And one win in the books.  Sabathia struck out the first batter he saw, Granderson dove in the grass to down the second, and later he and Teixiera went yard.

Say what you will about the Yankees’ bloated salaries and propensity for chasing marquee players (I won’t deny it), but don’t forget my favorites. I cheer for the low-key guys like Nick Swisher, who sacrificed himself in a hilarious run-down for a RBI, and the home-grown ones - Jeter, Rivera, and Posada - who became the first three teammates to play 17 seasons together…in any major league sport.

With the running of the Iditarod Race, the international dog sledding season comes to a close.  Reminds me of this great scene from The Simpsons Movie.

I don’t normally encourage commodity, but this site is too helpful not to pass along.  Steep and Cheap offers one sale item at a time related to the outdoors, until its gone.

This is so cool.  Congrats to my alma mater.

Without the care of folks like Shelby Foote, Ken Burns, and my own dad, I doubt I’d marvel so much at the tragedy of the Civil War.  I can’t count how many times I’ve veered off a booming interstate just to visit some tiny place tangentially related to that great story, much to the boredom of fellow travelers.  Battlefields like Shiloh and Gettysburg still give me goosebumps.

I haven’t said much about our military involvement with Libya, though for the most part I agree with the way it has been handled (with the support of regional groups like the Arab League and with real leadership from some international allies), albeit somewhat slowly.  It’s worth noting the shell game we’re playing in “handing things off to NATO,” the military arm of which is essentially American.  Still, the French did shoot down a fighter jet this week - make your own jokes.

These wars of choice cost something.  They cost lives, they cost material, and they cost much more.  That’s the point of this interesting interview by Ezra Klein of Nobel winner Joe Stigliz.

Woodrow belongs to my buddy Gabe, and is currently featured in Garden & Gun’s “Dogs Being Dogs” photo contest.  If you like dogs - or the south - you owe it to yourself to check it out.  Having met this dog, I can say I have no idea how they got it to sit still or wear such a ridiculous raincoat.

Bill Maher: “100 million Americans will watch the Super Bowl - 40 million more than go to church on Christmas and 85 million more than watched the last game of the World Series.  In that is an economic lesson. Football is built on a model of opportunity, and baseball is built where the rich always win and the poor  have no chance.  To put it another way, football is more like Democratic philosophy. Democrats don’t want to eliminate capitalism or competition, but they’d like if some kids didn’t have to go to a crummy school in a rotten neighborhood while others get to go to a great school.  [In football,] they share wealth, through salary caps and revenue sharing from TV - they put all of it in a big commie pot and split it 32 ways. Because they don’t want anyone to fall too far behind.”

Does it mean that, despite a beneficial relationship with the regime in power, the US recognizes the need for reform?  Or does the administration’s “neutrality” signal complicity?

Or is it a third thing all together?  A lesson in leadership as a younger generation takes its protest world-wide by internet, commands a thoughtful strategy, and demands free elections from a powerful regime.

Awesomesauce roared back with a full roster and a 9-point win at trivia last night.  For those counting, it means three in a row and an undefeated 2011. There were clutch performances all around, too, with Kim the only one of us to correctly list past Super Bowl winners, Jeff naming the last astronaut to walk on the moon, Ben nailing references to Camus and The Black Keys, and John making Martin Scorsese his bitch.  I filled out the answer sheet and spelled everything correctly.

Trivia takes a pause for the Super Bowl this Sunday, but we’ll be back to defend the title in two weeks.