Article Tags

“John Oliver”

Top of the agenda this past week: World Cup. Princeton alums had a hand on all sides in the run-up to the tournament, from coaching, to hosting, to lambasting on Comedy Central. More sports on the docket too, as some Tigers got picked in the MLB drafts this past week. And other stuff: Paul Krugman made funny sounds in an unfunny movie and Meg Whitman ’78 won an election to go to another election.

Bradley 80 led the U.S. Mens Soccer Team to a tie with England on Saturday

Don't mess: Bradley '80

Unless you’ve recently slipped into a coma, or are one of millions of Americans who are wondering why people are playing football with their feet, you’ve probably tuned into a few of the World Cup matches. The biggest news of the Cup on this side of the Atlantic has to be the unexpected tie between England and the U.S. on Saturday.

Strangely, Princeton has a hand in all this: you may have heard that the U.S. Men’s National Team trained at Princeton’s Roberts Stadium from May 17 to May 23. Not only that, but the team’s coach, Bob Bradley ’80 earned a history degree from the University, coached soccer at Princeton for 11 years, and his brother, Scott Bradley, coaches Princeton’s baseball team. Eerie, we know.

Princeton-soccer-Comedy Central connections abounded on Thursday, as The Daily Show‘s John Oliver reported from Princeton on the state of the U.S. Soccer Team. Here’s the clip, complete with tons of shots in Princeton’s rather indistinguishable stadium (save for some orange and black and Fine Hall in the distance):

But even afterwards, on the Colbert Report, Comedy Central kept on with the Princeton-soccer vibe.

Continue reading…

Going Rogue

Her book tour probably doesn't include Princeton University

Sarah Palin probably hates you, me, and basically the entire idea of Princeton. As Comedy Central‘s John Oliver told us at his show in Richardson a few weeks ago, we’re probably her biggest nightmare. But she has been back in the news, and if you follow her on Twitter like I do, her tweets have gotten more frequent and ever more nonsensical (she “appreciates u hearty souls” who came to her book signings!).

Nevertheless, there’s a good chance that she’ll run for president, and there was rampant speculation after she abruptly resigned the governorship over the summer. While toiling away as an intern this summer, I had a chance to interview several prominent Republican strategists. I asked them what advice they would give Palin if she wants to run in 2012. My reporting didn’t end up getting used, so I thought I’d share some of the more interesting/funny quotes with our dear readers.

Mary Matalin (adviser to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney; married to James Carville): Matalin said she thinks Palin has a good chance, but she should first take time off and not even think about the presidency until the midterm elections in 2010. Her initial reaction upon hearing about Palin’s resignation? “What? WTF?”

Roger Stone (self-styled “GOP hitman”): After a brief cooling off period, Stone would recommend Palin do a TV show for 2010 and maybe half of 2011 on either CNN or Fox. On Palin’s reputation as an intellectual lightweight, Stone said, “Joe Biden is a fucking moron. Just hold everyone to the same standards. He’s a nut, a whack job. But you don’t hear about that in the liberal media.”

More hilarious comments after the jump!

Continue reading…