Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Wednesday Night Beer: Second Thoughts on BFE Poll

One of the biggest surprises of election night was Rep. Lee Terry's (R-Nebraska) margin of victory over his Democratic challenger Tom White.  (Personally, I find it quite disappointing as Terry has accomplished virtually nothing of note in his twelve years in Congress, but that's a topic for another forum.)  Two weeks ago, the Omaha World-Herald polled the second congressional district, and found that the race was within the 4% margin of error.  Terry led 44% to 39% for White, which led me to believe that that this race was really close.

Turns out it wasn't.  Terry was reelected with a 61%-39% victory.  Certainly not the close race I had expected.  So why mention this here, and risk offending any of my (remaining) conservative-leaning readers?  Simple...the same people that were polled on the congressional race were also polled on the Royals move to BFE.  I dismissed the concerns about omitting Gretna and rural Sarpy County from the poll originally, making an assumption that the poll still would be a good indicator of people inside the city of Omaha.

Well, until I find an explanation of how that 5% (plus or minus 4%) lead grew to over 22% in less than two weeks, I don't think I can put a lot of faith in that poll.  Doesn't change my opinion; just don't think I can rely on this poll to support my viewpoint.

I see that some Missouri fans vented at Blaine Gabbert on Twitter over the weekend, and Gabbert apparently responded.  I don't read anything into Missouri fans in general over this occurance (especially after the way some of Nebraska's "fans" reacted to Niles Paul after the Texas game), but I do have to question why 7,000 people follow Gabbert on Twitter, or any celebrity.  I don't find it particularly interesting that Gabbert fixed steak and asparagus for supper tonight.  And before anybody accuses me of holding some sort of grudge against Gabbert, I don't really follow any celebrities.  I don't follow Ndamukong Suh, who apparently is using his Twitter feed to sell steaks, for example.  And why someone would respond to a celebrity is beyond me; isn't that kind of like stalking?  Don't you have something better to do or say?

Speaking of Big Mister Suh, he's certainly validating all of the honors he received last season. He's still a rookie (as proven by his premature touchdown celebration on Sunday), but he's playing at a high level, on a pace to tie Jevon Kearse's rookie record for sacks by a defensive lineman.  Heck, SI's Peter King suggests he's not "defensive rookie of the year" but rather "defensive player of the year" (period).  Heady, heady stuff. How did this young man only finish fourth in the Heisman balloting last season?

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