Chelsea

What ever happened to paying your dues? Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps? Rags to riches? Those quintessential elements of the American dream have been replaced by a "child of" meritocracy in which your birth certificate means more than your resume. Chelsea Clinton has been added to NBC's stable of reporters, and the sound you hear is that of thousands of unemployed journalists weeping over their Starbucks applications. She is the latest in a growing list of children famous because their parents are famous becoming high profile broadcasters.

Since others like Mediaite and Eric Wemple in the Washington Post have commented on my denunciation of NBC News on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday for hiring the woefully unqualified Chelsea Clinton as a special correspondent, I guess I better explain how I really feel. I was only warming up in denouncing this inside job among the elite one-percenters when I said: "At a time when young people who have played by the rules, who have gone to college, who have worked hard are camping out in American cities because the system has failed them in terms of providing jobs, to then take another member of that elite - the 1 percent - and give them one of those jobs is really a dispiriting message to the people in this country...

What does it say about NBC News and its priorities that it hired Chelsea Clinton as a correspondent for Brian Williams' overblown "Rock Center" newsmagazine? And why are some people still talking about the interview Bob Costas did last Monday with accused child rapist and former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky? And can Gayle King and Charlie Rose put a dent in the curse of weekday mornings on CBS? Those are some of the questions host Howard Kurtz will be asking me and two of my favorite media-critic colleagues Sunday at 11 a.m. on CNN's "Reliable Sources.

TUESDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS Autos World of Outlaws: Syracuse (T) SPEEDNoon Baseball Taiwan All-Star Series, Game 1 MLB9 C. foot. Navy@Notre Dame (T) MASN11 a.m. Fordham@Army (T) CBSSN4 Northern Illinois@Toledo ESPN27 Delaware@Towson (T) TCN8 West Virginia@Rutgers (T) ESPNUMidnight Illinois@Penn State (T) ESPNU2 a.m. Northern Illinois@Toledo (T)

Soccer Bays Chelsea U-19 boys win national title The Baltimore Bays Chelsea under-19 boys team defeated the Chicago Fire, 2-0, on Sunday in Phoenix to win the United States Youth Soccer Association national championship. The Bays scored five minutes into the game on a header by Marquez Fernandez (McDonogh) and added a goal by Jeremy Kirkwood (McDonogh) at the 51-minute mark. Phil Saunders (Perry Hall, UMBC), who recorded the shutout, won the Golden Glove award as the tournament's top goalkeeper.

Jeremy Raley (Maryland) scored in the first half to help Baltimore Bays Chelsea defeat Lower Merion, the state champion from Pennsylvania, 1-0, and earn the Under-19 Region 1 championship this past weekend in Lancaster, Pa. Phil Saunders (Perry Hall, UMBC) recorded the shutout. The Bays won five games in five days to qualify for the nationals in Phoenix from July 26 to July 31. The Bays' U-18 squad will compete in the United States Development Academy national finals starting this weekend in Milwaukee.

Horse racing Maryland Racing Commission adds Quade Bruce Quade , 65, of the Eastern Shore was introduced at the Maryland Racing Commission's monthly meeting as the group's newest member. "Being on this commission is something I'm interested in, excited and passionate about," said Quade, who is semi-retired from the federal government, where he worked in intelligence and energy. He will serve a four-year term. … The commission will hold a meeting open to the public at 1 p.m. Wednesday to consider the application from Penn National subsidiary Prince George's Racing Ventures LLC for a racetrack license at Rosecroft Raceway.

Basketball English to try out for World University Games team Missouri rising senior Kim English (Randallstown) is among 22 college players who have accepted invitations from the USA Basketball Men's Junior National Team Committee to attend the World University Games team training camp July 29 to Aug. 7 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Twelve of the players will represent the United States at the games Aug. 13-23 in Shenzhen, China.