Author: thependulumswings staff

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Back in the day, Monday was known as “wash day” in New Orleans.  It became popular to slow cook red beans, lots of seasonings, and rice that day while moms cleaned the house and washed the clothes.  Yum.   Monday on BBR is becoming known as Ten Piece Nuggets day as multiple sports in the late Spring season gives us plenty to season ourselves.  Help yourself below.

  1.  Brooks Koepka owned the largest 54 hole lead in PGA history after three rounds.  After four consecutive back nine bogeys, and a three under (at the time) round going for Dustin Johnson, the lead shriveled to two.   Was Koepka on the verge of a Greg Norman 1996 Master’s meltdown?  Perhaps.  But the brutal Bethpage Black course and gusts to 35 mph late in the afternoon didn’t discriminate.  It  handed out bogeys to all from punishing places the course over.  Koepka held on, as DJ faltered, to win his fourth major in his last eight starts.
  2.  Koepka boldly spoke before the PGA about winning ten or more majors.  He has openly told coaches and players that he’s better than Tiger was and he might win 18 or more.  Koepka doesn’t rhyme with confidence, but it may be a synonym for it.  At the current pace of winning every other one he’ll have ten down in early 2022.  “Not so fast my friend,” Lee Corso just said.  Regardless, with the win Koepka moved to the number one ranking in the world.  He becomes the first golfer ever to hold two back to back major titles simultaneously.
  3.  Koepka’s former coach at Florida St. weighs in like a heavyweight.   Doug Malloy, now the head coach at his alma mater, Ole Miss, believes Koepka is upset nobody is taking him seriously as a threat to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.  “It pisses him off that he isn’t asked that question,” said Malloy. “That will make him feel great if you ask him about Jack. I promise you he absolutely thinks of both Tiger’s 15 majors and Jack’s as targets. That’s not 99 percent, it’s 100 percent. Guaranteed.”  We need to order some of whatever supplements he is taking.  The US Open starts 6/15 at Pebble Beach.
  4.  From good golf we turn to good baseball.  Good baseball is exactly what the Yankees have been playing for the past month. Since April 19, they are 20-7, earning the best record in the big leagues across that span.  The Yankees have notched that record while a bevy of key players have spent time on the injured list. In all, 17 Yankees have landed on the IL this season.  They took two of three from the AL East’s division leader Tampa Bay over the weekend and also took over the division lead.
  5.  More good baseball was on tap this weekend as the Houston Astros took two of three from the once slumping, suddenly hot, defending 2018 World Series champs, the Boston Red Sox.  Until yesterday’s loss the Stros had won ten in a row for the second time this season.  Houston’s month of May to date, winning 13 of 14 starts, is the best record in the big leagues across that span.  The Astros own the best record in the AL at 31-16.
  6. Good baseball wasn’t limited to the East either. Hyun-Jin Ryu, pitcher extraordinaire for the LA Dodgers, pitched seven shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 1.52, or half of his career ERA of 3.03. In his nine 2019 starts spanning 59 innings he has given up a stingy ten earned runs.  They have scored game by game as follows, 1,2,2,2,2,1,0,0, and 0.  He extended his scoreless streak to 31 innings.  Hyun-Jin Ryu doesn’t rhyme with Cy Young Award, but it may be a synonym for it.  The Dodgers own the best record in the NL at 31-17.
  7. The Dodgers lead the NL West by 5.5 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks.  It’s early, way early, but will they even look back at the division want to be’s?  The Astros lead the AL West by 8.5 games over the Angels of LA.   It’s early, way early, but will they even look back at the division want to be’s?
  8.  We think that run differential in MLB is a telling stat.  It’s simply how many total runs have you scored season to date minus how many runs have you given up.  If the difference is in the black, you likely have a winning record.  If it’s in the red, you likely have a losing record.  The MLB leader at plus 92 is Houston.  The surprisingly good, and in first in the AL Central, Minnesota Twins are second at plus 74.  The LA Dodgers are third at plus 65.  Somehow Pittsburgh has a 24-20 record with a minus 39 runs scored.  We guess they win close games and lose blowouts.  That doesn’t sound too good for the long summer nights ahead.
  9. A week ago we liked Golden St. in six or less over Portland in the NBA West Conference Championship.  A week ago we liked Milwaukee in six or less over Toronto in the East Conference Championship.  A week later we like what we liked.  Golden St. is going to close out Portland in four tonight.  Milwaukee will take Toronto in five, or six at the max, by week’s end.
  10. We don’t follow boxing.  We think fewer and fewer do.  Therefore we wouldn’t recognize Deontay Wilder or Dominic Breazeale if they were walking down the street next to us.  That said Deontay introduced himself to Dominic in their bout in round one Saturday night in Brooklyn.  It’s as vicious of a one punch TKO as you’ll ever see.  Want to see it?  Click here.  Be forewarned.  It’s brutal.  Want to see it in slow motion?  You can in that same link.  Be forewarned.  It’s even more brutal in slow mo.

That was a lot to chew on.  Be sure to brush regularly.

 

The Final Table

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

With all due respect to Sumo wrestling, does the competition, strategy, and drama get any bigger than when the World Series of Poker’s final table gets down to the last two players?  The chips are stacked high for both contestants and the stakes are higher.  For the winner the financial reward is great.  For the runner up the financial reward is good.  For the ego, winning trumps everything.

So at the final table in the World Series of Trade Negotiations (aka tariffs) we have President Donald Trump from the United States and President Xi Jinping from China (you know the country with the name that Trump pronounces “Chiii Nna”) going heads up.

The final table has been down to these two for several months now.  The hold (pocket) cards were dealt decades ago.   The US, in a sense, holds the advantage as the Chinese imports to the U.S. far outweigh the U.S. exports to China.  Plus, the U.S. economy is larger than China’s, hence its chip stack is bigger.  The Donald knows this.

Onto the board came the flop (the first three of five community cards).  And for months verbal threats about raises were bantered about.  But each player checked. And checked. Manufacturers eyes began to have that “I’ve been in Vegas too long” look about them.  Then, Trump check raised.  Last weekend, tired of the slow play, he threw down a 25% pot sweetener on about 200 billion worth of imports.  Xi Jinping didn’t blink.  He quickly called that with an import penalty on $60 billion in U.S. goods.

Now the turn (community card number four) card is exposed.  Trump immediately, showing strength, pushed further.  His administration on Wednesday slapped a major Chinese firm with an extreme penalty by adding Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. to the Commerce Department’s “entity list.”   This is effectively a death penalty for a foreign company to survive as it blocks its attempt to do business in the U.S.  You can get off of the list, but the cost is more painful than mucking a winning hand.

The department said that it reached this decision because Huawei “is engaged in activities that are contrary to national security or foreign policy interest.”  Perhaps and probably, but why now?  Why not?   Who cares as who is Huawei you ask?  Well, they are only the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker located in, you guessed right, “Chiii Nna.”   The ramifications to Google, chip makers, the 5G platform itself, and many other global entities is huge (or yuge if you will).

Evidently, Trump isn’t bluffing.  He sits confidently sipping his favorite beverage ( “just for the taste of it, Diet Coke”) staring at his opponent.  He knows that his political base is standing right behind him yelling words of encouragement and even holding up signs in support.  “Go President Go.”  Meanwhile, Xi Jinping considers calling in a back masseuse while he ponders just how strong his hand might be compared to The Donald’s.

Next month the river (the final community card) presents itself.  The two leaders plan to meet in Japan.  President Trump often speaks to the great relationship that he has with Xi Jinping.  Hold your friends close and your enemies closer and your cards closest of all.  By then some economic damage will have been done as the world’s two biggest economic powers are under the gun but seem content to hold em for now.  The stock market has side bets pending galore.

The buy-in for the tournament was steep.  The pot has grown considerably steeper.  Both men and the countries that they represent are now pot committed.

Will we see more raises?  It sure looks likely as we see no fold from either in sight.

 

Boom Boom’s Life Lessons #15

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

One of the many gifts that Boom Boom gave us was the torrent of quips about how one leads one’s life.   He could say so much by saying so little.   A statement at just the right moment resonated in my young, eager eardrums.  How I interpreted or applied it was up to me.  No more words were spoken because no more words were needed.

Out of nowhere (out of wood actually) my friend and neighbor across the street had a great two story fort built in his backyard by his dad.  It was cool!  Everyone wanted to play with Timmy and at Timmy’s house.  I needed a fort too, then.  I wanted everyone to want to play at my house.  One Saturday after work Boom Boom, with reservations, built just that for me.  I proudly announced as much to all of my friends late that afternoon.  Boom Boom went back to his weekend chores usually within earshot of my new play area.

Soon many wanted to play in my fort.  I was the king of my castle.  I was the commander in chief of our neighborhood army. Even Timmy came over.

However, daily, less soldiers followed my commands.  And, then less friends were in my army.  I had to get the remaining ones in line.  Soon my fort was all but abandoned.  Everyone went back to Timmy’s fort.

I sulked.  Boom Boom asked me why I thought everyone had deserted my army despite my commands.  “I don’t know,” I whined.  “I do,” he said.  “Why?”  “Because bosses aren’t bossy, son.”  What do you mean?”  “Leaders ask, they don’t demand.  They show the way.  They don’t force the way.”  I sulked.

“What do I do now, Daddy?”  “Go be a good soldier at Timmy’s fort.  You’ll get another chance another day.”

 

 

Oxygen, It’s What’s for Dinner.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Oxygen, as you know, is most essential to living.  So, when last Friday’s monsoon passed by and brought fresh air to Saturday morning, this BBR staff member decided more was better.  After a week of incessant buffoonery in the political arena a short but brisk run would be the(non political) ticket to even more fresh air to clear the head and pump the lungs.  But, the favored outdoor trail was still swamped.  Plan B took us to the treadmill in the gym.

Many others had the same idea.  The one we quickly took had, you guessed it, MSNBC on the monitor ten feet in front of us.  Evidently, there is no rest, nor exercise, for the weary.   And there they were, all of them.  It was five guests and the very partial host Joy Reid.  A split screen of six in total had each of them screaming about AG Barr’s refusal to appear again before Congress, a “Constitutional Crisis,” Trump’s tax returns, etc.  We couldn’t hear it, but the closed captioning told all.  There isn’t enough oxygen on a show to support six “experts.”  We wondered, how many people across the US would be watching at 9AM Central Time on a Saturday?  We wondered, did the six “experts” out number their entire audience?

After a commercial break, the panel shrunk to a mere four.  Those four discussed the merits and opportunities for the crowded field of 21 Democratic presidential nominee hopefuls.  There isn’t near enough oxygen for all in a race of 21 is there?  The four discussed how Senator and announced candidate Amy Klobuchar had performed on rival Fox News’ town hall last week.  Would you know Senator Amy if she was on a treadmill next to you?  Qunnipac polling shows Amy trailing nearly everyone except Michael Dukakis.  Oops, he’s not running is he?  We think he tanked in his race a while back.  She’s polling at 1.3%.  One point three percent.  And four panelists wondered how she did.  You need a lot of O2 to keep a 24/7 newsroom humming all day when CO2 fills the air.

When Joe Biden entered the race a lot of “want to be’s” started gasping for air, too.  Biden’s playing ping pong.  How far to the left will he need to serve to gather all of the minions necessary to give The Donald a good go?  Well, last week he decided to tell America that Trump was making a mistake in this trade war dance with China.  This came just a week after he seemed to express the opposite.

“China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man!” Biden exclaimed at the time. “The fact that they have this great division between the China Sea and the mountains in the East — I mean in the West. They can’t figure out how they’re going to deal with the corruption that exists within the system. They’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what, they’re not competition for us.”  East, west?  Tomatoe, tomato?  Next thing you know the Germans will be blamed for bombing Pearl Harbor.

The campaign trail is long and the job is tough.  Ask Hillary.   “Sleepy” Joe, as at least one has called him, might need some O2 along the way himself.

Meanwhile it seems like President Trump feels the fresh air.  With one huge post Russian Collusion exhale he seems invigorated.  In his ping pong match he just took five serves from every angle the Democrats could slap at him.  Now, it’s his turn to serve.  We think that he thinks that  Biden is his only competition worth worrying about.  Trump also knows that China is good at ping pong too.  Actually they are very good at it.  Yesterday, they volleyed back with a few tariffs of their own.  The stock market was watching the match from Wall St.  They don’t like long unpredictable matches.  Trump doesn’t like what Wall St. doesn’t like.

The farmers and others in the mid west are watching too.  They played a huge (yuge) roll in Trump’s 2016 election.  China’s tariffs are aimed strategically right at them.  Trump quickly announced yesterday that some of the tariffs that the US is collecting from China will go directly to the farmers in these tough times.   It’s never to early to pump some oxygen into the rust belt.

It seemed like a good time to take a deep breath and go for a run.

2020 is so far away, yet so near.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Happy Mother’s Day a day late to all of the moms out there.  Did you go to the local buffet yesterday to celebrate?  If so, it’s time to get back to a healthier lifestyle.  The Ten Piece Nuggets below will get you your Monday start of the week nutritional balance you are searching for.

  1. When Kawhi Leonard’s heave from the corner sent Toronto to Milwaukee and Philadelphia home for the summer it was, believe it or not, the first ever game winning shot at the buzzer in NBA history in a game seven regulation win.  None other than Michael Jordan with “the shot” sunk the Cleveland Cavaliers in the last second of their winner take all game in 1989.  But.  Air Jordan’s shot ended a then five game first round playoff series. Kawhi poured in 41 points in all.
  2. There should be no shame in the land of cheese steak sammies, but there are questions.  Philadelphia’s starting five is very talented. But they actually  only started 21 games together this season.  That said, three of the five starters including Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and JJ Redick are headed toward free agency. The Sixers’ coach, Brett Brown will have to answer to the high expectations laid out by Sixers co-owner Josh Harris in March.
  3. For the first time since 2000, the Portland Trailblazers are heading to the Western Conference finals.  They got there by completing the largest comeback in a Game 7 in the past 20 years.  The Blazers overcame a 39-22 deficit with 7:26 remaining in the second quarter.  It was the largest deficit erased in a Game 7 since the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal, came back from 16 down against the Trailblazers, of all teams, in the 2000 conference finals. C.J. McCollum poured in 37 points and had an epic run down from behind block down the stretch.  Too bad for Denver as we love their nickname-Nuggets, of course.
  4.  So the conference finals are set.  And, the NBA hopes that you will turn on your TV set.  It’s the seventh largest TV market (SF/Oak) hosting the 22nd (Portland) in the west.  In the east it’s the 38th (Milwaukee) biggest market hosting a team (Toronto) from north of the border.  Eh!  If the two series are as entertaining as the two that finished yesterday in seven games perhaps the ratings will be ok.
  5. Ratings that should not be ok are the ones that measure the ESPN NBA show.  The five headed monster lead by Michelle Beadle on ESPN is a real downer after enjoying the insight and antics of Ernie, Shaq, Kenny, and the Chuckster on TNT.  Do you know what the ESPN broadcast has in common with the TNT one?  Absolutely nothing.
  6.  Paul Pierce predicted on ESPN, after Boston battered Milwaukee in game one, that the Celtics would sweep the Bucks out of the playoffs 4-0.  He got the 4-0 right as Milwaukee won the next four in a row to win the series 4-1.  Yesterday prognosticator Paul Pierce predicted that the Trailblazers would win game seven v. Denver.   They did.  This proves that you can guess a coin flip right 1/2 of the time.
  7.  Portland is an early eight point underdog in game one v. Golden St. and almost a 4 to 1 underdog to win the west.  Meanwhile Toronto is a 6.5 point underdog in game one v. Milwaukee and about a 2 1/2 to 1 underdog to win the east.  Give us Golden St. in six or less and Milwaukee in six or less.
  8. Did you know that the PGA Tour stopped in Dallas this week for the Byron Nelson Classic?  Did you know that Sung Kang won his first PGA tournament?  Do you even know who he is?  We understand.  It’s likely that the PGA has sung the ratings blues since Tiger took Augusta by storm.    Sung sang like a birdie or ten on Friday though as he shot a low low 61 (par there is 71) to get to the lofty perch.
  9. Don’t look now, but the suddenly red hot Houston Astros have jumped to a 6.5 games lead in the MLB AL West.  Two weeks in they trailed the Seattle Mariners by 5 games.  Seattle has put it in reverse since then. In winning eight of their last nine games, the Astros are averaging 8.2 runs per game.  This includes a strong 2.9 home runs per game. They reached double-digit hits six times in those nine games. In the four game just completed sweep of the Texas Rangers they won by a combined score of 33-11.  Baseball is only near the first quarter pole, but in a weak AL West the Stros might not look back.
  10.  The answer is $1,691,008 and 22.  What is  “James Holtzhauer’s winnings to date on Jeopardy and how many shows in a row has he won.”  “Correct, Alex says.  “Select again.”   He’s chasing 2.5 million and 74 wins in a row to unseat the best ever, Ken Jennings.   He’ll get past the money way before the win total given how much he bets on every daily double.  He’s rewritten the strategy for the game.   Several MLB teams have taken note of him given the surge towards analytics and risk analysis in the strategy of the game as it is played today.   And, no, we aren’t kidding.

It’s Monday.  It’s just five working days till the weekend.  You’ll get through it.  You got your day off to a good start with a healthy crunch above.

 

Gambling With Silver Risks No Coin.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

One day after the Boston Celtics received an Academy Award nomination for best portrayal of another team (the Washington Generals) in a five game NBA semifinal playoff series, the executive director of this long running reality TV show took to the microphone.  Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner, answered questions at the Economic Club of Washington DC.

When asked about the current referees, the future of refereeing, and women in the sport he bellowed, “ … the goal is, going forward, it should be roughly 50-50 of new officials entering in the league, same for coaches by the way.  There’s no reason why women shouldn’t be coaching men’s basketball.”

Liz Roscher, Yahoo Sports writer, who we assumed covered the event, then wrote this, “Of course, words will only take Silver and the NBA so far. He can say he wants there to be a 50-50 gender split among coaches and referees, but it won’t happen by itself. Silver will have to work to make this happen with every team in the NBA. The sentiment is admirable, but it only matters if he backs it up with action.”

And she wrote this about San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon’s May 2018 interview for the then vacant Milwaukee Bucks head coaching job, “Even though she didn’t end up getting the job, it was progress.”

We have to wonder.  Is Silver, who has been at the forefront of embracing gambling getting cozy with the NBA, taking a no downside, calculated gamble with this position?  And if he “backs it up with action” against his goal as Roscher puts, is it really “progress” as she describes it?

After all, where would you stop the need for gender equity?   And is it progress, with progress defined as a better officiated league?  Or is it only different?  Or, is it only what sounds good in today’s environment?

All be it a bit dated, a search for WNBA referees discovered that only 12 of 34 were female as of 2017.  Silver told the group assembled at the Economic Club that he’s not sure why NBA officiating remained male-dominated for so long, since “certainly there’s no benefit to being a man, as opposed to a woman when it comes to refereeing.”  Hmmm.

Could it be that women have less interest than men in refereeing? Could it be that there are far less women refereeing, officiating, or umpiring from pee wee ball to the pros in every sport?

With the boys now able to join the girl scouts and the girls now able to join to the boy scouts, should there even be a WNBA and a NBA Mr. Commissioner?  Ah, perhaps that is where he would draw the line.

You see the WNBA total revenue for 2018 was estimated at 60 million.  The average salary for the 137 players in the High Post Hoops WNBA salary database was $77,878 this past season. Given this average, all the players in the WNBA were paid an estimated $12.3 million this past season, or roughly half of what Chris Paul is earning yearly to mail it in nightly for the Houston Rockets in the annual futile chase of the Golden State Warriors.  Forbes estimates that the 2017-2018 NBA season league revenue was 7.4 billion.  That’s billion, with a “B,” as opposed to the WNBA, with 60 million, with an “M.”

So, could it be that women (and men) have far less interest in watching women play basketball?  So, could it be that women have far less interest in refereeing  men’s basketball too?  And, finally, could it be that women have far less interest in coaching men’s basketball as well?

BBR has nothing whatsoever against women achieving the highest levels in any boardroom, profession, or sport.  We just want anyone of any gender to earn it.  But in certain areas, maybe they are perfectly happy with the old school phrase “that’s a man’s job.”

Adam Silver, are you are trying too hard on this one?  We’d bet that you are.

 

Send in the Clowns!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Summer is usually when Hollywood releases their blockbuster movies.  You would not have known that yesterday.  The storylines spanned sports, life, and politics.  The drama was intense and the acting was on cue.   Lights, camera, and….. action!

In sports, the Boston Celtics portrayed the Washington Generals in scene one.  The Celtics acted like they were trying, but knew they were going to lose to the Harlem Globetrotters Milwaukee Bucks.  They did by a smooth 25 points.  The Washington DC based MLB Washington Nationals wanted in.  They did their best to mimic the Generals giving up six runs in the first two innings, never challenging, and losing 7-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers.  It was show time for both Milwaukee teams.

Washington DC itself then took the stage.  House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., declared a “constitutional crisis” on Wednesday after his committee voted to hold AG William Barr in contempt for defying a subpoena for Robert Mueller’s unredacted Russia report and documents.

“We’ve talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis. We are now in it,” Nadler told the press on Wednesday. He indicated that the United States was at a critical time of testing whether it could stay a republic or transition into a tyrannical form government.  Dramatic indeed.  Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee stood stage left (appropriately) of Nadler as he spoke.  She nodded her head (appropriately) after each sentence.  The puppet strings from above were barely visible.  Later on MSNBC she reiterated that these contemptible White House acts were going to lead to a “Saturday Night Massacre.”  Perhaps Rep. SheJack can open for SNL soon.  “Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night Massacre!”

Just off Broadway the New York Times wanted in the play.  They mic dropped a story that showed Donald Trump lost millions of dollars in the late eighties and early nineties in the business world, and showed copies of his somehow acquired tax returns to prove it.  This really was a rerun of a remake.  But if it sells papers, so be it.  Extra, extra!

Fox News “from the left” contributor Juan Williams was live on camera to comment.  Fox casts Williams as their own Washington Generals player nightly. He helps keep it fair and balanced don’t you know?   But, this time he donned a big plastic red nose and white face clown paint (remember black face paint is very out of style these days) to opine that this proves that The Donald is unfit to lead us economically seeing as he didn’t know how to run a business. Evidently Juan missed the recent TV episodes on the network that feeds him as they reported the lowest unemployment in 49 years, a very healthy stock market, low inflation, and rising wages.

Juan’s clown outfit could come in handy to distract the raging bull when the riding cowboy gets tossed in the mud.  That bull, played by none other than President Trump himself, starred in his own road show in Panama City, FL last evening.  There he snorted and pawed the ground to the audience’s delight.  Trump is no apprentice on the big stage.  “You got some real beauties.  You have a choice between Sleepy Joe and Crazy Bernie,” he said.  The crowd roared.  “And Beto, he’s falling like a rock.”  “I’ll take any of them, let’s just pick somebody please and start this thing.”  The lead actor cares not who his cowboy rider is.  He’s ready to toss him or her.   Once the rider is on the ground send in Juan the clown to distract him.  But, when President Trump acts there are no cliffhanger endings.  Give him a chance and he will (Al) gore you.

We cannot wait for more hits this summer.  Meanwhile, Oscar nominations for all.  Bravo, bravo!

Sports-It’s a Numbers Game

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Sports and numbers are tied at the hip.  Except we hate ties.  That’s why we ask who won and how on a daily basis?  Last night three teams won in two different sports in very different fashion.   That allows us to dive into the NBA TV market numbers as well as some most unlikely MLB numbers all in one fell swoop.

Last night the Denver Nuggets blew out the Portland Trailblazers by 26 to take a three games to two lead in their conference semifinals best of seven.  This occurred right after the Toronto Raptors blew out the Philadelphia 76ers by 36 to take a three games to two lead in their conference semifinals best of seven.

Tonight the Milwaukee Bucks, with a three games to one lead attempt to close out the Boston Celtics.  Later tonight the Golden State Warriors tangle with the Houston Rockets in the only series that is currently even at two games a piece.

Let’s make some assumptions and look forward to what the NBA and it’s TV partners don’t want to look forward to.  What’s that?  Small TV markets in big games is what is that.

Assume Milwaukee closes out Boston.  Assume that Denver and Toronto can do the same (all be it on the road Thursday) to Portland and Philly.  And, lastly,  assume Houston finally puts a dagger in the Warriors from the Golden St.

Then what?  Then you would have four teams still standing that rank 8th (Houston), 17th (Denver), and 36th (Milwaukee) in the United States per Nielsen.  Oh, and you would have Toronto, Canada.  Oh, Canada!  Oh boy!

Toronto is actually the largest market in Canada and would rank in the top three in metro measured TV sets if it were in the US.  But.  But.  It’s doubtful that any Canadian team in any sport draws the interest of many from the US coast to coast.  If Portland (22nd largest market) were to come back the above only gets worse.

It’s too early to worry about this you say?  Then what’s that sweat pouring off of the brows of NBA league execs this morning all about?  How does no New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco/Oakland, Miami, San Antonio, or Cleveland look to you?  It looks rough.

Speaking of rough while still looking at numbers, how about what Mike Fiers did last evening in MLB?  Never heard of Mike Fiers?  Late last evening Mike Fiers threw a no hitter for the Oakland A’s.  It was baseball’s 300 career no hitter.  It was journeyman pitcher Fiers second no hitter.  This very improbable feat started in Oakland only after a 98 minute delay as 100 stadium lights would not function.  And, he threw it against the Cincinnati Reds who 24 hours earlier hit back to back to back homeruns on three total pitches.

Fiers threw a whopping 131 pitches to get it done.  It’s the most pitches thrown in a no hitter since 2015 when, well, Fiers threw 134 in his first no-no in 2015.  His ERA entering the game after 8 starts sat at a fat 6.81.  According to Elias Sports Bureau research, that’s the highest ERA for any player throwing a no-hitter with at least 25 innings entering the start.  His career 4.11 ERA is the third highest ever for a pitcher to throw two or more no hitters.

Sometimes numbers don’t tell the whole story.  Sometimes they do.

 

 

 

I Have Yet Another Story and A Moral Thereof!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The best way to bump into celebrities is to live in Los Angeles.  The second best way is to travel to and from there frequently.   It was on a return trip from there that this writer very nearly chest bumped an “A lister.”

Another early AM Friday flight from LA  to Houston had boarded.  The week was done for the most part.  Luckily, I was bumped up to first class as a bonus on the bon voyage.  Before taking my seat in 1D I quickly saw that the overhead storage space directly over the row didn’t exist due to the curvature of the fuselage.  Being a bit of an alpha, I seized the opportunity to put my roller bag over row 2 just behind me.  What about the needs of the folks in row 2 you ask?  What about them I ask?

I settled in with The Wall Street Journal in hand; actually in two hands.  This was back when newspapers actually still went to print.  The hubbub, yapping, inefficiency, and general incivility of 250 humans boarding a plane was all around me.  Immersed in the paper, it was all just white noise to me.  It’s far better that way to remain somewhat sane truth be told.

With that as the backdrop I barely heard, and it really didn’t register with me, that a pair of first class flight attendants were at work in the galley as one remarked to the other that “it sounds like we have a VIP on board.”  This could be most anyone including United brass or a dead head trip friend, etc.  I stayed buried in The Journal.

Wheels up, a movie on the tiny screen, a breakfast, some computer work, and wheels down three hours later summarizes my time in the cylindrical 550 mph tin can.  A luggage grab, a stroll to the parking garage, a drive home, and a conference call is all that stood between me and a big time weekend.

That luggage grab would be like threading a needle though as I needed to walk backwards to get it.  The alpha in me said that I should bull rush the oncoming traffic, stifle it, and grab the bag versus waiting for a slow moment in the mad exit dash from the row or rows behind me.

As I took the hard left turn to do just that the person seated directly behind me for the entire flight headed for the aisle in the obviously opposite direction that I was.  And, because of that we both came to a full stop.  Then we met eye to eye for that uncomfortable moment that I created.  Well, it was almost eye to eye.  The gentleman was about a half-foot shorter than I.  Immediately the mind raced.  Yes.  Yes.  I cannot be mistaken.  Yes it is.  It was none other than George Clooney.  Oh yes I did, I flat out stymied George.

It felt like I had a pair of eyes on my back through the Jetway.  Once in the terminal a fellow passenger strode by and asked if I knew that was George Clooney.  I decided to stay alpha and went the humorous route, or so I thought.  I asked him “more importantly do you think that George Clooney knew that it was me?”  It was an odd stare back for sure. It was a bit awkward all around all over again really.

Oh, what’s the moral of the story?  Keep your luggage close and your A List friends closer.  Or, vice versa.

 

Ten (Actually Eight) Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Judging by our inbox your hunger for Ten Piece Nuggets is insatiable.  We aim to please.  Your Monday AM serving of facts and opinions over multiple sporting profession are waiting below.

  1.  We stated last week that the NBA semifinals of Toronto v. Philadelphia  and Denver v. Portland, then both tied at 1-1, smelled like seven game throwdowns.  With road wins yesterday Denver and Toronto evened up each series at two games apiece.  Game sevens feel even more likely.  It effectively makes these two matchups a best two of three from here.
  2.  We stated last week that game two for Milwaukee was critical already as Boston owned them in game one.  Milwaukee responded resoundingly and now lead that series 2-1.  Game four is tonight.  A week later t’s a must win now for Boston.  It says here that this is done in six and quite possibly five games.  Milwaukee has too many weapons.   We’ll bet you five Milwaukee Bucks that it is.
  3. We stated last week that game two for Houston was critical already as Golden State was up one.  Houston tried valiantly but fell down two games to none.  Saturday they needed overtime on their own floor after leading by 13 late in third quarter to snatch their first win on their own home court.   Game four is tonight.  It says here that this is done in six and quite possibly five games.  Golden State has too many weapons. We’ll bet you five Gold(en State) coins.
  4.  As the story goes as the weather warms the further the baseball goes.  On the weekend both college and the pros provided some long balls in thrill of victory, agony of defeat, and walk off games.  The Padres trailing in the bottom of the ninth 5-4 at home got a walk off grand slam from Hunter Renfroe to beat Dodger closer Kenley Jansen (he of the five year $80 million contract) 8-5.
  5. Not to be outdone, in a wild one in Baton Rouge Sunday, the LSU Tigers overcame 7-0, 10-1, and 15-9 deficits to tie their game v the Ole Miss Rebels in the bottom of the ninth.  Trailing 15-9 with two outs the Tigers got back to back to back three run then solo then solo homeruns to force extra innings.  The Rebels were unfazed and scored four in the top of the tenth to secure the game 19-15 and the series 2-1. Ole Miss outhit LSU 23-22 in that game alone.  In college, late in a series, when you are out of pitching, you are very out of pitching.
  6. Not to be outdone by college, the Cincinnati Reds went back to back to back yesterday against Jeff Samardzija and the SF Giants.  But these were no ordinary back to back to backs.  These were accomplished on three straight pitches.  It was the second time this season that the Reds went yard in three consecutive at bats.  The Giants were unfazed however and battled back to beat the Reds 6-5.  A quick check of the Elias Sports Bureau shows that it was the first back to back to back on three straight pitches in twelve years.
  7.  The World Series Champion Boston Red Sox are headed to the White House soon to visit President Donald Trump.  Their leader, Manager Joey Cora, won’t be meeting the nation’s leader, Donald Trump, though.  After months of thought Cora, who hails from Puerto Rico, says that he doesn’t feel comfortable to do so after the way Trump’s administration handled the hurricane relief to his native land.  Last April Cora blasted Trump’s tweets about the relief saying “I hate that people make it a political issue.”  We assume that him skipping the trip to the White House isn’t making it a political issue.
  8. The Donald, no stranger to the political correctness (or not( struggles facing America weighed in on the very controversial decision at the finish of the Kentucky Derby.  The decision to DQ Maximum Security for interference and put the roses on Country House Trump thought was not a good one.  He tweeted that “It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track , actually, a beautiful thing to watch.” “Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur, ” he concluded.  We assume that the rough and tumble race on the wet and sloppy track reminded him of his run against one Hillary Clinton.

Two nuggets fell off of the plate.  Sorry.  The five second rule applies, but we didn’t get there in time to save them.  We owe you.