Cinderella Man

Go see it. It's a great movie and worth the money.

In the mailbag today (and what would you do?):
You are in Florida, Miami to be specific.
There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding.
This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are a photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you're caught in the middle of this epic disaster.
The situation is nearly hopeless.
You're trying to shoot career-making photos.
There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water.
Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

Suddenly you see a man floundering in the water.

He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris. You move closer. Somehow the man looks familiar.

You suddenly realize who it is: It's George W. Bush! At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take him under... forever.

You have two options: you can save the life of G. W. Bush or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world's most powerful men.

So here's the question, and please give an honest answer: * * * * *

Would you select high contrast color film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

From the Union Leader in New Hampshire:

SEN. EVAN BAYH: A two-term lawmaker from solidly red Indiana, Bayh also served 10 years as governor even though he has yet to reach his 50th birthday. His father, Birch Bayh, was a three-term Hoosier senator.

Strengths: The darling of moderate-conservative Democrats can reach across party lines and pick up independents.

Weaknesses: — Not popular with some Democratic constituencies. Vote to ban partial-birth abortions placed him at odds with feminist organizations.

For the record, he served 8 years as Governor.

Evan bayh has his invitation to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Democratic Chairwoman Linda Honold said the party sent invitations to all Democrats viewed as potential 2008 presidential candidates.

"The one that worked was Senator Bayh, and we're quite pleased because we have not had the chance to hear from him," Honold said.

Wisconsin's own Russ Feingold, the state's junior senator who has expressed interest in running for president, will address next weekend's state party convention but not in the keynote role that Bayh has.

Bayh's spokesman said these sort of events are not new. During Bayh's first term, he participated in party events in New Hampshire, Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Missouri, Iowa and Arkansas. In 1996, when he was governor, Bayh was the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention.

But, spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said, invitations to speak have increased considerably since the last election.

Bayh will be in Kentucky later this year. I just don't know when yet.

Understanding on Colts has caused some confusion. I like the Colts.

To hear Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mayor Bart Peterson last week, you'd think Indiana had just witnessed one of the biggest communications breakdowns in government history.

Daniels, a Republican, swears he never agreed to help the city pay the Indianapolis Colts a $48 million fee to break their current lease.

Peterson, a suddenly flabbergasted Democrat, begged to differ.

Both struck conciliatory tones as the week went on, but neither backed down.

So ensued the biggest public battle between the two since an April fight over who would build the team's stadium.

"I'll tell you the truth," Daniels said Thursday. "I never -- I personally never -- heard any intimation that the city would not pay the $48 million in innumerable meetings that went on."

Peterson wasn't buying it.

His administration trotted out several documents that indicated the lease termination fee -- a payment to the Colts designed to avert some penalties in the old lease based on the league's median income -- was always part of the plan.

Then there was Daniels' budget director, Charles Schalliol, who dodged a direct question about the fee at a City-County Council committee meeting late last month.

So was it a case of a Republican governor sticking it to a Democratic mayor? After all, Peterson is arguably the state's highest-ranking Democrat, after Sen. Evan Bayh, who seems to have his eyes focused more on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington than on the governor's residence on Meridian Street.

Peterson wasn't taking that bait when asked about the politics of the stalemate.

"They knew the lease termination payment was part of what needed to be financed," he said. "There's no question that they understood this was part of the deal."

Daniels, meanwhile, said it was time to look forward and solve the problem rather than dwell on who was to blame. He stressed that the payment dispute would not stop the deal to build a stadium.

The bottom line: It could be a long couple of months before any groundbreaking takes place in August.

Rachel Dratch appears at a benefit. It was not the WHAS-11 Crusade for Children.

Saturday Night Live's 2005 season ended last week, so Dratch, a player in the ensemble cast, contributed her star power last night to a fund-raiser to battle Duchenne muscular dystrophy at Cranbury Park's Gallagher Estate.

"At first, the idea was for me to teach improv," Dratch said. "But I said, 'It's going to be me and a bunch of drunk adults.'"

Instead of teaching guests how to be funny, Dratch showed some clips of her favorite vignettes from SNL and took questions.

Her favorite character to play? At the top was Debbie Downer, the sour-faced pessimist who repeatedly ruins conversations with depressing factoids on subjects such as global warming, melanoma and mad cow disease. Dratch created the character herself.

"I was having a conversation with a group of strangers," Dratch said. "Someone brought up 9/11. It sort of scrunched everyone up. That's how I thought of that character."

Asked whether any guest hosts were hard to work with, she said most are so nervous to be on the live show that they are polite.

"They're about to enter this huge frenzy," Dratch said.

A favorite guest of hers this year was Paul Giamatti of the film, Sideways.

"He's so naturally funny," she said. "He's a true actor."

Not every guest is comfortable with SNL's fast-paced humor, she said. Academy Award-winning actors sometimes have trouble on the show.

"The people that do best sometimes are politicians or sports figures," Dratch said. "They just try to have fun. They're not trying to overthink it."

Over to sports news, Mark Mulder and Roger Clemens face off today.