Author: thependulumswings staff

Ten Piece Nuggets-NCAA Football

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

BBR’s world headquarters are Texas-based.  Texas passed laws this week that allow virtually anyone to get a gun ASAP and virtually no one to get an abortion unless it’s ASAP.

Because of that our staff had much to say about content this week and our monthly meeting ran long this AM.  It puts us precariously close to the daily writing deadline.  The real reason that we’re late is that one of us had too many baby back ribs and beers yesterday, but we digress.

Brief, opinionated college football nuggets follow.

  1.  Should we start engraving Alabama’s name on the national championship trophy already?  Maybe.   Probably.  Bama had Miami down by 30ish at halftime before the sub door became a turnstile in the second half.  Bama’s second team basically tied Miami’s first team.
  2.  Georgia might jump to spot #2 today with a stifling defensive effort over Clemson 10-3.  If we can’t start engraving, can we jump the SEC Championship game already?  It’s about the journey on the way to the destination supposedly.
  3. Penn St and Wisconsin was another low-scoring affair.  Penn St won 16-10.  We wondered aloud late in the game if either realized that the forward completed pass was a legal NCAA play.  Wisconsin must have bought a few of those Texas guns.  They shot themselves in both feet several times.  A late leaping Penn St. pick sealed Whisky’s fate in a packed Camp Randall Stadium.
  4. One bettor in Vegas got the vibe that week one might be lower scoring than years past.  He wagered a measly $10 on a 14 game parlay.  He took 14 games, all under.  The first 13 won.  Ole Miss and Lousiville under 75.5 last evening is all that stood in his way from collecting $80,000!  The Black Bears formerly known as Rebels won 43-24.  Voila!  80k.
  5. Since the magical 15-0 2019 national championship season LSU has won 5 and lost 6 games.  The latest was a beating administered by UCLA Saturday.  Ed Orgeron fired both coordinators after last year, their first year.  In comes two new ones.  The team lacked prep, pep, effort, and communication in game one of 2021 looking just like all of 2020.  Orgeron is now officially on the dreaded hot seat and rightfully so.
  6.  It was a big PAC 12 win over the SEC for UCLA.  Conversely, Montana beating Washington 17-7 was a big PAC 12 loss.  In fact, the north division had six losers against weak to middling out of conference foes.  Jeez.  Only Oregon won and was mediocre in doing so beating Fresno St. 31-24 in Eugene.  The south division fared much better.  USC, Utah, UCLA,  Arizona St, and Colorado all won.
  7. Oklahoma, known as Chokelahoma by its detractors, nearly choked away a homefield 34-14 halftime lead to hurricane displaced Tulane.  An onsides kick near the game’s end was recovered by Tulane as they trailed only 40-35.  But, the Sooners held on.  Some “experts” picked them to win the national championship this year.  Good luck.  They still have no D.
  8. Notre Dame survived overtime v Florida St. as the Seminoles forced it with 18 unanswered points.  Is Notre Dame not as good as advertised, or is Florida St. better than advertised? How about both?  Our guess is that Head Coach Mike Norvell will have the once-proud Seminoles legitimately back in the ACC mix by 2022.
  9. Mack Brown’s ACC North Carolina team looked shell-shocked at Virginia Tech.  The Tech faithful filled the stands and roared for 60 minutes.  NC, overanked at #10 lost and their offensive line looked slow, lost, dazed, overweight, short, and tired. That’s no way to go through life. And, that’s a bad combo for Heisman hopeful QB Sam Howell who struggled mightily to avoid the beatdown that Tech’s front seven eventually administered.
  10.  It’s tough to read too much into week one, but we did so anyway.  Oh, and Bob Stoops is now a part of the Fox NCAA broadcast team.  He’s, well, not good.

It’s only a four-day workweek to get us to football week two.  Get after it.

 

Abby Picks, Year 4, Week 1

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Guess what’s back in all of its pomp and circumstance?  College football.  Fans included.

Guess who’s back for year four with all of her picking prowess and expertise?  Abby.  Her fans included.

Abby and college football. Red beans and rice.  Our President and leadership.   Well, two out of three isn’t bad.

Abby starts year four having won more bones than she lost in each of her first three years, a record worth wagging your tail about. Remember one bone hypothetically represents an $11 wage to collect $10 unless it’s a money line bet which can have very different odds that we will post.   Now we go to the picks.

1.  Georgia + 3 v Clemson (Game played in Charlotte, NC) —  Abby’s going big right out of the chute.  She feels strongly that this is Georgia’s year to win the SEC and howl loudly in the playoffs.  Plus UGA is one of her favorite mascots.  She loves barking underdogs.   A straight-up win wouldn’t surprise her in the least, but there isn’t too much value in +$135.  Two bones.

2.  North Carolina -5 1/2 at Virginia Tech — Can NC unseat Clemson as the ACC Champion?  Yes.  Mack Brown returns a Heisman candidate at QB and 18 starters from last year’s team.  Two bones.

3.  Army +2 1/2 at Georgia St.— This will feel like a home game for the Army after 20 straight years of serious business.  Either you stop their unique running attack or you don’t.  Georgia St. won’t.  One bone.

4.  Rice at Arkansas -20 —  This one is simple.  Rice is a very bad football team.  Arkansas is getting better monthly under Sam Pittman.  His offensive line will control the ball for 40 of the 60 minutes in this game and wear the Owls out.  Two bones.

5.  Texas Tech at Houston pick — It’s put up or shut up time for Dana Holgerson in year three with his fat $4 million per year deal with Tillman Fertitta.  He’s redshirted many and has gotten many more from the transfer portal.   He starts off 2021 on a high note.  Take the Cougars in a close one.  One bone.

On a hunch take LSU at UCLA under 66 points.  LSU’s 2020 much-maligned D will be much improved in 2021.  And, expect LSU to run 55/45.  UCLA will not have much success throwing the ball either.

Woof!

 

Here to Help

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In June of 1971, shortly after a publication of a special message to the Congress on drug abuse, prevention, and control, the American media popularized the term “The War on Drugs.”  Richard Milhouse Nixon declared the problem, as he put it, “public enemy number one.”

By 1973 our government was in such agreement with Nixon on the dire situation of the matter it created the Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA) to fight this war on any and all fronts.

A decade later cocaine had become so prevalent stateside that Nancy Reagan took the lead of the “Just Say No” initiative.

For crooks in the drug trade during the Reagan years and beyond, prison penalties skyrocketed.  Incarcerations for nonviolent drug offenses increased from 50k to over 400k from 1980 to 1987.

A half of a century ago Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon declared war on drugs.  And drugs are as easy to get a hold of today and in many more dangerous and advanced synthetic forms than ever before.  And, the DEA manpower and budget are bigger than ever.

Now we want an early release for nonviolent offenders.

Has our government failed us?  When you throw a lot of money at a big problem and that problem is still staring you in the face today, the obvious answer is yes.

Twenty years ago this 9/11 America was attacked by Al-Qaeda, a broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the 1980s.

Twenty years ago this October America invaded Afghanistan.  Call it the War on Terror if you wish.

Meanwhile, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, passed by the 107th Congress and signed on November 19, 2001, established Transportation Security Administration(TSA).

We spent the first ten years in Afghanistan looking under rocks for a devil named Osama Bin Laden.  Supposedly.  We spent the last ten nation-building and getting our soldier’s lives and limbs blown away by roadside bombs knows as improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

And, now we’ve come home.  Enough of this never-ending war Joe Biden said.  And, America agrees.

We got “90 percent” of the Americans out that wanted out, he said.   We also left untold numbers of Afghan friendlies to us (interpreters, snitches, and the like.  We left behind helicopters, planes, tanks, humvees, weapons, and ammo that are now in the hand of the very same people we attempted to beat back out of the bushes for two decades.  America disagrees with how we exited, not why.

The Taliban, and its numerous factions of terrorist groups, are in exactly the same spot where we found them.

Two decades and two trillion dollars later we’re in the same spot as well except we got one guy who was so good at hide and seek it took ten years to find him. When you throw a lot of money at a big problem and that problem is still staring you in the face today, the obvious answer is still yes.

How’s the TSA doing you ask?  Its budget is over six times larger than when it was first instituted.  Self-imposed tests by the TSA show a greater than 90% failure rate at stopping dangerous weapons from getting past them.   And, don’t forget to take your shoes off when going through.

At least we’re soon to put some money that we don’t have to good use here at home.  We can fix the nation’s decaying infrastructure for a measly one trillion dollars we are told and sold.

Surely you’ll only see orange cones littering your favorite routes for a short period of time.

The War on Roads and Bridges easily will be completed in a decade or two.

You can see the roadside sign in your head right now, “Your Tax Dollars at Work!”

Can’t you?

 

 

Scripted and Shallow

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Seven is usually the lucky number.  But for President Joe Biden, the dice roll in month seven of his presidency has come up snake eyes.

Major storm clouds gathered rapidly both internationally and domestically.  One storm was named the Taliban, the other Ida.  Both have had devastating effects.

What could the man in the highest office in all of the land done to minimize the damage in both of them?  The answer is plenty more in the former and nothing in the latter.  But, you see in the political blame game, the answer is way more complicated than it should be.

One of BBR’s staffers is a staunch conservative on several issues.  He is frequently asked why many decisions at the federal government level disappoint/anger him so.  That answer is grounded in reality and transparency.  Or, should we say a lack thereof?

Category 4 hurricane Ida roared ashore in Louisiana yesterday.

It was a strong one.  But, make no mistake about it, it wasn’t the first, and it won’t be the last.  Hurricanes have hit the Louisiana coast since long, long before man settled there.  The world-famous Pat O’Brien’s Bar mixes a drink called a “Hurricane” for a reason.

But after a day of thoughts, prayers, and kumbaya, the left will use the moment to remind us that climate change is the greatest existential threat we face. We’re all going to die if we don’t throw 50 trillion bucks trying to fix what we can’t fix.

In Afghanistan unrest has plagued the country for a long, long time ever since man settled there.  And, it was there that we attempted to fix what we broke.  A troop withdrawal without a citizen withdrawal left Emperor Biden without any clothes on when the Afghanistan, ahem, Army folded like a cheap suit.  Who could have predicted that?  At least we had a contingency plan for, ahem, all outcomes.

What to do, what to do?  Send troops back in to save the day and blame it all on that loser Donald Trump.  He’s the one that signed the treaty with the Taliban to be out by May 1, Biden said.  My hands were tied on this, Biden said.

The not-so-funny thing is, they weren’t tied.  Biden undid Trump’s shoelaces on the Keystone XL pipeline, the border wall construction, the Paris Peace Accord, the desire to withdraw from the WHO, and on and on.  Do you know that you are currently paying hundreds of millions for construction companies to not construct the border wall?  We digress.

We’re America.  If we want to rewrite a deal, we do so.  Everything’s negotiable.

But, now tragically, 13 marines are dead.  They went, left, came back, and wanted to leave again, but not in body bags.

Like clockwork, Biden will head to New Orleans later this week to survey the damage from Ida, tell civic leaders that the federal government is here to help, kiss a baby or two, talk about getting real funding for climate change initiatives, and get back on Air Force One.  All presidents engage in this symbolic, worthless task.  We care.

Hopefully, he’ll fake it better than he did Sunday. He is facing stark criticism, while in Dover, MD after a video emerged of him looking at his watch multiple times during a dignified transfer ceremony of Marines slain in Afghanistan by twin suicide bombers.  Maybe “call a lid” time was fast approaching?

Further, The Washington Post reported that Jiennah McCollum, the pregnant wife of one of the slain Marines met with Biden, but was disappointed by Biden’s words to her, finding them “scripted and shallow.”  ‘He kept talking about his son Beau.”  We care.

If we could just get rid of climate change and Trump all would be well.

“Scripted and shallow,” Mrs. McCollum said.

Her child will grow up without a father, but with a very perceptive mother.

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Rodney Will See You Now

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

To vax or not to vax, or booster or not to booster, or mask or not to mask, those are but three of the questions Americans ask.

And, now the workplace is emboldened.  Mandates commeth.

Afghanistan?  Don’t even get us started.

We need a good dose of the best medicine known to man(and woman)kind in times like these.  Laughter.  To lighten the mood, other than hydroxychloroquine, what would that health nut Dr. Rodney Dangerfield have prescribed?  If he were still with us, he’d likely recommend as follows.

  1.  Don’t get married.  “My wife and I were happy for twenty years, then we met!”
  2.  Don’t drink too much.  “My doctor told me to watch my drinking.  Now I drink in front of the mirror.”
  3.  Exercise, but only when appropriate.  “I asked my old man if I could go ice-skating on the lake. He told me, ‘Wait until it gets warmer.’”
  4.  Be compassionate.  “My uncle’s dying wish was to have me sitting on his lap. He was in the electric chair.”
  5.  Be realistic.  “This morning when I put on my underwear I could hear the Fruit of the Loom guys laughing at me.”
  6.  Try to maintain a social life.  “A girl phoned me and said, ‘Come on over. There’s nobody home.’  I went over. Nobody was home!”
  7.  Compassionately consider the ramifications of childbearing in these tough times. “When my old man wanted sex, my mother would show him a picture of me.”
  8. Enjoy your work.  “I worked in a pet store and people kept asking how big I’d get.”
  9. Get regular checkups.  “I went to see my doctor, ‘Doctor, every morning when I get up and look in the mirror I feel like throwing up. What’s wrong with me?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, but your eyesight is perfect.'”
  10.  And follow the docs advice.  “I tell you, with my doctor, I get no respect. I told him, ‘I’ve swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills.’ ‘He told me to have a few drinks and get some rest.'”
  11.  Ensure you’re in good mental health.  “Last week I saw my psychiatrist. I told him, ‘Doc, I keep thinking I’m a dog.’  ‘He told me to get off his couch.'”
  12.  Keep your chin up no matter what.  “I remember I was so depressed I was going to jump out a window on the tenth floor. They sent a priest up to talk to me. He said, ‘On your mark…'”

 

 

A Band of Brothers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Every episode except the very first of the critically acclaimed Showtime hit series Ray Donovan began with the screen dark and Liev Schrieber saying “previously on Ray Donovan.”

And in the 30-seconds that followed very seldom was the recap that didn’t involve a bat to the kneecap, or a punch to the gut, or worse.   For all of their problems, the fictitious Irish heritage Donovan family would quickly band together and never backed down. If you picked a fight with Mickey, Ray, Terry, Bunchy, half-brother Daryll, and even Abby, you got more than you wanted back from the fighting Irish.

And, almost as predictable as Ray throwing a haymaker you knew it would only be a matter of time in today’s world that cancel culture would want to pick a fight with Notre Dame over their Fighting Irish nickname.

When journalists at the Indianapolis Star reviewed a recent survey on college mascots, they focused on the fourth most offensive on the list — Notre Dame’s leprechaun who cheers on the Fighting Irish.

So, The Star asked the university for their response to the survey that asked 1,266 participants to rate 128 mascots at colleges and universities in order of best, worst, sexiest, creepiest, and offensive.

Be careful what you ask for.  “Our symbols stand as celebratory representations of a genuine Irish heritage at Notre Dame, a heritage that we regard with respect, loyalty, and affection,” the ND statement said.

Notre Dame said its nickname began as a term used by other schools to mock its athletic teams. At the time, anti-Catholicism and anti-immigrant sentiments were strong.  Notre Dame was largely populated by ethnic Catholics.  They were mostly Irish, but also Germans, Italians, and Poles.  The university was a natural target for ethnic slurs, it said.

As the football team gained national prominence in the early 1900s, journalists began to use the ‘fighting Irish’ phrase in their stories. ‘Soon, Notre Dame supporters took what was once an epithet into an ‘in-your-face’ expression of triumph,’ the university said.  In your face, they said.

By 1927 the nickname was officially adopted.

As for the leprechaun, Notre Dame said it is “symbolic of the Fighting Irish and intentionally a caricature.”  Therefore, “the intent is to recognize the determination of the Irish people and, symbolically, the university’s athletes.”

So to recap as Liev does, the opposition to Notre Dame called the team the “insulting” name, and the press wrote of them as such. ND then turned the tables and nearly 100 years later still proudly wears the moniker like a badge of courage.  In your face, indeed.

After all, if you’re going to pick a fight it’s best that you not pick one with the Fighting Irish.

They’ll band together like three and a half Donovan brothers.

What an interesting twist.  The woke actually tried to wake themselves.

Score one for history.

WSJBDN?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

What do a botched departure plan, a George Stephanopolous interview, two disastrous press conferences, and a thrice interrupted vacation all have in common?

That’s an easy one.  They’re all bad acts on the biggest international stage at a time that the brightest lights were shining and the world was watching.  And, they all occurred after the fact.

What fact is that, you ask?  That’s another easy one.  President Joe Biden decided to withdraw the last of the troops before providing all Americans (first), helpful Afghans (second), and journalists (third) a safe passage out of what’s left to Afghanistan is that fact.

With Kabul’s airport looking like Chicago’s O’Hare the day before Christmas in a whiteout blizzard, only the checkpoints to get there look tougher than the United Airlines reschedule flights line.

So, WSJBDN? What should Joe Biden do now?  Well, while you mull that over, realize that Kamala can’t be part of your answer.  She jetted off to Singapore a day ago for unknown reasons and likely unimportant ones as well.  When asked a question upon arrival that she should be plenty prepped for, her nervous laughter is a bad “tell” and makes for a poor poker player.  But, we digress.

What Joe Biden should do now, in between naps, is send roughly another 20k troops back into the occupied for 20 years and counting cesspool that Afghanistan is.  He’s sent 6k back in a mere two weeks after he pulled the last 2.5k out.

If you’re going to do a job, well, git er dun dammit.

You’re already pot committed.  Go all in to get all out.  Get it?  He didn’t get it then, but he desperately needs to now.

Saying that you’re negotiating with the same people you fought against doesn’t cut it.  Saying that you don’t trust them doesn’t cut it.  And, most of all, saying that you aren’t sure that you can provide safe passage out of Kabul for our trapped loved ones doesn’t cut it whatsoever.

Sometimes we’re called Ugly Americans.  At least we used to be.  If nothing else we expect strong confidence and dealing from a position of strength.  We have a weak hand right now.  We look even weaker.  Oh to be called ugly again. Those were the days Archie might say.

Then, when the last travel passport is stamped we can line up the flights for every soldier to head back too, but not before.

Only then can we get back to worrying about green new deals, pronouns of choice, infrastructure that isn’t infrastructure, temporary inflation, the resurrection of the insurrection, and most of all the vaccine passports.

Hopefully, Kamala will be back by then.  Because we could use a good booster shot and a laugh.

And soon.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Like Joe Biden, the BBR staff took the last several days off for vacation.  Biden went to Camp David, while BBR went through the deep and mid-south on a trip to nowhere.  Nuggets await you.

  1. Speaking of a trip to nowhere, American citizens yesterday were told in writing as a response to their formal request to be airlifted out of Afghanistan, and reinforced by a noncommital verbal answer from Press Secretary Jen Psaki, that their exit from the tumult could not be guaranteed by 8/31 nor guaranteed that it could be done safely.  The words shameful and pitiful come to mind.
  2. Has anyone seen the most unpopular VP in decades recently?  Anyone?  Maybe the official Border Fixer Czar is toiling down on the Rio Grande?  Buehler?
  3. The USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy are being prepared for deployment “as needed to assist potentially overwhelmed communities with acute patient care,” Jonathan Rath Hoffman, assistant to the defense secretary for public affairs, said during a news conference today at the Pentagon.  Actually, that was on 3/18/2020.  Do we need them again?  Actually, we didn’t need them then.  So far no governors, including the ones from California and New York that asked 17 months ago, have inquired.
  4. Of course, those two might be too busy seeking their own comfort and asking for mercy for other reasons.  The NY governor resigned a week ago after claiming that his Italian heritage was partially to blame for his inability to keep his hands and thoughts to himself.   The Cali gov is taking on water in a recall election and may need his own lifeline.
  5. What is going to be needed to assist potentially overwhelmed communities with acute patient care is progress on vaccine compliance.  And, we aren’t speaking on the need for all to get jabbed a time or three.  We’re speaking of the state, local, or medical community’s insistence on health care workers getting poked, poked, and poked.  The backlash is real, growing, and about to explode.  Doctors and nurses, like Intel chips and potato chips, will soon be in even shorter supply in certain areas of the country as they walk out, quit, or move.
  6. If a nurse wants to move to Phoenix one hospital chain announced opportunities that pay $5,500 per 48-hour workweek starting immediately.  You read that right. If you like your nurse you can keep your nurse. Not.  It’s estimated that between 70-75% of the medical professionals in NY are or plan to get vaccinated.  It’s a dry heat.
  7. One baseball adage is that the baseball always finds the weak link on the team.  Gas prices, border crisis, crime waves, Afghanistan missteps, etc.  Hey, how’s the covid thing coming along?  Oh, it’s not Biden’s fault?  Of course, it isn’t.  Back then it wasn’t Trump’s either, but the media put it on him and he put some of it on himself.  Now, it’s the Republicans who won’t mask up, or needle up. Or, the media just calls it Texas and Florida.  It’s never too early to start discrediting DeSantis, is it?
  8. How will the narrative metastasize when the northern states go back to school (and the weather sends everyone indoors more often) and they light up as well?  Queue the “we need all Americans to get a booster” battle cry.  If one was good, and two was better, a third will make it best.  You can expect the CDC to announce any day now that anyone who got shot #2 more than eight months ago should get a booster.
  9. What percent compliance is reasonable to expect for a third shot?  The guess here is that no more than half of the vaccinated will go the booster route.  So while the noise loudens for complete vaccination, will the noise crescendo against it simultaneously?
  10. How will those states, counties, and cities that will require a vaccine passport enforce it?  If you have a two-shot vaccine passport it’s good till eight months after your last shot?  It will be like walking into a 7/11 store.  “You must be born after 8/18/2000 to be able to purchase cigarettes.”  Maybe CVS can start stamping the passport like when you leave for France.  All aboard.

Buckle up.  The fun is just starting.

Deep Breaths

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Back in the Stone Age, the word humdinger got a lot more run than it does today.  Have you never heard that word used?

Humdinger defined is a noun used to describe a remarkable or outstanding person or thing of its kind.

Baseball is a sport that some critics think still operates in the Stone Age.  But, give baseball fans, players, managers, and reporters credit for slimming down humdinger into a catchphrase for a home run.  They call them dingers.

In Denver, the air is a “mile high.”  So, dingers were flying towards Aspen with great regularity from the very start of the Colorado Rockies franchise.  In fact, they did so often that the franchise birthed Dinger, the Rockies Mascot, based on a triceratops – an herbivore dinosaur species that lived in the area, as evidenced by the several triceratops fossils found in the region.

Dinger made his debut on April 16, 1994, at Mile High Stadium. Like the legendary San Diego Chicken, Dinger made his official debut by being hatched. At the game, fans were told that an egg was found during the construction of Coors Field, and a grey egg was seen on the field. Two “doctors” were seen attending to the egg when it began to hatch – and thus Dinger was born.

But on Sunday, some 27 years (or roughly 2240 home games later) when a fan sitting not too far from home plate nor too far from the broadcast’s field microphones repeatedly yelled the mascot’s name to get his attention, he got the entire on edge world’s attention.

Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson stepped up to the plate in a game between two very below-average teams.  Brinson is African American.  And for viewers and some Rockies officials, the call for Dinger sounded like the worst racial epithet of all, the n-word.

No Marlins, including Brinson, said after the game that they had heard any of this.  But, one of the Rockies broadcasts did pick the shouting up, and the disgusted Rockies Organization sprung into action as you see below.

Monday Brinson said he had watched the replay “like 50 times in the last 15-16 hours” and believes he does hear the n-word.

And predictably the twitter world, the players union, and the media ran with the story.

Some of the best, or worst follows.

1.  @JessBlaylock
I proudly stand WITH Lewis Brinson, who is one of the kindest, hardest working, genuine people you’ll ever have the pleasure to meet. I firmly stand AGAINST hatred, intolerance, ignorance, and the disgusting behavior that was exhibited earlier today. We have a long way to go!

2.  MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark said in a statement on Sunday night that ‘we have to continue to work together to ensure that racism is never tolerated on or off the field.’‘While many are truly committed to respect and equality for all, the abhorrent racial animus displayed today highlights that there is still much work to be done,’ he said.

3.  By BBR’s count, no less than 15 major US media outlets ran with the wrong side of the story by Sunday PM.  There were the usual suspects like the New York Times, ESPN, Newsweek (who knew they still existed, we digress), and CBS amongst others.

Multiple fans seated in the section stated that the fan was shouting from contacted the Rockies to clear the misunderstanding.  By early Monday morning the Rockies Organization, in cooperation with the broadcast by AT&T Sports and section ushers corroborated the multiple nearby fans’ version.  Dinger it was.  And, the earth could resume spinning on its axis.

The Marlins traveled to San Diego and played the Padres on Monday.   Believe it or not, a resilient Brinson homered in the game.  We doubt that anyone in the stands dared to call it a dinger though.

This brings us to the fate of Dinger, the mascot.  Apparently, the Rockies received calls Monday to dump the name as it’s too close to the hated slur.

This is no joking matter.  And, while we are on that matter, jokes can no longer be called zingers, either.

Roy Rogers’ horse would be in a world of hurt/hate right about now.

Who knew that for 27 years and 2240 or so ball games that the organization and its fans were walking such a tightrope.  Surely someone has yelled out Dinger’s name once or twice before?

No charges will be brought against the fan.  Duh.

And for 48 hours the Cleveland Indians and the Atlanta Braves got a reprieve.

We do indeed have a long way to go!

Inhale, exhale.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Time to lighten it up a bit with the “you know what” hanging heavily on our minds again. Have an order of Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports to kick off your weekend early.   As usual, no two are alike and the heat comes at you from any direction.

  1.  Bill Belicheck need not worry about his financial future.  But, after football, he clearly has a shot at tv work if he wishes with that ebullient personality. Not. And weather might be his thing.  Here’s his quote from training camp yesterday.  “Looks like the field will be wet. If it rains, it rains. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. If it’s hot, it’s hot. If it’s not, that’s what it is.”
  2.  How did Green Bay get petulant Aaron Rodgers back for 2021?  They promised to trade him after the season if that is still his desire.  The marriage counselors have five months to patch the thing back together.  One thing seems certain.  Either Rodgers or GM Brian Gutenkunst is a goner.
  3.  The Steelers and the Cowboys kicked off season 2021 last evening in the Hall of Fame game.  Did you watch it?  Why?  Steelers 16-3.  You won’t remember who played by Monday, or sooner.
  4.  If you did watch you learned that after 25 years of separation it looks like Jerry Jones and Jimmy johnson might be mending a fence or two.  Jones took significant blame for their breakup saying that it was on him to recognize and manage around what the duo had going at the time.  He also promised to add Jimmy to the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor before too long.  Johnson retorted during the conversation with “When I’m still alive?”
  5. Viking’s QB Kirk Cousins vowed to encase himself in plexiglass if needed to ensure his availability to lead the Minnesota team this year while staying away from Covid protocols.  Cousins is unvaccinated.  The Washington Post reported that the Vikings have the league’s lowest vaccination rate at 64.5% of players fully vaccinated.  Tsk.  Tsk.
  6. Kevin Durant and Jrue Holiday didn’t just break Australia’s spirit in the Olympic semifinals — they lifted the entire U.S. men’s basketball team up around them in a brilliant performance that led to a 97-78 victory after trailing by 15 in the first half.  They gained a berth in Saturday’s gold-medal game.  Did you watch it?  They’ll meet the French who pulled off a stunning late rally for an 83-76 upset of the Americans two weeks ago.
  7.  Did you know that the Toronto Blue Jays are a team loaded with players who had or have relatives in the big show in the past?  Cavan Biggio is the son of Craig.  Bo Bichette is the son of Dante.  And, of course, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the son of Vlad Sr.  But, there’s one more.  Lourdes Gurriel is the brother of current major leaguer Yuli Gurriel.   Genes.
  8. Vlad Jr. leads the bigs with a 1.061 on-base percentage plus slugging percentage (OPS).  That’s really good, but only good enough to rank 169th all-time for a single season.  Who had the best single-season ever?  Barry Bonds owns the top two spots with a 1.40 and 1.38 back in 2004 and 2002.  Babe Ruth owns an incredible 7 of the top 15 years of all time.  And rest assured the only juice Babe was on he drank.
  9.  Who has the shortest odds to get to the World Series as this AM?  The Dodgers are even money to advance in the NL.  It’s odd odds, if you will, as the SF Giants lead that division by four games.  Vegas knows.  In the AL, it’s the Houston Astros at +165.  BBR sees value in San Diego in the NL at +470 and Tampa Bay in the AL at +430.
  10. They have built it, and they will come.  And, they are getting throwback dressy for the shindig.  Ahead of the “Field of Dreams” game in Iowa on Aug. 12, the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox unveiled their 20th century inspired team jerseys for the first-time special event.  The Sox ones are cool and way old school.  The Yankees look like the same old same old.

Enjoy the weekend.  BTS is near.