Washington, DC
Thursday, June 21

Lots of stuff happening today. I taught a class today called the anatomy of a newspaper. We discussed the setup of a newspaper, the financing, struggles in readership, and the role of the press in public service. What is interesting in the fact that again this year the students overwhelming read newspapers regularly. I think that this is one the keys to these students being as sharp as they are.

After class we went to the Supreme Court to meet with Cynthia Rapp, Clerk of the Supreme Court and Justice Samuel Alito. The students reacted well to both. Justice Alito spent most of the time talking about procedure. The students asked good questions, particularly about how cases were selected to be heard by the Court.

After the Supreme Court I changed into my softball gear and met Bill at his law firm on 10th and Pennsylvania. Today was my season debut with the Ugly Mugs. We play in the House Softball League. If you check the link in the last sentence you will notice that the “Mugs” are undefeated and ranked 8th out 123 teams in league. The team continued its winning ways by defeating Two Drink Minimum 17 – 12. We spotted them four runs in the top of the first with some sloppy play in the field. I pitched two innings of scoreless relief and grounded out in my only at bat.

After the games the traditional procedure is to head to the bar near the Hill that sponsors us for some mini-burgers, quesadillas, pizza rolls, and a few pitchers.