Author: thependulumswings staff

Abby Takes Down Vegas, Year 3, Week 1

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s hard to believe but Abby begins year three already of her doggone good picking prowess for BBR this AM.  And she’s been doggone good indeed.  Take a look at last year’s final picks and overall standing here.  Bow wow wow!

This year’s picks start a month later than usual.  Thanks a lot COVID-19.  Break a leg why don’t cha already?

As a refresher, consider each bone equal to an $11 wager to win $10.  Damn bookies and their juice, Abby growls.

  1. Central Florida v East Carolina under 77 1/2- UCF is good again this year.  East Carolina is bad again this year.  Seventy-seven and one-half points is a lot in any year.  UCF wins handily, but the total is spared.  One bone.
  2. Tenessee -3 at South Carolina- Who gave up the fewest points in the last six games of their schedule last year in the SEC?  Ala who?  LS who?  It was the Volunteers.  Jeremy Pruitt has something started in Knoxville.  Plus, Abby is a sucker for a blue tick hound.   Three bones.
  3. Louisville +3 at Pittsburgh-  Louisville ran into an inspired Miami team last week.  Pitt is good, but never that good in the ACC.  This is a nice bounce-back spot for the Cardinals.  Two bones.
  4. Kentucky +8.5 at Auburn- Kentucky is to the SEC as Pitt is to the ACC.  Is this year different?  Stoops’ team is more talented than any since he arrived in Lex.  Auburn wins, but it will be closer than the experts think as Lee Corso says.  One bone.
  5. Florida -14 at Ole Miss- Florida returns a lot of talent and a solid to darn good QB in Kyle Trask.  Abby loves home dogs but thinks that the Rebels/Black Bears are just outmanned here.   One bone.

LSU hosts Miss St. and new head coach Mike Leach and his Air Raid O Saturday.  LSU lost plenty of offensive weapons.  But, LSU has plenty of new offensive weapons.   Leach loves to throw the ball.  The o/u line is 57.5.  It looks low.   But it’s game one for both.  Expect LSU to run the ball a bit more than last year.  We’ll zig when others zag here.  Take under 57.5.

There you have it-four roadies and an under and a hunch on another under to start the year.

Win or lose, at least it’s a start.  Are you listening PAC 12?

 

 

Peek a Boo

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Driving over 3000 miles in four days gave us plenty of windshield time to see it more clearly.  But, to see it more clearly you need to close your eyes.  No peaking.  Ready?

Pretend that you had absolutely no idea who Joe Biden was running against for the highest office in the land, and therefore, in the world.  Would you vote for him?  Eliminate your emotions of the moment.  You’ve had it with COVID-19.  You’ve had it with Trump you say?  You just cheated.  Remember, you have to play along and pretend that you have no idea who the current President is.

Try once more.  And, when you do honestly ask yourself if you can mail in, write in, pull the lever for a man that his own party is hiding.  Can you vote for a man who actually cannot even read from a teleprompter without messing it up and then telling you he is reading his lines?

Further, he’s a career-long politician telling you what’s wrong with government and that he’ll fix it.  He’s been at it for almost a half a century.  How long does it take? America cast aside Bush, Rubio, Graham, Romney, and Sanders before it pushed Hillary out of the door four years ago.  Do you want to go back to the future?

What is Biden running on?  Besides fumes, it’s “here’s what’s wrong with Trump.”  It’s not what’s right with him.  He’s flip-flopped more times in his political career that Jimmy Buffet has worn a pair.

If you still say yes we think you cheated again in our pretend test.

It must be because you hate Trump.  It has to be.  Don’t feel bad, he gives you plenty of reasons to hate him.  His demeanor and loose tongue are but two.  And, he was/is lost at times trying to guide the country through the ongoing pandemic.  Although given the medical community’s ever-changing advice, maybe we all were/are lost.

But what if?  What if you judged him on his accomplishments?  Do actions speak louder than words?

If they do, he’s done a bunch of good all the while having the other side of the aisle impede his every step, or impeach him altogether.  Pre COVID-19 was the economy great?  Was the lowest unemployment regardless of your gender or race since post-WW II good?  How many manufacturing jobs did we add?  Were his new trade agreements good for America?

Is his continual push to get China straight the right thing?  When he signed the “Three Strikes” program out of law was it a good step?  How quiet is Kim Jong Un?  He’s withdrawn tens of thousands of American troops from foreign soil.  ISIS, who?  And, now with his son in law running point, he’s forged agreements in the middle east the likes of which are previously unheard of.

Did you think he spent too much before the China virus sprung loose?  We did too.  Bush I, Bush 2, and Obama did too.  But, now is not the time to tighten.

Next Tuesday is the debate that will be heard (and watched) around the world.  Trump can’t wait to get into the ring.  The Democrats hope Biden can walk and not be carried out after 90 minutes.  That unto itself is telling.

It’s hard to hate Biden. You almost feel sorry for him.  It’s hard to like Trump.  He’s an acquired taste at best.

We asked above for you to pretend for a minute.  Is Biden capable of leading the U.S now, much less for the next four years?  What is the logical answer to the previous question?  It’s beyond obvious.

You can stop now.  Open your eyes.  Please.

 

It’s a Dangerous Intersection

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

With so many working from home you’d think the traffic would be far lighter.  But, on the corner of Sports Street and Life Lane, it’s busier than ever.  And once again yesterday, to make matters worse at rush hour, that damn train rolled through as well.

You know the train by name.  It’s a passenger train outbound to nowhere.  It’s called the Cancel Culture Express.  Except for this time a passenger that The Movement was trying to throw off decided to step right in front of it and dare the engineers to hit him.

If you’re an NFL fan you’ve heard of Luis Moreno, Jr. haven’t you?  He’s with the Carolina Panthers.  He has been for 10 years and counting.  Well.  It’s ten years and counting until yesterday.

No, he doesn’t play linebacker and he doesn’t kneel when the National Anthem is played.  Moreno is a Spanish-language broadcaster for the Carolina Panthers and a darn good one.  He says felt pressured to leave his job because the team is upset that he is a supporter of President Donald Trump.  In our “all-inclusive” society we only are inclusive if you choose to be included in the cause.

Moreno told the Charlotte Observer that he began openly supporting Trump on his personal Twitter account this Spring.  Shortly thereafter he was contacted about his tweets by Eric Fiddleman, the Panthers’ radio and television affiliate manager.  Fiddleman asked Moreno to delete any affiliation with the team from his personal Twitter account.

Fair enough.  The Panthers clearly feel the need to be on the right side of BLM and the NFL office nowadays.  It’s their brand and they should choose their messaging.

But, Fiddleman continued to fiddle.  He reportedly contacted Moreno (who actually is an independent contractor for them, hence even further removed) again in the summer, but this time to tell him to stop his political tweets. “If what they want me to do is stop supporting the president, I’m not gonna do that,” Moreno told Fiddleman.

Moreno further charged that Steven Drummond, the Panthers vice president of communications and external affairs, refused to speak with him about the “issue” of his social media posts and support for Trump.  Ten years of loyalty won’t help you cross the intersection these days when the ole’ Cancel Culture Express is blowing its horn.

“I’m hurt,” Moreno told the paper. “Because this has nothing to do with my performance on-air.  I’m one of the best, and I’ll put myself against anybody in the country when it comes to what I do in Spanish. None of my support for the president was done on any of their social media pages, it was never done on any of the airtime. This was solely on my personal time on my personal accounts.”

Moreno added that he won’t return to work unless the team says he is free to advocate for whomever he supports politically. “I am not OK with them censoring my freedom of speech in support of the president,” he added.

And with that, he put his hand up and stopped the Cancel Culture Express before it ran over him.

“Silly him,” you say.  “He’s the one out of a job,” you say.

It’s rare these days, but refreshing when it happens.  Someone spoke up for common sense, dignity, and most of all freedom of speech.

Moreno was a member of the “silent majority.”

He’s not anymore.  He spoke up.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If you like your sports straight or neat like you like your whiskey, 2020 is producing bad barrels to pour.  Sadly, the two are intertwined far too much.  But, at least you can enjoy the Ten Piece Nuggets below where we give the zaniness to you straight if not neat.

  1.  Joe Biden, months back when asked, said the most important thing that he was looking for in a VP candidate was “the ability to take office on day one.”  It didn’t sound like a ringing endorsement of his own longevity.  Kamala Harris got the job and apparently is taking his concern to heart.  Yesterday on the stump she said, “A Harris administration together with Joe Biden as President of the US will provide 100 billion dollars in low-interest loans and investment to minority business owners.”  Biden’s hiding low and Kamala’s riding high.
  2.  Will the VP candidate, or based on the above the Presidential candidate, take time to visit the two LAPD officers who are recovering from the blatant assassination attempt Saturday?  She visited Blake and his family in Wisconsin and even had effusive praise for him.  Cali’s her home state.  Wisconsin wasn’t around the corner.
  3. Trump visited Kenosha, WI last month and met with law enforcement officials, but not Blake nor his family.  Do you think the battle lines for 11/3 could be drawn any more clearly on the above the law and total disorder front?
  4. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Monday challenged NBA star LeBron James to match the reward money being offered for information on the gunman who ambushed and shot two deputies over the weekend.  Villanueva said the reward money reached $175,000.  “This challenge is to Lebron James. I want you to match that and double that reward,” Villanueva said. “I know you care about law enforcement. You expressed a very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community.  “And I appreciated that,” he continued. “But likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across all professions.”
  5. Speaking of Cali, the record heat forced Governor Newsom to ask for thermostats to be raised or in-home power to be turned off altogether to minimize the widespread brownouts.  You wonder what happens in a year or three when millions more battery operated cars will need recharging in the citizen’s garages.
  6. Today is 49 days or exactly seven weeks till election day.  Do polls mean anything anymore?  If so, President Trump is doing better by 4% points with probable Jewish voters at this moment than how they exit polled in 2016.  He has the support of 30%.  It’s the highest since George Herbert Walker Bush in 1988 for a Republican.  The Jewish community has supported Democratic nominees every four years since Calvin Coolidge.  They are nothing if not very consistent.
  7.  Turning to sports, if you missed it, 54-year-old golfer John Daly announced Sunday that he has bladder cancer.  He’s quite the optimist about his recovery, saying that it was identified early.  BBR identified early on that Daly was one of our staff’s favorite people.  He’s plenty flawed like all of us, but he owns who he is and rarely apologizes for it.  We often say the same about Charles Barkley.  They put the “real” in keeping it real.
  8. “Caddyshack” turned 40 years old this summer. It’s abundantly quotable and features a cast of 1980s comedy titans including Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield.  But Academy Award nominee Michael O’Keefe played the main character, Danny Noonan, a caddy at the fictional Bushwood Country Club.  Last week, O’Keefe wrote an open letter on Golf.com asking to be allowed to return to his caddying craft and be on a bag at Winged Foot this week.  O’Keefe got his wish Monday. He caddied for Danny Balin during practice rounds. O’Keefe even wore a Bushwood CC hat.
  9. Here comes the Tom Brady “can’t play any more stories.”  One week does not a season make.  With no preseason games it’s hard with a new cast assembled to have live bullets coming at you in week one.  In our overreactive media world, who must fill 24 hours everyday, it’s what they do.  And they do it poorly.  Brady is definitely not who he was, but let’s give it a few weeks in Tampa before we are convinced his world is ending shall we?
  10. Here’s more unsolicited advice.  A local respected NFL analyst noted that 12 of 14 teams that won through Sunday had the more mobile quarterback.  He went on to say that you cannot win in the NFL anymore without one.  Dropback passers are so yesterday.  Sure.  Like Brady’s missteps in week one, let’s let the season progress a bit before we head down every rabbit hole that can be written or spoken about.

You’ve been served.

Don’t Shoot the Messenger.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Any sophomore student majoring in communication can tell you that there are many parts that need to work together for there to be good communication.  But, two of the most important are the message itself and the messenger who delivers it.

After all, it’s who is selling, what is being sold, and how.

The Movement was selling social justice, race equality, and police reform at the outset, just shortly after George Floyd perished in Minneapolis.  Some criminal behavior, when you look back on the outset of it probably could be understood or at least overlooked.  Emotions were running as hot as the fires that the protesters were setting.

Buring cars in March and spray painting walls in April seem like so long ago.  It seemed like the nation was listening then or at least trying to.

But, what good became of it?  The message seems lost now in the continued bad behavior of a few but of a few too many messengers.

How bad is it?

Rochester, New York, police officers have received permission to cover their name tags in an effort to avoid harassment from far-left protesters.

Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary who is set to retire soon, approved the move after protesters targeted a number of officers who shouted out their home addresses, the names of their children and their schools, and made phone calls to their parents.

Bad.

As you know by now two LA police officers, sitting in their marked patrol car were targets of a seemingly random assassination attempt.

What else can you call it but an assassination attempt?  So, you might ask, “could it be totally unrelated to The Movement?”  “Don’t jump to conclusions,” you say?

The “jump to conclusions” ship sailed long ago.  What America sees on video suffices for judge and jury, unfortunately, today.

Bad became worse.

But worse was about to become the worst.

Word spread in the LA community of Compton of the attack and of where the officers were taken.  Outside of Lynwood Hospital “peaceful protesters” shouted, “we hope they die.”  They chose the up ramp to the emergency room to deliver the less than positive well wishes.  This blocked the path for other emergency transport vehicles and their very ill occupants, utterly unrelated to this crime, to quickly and safely enter the hospital.

Indeed, worse behavior became the worst behavior.

And with it, logic left the conversation once more, and perhaps forever.

The message has value.

But, the messengers have no values.

 

Take a Stand.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The NFL 2020 season kicked off last evening.  But, before it kicked off there was hope that our summer of disease and discontent could turn nicely into fall like a green leaf turned red, yellow, and orange.

Afterall there has been only one positive test in the league for COVID-19 in over 8300 tests to date. Wowza! And, the NFL has not only allowed, but encouraged players and teams to express their concerns against racial inequality and for social justice.  Wowza!

Well, that didn’t go so well.  Prior to the visiting Houston Texans v home Kansas City Chiefs, players from both teams locked arms in unity.  And the fans booed.  Not all of them booed but enough to be heard did so.

Prior to that, the Texans stayed in the locker room for both the National Anthem and for Alicia Keys’ performance of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” otherwise known as the Black Anthem.  The Chiefs stood on the field as a team for both.  So much for unity until their arm locks.

Benjamin Watson is a former NFL player.  He had a very successful stint as a tight end for 15 years in the league and was on the winning NE Patriots team for the Super Bowl in 2005 as well.  He was known as a great teammate, hard worker, intellect, and leader both on and off of the field.

Following the events in Ferguson, Missouri, Watson wrote a Facebook post on the issue of race in America that was “liked” on Facebook more than 850,000 times. The post received national attention.

On November 17, 2015, Watson released a book, Under Our Skin: Getting Real About Race–And Getting Free From the Fears and Frustrations That Divide Us.

Watson took to Twitter last evening. He wrote “Don’t kneel.  Don’t lock arms.  Don’t love each other.  Don’t care about your country.  Don’t seek social justice and equality.  Just play.  Sad.”

And we wonder.   Where did free speech and freedom of expression wander off to in the anything but United States?

It went to a spot that only allows it if you agree with what is being said.  Maybe some fans just want pure sports.  Is it ok for them to express that?

We used to frown upon kneeling for the anthem but recognized the right to do so.  Now we frown upon objecting to kneeling.
The right to kneel or lock arms is equal to the right to boo that very act.  Or it should be.

Did you notice the word “equal” in the last sentence?  It stands for equality.

Well, it used to stand for equality until it was frowned upon to want all to stand for the Anthem.

School Daze

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

America is back in school, be it virtual, part-time virtual, or full time in person.

We’ve been told to “follow the science” so many times in the last six months, though, that it seems like we never left school.  It might be wise to “follow the math” while we are back at it as well.

But, the teaching methods change as fast as The Movement moves.   It would be wise to keep up with the “new” science and “new” math.

Louisiana Tech went back to school and the university’s football team was following the old science quite well. Tech athletic director Tommy McClelland said that the Bulldogs had only one positive COVID-19 test in the three weeks before the Hurricane Laura as they huddled and studied together.

But, along came a bad storm, and the new science took a turn for the worse.

“It is obvious that the impact in our community a few weeks ago really sparked our significant increase in numbers,” McClelland said. “With 95 percent of our city losing power for days our student-athletes were forced to find places to stay, and some even had family from south Louisiana that came northward to stay with them. So many things that we were able to control for the month of August became out of our control.”

The count of positive tests within the team soared to 38 yesterday.  The season opener v. Baylor has been postponed, and likely will be canceled.

Seems like the science favors playing football and staying together based on the above.  Although the Big 10 and PAC 12 still seem to think otherwise.

Meanwhile, there is some new math out on the campaign trail.

A few new polls from both the national level and prime swing states indicate President Trump is outperforming his 2016 numbers among Latinos, and sits currently at the highest share of the demographic for Republicans since 2004. The trend has increased over the past week in two different polls.

The first, conducted by Emerson University found that in a head-to-head matchup, Trump was favored by 37 percent of Latinos, compared to 60 percent for Biden. Similarly, a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University has the commander-in-chief taking 36 percent of the Latino vote v 56 percent for Biden.   Both were taken shortly after the Republican Convention.

But their results closely mirror those found in a Pew Research study released in mid-August well before the convention.  At the time, Pew found that Trump polled at 35 v 63 for Biden.

35,36,37.

If accurate, the results do not bode well for Biden and Democrats. In 2016, Hillary Clinton received 66 percent support among Latino voters, compared to Trump’s 28 percent.  The drop-off in support, coupled with Trump’s populist appeals to blue-collar voters, was significant enough to deny Clinton victory in the electoral college.

Maybe the stay at home and/or work from home suburban moms will provide even more “new” math when they vote.  They’re getting an over their kids’ shoulder look at the two subjects daily via Al Gore’s internet.  And, they seem to be leaning Biden’s way in 2020 as they did for Trump in 2016.

The COVID-19 science and the 2020 election math are quite intertwined at a minimum, or a tangled mess if you prefer.

Biden’s and Trump’s GPAs are hanging in the balance.

The final exam is scheduled for November 3rd.

Bored With It All

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Sir Winston Churchill lived a long and fulfilling 91 years.  He passed away in 1965.  His last words from his last bed were “I’m bored with it all!”  With that said he slipped into a coma.  We have to wonder if Churchill was channeling the year 2020 nearly 55 years ago.

Are you watching sports on TV?  We’re trying.  Churchill’s words keep ringing in our ears.  When we ask ourselves why we think we’re so bored, more than anything, it’s because of what is not ringing in our ears.  We hear no roar, no matter what venue the sport, as there are either zero or very, very few fans in the stands.

Who knew that the in-person fan and his/her participation would have such an effect on the fan watching from home on a comfortable couch chewing on Cheetos? We didn’t.  Did you?

Maybe half seasons, shortened seasons, and start/stop/start seasons have also watered down the interest.  But, the enthusiasm generated in person seems to have a greater effect on those at home than ever imagined. It all seems very flat emanating from the flat screen.

There were a few NCAA football games on TV this past weekend.  Normally there are some blockbuster “kickoff classics” to whet our appetite.  Instead, we saw our military teams and a few others.  Army marched all over Middle Tenessee St. 42-0 while Navy got washed ashore by BYU 55-3.

Trump was accused late last week of not caring for the military.  Doubtful.  But, it sure looked like the Navy didn’t care about football.  They did no live tackling during practices leading up to the debut and did very little live tackling in the debut.  Army cared.

But most of all seeing a very few thousand Army men and women dressed in full fatigues all six feet apart from one another virtually high fiving after each score didn’t inspire.  There were no fans allowed at all in the Navy game.  The resulting silence combined with the utter mismatch was so deafening coming through the TV that this writer dug deep into the Netflix barrel to come up with something/anything more interesting.

The NFL starts this week.  Will it generate any more enthusiasm from the couch?  We’re hopeful, but we’re doubtful.

Let’s hope the year 2020 is bored with it all, too.  It will soon slip into its own coma.  We can hope.

And, let’s hope that the year 2021 is unrelated to and healthier in many ways than the year 2020.

We need fans in the stands.

 

 

Rodney, Again, on 2020

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Alas, another week has come and gone in these COVID-19, new normal, #apartogether, rioting, unprecedented times.

Enough of the heaviness already.  We think that a peaceful protest is in order.

Who better to do that than one of the best comics ever.  We take a swing at what Rodney Dangerfield would have to say today if he were witnessing these daily train wrecks.

  1.  These ANTIFA kids are stupid you know, very stupid.  Do they even know what they are fighting about?  I can relate though.  I come from a stupid family myself.   During the Civil War my great uncle fought for the west!
  2. Looking at all of this rioting and looting makes me sick.  Not as sick as my mother was once though.  Are you kidding me,  my mother had morning sickness after I was born.
  3. There’s too much hate in this world.  Too much I tell ya.  It’s been festering a long time.  How long?  I’ll tell you how long.  My parents hated me so much that my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.  Ah, don’t give me that BS, it’s a funny line!
  4.  I wish so many people weren’t dying needlessly though.  My uncle had a wish way back when as well.  His dying wish was to have me sitting on his lap. He was in the electric chair!   No respect.
  5. The police are in a tough spot.  They are in a very tough spot, that I can tell you.  The situation reminds me of way back when for one of them.  Once when I was lost I saw a policeman and asked him to help me find my parents. I said to him, “Do you think we’ll ever find them?” He said, “I don’t know kid. There are so many places they can hide.”
  6. You get to a point looking at the tv that you feel like you can’t take it anymore.   You need help.  I know the feeling.  I remember I was so depressed years ago.  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…”
  7.  It got worse.  I met the surgeon general. He offered me a cigarette.
  8.  And worse.  I was making love to this girl and she started crying. I said, “Are you going to hate yourself in the morning?” She said, “No, I hate myself now.”
  9.  And it finally bottomed out.  My wife made me join a bridge club. I jump off next Tuesday.
  10.  I needed help.  I got the advice of a professional.  My psychiatrist told me I’m going crazy. I told him, “If you don’t mind, I’d like a second opinion.” He said, “All right. You’re ugly too!”

No respect at all!

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Greetings from the middle of the country.  It’s 20 degrees cooler here than at the world headquarters of BBR.com.  Regardless, we have some hot takes below.  Ten Piece Nuggets, as random as they come, are served.

  1.  Biden’s reluctance to denounce violence after his party has all but encouraged it is a losing hand.  Polls told him so.  That’s why he reluctantly, finally said as much, ever so meekly earlier this week.  The public opinion for who is to blame for the “peaceful” violence shows up strongly in the latest JP Morgan Chase poll.  It shows an 8 point swing to Trump from Biden and advises investors that they see the race as 50/50% with a 5-6% unknown of respondents perhaps duping them by stating that they were Biden supporters but in fact are Trump supporters.  Hmm.
  2. Remember when Hillary famously said, “if you get him, you get me?”  She was referring to William Jefferson Clinton when he was running for President.  Well, if you get Joe Biden you get Kamala Harris.  And you get all that’s behind curtain number three says Monty as Joe is doing his best Weekend at Bernie’s impersonation of Bernie.  No, not Sanders.
  3. So who is Kamala (comma la)?  Is she the aggressive States’ Attorney General of Cali who drew significant criticism for throwing the book at criminals and refusing to hear appellate claims?  Or, is she the person who asked for donations through a fund set up to provide bail money for arrested “peaceful” rioters in Minnesota? Or is she a political chameleon?
  4. Nearly four years ago America rejected, first in the Republican primaries, then in the general election, all career politicians.  Like him or not Trump disposed of Graham, Rubio, and Bush first.  Then after Bernie (this time Sanders) stayed too long and wore Hillary Clinton down, Trump took her out.  Four years later you have a government career of 40 plus years in Biden and a career of approaching 30 years in government in Harris.  Will the pendulum swing back that far that fast?  The general election is nine short weeks from today.
  5. The President has momentum from the GOP convention and the above-mentioned polls on national violence.  Will Biden emerge from the basement and actually campaign or debate in person?  Incumbent Governor of Washington Jay Inslee (D) won’t.  Rush Limbaugh speculated yesterday that Inslee would be the first of many Democrats on the undercard to duck a face to face debate in an attempt to give cover to Biden to stay hiding.  Muhammed Ali emerged from a few rounds of “rope a dope.”  Will Biden?  He actually campaigned in person yesterday in Pennsylvania, home of Punxsutawney Phil ironically.
  6.  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is in so far over his head that he doesn’t even know which side of the narrative to take, so he takes both.  Take a look at his succession of tweets here.
  7. Madame Speaker Pelosi had her head in a washbasin yesterday.  She must have needed a wash prior to a dye of those pesky 80-year-old grey roots popping up again.  She also forgot her mask.  San Francisco, home of the speaker and the beauty salon, is a county that has not yet allowed salons to reopen.  Oops.  “It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can’t work,” salon owner Erica Kious told Fox News.  Will she blame it all on Trump today?  Surely some of the greys are his doing.
  8.  Would the Saints trade Alvin Kamara (should it be pronounced “comma ra” like Kamala?)?  You bet.  They likey won’t, but savvy GM Mickey Loomis and long time head coach Sean Peyton are wheeler-dealers and have a good deal of house money stored up with ownership.  They’ve never viewed Kamara as an every-down back and they aren’t going to break the bank accordingly.  His year-long nagging injury last year was a great equalizer to his vaunted elusiveness and furthered their view.  His three-day holdout ends today after they floated his name around the league.
  9. The NFL will follow the NBA and MLB’s lead allowing/encouraging social justice slogans and victim’s names on unis, and the playing field itself.  In fact, Commish Roger Goodell weighed in yesterday.  Citing a police officer shooting Jacob Blake in the back on Aug. 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Goodell said the incident has “brought forth more feelings of anger, frustration, anguish, fear for many of us in the NFL family.”   NFL “family” member Colin Kapernick refused to comment when contacted by BBR.  Family.  Roger Roger.
  10. Rumor has it that the BIG 10 is strongly considering reconsidering their hasty decision to forgo fall football as well as all fall sports.  In fact, it is more than a rumor.  It leaked late last evening that Kevin Warren, Bug 10 Commish might now try for an early October start.  What’s the difference between Spring(as planned), October (as might be planned), late September (as the SEC. ACC, Big 12, and others have planned), and early September ( as the NFL is doing)?  Nothing.  Politics.  Power.  It’s all based on following the science we are told.  It’s never been based on science.

Time to for a walk in the cool breeze.