What is Coinage Before Decimalisation, Alex?
Surprise Me, Trebek!
Curt Schilling is a deeply religious man but his faith does not preclude him from understanding that stem cell research is perhaps the only way to defeat maladies like Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease that afflicted his mother. Schilling did stump for George Bush in 2004 following the Red Sox’s victory, but did try to convince the president to support funding for this unnecessarily controversial science.
Faith wasn’t enough to lead Schilling to victory over his Celebrity Jeopardy! challengers, however. In the episode broadcast on November 9, Schilling lost to Doug Savant and Jane Kaczmarek. He did raise $25,000 for Curt’s Pitch for ALS and the Shade Foundation.
Sports Science Sometimes an Oxymoron
On October 27 the Cardinals broke the string of senior circuit failures in the Fall Classic. Red Sox draftee and All-Star shortstop David Eckstein garnered the World Series MVP honor and former Red Sox pitcher via deadline deal Jeff Suppan managed not to embarrass himself.
Both Eckstein and Suppan were both opponents of Missouri’s Amendment 2, which they claimed would enable human cloning. The initiative did allow for somatic cell nuclear transfer, an essential part of stem cell production where a DNA from a non-germline cell (that is, neither sperm nor egg cells) is removed and inserted into an egg cell to produce a blastocyst, which the anti-science and anti-choice cliques believe is human life. The cells from these blastocysts ensure that the resultant stem cells are a genetic match with the donor organism. Researchers hope that by isolating and reproducing the somatic cells (another term for all cells other than sperm and egg) of people with specific diseases the nature of their illnesses could be better understood.
Despite the efforts of athletes like Eckstein and Suppan, Amendment 2 passed. If the Cardinals cloned their World Series titles, they would still trail the Yankees by six.
Return Engagements
The Red Sox picked up Tim Wakefield’s option on October 31, a far more welcome event than what happened last year on Halloween.
Utility infielder Alex Cora re-signed with Boston for two years. The monetary terms have not been disclosed, but his previous contract was for two years and $2.7 million. Another two years of listening to Jerry Remy obsess over Cora won’t be so bad.
