pop goes the weasel---plus.. the long awaited football/primary analogy..
...note.. I think I just herd the first serious ripple of a big "Pop" of a campaign balloon collapsing...
It's one thing to say you're a fighter and won't quit and quite another to say that you're kinda hanging around waiting for the person who you're losing to to get shot in the face and killed.
Seems rather offensive... dontcha think?
I wonder what the reaction would have been in reverse if Clinton was in the lead and Obama said it. hmmm...
In any case.. I want to tell you a story now... and let's see if you can fill in the real meaning all on your own! (I'm sure you can.. :) )
Once upon a time, there were two football teams competing in a titanic playoff struggle to see which one could get into the final championship struggle. Team C was the heavy favorite. It had the biggest and most well known players, the largest number of fans, and was something of a dynasty, having been in the championship many years before and won. It was also playing at home and had the advantage of the crowd.
Team O, on the other hand, was a relative newcomer. It had high quality players that had been carefully scouted and an excellent coaching staff. It also had a very different football strategy that was highly dynamic and exciting in comparison to Team C's, which was more about ball control and consistently plodding down the field.
As the game began, everyone had expectations that Team C would win, and it wasn't too hard to miss that some people, who were quite tired about always hearing how great Team C was, saw the competition with less than enthusiasm.
Team O kicked off to Team C and the game was on. However, then something dramatic happened. On the very first play, Team O picked off the quarterback and ran it in for a touchdown.
The crowd was stunned. For a bit, everyone wondered if Team C was really in the game.
On the next possession, however, Team C, using standard tactics--and perhaps a bit of dirty playing, took the ball down the field and evened the score. The game was really on.
On its next possession, Team C looked, for a moment, as if it might pull ahead by a touchdown, but the play in question was called back on a penalty for false start. No instant replay was needed, it was obvious to all, and no complaints were heard. Throughout the rest of the first quarter, the teams traded field goals, but right near the end of the first quarter, after some rather egregious taunting by Team C's defense, Team O called a screen and caught Team C's defense totally flat-footed. Team O ran all the way down the field for a touchdown to end the first quarter with a one touchdown lead. Team C tried to come back with another touchdown, but this one was called back on a holding penalty. Team C grumbled, but did not make any fuss at the time for an instant replay revision of the play and the game went on.
The Monster Second Quarter
As the Second quarter started, the pace quickly picked up. It was an incredibly high scoring quarter with tons of yardage and very little defense. This was the quarter when Team C usually put its opponents away for good--not only by heavy scoring, but by wearing the opposing team down physically.
It was not to be this time, however. Team O maintained discipline and stood up to Team C blow for blow. In fact, by the end of the quarter, Team O's lead had actually increased by a Field goal, and Team O went into halftime with a 10 point lead.
Commentators, however, did not emphasize this lead. They still held to the storyline that Team C was the dominant force and would comeback shortly. They emphasized what superior play team C had shown. However, in reality, instead of Team C having worn down its opponent, it had blown out all of its reserves in the 2nd quarter.
The Shocking Third Quarter
As the third quarter started, it became clear how badly Team C's strategy was. Completely lethargic for almost the entire third quarter, Team C looked helpless as Team O not only marched down the field repeatedly to score, but also picked off passes and recovered fumbles that also went for scores. All in all, with only 3 minutes left at the end of the third quarter, Team O had racked up a ton of unanswered points and the game was clearly a rout for anyone who was paying attention.
Finally, at the end of the quarter, Team C came together again and you could hear the commentators trying to push the story that a change in the momentum was magically happening. And sure enough, Team C finally scored a field goal. And Then a touchdown...
But, just as the commentators were going wild about what a game this was going to be again, something happened. On the extra point attempt, the snap was muffed, and the lose ball was scooped up by Team O and returned for a touchdown.
The great swing in momentum, as the commentators wanted to have it portrayed, had actually only netted 2 measly points. Furthermore, Team O subsequently marched down the field and got another field goal to totally erase this momentum shift. The commentators, however, seemed to ignore this fact and talk about how the momentum had "clearly shifted."
The Fourth Quarter Endgame.
With the game not even close, the fourth quarter began with a whole lot of nothing. In fact, it was nearly 6 minutes into the quarter before anyone scored. After a hard fought march down the field, Team C scored a touchdown, and the commentators went wild! It didn't matter that Team C was still down by over 40 points, Team C had finally scored and was pulling closer, they argued!
However, in the very next drive, Team O marched down the field and scored its own touchdown, and then, to make a point, scored a two point conversion, so that nearly two thirds of the way through the fourth quarter, Team C was now just as behind as before (actually even further behind, but who's counting that 1 extra point).
At this point, the commentary broke. Some of the sports commentators finally admitted that being down by nearly 45 points with only 4 minutes left in the game, that actually, the game was done.
Others, however--big Team C supporters--said that you can't call a game before all the time is done.
Team C could come back, they said. It was not mathematically impossible for Team C to overcome a 45 point deficit in 4 minutes. If they scored on every play, and then penalties were called that kept the clock from running and they got a turnover on every play (and if the REf's helped them!) then they would be able to overcome this deficit.
As the next minutes wore on, however, this spectacle became a farce. Team O, realizing they had won, began taking their best players out to rest them for the next competition. Team C, however, became a bit more unhinged. They started playing dirty--looking like if they couldn't win the playoff, they would try to make sure that Team O wouldn't be fit to win the Championship. Additionally, The coach of Team C started complaining about how those two touchdowns in the first quarter should count again.
After scoring a field goal right before the two minute mark. Team C tried and onside kick and did recover. They then tried marching down the field, but were held again to just a field goal.
Finally, with only 1 minute remaining, the real desperation set in. Team C started spouting real nonsense about how no matter what the score was, they were actually the better team and should be the ones to go to the championship. Despite the massive point loss, they started to claim that they were the more experienced and tested team, and therefore they would do better. They also started to harp on this idea that they had gained more yardage in the game and had the better offense. This claim, however, was only true if you included the yardage that they would have gotten if those two early touchdowns hadn't been called back. Without those two discounted plays, they actually had less yardage than Team O. Furthermore, Team C's yardage claim explicitly discounted yardage gained by the special teams, where Team O had really cleaned Team C's clock.
Finally, with only 30 seconds left, you heard speculation from Team C's coach that even if they lost this game, they might still go to the championship, because, you know, Team O's plane might crash--it had happened to other sports teams--and thus they would still be ready to step up if they needed to.
Now.. we're just waiting for those last second to run down.
It's one thing to say you're a fighter and won't quit and quite another to say that you're kinda hanging around waiting for the person who you're losing to to get shot in the face and killed.
Seems rather offensive... dontcha think?
I wonder what the reaction would have been in reverse if Clinton was in the lead and Obama said it. hmmm...
In any case.. I want to tell you a story now... and let's see if you can fill in the real meaning all on your own! (I'm sure you can.. :) )
Once upon a time, there were two football teams competing in a titanic playoff struggle to see which one could get into the final championship struggle. Team C was the heavy favorite. It had the biggest and most well known players, the largest number of fans, and was something of a dynasty, having been in the championship many years before and won. It was also playing at home and had the advantage of the crowd.
Team O, on the other hand, was a relative newcomer. It had high quality players that had been carefully scouted and an excellent coaching staff. It also had a very different football strategy that was highly dynamic and exciting in comparison to Team C's, which was more about ball control and consistently plodding down the field.
As the game began, everyone had expectations that Team C would win, and it wasn't too hard to miss that some people, who were quite tired about always hearing how great Team C was, saw the competition with less than enthusiasm.
Team O kicked off to Team C and the game was on. However, then something dramatic happened. On the very first play, Team O picked off the quarterback and ran it in for a touchdown.
The crowd was stunned. For a bit, everyone wondered if Team C was really in the game.
On the next possession, however, Team C, using standard tactics--and perhaps a bit of dirty playing, took the ball down the field and evened the score. The game was really on.
On its next possession, Team C looked, for a moment, as if it might pull ahead by a touchdown, but the play in question was called back on a penalty for false start. No instant replay was needed, it was obvious to all, and no complaints were heard. Throughout the rest of the first quarter, the teams traded field goals, but right near the end of the first quarter, after some rather egregious taunting by Team C's defense, Team O called a screen and caught Team C's defense totally flat-footed. Team O ran all the way down the field for a touchdown to end the first quarter with a one touchdown lead. Team C tried to come back with another touchdown, but this one was called back on a holding penalty. Team C grumbled, but did not make any fuss at the time for an instant replay revision of the play and the game went on.
The Monster Second Quarter
As the Second quarter started, the pace quickly picked up. It was an incredibly high scoring quarter with tons of yardage and very little defense. This was the quarter when Team C usually put its opponents away for good--not only by heavy scoring, but by wearing the opposing team down physically.
It was not to be this time, however. Team O maintained discipline and stood up to Team C blow for blow. In fact, by the end of the quarter, Team O's lead had actually increased by a Field goal, and Team O went into halftime with a 10 point lead.
Commentators, however, did not emphasize this lead. They still held to the storyline that Team C was the dominant force and would comeback shortly. They emphasized what superior play team C had shown. However, in reality, instead of Team C having worn down its opponent, it had blown out all of its reserves in the 2nd quarter.
The Shocking Third Quarter
As the third quarter started, it became clear how badly Team C's strategy was. Completely lethargic for almost the entire third quarter, Team C looked helpless as Team O not only marched down the field repeatedly to score, but also picked off passes and recovered fumbles that also went for scores. All in all, with only 3 minutes left at the end of the third quarter, Team O had racked up a ton of unanswered points and the game was clearly a rout for anyone who was paying attention.
Finally, at the end of the quarter, Team C came together again and you could hear the commentators trying to push the story that a change in the momentum was magically happening. And sure enough, Team C finally scored a field goal. And Then a touchdown...
But, just as the commentators were going wild about what a game this was going to be again, something happened. On the extra point attempt, the snap was muffed, and the lose ball was scooped up by Team O and returned for a touchdown.
The great swing in momentum, as the commentators wanted to have it portrayed, had actually only netted 2 measly points. Furthermore, Team O subsequently marched down the field and got another field goal to totally erase this momentum shift. The commentators, however, seemed to ignore this fact and talk about how the momentum had "clearly shifted."
The Fourth Quarter Endgame.
With the game not even close, the fourth quarter began with a whole lot of nothing. In fact, it was nearly 6 minutes into the quarter before anyone scored. After a hard fought march down the field, Team C scored a touchdown, and the commentators went wild! It didn't matter that Team C was still down by over 40 points, Team C had finally scored and was pulling closer, they argued!
However, in the very next drive, Team O marched down the field and scored its own touchdown, and then, to make a point, scored a two point conversion, so that nearly two thirds of the way through the fourth quarter, Team C was now just as behind as before (actually even further behind, but who's counting that 1 extra point).
At this point, the commentary broke. Some of the sports commentators finally admitted that being down by nearly 45 points with only 4 minutes left in the game, that actually, the game was done.
Others, however--big Team C supporters--said that you can't call a game before all the time is done.
Team C could come back, they said. It was not mathematically impossible for Team C to overcome a 45 point deficit in 4 minutes. If they scored on every play, and then penalties were called that kept the clock from running and they got a turnover on every play (and if the REf's helped them!) then they would be able to overcome this deficit.
As the next minutes wore on, however, this spectacle became a farce. Team O, realizing they had won, began taking their best players out to rest them for the next competition. Team C, however, became a bit more unhinged. They started playing dirty--looking like if they couldn't win the playoff, they would try to make sure that Team O wouldn't be fit to win the Championship. Additionally, The coach of Team C started complaining about how those two touchdowns in the first quarter should count again.
After scoring a field goal right before the two minute mark. Team C tried and onside kick and did recover. They then tried marching down the field, but were held again to just a field goal.
Finally, with only 1 minute remaining, the real desperation set in. Team C started spouting real nonsense about how no matter what the score was, they were actually the better team and should be the ones to go to the championship. Despite the massive point loss, they started to claim that they were the more experienced and tested team, and therefore they would do better. They also started to harp on this idea that they had gained more yardage in the game and had the better offense. This claim, however, was only true if you included the yardage that they would have gotten if those two early touchdowns hadn't been called back. Without those two discounted plays, they actually had less yardage than Team O. Furthermore, Team C's yardage claim explicitly discounted yardage gained by the special teams, where Team O had really cleaned Team C's clock.
Finally, with only 30 seconds left, you heard speculation from Team C's coach that even if they lost this game, they might still go to the championship, because, you know, Team O's plane might crash--it had happened to other sports teams--and thus they would still be ready to step up if they needed to.
Now.. we're just waiting for those last second to run down.