Ten Piece Nuggets-Life as We Know It

Posted on July 20, 2020July 20, 2020 by thependulumswings staff

Our summer of discontent rolls along as the year 2020 continues to disappoint. We’ve got some nuggets to get you through the start of the workweek.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is a little red in the face. A few days after announcing that the Redskins nickname and logo were gone, he announced that three of his close inner circle coworkers were as well. A third party investigation confirmed 15 claims of sexual harassment within. Snyder wasn’t directly implicated, but his leadership, or lack thereof, was.
In his statement, Snyder condemned that behavior, and said he wants to set “a new culture and standard for our team.” Snyder has owned the team for 21 years. All claims occurred under his reign. Sometimes it just takes time. Would he have relented on the Skins name if he didn’t know ahead of time that he was going to get taken to task for this mess as well? Better to keep the team and say mea culpa than to stand on heretofore principle, eh?
Speaking of people who had heretofore principle, Drew Brees thought it wise to tweet out his concerns for the NFL’s lack of concern for the players this coming season. He’s worried that the league isn’t doing enough to combat/minimize/eliminate that pesky virus that you can’t see that hits you like a blindside linebacker. Sounds like more Brownie points with his teammates to us. Perhaps tomorrow he’ll tweet out how unjust the virus is to those facing systemic racism. Oh, say can you see (see what we did there?) Brees kneeling for the first game’s national anthem? His two WWII grandfather vets would be so proud of his leadership recently.
A local Arizona TV station scored a rare TV interview with Joe Biden. News anchor Mark Curtis said, “Arizona is very much in play in 2020, so we appreciate you taking some time and talk to the people of our state.” “Oh, you’re an important city. You guys are going through hell right now, are ya?” Biden responded. Like Phoenix, Biden has risen from the ashes. Well, sorta.
Speaking of TV, CNN reported “breaking news” yesterday. Eighty-five infants under the age of 12 months have tested positive in one Texas county they tweeted. The Nueces County health examiner took to the podium after hysteria broke out and clarified that these have been recorded cumulatively since mid-March. One is too many, but is 85 too many? No context was given relative to any other county or age group. No infants died directly due to the virus, though one died of as of yet undetermined causes.
Down in Florida, an incredible story is developing. Nearly 150,000 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported. The change in the number of hospitalizations or ICU beds needed is negligible. Are the elderly staying inside? Is the medicine used in combinations improving outcomes? Is it a somehow weaker strain? Maybe CNN can enlighten us on what should be a real story of great interest.
The peaceful protesters in Seattle decided to spray paint and break the front windows of a downtown Amazon Go storefront yesterday. Amazon put the “Black Lives Matter” statement front and center on its web page and contributed over $10 million to the cause weeks back. For the Antifa militants and the other rioters that apparently wasn’t enough. Is it ever?
Police in Seattle were nowhere to be found as this went down. Are they ever when it comes to this? Wait until they get defunded. Would three out of ten rioters even be able to tell you why they targeted Amazon? Could it be that over 1,000 police departments across the U.S. have partnerships with Ring, the smart doorbell security owned by Amazon? Additionally, human rights groups have called for the ban of Amazon’s facial recognition technology, Rekogntion, which they argue poses a threat to immigrants and religious minorities. Why identify criminals in this woke world?
Kamala Harris is the likely VP candidate and running mate for Joe Biden, don’t you think? Biden has delayed the announcement twice. He didn’t delay while she recovered from plastic surgery, did he? Botox? She got her money’s worth on the high and tight part. We aren’t judging.
Or did he delay due to warring factions within the party? A group of “progressives” representing a large proportion of delegates won by Sen. Bernie Sanders in California has signed a letter to Biden urging that he pick a running mate from a shortlist of candidates that does not include local Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). She has long had trouble consolidating support from the left because of her record as a prosecutor in San Francisco and California. Like Amazon, she should not identify nor punish criminals in this woke world.

If the NCAA announces a postponement or cancellation of the upcoming fall season this week, you should pray for one BBR staff member.

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

Posted on July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 by thependulumswings staff

Sources tell BBR that the Washington Redskins will officially announce today that they are dropping their 87-year-old nickname. While no new nickname will be announced, gone is the name “Redskins.” We have a few questions about this decision.

Did you know that Washington’s logo of an American Indian chief had been designed by a Native American in 1971? He was probably called an Indian in 1971, but we digress. Do you think the Native American designer found the name “Redskins” offensive back then? Probably not since he designed the logo to promote the team.

Did you know that owner Daniel Snyder was strong headed in his desire to keep the name until very recently? Snyder had, for years, resisted any consideration to change the name. He told USA Today in 2013 to “put it in all caps” that he would never make such a move. Some who have worked for Snyder said they believed he would rather sell the team than have a new name.

Does that make him a racist? Probably. Or, probably not. We guess his crime didn’t rise to the level of Donald Silver’s offense as the owner of the LA Clippers a few years back. Oops! The NBA doesn’t call its owners “owners” anymore. Plus Snyder is obviously getting to a more kind and sensitive way of thinking just 21 years after purchasing the team, that as of today, will be formerly known as the Redskins. Or, is he bowing to the pressure created by others?

Amazon said it would stop selling Redskins merchandise. Then, Walmart and Target followed the online leader. And, according to The Washington Post, FedEx said it would remove its signage from the stadium unless the name was changed for the 2021 season. Did the almighty greenbacks help decide the Redskins fate, forcing the pale-faced (is that offensive?) owner to change? Someone once said, “follow the money.”

Wouldn’t it be a turnabout if the team would not allow the sale of the new logoed merchandise to one of these retail juggernauts? You show me, and I’ll show you. That won’t happen. “Follow the money,” someone said more than once.

Does the NFL change the name of the team on all of its historical records to the new name? Will they “retire” all of the old footage of the football team? Will Joe Theisman and John Riggins vaporize?

Doug Williams was the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. Who did he play for? The Redskins. It would be a shame if that Super Bowl film was never seen again don’t you say? If there was a statue of him outside of FedEx Field in his Redskins uniform should it be torn down? Tough call.

Did Colonel Nathan R. Jessup order the code red? “You’re got damn right I did!” he shouted when prodded in the movie A Few Good Men.

“You can’t handle the truth,” he exclaimed. He might be right.

What’s in a Name?

Posted on July 7, 2020July 7, 2020 by thependulumswings staff

To play or not to play fall sports? That is the question that college and pro teams in all sports across this fruited plain are pondering as July rolls along.

Some face even a tougher long term question. That is, do we erase our history and change our nickname? The Movement beckons. Below we examine a few that are contemplating this, and a few that should or could. We even offer a suggestion or three along the way for renaming. Logic has little to do with all of this so we decided to take it further down the drain.

Washington Redskins– As stated yesterday, this entire franchise is offensive except for their offense which cannot move the ball. How about Red Tails? The history of the Red Tails is well-known. They were a group of Tuskegee Airmen, all-black fighter pilots who played a major role during World War II. If they drop Redskins and go to Redtails it would be appropriate in one way. The Skins have been getting their tails whipped red pretty regularly for the last 25 or so years.

Cleveland Indians– “Indians” is offensive somehow. Nevermind that the organization likely chose the name to project a fighting warrior image and/or mentality. That was once something to be proud of. We use the term “Native Americans” these days. We propose a simple fix. How about the Cleveland Native Americans? Sounds dumb to you? It does to us too.

St. Louis Blues and Cincinnatti Reds– Both have to go. If we aren’t going to see color anymore, then we aren’t going to see color anymore. St Louis could be the Arches assuming that isn’t offensive to Lewis and Clark who started their journey from there. Cincinnati is known as the Queen City. The Cincinnati Queens anyone? Well, that one needs some work.

Tulane Green Wave and the Alabama Crimson Tide– These are easy water-based fixes. Tulane Wave and Alabama Tide.

Florida St. Seminoles– Fuggettaboutit. This has to go. If Redskins are out and Indians are out, Seminoles has to be out too. Gators and Hurricanes are taken. Rednecks are plentiful but should be deemed offensive as well. Florida St. Everglades has an eco-friendly ring to it and would be a tough venue to play.

University of Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns– “Ragin” is borderline too suggestively violent. “Cajun” sounds insulting. It’s but a half step up from Coonass. But, Cajuns are a unique breed. They embrace who they are and wear the moniker like a badge of courage. They’d likely be insulted if you called them French Canadians from Nova Scotia. The Cajuns can keep their name. Maybe they are on to something. Pass the Tabasco Sauce and have a boudain ball.

Come to think about it, golf has a problem too. Gary Player is known worldwide as the Black Knight. Heck, actually, the entire game of chess has a problem. Black knights, black rooks, white queens, and white kings all have to leave the board. Bishops are religious references. Can one still be deemed a Chess Master?

We’ll stop. Our Aunt Jemima pancakes are ready plus the hole we’ve dug is plenty deep enough.

Cancel culture loves playing the “shame the name” game. We thought we’d play along as well.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Life

Posted on July 6, 2020 by thependulumswings staff

With hot dogs, apple pie, prohibited fireworks, and tearing down statues, America celebrated it’s 245th Fourth of July. It’s life in the year 2020. Oh, and there is this coronavirus problem, too. So below, it’s life served up one nugget at a time, and ten in all. Pass the BBQ sauce and dig in.

Portland, as American as it gets it the weirdest of ways, had a big monument, and a bronzed elk perched beautifully on top. Yes, an elk. Had. Some “peaceful” protesters lit it on fire Saturday and kicked the elk to the curb. ANTIFA took credit (if you want to call it that). Either the elk was racist or Portlandian vegans’ disdain for meat reached its zenith.
Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffery Epstein’s lover and procurer of underage girls was arrested in New Hampshire Sunday. The noise you heard from across the pond was Prince Andrew’s exasperation. The noise you heard on this side of the pond was Bill Clinton’s exasperation. The FBI has recommended she be held in Bubba Wallace’s garage during her mandatory forty eight hour suicide watch. They know for a fact that there are no nooses there.
She has a story or twenty to tell. Might she know where Carol Baskin’s husband is as well? Tiger King was the most-watched Netflix documentary ever. If Maxwell is smart (see what we did there?) she’ll spill it all and collect the coins like a king from the streaming network of her choice. All she has to do is survive long enough to tell it.
CNN reported, and we quote, “a young protester has died from injuries she suffered when a luxury car plowed into her and another woman during a Black Lives Matter protest Saturday on a Seattle Freeway that has been shut down for days due to the civil unrest, police said.” It’s getting harder and harder for CNN to lower the bar. But, try, try, try they have. You can’t stop looking at the word “luxury” can you?
It turns out that the white protester, dressed in all black, was struck down by a black driver in the middle of the night. If those facts were reversed, do you think the story’s biased slant would have gone down a dramatically different slope? Stack another dead body on top of the pile. The freeway was not located in the town formerly known as CHAZ. Everything else in CHAZ was free, but it had no freeways running through it.
Head Coach Mike Gundy of the Oklahoma St. Cowboys survived a two-week investigation into his leadership of the football program. The internal inquiry spanned two weeks and the AD and his minions interviewed over 20 players. This came to a boil when Gundy went fishing in an OAN tee shirt. The investigation found no indications nor incidents of racism. It did find that relationships between Gundy and several players were strained. With several teams changing nicknames, maybe “Cowboys” should hit the bricks as well. “Soyboys” anyone?
Gundy voluntarily agreed to a million-dollar salary reduction and a lesser buyout in dollars and fewer years on his contract. Good for him we guess. Way back in the day bosses and employees or coaches and teammates had a person to person conversation, shook hands, and came out of the other side in a better spot. Gundy also agreed to never shout “I’m a man” again. No, he didn’t.
The Washington Redskins organization has decided to take a deep dive (again) about removing the “Redskins” moniker. It’s faced this fourth down and long a few times. This time they’ll likely punt. Once the offensive nickname goes, will “Washington” have to follow? The team’s ownership is the league’s worst as well. It should go too. The minority owners have 40% of the franchise. They’ve had it with majority owner Daniel Snyder. They’ve formed a search team looking for buyers as they’d like to sell out as well. In summary, the whole organization is a sellout and offensive to boot.
Rapper Snoop Dogg has smeared several prominent black conservatives, again. He labeled them the “Coon Bunch.” His Sunday Instagram post arranged the 11 just as the Brady Bunch appeared on TV. Herman Cain, Candace Owens, and Terrance Williams amongst others were depicted. Noticeably absent was Kanye West who is a big Trump supporter. It turns out that Dogg and West are collaborating on some production work. “Coon” and “Uncle Tom” are common slurs used by black Americans against black conservatives. Sounds divisive.
When America is done burning down cities, changing street and team names, and knocking down statues will it actually have a frank conversation about what the root cause of all of this is? Real change comes from within. Brutal honesty will be needed. Are the accused and the accusers up for it?

Oh. One last nugget. If FedEx wants out of their naming rights relationship with the Redskins, BBR is poised to step in. We want to make football in the DC area great again.

Stay out of the pool for thirty minutes after consuming these tasty morsels.