Buster Douglas or Just Another Buster?

I really would like to find a way to justify believing that Victor Ortiz can beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. this Saturday.

The odds are against it, 7-1 last time I checked, and the styles don't seem to add up to a good fight for Ortiz.

Ortiz isn't near as fast as recent Mayweather conquests Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez or Oscar De la Hoya. By all accounts he isn't a great tactical fighter. What he does have going for him is that he's young and can destroy people in the ring, provided he can corner them and get off before they escape his reach.

Sadly, by fighting style alone he would remind you of a younger Ricky Hatton, who was obliterated by Mayweather in 2007.

So what can I latch on to for hope? First of all Mayweather is getting old. 34 years old and 41 fights can take a lot out of a fighter. Probably doesn't matter here though. Second, as decorated as Floyd is he doesn't have one shot KO power. Most of his fights last a long time unless you happen to be Angel Manfredy. In the last 5 years he hasn't ended a fight in less than 10 rounds. It stands to reason that if Andre Berto couldn't knockout Ortiz with those shots then Mayweather can't either. That gives Ortiz enough time to put in some work and maybe unload one perfect shot.

Maybe more importantly, Ortiz is fueled by shame. And shame can be a powerful motivator.

By an reasonable account somebody should have thrown in the towel for Ortiz in that Maidana fight. He was getting crushed and could've been hurt. By quitting though he branded himself as weak of both body and mind. That would've been the end of most fighters but Ortiz has battled back to win the belt and survived another brutal fight against Berto. It makes you wonder of Ortiz is just fueled by a desire to redeem himself that's greater than Mayweather's desire for more money.

Short of some combination of pure grit and the perfect punch though I fear we have to endure more of the Mayweather reign at the top. More sizzle, less steak and more excuses to dodge Pacquiao until their both so old no one cares.

Be Bold Good Fool

James Carville got his panties in a knot today when a CNN "reporter" asked him what he would advise Obama to do in the face of political disaster. I know Carville talks all the time, never shuts up actually, but his advice to Obama makes him seem like more of a superfluous twat then normal.

Here are the steps he lined out:

1. Fire People - This certainly seems like a good idea, the people working in the White House are incompetent indeed and should be put out to pasture. The only problem is that Obama has canned a few people, Van Jones comes to mind, and has replaced them with equally incompetent know-nothings. Obama doesn't know any really talented people and even if he did he wouldn't have the sense to put them in power positions. He finds clones of himself and hires them. He's incompetent and so are they. Changing the names won't help unless you change who picks them.

2. Indict People - Carville is referring to Wall Street execs here because they of course are the scum of the earth and deserve to be lined up and shot for ruining the economy. Or so Carville thinks. The real truth is that any criminal investigation into bad economic practices would only lead back to Washington and hurt members of Congress. Chris Dodd and Barney Frank come to mind first but there is plenty of blame to go around, especially with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Janet Reno threatening lenders over redlining. Carville thinks harassing execs who were responding to federal regulations will appease the people angry over the economy. Putting rich people in jail won't help poor people.

3. Make the Case Like A Democrat - Carville is saying that Obama should forcefully defend Keynesian economics, big spending liberal policy, instead of going along with Republican austerity programs. He cites some mythical world where we're doing worse now after spending cuts than we were doing during stimulus. The problem here is that we've never tried any austerity program here. Never. Big spending liberal policies have sadly ruled the day and everyone knows it. Even the Ryan plan was fairly timid in the face of the danger. The people know what we've been doing and O can't defend it with any credibility.

4. Hold Fast To An Explanation - This is a good idea. Flip flopping around on every issue looks weak and confuses the electorate. Unfortunately this is hard to do when you are actively trying to deceive people on topics you really know nothing about. None of his explanations work so he's just scattering shots hoping to hit something.

EXTRA - here are some of the attacks Carville wraps up the piece with, explaining his fear of a crazy person being elected:

creationism-loving: belief in God is mainstream.
global-warming denying: that's because its a lie.
immigration bashing: no, illegal immigration bashing.
Social Security cutting: would you rather tweak a program or have it become insolvent?
clean air hating: I assume he means greenhouse gases which are necessary for all life and quite different from smog.
Morally fascinating: I have no idea what this means. Pro-life maybe? Welfare reform? Standards at all?
Wall Street protecting: Have you seen who has been getting all of the stimulus money from Obama? Unions and Wall Street. All of it.

If conservatism can't flourish in the face of this kind of delusional incompetence then it never will.