The Sports Desk has some better news to report tonight, as Michigan women's basketball defeated St. Bonaventure 68-60. Michigan shot a red hot 77 percent from the field in the second half and were led by Ta'Shia Walker with 32 points and Katie Dierdorf with 19.

Michigan's defense also looked good, holding St. Bonaventure to 21 percent shooting in the first half and 31 percent for the game.

With this win, the Wolverine women finish the 2005-06 non-conference part of the schedule with six wins and six losses. The Big Ten schedule starts December 29 with a game at Illinois, then comes a New Year's Day game at last year's national runner up Michigan State. The home Big Ten opener is January 5 against Iowa.

48-3...that's Forty-eight to three. The nightmare season got much worse for the Green Bay Packers as they lost to a previously not very impressive Baltimore Ravens team by the final score mentioned in the first sentence of this post. Things have been tough for the Packers this season, but at least they kept most of their games close. This time everything fell apart. The defense could not tackle or cover Baltimore's receivers, the Packer offense was totally inept and ineffective, and the special teams were not very special. Everything that had gone wrong in smaller ways throughout the season went wrong BIG TIME in front of a Monday Night television audience.

Brett Favre, needless to say, was not exactly the happiest person in the world following last night's fiasco. Who knows what he might decide to do at this point. I really hope he comes back for at least one more season, especially as he is within range of breaking Dan Marino's career records. It is clear that A LOT needs to be done to upgrade the team at other positions, including wide reciever/tight end, offensive line, and various spots on defense.

It is difficult to tell what exactly is the source of the Packers problems, and a performance like last night's seems to indicate that the team is a total basket case. On the other hand, they were competitive for most of the season although the wins were few. So who knows for sure what is wrong and what needs to be done to correct it? It could be that a coaching change is needed, and possibly the team has quit on current coach Mike Sherman? I can't imagine Brett Favre quitting on anyone for any reason, but maybe other players have given up? This is very puzzling and frustrating.

Yesterday night I was watching "Cold Case." One of my favorite shows, in which the Philadelphia Police Cold Case squad solves murders that are sometimes only a few years "cold" and other times are decades "cold."

It is getting to the end of the episode, when we find out who the perp was and how he or she committed the crime. And then, what do we get but a cutaway to a "special news report."

Which turns out to be the brain-dead, cowardly so-called "President" of the United States, Gee Dumbya Bush, jabbering nonsensically about how "by jingo, we's gonna win this here war in Viet-oops I mean Afgani-oops I mean Eye-rack! Yee haw!"

This was so unnecessary and annoying. They eventually did show the end of "Cold Case," but in my opinion there was no good reason why they needed to break away from it in the first place. The Coward in Chief had nothing new to say, and whatever he says is generally Nothing But Bullshit anyway.

I have never liked the practice of letting the president monopolize all network channels to give speeches. Quite frankly it reeks of Third World or Soviet Tin Horn Dictatorship, but then again I guess that is about what the Republicrat/Demublican Government of Amerika has become anyway, so why not have the trappings to go with it?

The rollercoaster ride continues for the Michigan women's basketball team. Coming off of an impressive win over Fordham, it was learned that junior Kelly Helvey will indeed be sidelined for the remainder of 2005-06 with an ACL injury. This leaves the team with five sophomores and five frosh.

Then came tonight's game against Nebraska. Michigan was unable to get much going on offense as they shot only 37 percent from the field. This, combined with 23 turnovers, led to a 69-49 loss that drops Michigan to 5-6 on the season. Only one nonconference game remains, at St. Bonaventure. Then the Big Ten schedule begins.

It is difficult to get a sense of what this team is capable of, as they have been very inconsistent especially on offense. Nebraska was yet another opponent who was able to baffle the Michigan offense with the zone defense. They have looked very good at times but have also looked quite shaky at other times. So we will see what we will see. I really do believe that this team has the talent to do well, and I still think they will finish at least .500 or better. The keys in my opinion are for the players to improve and come together as a team and for the coaches to be able to make the necessary adjustments to best utilize the available talent.

As promised, some more choice quotes from Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail '72:"

About the 1972 Republican convention: "On the Sunday after the convention, Mike Wallace presided over a CBS-TV roundup 'special' on what happened in Miami, and when he summed it all up in the end-after an hour's worth of fantastically expensive film clips-he dismissed the whole thing as a useless bummer."

"Most of the linear press people seemed to feel the same way. Every midnight, at the end of each session, the Poodle Lounge in the Fontainebleau filled up with sullen journalists who would spend the next three hours moaning at each other about what a goddamn rotten nightmare it was."

Sounds about Par For The Course for Political Conventions in America, at least those of the Democratic and Republican Party variety. Thompson wrote this in 1972 and if anything, the Two Major Parties have gotten much worse since then. The Democrats and Republicans have little to offer but empty suits spewing meaningless gibberish. Which is why I am a member of and supporter of the Green Party of the United States.

Yes, I know...the Greens have little chance of winning any major races at least for the nonce. But I would submit that the country has little chance of any meaningful progressive change with the Demublican/Republicrat One Corporate Party with Two Factions in power.

So you might as well vote Green, because both major parties are Part Of The Problem.

Michigan women's basketball put together a truly dominating performance, routing Vince Lombardi's alma mater, Fordham University, 98-55. Despite having junior Kelly Helvey sidelined with an injury, the entirely sophomore and freshman Wolverines looked great on both offense and defense.

Some random highlights include: 60 percent overall field goal shooting and the same percentage from three point distance, 29 forced turnovers, and seven players in double digits in scoring. Here the honor roll included: Stephany Skrba with 16, Jessica Minnfield with 15, Krista Clement and Janelle Cooper with 14 each, Carly Benson with 12, Ta'Shia Walker with 11, and Katie Dierdorf with 10.

Clement led in assists with six, Ashley Jones had five, and Minnfield had four.

Skrba was the top rebounder with eight and Benson had five steals.

This was just what the Wolverine Women needed after a tough loss at Washington and the loss of their most experienced player. The team came together very well and picked up the slack for Kelly Helvey, who I am sure will be back soon knowing what a tough and determined person she is.

Next up is a home game against Nebraska, in which Michigan will have the opportunity to win their sixth game of 2005-06, which would be one more than the 2004-05 team managed. This is a program on the rise and the rest of the college basketball world needs to look out for Cheryl's Crew.

The Green Bay Packers managed to eke out a 16-13 overtime win against the Detroit Lions, to improve their record to 3-10 and drop the Lions to 4-9 on the season. Neither team is going anywhere after the regular season, so this was just for pride anyway.

There was a bizarre play in the fourth quarter. Packer running back Sam Gado was about to be tackled in the end zone for a safety, when he appeared to fumble the ball forward and a Packer recovered. A Packer lineman was also flagged for holding on the play (you think they might have managed to get out of the end zone with a hold, but no). The holding was ruled to have happened outside the end zone (this is questionable) and so the holding could not result in a safety. As for what Gado did with the ball, it ended up being ruled an incomplete forward pass although I highly doubt that Gado was intended to throw the ball on that play. So the Packers kept possession of the ball and avoided a safety that would have put the Lions ahead 15-13.

Brett Favre continues to struggle with a receiving corps that really, totally just plain sucks. These guys can't seem to get open to save their lives, especially downfield. The result is that Brett has to throw short passes and opposing defenses are able to lock down on the short routes.

The Packer defense has been a pleasant surprise this season and they once again did a good job, including stopping the Lions just short of the goal line on a fourth down try in the final quarter. They are still not a great defense, but they are getting better all the time and have kept the Packers in many games this season when the injury riddled offense has struggled.

Kick returner Antonio Chatman really needs to be replaced. The guy tries his best, but just has not done much in his time with the Packers and they need to get someone who can make more of a difference here.

A head coaching change may also be in order.

In NFL action today, the Seattle Seahawks mercilessly drubbed the San Francisco 49ers 41-3. The 49er franchise is but a shell of the dynasty it once was in the Days of Joe Montana and Bill Walsh. Among the gory details of today's game...the San Francisco offense could only muster a paucity of 113 yards total offense...an anemic 62 rushing and a comical 51 passing.

A couple of last second thrillers...Cincinnati 23-20 over Cleveland and Tennessee 13-10 over Houston. In the aforementioned game, Houston just missed a last second FG that would have sent the game to overtime.

Indianapolis went to 13-0 with a win over Jacksonville. That's nice, but Peyton Manning is a Major League Choke Artist and I still see him doing his usual thing before this is all over. In other words, Indy will not win the Super Bowl.

My Packers play the Lions a bit later tonight at the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field. Hopefully the Pack can get the win, and seeing that they are playing a team that has reached a State of Almost Total Disarray this may just be possible.

In the Chilean presidential election, Socialist candidate Michelle Bachelet looks like the favorite to win. Bachelet and her family were victims of the United States-backed fascist regime of Augusto Pinochet, so her electoral triumph is a great sign of progress. As is the fact that the former dictator Pinochet is under arrest and faces charges (albeit very belatedly) for his horrific abuses of the Chilean people.

If she wins, Bachelet would also become Latin America's fourth elected female leader, signaling perhaps a move towards greater gender equality in the region. Do you think that maybe we could have a woman president here in the United States sometime soon? I certainly hope so, although I am not sure whether either of the stuck-in-the-past major political parties in the USA (Demublicans or Republicrats) are ready to make such a bold move. After all, only once have either of those parties even nominated a woman for vice president (Geraldine Ferraro in 1984).

In United States political news, Eugene McCarthy has passed away at the age of 89. The former Minnesota senator is probably best known for his bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1968, when his stand against the Vietnam war led incumbent president Lyndon Johnson to withdraw from the race. We could use someone like Gene McCarthy again, with the US military bogged down in another unjust and unwinnable war.

Michigan women's basketball had a Sad Time in Seattle last night, losing by 22 points to Washington and also having to do without their most experienced player, Kelly Helvey, for most of the game. Helvey went down with a leg injury early in the first half and was not able to return to action. Reports are sketchy at this point so it is not clear exactly how severe the injury is and how much more playing time Kelly may have to miss.

Just a few days ago, Kelly had her biggest performance as a college player with 30 points. She has always been a very hard working and tough player, so hopefully these qualities will enable her to get healthy and return to action soon. In any case, the thoughts of Wolverine fans are with Kelly and we all send her best wishes for a quick recovery.

Ta'Shia Walker, Janelle Cooper, Stephany Skrba and Krista Clement all did well for Michigan in this game, and they and the rest of the team will need to step up no matter what happens with Kelly Helvey.

Next up is a home game against Fordham University, this coming Tuesday.

I am once again re-reading Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail '72" and remain amazed at how little has changed in the years between 1972 (when I was but a youngster of seven going on eight years and not all that interested in politics) and 2005 (when politics both interests and infuriates me quite a bit, thank you very much). I am going to post some of Thompson's keener insights here from time to time and, in some cases, provide updated references to current political figures.

"There is no way to grasp what a shallow, contemptible, and hopelessly dishonest old hack Hubert Humphrey really is until you've followed him around for a while on the campaign trail." (p. 209)

And from page 135: "Hubert Humphrey is a treacherous, gutless old ward-heeler who should be put in a goddamn bottle and sent out with the Japanese Current. ...He was a swine in '68 and he's worse now. If the Democratic Party nominates Humphrey again in '72, the party will get exactly what it deserves."

Thompson's comments about Humphrey apply quite well to many of today's useless, sold out Democratic Party leaders who expect progressives to continue voting for them as they move further and further to the right. Al Gore, John Kerry, and Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm being just a few latter-day Hubert Humphreys who come readily to mind.

More Political Wisdom from Doctor Gonzo to come, so stay tuned!

25 years ago today, a little creep named Chapman ended the life of one of the world's greatest musical artists and humanitarians. John Lennon is no longer with us in the physical sense, but his spirit remains as a symbol of peace and artistic creativity.

Robert Hunter, the Grateful Dead lyricist, has written a solo song where he encounters the spirits of several people including John Lennon. Lennon's message to Hunter is "As long as songs of mine are sung, I'm with you on this earth." So let us sing and listen to John's songs, both the solo work and that he did with the Beatles.

May the Goddess bless his surviving family...Yoko Ono, and his children Julian and Sean. They have all continued John's work both in music/art and social causes.

We will always remember you, John Lennon, and we will keep on "Imagining" the world you dreamed of in your signature solo song. And we will keep working to make your vision reality.

Michigan women's basketball won their second in a row, and evened their record at 4-4, with a 77-59 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. After a close first half which featured both teams hitting seven of 10 three point shots, Michigan clamped down on defense in the second half and got the win.

Kelly Helvey was especially impressive with a career high 30 points. She has always been a tough, hard working player but this is the first time she has really stood out as a scorer. Since she is the lone junior on a team with no seniors, it is very encouraging to see her stepping up and leading by example.

Three other Michigan players scored in double figures: Carly Benson with 15, Ta'Shia Walker with 14, and Janelle Cooper with 13. Krista Clement had nine assists.

This is a very important win for Michigan, giving them needed momentum going into a road game against Washington.

It appears that the coaches have found a starting lineup that works, with Clement and Helvey in the backcourt, Benson and Cooper at the forwards, and Walker at center. This lineup includes only one freshman, three sophomores, and Michigan's only junior. Now they need to get the other players involved a bit more.

One thing that continues to bother me is the poor quality of officiating in Big Ten Women's Basketball. The on-court officials tend to be pathetic, making many ridiculous calls and missing other obvious infractions. In addition, there are three people who sit at the scorer's table who wear Big Ten sweaters and therefore are probably employees of the conference. Two are old men who look to be Way Beyond Senile, the third is a Very Rude, Short Tempered woman who has no business doing anything that involves interaction with the public. These three repeatedly seem to zone out during games and forget to update the scoreboard and just generally seem to Not Have A Clue. I have a hard time believing that this is the best a supposedly big time conference like the Big Ten can do.

Finally, it looks like Penn State women's basketball is off to a 4-3 start despite having only nine players and not much experience. Maybe I have to give the Devil her due. Rene Portland is a horrible, despicable human being but I guess she does know something about coaching basketball. Still, I hold out hope that Penn State will tank the rest of this season and several seasons to come, until such time as Rene is forced to resign in disgrace like Bobby Knight, Woody Hayes, or Richard Nixon.

OK...now that the schedule is set, how about a look at This Season's College Bowl Games?

We start with the New Orleans Bowl which, for obvious reasons, is not actually taking place in that city this time but rather in Lafayette. Brett Favre's alma mater, Southern Mississippi, will beat Arkansas State from the woeful Sun Belt conference.

In the GMAC Bowl I like Toledo over Texas-El Paso.

California-Berkeley will crush Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl.

I had no idea there was a Poinsettia Bowl, but it turns out there in fact is. The Naval Academy will beat Colorado State.

In another Bowl I Had Never Heard Of Before (maybe because it did not exist before?) Houston will beat Kansas. It is the Fort Worth Bowl, by the way. Probably Not Worth Much, but there it is.

Nevada over Central Florida in the Hawai'i Bowl.

Yes, folks, Detroit does host a Bowl game! It is called (what else) the Motor City Bowl. This time around it will be Memphis over Akron.

Clemson over Colorado in something called the Champs Sports Bowl.

Arizona State will pound Rutgers in the Insight Bowl (Insight into what, I wonder? Your guess is as good as mine.)

Boston College over Boise State in the MPC Computers Bowl (no, I am not making these bizarre corporate named bowls up, really!)

In the Alamo Bowl, Michigan will drub Nebraska. It could have been much better than this for the Wolverines, if not for their conservative and knuckleheaded coaching staff.

Georgia Tech over Utah in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco. What emeralds have to do with San Francisco is unclear to me, but there you have it.

Oregon will Win One For Ken Kesey and beat Oklahoma in the Holiday Bowl.

Minnesota over Virginia in the Music City Bowl.

Northwestern over UCLA in a high scoring Sun Bowl. I am thinking about 45-42 for a final score.

South Carolina over Missouri in the Independence Bowl.

LSU will drill the Miami Convictcanes in the Peach Bowl, which takes place in Atlanta naturally.

There is a Meineke Car Care Bowl. I kid you not. North Carolina State will beat South Florida.

Tulsa over Fresno State in the Liberty Bowl.

TCU over Iowa State in the Houston Bowl.

The Cotton Bowl used to be one of the Big Four Bowls, before the Fiesta Bowl took its place. Texas Tech will drill overrated Alabama.

Florida will beat another overrated team, Iowa, in the Outback.

Virginia Tech over Louisville in the Gator Bowl.

Auburn over Wisconsin in the (evil credit card company whose name I refuse to mention) Bowl.

Finally we come to the Big Four, Or, Bowl Championship Series Games:

Ohio State will lay a merciless drubbing on the Golden Dumbers of Notre Lame.

Georgia will take care of business against West Virginia.

Penn State will pound the Flawiduh State Criminoles.

And in the Big Mythical National Championship Game, the Evil Hollywood Pretty Boy Empire of U$C will be brought down by Vince Young and Texas. Hook Em, Horns!

The Green Bay Packers lost again, 19-7 to the suddenly good Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

As has been the case all season for the Packers, the offense totally sucked and put everything on the shoulders of Brett Favre. And as I have pointed out ad nauseam, even a future Hall of Famer like Favre cannot win games all by himself.

The Packer offensive line is a bunch of useless bums. The Packer receivers are a bunch of mediocre cowards who shy away from the ball because they do not want to get hit. The Packer running game is having to rely on an undrafted free agent who is trying his best but is just not legitimate NFL material. The defense is just not good enough to make much of a difference, and neither is the special teams. Kick returner Antonio Chatman has basically been a non-factor during his entire time in Green Bay and it boggles my mind why he still has the job. Brett Favre had to throw the ball 58 times because of the lack of a running game. On the game clinching interception by Chicago, the Packer receiver (who cares which one, they all basically suck and are all unworthy of having Brett Favre throw to them) made little effort to catch the ball.

I hope that Old Number Four is willing to come back after this season's fiasco. I can only imagine how pissed he must be at the poor excuses for teammates he is currently stuck with.

Michigan women's basketball came back strong from a loss to Central Michigan, as they beat Maine 68-60 at Ann Arbor today. This raises the Wolverine women's record for 2005-06 to three wins and four losses. Most importantly, it gives them some needed momentum and confidence after two difficult and disappointing losses to Mid American Conference teams.

Ta'Shia Walker led Michigan in scoring with 24 points and also grabbed nine rebounds.

They say 13 is an unlucky number, but don't tell that to Kelly Helvey. She led Michigan in rebounds with 13 and also had that many points. Kelly also had five assists and two blocked shots and continues to provide excellent veteran leadership as the only junior on a team with no seniors.

Carly Benson, Janelle Cooper, and Krista Clement were the other starters and all made solid contributions. Katie Dierdorf also did so, but her playing time was limited due to foul trouble.

Next up is a home game against Maryland-Eastern Shore. Michigan needs to build on the momentum of today's win and keep things going in a positive direction.

In other sports news...Texas clobbered Colorado and the U$C Hollywood Pretty Boys routed UCLA. So it looks like it will be Texas vs. U$C in the Rose Bowl for the BCS championship. I really, really hate U$C so I will be rooting for Texas in this one. It is more and more obvious to me that Crookedness is Going On with regards to how easily U$C is able to win their games. U$C is a Sleazy and Corrupt Program and Should be Investigated by the NCAA. Hopefully Texas will beat them and end their evil reign.

In NCAA Division II football, Grand Valley (Michigan, near Grand Rapids) State University advanced to the finals with a 55-20 drubbing of East Stroudsburg. GVSU appeared in three consecutive Div II title games from 2001-2003 and won back to back national championships in 02 and 03. The GVSU Lakers face Northwest Missouri State in the December 10 championship game. They have built a very good program at Grand Valley State, and this has also been the case at Saginaw Valley State University near Saginaw, Michigan. GVSU versus SVSU has become an excellent rivalry, with the teams meeting annually in the regular season, and they also met in an earlier round of this year's playoffs with Grand Valley winning 24-17.

Further Bad Craziness took place at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor last night, as Michigan women's basketball lost by 22 points to Central Michigan.

Yes, that is right, folks. A Big Ten team lost to a Mid American conference team, at the Big Ten team's arena, by twenty-freakin-two points.

The game was close at halftime, as CMU only led by two points. Michigan needed to seize the momentum in the second half but failed miserably, quickly falling behind by double digits. Then came the desperation and panic, with the usual symptoms of Missed Shots, Defensive Breakdowns, and Generally Sloppy Play.

None of Michigan's players looked particularly good on offense, with two players scoring 10 points each to top the charts. The defense looked good at times, but allowed way too many second (and third, and fourth, ad nauseam) chances to Central Michigan by failing to rebound.

Michigan particularly struggled with the CMU zone defense, which was also a problem in the previous game against Toledo.

It is still early in the season, and as I have pointed out before this year's Michigan team is (like last year's) a relatively young and inexperienced bunch. That being said, there is plenty of player talent, and coach Cheryl Burnett and her staff have proven themselves in previous jobs. So perhaps this has just been some early season struggles for a young team that has not come together yet. We will see what happens the rest of the way, and the next few games in particular are critical in my opinion.