Author: thependulumswings staff

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports and Politics

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

“Two Ten Piece Nuggets in one week?” you ask.   “Yes,” we affirm.

And why not?  BBR wants to do its part to end world hunger.  And, in 2020 the sports and political world gives us far too many nuggets to not share.  Enjoy them randomly below.

  1.  Thomas Sowell tweeted yesterday, “If not a single policeman killed a single black individual anywhere in the United States for this entire year, that would not reduce the number of black homicide victims by one percent.”  Police reform, not defunding, sounds good.  But, since the Movement wants change isn’t it time we add to the dialogue to address the 99% as well.  Sowell did, and good for him.
  2. Clay Travis tweeted yesterday, “So in the state of Iowa it is safe to play football for the Iowa State Cyclones this fall, but not safe for the Iowa Hawkeyes to play football.  Big Ten should be ashamed & Iowa football fans should be irate.”  If the Big 12 folds late as the Big 10 did early, then the point is moot.  But, for now, it’s logic is, well, illogical.
  3. Speaking of the Big 10 and the Big 12, way back when there was the Big 8.  Nebraska was perenially competing for its championship as well as the then mythical National Championship.  The Big 8 went poof and so did Nebraska’s vaunted wishbone attack.  Nebraska joined the Big 10 (which has 14 teams so its name makes no sense) and hoped for greener pastures.  They’ve been average on the field at best.  Now, they’ve been told that there will be no chance this fall to be average.   Off of the field, strong rumors are floating around the NCAA world that Nebraska’s AD is shopping his team to other conferences.
  4. You knew it would only take a bit of time for Trump and his team to mockingly nickname Kamala Harris, Biden’s VP pick.  Well, that didn’t take long.  “Phoney Kamala” it is.  And, as an added bonus, he’s added to his arsenal for Joe Biden.  “Slow Joe” has joined “Creepy Joe” and “Sleepy Joe.”  Frank Sinatra sang, “I Did It My Way.”   Trump must love the song.
  5. But why stop with the name-calling there?  Trump tweeted this AM “very poor TV ratings for MSDNC’s Morning Joe, headed by a complete Psycho named Joe Scarborough and his ditzy airhead wife, Mika, and also @CNN, headed by complete unknowns.”  It must be election time.  The gloves have come off, way off.
  6. But what’s in a name anyway?   For Kamala Harris, it’s the mispronunciation of it.  We were reminded, and some were scorned, by the press repeatedly yesterday that it’s pronounced “comma la.” Then yesterday afternoon Slow Joe (what’s in a name anyway?)  took the podium to formally announce his running mate.  He pronounced it “Ka mal ah.”  Somebody put up a tent over this circus, please.
  7. And then there is the raging controversy over whether “Comma La” is African American or not.  It’s always important to know your roots and times five these days if it helps with the narrative.   Her father is of Jamaican descent.  Her mother is Southern Asian, or Indian if you prefer.  So, there is no African origin it seems.   Is she black?  Yes, 50% black.  But, if we aren’t supposed to see color anymore, why do we argue over our color?
  8. Never let a national or international crisis peter out without political gain.  That’s what savvy and greasy politicians say and do.  And, some get funded by George Soros.  He agrees.  In an interview with La Repubblica, an Italian daily newspaper, the Hungarian-born Soros denounced Trump as a “transitory phenomenon” and expressed hope that the COVID-19 crisis has opened up politics in a radical direction.  He’s nothing if not consistent.
  9. Yesterday was three years to the day since the Unite the Right rally brought thousands of white nationalists to historic Charlottesville, Virginia. James Alex Fields, Jr. purposely drove his car into a group of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring many.   Joe Biden went on the attack yesterday telling whoever was listening that Trump talked about how there were good people there too.  Does Biden remember that he attended former US Senator, friend, and close colleague of his Robert Byrd’s funeral ten years ago when Biden was VP of the land?  Byrd was an active and known KKK member for many, many years.  There are no more glasshouses, only stones.
  10.  Guess who is leading the MLB NL East Division?  It’s the Miami Covids.  Er, it’s the Miami Marlins who had an outbreak of COVID-19 just a week into the season.  Upwards of 15 players and five staff members were quarantined and their season was put on hold.  They stand atop the East with an 8-4 record.  But, they’ll need to make up quite a few games as most teams have played 18-20 games by now.  Can their arms on the hill hold up having to play so many in so few days?  It’s unlikely.  But it is 2020.

Deep breaths.

Friday is near.

 

 

 

 

We’ll Know Soon Enough

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday was historic for this fractured country.

The Big 10, founded in 1896, has never postponed or canceled an entire football season. Its schools have played through two world wars and the 1918 flu pandemic.  But, the Big 10 Conference won’t be kicking off this fall for the first time ever.

For the first time ever, a woman who identifies as African American (her father is Jamaican born and her mother is Indian born) accepted the offer to be the VP running mate for the presumptive Democrat candidate for President, Joe Biden.

Oh, and the PAC 12, with four of its teams from California, which is the home of Senator Kamala Harris, opted out as well.

What do these decisions have in common?  Maybe nothing.  Or, maybe they reflect the mood of the nation.  If so, Donald Trump’s future as our President is in trouble.  But, it seems, isn’t it always?

Biden said during the debates that if he were nominated he would select a woman as his VP choice.  He one-upped that along the way saying he would select a black woman.  Voila!

So Black Lives Matter to him.  Or, at the very least, black votes matter to him.  Or, the female vote matters to him.   Or, Ms. Harris is the best-qualified candidate to lead our nation should something happen to 76-year-old Sleepy Joe along the way.  Maybe it already has.

As for the Big 10 and PAC 12, young lives must matter to them.  Or, avoiding litigation matters to them.  What happened to “follow the science?”  It will tell you that student-athletes are safest while being isolated on campus and the practice field.

Biden delayed his decision time and again.  The conferences delayed their fall season, then yesterday postponed it until the spring.

Did they all make good decisions?  By November 3rd of 2020, the most challenging year of the 21st century, we’ll know.

If the SEC, Big 12, and ACC have successful seasons, measured by health, fan perception, and TV ratings, the Big 10 and PAC 12 will surely regret their choice.  For now, that choice is perceived by some as the right one and the safe one.

Is the choice of Harris, perceived by some as a safe one given the mood of the nation, the right one?

One dissenter voiced his opinion yesterday.

President Donald Trump’s campaign swiftly responded to Biden’s selection of Harris, branding the pair: “Slow Joe and Phony Kamala.”

“Kamala Harris ran for president by rushing to the radical left, embracing Bernie’s plan for socialized medicine, calling for trillions in new taxes, attacking Joe Biden for racist policies,” the Trump campaign said in a video tweeted by President Trump. “They smartly spotted a phony — but not Joe Biden. He’s not that smart,” the ad continues, before adding Biden “is handing over the reins to Kamala” if the two win in November.

A reduced number of teams NCAA football season kicks off next month.  We think.

The political football is always getting kicked around.  We know.

And we will know if the right decisions were made soon enough.

 

 

 

Again.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last fall on a sun-drenched early November Saturday two undefeated SEC powerhouses clashed in an epic, 60-minute, deep south battle.  When it was done, LSU had outscored Alabama 46-41.

But really NCAA football won.  It was another battle for the ages.  And, all felt mostly right in America for those nearly four hours of real-world escape while watching it.  Heck, even the leader of the free world paused from his busy schedule as Donald J. Trump watched it in person.

A star was crowned that day.  Joe Burrow went on to an undefeated season for the ages, a national championship, and a Heisman Trophy.

Just three months later, COVID-19 hit.  Down went college sports and college in-person attendance.  Down went the stock market.  Down went Trump’s approval ratings.  Down went employment.  And, down went our spirit.

And, now just four months after that, COVID-19 still hits.  But, employment has started to go back up.  The stock market has gone up, up, up.   Maybe there is hope?  But.  Down went George Floyd.  Down went statues.  The south took a flag down.  Down goes police funding.   Up goes violent crime before, during, and after peaceful protests.  As a result our nation’s spirit has sagged even further.

So, it’s time for college football to lift us up again, isn’t it?  Not so, or not so fast my friend, says the Big 10.  We’ll find out more today as their presidents meet.  They floated the cancel idea over the weekend.  The response was mixed at best.  The Big 10 has led the way in canceling sports since March.

Not so fast either says the PAC 12.  They are going to delay until October at a minimum it seems.  What does a delay accomplish?  Does the PAC 12 play football?  We digress.

The Big 10 was looking for all to fold as they did last Spring.  It isn’t happening.  Not yet anyway.

#WeWantToPlay is a movement started just this weekend spearheaded by Justin Lawrence, the Clemson QB and odds on Heisman favorite.  It has other notables behind it like Ja’Marr Chase, the LSU Fred Biletnikoff winner for the best WR.  The hashtag is trending #1 on Twitter as we write.

Maybe the players have an important voice after all. And, unlike the #United movement comprised of mostly PAC 12 players it doesn’t ask for 50% revenue sharing.  It just asks that the programs keep the players safe.  The PAC 12 players must think they are tax collectors or NBA players.  They are the only two that can scrape 50% from your top line.

Nick Saban, perhaps the loudest voice in the head coaches’ room said, “Look, players are a lot safer with us than they are running around at home. We have around a 2% positive ratio on our team since the Fourth of July. It’s a lot higher than that in society. We act like these guys can’t get this unless they play football. They can get it anywhere, whether they’re in a bar or just hanging out.”

Scott Woodward, LSU AD stated, “As we have said since the beginning, we are patiently working through each and every variable following the direction of our Return to Safety and MedicalGuidance Task Force. I believe our student-athletes want to play. We owe it to them to make every effort to do so safely.”

It sounds like Alabama and LSU want to get it on again and aren’t waiting till 2021 to do so.

So, is it up to the south to rise again?  The ACC seems inclined to follow the SEC.  The Big 12 is listening carefully.

If the Big 10 cancels, the carpetbaggers will head south.

Again.

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-NCAA Football?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s Ten Piece Nuggets time.  Usually the nuggets are provided to satisfy.  Today they likely will leave you hungry for more, for more college football that is.  Yesterday a story broke that, if it plays out, will likely mean NCAA football will not play out this fall.  Our nuggets are questions and we want answers.

  1.  What has changed in the months, weeks, and days leading up to now that has the power brokers of the Power 5 conferences thinking that they may not want to play this fall after all?  The answers are 1) a pesky spike in the virus, and 2) the PAC 12 “United” group of players demands we suppose.  Neither should be any surprise to anyone.  As for the virus, it ‘s been on the rise for eight weeks now and seems to be leveling again.  As for the demands, it’s 2020.  Everyone has demands these days.
  2. If the Big 10 folds its cards for the season, why do the other Power 5 Conference Commissioners feel the need to follow suit?   Peer pressure we presume.  If your conference played and a hot spot team or three broke out heaven forbid the scorn that they would receive that could have been avoided.  Really?  Would a “breakout” this fall inside of a team or three surprise anyone as they planned for fall?  Does it now?
  3. If you move it to spring as is being suggested do you play January to April?  If the answer is yes, did anyone look the old Farmer’s Almanac?  The average daily high temperature in Madison, WI, home of the Badgers, is roughly -12.  That “-” sign means minus!  Ditto for February and two thrids of March.
  4. If you move it to spring as is being suggested do you play in April till July?  If the answer is yes, did anyone look at the average temperature in June in Miami?  It’s around 95 degrees with 95% humidity.  In July it’s wetter and worse.  Lastly, do you think that the virus magically disappears in spring 2021?
  5. If you move it to spring, do you lose essentially all of the players who would prefer to train exclusively for the NFL Combine and/or on-campus Pro Day workouts?  The opt out number this fall was only 21 total players announced at this point.  It will be 15 times that this spring.  The NFL Draft is in late April.    Do you think the NFL will change that to accommodate the NCAA?  If you do, BBR has some beautiful land for sale for you just south of Miami.  It’s taken on a bit of water, but nothing like the rise that the ocean will have in the next eight years when climate change really kicks in.
  6.  Is the reason for the likely cancellation due to player safety?  Is there a safer place than being on campus when fellow students aren’t?  Is there a better place than having a full-time nutritionist and testing 2x a week right at your fingertips?  Or, should we say right up, then down, your nose?
  7. If regular kids can’t go to school, why should they be “forced” to play football?  They aren’t being forced, Karen.  Opt-outs are receiving full scholarship benefits in today’s kinder gentler world anyway.
  8. What if some of them contracted the virus during a game and took it home to older loved ones in their families?  Sure, that’s a concern.  But that is a concern no matter where you are and what you are doing.  If you cut them loose from the “bubble” that they are basically in right now, isn’t that a bigger concern?  Have you been to a bar lately?  Do you think any/many of them might venture out, then venture home?
  9. Do you think any of these school presidents, conference commissioners, and NCAA who hahs have asked the players what they want to do?  Doubtful.  They’ll let you opt-out if you want to on your own for now.  But, when it comes to the big decision to play or not, they’ll tell you what you are going to do and you will like it!
  10.  Or, is this all about the fan experience?  By that we mean the “money collection” experience?  No fans mean no parking, no food and beverage, no private seat license revenue, no ticket sales, no suite sales, etc.  We tend to doubt that since they can clearly see what the NHL, MLB, and NBA have done.  There is plenty of NCAA TV revenue to go around.
  11. (Lagniappe)  Will any conference go rouge?  We hope so.  Our bet is on the SEC and maybe, just maybe, the BIG 12.

Are you ready for some football?  It sounds like you might need to tune into the NFL where money talks and players kneel.

Impossible Is Nothing

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Over 25 years ago a very famous man very nearly severed his ex-wife’s head from her body while savagely killing her, killed a man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time while he was there, and left an unmistakable trail of his own incriminating blood at the crime scene all the way back to his residence.

Can you imagine getting a jury of 12 of your peers that would unanimously agree that, upon further review, you were innocent?  “Only in America,” Don King would have said.  “Only in Los Angeles,” former NFL great Orenthal James Simpson said.

It’s also been said by many on many occasions that his innocence was payback to a police force and a city (supposedly of angels) that used excessive force in subduing Rodney King after a prolonged car chase captured on camera.  “Enough of this police brutality,” they screamed.

Now, a quarter of a century later, L.A. is still determined to fix that problem.  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal by a 4-1 vote on Tuesday to amend the city’s charter to remove $880 million from law enforcement and “reinvest” the money in “direct community investment” and “alternatives to incarceration.”   Minneapolis has more in common with LA than sharing the Lakers it seems.

Like the jury vote to acquit, the general population will have their say on the proposal on November 3rd.

Titled, “Reimagining L.A. County: Shifting Budget Priorities to Revitalize Under-resourced and Low-income Communities,” the proposal includes language frequently used by Democrat politicians and the broader left. It alleges the existence of “systemic discrimination, exclusion, and inequity” targeting blacks and yielding “racial injustice” and “racial inequity.”

The $880 million is 10% of the current law enforcement budget.  It would “strictly prohibit any of these funds to be used in law enforcement.  Rather it would provide  “access to capital for small minority-owned businesses, with a focus on Black-owned businesses.” It also prescribes the use of “community-based restorative justice” among its “alternatives to incarceration.”

Usually, when big government has identified a problem, they want to throw more money at it as a solution.  In this instance they are taking it away.  But, in this instance, they are also throwing it, just in a different direction.  Don’t cut taxes, just spend it differently.

Are fewer cops, or less well-paid cops a better idea?  Or would the same amount of them, but better trained, supervised, and evaluated be a better idea?

Or, is community-based restorative justice be a better idea than incarceration?  What does community-based restorative justice mean anyway?  Is there a social worker who can work with us on this explanation?

And what is this “access to capital for small minority-owned businesses, with a focus on Black-owned businesses?”   Does this sound like a hand up or a handout?  And, is there a direct correlation between more money government money for minority businesses and less crime?  Is there a social worker who, hell, nevermind.

The city that has run away from supporting NFL franchises faster than OJ, finger cut and all, exited 875 South Bundy Rd.  It will now try to support minority businesses while defunding the police.  Or, will it?

Will 51% of the city’s registered voters will go for this?

Would you have thought that 12 jurors would agree after a mere four hours of deliberation that OJ would benefit from “alternatives to incarceration?”  Alternatives might have helped Rodney King as well.  He was arrested and jailed at least 12 additional times after the 1991 incident.

In 2020 nothing is impossible.  Or, given the state of the times, should we say “impossible is nothing?”

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports and Life Intertwined

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Sports and the real world are joined at the hip these days.  And that is unfortunate.  The escape has escaped us for now.   Hopefully, it will return.  Ten Piece Nuggets return below and reflect on just that.

  1.  The wokest (auto correct wants to turn wokest into weakest, hmmm) of the Power 5 college football conferences, the Pac 12, has a problem/opportunity on its hands.  Football players believed to be numbered in excess of 100 across the conference authored what they call The Players Tribune, and presto #WeAreUnited is born.  It’s a rapidly evolving set of demands.  That’s how The Movement works.   For now, know that they want a lot more than just a stinking full-ride scholarship to a great university.
  2. Their leverage, at least in their minds is to opt-out of playing this fall if their demands are not heard.  The Movement gives them the microphone to try to advance these causes at this time.  COVID-19 provides further cover.  It always sounds logical to demand “player safety” needs to be met if not exceeded.
  3.  Why should they risk exposure if schools aren’t assembling in their traditional manner this fall?  Actually, it’s a lot safer for the players if the regular students aren’t on campus.  They’re getting tests and test results a lot quicker than the general population too.
  4. They’ve asked for 50/50 percent revenue sharing.  Best of luck there.  The football teams underwrite the other sports programs and acutely the female sports teams.   Some colleges even siphon off the excess to subsidize the out of control costs of the college itself.
  5. “They see all of this clearly through the lens of racial justice,” said Ramogi Huma, the founder of a college athlete advocacy group called the National Collegiate Players Association.   Apparently free room, free books, free education, free health care, free tutors, free food, positional coaches, strength coaches, nutrition coaches, and head coaches aren’t enough.  It’s exploitation they say.  Why did they sign the scholarship papers to begin with?  It must have sounded like a good deal until it didn’t.  Justice dammit!  It’s never enough.
  6. The NBA tipped off.  Did you watch it?  The ratings will be interesting to watch to see how many decided to watch.  MLB entered week two.  At least 30 teams did.  Miami is still in time out.  Philly was.  St. Louis might be headed that way.  Shortened and late start seasons, no fans, opt-outs, virus concerns, and social justice concerns make for a less than desirable product we think.
  7.  Hey Joe.  Hey Joe!  Wake up.  It’s time.  Who is your VP nominee? You promised us an answer in the first week of August.  Will it be a minority candidate like Kamala Harris?  Or, will it be a minority candidate like Native American Elizabeth Warren? The suspense is killing us.  No, it’s not.  Have you seen one, just one, yard sign in your town that promotes Biden for President?  The election isn’t about electing him.  It’s about ousting Trump.  It’s the only way the Democrats can sell this lipstick on a pig candidate.
  8. In a Facebook post on Sunday morning, political commentator Dan Bongino wrote:  Not a joke and not hyperbole – I’m hearing from people close to the situation that Biden’s cognitive decline is rapidly worsening and is becoming increasingly difficult to mask. The Democrats are going to have to make a decision soon.  The excuses (Trump lies, so don’t waste your time) to get him out of debating The Donald are flowing.  Like him or not Trump is a young 73 in many ways.  Like him or not, Biden is an old 77 in many ways.
  9.  Biden’s been hiding for months.  Looks like Bill Clinton has gone underground as well.  Or did he go to a remote island?  Well actually according to some flight logs released in court documents emanating from the pending Ghislaine Maxwell case Willie did head to Epstein’s island 11 times.  What’s weird is that he opted out (not like the Pac 12 kids) of Secret Service coverage for seven of the trips.  Slick he is.
  10. And finally, Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters issued “social justice” and “black liberation” demands regarding “diversity” to a restaurant owner in Louisville, KY, including a directive for “donations” to organizations run by non-whites.  Sounds like a shakedown.

We’re opting out to a remote island now.

Lights. Camera. Action!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It takes one to know one they say.

You know who James Woods is, don’t you?  He’s an accomplished actor.  You know who Donald Trump is, don’t you?  He’s an accomplished actor, too.

Woods played the character “Sully” on Ray Donovan.  Sully was #1 on the FBI’s ten most wanted list.  Trump’s been in a very similar role for four years himself.

Yesterday, Woods tweeted the perfect line to capture the video he embedded in his tweet.  He wrote, “the moment a largemouth bass takes the bait.”  The video was a 1:48 rant by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.  In it, Schumer admonished President Trump for suggesting that the November 3rd election be postponed as we combat the coronavirus.  He told Trump and fellow Senate Republicans that they should stop deflecting and go solve all of the nation’s ills, not the least of which is the one we cannot see.  He bellowed that the election would indeed take place as scheduled.

If there was a director he (or she) would have said, “cut, that’s a take.  let’s wrap it up.”  Trump acted and everyone watched, listened, and roared.  Trump doesn’t want the election postponed.  He had everyone make his intended point that if you can vote on 11/3 when the second wave (whatever that means considering we just had one) might be lurking you can go back to work and school today.

Twitter has put Woods in time out a time or three. He’s too outspoken and too right-leaning for their taste, not in that order.  Kamala Harris, a fine actor in her own macabre theatre, called for Trump to banned from Twitter as well.  The best guess VP nominee of the presumptive Democratic nominee for President knows how to put on a show as well.

We need to postpone in the classroom school, sports, dining out, and work for now.  Physical sickness and fiscal mayhem makes for an angry voter.  Come November 3rd, we all need to line up and vote.  We need to stay at home now unless we need to peacefully protest.  Stay off of the beaches too, dammit!   We need to stay out of church unless we need to honor the heroes of our time.  George Floyd and Rep. John Lewis are two that come to mind.

Come to think of it, why do we even need to vote?  The polls show Biden leading by so much, we could all stay safe by staying home.

Then it could be the Joe Biden Show.  He’s been rehearsing in his basement tirelessly for just this moment.  He could act like he was the President all the while suffering from rapidly advancing dementia.  Now that would be some fine acting!

Lights.  Camera.  Action!

 

 

America’s Favorite Pastime

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Welp!  That didn’t take long.

About 3 days into the delayed launch of the 2020 Major League Baseball season, a game or two and counting have been postponed.  Usually, its 27 degrees and snowing in Chicago in early April and we hear the annual whine about starting too early in Spring or scheduling season-opening series in the northern climes.

This time four then seven more players and two coaches and counting on the Miami Marlins went from negative to positive on COVID-19 testing from when Friday’s opener v. Philadelphia concluded Sunday.  And just like that, a positive late start to the shortened season became a negative.  Is anyone surprised?

Miami’s home opener scheduled for last evening with Baltimore was a no go.  MLB also said yesterday “that out of an abundance of caution, the Yankees game versus Philadelphia was postponed.”  No Phillies have yet tested positive.

So the league that often looks like its own worst enemy faced a decision about the enemy that wears #19 on its invisible uniform.  And the league took one for the team.

There are win-win situations from time to time. This isn’t one of them.

There are no-win situations from time to time.  Perhaps this is one of them.

But, MLB and the other leagues that are champing at the bit to roll out a ball, are at a crossroad.  It’s the same one that all of America and the world for that matter faces.  Is anyone surprised?

What to do, what to do?  Like bunting a guy to second you could play it safe.  Or, you could swing for the fences.

Individuals don’t have to play.  Individuals don’t have to go into work.  But when teams crank up or businesses reopen individuals feel the need to go.  Whether it’s pride, work ethic, financial need, or job security the need to do so outweighs any want to do otherwise.

Wear a mask, stay six feet apart, try to stay in the open air, etc, etc. You’ve heard it all before.

It works, doesn’t it?  The problem remains- we don’t really know.  But we do know that the survival rate is now over 99%.

The fine line between herd immunity and herd stupidity is as blurred as the first base chalk line in an extra-inning game.

There once were metal cleats, doubleheaders, brushbacks, brawls, and home plate collisions.  They were good until it was decided that they were bad.

How bad does bad have to get for the league to take its bat bag and go home?  Or, is it past time for America’s Favorite Pastime to play through pain?

The other leagues and America are watching.

Play ball!  For now.

Ten Piece Nuggets- Sports (sort of)

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Pro sports are slowly returning.  Did you notice?  Did you watch any over the weekend?  Unfortunately, the “great escape” that watching the games has provided, it doesn’t do so any longer.  Intertwined are political statements and COVID-19 rules and precautions.  Such is 2020, but hopefully not much beyond.  We’ve got some nuggets on all of this below.

  1.  Major League Baseball threw out the first pitch late last week and played hardball all weekend.  The Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Philly yesterday to open the season 2-1.  Instead of flying home last night, the team plane remained grounded in Philly as four Marlins tested positive for “you know what.”  Jose Urena, Miami’s starting pitcher was one of them.  Updated: The Marlins positive tests now number 14 players and tonight’s home opener is canceled.
  2. The NFL is playing its own version of hardball. Its final player protocol, expected to be released as early as today, has some harsh realities built-in.  Players were told on a conference call with NFLPA leadership that they could face discipline, including fines, for conduct detrimental to the team if they are found to have contracted COVID-19 through reckless activity away from the facility.   All of the details are here.
  3.  We assume the NFL would not be happy if one of its players decided to act like NBA LA Clipper’s player Lou Williams. The NBA has placed him in 10-day quarantine after the guard was investigated by the league for what he did while on an excused absence from the Orlando, Florida, campus.  Williams was photographed by the rapper Jack Harlow at an Atlanta strip club. Harlow quickly deleted the post from his Instagram story and tweeted Friday, “That was an old pic of me and Lou. I was just reminiscing cuz I miss him.”  There is but one small problem with that story-in the photograph, Williams is holding a drink and wearing an NBA mask given out on the Orlando NBA bubble campus.
  4. Williams admitted that he went to the Magic City strip club in Atlanta for a short time on Thursday, but said that there were no entertainers present while he was there.  Sure.   Don’t you go to a race track when no horses are running?  He records the first double-double of the NBA season before it even starts.  The only thing worse than a lie is a bad coverup.
  5. The WNBA swung into action as well.  Like MLB they are playing their games sans fans.  Of course, the WNBA always plays their games without any fans, don’t they?  The Seattle Storm tipped off the 2020 WNBA season in Bradenton, Fla. with an 87-71 win over the New York Liberty.  Before the opener, both teams walked off of the court and “respectfully,” per the press release, stayed in their locker rooms during the playing of the National Anthem.  Respectfully, we wonder how a league significantly subsidized by the NBA, and with no fans in the stands, exists.  If a tree falls in the forest, well, nevermind.
  6. Mike Ditka shared his thoughts on all of this kneeling and/or protesting around pro sports and the flag and the national anthem.  Iron Mike said, “If you can’t respect our National Anthem, get the hell out of our country.”  If Ditka were still relevant on the NFL scene as a coach or commentator he’d likely be fired for that statement in today’s cancel culture.  Free speech is quite costly these days, but we digress.
  7. Charles Barkley, a big-time BBR favorite, shared a thought on who should vote for whom in the upcoming fall elections.  “Poor people have been voting for Democrats for 50 years and they are still poor,” Chuckster lamented.   Like Ditka, Barkley likes to keep things simple and to the point.
  8. Swinging back to baseball, surely by now you’ve seen Dr. Anthony Fauci throwing (we use that word very loosely) out the first pitch Friday at the Washington Nationals game?  Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs got in the best of the digs.  He tweeted, “Fauci’s first pitch came closer to the plate than any of his COVID-19 predictions.”
  9. And surely you’ve heard that the NFL team formerly known as the Redskins will, for now, be called the Washington Football Team.  Some on Twitter suggested “Washington Team Football,” or WTF for short.  Kids these days.
  10.  Remember the guy that was going to be MLB’s first bigtime two-way player since Babe Ruth?  He was so good that he would bat on days that he wasn’t pitching, and pitch on days that he wasn’t batting.  That was 2018 sensation Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.  In his first 2020 start, after 20 months on the shelf repairing an ulnar collateral ligament, Ohtani lasted 20 minutes and did not record a single out.  He did give up four singles while walking three batters though. Not to worry, it’s a long season.  Wait, no it’s not.

If you get an extra three minutes today, be sure to catch those Storm v. Liberty highlights.

If a tree……..

 

And the Winner Is?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We have interesting developments to share as the “peaceful” protesters continue defacing buildings, looting, committing bodily assaults, and toppling statues.  President Trump has sent in the “federal police.”  Except that isn’t the development of interest.

The Democrat mayors of 15 cities across the United States have signed a letter asking Attorney General William Barr and Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf to remove or not send federal law enforcement officers to their municipalities, calling the deployments an “abuse of power.”  Except that isn’t the interesting development either.  For now, the deployment is limited to the most unruly of all-Portland.

In the countdown of most interesting, the action of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finishes a strong third.  “I’m calling on all Chicagoans that if you see something that doesn’t look right, please, don’t hesitate to report it,” Lightfoot said during a press conference. “We are going to remain diligent.”

Finally, she is urging residents to take action to take back their beloved city from its year’s long violent crime wave.  Isn’t she?  Nope.  She continued,  “if we see any steps out of line, particularly with DHS or Border Patrol, we are not going to hesitate to take the president to court and stop any unconstitutional actions.”  Let the crime wave roll all the way to Waveland Ave.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler joined a violent demonstration in his city Wednesday night at which “protesters” threw flaming bags of garbage at a federal courthouse.  He also was jeered by the crowd before being tear-gassed by federal officers.  How woke is Wheeler?  In one day’s time he marched with the offenders and got mocked by them.  Then he got gassed by the federal officers he had signed a letter against earlier in the day.  His wokeness finished a close second.

But the hands-down winner is Hiden Joe Biden’s hot take.  Wednesday during a remote union town hall meeting, the Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President called President Trump the country’s “first” racist president.  This should save the few statues that still stand that have George Washington or Thomas Jefferson atop the pedestal.  It seems like just days ago we were told they were racist.

All of the peaceful protesters are now free to go back home to mama’s basement, but we digress.

Long live Mt. Rushmore too?