The 2004 elections saw the first time blogs were heavily utilized to promote campaigns, to recruit efforts and dollars. While some used the Web platform to communicate ideas, others hoped the sites would become virtual ATMs, keeping running tickers of the amount raised. Now, as the 2006 mid-term elections approach every candidate, national to local, has a Web site, and most have blogs or e-mail lists. So how can you mobilize beyond the fray?

Left-leaning site and political Web pioneer MyDD is calling for a new volunteer-led campaign to utilize Google's popular AdWords program, "to drive as many voters as possible toward the most damning, non-partisan article written on the Republican candidate in seventy key US Senate and House races." Now, when Google users would search on candidates' names to learn more, they might see ads that show them in an unpopular light.

Given reports that the Republican National Committee is funneling millions to back negative advertising against Democrats in hard-fought contests, this turnabout may seem like fair play, but it's yet another way that political partisans are taking the power of democracy directly to the people, and away from special interests and corporate lobbyists.

Other Political Notes of Interest:

Bush faces political nightmare if Democrats win
Democrat/Republican Ads Spoof Mac/PC Commercials

Listening to '''Pure' Frictions Groove'', by Sasha & John Digweed (Play Count: 4)

In my twenty-plus years of researching all I can about baseball, I've amassed a fair amount of knowledge on the subject, and I'm occasionally trotted out to spar with other trivia junkies to see who can know the most obscure items. While that's fun, it's a rarity when I can find somebody else as passionate about the sport, who also knows their history and is happy to talk about it. This afternoon, on our way home from the Cal football game, we struck up a conversation with couple from the San Joaquin Valley, and got to hear first-hand stories about the LA Dodgers from decades long gone by.

Not devout Cal fans, the couple had rightfully anticipated today's contest to be a good one, and had driven the two-plus hours to the BART station to catch the game. They regaled us with stories about how they traveled to see the Reds take on the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and the Giants at the Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium earlier this year. But the best parts came when the husband told me he had grown up an LA Dodgers fan in the Walter Alston era, abandoning his fandom when Tommy Lasorda took over the managerial position.

Cautiously, I asked him if he had ever seen pitching legends Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale take the mound. He had - and said he had seen one of Koufax's then-record four no-hitters. We talked about speedster Maury Wills coming up in the 1959 season, along with pitcher Roger Craig, who later gained notoriety for losing 20-plus games for the expansion New York Mets in the early 1960s, and eventually becoming the Giants manager in the 1980s. Each of his memories would spark more questions from me - as he remembered Steve Garvey clubbing 5 doubles in a game, and St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial setting the National League record for career doubles, forcing the game to be abruptly stopped to recognize the feat. I wanted to know which catcher took over following Roy Campanella's car accident, and what had sparked Juan Marichal's famous beating of Johnny Roseboro after a high and tight pitch.

Our conversation was cut short by our needing to exit the BART, find our car, and head home, but it came too soon. It's not often that I can benefit from knowing the ins and outs of sports and find someone who can not only add stories, but appreciate the conversation. He seemed excited that some under-30 kid would have taken the time to know about the baseball of his childhood, which had long since faded to memories by the time I was born. I left, wishing them well, happy, almost as pleased with our exchange as I was the Cal football game, and I hope that our conversation similarly brightened his day.

A good friend of mine recently teased that I focus too much on the world of sports, and that I've made a jump to try and act like a jock, when I so clearly am a nerd. But there's so much more than just the final scores and the physical rough and tough. In sports, especially baseball, there is history and tradition, and a commonality between random people that is special. You can love sports for the sweat and the physicality. I love sports for the challenge, the energy, the statistics and the meaning of it all - not just for today, but forever.

Listening to ''No More Tears'', by DJ Tiesto (Play Count: 6)

We have seen a lot of amazing sports this year - from Milton Bradley's walk-off 3-run home run earlier this summer, to Marco Scutaro's bases-clearing double in the ALDS clincher, but today's overtime thriller between the #11-ranked Cal Bears and Pac 10 foe Washington Huskies has to rank right up there among the very best. Though we have grown accustomed to seeing the Golden Bears dominate their opponents in a hail of touchdowns and pounding defense, today's game started off slowly, with Berkeley down 10-3 at halftime, as the offense could not get off the ground.

As the crowd of 58,000-plus milled around uncomfortably, Cal came out with a new attitude in the second half, outscoring the Huskies 21-7, and taking a 24-17 lead, led by a series of athletic interceptions by the defense and consistent rushing by Marshawn Lynch and his backup, Justin Forsett. But the Huskies were given one more chance with just over a minute left to try and avert the loss. As Memorial Stadium roared, the Huskies quarterback took shot after shot of the end zone, avoiding a turnover on downs, and milking the clock as it ticked down to mere seconds.

Then, amazingly, as time expired, he took one last heave from midfield to a crowd of Cal Bears, one of whom slapped the ball down, where, if it hit turf, the game would be over and the Bears would win. Instead, the ball ended up in the hands of a Husky receiver, who took it in for the game-tying two yard score as regulation ended. Our thunderous cheers died, and those of us who have seen Cal pull defeat from the jaws of victory in our time at the school, shook our heads knowingly and smirked at what had befallen us. Overtime lay in our future, and any team could win. While a win would keep the Bears' momentum, a loss, the team's second on the year, would send them tumbling down the national rankings and out of BCS contention.

In overtime, Cal had the ball first, and Lynch quickly scored his second touchdown of the afternoon, putting Cal up 31-24, as the cannon sounded and the crowd cheered. That set up Washington with yet another chance to deliver heroics and further extend the game, but it was not to be. On the team's second play from scrimmage, the ball fell into the hands of the Cal defense for the fifth interception of the day - effectively ending the contest. Though the lineman gamely rambled 80-plus yards in a quest to pad the final score, he was tackled at the 12 yard line, as fans jumped and shouted, waving their hands in the air, and high-fiving all within reach. Where all had once seemed in jeopardy, all was whole again. The Bears had won. The Bears have moved to 7-1 on the year, the fans have gone home happy, and no doubt sunburned, and yet another great memory has been added to our record books.

Just another "boring" Saturday in the Gray household.

Listening to ''ZeroTonine'', by Junkie XL (Play Count: 6)

Upon logging in to my Feedblitz account this morning, I noticed something dramatically different. After relying on Feedblitz to deliver blog updates by e-mail for the better part of the year, I found the site had been completely redesigned with a new look (and a lot less orange). Additionally, the Feedblitz team rolled out version 2 of their service, which improves feed diagnostics, tagging, and expanded information on subscribers. (Learn more on their blog)

As a free Feedblitz user (so far), I haven't anted up to try the company's premium options, which would let me customize the update e-mails, offer real-time statistics and additional tagging options, but with Feedblitz 2 here, I'll definitely be looking into it - especially as the blog grows in traffic, content and subscribers. (Sign Up Now)

Since its launch, Feedblitz has become the de facto source for publishing blogs by e-mail, including a significant partnership with Six Apart's TypePad, which debuted in the last few months. It's good to see the company isn't resting on its laurels, but continuing to make significant upgrades for its user base.

Listening to ''Take My Hand'', by Andrea Britton & Jurgen Vries (Play Count: 19)