Since I can't do this one on YouTube, the reason why referees do not abide by the Laws...

I have long said that soccer referees cannot abide by the Laws of the Game, or games would not be allowed to complete.

I finally found a video with a definite reason as to why:

An amateur Australian soccer club, of some repute (including a 2019 Section Championship) was involved in a game with another amateur side.

It is unclear as to exactly where in the game this happened (or where in the season -- this was posted right about at the end of the team's 2020 regular season and playoffs), etc., but it was clear the official (in bright yellow) had had MORE THAN ENOUGH of Adelaide Croatia SC (in red).

This is what results:

• Red 3 shoves down Yellow 10 completely unnecessarily at the start of the video, and then makes a demonstration of himself.  Hold that thought.
• As the camera pans to the official, Red 30 is dissenting the call.  That's a yellow.  Red 30 then says something off camera as both walk to the right -- the referee interprets it as abuse, straight red (#1, 10 players left on the pitch).
• After this, he then goes back to Red 3, cards him for either the tackle or the dissent, and then is reminded by Yellow (it wouldn't matter anyway, the "book" is real and that's what he checks) and sends off Red 3.  (#2, 9 players left on the pitch)
• At this point, a lengthy delay ensues.  This is because, this being an amateur match, the sent-off players must leave the pitch area completely.  As this is going on, they are not doing so in a timely manner, and the head coach (black coat) is giving the official lip.  He's sent off.  (#3)
• At this point, it appears the referee has given a forfeiture signal (as in "You have one minute to comply, or the game is over.")...  And the referee then camps himself with probably a park official at the Adelaide Croatia bench.
• Just as he retakes the field, after more discussion from people from whom you can only see shadows, the referee then has to go back to the Adelaide Croatia bench and tell the assistant to stop -- then he points him out to warn him one final time -- then HE'S SENT OFF!  (#4)
• At about this point, I'd have called the match right here.
• The head coach now returns, and now park officials ARE involved, though it almost looks like it's more social-distancing than anything else.
• But when he retakes the pitch again (and I'm not sure it's "Going Mad", but this one isn't clear), he's sending off the Adelaide Croatia keeper straight red -- so that's abuse.  (#5, 8 players on the pitch)
• Now Red 86 (who should've been cautioned earlier), continues his lip, he's gone.  (#6, 7 players left)
• And it looks like another player had already been sent off, and the red team leaves the pitch, MATCH ABANDONED.

Proper result.

Day 353

• Or is it 354???  Hmmm...
• The Toronto Raptors are the latest team to get a worsening situation with the coronavirus -- and at least one game (and probably more) is going to be postponed. 
• Kinda akin to the one Sun Bowl, but this one is a regular-season FCS game.  The refs missed a made field goal in an FCS game yesterday.  And it cost Eastern Washington a possible win with Idaho.  The Idaho stadium is almost a literal barn -- and a 24 yard Eastern Washington field goal was made by so much, it hit the back wall behind the goal post and bounced back out!!  The game was 21-21 at the time, Idaho won 28-21, probably on the resulting drive.
• Add Irv Cross to the passed-away list.  Many Sundays were spent watching him as analyst on The NFL Today. 

Day 352

• Greeat...  Now we have Jeremy Lin getting the G League (where he now plays for Golden State's team in the developmental league) investigating someone in a game calling him "Coronavirus"...  Really.  No joke.  Ugh...   
• LeBron James and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are at odds -- Zlatan wants LeBron to STFU and Stick To Sports.  LeBron, obviously, will not.  Kinda tells you about Zlatan a bit, doesn't it???   
• The Atlanta Dream have been sold to a new consortium -- Bigot Kelly Loeffler is out.
• John Geddert was charged Thursday with 24 counts of human trafficking, sexual assault, racketeering, and lying to the cops.
• Hours later, he killed himself, rather than continuing to expose the USOC as a pro-rape sexual-trafficking outfit.  
• Once the NCAA Tournaments start, any teams forced to withdraw due to COVID-19 will be forced to forfeit -- there will be no replacements.  There should be no Tournament again this year -- Hell, there should've been no season!!!   
• An increasing number of schools are opting out of the deal allowing EA to relaunch college football.  Cancellation incoming...   
• Various sexually assaulted and harassed parties surrounding the Washington Football Team cheerleading squad want the NFL's results of their investigation made known to them.  ... probably so they can try to sue the league when THEY sweep this under the rug.   
• A former Utah Jazz player wants a league investigation to a bigoted comment he claims a team executive made to him in 2015.  Gee, why do you think this is coming out NOW???  You don't think it's because the Jazz have become too good for the NBA's narrative and the table need be set for them to be stopped come...  when the Hell are the playoffs going to be again?  May, June and July? 
• And with a history of this that might make Donald Sterling proud, it sounds as if Dennis "I'll Cut Your Black Ass" Lindsey (CORRECTION:  Millsap is the player making the charge!) is the latest basketball owner who needs to go.  And it's covered up because the Jazz, of course, are in Salt Lake City -- almost a "Not In America" city (and I know, I've visited there a couple of times) because of the ties to the Mormons.  And a hat-tip to my anonymous friend for the backdrop -- and for multiple corrections.
• The G League is playing in a bubble in Florida, playoffs to begin March 8th.
• Minnesota Timberwolves:  Malik Beasley, 12 games for a violation of the NBA's Personal Conduct Policy, due to a guilty plea for terrorist threats back in September.  If I were Silver, he serves the 120 day sentence now, is banned for the season, and can petition for reinstatement upon completion of the amended league year.  I think it's a mistake to let Beasley play now.   
• New Zealand is back in COVID lockdown, so the America's Cup finals are on hold.  New Zealand vs. Italy in the final.  Won't start until at least mid-March.

Been taking several days off as we approach the one year anniversary of TSHTF and TEOTWAWKI, but there is something I saw this week that got me pissed...

The cottage industry of scalpers.

Been seeing a lot of this over the course of the last several years -- not least when I attended Wrestlemania 31 and associated events now six years ago in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And it has gotten very bad with the fact that, if you want that hot Christmas item (hello, broken PS5!!!  Or is it broken XBox Series S -- and that's provided the Amazon driver, etc. doesn't rob you of it!!!), you're basically competing on the six seconds the thing is being sold online with a bunch of bot-infested cottage industries who will gladly sell you back the desired item -- at six times the price on EBay!!!

(Not to mention that, for someone like me, the first reason that I MIGHT eventually want a PS5 was just discussed yesterday and won't be released until June and is probably pointless to me unless the base game this upgrade was based upon is soon PS5 only for it's next section -- probably to be released in 2023 if I'm still alive by then.  (Which I fully expect will happen...))

But what really gets my ass, and doubly so because of the coronavirus shit, is a story like THIS ONE that my anonymous friend baseball historian sent me...

There are at least 20 tickets on sale right now for the Dodgers home opener in April against Washington -- which would be Banner Night, because of the World Series Championship.  And they are being sold for up to NINE THOUSAND DOLLARS...

The tickets, straight up, do not exist.

They CANNOT EXIST.

California may be one of the LAST states in the country to go big fans for sporting events and concerts and the like -- Taylor Swift had to break the news to her fans today that the cancelled tour she was supposed to have last year (which was to include the first event(s) at LA's SoFi Stadium) will never be rescheduled because the entire music touring environment is unknown...

This is blatant naked short-selling or a complete scam job.  And there's really nothing anyone wants to do about it, because (even though scalpers are notoriously unpopular -- much to the pleasure of video-game podcasters like Pat and Ian!!) it seems like we are willing to accept, as a culture, that the entire idea of most buying of tickets (or other big-ticket items such as the above-mentioned new-generation consoles (which don't work!!!)) is to scam the living shit out of the process.

My friend is correct -- if you don't have the tickets, you don't re-sell them.

It goes double when there is almost no feasible chance there ever will be tickets to these games.  Last word was about a week ago when the Dodgers hoped for 20% capacity, but there you go.

I mean, HELLO.  New variants of the virus, people?  Including one that appears to have started in California????

But that's right -- let's forget that the only reason Justin Turner probably tested positive for the virus and exposed the entire team on that fateful Game 6 was that MLB let fans in for the World Series and the like!!!

I said, when this started, that this was going to be 12-18 months largely without sports.  That sports have actually morphed into fanless constructs (to save the sports networks, even still that they are losing one anyway!!) as much as they have is encouraging.

But the fact is, and largely because of anti-vaxx/right-wing Covidiots, we are probably at LEAST another TWELVE TO TWENTY-FOUR MONTHS away from anything approaching acceptable to have large crowds at anything.

Because every time we seem to be having a large-crowd event, a coronavirus surge comes shortly thereafter.

29.1 million cases -- some of whom famous.  Remember when Tom Hanks and his wife dropped the bombshell on March 11, 2020???

522,874 gone.  Almost a 2% death rate.

And yet people want to think we're at herd immunity and all of us who demand masks and distancing should pound sand.

No, Karl Denninger:  You and your libertarian friends want people like me dead, and you're too pussy to fire a shot, even though you demand those who believe it necessary to go all in when you will NOT.

Coward.

Day 348

• Pat Sajak, shut the fuck up.  Apparently had some fun at the expense of a contestant last night with a speech impediment!!
• Isaiah Wilson is probably done in the NFL.  His response to the ultimatum with the GM appears to be he's done with the Titans.
• At least one UCLA track runner has been removed from the team -- alleged video of across-the-board slurs.
• Breaking news about noon Pacific that should end the mystery about this year's Masters, if they take place as scheduled:  The "Jaws of Life" were invoked to extricate Tiger Woods from an LA crash this morning.  No further word, at least as of about noon Pacific.
• You can add Debbie Gibson, apparently, to the list of celebrities who have tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic.  Today, in her weekly video performance (and it really IS a performance, when she takes out the trash!!) of her taking out the trash, she made note that she has had both COVID-19 and pneumonia at points this year, but has apparently recovered from both!!!
• And then, as I read that, the #1 trend on Twitter in the United States:  #FireFauci .  No...  #FUCKYOU
• Tiger:  Leg injuries, in surgery as we speak.  Career over???   

Day 347

• Chip Ganassi has been thrown out of next week's NASCAR race in Miami.
• That said, it is only Ganassi.  He brought someone into the bubble who had no place belonging there under NASCAR COVID protocols.  He's also fined $30,000 -- but his teams are not otherwise penalized, as this was a specific action by Ganassi.
• Kevin Mather opened his mouth, and now he's out as President and CEO of the Seattle Mariners.
• A 45 minute video of a Rotary Club speech by Mather had "highlights" of a racist diatribe toward a Japanese pitcher in the Mariners system who "suddenly got better at English" when Mather threatened to pull the $75,000 interpreter they had.
• He then said the same about a Caribbean top prospect -- probably THE top prospect in the Mariners system, about his ego and that his English stank as well.
• For this, he was fired (yeah, he quit, but who are we kidding??), and the MLBPA had this to say on it:

"The Club's video presentation is a highly disturbing yet critically important window into how Players are genuinely viewed by management. Not just because of what was said, but also because it represents an unfiltered look into Club thinking,'' the statement read. "It is offensive, and it is not surprising that fans and others around the game are offended as well. Players remain committed to confronting these issues at the bargaining table and elsewhere.''

• At least three sexual harassment claims against Mather are also on the table.
• This has overshadowed a day in which it now appears that Albert Pujols will play his last season in 2021.  Of course, there has to be an increasing chance (see comments above by the MLBPA) that there is no 2022 season, and that the future of Major League Baseball may be, in fact, FAR BLEAKER than anyone is caring to admit.   
• All this as the United States now officially has passed 500,000 -- and now 510,000 -- coronavirus deaths.  According to WorldOMeters, fully 9% of the United States population has now caught and had the coronavirus, with 512,590 passings -- still, today, nearing a 2% fatality rate.  Meaning you can still make the claim the Covidiots are attempting to kill almost SEVEN MILLION AMERICANS, just with the virus itself, and just in this round of it.   
• In a MAJOR blow to EA's efforts to relaunch college football video games on an officially-licensed basis, Notre Dame will not take part.
• The good news for Deion Sanders in his first Spring-FCS game as head coach of Jackson State University, the team won over a far lesser NAIA opponent.
• The bad news is that a number of his belongings were robbed from the locker room during the game (which was also reported to have had no running water) -- and one of his assistants was able to stop it.
• Late word Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has tested positive for COVID-19.
• The state of New Jersey says it wants to start allowing fans at sporting events as early as next week.  FACEPALM...  
• 
  

Day 346

• Last week, San Diego Comic-Con cancelled it's second consecutive WonderCon, at least the in-person portion, for Anaheim.  There will be an @Home version, March 26 and 27.
• 2021 Comic-Con is still at least planned for some in-person event, as of the moment.  Look for that to get cancelled about May.  E3 is already online-only this year again.   
• Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka routed the field for the Australian Open singles championships.
• Steve Kerr:  You want to state how Draymond Green crossed the line in getting a 2-T ejection which aided the Warriors' loss?  Maybe you need to take him aside and finally tell him why the NBA no longer wants your asses in large-scale contention.  Retire from coaching -- your team has been out of control for years.
• Ian Desmond of the Rockies will not play this year either, opting out for a second straight year -- this time to be with his family and keep in touch at a distance with what is going on.

Day 345

• Steph Curry is "not feeling well", and sat out tonight's game in Charlotte.  Not saying, but I am saying that this is how it started with Rudy Gobert...   
• The NHL wants to do two outdoor games this weekend on Lake Tahoe.  It will have to wait til the sun goes down to ensure adequate ice conditions.  They played one period today until the strong sunshine forced the issue.
• Rush Limbaugh Is A Pig, Part (Insert Large Number Here):  Limbaugh and Rudi Giuliani had some "fun" at Michele Wie West's expense -- Giuliani saying that the photographers following her golf group were there to photograph her and her underwear, which could be seen while she shot because she's so tall.  This was several years ago, and Wie West, the LPGA, and Nike (who outfits her) have all condemned the comments.

Day 344

• I'd ask how in the Hell do you miss weight for 150 pounds or so by 11.5 pounds, but Rafael Alves felt ill during the weight cut.  Shouldn't even have been put on the scale then -- fight's off.   
• Some fans will be in Indiana for the March Madness tournament.  ... almost ensuring it does not complete, at the rate things are going.   
• MLB is claiming less than 15 COVID positives in initial Spring Training testing.  We'll see about that...   
• Looks like the Eagles are cleaning house.  Traded Carson Wentz to the Colts, now released DeSean Jackson.
• Johnny Damon dinged for a DUI -- his wife may be in more trouble...  Battery on an officer.
• Former world pool #1 Jeanette Lee has Stage IV ovarian cancer.
• After additional drug-tampering charges have banned Russia from the next Summer and Winter Olympics, they will compete as "ROC" -- no mention of Russia at all.  Kinda tells you how important Russia is to the Olympic movement.  A lesser nation would've been thrown out completely!   
• SI reports that, due to scheduling quirks, Jacksonville State University could end up playing 20 football games in one calendar year, spanning THREE technical football seasons.

Day 343

• No competitive sports in the Ivy League this Spring due to COVID.  Meaning that the entire 2020-21 school year has had sports cancelled in the Ivy League.
• As have the McDonald's High School All-American Games this year.
• Serena Williams may be about to retire.
• The NHL has now had to postpone it's fourth Dallas Stars game due to the ridiculous weather.
• The Indiana-based NCAA Tournament will undergo some structural changes:

1. First Four will be Thursday this year.
2. First Round Proper Friday and Saturday
3. Second Round Sunday and Monday
4. Sweet 16 Week the following Saturday through Tuesday
5. Final Four Week is unchanged.

• Provided there's a full season, the Dodgers have had their betting win total set at 104.5 at Caesar's -- tied with the 1999 Yankees as the highest opening wins total since 1988.
• And Pittsburgh, at 58, the lowest...
• Saudi Arabia has soiled the gaming industry, throwing $3.3 billion at stakes in most of the American gaming companies (EA, Take Two, Activision Blizzard).

Day 342

• Appears as if one 2020 NFL first-rounder is going to be fired.  Tennessee Titans GM Jon Robinson has all but called out first-round pick Isiah Wilson, up to and including the very real possibility Wilson defrauded the team to get his contract.  He's had two personal-conduct issues, two run-ins with COVID-19, and an injury in his first year -- and Robinson now questions whether Wilson wants to be in the NFL.
• Former Australian Olympian Scott Miller is headed to prison for a long time -- apparently the head of a significant and wide-reaching meth drug ring in Sydney.  Two Olympic medals (a silver and a bronze) in Atlanta and a world champion the year before that.
• Two weeks after a DUI crash by Britt Reid put 5 year-old Ariel Young into a coma, the first indications she may survive:  She has awoken from the coma.
• Pistons-Mavericks is off for tonight due to the massive problems in Texas from a near-unprecedented winter storm.
• So has Stars-Predators in the NHL.

And three very pleasurable endings today:

• Rush Limbaugh has finally expired due to cancer.  And I can say that -- outside of maybe a few family, a lot of people will be very happy when I am gone.   
• The Trump Plaza in Atlantic City was imploded today.
• And Tim Tebow has officially retired from trying to Christian-up baseball.

Day 340: Starting with two racing deals...

• Michael McDowell was the shock winner of the 2021 Daytona 500 after the second of two "Big One" crashes left McDowell the leader when the caution lights were thrown on the final lap.  No, I'm not one to think McDowell caused the wreck, though he definitely did start some of the contact which facilitated it.  Nor do I think McDowell was the one NASCAR would "want" to win.  Chase Elliott, who finished second, probably gets that distinction.  That said, I do think NASCAR needs to deal with the aerodynamic package which basically makes running in a long train for many laps on super-speedways about 10-15 MPH faster than trying to pass, leading to this chaos finish at almost every super-speedway race.   
• But that may pale in comparison to something I just found early this morning on YouTube.  It is a late-2020 video which probably would dabble into the conspiracy end of things.

The video alleges Brian Vickers retired from NASCAR in 2015 because his wife, Sarah Kellen, has already been tied to Jeffrey Epstein, and it is believed that Vickers could not have been involved with Kellen, even her under an alias, without at least knowing who he was dealing with.

The video DOES NOT ALLEGE underage conduct with respect to Vickers.  I need to be clear on this.  It DOES NOT ALLEGE underage sexual contact between Vickers and anyone.  But given not only the possibility Kellen still has outside ties to Epstein's people, plus the fact that it is widely believed, even in her own family, that she will probably be arrested soon for crimes under Epstein's employ, various parties may have "encouraged" or even forced Vickers from the sport as a result.  It is unclear at this time.   

• Former Buccaneer and Charger Vincent Jackson was found deceased in a Florida hotel room today.  He was 38.  CTE probable.  He was staying in a Tampa hotel, and police were dispatched there last Friday on a missing-persons situation.

Day 338

• And the bully from Iowa is gone.  Chris Doyle was run out of the NFL for his conduct in Iowa.  One word, Chris:  Unemployable.  Five more:  Take Urban Meyer with you.  
• Chaos at the Australian Open when the lockdowns hit Melbourne again and fans had to be ejected from the premises.

Day 337

• About a month, now, to one year of this stuff.
• The Australian Open has ceased taking fans after Melbourne has entered a new COVID-19 lockdown.
• Tom Brady is getting a minor knee procedure.  He DOES plan on playing next season.  #8 incoming, at some point...   
• To that end, there is some speculation Odell Beckham Jr. could be headed to Tampa.
• The resignation of Tokyo Olympic President Mori is now official.
• The last five-time champion of Jeopardy! under Alex Trebek has now, shockingly, joined him.  Brayden Smith of Las Vegas was only 24. 
• EDIT TO ADD:  Sounds like complications from a surgery.  GDI.
• New coach of Jacksonville Urban Meyer is making friends already.  (/s)  He has hired bully Chris Doyle from Iowa as a strength and conditioning coach.  Greeeeat...  Fucker.  And the six Jaguar fans who exist will cheer this, hoping Doyle beats some manhood into the team. 
• JJ Watt was been released from the Houston Texans.  And with DeShaun Jackson wanting to leave as well, the Texans are now being forecast as one of the worst teams in the NFL next year.
• Jimmy Smith of the Ravens and his family have been robbed at gunpoint.  They are safe.  Can you see more of this coming in the future?   
• Bluefield College, an NAIA school in Virginia, decided to suspend the entire team and forfeit a game Thursday night for it's players kneeling during the National Anthem.  It has been decided that they will stay in the locker room for the rest of the year during the Anthem to save the season -- the school is not willing to address racial inequality and police brutality.

Day 336

• A female spectator was thrown out of the second round of the Australian Open for hurling verbal abuse at Rafael Nadal.  She was drunk and basically just decided to go off because Nadal was playing too slow.  "Hurry up, you OCD fuck!", according to reports -- and flipped off everybody as her bitch ass was escorted out.

Day 335

• Tampa parade today, very few masks if any.
• The NBA is now not only requiring standing for the Anthem, but not playing it is now no longer an option either!
• Lots of scuttlebutt now that people do believe the media is taking the "Tom Brady as the Great White Hope" motif.
• Anyone who wants to do that better simply throw in the towel on NFL ratings in the near future.  One reader of the blog made it very clear that it was felt that Brady is the most hated player in the NFL right now, and the lowest viewership in 15 years and the worst ratings in 50 seem to bear that out, media...
• The Tokyo Olympics have gotten one step closer to being cancelled because it's organizing president, 83 year old Yoshiro Mori, has been cancelled for sexist remarks.  Gee, what a fucking shock...   
• Concurring polls, not specifically because of Mori's firing or remarks, indicate more than four out of five Japanese believe the Olympics need to be either postponed again or simply cancelled.

Day 334: Yep, the NFL threw in the towel...

• Nielsen never bothered with the preliminary numbers for Sunday night - and just went to finals.
• The key two numbers:  The rating was 26.48, down about 9% from last year.  The total viewership:  91,630,000.
• But almost 9 out of 10 households who had televisions on at all Sunday night were watching the Super Bowl.
• That's the worst-watched Super Bowl since Super Bowl XL -- 15 years ago.  And for reference, both Super Bowls XX and XXX beat it.
• .. and the lowest rated Super Bowl...  SINCE SUPER BOWL FOUR.

This was a case of the NFL throwing in the towel and deciding to take this Super Bowl and chuck it in the dumpster, especially after the Brett Reid DUI...

• ... for which he has now been officially put on leave (ESPN reports) or suspended (SI reports) by the Chiefs.

A lot of White Right hay is probably going to be made on some of these numbers.  It became clear early on in the game that the NFL was no longer even going to make the game close.  They ceased bothering quite early in the process -- maybe shortening Mahomes' career in the process!!

And here are the results...

• And 2020 just wants to keep 2020ing, even a month and almost a half into 2021:  Mary Wilson of the Supremes and Marty Schottenheimer are added to the list.
• As, a few days ago, was a second member of Congress to COVID...
• In an interesting decision (which I do think is legal), Mark Cuban, realizing players DO have to stand for the National Anthem in the NBA (and have for many many years), decided to have the Mavericks become the first NBA team to no longer play the National Anthem before their games.

Day 333: As we await St00pid Bowl LV's most important number...

• Showbuzzdaily has delayed the release of fast affiliate nationals until about noon Pacific.
• According to Brian Tuohy, it appears that the numbers were actually GOOD.  Wouldn't 100% surprise me, but the surprise level, especially given the game, would be way up there.   
• I do have to take umbrage with one thing with Brian -- I think he directly sidesteps the angle here with the Brett Reid DUI and making the league look bad, etc.  I know it's not a pleasant subject, and I know people would much rather...  But the simplest solution is the best:  If the game was that lopsidedly called AND the Chiefs appeared to be part of the equation with all of this, there was a reason, far beyond Brady's #7 (because, if he doesn't retire this off-season, there WILL be a #8!!!), to basically take this Super Bowl, chuck it into the trash, and not only make this about a bunch of mercenaries getting Brady and Tampa a ring, but not even make the other team remotely competitive in doing so, when the league has made a lot of meat with trying to keep games as close as possible, etc.
• Consider:  Not counting Week 17, with nothing to play for (and they still got 21 in that game), the fewest number of points the Chiefs had in any game was the 22-17 win over the Browns in the Divisional Round.
• And it's now coming out that Tom Brady used some degree of a slur to draw that unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from the Chiefs after the Antonio Brown touchdown.  Oh gee, what a freaking shock!   
• But this might be the moment of the Super Bowl.  Remember that I told you about Antonio Brown getting a ring and a touchdown, etc.?  Well, consider how much tampering and fucking around this piece of shit did to get them, and here's Pittsburgh's own UrinatingTree with his opinions on the entire mess:

• Delays on the ratings numbers have continued into the afternoon -- now no indication on when they will subside.

Day 332 Part Two: St00pid Bowl LV, The Night of the Mercenary Pirates

I really hope this opens the eyes of America that The National Religion is hopelessly rigged.

Because you saw a league, from the jump of this game (with the exception of maybe a missed Intentional Grounding call on Mahomes in the first drive), not only rig a game, but order and have executed the Chiefs to lay down.

Yes, I'll say it, THE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS AND THE REFEREES OPERATED IN OPEN-FACED CONSPIRACY TO NOT ONLY RIG SUPER BOWL LV, BUT TO THROW THE GAME.  AND THERE ISN'T A GODDAMN THING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT, AMERICA.

I made some enemies in the Botball Discord tonight, and was duly warned.  Muted it, and I don't know when (eventually I will, but not anytime soon) I will turn it back on.  I could get myself banned from that place anytime in the foreseeable future, especially because there are people there (as there are in many circles -- I do not mean this as a specific cut or flame) who cannot get around the concept of that, when an athlete of sufficient stature is told to jump by the right people, the only remaining question is "How high???"

They cannot get around the concept that a professional athlete can be told "Dive.", and do it, even on the largest stages in the world.

What you saw, especially after the Bucs gelled after their bye week (after which they never lost again -- 8-0 to win the Super Bowl -- and the Super Bowl in probably the worst Bowl in DECADES), was a band of mercenary pirates.

As I said near the end of the blog-along I did to approximate the daily post today (Thank you to Applebee's, BTW.  That deal was TREMENDOUS!!!), you now have Antonio Brown accomplishing his mission to manipulate and tamper his way to a Super Bowl championship, you have Ndamokung Suh get a title, when he had no business being in the league for years with his dirty play, Leonard Fournette and HIS REPUTATION getting a title...

And now you have Greater Than Jordan...  Seven titles for Tom Brady -- the most hated man by every fan outside of his team in the NFL.

And what you saw today was a league which DID NOT CARE.  I will be very interested in the ratings numbers -- I expect a debacle.  I expect, at minimum, it to go below 90 million and go back to where it was before 2000.  I'll definitely be getting an eye on that in the next day or two.

That said, it was clear from the jump that something was "off".  A lot of people have been posting to social media that something was "off" with today's game.

NO SHIT!!!  You think the NFL wants an assistant coach who may well have killed a little girl while intoxicated days before the Super Bowl to get a title???

There's your angle!!  Brady may well have been"The Plan", at least partially, all along -- though I still was standing in belief that he was there to pass the torch to The Next Man, Patrick Mahomes.

That was until about, what was it?  Thursday???  When the news of Andy Reid's son getting in the DUI and injuring two girls, one of them life-threatening...

That was it.  Game over.  Title #7 for Brady.  See ya.

And here's the thing about it:  The one thing I got wrong about the game was that there was NO EFFORT, at ANY POINT IN THE GAME, to keep the game close.  There was no effort, in anyone's capacity, to make the Chiefs competitive.  In fact, quite the opposite -- and, by the end, a very real chance that Patrick Mahomes could've had a year or two cropped off his career with a lot of the stupidity he had to put up with.

But get real:

• These players can, will, and do throw games.  You need to start getting with reality that world-class professional athletes are eventually answerable far above their teams.
• This was on the Reid DUI.  The league could not chance, especially that it has already taken a significant hit on the criminality of it's players, to have an assistant coach definitely commit major-injurious DUI (and possibly vehicular-manslaughter DUI) days before the Super Bowl and then win a championship.  So, even if The Plan WAS, before that, that Brady would pass the torch, it had to be changed -- and now Brady has #7, with a band of mercenary pirates around him built for that purpose.
• My prediction is Andy Reid, a man completely unfit to lead a scout troop, much less a football team at any level, has coached his last NFL game.  And it won't be an elective decision, though it may be couched as a retirement as such.
• Brady??  Now you gotta start thinking about #8 if he doesn't...

Day 332: St00pid Bowl LV

• Sounds like the game is going to kick KC -3 at 55 1/2 total.  Money line (KC -160 TB -140) is about 50-50, according to VegasInsider.  Spread is about 55-45 KC.  Over is about 70-30.
• Cardboard cutouts being added to the stands to make them look fuller.
• Heads won the coin toss.
• Didn't take long for the first screw-call.  Mahomes got away with a fairly blatant intentional grounding in the first series -- could only get an extra first down out of it eventually, and the field position was largely normalized on the next punt.
• Strong message of the Super Bowl:  "It Takes All Of Us"  THEN WHY 25,000 FANS IN THE STANDS???  WHY 120 PARTIES????   
• Good luck on that million-dollar John Cena commercial -- that's gonna take some awful good freezeframing for all those flying bottles.

First half thoughts:

• Kansas City is throwing this SB and throwing it HARD.  This team is completely out of sorts.  One player could've been ejected for a punch in the first quarter, another got a stupid UC at the end of the half (which ultimately didn't mean anything).  Two BLATANT DPIs to get the Bucs a TD right at the end of the half.
• A hair's breadth from 28-6, if even THAT!!!
• 8 KC penalties for 95 yards means the Chiefs are a net 29 yards for the entire first half!!
• Several calls against Tampa in this first half, but none really seemed to make a whit of difference.
• Gronkowski, Gronkowski, Antonio Brown.  If that isn't the NFL telling the bulk of it's fans "ABSOLUTE FUCK YOU ALL EXCEPT THE BRADY JOCKERS", I do NOT know what to tell you.
• This may be one of the worst Super Bowl first halves in memory.  Yes, worse than Rams-Patriots II.  Because it is almost OBVIOUS to anyone paying attention that the Kansas City Chiefs are either scripting another 28-3-esque comeback or throwing the game in a way either reminiscent of the second and third Brady titles or the Jets "win" in Super Bowl III.

So on we go:

• Halftime show = Yawn and pass. I know why they did it -- last year, they got complaints for the burlesque show J-Lo and Shakira put on.   
• If they're this blatant this year, there is some skinny talking about top free agents trying to congregate for the Rams next season.
• This gets to 28-6 with Tampa with the ball, and the over-under on a Michael Jordan picture on the CBS broadcast can probably be measured in SECONDS.
• Bovada is thinking a script-job is forthcoming -- Chiefs are a 7.5 point favorite in the second half, even though NOTHING THEY'VE DONE YET indicates it.
• NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year winner:  Russell Wilson.  Ugh.   
• When the hashtag #rigged is typed in, at 28-9 Tampa, the NFL Twitter account is coming up as a recommended account.  :)
• Here comes the Brady lovefest for the entire fourth quarter in 3 2 1....
• Another.  Fucking.  Local.  Scientology.  Super Bowl Ad.
• This may be the biggest shitshow Super Bowl since the Bears' rout or something.  No effort to keep the game close -- the game is either being rigged or thrown and anyone paying attention can see this...
• I'm seeing a ton of people saying the refs did it -- and I won't disagree.  I just think there's more to it than even THAT.  The Chiefs are participating in all of this, and, now, may be shortening the career of Patrick Mahomes if they're not careful.  He has looked absolutely slipshod the last 12-15 minutes, and a major injury is just one more of those plays away.

Think this over:

• Antonio Brown, Super Bowl Champion
• Ndamokung Suh, Super Bowl Champion
• Leonard Fournette, Super Bowl Champion
• The narratives continue for Tom Brady...

I mean, are YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???

• And now the questions, at least in social media:  Does Brady call it quits RIGHT HERE???
• And with the graphic, they just admitted it.  Tom Brady 7 Super Bowls, the Patriots and Steelers with 6 each.  He IS bigger than the League.
• And Mahomes flees the field instantly, job done.
• And the game is over.  More paragraph-based commentary to follow.

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: The Official Pick

The NFL has an Andy Reid problem.

The man is incapable of being a proper leader or mentor to his team nor his family.

As a result of the very real possibility his son has committed vehicular manslaughter (no confirmed word yet) and that he's not Ray Lewis and it wouldn't do well for him or the league's image:

Tampa Bay 35 - Kansas City 31 -- Brady drive end of the game, MVP.

Andy Reid retires mysteriously in the offseason.  Not sure about Brady.

Day 331

• Leon Spinks has just joined the man he upset.  He was 67.

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: Too damn convenient...

• Any charges on the Reid crash are going to take at least 3 weeks.
• All coronavirus tests to this point (meaning the Saturday afternoon tests) are negative.  They will test again on game-day tomorrow.

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: Less than 48 hours now, and we may have a telling moment...

• It appears as if Andy Reid's son Britt, just three days before the Super Bowl, may have committed vehicular manslaughter under the influence.  He was drinking and driving Interstate 435 near the Chiefs' training facility when he hit a car, injuring two kids, one life-threatening.

This would be enough.  I think I may have to change my call here.  The NFL is already looking bad enough with Tyreek Hill, Chad Wheeler (who may have intended to kill his girlfriend during a domestic-violence incident), and everything else the league has to deal with.

Andy Reid is shit, and so, it appears, is at least one of his sons.   

Day 330

• Looks to be a major problem surrounding Kevin Durant.  He was out for the start of tonight's game due to contact tracing -- put in the game -- then pulled from the floor for the same reason, prompting Durant to send a tweet of "Free me".  That does NOT sound good.  
• Appears as if any labor unrest between the MLS and the players has been resolved -- an agreement has been announced.

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: 72 hours to go.

• "Mattress Mack" Jim McIngvale has struck again.  $3,460,000 bet on Tampa +3.5.  He already has a promotion that anyone spending $3,000 or more on a new mattress get their money back if Tampa wins.
• His is now the largest legal bet so far on Super Bowl LV.
• As of yesterday, William Hill reports that, in their American sportsbooks, more than 4 dollars out of every 5 on the Super Bowl point-spread is going Kansas City.
• An ESPN poll of over 105 talent has almost a 3-1 margin toward Kansas City winning the game.
• Of the 80 who pick Kansas City, three-quarters believe Patrick Mahomes will win MVP.
• Few predict a blowout, though one KC picker had them winning 48-24.
• Two of them have the fewest points for Tampa, 17.  Giving you an idea of how many people believe the game will go over the 56 1/2 total -- hint:  About 3 in 5 (66 out of 107) do.   
• Of the 27 picking Tampa:  two-thirds (18) believe TB12 will be MVP.
• None of the 27 have it outside a touchdown, most within three or four points.  All but stating they understand the script for Brady to get #7 here is a late comeback touchdown.  

Day 329

• They will have to find another venue for Liverpool vs. Leipzig for the Champions' League.  The German government has banned all flights from the UK, because of the new coronavirus strains.  The match is scheduled for February 16th.
• #2 Baylor has postponed two games due to the coronavirus.
• Michigan could be out an entire further week.
• The All-England Lawn Tennis Club thinks they can pull off limited fans for Wimbeldon.
• The US Federal government has officially advised MLB to delay the start of the regular season at least one month.

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: KA... BLAMMO...

Word came across the wire about 1:15 Pacific today, Adam Schefter:

There were over 20 Chiefs players and staffers, including QB Patrick Mahomes, scheduled Sunday to get a haircut with the barber who tested positive for COVID, per sources. The Chiefs acted wisely and aggressively, and pulled the barber - mid-cut - once his test results came in.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 3, 2021

I need to check the protocols, though -- this would probably be the ABSOLUTE LIMIT as to putting someone in the COVID protocol, getting the five days of negative tests, and them playing on Sunday.

But hoo boy....

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: The Madden sim is in ...

• ... and it has Kansas City repeating, 37-27.  That sounds about right.   
• Will someone PLEASE get some of these dickheads under control??!?!?!??  Over ONE HUNDRED TWENTY Super Bowl parties, IN THIS PANDEMIC???   
• Joe Biden will be interviewed during the Super Bowl pregame.
• Applebee's has a nice offer for pickup or delivery on Sunday:  Order $40, which isn't as much as one would think on Applebee's (web or app), and get 40 boneless wings for free.  (Which, if I'm reading this right from the menu and prices I'm see, could be a $40 value!!!)
• One piece of evidence Tampa COULD win on Sunday:  Merchandise outlets are reporting record sales...  specifically for Tom Brady gear.  Could be getting into Foolish Jordon territory with this one.   
• NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith has said the game WILL BE PLAYED on Sunday, even if Brady and/or Mahomes are positive for the virus and out.  Bet accordingly.   
• Kyle Rittenhouse has violated bail at least twice and is now AWOL.  Someone SHOOT THE FUCKER.   

Day 328

• The Australian Open tennis tournament is in some jeopardy -- now, a hotel worker in the hotel "bubble" for the event has tested positive for the coronavirus.  Call.  It.  Off.   
• Controversial WWE Superstar Lars Sullivan has, apparently, finally been fired for misconduct.  Apparently, this happened about a month ago, and was attempted to have been kept quiet.
• Dr. Fauci has asked for Super Bowl parties to be cancelled to try to stop the spread of the virus...
• ... which is why, according to an e-mail I've been sent (God knows why!), there are over 120 events scheduled this weekend in Tampa.
• There was an incident in Atlanta involving a couple front-row fans and LeBron James -- apparently, at least one, now named "Courtside Karen", wasn't masked -- they were tossed and the team is investigating.
• And now the Minnesota Wild are going to have to postpone games -- at least six cases on the team of COVID-19.

Day 327: Starting With Two Similar Stories...

 Let's see if you can catch the common thread in these two:

• Should've posted this one a few days ago when it came out, but almost glad I didn't now.  A Northwestern cheerleader has sued the university for being paraded around like a "sex kitten".

There are going to be those who are going to say "That's what you signed up for, missy.", and I hope the judge here is not one of them.

That said, however, maybe FINALLY we are going to confront the use of supposed "cheerleaders" in our schools -- and don't think this is limited to the colleges.  I remember, my freshman year in small-town Wisconsin high-school, a senior football player put a plastic hockey stick square up a cheerleader's skirt IN PUBLIC.  Nothing was done to him.

Why?  I think you know your answer.

Reminds me of the cheerleader (I want to say she was in Texas, IIRC.) who got raped by a member of the basketball team, sued to keep him off the team and refuse to cheer for him (and was fired for doing so), lost on grounds she (as a cheerleader) is only an instrument of the school and MUST do as they ask, and had to pay their legal fees up on top of it.   

• And this gem today from Deadspin:  It now appears there is FAR MORE to the story of the New York Mets than we knew.  Former manager Mickey Callway has been sexually harassive in at least three MLB franchises, and that his sexual harassment spread all the way to this just-concluded season as a pitching coach with the Angels!!!

And a colonic, Deadspin?  Try an amputation, in exactly the part of men's bodies you would suspect!!!   

• And, unlike the Mets, the Angels have only SUSPENDED Callaway.
• EA Sports is back in the college football game.  Too bad college football is all but moribund at this point.   
• In the "You have got to be KIDDING ME" Department:  A small businessman clothes retailer in New York received a most interesting shipment from China.  Specially-made hockey sticks -- the tallest imaginable.  Why?  Because they were going to be used in professional games by Zdeno Chara!!  Somehow, the goofs in China mixed this clothier up with the Washington Capitals hockey team!  The team and the clothier are in contact -- Chara will get his sticks, and the clothier will get something, to be determined.
• Sports Illustrated has given us the Good News and the Bad News.
• The Good News:  A new website design.
• The Bad News:  Behind a metered paywall.  BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...  

St00pid Bowl LV/Corona Bowl I: The first two Corona names have hit...

• On the present COVID protocol list for Kansas City:  WR Demarcus Robinson and C Daniel Kilgore -- for close contacts with current COVID cases.  They must test negative each of the next five days to play Sunday.

Day 326

• Yep.  Took a couple days off.
• There are people who actually believe that getting Matthew Stafford and jettisoning Jared Goff will bring the Rams to the Promised Land????
• The Rams actually contacted the Packers about the availability of Aaron Rodgers.  Hoo boy.   
• There is now at least some speculation an AFC executive has said that if DeShaun Watson wants out of Houston, he better be prepared to lose every penny of his 2021 salary and not play next entire season.
• MLB is now looking to delay the start of the 2021 season -- the players' union is balking.  Regular season would be delayed about 3 1/2 weeks, with a 154 game season and all the stupid quirks of last year.  Sounds like someone wants to move the labor unrest to right damn now!   
• Patrick Reed is an asshole.  Water is wet.  Film at 11.   
• Add Dustin Diamond to the "2021 refuses to leave 2020" In Memoriam list.  His cancer took him today at 44.
• Dustin Pedroia has called it a career after needing his knee partially replaced.
• And the next major NHL casualty -- the Devils will not be playing any games this week under COVID protocols.