GIANTS WIN!!!!!!

I'm still reveling in the fact that THE GIANTS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As Eli Manning took a knee and the last second ticked off the clock, I jubilantly yelled: "This is one of the greatest days of my life!" My wife shushed me with an indginant, "The baby is sleeping and don't tell me that this compares with our wedding day or his birth." Now what the hell kind of moment-killing BS was that? I think my wife is just bitter becase her beloved Minnesota Vikings have never won a Super Bowl. Ever. And how many have the Giants won? THREE, BABY!

The Super Bowl telecast and the fact that THE GIANTS WON (yeeeee-AHHHH, BABY!!!!) compel me to update two prior posts. In my last post, I made a big deal out of the whole misuse of the term "World Champion." Well, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman never uttered the term. It was first used by Roger Goodell, the Commissioner of the NFL, as he presented the Lombardi Trophy. If you missed it, you can catch the trophy presentation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1j9V1zjz2c .

The fact that THE GIANTS WON THE SUPER BOWL also has implications for the financial market jitters that I spoke about in my January 22 post. There's a theory that when an "original" NFL team wins the Super Bowl, the stock markets will finish the year higher (you can read about this theory at http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2008/01/28/stock-gate-are-the-patriots-bad-for-stocks/). As an "original" NFL team, the fact that THE GIANTS WON THE SUPER BOWL means that the markets should end the year higher. Given the absolute drubbing that my portfolio has been taking lately, let's hope the theory holds true!

"NFL Champions," Yes! "World Champions," No.

Here I go again, one last time before the Super Bowl, posting in Giants blue. LET'S GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!

I've been reading with interest how gambling types can make all sorts of "prop bets" on the most arcane aspects of the Super Bowl. Apparently, there are betting lines on which team will win the coin toss, the color of the Gatorade that the players from the winning team will use to douse their coach and who the MVP will credit first for his team's victory--his teammates, the coaching staff or God.

I think there should be a betting line on how many times the commentators refer to the winning team as the "World Champions." This drives me absolutely bat sh*t crazy! The winner of the Super Bowl will be the champion of the NFL, nothing more. Teams from around the globe aren't allowed to compete so there's no "World" aspect to any of this.

This is a particularly good example of how, every so often, Americans get caught up in their own hyperbole. I learned the hard way that it's usually best to just play along with this American cultural trait. More on this in a later post after the Super Bowl.

Anyway, getting back to the Super Bowl, I recently learned that Lawrence Tynes, the placekicker for the Giants (seen here kicking the winning field goal against Green Bay),


played briefly for the Ottawa Renegades of the CFL. I hope that all fans of the CFL will adopt the Giants as their team on Sunday!

LET'S GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!!!! GIANTS!!! GIANTS!!! GIANTS!!!

State Of The Yawn-ion Address

Well, I was all set to do a post on the State of the Union address delivered by President Bush yesterday evening. I was going to play pseudo-journalist and give my insight on how the policy issues addressed in his speech would impact Canada. One problem, though--the speech was so damn boring I couldn't even follow it! I think President Bush mentioned Canada once in connection with some meeting he wants to have with Canada and Mexico or something. I dunno. I wasn't really paying attention.

One thing that I was looking forward to was seeing Barbara and Jenna, the First Twins. Here's how they looked last night, flanking their mom (I have no idea who the wrinkly little gnome on the far right is):

I've always been more of a fan of Barbara than Jenna. Last night, though, Barbara just didn't look that great. What's with the expression on her face? She has the same taut-lipped, tense expression that my thirteen-month old son gets just before he loads his diaper.

In any event, I apologize for dropping the ball on providing any useful commentary. I'll try harder next time.

Oath Of Allegiance

Well, yesterday was the big day--I was sworn in as a United States citizen. There were 106 of us at my ceremony, six other Canadians and 99 other people from all parts of the world.

The final step in becoming a citizen was swearing the Oath of Allegiance. All 106 of us stood up, raised our right hands and followed the lead of a Federal Court judge in reciting the Oath out loud in unison. It was all very moving. Here's the Oath and exactly what I was thinking as I recited it:

"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and adjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;"

OK, I guess that's it as far as any of that "loyalty to the Queen" crap is concerned. Can't say I'm going to miss any of that. Why Canadians still pledge fealty to some foreign monarch has never made any sense to me. It's not that I have anything against the Queen. She seems like a nice enough old lady. I think Prince William will make a fine King and I'm a huge fan of that Kate Middleton girl he's rolling around with--she's one delectable English muffin that I'd love to slather in clotted cream and jam before devouring. Mmmmm, mmm.

"that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;"

Most definitely. I'm feeling especially feisty this morning. Bring on some foreign and domestic enemies and I'll kick their a**es!

"that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;"

This is badly drafted. I'm fine with the concept but it could have been combined with the part we just said.

"that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by law;"

Are you kidding? Count me in! I once fired a military sub-machine gun at a test range and it was the coolest thing ever. If I have to bear arms, I hope I get a choice. I don't just want some standard issue M-16. Can I be in a tank? I'd love to fire one of those cannons. Or maybe I could be the bombardier on a bomber carrying one of those "bunker buster" missiles. How awesome would it be to fire one of those babies?

"that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by law;"

Noncombatant service? Do I look like a girl?

"that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by law;"

What the hell is this? Didn't I just agree to bear arms? I'll do what I'm asked to do, but I'd rather shoot at stuff than shuffle paper.

"and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;"

I'm good on all counts.

"so help me God."

God? How'd that reference sneak in here? What happened to the separation of Church and State? Is the ACLU aware of this? You know it'll just be a matter of time before somebody launches a challenge....

Financial Market Jitters

I was going to write a post about something I call "The Tuque Test," but the free fall in the financial markets is proving to be too much of a distraction. This is how I feel right now:

I hope you all are holding up better. I try to remain calm at times like this, although it's tough. I bought voraciously during the 2001-2003 dip and was handsomely rewarded. I'm getting ready to do so again, although I'm going to wait a month or so to see how things shake out.

I have some advice for my Canadian friends: get ready to buy U.S. large cap equities. I'm pessimistic about the Canadian markets. The 2004-2007 M&A wave gutted corporate headquarters and the high loonie is having a deleterious affect on manufacturing activity in Central Canada. Canada is increasingly dependent upon its natural resources. That's great as long as prices for commodities are high. It's going to get ugly when commodities prices start to tank, something that we're already starting to see.

U.S. equity markets have lagged the rest of the world for the last four years, and large cap stocks have been especially sluggish. This stuff is all cyclical, though. When things start to turn positive again in six to nine months, watch for U.S. large cap equities to outperform.

And yes, I'll be putting my money where my mouth is!

I'm No Cheesehead!

Well, I'm posting in blue again. The New York Giants are going to need all of the luck that they can get if they're going to send Green Bay packing on Sunday. Let's Go Big Blue!!!!!!!!

I've never been to Green Bay. In fact, I've never been to Wisconsin. Strangely, though, when I first moved to New York, everybody thought that's where I was from. It was all due to my accent, of course. I took mild offense to all of this--I thought that I had a generic "North American newscaster" accent. Now, a decade later, I know exactly what manners of speech marked me as an obvious outsider. That's fodder for a series of posts after the Superbowl, though. I'm still a little puzzled as to why New Yorkers thought that I was from Wisconsin rather than some other state in the Midwest like Illinois or Indiana. In any event, it doesn't matter. The fact is, I'M NO CHEESEHEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's Go Giants!

Remember that, when the Giants were set to play the Cowboys, I confessed that I actually liked Terrell Owens and Tony Romo? Well, not any more! Did you see Terrell "tearing up" after the game? What a doily. Same thing for Tony Romo. Take your loss like a man, you chick. Here are a couple of photos that should live on in infamy:

I didn't add the captions--they came with the photos posted on the New York Giants' website. I can't imagine that Brett Favre will be such a cry baby, sissy-man if the Giants get a few breaks and take the Packers down.

GO GIANTS!!!!!!