Daily Archives: November 3, 2010

The Sports World Turned, Even If You Didn’t Notice

Published November 3, 2010

Though it may feel like the entire world was watching Tuesday’s election, life does exist outside of politics. The world has still turned amid all the election, ahem, hubbub.

With NFL and NBA seasons in full swing, here’s what you missed in the world of Boston sports while fixated on red tidal waves and blue donkeys. Let’s work backward to the weekend:

Ex-Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss was waived by the Minnesota Vikings. On Oct. 6, many Patriots fans woke up and were shocked to learn that the Hall of Fame wideout had been traded to Minnesota. Moss woke up Tuesday to see his name splashed across newspapers and on the top of the NFL’s waiver wire.

It’s amazing that someone with Moss’ talent has been left on the scrap heap. Oh well, great for us since we’re treated to this wonderful (and surprisingly catchy) Randy Moss rap mashup by DJ Steve Porter. Porter, who founded Holyoke-based PorterHouseMedia, is also behind the great NBA remix commercials.

[youtube url=”tmJcUlrkMNg”]

The Celtics celebrated Halloween. And gave me a reason for this post.

Highlights include captain Paul Pierce as The Frog from “The Princess and the Frog” (his daughter was the princess) and guard Rajon Rondo as an injured Tiger Woods.

Attendees at the Celtics team Halloween party, in costume. (Paul Pierce via Twitter)

Attendees at the Celtics team Halloween party, in costume. (Paul Pierce via Twitter)

The team is 3-1 on the season and riding a two-game winning streak. Shaq, or Shaquita on Halloween, missed Tuesday night’s game with a knee injury.

The Patriots vanquished the Vikings 28-18. Even Patriots players, however, like second-year cornerback Darius Butler, were caught up with election fervor. On Tuesday, Butler (@DariusButler28) posted this message on his twitter account:

Get out and VOTE! Unless u don’t know what’s goin on n what\who u voting for. In that case stay Home!

The world may have turned, but Election Day, it seems, even infiltrated the world of sports.

Radio Boston Rundown: The Day After

Published November 3, 2010

It’s Wednesday afternoon quarterbacking on Radio Boston today at 3:

  • WBUR’s Fred Thys. He attended Gov. Deval Patrick’s victory press conference today.
  • Rep.-elect Bill Keating. After a tough campaign, Keating won in the 10th Congressional District, defeating Republican Jeff Perry. Many Republicans thought Perry had the best chance of winning a race for the GOP in Massachusetts.
  • Rep. Michael Capuano. The Democrat from the 8th Congressional District joins us to talk about what Republican control of the House will mean for Massachusetts. Capuano was unopposed in his re-election bid.
  • Political analysts Susan Tracy (D) and Jack Clancy (R). We examine the blue sweep in Massachusetts — and what it might mean for Republican Sen. Scott Brown in 2012. (Weigh in: What do you think?)
  • Bill Littlefield on sports. Bill weighs in on the Randy Moss-Vikings fiasco and the role of former Red Sox shortstop Edgar Renteria in the Giants’ World Series win.
  • Host Sacha Pfeiffer talks with the mother of Belmont Army Spc. Jonathan M. Curtis, 24, who was killed last week in Afghanistan.

Start the conversation in the comments or call in to (800) 423-8255 at 3 p.m.

Crunching Numbers: Just How Blue Are We?

Published November 3, 2010

This entry was cross-posted to ElectionWire.

Blueberries (Chris Nixon/Flickr)

Compared to Massachusetts, these blueberries are light blue. (Chris Nixon/Flickr)

Despite strong GOP challenges in some districts, Massachusetts’ U.S. congressional delegation remains all blue. Democrats won all statewide races and maintained wide majorities in the state Legislature.

Where, if anywhere, did Republicans make gains?

The GOP picked up 16 seats in the House, doubling their ranks, to 32, but continue to represent a small minority in the 160-member body. The GOP lost a seat in the state Senate, down to 4 of 40 seats.

What about all races — county sheriffs, governor’s councillors, state senators — all of ‘em?

Of the 447 races in Massachusetts, 338 were contested. (In the remaining 109, the winning candidate was unopposed.)

Of those 338 contests, just 18 winners were Republicans. That number could jump to 23, because Republicans are leading in five races that have not yet been called.

But you get the idea. A red tide swept over the nation last night — a tide arguably set in motion in January with the Senate election of Wrentham Republican Scott Brown. But GOP victories in Massachusetts represented a statistically insignificant 0.05  percent of the state’s total.

How blue were we on Election Day? Really blue. Midnight blue. Even the pundits didn’t see it coming.

Note: The Associated Press provided this data.

Conversation 2010: What Do You Think?

Published November 3, 2010

Massachusetts went all-blue Tuesday. (Dominick Reuter for WBUR)

Massachusetts went all-blue Tuesday. (Dominick Reuter for WBUR)

Massachusetts stemmed a nationwide red tide Tuesday, with Democrats winning virtually every single race in the state. Democratic political analyst Dan Payne called the heralded Scott Brown victory a “fluke.”

On our live call-in special this morning, Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi said Brown was a catalyst who kicked the Dems into gear. Many of you had observations, too.

Twitterer @cellocat75 writes:

I really think the election results show that the Scott Brown win was more anti Kennedy & anti establishment than pro Republican.

@jendeaderick tweets:

If voters are angry that the government isn’t doing enough for them, it means they want more government, not less. Anti-GOP position.

A number of people have expressed pride in their blue state today. “MA is an island of sanity in this crazy country,” tweets @cmatjones. “Massachusetts is awesome and the rest of the country is jumping off the cliff,” @joegrav tweets.

Some folks, such as @harmonywho, think national Democrats could learn a thing or two from Mass.

“liberal” candidates who make their case, involve citizens/voters can, do win. Pay attention DNC.

What do you think?

  • Do Democrats have a permanent majority in Massachusetts?
  • Why did Republican Charlie Baker lose the governor’s race? Bad candidate or wrong candidate?
  • Should the national Democratic Party learn something from Massachusetts?
  • Are you pleased with last night’s outcome?
  • Who will oppose Sen. Brown in 2012?

Thanks for all your tweets over the past 24 hours. Keep the conversation going in the comments.