Author: thependulumswings staff

Cashing In on Cashing Out

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

After taking two flights, and driving through four states, and staying eight days in three different hotels, our summer vacation ended all too soon.  Good times were had by all on food, golf, gifts, hikes, bikes, a baseball game, and the like.  So, it goes without saying that it was smart to get $300, just to be safe, out of the ATM before the journey and all of the festivities started.  Or, was it?

Eight days later just shy of $275 remained in my pocket.  Cash is king, you know.  Or, at least cash was once king.

So, it got our staff wondering last evening.  Will we see a cashless society in the future?  We think the answer is yes.  It’s when, not if.

And, why not?  Every merchant in brick and mortar and any merchant in the virtual world of any kind takes some or all of Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover, PayPal, Venmo, Chase Quick pay, etc.  And, everyone has two or more of these forms of payment in their pocket, purse, or mobile device.

Cards give you rewards or cash back.  Cash gives you pesky change back.  What do you do with your loose nickels and dimes?  Ours are in the console of the truck, or in the luggage that we carried.  Sometimes the dreaded pennies make it into the pocket and all of the way into the house.  Then what?  Then they go into the large jar on the top shelf.  We hope the shelf doesn’t crash down one day from the weight of the copper and silver.

It took America two or three generations to nearly stop smoking altogether.  It’ll took Uber and Lyft about a decade to obliterate the dreadful taxi industry.  How long before cash is all but gone?

About the only need for it is when you directly interact with another citizen in the moment.  A tip for for this, or a ticket scalped outside of a venue come to mind.  Little else does.

So when you cash out, who cashes in?  Visa, MasterCard and PayPal come to mind.   Their build out for electronic processing allows hundreds of thousands of transactions a minute placing them far ahead of rivals mentioned above.  A very recent Barron’s article quoted some industry experts that feel like the electronic processing will continue its percentage growth in the high teens yearly for the next five years and perhaps beyond.

Remember when Apple Pay was going to change the world?  Guess who Apple partnered with to facilitate what they could not?  It’s Visa and MasterCard.  It seems like they are everywhere you want them to be.

Business to business is next.  Cutting checks to pay vendors and such is getting cut by the day.  Who’s there to help?  Yep.  It’s the next big growth vehicle for them.

Banks charge merchants and businesses two or three percent for the privilege of accepting these forms of payment and get paid well to do so.   Consumers win (or at least feel like they do) with one or more percent cash and/or points earned coming back to them.

But the real winners?  Yep.  They collect what seems like a very slim 0.15% of each transaction.  Mere pennies on the dollar you say?  Their shelf is very sturdy.  It has to be.  They collect millions and millions of dollars of pennies every day.

Cash was king.   Visa and MasterCard sit on the highest thrones now.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Greetings.  Did you miss us?  We missed you and your comments.  Glad to be back at it.  We have a lot to catch up on.  Some of the below is a bit less timely than others, but we cannot help our selves.   Warm and some fresh, some not as fresh, here are the tender vittles.

  1.  Congrats go to the NBA Raptors and the NHL Blues.   What a parlay that ticket would have been.  We haven’t seen that ticket, but a legit ticket made it’s way around Al Gore’s internet last week that showed a $400 bet, turned winning wager, on the Blues to win the Stanley Cup placed prior to the season.  The odds you ask?  250 to 1.  The payout?  It was 100k.  Kudos.
  2. The Golden St. Warriors loss of Kevin Durant and, in game seven, Klay Thompson should in no way dull the finish on the Raptors’ crown.  Injuries happen in sports.  They happen every day.  Next man up.
  3. A week ago the Lakers had the shortest odds in Vegas at 4-1 to be the 2020 NBA champions.   Yep, it isn’t a misprint, nor a typo, nor a mistake.  It’s the infatuation with the Lakers.  A week later they acquired a dude named Anthony Davis.  The uni brow heads to Tinseltown.  Maybe 4-1 was good money after all.  Maybe not.
  4. LaVar Ball thought it was a bad move.  Shocking.  “I guarantee: Like I say again, it will be the worst move the Lakers ever did in their life and they will never win another championship,” LaVar Ball told ESPN while at the Drew League on Saturday to watch his son LaMelo play. “Guarantee it.”  No word on how good his word is on the guarantee.  Can we get our money back?  And, the Lakers don’t have a life.  The people who run it do.  And, never is a long time.   There are publicity hounds and there is LaVar.
  5. If you never watch golf you might still have watched the US Open this weekend.  Pebble Beach is one of the greatest looking places on the entire planet.  Period.  If you did watch you heard the Fox Sports broadcast.  Hopefully you turned the sound down and enjoyed the visual majesty.  Joe Buck is fine.  He’s no Jim Nance, friends.  But the rest of the team is somewhere between bad and horrendous.  Paul Azinger is very bad with spelled with a capital VERY.  When Joe Buck was chatting with Pebble Beach homeowner Jim Nance briefly on Saturday Azinger wondered aloud what he was doing on the set with two legends.  We wondered the same.  Also, Zinger needs to find a new barber.  Any one of them will be way better than his current one.
  6. The only one that is worse than Azinger is Curtis Strange.  His facial expressions could be on pharmaceutical commercials for sufferers that need anti depressants or anti constipation medicine.  He said on Saturday about a Brooks Koepka pending approach shot, “this is a hard shot.”  He said no more.  Riveting and ground breaking aren’t words that come to mind with Fox Sports decision to have these two wall flowers on air.  They have the US Open broadcast locked up for 12 years.  It’s never too soon to make changes.  Never.
  7. In the MLB AL West the Astros own a 9.5 game lead over the Rangers.  In the NL West the Dodgers own a 10.5 game lead over the Rockies.  The season isn’t half over.  It’s about 45 percent over, actually.  But, these two division races are over.  It’s not that the teams within the two western divisions are that bad.  It’s that the Astros and the Dodgers are that good.  And, we add, the Astros have played the last three weeks without Altuve, Springer, and Correa.  Wowza.
  8. Don’t sleep on the Twins either.  Their lead is 10 games over the Cleveland Indians.  Their win percentage is .671, best in all of baseball.  Their run differential is 116 runs, best in all of baseball.  Relax Yankees fans.  The Yankees are good as well.  They lead their division by a half of a game over the very pesky Tampa Bay Rays.  Everyone on the Yankees team has spent time on the DL except Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra.  When they get healthy they”ll be tough to beat.
  9. The NFL Houston Texans will no longer pursue New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio for their GM position, the team announced Friday.  As a result, the Patriots dropped the tampering charges they filed last week against the Texans for attempting to hire him.  This is according to ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports coverage and anything Lakers or LeBron related.  On Wednesday, sources said the Texans had requested permission to interview Caserio for their GM job, but had not been granted permission.  Owner Robert Kraft still faces charges as well.  He hopes that they will get dropped (like his pants) as well.
  10. Way too much has been made of the ugly American’s Women’s World Cup 13-0 romp over Thailand.  “They should have stopped scoring.”  “They should have passed the ball more.”  “They should have subbed more.”  “They should have called off the dogs.”  It’s the World Cup.  How in the world did Thailand qualify?  Sunday’s three nil (as they say) win over Chile is shutout no. 2 for the ugly Americans.  Will anyone score on them?  Probably.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Like Kotter, welcome back.

 

Vacation Time

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The entire BBR staff took this week off.  They are enjoying sumptuous meals and great fun in an undisclosed location.  It rhymes with HiltonHead Island if you need a clue.  We’ll be back with more award winning journalistic excellence next week.

 

Till then, hit em straight.

Moving On Up, to the East Side.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Jeffery Bezos may only be worth half as much as he was a few months back, but yesterday it was revealed that he bought not one, not two, but three high rise condos on Manhattan Island, New York, NY.  As a matter of fact he liked the neighborhood, er, high rise so much that he bought the penthouse, and the space right under the penthouse, and the space right under the space right under the penthouse.  The total space will be worked into a three story condo with a modest 12 bedrooms.  The price was an Amazon Prime bargain at $80 million.   Adjusting to the single life requires a few creature comforts.

As CEO of the largest retailer in the virtual world, capitalism has been comforting to Mr. Bezos.  Though the stock is down a bit from it’s high, it’s valuation had crossed a trillion (with a “T”) dollars recently.

Capitalism has been good to the Sam Walton family as well.  As beneficiaries to Sam’s fortune created by Sam’s Clubs and Walmarts, they live life as large as they wish as well.  They just aren’t too flashy.  Walmart, the largest retailer in the brick and mortar world is valued at a palty $350 billion dollars.

So enter one Bernie Sanders yesterday into this capitalism love fest.  Walmart held its annual shareholders meeting.  Bernie had a few thoughts that he wanted heard.  Walmart said, “We have an open door, let’s hear them.”

In a three minute call to action Bernie stood up and asked that Walmart go from $11/hr as opening hourly pay for its employees up to $15/hr.  He also told the board that “regular” employees should have a seat or three on their board.

“Walmart is the largest private employer in America and is owned by the Walton family, the wealthiest family in the United States,” said Sanders. “And yet, despite the incredible wealth of its owner, Walmart pays many of its employees starvation wages — wages that are so low that many of these employees are forced to rely on government programs like food stamps, Medicaid and public housing in order to survive.”

“Frankly,” Sanders continued, “the American people are sick and tired of subsidizing the greed of some of the largest and most profitable corporations in this country.”

He cited Amazon among others as companies that have raised their entry pay level to $15/hr and continued to do well.  He is right.  Amazon has done quite well.

Walmart rejected Sander’s proposal faster than they do a vendor’s proposed price increase.  After all, shouldn’t market forces be the catalyst for wages?  America is nearing zero unemployment.  If you want more money isn’t it there if you qualify, say at Amazon, or Target or anywhere that the market forces force employers to pay up for help?  Just asking.

Maybe Bernie isn’t so crazy after all.  You see he’s chasing Joe Biden, who told America in his “I’m running for President” coming out speech in Pennsylvania that the middle class is getting left behind in the Trump years.  Joe should check the stats on the Obama/Biden years, but we digress.

So Bernie took a swing for the class a bit lower than middle yesterday.  The TV cameras loved it.  It takes a lot of video to fill 24 hours you know.  Bernie yells louder and longer for the little guy than most anyone else.  And, he doesn’t spray his hair like The Donald.  Therefore, outdoor rallies like he had after his appeal to Walmart seem to have much appeal to cameras near and far as his unkempt coif whirls like a dervish.

Jeffery Bezos, no doubt, was looking down on all of this, happy that he already has his minimums set at $15, and happy with his real estate purchase too.  Soon, but not soon enough, he’ll be looking down from 35 stories up.

These fixer upper remodels take time you know.

 

62 Down, 100 to Go, and 30 Nets to Put Up?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s cool inside of Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors.  But, it will heat up tonight during the NBA Finals game three v. the Toronto Raptors as one team looks to take control of the one game apiece, tied series.  It’s cold inside of the TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins.  But, it will heat up tonight during  the NHL Finals game five v. the St Louis Blues as one team looks to take control of the two games apiece, tied series.

Meanwhile, it’s either cool inside of a few indoor MLB stadiums, or hot as Hades outside in many outdoor MLB stadiums as the baseball season heads head long into the dog days of summer.  Most teams are about 62 games deep into a 162 game schedule.  If you sweat a lot, you’re thinking, “cool, just 100 hot ones to go.”

But something has heated up in the last week in baseball stadiums coast to coast, and it isn’t just the weather.  It’s a debate as to whether or not stadiums coast to coast need to add protective netting beyond the current span of 70 or so feet of the first and third base lines as each team is currently mandated to do so by MLB.

What caused this sudden, additional call for fan safety?  It was a screaming line drive foul ball hit just last week in Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, during their game versus the Chicago Cubs.  The foul ball struck a little girl at the game.  Hard.  The events at last night’s game were extremely upsetting,” MLB said in a statement.

“Events?”  It was one event and we wouldn’t call it an event.  We might call it an unfortunate incident.  We might call it an accident.  Heaven forbid, if she died from the “event” we might call it a tragedy.

The girl, who has not been identified, was hit by a ball off the bat of Cubs center fielder Albert Almora Jr. during Chicago’s game with the Astros.  At Wednesday’s game, Almora Jr. was visibly distraught after he hit the ball foul, falling to his knees at home plate in pure anguish.

“We send our best wishes to the child and family involved,” the MLB statement said.  That sounds so heartfelt, doesn’t it?  You need to say something nice, but legally it stops there.  Speaking of there, it’s plainly written right there, on the back of every single ticket,  that MLB assumes no liability for injuries to fans attending.   It further states that it’s the fans responsibility to stay very alert for balls leaving the field of play.

This “event” got a bit more attention than the normal “event” of a fan getting hit by a foul ball.  It was a cute (can you still say that?) little girl injured, and it was a very sympathetic Almora who broke down emotionally in front of a national TV audience while inquiring about the girl’s well being.

“Clubs have significantly expanded netting and their inventory of protected seats in recent years. With last night’s event in mind, we will continue our efforts on this important issue,” the league said in its statement.  All clubs complied with the above 70 foot mandate by 2018.

So, where do safety needs/nets end?  Where do legal needs end?  And, where does common sense begin?  And, when did we realize that foul balls can hurt (and in rare instances kill) if you don’t somehow protect yourself?  Who knows where all of the answers to these questions connect into one sensible one?  Recency bias aside please.

Smoking went from ok, to designated areas, to arrest for smoking in non designated areas, to no designated areas.  Good idea?  For sure.   Drinking went from as many as you want, to limit of two per customer per transaction, to no alcohol served after the seventh inning.  Good idea?  Mostly.

Nets went from none, to directly behind home plate, to down first and third.  Do you need them around the entire field?  Do you need taller walls around the base of each level of stands to stop people from falling down to the next level?  National sentiment is that the more big brother can help us the better.

In short, where do you stop helping people who should be able to help themselves?  And, ask them to help themselves?

We like a clear view of the game in front of us.  If you cannot protect yourself and your loved ones we suggest that you sit where Bob Uecker used to.  Just be careful not to sit close to the “front row” and fall to the next one.

Uecker could see just fine from way up there.   “Hey, he missed the tag.  He missed the tag.”  Of course there was no net back then.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s another Tuesday morning serving of the normally Monday Ten Piece Nuggets.  We aim to please and wanted to serve you yesterday, but people named Jeoungeun, Hank, and Tiger keep cutting the buffet line.  Enjoy as we cover multiple sports in ten quick bites.

  1.  MLB held the first two rounds of their 2019 draft last evening.  Baseball fever.  Did you catch it?  Probably not.  It was on the MLB network.  No Nashville.  No music.  No street parties.  No trades.  No green room.  It’s just one big room with 32 tables, one for each team that take turns picking from pitchers and position players.  You can get drafted right out of high school.  Or, you can get drafted after three eligible college years.   The contrast between the NFL and MLB is arguably never more on display than on their respective draft nights.
  2. Adley Rutschman went first overall to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.  Rutschman is a catcher.  His batting and defense combined to make him irresistible as the first pick.  At Oregon St. he stood out on a standout team for his three years there.  He’s a “can’t miss” the scouts say.
  3.  Can’t miss?  Before they start pushing statues around to make room for him in Cooperstown, know that the road to the majors and success therein isn’t a given.  Since 1965 when MLB began holding the draft as it is known today seven catchers have been selected first overall.  Rutschman is the seventh.  Mostly forgettable names are the first six (actually five as Danny Goodwin was picked first in two separate drafts after he refused to report to the first team) selections.  B.J. Surhoff and Joe Mauer are the best of the five names.  But, there are no Hall of Fame names to be found.
  4.  Bobby Witt Jr. was selected second overall.  The 19 year-old high school shortstop went to the Kansas City Royals.  He may be the most famous name in this year’s class.  Witt’s father was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1985 draft, making the Witts the first father-son combination to both be selected as top-five picks.
  5. The NCAA baseball playoffs began last weekend.  Sixteen regionals in sixteen cities had sixteen number one seeds hosting a four team double elimination tournament.  Obviously, only sixteen survive to participate in the Super Regionals this coming weekend.  Of the sixteen no. one seeds, 12 advanced to the Supers.  Eight teams will advance to the CWS in Omaha.  Because several top seeds square off against one another as few as four, or as many as eight no. one’s could get there.  The SEC with six and the ACC with four dominate the Supers.  The Pac 12 and the Big 12 have two each.  They play great hockey in the north.  Baseball not so much as the Big 10 has but one survivor.
  6.  FSU head coach Mike Martin is coaching the Seminoles in the Supers this weekend.  When their season ends, his career ends. He’s retiring.  He’s been their head coach for 40 years.  40 years.  His teams have won over 2000 games. 2000.  They have never missed the postseason under his watch.  Never.  They have won 40 or more games every year of his 40 years.  Every year except one, that is.   This year they sit at 35 wins.  They need to get past LSU at LSU to pick up two more wins and get three more in Omaha to get to the magical forty wins in all forty years.
  7. It’s 21 months before the NFL and it’s player’s association current labor agreement expires.  But, it’s never to early to start negotiating in public.  Commish Roger Goodell said yesterday that four preseason games were no longer necessary to get players ready for the season.  “I feel what we should be doing is always to the highest quality, and I’m not sure preseason games meet that level right now,” Goodell said.  What he really is saying is he wants two more regular season games.  This would generate more TV ratings and therefore more revenue.  No word on the always safety conscious NFL’s position on if these two games would further endanger the player’s health.  Heck, they even have a concussion protocol in place now.
  8. It’s under three months until the NCAA football season begins.  Find us a website or a printed magazine that doesn’t brazenly pick Alabama or Clemson to win it all.  Good luck.  As a matter of fact USA Today, CBS SportsLine, and The Sporting News all have at 5. THE Ohio St., 4. Oklahoma, 3. Georgia, 2. Alabama or Clemson, and 1. Clemson or Alabama.  Should we just fast forward to January?  Lee Corso sez, “not so fast my friend.”
  9. The resilient St. Louis Blues shook off a seven goal by seven different players shellacking on the weekend and bounced back with a 4-2 win to even the Stanley Cup Finals at two games a piece with the Boston Bruins.  Six games are assured and seven is quite likely in the this bruising, black and blue(s) final matchup.  The seven goal barrage by the visiting Bruins happened on the Blues first home ice Stanley Cup Final in 49 long years. What a statement by Boston. The Blues bounce back last evening was a statement unto itself.  Drop the puck.
  10. Two weeks ago after Kevin Durant’s injury, Sir Charles Barkley predicted that the Golden State Warriors would not win another game v. the Houston Rockets.  After knocking out the Rockets and the Trailblazers in the next round sans KD ,Golden St. stands tied with the Toronto Raptors 1-1 in the NBA Finals.  Yesterday Stephen A. Smith predicted that the Finals are over if KD comes back for the Warriors.  Toronto need not show up apparently.  If Stephen A. gets it wrong like Sir Charles did, should Stephen A. Smith change his name to Stephen Eh. Smith in honor of the Canadians?  Eh?

Use SPF of 50 or more. Apply frequently.  It’s sunny and hot out there.

The Student Schools the Teacher.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

SiriusXM got serious Friday.  It joined the list of media outlets that demand freedom of the press and the right to free speech as long as they agree with it.  Free speech is good until it might offend the listenership.  Then its orator gets in trouble.  And, with the backlash growing against old Hank Haney, SiriusXM suspended him from his golf talk show.

You remember old white Hank don’t you?

When Haney’s co-host, Steve Johnson, asked him earlier last week about the 74th LPGA Women’s Open Championship that played out this weekend, Haney joked that he was going to predict that a Korean would win.  And, he added that he couldn’t name six players on the LPGA Tour, except for those with the last name Lee.

“I’m gonna predict a Korean,” Haney said.

“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied.

“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney continued.

“Yeah,” Johnson said.

“Nah, maybe I could,” Haney said. “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. … Lexi Thompson. Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”

The criticism came quickly and from a few notable folks like LPGA player Michelle Wie and USA Today writer Christine Brennan.  Hank was a racist they cried.   Old Hank was sexist they cried.

Later that day noted sensitive feminist Tiger Woods remarked about his old teacher/coach.  “He deserved it(the suspension),” Woods said Friday following his second round in the Memorial at Muirfield Village. “Just can’t look at life like that.”

Clearly Tiger has learned much from his therapy for sexual addiction after his well documented trysts with a dozen or so women.  We can all learn from a man who learned that having women stashed in hotel rooms under false names in out of town towns for his beck and call was bad behavior.  This went down while his wife was at home tending to their two young ones. Heck, it was sexist too.  But, not racist.  Tiger didn’t discriminate when it came to the ladies.  He so loved them all.

Friday Christine Brennan stated that every country club in America should ban Haney for his gross insensitivity.  We don’t recall her calling for the same ban on Tiger.

And, there she was yesterday evening holding up the trophy.  It was one Jeongeun Lee6.  The number six at the end of her name isn’t a typo.  It’s there at her request.  The explanation is simple.  When Lee first arrived on the Korean LPGA  a couple of years ago, she found five other Lees named Jeongeun already on tour.  So, she added the “6” to differentiate herself from the rest.

Old Hank told you so in his own stumbling words last week.  He was right.  Lee.  Six.   And old Hank doubled down last evening.  “My prediction that a Korean woman would be atop the leaderboard at the Women’s US Open was based on statistics and facts. Korean women are absolutely dominating the LPGA Tour. If you asked me again my answer would be the same but worded more carefully.”  So read his tweet last evening.

But old Hank needs to spell more carefully, too.  His next and congratulatory tweet was, “Congratulations to Jeougean Lee6 on your great win at the US Women’s Open. Who’s The Great Predictor now Steve Johnson @steveyrayj I knew a Lee would win.”  He got the Lee6 right, but he misspelled Jeougeun.  His punctuation is a bit wanting as well, truth be told.

Jeongeun Lee6’s Korean fan club is called the “Lucky Six.”   Tiger’s traveling fan club was the “Lucky Dozen.”  If old Hank gets lucky, serious SiriusXM might reinstate him.

If so, the teacher will get a second chance.  Everyone deserves a second chance, don’t they?  Ask the student.  Isn’t that right, Tiger?

 

 

Swing and a Miss

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

You know old Hank Haney, don’t you?  Sixty-three year old PGA teaching professional Hank Haney worked with Tiger Woods for a few years about a decade ago along with other PGA professionals.  He parlayed that experience into a golf reality show that lasted five years.  Each season one chosen celebrity would be the one that Haney would try to improve their golf game.

In 2008, Haney started working with former NBA star and current NBA analyst Charles Barkley on the Golf Channel’s The Haney Project: Charles Barkley, in an attempt to fix Barkley’s infamously bad swing. Haney’s show continued in 2010, this time with comedian Ray Romano. The third season, in 2011, featured talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. Series 4 (2012) featured a four-player shootout in Mario Batali, Adam Levine, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Angie Everhart.   Series 5, in 2013, featured all-time winner of the most Olympic medals, Michael Phelps.

Old Hank would cringe on camera every time Sir Charles stopped midway through his swing, then shank the ball in any and every possible direction.

Well, yesterday, several people cringed when old Hank weighed in on this week’s U.S. Women’s Open on his SiriusXM radio show.

When Haney’s co-host, Steve Johnson, asked him about the 74th Open being played this week, Haney joked that he was going to predict that a Korean would win.  And, he added that he couldn’t name six players on the LPGA Tour, except for those with the last name Lee.

“I’m gonna predict a Korean,” Haney said.

“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied.

“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney continued.

“Yeah,” Johnson said.

“Nah, maybe I could,” Haney said. “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. … Lexi Thompson. Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”

Haney’s comments were quickly criticized on social media, the platform of self expression of the new, kinder, more sensitive generation.  And Wie was one of them.

As a Korean American female golfer, these comments that @HankHaney made disappoint and anger me on so many different levels. Racism and sexism are no laughing matter Hank….shame on you. I don’t ever do this, but this must be called out. https://t.co/P18JByTosN

— Michelle Wie (@themichellewie) May 29, 2019

Old Hank took to the same Twitter outlet to get out his apology.  “This morning, I made some comments about women’s golf and its players that were insensitive, and that I regret,” Haney wrote. “In an effort to make a point about the overwhelming success of Korean players on the tour, I offended people and I am sorry.

Racism?  Sure.  Old white Hank predicted a Korean would win.  Old white Hank knows better we think.  You can’t say the obvious.  Koreans currently hold down the 1,4,6,8,12,13, and 15th places year to date on the LPGA money standings.  You can’t say the obvious.  He said he couldn’t name six players on the tour.  Neither can anyone else.  No one watches it in person.  No one watches it on TV either.

So Hank Haney said “I’m sorry.”  He offended people and was insensitive towards women.   Maybe he could make a run for the White House in 2020.  Joe Biden realized the error of his previous ways and said he was sorry to have been insensitive towards women as well.  He said he stands behind women now.  Wait, that still doesn’t sound right.

Regardless, old Hank’s apology stated that he actually had intended to “make a point about the overwhelming success of Korean players.”  No he didn’t.  He intended to make a joke about a tour that is viewed (but not seen) as a joke.

Wie said that she “as a Korean American female golfer” was disappointed and angry.  Couldn’t she just be a golfer or an American that was angry?  Or, an American tour player that was angry?  Nope.  It’s important today to tell everyone where you are originally from and how many obstacles you had to and have to overcome.  Wie claimed that the remarks were sexist too.  We wonder about that.  He was asked to comment on the LPGA tour.  Like what he said or not, he did just that.  If a female reporter comments on the PGA tour, are her remarks automatically sexist?

Christine Brennan, who writes for the USA Today, broadened the scope of the crime to include an accusation of xenophobia and wrote, “If there’s any golf club in the country (let’s make it the world) that allows Haney to set foot on its property after that despicable exchange, that club is telling every girl and woman and person of color to go play any one of the dozens of other sports they can play for life, not golf.”

This went from Koreans under attack to all countries.  This went from women to girls.  And, this went from one race to any person of color.   We wonder if Tiger Woods or Charles Barkley or Sugar Ray Leonard think old white Hank is prejudiced.  Did Angie Everhart think he was sexist?  Maybe they do.  And, maybe he is.  But, can we tap on the brakes just a bit?

Christine, a ton of golf clubs that you want old Hank to be banned from have members that can’t name six LPGA golfers either.   But, when they flip through the channels in the men’s locker room looking for the men’s tour broadcast of the week, they ever so briefly pause on the leader board of the LPGA event in their search.  On it they see the Korean flag, among others, up and down the first page.  It’s not bad.  It’s just bad the way old white male Hank made light of it.

Michelle Wie cried “wie, wie, wie,” all the way home.  It’s certainly her right.  But, did anybody hear her?

The problem for Christine Brennan and her diatribe is that no one reads the failing USA Today anymore.  Do you?  The problem for the LPGA tour is that no one watches the LPGA Tour anymore.  Do you?

Tap the brakes people.

 

 

 

The Buccaneers Are Leaking Oil

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The answer is, “a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase.  Something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure. Used as a sentence, “The waiter added a serving of bread pudding as a lagniappe to the meal.”  The question is, “what is lagniappe?”  Forgive us, for we seem to have gotten caught up in the Jeopardy game, with all of the hype surrounding it these days, as James Holthauer closes in on the all time money winning record.

Our small gift, given to you today could have been given to you yesterday as lagniappe nugget number 11.  But, like great bread pudding, we wanted to cook it low and slow to insure that all of the butter and rum sauce would be soaked in, and there for the taking today.  And it is.

What is it?  It’s the story of the Tampa Bay(TB) Buccaneers and the British Petroleum(BP) oil spill in 2010, of course.  Of course?  Well, not really “of course,” but perhaps “par for the course” as to how the franchise is led.  The Bucs filed a $19.5 million claim for in economic damages from the Deepwater Horizon Settlement Program, but the suit raised a red flag with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District. The appellate court denied the claim last week. No word on if the red flag looked as obvious to the court as the one with the skull on it that TB flies.  No word on if the skull shows how brain dead this franchise really is either.

Perhaps the frivolous claim was a salary cap issue?  If the TB Buccaneers had won their Deepwater Horizon settlement program claim, they would have received close to enough money to cover quarterback Jameis Winston’s 2019 salary of $20 million.  Surely two wrong ideas, in this instance, could make a right?

Why would the Bucs, valued near 2 billion bucks, make any claim of damages for a spill that occurred more than 300 miles from TB, let alone a claim of $19.5 million?    The court’s eight-page (it took that many pages?) decision stated the spill didn’t hurt the inept franchise’s performance more than they have hurt themselves. It pointed to the team’s record of 10-6 after the spill in 2010.  This record was achieved just a year after finishing 3-13, proving that even during catastrophic ecological events a blind squirrel can still find a nut.

“The Bucs have not had a 10-win season since,” the decision stated.  Yes, it really did allude to how much oil this franchise annually leaks on its own.  Pure comedic gold was achieved in one simple sentence within the eight long pages.  Great jokes are rooted in honesty.

The courts set up the settlement program in such a way that companies did not have to show a direct connection between the spill and financial loss. And why not?  Over 100,000 businesses throughout the Gulf region filed claims. Some actually were damaged.   Many were prompted by law firms who encouraged companies to stake a claim.  And why not?  If everyone is getting theirs, you might as well get yours.  The team based its claim on the formula spelled out in the settlement agreement BP crafted with the courts. The formula is based on whether a claimant’s financial condition worsened after the spill.

BP agreed to the procedure to avoid litigation in countless trials.  BP clearly was worried that it’s leaking oil defense was as leaky as the Buccaneers’ defense is on a yearly basis.

Claimants had to show a post-spill revenue slowdown of 15 percent or greater during a three-month period between May and July of 2010, and a revenue uptick of 10 percent during the same three months in 2011.  The court said the Bucs failed to substantiate the claim, but not necessarily the integrity of same.  We aren’t exactly sure what that means.   But, we can assure the courts that, by making the claim in the first place the Bucs have no integrity to begin with.

Tampa Bay has lost 97 games in the last ten years.  That’s very nearly an average of 10 losses per year.  The Hail Mary that their lawyers threw in court fell incomplete as well.

Tampa Bay lost in court, and in the court of public opinion.  Again.  The oil spill was a terrible mess.  So, too, are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pass the bread pudding please.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s time for your Tuesday edition of the Monday tradition of the Ten Piece Nuggets.  Enough of  baseball (never), hot dogs, apple pie, and sitting poolside.  Try some tasty ones below.

  1.  The Indianapolis 500 was Sunday.  Did you watch?  No you didn’t.  Pole sitter Simon Pagenaud held off Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato to win his first career Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. The 2016 IndyCar Series champion finished just two-tenths of a second ahead of Rossi in a very exciting run for the checkered flag.  And, the pair traded the lead several times in the final 10 laps.
  2. Quick Indy quiz for you.  Part one.  Is there part of a golf course located inside the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway?  Yes.  Four holes of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course are situated inside of the track.  It’s voted time and again as a top 100 American public course.  Careful.  You are responsible for broken car windshields.  They aren’t cheap.  Part two.  Is Bobby Rahal still driving Indy cars for a living?  Nope.  His son Graham Rahal is.  Graham finished 27 after crashing.  Bobby is a smooth 66 already.
  3. Super Bowl two time MVP and winning quarterback of the first two Super Bowls, Bart Starr, is dead at 85.  Green Bay Packer Starr has the highest postseason passer rating (104.8) of any quarterback in NFL history and a postseason record of 9–1. His career completion percentage of 57.4 was an NFL best when he retired in 1972.   It was a different game back then.
  4. Quick Bart Starr quiz for you.   Part one.  Bart Starr played QB in college for what school?  Roll Tide Roll.   Alabama.  Part two.  What round did the Packers take Starr way back in 1956?  It was the seventeen round and he was the 200th player taken.
  5.  Quick Super Bowl MVP quiz for you.  Part one.  Five players have won more than one Super Bowl MVP.  Starr is one.   You get no credit for guessing Tom Brady who is two as he is the only one to have won four.  Who are the other three?  Joe Montana has won three.   Terry Bradshaw and Eli Manning have won the award twice.   Part two.  Who are the only two to have won it in back to back years?  Starr and Bradshaw are the only ones to have won it in back-to-back years.
  6. Quick MLB quiz for you.  Part One.   America’s pastime has completed roughly three innings of their nine inning regular season.  Which team has the best record?  It’s the Minnesota Twins.  They have a gaudy 36-17 record, a very gaudy 10 game lead over second place Cleveland in their division, and have hit a seriously gaudy 105 home runs.  Part two.  Who is the hottest team of all?  It’s the Oakland A’s.  Quickly and quietly they’ve won ten in a row.  Despite a very modest payroll they wouldn’t go away last year winning an impressive 97 games.  It looks like they want in again this year.  Their pitching staff has an MLB fourth best 3.35 ERA.  Real estate is about location, location, and location.  Baseball is about pitching, pitching, and pitching.
  7.  When a minor leaguer makes his major league debut it’s a special moment no matter his pedigree.   Hundreds of thousands have tried and come up short.  When a “journeyman” finally gets a chance it’s very special.  Twenty eight year old, and seven season minor leaguer, Jack Mayfield got his chance yesterday.  Multiple injuries to the Houston Astros left virtually no one to play second base.  Up from Round Rock AAA came Jack.  Yesterday, Memorial Day, before a sellout home field crowd of 42,000 fans, Mayfield roped a stand up double off of the left field wall in his very first at bat.  An astute cameramen and director had a camera on his wife and mom of his seventeen month toddler in the stands.  Want to see what unbridled joy looks like?  You can see it right here.  MasterCard used to call moments like this “priceless.”
  8. Bill Buckner died yesterday at the way too young age of 69. His “ball through the legs” moment v. the New York Mets in game six of the 1986 World Series unfortunately dominates most people’s memory of him.  Too bad. Loved by teammates, he was one of the good ones on and off of the field.  On the field Buckner slugged over 2,700 hits in his career that spanned 22 seasons with five teams.  He won the batting title in 1980.  And he had a mustache, eye brows, and coif of hair for the ages.
  9. The Boston Bruins scored two unanswered goals in the third period and won game one of the Stanley Cup finals 4-2 over the St. Louis Blues.  It’s only game one, but it might have Blues fans singing the blues.  In 77.6 percent of all Stanley Cup Finals the team who skated to victory in game one has taken home the Cup.  But, this is no ordinary St. Louis Blues team.  Stay tuned.
  10. The Golden State Warriors are heavy favorites to win yet another NBA Championship.  They get after the Toronto Raptors in their own game one on Thursday night.  The Warriors are -300.  What does that mean?  It means you have to bet $300 to win $100 on Golden St.  However, game one is in Toronto and the Raptors are favored in that game by one.

It’s already Tuesday.  It’s just 24 hours to Hump Day.  You got this.