also like to point out that I don't blame the bouncers for this, because I am positive that they were trained to do exactly that. I personally would never work a job that would require such practices, but, I'm not going to knock a guy for making a buck. This clearly came from management, and management is now getting exactly what they deserve. So sure, I feel bad for the people who made their living at that bar, the people who got enjoyment out of going there every weekend, etc. but am I outraged or even slightly bothered by the place getting closed? No chance. Good riddance, I say.

Still on iTunes

If you're tired of going through zShare to download the episodes of 2 Guys 1 Mac, we are also on iTunes. All you've gotta do is click on the "Subscribe in iTunes" link on the upper right hand corner of the blog. Or, simply search "2 guys 1 mac", "imjustlikemusiq", etc. in the iTunes store and you will find us. Thanks a lot, I hope you're enjoying our new project.

2 Guys 1 Mac - Midnight Episode

What Happened to College Park? Harry Potter Hotties, Chu's Clues, and much more. Enjoy it!

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/5/3/1044633//Episode 2 - Midnight Show.mp3

2 Guys 1 Mac - Episode 1

Our first podcast was recorded last night, it's a lot like the old show. I hope you enjoy it:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/5/3/1044633//Episode 1.mp3

Devastating Hits

With news that the NFL will now levy suspensions against players who distribute "devastating hits" or "head hunt", we are entering a dangerous territory for fans and players alike. The integrity of the game is really coming into question. I appreciate that the NFL is looking out for the players and trying to limit concussions, but the league is coming to a crossroad. If the league continues to over-protect the players, though, defenses are going to become helpless. As a Redskins fan, the team is developing a reputation of hurting players, with clean, but potentially "devastating" hits. If a key contributor, be it Landry, Fletcher, Alexander, or whoever is suspended for making a big hit, I will strongly consider protesting the league. The players these days are so big, so strong, and so fast that when we see these collisions in slow-motion, of course it's going to look like they're "head hunting", but from the perspective of the player, they are trying to make a play to help their team win. For the most part, players are trying to make clean, hard hits. Sure, I feel terrible for DeSean Jackson, he is a very small guy in comparison to the rest of the league, and he got absolutely blown up. But, listen, the players know the risks of the game. If you don't want to get hit, then don't put the pads on. Nobody is forcing these players to suit up on Sundays. There is no way to avoid bad injuries in the league, and if you force these defensive backs to let up, then wide receivers are going to float across the middle of the defense with no fear and shred everyone.

A Post about the Sports Junkies and The Redskins

Could this be more of an inside-post? Anyway, there are about 8 people on the planet who would find this compelling, and none of them probably read this blog. Nonetheless, I present to you: -- Why The Junks Are Clueless --

Lets face it, when you want a sophisticated, analytical, intelligent debate/conversation about sports the Junks aren't the best option. They surely don't know the in's and out's of sabermetrics in baseball, or the X's and O's of football. In basketball they rely solely on the sniff test and what Tim Legler says. They're just "Joe the Fan" and thats it, we all enjoy the show for the zings and the inside jokes, but when they talk sports all day their ignorance really shines through. They even market themselves that way, as Lurch says on the MASN spot "we drink beer and watch sports on TV (if we're not asleep by the end of the 2nd quarter)". Nonetheless, they do have the power of the microphone and they have really infuriated me this week with their analysis of the Skins victory along with the Moss/Welker debate.

Lurch, how many "if's, shoulda's, coulda's, woulda's, and but's" are you going to throw out about the Philly game? Sure, I get it, you were making your prediction based on the knowledge that Vick would play 4 quarters. Are you going to tell me that you don't take into consideration the fact that Vick is a running quarterback with a history of injury against one of the hardest hitting secondaries in the NFL? That's your own lack of insightful fore-thinking. Vick didn't get hurt falling off the team plane, the Redskins KNOCKED HIM OUT of the game. You keep saying "if Vick would have played, it would have been a different game". (Yet, when it is brought up that if Santana were in the Patriots offense, Lurch quickly says that he "hates when people use that 'what if' argument". So what is it? What-if's are allowed when they benefit your argument but not when they contradict it?). Also, use your brain Lurch, the Redskins shot out the gate with a TD, another TD, and then a drive that went to the 4yd line but ended in a FG due to penalties and Armstrong stumbling out of bounds. With that heavy lead and Kolb in at QB, the gameplan offensively completely changes. We intentionally went into a running box and tried to milk the game away. Boswell made a great point about McNabb being conservative throughout his career when he has a large lead. The strategy paid off. If Vick were in and the game were closer, maybe Philly would have won, but I can assure you that there wouldn't have been as many run-run-run-punt drives.

EB, you are making me sick this week. After one bad loss you completely turned on the team. Don't you dare jump on the bandwagon when we beat Green Bay and improve to 3-2. Don't you dare. When a team comes off a heartbreaking emotional overtime loss, on the road, in a DEAD stadium against a dead franchise, a letdown is almost inevitable. Its not excusable. But, it happened, and over the course of a 16 game season all good teams have bad losses. The Redskins aren't the Colts of last year, we aren't going to breeze through the season, but we have a good team and we're going to have good wins and bad losses. The season is going to come down to the divisional games and with a 2-0 start you have to feel good about your chances. We are a blocked FG away from 3-1. That's the reality of the situation. And, for those of you who say, you are a holding call away from 1-3, that is COMPLETELY different. That holding call was not a "flukey" play like a blocked FG. Had Orakpo not been held, Romo would have been sacked and the game would have ended. Either way it's a Redskin win. That's just the facts. We have wins over Philly and Dallas through week 4 and yet, you are only predicting 6 wins at best and add that we are underdogs every week? Please.

JP is actually being the most level-headed and reasonable of all when it comes to the Skins. And that is UNBELIEVABLE. But, I have figured out why... its a perfect balance. The guy has man-love for McNabb and loves to disagree with EB, so in one sense he wants Washington to succeed. On the other hand, he knows EB gains joy out of the Redskins winning and has a deep-rooted hater bias against the team, so in that sense, he won't go all-in on the team.

Cakes, why are you being such a girly-man? Go out on a limb for a change. I know you love to be non-confrontational and primarily care about zings, but it's obvious you don't agree with the Lurch and EB hate toward the team, so voice your opinions. Please, we Skins fans need someone besides Bret in our corner, who is great at making initial arguments, but awful when it comes to countering.

I would call in, but I know that I'd get cut off within seconds, hung up on and then called a moron. They would then ask me to respond to a point that I could easily respond to, but E.B. will say "he bailed". When, in reality, I would have been hung up on by his fat clumsy fingers. Anyway, I really am a huge fan of the show and haven't missed a segment since podcasting began at JFK. I remember when Bret would just select 4 of the 12 segments and post them. We've come a long way since then. I'm sure nobody is going to read this, but I'm willing to debate anything I've said, so comment away.

More Tea Party Stuff

I'm really killing it with these blog post titles, aren't I? God, I'm good.

Anyway, here is an article by a British political analyst in the guardian about the Tea Party. Great read. You should check it out.

Heres my own little cliff note version of it, and a lot of this stuff is really the obvious points that I've been making for months now, but he raises some unique points, as well.

The Republican "tent" is straining: witness the cannibalism already taking place this weekend, with Karl Rove attacking the tea partiers, with moderate senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announcing a "write-in" campaign against her extremist opponent Joe Miller (the guy that says unemployment benefits are unconsititutional).

....

As America – admittedly, slowly – becomes more socially moderate (see polls on greater acceptance of gay rights, belief in healthcare, etc), Republican leaders in Washington are doing their best to portray an inclusive party. Many in the Republican camp are on board with the moderate strategy (see Ken Mehlman – Bush's chief strategist's – call for acceptance of gay rights, or Karl Rove's repudiation of the Tea Party).

It's tempting to compare the Republican party to the British Conversative party of the late 1990s: at war with itself; unsure of its identity; fundamentally torn by the issue of Europe and forced into being the party of "no" (remember William Hague's "Five days left to save the pound" campaign?). The answer for the Conservatives was to modernise, tack to the middle and embrace social change. They were able to do so not least because of the ageing population of the most rightwing elements.

Americans Republicans don't have that luxury. Tea Partiers aren't dying out. Their extremism is sustained, in part, by thriving Christian fundamentalism. They're here to stay. And they're here to be vocal.