Author: thependulumswings staff

Party With the Lombardi

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If everybody every day got offended by everything would that actually enable cancel culture to cancel cancel culture?  Just asking as 1) we cannot be that far from it, and 2) it would be a merciful end to the maniacal madness.

Can we just make it stop?  We are asking for a friend.

Actually, we are asking for Tom Brady.  He’s in hot water(not really) after tossing the Lombardi Trophy over Tampa Bay water from one boat to another as all of Tampa celebrated the Bucs Super Bowl victory with a boozy Super Bowl boat parade.

He completed the pass just like he has so many before with a real football that isn’t attached to the stem of the trophy. So, no big deal right?  Wrong.

“It just upset me that this trophy was disgraced and disrespected by being thrown as if it was a real football,” the daughter of the man who designed the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Lorraine Grohs told Tampa’s Fox 4.

“I personally would like an apology, not just to me and my family and the other silversmiths but to the fans, all the football fans, the other team players,” she insisted.

Did she miss anybody?

“Hi, Tom Brady here.  I’d like to personally apologize to all silversmiths near and far for my outrageous behavior late last week.  Hic.  Apparently, having fun and silver trophies don’t mix well.”

Would that tongue-tied in cheek BS apology be sufficient?  We can hope.

The woman went on to claim that she has experienced “sleepless nights” over what she feels is the “disrespect” her father’s handiwork received.  Sleepless nights?  Sure.

The only thing worse than that claim is that this nonsensical “news” story even got air time.  And, maybe that, unto itself, is the problem.

Everyone wants to be famous for 15 minutes even when it’s achieved by taking a shot at a guy who took a few shots on the field then a few more off of the field.

“I only watch the game to watch the trophy come out. I like to see all the owners and the football players just hold it up with such pride and hold it up and show everybody and I get goosebumps…. like right now I’m getting goosebumps,” she admitted.

Goosebumps!  It’s not winning the trophy that’s the thing, it’s seeing the trophy.  Who knew?

Tom tweeted, “nothing to see here, just a little avocado tequila.”

Nothing to see here, indeed.

No Doubt, Game On

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Ten days into month two of year 21 of century 21 you have two serious doubts.

One is, you doubt that you’ll ever watch a movie on one of the super big screens inside of an American Multi-Cinema (AMC) Theatre again.  Two is, you doubt that you’ll ever watch another hour of the American political theatre again.

AMC theatres are closed.  It’s a virus thing you know.  Political theatres never close.  It feels like a virus thing as well.

AMC has no choice right now.  Politics chose basically to rerun the Trump Impeachment.

It’s a slightly different plot but all of your favorite characters are there.  It’s got a catchy name too- The Second Impeachment of Donald Trump.

They had a choice.  They could choose to let the darkest days of his Presidency stay that way.  Or they could choose to “buy” airtime on all of your favorite channels like MSNBC, CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, or NBC to shine more light on the darkness.

So while America watched one Super Bowl commercial after another that spoke to unity and coming together, the newly sworn-in Congress decided to further unify us by making their first order of biz in the new year with a new prez a docudrama about the old prez.

How many times can you watch Jason hack someone up in Friday the 13th?

Super Bowl parties can leave you hungover.  American politics can as well.

But you wonder if the sequel has and the prequel had ulterior motives.  Did the prequel have everything to do with getting 45 out of office and 46 in?  Does the sequel have everything to do with the 2022 midterms?

You see to “unify” you can always divide to conquer.  And, forcing a Republican to vote for or against Trump being impeached and/or convicted gets him/her on the record.

Vote to acquit him and the Dems will run against you on that very point.  Vote to convict and you risk alienating the very people that may have put you in office last time or for the first time.  It’s a win/win or a lose/lose depending on the color of your uniform.

We highly doubt that America is watching this anymore closely than they were watching the last five minutes of the Super Bowl.  The outcome at the game’s end was no longer in doubt, only the final score was.  And, breaking news, Trump isn’t going to get convicted either.

Meanwhile, for AMC, it’s at least the two-minute warning.

But in American politics running up the score never ends.

And make no mistake about it, the game never ends either.

 

 

Pass the Alka Seltzer

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The Super Bowl and the Super Bowl party (not in that order) took its toll on the BBR staff.  Here’s ten observations from afar.

  1.   You have to be sick of watching Brady and his pearly whites accept the MVP Trophy by now don’t you?
  2.   Tampa Bay won with Brady, but they won because of their defense.  That side of the ball has been ferocious for two months now.
  3.   The commercials used to help during a boring game.  Used to…..
  4.   Twenty five thousand fans and thirty thousand cut outs watched the game live.  What do the cutouts do really?  Weird times.
  5.   Did you bet the prop that KC would score no touchdowns in the game?  If you did, a one buck wager paid you back 500 of them.
  6.   There was a lot of maskless celebration going on post game.  The New Orleans Saints will get fined for it.  They always do.  It’s like Jerry Tarkanian once     said, “every time North Carolina recruits illegally Cleveland St gets put on probation.”
  7.   Maybe a great defense can still beat a great offense.  If so, look out for the LA Rams next year.  Stafford just needs throw some game management passes    and an occasional zinger or two.
  8.   The Waste Management Phoenix Open never disappoints the day of the SB.  The blue sky and green grass contrasted againsted the desert tan sand        makes most of the rest of the U.S. yearn for warmer days.
  9.  The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Lori Locust and Maral Javadifar become the first female assistant coaches to win a Super Bowl.  While referee Sarah Thomas became the first female official to work a Super Bowl.   One of our overserved guests remarked upon learning this, and we quote, “whoop tee do.”  Our government is likely using facial recognition to out him(or her) as we speak.
  10.  Who’s going to win the SB next year?  The Chiefs, listed at +550 at Caesars Sportsbook, are the favorite to win Super Bowl LVI. The Green Bay Packers are next at +900, followed by the champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers at +1100.  But, before you drop too much coin on one of them realize that Tampa Bay was +5000 this time last year.

Plop, plop.  Fizz, fizz.

When the Game Stops

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The get rich quick crowd gathered on Reddit and was having quite the party.  There was no stopping the game that they were playing with stock in GameStop.

But, like at the stroke of midnight, if you don’t pay the band the music stops.  And, yesterday it got quiet.  Quiet like the inside of GameStop stores during this pandemic.

Just last Thursday shares in GameStop were bought for as high as they were sold-it always takes two to dance.  And the price to get on the floor was $483.  The stock was a much cheaper date in mid-summer at $4.  That’s no typo.  And, yesterday the stock retreated to $84 just four trading days after the $483.  That’s again no typo.

If you’re a retail investor and you wanted to show old school Wall St. that there was a new kid in town, you did.  Briefly.  The short-selling hedge funds got squeezed a bit.

If you wanted to get rich quick, hopefully you bought low and sold high.  Because as it was quickly learned again, value never goes out of style. Stock is always only worth what someone will pay for it.

However, if you bought high and sold low maybe it’s time to get off of Reddit.  If you did so with margin money you might need to see a bankruptcy attorney.  If you did so with your stay at home stimulus money, as many on Reddit bragged, maybe you should go get a job.

But, if you live in Long Beach, CA, and want to get into the grocery business you’re looking in the wrong place.  Yesterday, Kroger announced that it was closing its two stores at the end of this month in response to the mayor’s mandated “hero” pay of minimally $15 an hour for those “workers on the front lines.”

And, we are reminded again, value never goes out of style.  People are always only worth what someone will pay for them.  And jobs are valued for what people will accept them for unless you are the government and want to cause some market disruption.

Government has its eye on this stock market disruption.  They’ll start hearings next week on what we can learn from it.   That should be good for a few laughs.  Do you notice how the government always reacts, it never acts?

Political opposites Rep Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Senator Ted Cruz were in full agreement that the bad guys in this were the old Wall Streeters who were trying to blame the up and comers for making the market rattle.

In other words, “let the free market decide what a stock is worth.”  Hmm.  That seems like the polar opposite of what the government is trying to do with wages.

Reddit user benaffleks (really) says “This is a big moment.  Hedge fund managers live in the past.  They believe that average retail investors don’t know anything about the market(which may be true) and we’re just gambling our money away.  This was the past.”

One never really knows when the game stops.

But, when it does fair market value is always the winner.

Always.

 

 

When It Was a Game

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s been a while since we served up some Ten Piece Nuggets for your consumption.  As sports and the “real world” continue to collide we decided to take you back to a simpler time when the games were about the games.  Take a trip down Super Bowl memory lane.

  1.  With Super Bowl LV upon us, we thought we’d visit an old adage.  In order to be effective in this league you have to be able to run the ball and stop the run.  Can you name the last Super Bowl winner to lead the league in regular-season rushing yards?  It’s been a while actually.  It’s the 1985 Chicago Bears.  On their Super Bowl Shuffle way, they amassed a league-leading 2761 yards.
  2. And, they could stop the run as well. In their three post-season games that year they gave up a total of 125 yards rushing.  In the 85′ Super Bowl beatdown of NE, the Patriots gained exactly 7 net rushing yards.
  3. Guess who completed the longest pass play in Super Bowl history.  Montana? Nope.  Marino?  Nope.  Elway? Nope.  Give up?  You should.  It’s Jake “The Cajun Snake” Delhomme.  The Carolina Panther’s QB completed an 85-yard pass to Muhsin Muhammad against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
  4. Guess who is the only running back to gain over 200 yards in any Super Bowl.  Payton? Nope.  Riggins?  Nope.  Faulk? Nope.  It’s Redskin Timmy Smith who went off for an all-time Super Bowl record with 204 rushing yards in Super Bowl XXII as his Washington Redskins ran roughshod over the Denver Broncos.  Who?
  5. Hello Friends!  Jim Nantz might catch him one day, but for now, Pat Summerall has provided the play by play on TV for more Super Bowls (11) than any of his contemporaries.
  6. Eleven seems to be the lucky number for Summerall and for Miami.  The Magic City as it’s known has hosted the most Super Bowls with 11.
  7. The 2011 (there’s that number again) New York Football Giants own the distinction of having the worst regular-season record at 9-7 of any SB winner.  It’s important to get hot at the right time they(whoever they are) say.  Super Bowl XLII(42) was the one that had the greatest and most important catch as well.  It’s considered the greatest catch in SB history.  It’s important to get lucky at the right time as well.
  8. Pennsylvania is known as the hotbed of QBs.  It’s produced Namath, Marino, Montana, Kelly, and many more.  But, California has produced the most Super Bowl winners with five: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Trent Dilfer, Troy Aikman and Jim Plunkett.
  9. It is one thing to get to the biggest of them all.  It’s yet another to win it.  It’s yet another to get there multiple times and never lose.  But, that accomplishment is rare.  Only the Baltimore Ravens have won more than one and not lost any.  And, they are only 2-0.
  10. And finally, Dallas and Pittsburgh have met the most times(3) for the Lombardi Trophy in NFL history.  But, it has been a while since they have.  The contests ended the 1975, 1978, and 1995 seasons.

Tampa Bay becomes the first team to host a Super Bowl this coming Sunday.

Friday the winners of the prop bets and the game will be available for you right here on BBR on Al Gore’s Internet.

 

Big Stakes and Cultural Shakes

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Twelve NFL seasons ago Matthew Stafford roared in like the Lion he was.

And, now after 162 starts, 45,109 yards passing, and 282 TD’s the Rams hope he hasn’t turned into a lamb from all of the QB hits he’s taken as Lion with all of the misfits that did or did not block for him.

The Rams, as we are certain that you heard, shipped starting QB Jared Goff, two first-round picks, and one third-round pick to Detroit in a mega-deal for Stafford.

It’s a massive price for the Rams to pay.  The trade comes less than two years after Goff signed a massive four-year, $134 million contract with the Rams, which runs through 2024.

It’s noteworthy that Goff struggled in 2019 and 2020 after his first three seasons in the league that saw his star ascending.  In LA you’re only as good as your last act or two.  And director Sean McVay has seen enough.

It’s also noteworthy that Goff’s stats after five years in the league are so similar to Stafford’s that you’d swear you were watching one of those old Hollywood reruns.

For LA it’s the Super Bowl or bust.  And they’re betting big that Stafford has plenty of skill left in his 33-year-old body to give a command performance or two before the curtain comes down on their elite defense.  If they win one big one, maybe you could say the price was worth it.

Maybe.

Rarely in the NFL do you give up more people and picks to get fewer people and picks and get the better of the deal.  Rarely.

In Detroit, new Head Coach Dan Campbell roared in like the Lion that he now is at his very first press conference.  In LA they call it must-see TV.  The sound bites even include knee cap bites.

Campbell knows that Motor City is starved for a winner.  He also knows that he needs a lot more individual winners on his team than he has.

To create a winning culture out of a perennial losing one massive change is needed.  Ironically Stafford joined Detroit the same year, and played his first game ever, against a new head coach named Sean Payton in New Orleans in 2009.  Payton did just that, changing a perennially losing franchise into a winning one.

Head Coach Campbell just spent the last three seasons under Sean’s (Payton that is) wing.

We suspect that Campbell will be more than willing to change more spare parts out of Detroit for more new shiny ones.  It might almost look like an assembly line by the start of the 2021 season.

And, having more one’s and a three is a start to that start that few HCs get to tinker with.  And, what if, just what if, he can kick start Goff, too?

Rarely does the Lions organization come to mind when the word “savvy” is tossed about.

This time it should. And, maybe it’s LA like, but “bravo,” sounds about right, too.

 

 

Name Dropping

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As you know Hank Aaron passed away over the weekend.  His contribution to baseball and countless lives transcended the game.   He conducted himself on and off the field with great ease and aplomb.

His 755 home runs are surpassed by only one player in the game’s history.  And history will forever judge how that player got there.

He started his career in Milwaukee, continued the storied run in Atlanta, and finished his final two trips around the league again from Milwaukee.  Through it all, he amassed 3771 hits and was a career .305 hitter.  His place in the game is forever etched in its lore. And he did all of it with great grace in the racially charged ’60s and ’70s.

This brings us to today’s world.  Seemingly minutes after his passing social media got active.  Then it got hot like one of Arron’s hitting streaks.  The outcry was again renewed to rename the team that Aaron made famous-the Atlanta Braves.  It’s always a good time to stir the cancel culture pot.

“Braves” is insensitive they (whoever they is) say.

The organization has remained steadfast that it’s an honorable term for the Native Americans.  Though that same organization has eliminated the tomahawk chop from the battle cry for the offense to light up in the stadium.  The war beat of the drum has ceased banging as well.  Seems two-faced or at least red-faced to us, though we doubt that you could or should say red-faced anymore either.

Georgia Tech announced that they were going to retire the #44 in honor of Aaron.  What is the association of Tech with Aaron you ask?  Same city, but nothing.

The Atlanta Falcons also announced that they were retiring #44.  Really?  The town’s football team is retiring the town’s best-known baseball player’s number.  The Falcons should have quit while they were ahead.  Wait.  They already did against New England in a Super Bowl a few years back while leading 28-3.  Maybe they should retire numbers 28 and 3 as well?

While the “to be or not to be” Braves discussion plays out, maybe they should change their name temporarily a la the Washington Football Team?  How well does the “Atlanta Baseball Team” roll off of your lips?

Many have suggested that the Braves become the Hammers to honor Hammerin’ Hank Aaron.  Drop the tomahawk and add the hammer to the logo. Voila- that’s a cheap and quick fix if there ever was one.

This brings us to tomorrow’s world.  Shouldn’t we honor all of the minorities that broke through after Jakie Robinson broke through?

The San Francisco Giants could become the San Fran Say Hey Kids honoring Willie Mays.  The New York Mets could be named The New York Gooden Plenty seeing how Dwight Gooden brought the Big Apple’s little apple a championship.  And, the Pittsburgh Pirates should consider the Pittsburgh Pops for the revered Willie “Pops” Stargell.

While we’re at it the New Orleans Pelicans could retire #9 in honor of Drew Brees soon, too.  Wait.

Perhaps we’re getting a bit carried away?

Perhaps.

 

Serious Problem Solved

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Four days into the Joe Biden presidency and we can already feel what true leadership looks and feels like.  Gone are the petty arguments this same time four years ago that were being played out by the Trump team v. the media over how many people attended his Inauguration Parade.

“We’ve got serious problems, and we need serious people,” said President Andrew Shepard in the movie The American President.  He went on castigating his reelection opponent Bob Rumson, “This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up.”  There.

So some serious people have been weighing in on a serious problem in the last few days.  The serious problem is Covid-19.

It got serious in March of 2020.  By mid-October of 2020, Biden had seen enough.  He tweeted, “We’re eight months into this pandemic and Donald Trump still doesn’t have a plan to get this virus under control.  I do.”

Amongst other jewels on his platform, he promised 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office!  Bold goal aiming for 1 million injections a day don’t you say?

His advisers advised the press that this would be a tall hill to climb but they would do everything they could to make it happen.  How tall?  His senior advisor Cedric Richmond spoke to CNN’s Pamela Brown on air about the Covid vaccine distribution.  “The sad part is the last administration didn’t leave anything.  They didn’t leave a plan.”

The funny or not so funny thing about that is America has been averaging almost that for the last 15 or so days before Biden took his oath under heavy security.  It might be over a million a day if California, ranked dead last in the US in percent of vaccines administered versus shipped, could roll up more sleeves.

Now, this conflicts with another Biden tweet this past week.  @JoeBiden: “There is nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months.”  Say it ain’t so, Joe?  What happened to your plan?

But for some, if you follow the science, apparently the situation is getting better after nearly ten months of stay at home orders.

One believer is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer(D).  She announced that her state would allow restaurants and bars to reopen for indoor service at 25% capacity starting early next week.  She stated, “The science around this is settled, and if we all wear masks and wash our hands while social distancing, we will be in a strong position in a few weeks.  And then we’ll even be able to do more.”  Groundbreaking really.

Did she learn this while attending Biden’s inauguration while not socially distancing?  Sounds like her husband can go clean his boat safely now, too.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser(D) found the science news refreshing as well.  She announced an identical plan to Whitmer’s on the same day.  The mad scientist, she is.

Both are timely, though both are a full week behind New York(D) Governor Andrew Cuomo’s pronouncement a week ago.  He brilliantly blabbed that New York can’t go on like this any longer.  “We must reopen,” he said.  The plan floated there is to use rapid testing administered at hundreds of government locations. Of course, it is.  Rapid testing has been available for about six months.  Let the government help you.

So, either we have a plan or don’t.  Either we reopen or not.  And, we need more vaccines that we don’t administer.  And then, there is our new leader who said there’s nothing we can do about the trajectory.

No wonder we need the government’s help to solve this.   Surely they’ll follow the science to get us there.  And, just in time we might add.

 

SB LV is the New SB I

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Six weeks ago BBR asked if we were headed to a rematch of Super Bowl One where Green Bay and Kansas City kicked of what has become the greatest championship in all of sports.

And then there were four.  And KC and GB are both favored to make it to Tampa for Super Bowl Roman numeral LV.

Abby sez:

Buffalo at Kansas City -3  –  The obvious is that Mahomes is going to miss.  What should also be obvious by now is that KC looks like a determined team to go back to back.   It won’t be easy.  And, remember,  “nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills, ” said Chris Berman 500 times in the past.  Buffalo has had a hell of a run.  Abby likes the politically incorrect.  And the nickname “Chiefs” is one of the few left standing.

Tampa Bay at Green Bay -3.5 – The battle of the Bays is what Berman used to call this twice a year meeting when these two teams were in the same division together years ago.  Back then one was bad and the other was worse.  No more.  Brady and Rodgers will be great theater.  The GOAT of them all v the GOAT of 2020.   Rodgers is on the same mission that KC is.

Picking chalk has a way of feeling like a dog bite at times.  We’ll see.

Woof!

 

 

PA, QB’s, KXLPP, and Phil

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The state of Pennsylvania has produced more great quarterbacks than any other.   Namath, Unitis, Kelly, Marino, and Montana hail from all over the Keystone State as it is known.

And, as of today, it will have produced yet another.  This one is tasked with leading the most important team of all, the United States.  His name is Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. and he was born in Scranton, PA way back in 1942. 

If you listen to those who voted for him, Joe’s facing fourth and long given the job done by his predecessor, outgoing QB Donald J. Trump.

But, undaunted, the Scrapper from Scranton has promised much to many.  His game plan is aggressive on day one and even more so in the first 100 days.

One of the first plays he is expected to call is a halt to the Keystone XL Pipeline Project (KXLPP).

If you’re not familiar with the project here’s where the bouncing ball stands after three phases were completed.  The pipeline became well known when a planned fourth phase, Keystone XL, attracted opposition from environmentalists, becoming a symbol of the battle over climate change and fossil fuels. In 2015 Keystone XL was temporarily delayed by then-President Barack Obama. On January 24, 2017, President Donald Trump took action intended to permit the pipeline’s completion. On January 17, 2021, it was announced that President-elect Joe Biden planned to cancel the Keystone XL project during his first days in office.

You’d think that it’s the first of its kind as opposed to likely the safest of its kind.

Opponents cheered.  If you’re in the stands waving pompoms for the Green New Deal, it’s a touchdown.  Proponents jeered.  If you’re a member of one of the four national unions that have nearly 7000 of their teammates working on it, or if you prefer North American oil refined in North America, you booed lustily.

So the Keystone State commander in chief will punt the political football known as the Keystone Project down the field.

And, that’s how it goes these days.  Every four years we spend a lot of time, energy (not the dreaded fossil fuel type), and money undoing what we’ve been doing.  Next up immigration laws, then the dreaded wall, then corporate taxes.  Then?  Well, how about the inheritance tax?  How dare you die and leave your hard-earned money to your family!

It’s hard to win the office and keep the office when 50% of the stands are filled with the opposition to your game plan.  It’s harder still when you make choices like stopping the KXLPP.  The union vote of confidence is waining and you just kicked off.  Fifty percent of 50% of 50% of 50% is, well you understand, not enough after four years in the biggest league of them all.

And, speaking of kicking off, this QB is a mere 78 years old as he takes office, but we digress.  Former Oakland Raider QB George Blanda grew up in Pennsylvania as well.  Blanda retired from pro football in August 1976 as the oldest player to ever play at the age of 48.  Maybe 78 is the new 48?

Blanda played in four different decades.  Biden has been in political offices of one kind or another for at least that many.

With that type of longevity, you must be pretty good at knowing when to run v. when to pass.

Good luck Mr. QB President-elect Biden.

Puxatawny Phil will be watching.  He too is from PA.  Will he see his shadow, take his ball, and go home?  Or does hope eternally spring early this spring?