NBA

Reimagine Tomorrow

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Just Tuesday we highlighted the war on women, the war on Ukraine, and the war on the wealthy.  But, what’re three wars without four?  Now the war on words has flared up yet again.

This time the attack and counterattack broke out in the woke Magic Kingdom.   In a leaked video from the company’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” summit top-level employees openly discussed Disney’s push to add more LGBTQIA2S+ content to its ever-growing library.

If you’re counting at home that’s six consonants, two vowels, one number, and a plus sign for 10 “outcasts” in all to be cast more frequently in Disney content.

Disney corporate president Karey Burke spoke, “I’m here as a mother of two queer children — one transgender child, and one pansexual child — and also as a leader.”  She wants a minimum of 50% of all characters going forward to be LGBTQIA2S+ and/or racial minorities.

This brings us to three questions.  One, why 50%?  Two, with all of the slang words that are now inappropriate, when did calling people queers gain traction all over again?  Three, if a character is both “queer” and a racial minority, does that count twice towards the 50 percent?

The leaked videos come amid Disney declaring open war (there’s that word again) on the state of Florida over its Parental Rights Law — which LGBTQ activists have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

At the bill signing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis explained that the measure simply bans sexual instruction for young schoolchildren, such as kindergarteners.  But, never let facts get in the way of a progressive narrative.

Disney is a huge company with huge brands that have enormous revenue streams.  They are the content, streaming, and amusement park kings.  But, when you start peddling your agenda directly at the hand that feeds you- parents of innocent children who directly object to the messaging aimed at such a young age, you’re playing with fire.  How big of a fire?  Time will tell.

Can you still say “kings?”  We ask because last summer Disney removed all of the gendered greetings and then some in live spiels. Prince and princesses are out. They no longer say ladies and gentlemen, nor boys and girls.   The Disney Diversion and Inclusion Manager said that they now welcome “dreamers of all ages” and noted that aligning language with “gender identity” dogma can make Disney “inclusive” and “magical and memorable for everyone.”

Who knew that it wasn’t memorable before?  Have you ever waited in line for the Space Mountain roller coaster?  And the lines are so inclusive they created fast passes to alleviate some of the wait times.

What’s funny about all of this is Disney’s presence in Communist China.  Well, it’s not funny at all.  It’s pure “turn your back” capitalism.  How many shirts, mouse ears, and souvenirs are produced there?  How many people visit their two theme parks there?

Is China’s government on board with all of the gender equity, inclusive, queer, pans, and so on there?  Of course, they aren’t.

Ironic that Disney owns ESPN which telecasts the NBA and WNBA and many other leagues worldwide.   The NBA loves China as well.

Can we meld the two leagues into one to be more inclusive, drop the “W” from WNBA to help with gender identity, and just call it the Dreamers of All Ages League?

No?  How about we “reimagine tomorrow” and rename it the LGBTQIA2S+WNBAonESPN sponsored by M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E then?

Does that include everyone?

 

 

 

I Pray For You

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In order to fully understand the story, you need to know the characters.

Brian Kevin Porter, Jr. is a 21-year-old third-year NBA player for the Houston Rockets.  He sunk a buzzer-beating game-winning three Wednesday evening at the Washington Wizards (as they are known now).

Kevin Porter (born April 17, 1950) is a former NBA player.

He played ten seasons with four different teams (the first was the Washington Bullets as they were known then) and led the league in assists in four of those seasons.

Brian Kevin Porter Sr., who is Kevin Porter, Jr’s father, pleaded guilty in 1993 for the killing of a 14-year-old girl, according to a case docket with the King County Superior Court and USA Today. Porter Sr. was shot and killed in Seattle in 2004 when Jr. was but four years old.

Glenn Consor is a former NBA player, turned scout, who finally turned to broadcasting.  Consor has more than 22 years of experience in the broadcast industry, including 20 years with the Washington Wizards (formerly the Bullets) organization in radio and television roles.

Did you get all of that?

So, as the buzzer-beater swished through the twine Wednesday night Consor assumed, incorrectly, that it was a chip off of the old block.

“You’ve got to give credit. Kevin Porter Jr., like his dad, pulled that trigger right at the right time,” Wizards broadcaster Consor said after Porter buried the jumper to give the Rockets a 114-111 victory.

It was a bad choice of words given who Sr. was, but Consor didn’t know what he didn’t know.  Consor assumed, and you know what they say about assuming.  The former NBA Porter is no relation to the current NBA Porter whatsoever.

Enter one more character.  Lebron James.  He’s The King.

“Oh, he thought this was cool huh!!?? Nah we ain’t going for this!” James tweeted. “Sorry but this ain’t going to fly! How insensitive can you be to say something like this? Beat it, man! I pray for you but there’s no place in our beautiful game for you!”

Cancel culture is an ugly game.

By yesterday morning Consor was told of the error of his ways.

Consor, on Twitter, said Thursday he mistakenly thought Porter was the son of the former NBA player who played several seasons in Washington in the 1970s and early 80s.
“I have reached out to Kevin to personally apologize and hope to be able to talk to him soon,” Consor continued.
That should do it, shouldn’t it?
But the King isn’t backing down.  He doubled down after his shootaround (probably a bad choice of a word as well, but we digress) yesterday.  “What he said — no matter if he thought that was his dad or not — was so insensitive, and the words he used — we know the words that he used, I don’t want even want to repeat it — is not even something that should ever be said.”
Come on, doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance Lebron? Or a third?  Or a fourth?
For example, King Lebron lectured Darryl Morey on how insensitive he and by extension, we are towards China.  Calling that foolish is being nice.
He further lectured us on the social injustice of the shooting of Kenosha’s knife-wielding felon Jacob Blake, and the crocodile tears of fully exonerated Kyle Rittenhouse.  Wrong and wrong again.
Thankfully, Lebron is “praying” for Consor he told all.  Sounds good.
Really?  No, he isn’t.  It’s just more grandstand theatre.
Words mean something.  And, sometimes fewer is better.  Consor learned that the hard way two nights ago.
Lebron has a ways to go.

2022

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Thankfully 2021 was one and done.  On to 2022 and hopefully out with the old and in with the new.

In our last column of the year we take a peek at what’s in store for us next year in the business, political, and sports worlds month by month.

January- Michigan wins its first FBS National Championship in OT over Alabama 35-31.  Joe Biden undergoes minor surgery and mistakenly names his new dog Commander as commander in chief over Kamala Harris prior to sedation.  Omicron new cases peak, then start a slow decline as the CDC announces a better test for the variant will be available March 1.  Ghislaine Maxwell finds out the hard way that orange is indeed the new black.

February- Green Bay and Kansas City meet in Super Bowl LVI just as they did in SB I over 55 years ago.  Fittingly GB hoists the Lombardi Trophy winning 30-24.  Inflation reaches 10.0% annualized.  Joe Kernan is suspended after striking Andrew Ross Sorkin on-air for mentioning gas prices slid another 2 cents last week.

March- Commander bites the hand that feeds him.  Joe is sutured by Dr. Jill Biden who says the wound is transitory.  March Madness delivers on its name in a big way.  In round one number one seeded Gonzaga is upset by Sam Houston St. 73-71!  Apple introduces its self-driving car, customers go bananas, but early feedback labels it a lemon.

April- The massive Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica falls apart raising sea levels by 10 feet.  Key West is now Key Deep South.  Miami rebrands itself as Venice. Tiger Woods has a leg up in the final round of The Masters but loses by one penalty stroke to Patrick Cantlay after failing to sign his scorecard.  The Dow crosses 38,000.  Joe successfully fights off a six-week infection from the butchered sew job.  Barrack Obama chimes in to mockingly announce, “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.”

May- Venice is now swimming with tourists.  A refreshed Kamala Harris returns from her March vacation.  LeBron James announces his retirement from the NBA and accepts Biden’s offer to become US Ambassador to China.  CNN hires Andrew Cuomo and rehires Chris Cuomo to cohost a new primetime show tentatively called When No One Is Watching.

June- Hunter Biden slips in his art studio on some dropped oil paint and breaks his hip.  Russia invades Ukraine.  Biden threatens to reduce vodka imports. The Utah Jazz defeats the Chicago Bulls in a four-game NBA Finals sweep.  Kamala Harris calls the locker room, laughs nervously, and asks to congratulate Karl Malone.

July – Nancy Pelosi announces that she is retiring to her waterfront beach home in Atlanta (Thwaites Glacier effect) at year’s end after 259 years in Congress.  A new Covid-19 variant named Kalamata is discovered in Greece.  Biden threatens to ban olive imports unless they are fully pitted.  The MLB All-Star game is moved from Los Angeles after the City Council refuses to force the homeless encampment in left field to relocate.

August- Hurricane Condoleezza slams rural Louisiana destroying rice fields near and far.  Aaron Rodgers suits up for a preseason game with his new team, the Washington Football Team.  The Football Team announces a nickname change to the Washington Senators after a fan vote won in a tiebreaker 51-50.  BTS sales plummet as Kalamata spreads like tapenade.   The Dow retreats to 35,000.

September – Twitter bans Dr. Doolittle for speaking out against sixth booster shots.  The Football team starts 0-3.  Rodgers asks the fans to relax.  Yellowstone ends a great run when Beth Dutton goes Die Hard Detective John McClane to the new airport built next door.  OJ Simpson guest stars as season nine rolls on Dexter.

October- New York announces that their mask mandate will remain in effect through October 2027.  Jussie Smollett signs on with Subway as their late-night delivery spokesperson.  The most-desired but least given Halloween treat is Ivermectin.  Mitch McConnell gets new glasses and says he sees a clear path to a Republican House majority in next month’s elections.

November-  The Democrats miraculously hold onto the House.  Biden says his first call will be to Tip O’Neil to congratulate the Speaker.  Texas completes its own border wall as Governor Greg Abbott simultaneously announces that he’ll run for President in 2024.  Alabama losses in back-to-back weeks against LSU and Auburn as Nick Saban goes through a six-pack box of headsets.

December- Dr. Anthony Fauci turns 82 but refuses to blow out the candles on his career.  Biden offers support calling Fauci a young 82.  Seventeen bowl games are canceled as entire teams opt out.  Ryan Day leaves THE OSU to coach the Venice Hurricanes as Mario Cristobal’s tenure was taking on water.  Social distancing guidelines are reduced to half afoot.  Austin Texas changes its name to Los Austin.  And, finally, BBR’s readership crosses 1000 daily thanks to a certain Hilton Head avid reader constantly singing its praises.

See you in 2022.

Enjoy the bubbly!

 

Can Lightning Strike Thrice?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Has any city ever held more than one major championship trophy in the same year?  Yes.  In fact, when you consider the four major sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL) it has happened twelve times.  “It” is owning two titles at the same time.

The city of New York dominates with half(6) of these occurrences.  Los Angeles, Boston, and Detroit share the other six times with two for each city.

The most recent is actually current.  In 2020 the Lakers and the Dodgers each took home the trophy.  Six of the years were prior to 1953, or over 68 years ago when far fewer cities had professional franchises.

But has any city ever held more than two major championships in a year(note year, not concurrently)?  No.

But, could it happen in 2021?  Say hello to the Bay Area.  Nope, don’t wave at San Franciso.  It’s the Tampa Bay area.

With one down, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady beat Kansas City in Super Bowl LV,  the city of Tampa needs two more to get there.

Last evening the Tampa Bay Lightning skated around, through, and faster in a game one rout of the Montreal Canadiens in the Lord Stanley’s NHL Finals. Winning a hockey game by a score of 5-1 is like winning an NFL playoff game by four touchdowns.  It was a beatdown.  Ah, but one game does not fill the old beat-up trophy with champagne, at least not yet.

Enter the Tampa Bay Rays into the conversation, please.  As the MLB 2021 season is very near the halfway mark in the regular season Tampa Bay owns the second-best record in the American League while trailing division leader Boston by one game in the standings.

The Rays do it on a shoestring budget and they do it with a lot of talent and heart.  Fluke?  Hardly.  The Rays lost in the ALDS in 2019 and in the World Series last year.  They have youth, enough experience, enthusiasm, super talent, and a very game manager.

The Bucs did it.  That’s one.

The Lightning look like a really good bet to do it.  They were 3-1 favorites to win the Stanley Cup prior to the game one dismantling of the Canadiens.  They quite likely will be two.

The Rays have a ways to go.  And, the National League is loaded with good to great teams such as the Dodgers, Padres, and Giants.

Alas, the dog days of summer are here.  And, in Tampa lightning is about to strike twice.

Can the Rays light up the sky over the bay a third time come fall?

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Random

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Thoughts, we have a few.  Nuggets, we have ten for you.

Sports and culture, and for that matter politics, seem joined at the hip these days.  So, we are here to serve.

      1.  College baseball is in full swing, pun intended.  Last Friday through today, the 16 who thrived in the week ago regionals went head to head in the Super Regionals.  With college football setting tv and attendance records and college basketball loyalty to March Madness, we wonder why college baseball doesn’t get more run.
      2.  Do we watch less tv as the weather warms?  Yes.  It’s time to swim, bbq, and go on vacation perhaps.  But, the stories, the drama, and the overall quality of the game seem underappreciated to us.  For example reigning champ, Vanderbilt has an ace and a deuce named Rocker and Leiter.  Or, maybe it’s Leiter and Rocker as co aces?  One leads the NCAA in strikeouts and the other is a close second depending on who threw last.  They’ll both go in the top ten of the upcoming MLB draft.  The Vandy duo and late-inning relievers allowed East Carolina one run in 18 innings.
      3. They’ll be tough to beat with that one-two punch.  But, the unknown is the only known in the college game.  Take the N.C. State v. the national number one seeded Arkansas Razorbacks three-game set as proof.  On Friday  Arkansas pummeled the Wolfpack 21-2.  Yes, 21-2.  Surely Saturday would be a 9 inning coronation for Arkansas culminating in a punched ticket to Omaha.  Cue Lee Corso.  Not so fast my friend.  State beat the Hogs 6-5 on Saturday and punched their Omaha pass with a 3-2 win on Sunday.  N.C. State was a 2 seed in the regionals and a huge underdog to the Hogs.
      4. Joining State and Vandy are Stanford (who took Texas Tech’s lunch money in Lubbock), Tennessee(far better than LSU), Arizona(solid performance), and Texas so far.  Dallas Baptist and Virginia play midday today while Mississippi and Notre Dame do tonight.  Winners move on, losers go home.
      5. Before we leave the college baseball game we have one question.  Why does anyone play on artificial turf south of the Mason Dixon Line?  Come on Vandy and others.  You have PLENTY of athletics department TV money.  Plant some grass and buy some dirt.  The only thing worse than artificial turf is brown artificial turf disguised as mud around the basepaths.  Worst of all?  Glad you asked.  The mounds and home plate areas of some parks are “fake mud” too.   It’s a bad look and we would imagine a bad brush burn, sliding pants or not, as well.
      6. Are you watching the NBA?  Every week a column pops that says fewer and fewer of us are.  Are we tired of the game that’s three-pointers after three-pointers?  Or, are we tired of the social agenda that the league embraced a year ago and remain hungover from it?  Both?  With Lebron and the Lakers already home we guess that the LA market viewership is not what the league wishes for this time of the year, either.  Though the Clippers are alive and on the other coast so is Brooklyn who is locked in what looks like a seven-game set with the Milwaukee Bucks.
      7. In the NFL offseason, Le’Veon Bell punched his ticket too.  Saturday he publicly stated his strong preference to not play for Andy Reid and the KC Chiefs ever again.  This is after a run in Pittsburgh where he wore out his welcome, as well as a brief stay with the NY Jets.  “I said what I said & I don’t regret at all what I said…for those who have a PERSONAL PROBLEM with me because of what I SAID, that’s fine…you have your right! just understand I ALSO have MY RIGHT for how I feel about MY PERSONAL problem with dude because of what HE SAID to me.”  Sounds PERSONAL with a capital P and more to us.
      8. Jon Voight, easily one of the top actors of the last fifty years, has had it with what he calls the hypocrisy of the left and the compliant media.  This time it’s about the “look past” of Hunter Biden’s latest problems.   He expresses that in a two-minute reflective video.  He’s done a few and clearly feels very comfortable in his skin in expressing his mostly conservative viewpoint.  That’s rare in Hollywood, but so is Jon Voight.   If he didn’t earn fifty awards for his portrayal of the Mickey Donovan character in the big hit series Ray Donovan, he should have.
      9. President Joe Biden’s expansive and expensive infrastructure plan/bill is running into roadblocks, pun intended again.  Progressive Dems want more climate change money while moderate Dems want less.  He’d like to get this through with bipartisan support.  But, moderate Republicans want even less cc money, while conservatives want none whatsoever.  It seems like it’s hard to please everyone and their agendas.  Good luck.
      10. Meanwhile, while we know this was last week’s news, we feel the need to comment.  Dr. Anthony Fauci said last week if you take exception to him, you take exception to the way overused narrative “the science.”  Please!  And, he said so while speaking in the third person.  The big ego of that diminutive man always impresses.  Less talk and more legit China investigation and China cooperation about the origin of the China Virus seem like the path we should be headed down.

You’ve been served.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The weekend is here.  Time to overindulge a bit.  Start with Ten Pieces of healthy Nuggets first.  They’re ready below.

  1.  The NBA trade deadline came and went yesterday.   Were there any blockbuster deals?  If you say so.  It’s early, feel free to yawn.
  2.  Dwight Howard flashed a wide smile across his face before the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, receiving his 2020 championship ring in Staples Center a bit later than his former teammates.  He celebrated by getting two technicals and getting tossed one quarter into the contest. .
  3. This is NBA year number 17 for the former first pick of Orlando Magic in the first round of the 2004 draft and team number eight that he has played for.   He’s earned 234.5 million on the court and counting.
  4.  There’s always one great betting story from the NCAA March Madness.  A dude last weekend bet an eight-team parlay with three dogs on the money line and five in all.  He hit the 3320 to one ticket on a $100 bet.  His take?  Why $33,200 of course.
  5.  Doesn’t Oral Roberts plus 11.5 v. Arkansas look tempting this weekend?  The Sweet Sixteen weekend never disappoints.
  6. Little known until a week ago, Grand Canyon basketball standout Oscar Frayer died in a car accident in northern California early Tuesday morning. He was 23 years old. Frayer, a 6-foot-6 senior guard/forward, started in Grand Canyon’s 86-74 loss to Iowa in the first round of the NCAA tournament last week.   It was his 107th start for the Antelopes.  Sometimes life is just not fair.
  7.  If you lost count, DeShaun Watson’s troubles now number 16 lawsuits and counting filed against him for various civil batteries and assaults.  More are on the way.  He wanted to be traded and there were several suitors a few weeks back.  Now?  Now, he’s virtually untradeable as criminal charges might be next.
  8. In the last year, the Houston sports scene has lost, cut, traded, or fired Bill O’Brien, A.J. Hinch, Mike D’Antoni, DeAndre Hopkins, JJ Watt, James Harden, Gerrit Cole, and George Springer.
  9. In the last year, the Astros were found guilty of a cheating scandal, the Rockets imploded when Harden forced a trade and are lottery-bound, and the Texans are a collective hot mess on (4-12) and off of the field (Watson), and in the front office (too much to mention).  They have no first nor second-round draft choice this April either.
  10.  The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is well underway from Austin Country Club.  Rory McIlroy punctuated his early exit with a wayward shot that landed in a backyard swimming pool.  See ya.  Jordan Spieth, never to be outdone, hit a tee shot the next day onto the wrong green.  Spieth still moved on.  The last man standing Sunday pockets a crisp $1.8 million.

Springtime is here for most.   Enjoy.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If you have a busy Monday and need to go, we’ve got Ten healthy Nuggets to put you in the know.  It’s been a while.

  1.  The NBA All-Star game was yesterday. Did you watch it?  If you didn’t here is what you missed.  320 points.  Yep, 320.  That’s about 6 and 1/2 points a minute.   If you didn’t, here is what you didn’t miss.  Defense.  Team Lebron beat Team Durant 170-150.  Are you underwhelmed?  Understandable.
  2. That said, thanks to a perfect 16-for-16 performance from the field, including banking in multiple jump shots, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo won his first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, as he and his Team LeBron cruised.  Even with defense being optional, 16 for16 is16 for 16.
  3.  The virus was on offense as well, as contact tracing forced the league to pull Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons out of the game.  It potentially will keep them away from the Sixers when the second half of the season begins Thursday.
  4. Lebron knew better than to play this meaningless exhibition.  James, who said early last month that the NBA’s choosing to hold an All-Star Game amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was a “slap in the face,” lived up to the other quote he had about the game that day.  “I’ll be there if I’m selected,” James said. “But I’ll be there physically, but not mentally.”  Could the same be said about the King numerous other times that he’s flapped his jaws?  He’s also keeping his decision about whether to get vaccinated or not private.  Maybe he’ll get it and be there physically but not mentally?
  5. With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc, the expectation has been that the NFL salary cap would fall significantly from 2020’s $198 million budget. After years of increasing by tens of millions of dollars, the fall was expected to be precipitous. The new floor of $180 million isn’t the exact final cap number but with the NFL and the NFL Players Association agreeing to it, it mitigates some of that decrease.
  6. Who has the most money to spend?  The Jacksonville Jaguars do.  They have $84 million free and clear.  They also own the first pick in the draft.  What team is the most underwater?  The New Orleans Saints went all in to try to get to another Super Bowl before Drew Brees’ arm turned into total mush.  They’re still about $48 million over the cap even after some off-season moves.  Three other teams (Rams, Packers, and Chiefs) that had playoff appearances or runs are also currently significantly over budget.
  7.  When was the last time Phil Mickelson wasn’t ranked inside of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking?  It was 1993.  Or, 1425 weeks ago if you prefer.  It’s a record run.  Mickelson turned the big 50 last June.  He has won 44 times on tour.  If or when he is willing to put his mind to the PGA Champions Tour (aka the Senior Tour) he will pile up many more trophies.
  8.  Is Bryson DeChambeau unconventional in his approach to golf?  Is the Pope Catholic?  DeChambeau cut the corner, make that cut straight across the lake both Saturday and Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Classic with tape measure drives of about 342 yards.  Is his swing different than anything golf has seen since, well, ever?  Does a bear, nevermind.  DeChambeau won the Bay Hill and collected the top prize of $1,674,000.  That brings him to $23,229,908 for his career. He’s but 27 years young.   It pays to zig when others zag it seems.
  9. Kyle Larson wasn’t sure he’d ever race again in NASCAR.  And if he could, he didn’t know who would hire him.  Larson’s use of a racial slur while participating in an online call last April cost him his job, his reputation, and his ability to attract the corporations that fund a race team. On Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson raced to his first NASCAR victory since he was reinstated from a nearly yearlong suspension.  Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s only black full-time driver, was one of the first competitors to congratulate Larson.  Good stuff.  Cancel culture gave a rare second chance.  Things are already improving under Biden, but we digress.
  10. So, who has already punched their dance card for the big NCAA Basketball Tourney?  If you guessed the Liberty Flames, the Morehead State Eagles, the Winthrop Eagles, and the Loyola Chicago Ramblers you should reconsider your priorities.  “It’s small conference champ city, baby,” screeched Dick Vitale.  Selection Sunday is but six days away.

You’re fed.  Get to work.

Double Drivel

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

In Washington DC, the second impeachment of Donald J Trump has many implications.

For one, and especially if convicted by the Senate, it quelled any hopes for four more years in four more years for the petulant child.  But, in reality, that ended when Biden was elected and was reassured when the first pane of window glass was shattered by the ingrates who illegally entered the Capitol Building.

In Houston, the trade of James Harden has many implications.

For one, any hopes of a run to the NBA Finals went out of a very different window.  But, in reality, that ended when the petulant child stopped playing nice with his teammates and coaches.  It was reassured when he addressed the media Tuesday and told the Zoom assembled that his team wasn’t good enough to compete.

Donald Trump probably feels like he has given it his all in the last four years to Make America Great Again.  James Harden told us that he loves Houston and had done everything he could in his years here to make it great again as well.

Both love the environment.  Trump said he wants clean air and water.  Harden “makes it rain” almost nightly at a gentleman’s club of his choice.  But, we digress.

Trump feels like he carried so many incompetent people along for the ride that the task was burdensome and then some.  Harden said as much.

Trump fired people left and right along the way.

Harden forced head coaches to be fired and good to great players to be traded.

Trump is skipping the Biden Inauguration under the guise of safety.  He wasn’t ever going and now he has a thinly veiled cover to conveniently use.

Harden is skipping off to Brooklyn.  He wasn’t even playing for Houston this year.  His uniform, while he was on the court, was a thinly veiled cover to receive a paycheck.

When times call for all of the surviving Presidents to gather such as funerals of dignitaries, etc. Trump won’t get an invitation.  He wouldn’t go even if he did.

When Houston has a reunion of great players Harden won’t get an invitation.  He wouldn’t go even if he did.

Trump accomplished a lot in four years.  Even his detractors have to admit as much whether they like what he accomplished or not.

Harden won scoring titles and “led” Houston deep into the playoffs a time or three.  Even his detractors admit that.

Neither understand that there is no “I” in the word “team.”  Their egos walk through the door minutes before they do.

A meaningless basketball job has nothing in common with the most important job in the world.  It’s only ironic that one was asked to move on the same day that one was moved on.

But, if how you are remembered is important, these two have much in common.

And now America and Houston have spoken.  Don’t let the door hit you in the……

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday’s rant about Hunter Biden and all that is wrong with that story left you hungry.  We understand.  Politics is getting harder on the stomach by the day.

We have your nuggets.  They’re a day late and were nearly a few nuggets short.  Deadlines are troublesome when your staff shows up late.

As usual, they’re randomly presented, but cooked just right.

  1.  Did you see what Tennessee Head Coach Mike Vrabel did late in the game v the Houston Texans Sunday?  He purposely sent a 12th man onto the field while on defense to draw a penalty.  It was 2nd and 1 and the clock had reached 3:30 left in the fourth quarter.  The high probability that the Texans, leading 30-29, would get a first down on that or the 3rd down play meant the clock or his timeouts could be drawn down significantly.  He conceded the first down, saved a timeout or two, and saved 45 or more seconds.  Scroll to the bottom of this article to see it unfold.
  2. The Texans went on to score but left the Titans enough time and timeouts to tie the game in regulation with a very late touchdown.  In overtime the Titans won the coin toss, drove the length of the field, and won the game.  It’s a Bill Belichick type of move from a Bill Belichick disciple.  Expect the ever-active NFL rules committee to take action this offseason somehow to prevent this in the future.  It’s called the NFL.  It’s called the No Fun League, where creative thinking is discouraged at times.
  3. The Dak-less Dallas Cowboys looked below average with backup Andy Dalton leading them last MNF evening.  It might be a long road ahead for a team that was picked to win the NFC East by most.  They fell to 2-4.  The East is bad.  Correction, the East is very bad.  The Cowboys remain on top of the division at 2-4.  That’s no typo.  The Washington Football Team, the Philadelphia Phootball Eagles, and the New York Football Giants each have one win to show in six tries.
  4.  Who’s undefeated after six weeks?  Seattle, Tennessee, and Pittsburgh are.  Front runners in the NFL rarely fade.  It’ll be interesting in late December if these three are still on a shortlist vying for home-field advantage throughout.  It says here that they will be.  Baltimore and Kansas City might have a bit to say about that in the AFC, and Green Bay might as well in the NFC.  Sorry Chicago fans, they won’t but will contend for a nice seed at this pace.  The Bear D is good.  The Bear O is bad.  Did somebody just ask, “what about Tom Brady and Tampa?”  Nah.
  5. The Big 10 rolls out the pigskin this weekend.  Welcome back.  They’ve been missed.  More football is better than less.  And, Clemson and Alabama need someone to keep them company at the top.  It’s lonely up there.  It’s very lonely up there.  Sure, Notre Dame is undefeated.  Does anyone really think that they are on the aforementioned two teams’ level?  THE Ohio St might well be.  When the PAC 12 resumes, which we presume will be before 2024, maybe even Oregon can join a conversation.
  6. When Oklahoma St and Texas A&M are ranked 6th and 7th respectively you can tell football isn’t playing with a full deck nor to a full house.  2020.
  7. The World Series starts tonight.  Will you be watching?  The matchup is very interesting.  Tampa is a small, small media market,  LA is the second largest.  Tampa Bay’s payroll is 28th out of 32 teams.  Los Angeles pays 2nd best trailing only the NY Yankees.  The Rays are +175, the Dodgers are -215.
  8. The Rays have four current or former All-Stars with five total appearances.  The Dodgers have 12 players combining to make 26 appearances.
  9. The Dodgers acquired Mookie Betts in the offseason and the list of better nonpitching players in the game is very short.  The Rays acquired Randy Arozarena.  He was an obscure rookie outfielder in the Cardinals organization.  In 2019 he spent 1/2 a year in AA and half a year in AAA.  Arozerena was the MVP of the ALCS.  He’s been a house on fire in the playoffs to date.
  10. Do you miss the NBA already?  LeBron got his damn respect winning the Finals just a week ago yesterday with the LA Lakers.  The season resumes on January 18th of 2021.  It’s only 12 weeks away.  You can make it.

Whew.  Deadlines.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Football

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Ok, ok.  You’re hungry for some Monday nuggets.  The kitchen opened a bit late while practicing social distancing, but into the grease we go.  Buffet style is so out of style, COVID -19 concerns you know.  We break that trend below.

  1.  The Houston Texans fired a coach/GM last Monday.  Yesterday, they played pretty well for interim coach Romeo Crennel against the visiting Jacksonville Jags and won their first game of 2020.  They’re 1-4 as the schedule gets easier than it started.  Yesterday, after their 5th loss without a win the Atlanta Falcons fired their coach and GM as well.  In Houston that was one person, in Atlanta that was Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff.
  2. Quinn came to the Falcons four-plus years ago from his DC position in Seattle.  He immediately installed a mean and opportunistic defense.  It finished 2017, his year one, as the statistically rated 8th best in the NFL.  Unfortunately, it also finished year one blowing a 28-3 Super Bowl lead to the NE Patriots.  In subsequent years it finished 25th and 23rd.  After five games this year it’s been shredded game and time again.  It’s tied for dead last.  Worse, they’re 25 million over the projected cap for 2021 and that’s before any COVID-related cap reductions rumored to slow the payroll roll in the NFL.
  3.  New York and New York join the lowly Falcons as the only other teams that have yet to post a victory in the NFL this year.  Those Jets are some bad.  The Giants are pretty bad, too.  They grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday.  Back up QB Andy Dalton lead a last-second drive for Dallas including a 38-yard pass just prior to the game-winning Cowboys filed goal.
  4. Dalton finished the game because Dak Prescott didn’t.  If you missed why consider yourself among the lucky ones.  Officially, the Cowboys announced that Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle, which means the bone penetrated his skin as part of the injury.  Unofficially, they didn’t announce that when Giant Logan Ryan tackled Prescott on a designed QB draw his foot came out of the pile still attached to his body but facing the wrong way relative to the rest of his leg.  You might not want to watch, but if you must, it’s right here.
  5. If you don’t need smelling salts from that video and if you’re a Seattle Seahawks fan you might want to invest in a box.  They’ve won 14 of their last 16 one-possession games going back into last season.  No other NFL team has played in more than 10 and none have won more than eight, save the Seahawks.  Russell Wilson was gold again down the stretch.  He led a 94-yard game-winning drive while converting two fourth downs along the way to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.  This time Minnesota was the last second victim, falling 27-26 at the sound of the final gun.
  6.  There isn’t a better 1-4 team in the league than Minnesota, but as Bill Parcels says, “you are what your record says you are.”  And at 1-4 the Vikings are staring up at all of their North Division foes.  The good news is that they are only 0-1 in the division.  The ground can be made up. The bad news is that their usually fine defense has surrendered 152 points.  Only the Cowboys and Giants are worse.
  7. Don’t look now, but there is a team coming together out west in a new town and in a new stadium.  And it can score points in bunches.  The formerly Oakland, now Las Vegas Raiders put 40 points up on their longtime division rival and reigning SB champion Kansas City Chiefs last evening.  Only Seattle, and Dallas, and Cleveland (yes Cleveland) have scored more.  NFL insiders have snickered for two full years as Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden have assembled a team built a bit differently than conventional wisdom tries to dictate.  Snicker away.  Their D is lacking, but their confidence in their direction isn’t.
  8.  Turning to the NCAA, when a Nick Saban Alabama defense and an LSU defense gives up 48 and 44 points on a given Saturday, one must ask, “is defense dead in NCAA football?”  In 2011, those teams met twice.  In the regular season LSU won in Tuscaloosa 9-6.  In the then BCS Championship game the Tide shut LSU out 21-0.  That’s 36 points scored by four teams in two games.  Saturday, four teams in two games, Alabama v Ole Miss, and Missouri v LSU combined to score exactly 200 points in their two games.
  9. Has the game changed that much in one decade?  The answer in a word is, yes.  The RPO, running QB’s, dual-threat QB’s, spread concepts, four and five wides, and matchup mismatches have given the offense the upper hand.  If you throw in a few overtime games to boot, betting the over has been all over the money.  Maybe the Pac 12 and Big 12 were just ahead of their time.
  10.  And, finally, LeBron, Anthony Davis, and a few other Lakers won the franchise’s 17th NBA title last evening.  Impressive.  It’s LeBron’s fourth NBA title and with them, he’s captured 4 MVPs in the final as well.  Impressive times four.  And, he wants his damn respect.  Someday he might get it.

Get back to work!