On Specter, Sebelius and Brownback...

John Dickerson on Arlen Specter:
"There may be better 100th-day presents to President Obama, but they probably require witchcraft. "

Oh, and I know I'm a little late on this, but can I document my confusion at other people's confusion over Brownback backing Sebelius? Um, he wants to be governor. *Giz* figured that one out.

My first journalism mentor

My first journalism mentor, Earl Gustkey, died Friday. He was a sportswriter for the L.A. Times. Over the course of a 30-plus year career, he covered the outdoors beat, USC football, and boxing. I met him while he was covering the women's basketball beat, which I remember he said he was dragged into "kicking and screaming." But he quickly fell in love with the sport and after taking a buyout and retiring to Montana in 2001, he became of fan of the Montana State women's basketball team and went to games constantly.

I had a few people who motivated me to become a journalist -- my dad, Gary Smith, Rick Reilly -- but Earl was the person who got my foot in the door when I was 15 and didn't even realize it was a door I wanted to open.

The subject line on his e-mails was always "crocodiles." Some people posting remembrances on a sports journalism Web site were talking about that, which sets the context for my post, which you can find here.

I guess I just wanted to circulate these memorials as much as possible... he deserves them.

I must have missed this one

This is a photo posted to the top of an ad for a movie discounts.
Now. I've seen my share of good movies. But seriously? What movie are they watching?