Powell? YES! Power? NO!

[captainsblog]

Driving home from church at noon, I heard the news that apparently had been de-embargoed the hour before: Colin Powell endorsed the rival party's guy. Now, finally, after months of having to listen to accusations that the Democrats are the party of race, or that they're the only ones to mention or care about it, I'm getting the schadenfruedish experience of hearing all the same nutjobs blame the endorsement on Powell being black.

Not that I see it that way. He seems to be wearing a pretty damn white hat today.

I'm also glad he made it through the Meet the Press gig alive. I'd guessed that Sarah Palin picked last night for her SNL appearance so she could hide in the catacombs of 30 Rock overnight, burst in on General Powell during his appearance, and kill and field-dress him on national television.

Now, I suppose, she'll just have to put in an appearance at the cross-burning scheduled for outside his house later this week.

----

An hour later, I was heading to the Boulevard to pick up Em and some friends from a shopping trip. I hadn't bothered trying to watch the Bills game before that, since our cable system is still having a hissy with the local CBS affiliate over rights fees. Turns out, though, this was one Bills win that  NOBODY outside the stadium got to see:

Just minutes before the game began, all electricity at the stadium was knocked out. The power was restored minutes later, but then went out again, knocking out everything from the scoreboard to the elevators. Power was restored at the stadium after 45 minutes at 1:51 p.m. with the Bills and Chargers having played about 16 minutes of game time Sunday.

The power came back on with about 11 minutes left in the second quarter, and just after Bills kicker Rian Lindell missed a 52-yard field goal wide right, which would have cut the Chargers' lead to 7-6.

The CBS TV feed was out until 2 p.m., or about 5 minutes after the power came back on in the stadium. The game, which had been delayed for 15 minutes in the first quarter, resumed with on-field officials keeping time while shouting out the time left on the play clock. But power was cut again nearly a half hour later at the two-minute warning at 2:17 p.m.

The teams finished the half with Buffalo in the lead 13-7.

Players were standing on the sidelines at one point while the game was suspended. But play resumed even when television coverage did not.

The NFL stopped the game early in the first quarter after Marshawn Lynch's 2-yard carry for Buffalo. The delay was planned to last 5 minutes. But as it stretched on, officiating observer Art McNally ordered play to resume.

The game went on with no TV feed on CBS.

The electricity had gone out at the stadium about a half-hour before the game after three helium balloons became entangled in power lines across the street from the facility.

Power was restored throughout most of the stadium within 15 minutes, although it blinked on and off just before the 1 p.m. start, and the game kicked off on time.

Emergency officials and work crews blocked off part of the area in front of the stadium on Abbott Road as they worked to remove the balloons, which appeared to be affecting the electrical flow. A New York State Electric and Gas worker also said that a breaker blew and had to be restored.

The outage occurred at about 12:29 while both teams were practicing on the field. The stadium lights and scoreboard blinked off, as did the power in the press box. The main scoreboard was the last to power up, about 5 minutes before the start of the game.

At the time of the delay, on-field officials addressed both teams at the line of scrimmage. Players from both teams then went to their respective sidelines. Some stretched, while others stood around talking with their helmets off. Lynch rode a stationary bike, while Bills quarterback Trent Edwards played catch with backup J.P. Losman.

Referee Jeff Triplette was on the Bills sideline talking to an NFL official and Marc Honan, Bills vice president of marketing and broadcasting.

Numerous fans inside the sold-out stadium stood up to stretch or headed to concession stands. A few loud cheers went up.

There is no truth to the rumor that J.P. Losman tried an all-out blitz on Edwards during the catch game in hopes of ending his season. Or, for that matter, that he, too, endorsed Barack Obama.

Comments

[headbanger118.livejournal.com]

I'm not at all surpised that Powell endorsed Obama, and it has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with the fact that Powell is a moderate, and I could see him crossing lines at virtually any moment.

I'm pretty sure Sarah isn't going to cross-burning at Powell's house. She cleans her guns at night, like any good NRA member would.

[bowlingpenguin.livejournal.com]

Our little corner of the world is going through Time Warner not broadcasting out local NBC affiliate. Seems the company that owns it wants to be paid close to a penny per customer, even though we can get the channel free on antenna tv. Seems kind of childish to me. That is one of the little reasons we're getting rid of TW next Sunday and getting AT&T cable/internet/phone. Other reasons: TW has been going out periodically since the big wind storm a month ago. TW is hella expensive with just internet/2 dvrs/1 digital connection. TW makes us pay for "packages" that AT&T has included in their "package". Anyway, I know what you're going through with the possible CBS thingie. Good luck, dude.

Oh, one more thing. You could've just sat back and watched as my Bungholes blew the game....again. ::::sigh::::