Winged Victory rises over Arizona’s copper dome 

As I mentioned here yesterday, I attended my first Fiesta Bowl Wednesday night and was lucky enough to be right in the middle of the smaller but feisty crowd of West Virginia fans (sort of sounds like the football team, too, doesn’t it?). We enjoyed an upset victory by the Mountaineers, who seemed to be less athletic than their opponents but clearly wanted the win a lot more. West Virginia was far more emotional on the field and after the game, and just seemed to work harder than the other guys.

As for the Oklahoma Sooners, maybe they should hang around the Valley until next week so they look for a few friendly pats on the back from Arizona ministers and peace activists at the state Capitol.

That’s right! The Arizona Inter-faith Movement and the Arizona Department of Peace (a non-government lobbying group) are hoping at least 1,000 people turn out at 2 p.m. Jan. 13 to give our Capitol one mighty big hug. Called Arizona Embrace, the event is schedule for one day before the state Legislature opens its 2008 regular session. A joint news release says the two groups want to use the uplifting inspiration of hugging to encourage Arizona’s political leaders to rise above the power-bickering  between Republicans and Democrats to embrace a year of  “peace, prosperity, bipartisanship, and cooperation for all elected officials, constituents, and all Arizonans.”

Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to happen. But if you are more optimistic and want more information, contact Colleen O’Donnell Pierce at (602) 478-3867 or colleen@breakinggravity.com.