Ten Piece Nuggets-Random Leftovers

Posted on April 23, 2021 by thependulumswings staff

Does it frighten you to look into the back of your refrigerator from time to time and grimace at a plastic container of leftovers that you had no idea were still north of the disposal? We understand. Sometimes one of our staffers has the same problem with some very random nuggets rolling around in the back of his cranium. Time to clean it out.

Next Saturday features “the fastest two minutes in sports.” It will be Kentucky Derby day. Can you name today just one horse entered for the prestigious Run for the Roses next Saturday? No? Understood.
But isn’t it funny how you will wind up yelling at a flat-screen TV for a jockey and a horse that you won’t remember the name of by water cooler Monday? Heck, you might even place a bet on the said horse. Why not? You still have a few bucks left from your stimulus check, don’t you?
King James stepped in it again yesterday. In a quickly deleted tweet he called out the police for killing the teen who had the knife in hand in Columbus. He also decided #ACCOUNTABILITY was a good way to give a bad idea some social media air. We’re still waiting on accountability from China on many fronts, but we digress.
And, while we are picking on the King, shouldn’t he drop the nickname “King?” First, it’s gender-specific unless we missed the discussion that now recognizes females as kings as well. Second, it’s someone who takes from his minions to enhance his lifestyle.
His President, Joe Biden, thinks just the opposite way though. Biden’s proposed a possible 43.4 percent capital gains tax for wealthy Americans yesterday. What did Wall Street think? The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 400 points on Thursday afternoon after Bloomberg reported the details of the plan. “His view, and the view of our economic team, is that won’t have a negative impact,” said his press secretary Jen Psaki. Hmm.
And much like the King should reconsider “King,” shouldn’t Biden eliminate the word “secretary” from any and all of the government positions that carry that title? It seems like a layup and then a victory lap (or nap for him) waiting to happen.
The controversial activist group Black Lives Matter criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday after the speaker thanked George Floyd for “sacrificing” his life for justice, calling her remarks “so damn disrespectful.” The party from the left was in such lockstep with BLM prior to the election. Pelosi is political Teflon though. She’ll be back on Capitol Hill doing the people’s business on Monday thank goodness.
The hype for the NFL Draft next week is in full swing. Will you watch some of the three-day extravaganza? No sports organization markets itself like the NFL. No one. Punch “NFL Draft” into Google. It’s pretty astonishing that a single event generates 243 million results in 0.22 seconds.
Who’s your team taking in the latest mock draft? If you don’t like the predicted choice, fret not. “Experts” as ESPN labels them usually get only about 25% of the first round correct. If you like the choice you might start fretting, however. NFL teams’ success rate (offering their choice a second contract after the first has run its course) is only about 53%.
Last year the NFC East Division didn’t have a team with a winning record as the season ended. Awful. Worst ever. Is MLB’s East Divison in the NL going to follow up that ineptness with its own? Three weeks into the season the Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins, and Braves are a combined five games under .500 and none have a winning record. Surely the Braves have too much talent to stay below .500. And, how much longer can they keep the name Braves, as we digress for the last time this week. #stoppedthechop

Happy Weekend.

March Mad Mess

Posted on March 11, 2020 by thependulumswings staff

If you dribble a basketball on a hardwood floor and no one sees it, is it still an NBA game? It is. It’s just far less of a moneymaker.

And it just might happen. These days aren’t normal days. These days are rightfully consumed with controlling the North American outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. And, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who has all but embraced sports gambling, is very near needing to push his chips to the middle of the existing arenas. Or, he could fold the chairs, close the doors, and wash his hands on the way out.

Discussions in the league office occur daily on the best way to continue to play the games, engage the fans, and minimize the risk of being accused of putting economics ahead of players and fans. Several options are seriously being discussed.

One option is to move games to the city of what should be the visiting team if the risk of spread in that city is far lower than the home team’s city. Take Golden State. Please. The Warrior’s home games gross about $3.75 million. But the greater Bay Area and its governments might soon dictate that any sporting event played in a closed area be done so without any fans in attendance.

Other cities could soon follow. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommended that indoor teams in that state play without fans for the immediate future. The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a six-game road trip and don’t return home until March 24. They have some time to evaluate the recommendation and decide how to proceed.

LeBron James weighed in last week when asked about playing in an empty arena. “I play for the fans; that’s what it’s all about,” James said. “If I show up to the arena and there ain’t no fans there, I ain’t playing.”

Upon further review, James had a beautiful verbal crossover dribble on the subject yesterday. “If they feel that it’s best for the safety of the players, safety of the franchise, safety of the league to mandate that, then we’ll all listen to it.” How noble of him to now listen to a mandate. Maybe “adhere” is just a three-point shot away. And, how nice of him to speak for “all.” Kings do that.

He also spoke when he lectured Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey back in October. Remember Morey had tweeted out support for Hong Kong protesters, and essentially against the Chinese government. Way back then James said that Morey was “misinformed and not educated on the situation.”

Now the day is very near that James and the entire league that all but defended China (and its immense economic effect on the league) might play in empty arenas due to a virus that started in China. The bats that came home to roost are now in the soup.

And, March Madness is set to tipoff. We should ask LeBron if we could rename it March Mad Mess.