Day 661 -- The Last Day of 2021

• Sam Jones has passed away, from the long line of the Celtics dynasty.
• Kirk Cousins is positive for COVID, and out of Sunday's game with Green Bay.  And probably the finale as well:  He's unvaccinated.
• Approximately 15-20% of the NFL referees are COVID-positive.
• MOTHERFUCKER!!! COCKSUCKING PIECE OF SHIT 2021!! Next month, BUZZR was going to have three entire days devoted to the 100th birthday of Betty White, someone thought indestructible by any force known to man.
• She didn't make it.  TMZ reports she died this morning a couple weeks short of 100.

Day 660

• The NCAA still believes the March Madness basketball tournaments will be played as scheduled...  Hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...   
• Barcelona FC now has 10 COVID positives.
• The Boston Bricklayers' Club Celtics lost 91-82 at home against the Clippers last night -- going 4 for 42 from 3-point range.  There is only one time in the history of the league (this past February by Houston) where a team shot a lower percentage shooting 40 times or more from beyond the arc.
• A third form of pre-cancer on his vocal cords will sideline Dick Vitale for the time being.  Vitale emphasizes his melanoma is cured and progress has been made on the lymphoma -- but dysplasia has formed, pre-cancerous growths, on his vocal cords.
• Aaron Rodgers may be retiring at the end of this season -- he won't delay, this year, on making his plans clear.  Probably making it clear the decision has already been made.   
• Captain Fatfuck, Leader of Men, probably is.  Rapistberger all but admitting that Monday night is probably his last home game at Heinz Field.
• There is a belief at least one COVID positive will impact the CFP semifinals tomorrow:  Daxton Hill, star defensive back of Michigan.  It hasn't been reported (but has been rumored a couple days now) as such -- probably to prevent panic against the entire Wolverines squad.  And if the Wolverines do, in the next 36-ish hours, have to fall out, Georgia advances via forfeit.
• The NFL will hold a moment of silence before each Week 17 game for John Madden.
  
• Doc Rivers, the coach of the 76ers, in the protocols.
• It appears a Denver-Golden State game for tonight -- one of four on the schedule, is COVID-endangered.
• Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand postponed...
• And not helping matters:  Reports coming out today more than one-third of all of the NBA referees are in protocols for COVID -- meaning G-League refs have to fill in.
• 71 D1 men's basketball games were scheduled for tonight, and 31 of them are already called off.
• The Saints GM says they should not have played last week's MNF game.  And if you see the post I made yesterday on the NFL COVID list, you know why.  They've scrubbed a net 50 off the COVID list today to try to make it look like they can play on Sunday.   
• One day after Isaiah Thomas got his second 10-day hardship deal (with the Mavericks, after a stint with the Lakers), Thomas has gone into the NBA's COVID protocols.
• MASSIVE grass fire north of Denver -- 100 MPH winds are creating possible fire tornadoes.
• Baker Mayfield has been the subject of death threats online -- doesn't see them as unusual...
• ... but maybe he should be more careful.  Joao Cancelo of EPL-leading Manchester City was the victim of a home robbery today in which four people assaulted and robbed him.
• The annual Gaki no Tsukai/Downtown New Year's Eve batsu game special (where Japanese comedians get hit in the butt every time they laugh over a 24-hour period -- with insane stunts to ensure they do!) has been canceled this year due to COVID concerns.  Tanaka need not worry about his annual Thai Kick punishment.
• The annual NHK Kouhaku Uta Gassen "Red vs. White Song Battle" will take place for the 72nd time tonight (JP Time).  Men and male-led musical groups (The Red Team) vs. women and female-led musical groups (The White Team) in the long-standing Japanese New Year's Eve tradition.  The six special judges assigned to the event will constitute one point, the live audience returns this year and will constitute a second, and the viewers a third.  Whichever side gets two points, wins.  
• The White team (the women) lost 12 of the last 15 before last year's victory (solely by viewer voting, since there was no live audience -- White won by a nearly 2-1 margin).  You get selected via invitation for the show, and it is one of Japanese pop music's highest honors to be so involved.

Part 2, the NBA List

Again, team-by-team.  This time, you can thank the NBA itself.  This list was as of about 3-4 hours before I started typing this.  No season total, just current.

12:  Atlanta

8:  Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Washington

7 + coach:  Portland

6 + coach:  Oklahoma City

6:  Cleveland

5: Memphis, Miami (probably has at least eight now, but this was what was on the site I looked it up at), Toronto

4 + coach:  Chicago, Lakers

4:  Houston, Minnesota, Orlando

3: Brooklyn (finally down to just 3), Charlotte, Golden State, Clippers, New Orleans, New York Knicks, Philadelphia

2 + coach:  Phoenix

2: Sacramento

1: San Antonio

That's 123 players and five head coaches.

Yeah, this is the ticket.  We have COVID under control...   /s

I really don't know what it's going to take for people to take COVID seriously, but...

Let's try this.

(Hat-tip to betting site Sharp Football Analysis for this tracker of the NFL COVID-19 list.)

Here's a look, team by team and number of players, of the NFL COVID-19 list -- over the season and now (at least as of Monday).  The only duplicates I may not catch are players who switched teams and have hit the list two or more times.

• Arizona:  5 now (all added since the 22nd), 17 (including the head coach) total
• Atlanta:  8 now (all added since the 23rd), 15 total
• Baltimore:  14 now (11 since the 22nd), 28 total.
• Buffalo:  7 now (4 since the 24th), 22 total (Cole Beasley is on now for a positive test, was on earlier this preseason as a close contact)
• Carolina:  12 now (all since the 23rd, 8 Sunday or since), 20 total
• Chicago:  3 now, 26 (including the head coach) total (Eddie Goldman has tested positive twice this season)  (The Bears removed six from the list Monday and Tuesday)
• Cincinnati:  6 now (all since the 24th), 12 total (Chidobe Awuzie has tested positive twice this season)
• Cleveland:  8 now, 39 total (The Browns have put 29 players on the COVID list -- 29 separate players, no repeats -- since December 14th.)
• Dallas:  9 now (8 since the 23rd), 30 total (Malik Hooker close contact preseason, positive right around Christmas)
• Denver:  2 now, 13 total.
• Detroit:  6 now, 20 total
• Green Bay:  10 now (9 since the 24th), 22 total.
• Houston:  20 now, 30 total
• Indianapolis:  15 now (11 since Christmas), 24 total.  (Zach Pascal and Quentin Norris, close contacts in the preseason, positive now)
• Jacksonville:  20 now (19 since the 24th), 22 total.  (Josh Allen, close contact preseason, positive now)
• Kansas City:  6 now, 19 total
• Las Vegas:  12 now (8 since Sunday), 18 total (Jalen Richard has been on and off twice, undisclosed in the preseason whether positive -- definitely positive in the season)
• LA Chargers:  17 now (all since the 20th), 35 total (including six more who just got off the list)  (Mike Williams has been positive all December.  He was undisclosed two weeks ago and then went back on the list as a positive.  Nassir Adderly, undisclosed preseason, positive now.)
• LA Rams:  2 on (only one since Christmas), 35 total.  
• Miami:  13 on, 23 total (Preston Williams close contact preseason, positive now)
• Minnesota:  3 on, 25 total
• New England:  8 on, 17 total
• New Orleans:  22 on, 30 total (Keivarie Russell has tested positive twice -- one now, one in the preseason)  (Saints have put 23 players on in the last week)
• New York Giants:  7 on, 19 total  (Kadarius Toney has tested positive twice, one preseason, one early December.  Xavier McKinney has been dinged as a close contact twice)
• New York Jets:  23 on, 31 total (Joe Flacco close contact three weeks ago, and we probably know where he got his positive test now)  (I think the head coach was on the list too, but it's not on this one)
• Philadelphia:  9 on, 16 overall
• Pittsburgh 8 on, 17 overall
• San Francisco:  1 on, 4 overall
• Seattle:  5 on, 13 overall
• Tampa Bay:  5 on, 14 overall
• Tennessee:  13 on, 29 overall (Bud DuPree and Nate Davis, undisclosed during training camp, positive now.)
• Washington:  2 on, 33 overall (Brandon Scherff, Matt Ioannadis, and Cornelius Lucas, undisclosed during training camp, positive near Christmas)

You tell me how we're taking COVID seriously with these numbers.

301 players on the COVID list, and I think they're all positives.  That's almost SIX full rosters.

Day 659

• Harry Reid, former Senate Majority Leader, has passed due to pancreatic cancer at his home.  He was 82.
• The Bulls-Hawks game had 19 players out of a possible 30 out of the game due to COVID.
• Two points:  1) I've read statements on the CDC trying to soften quarantine periods and reduce their estimates of the prevalence of Omicron.  Let's be blunt.  This nation is throwing in the towel on COVID.  It is clear that, now, the idea is that everyone IS, in fact, going to get it.  If that's the case, then put the life expectancy of a significant fraction (think Deagle Group like scenarios) of this population at four years or less -- AND put the life expectancy of this nation at far lesser than that!
• 2) Some people in the sports media are complaining that Adam Silver and the other commissioners should put the sports seasons on pause.  This goes without saying, but for one point:  For how long?  It's clear we are nowhere CLOSE to where we need to be, and any mass gathering is proving out to be a vector for the spread of this shit -- as well as the travel which is necessary to sustain not only our holidays, but the sports machine of this country.  If anything, we need to shelter-in-place again and lock down as a nation -- any other scenario IS doomed to fail and was doomed to fail almost 24 months ago now.  It's now clear that more and more people are seeing the bold-faced statement I said above, and, if it proves out, you best prepare for The End unless you are of a very small group of people in this country and world.  You are probably going to have to be very lucky, violent, or both to survive very long at the rate things are going.  
• NHL down to six games as of 10:30 AM PST for tonight.  They had 11 on the schedule.
• There were 70 NCAA men's basketball games scheduled for today and tonight -- a full 30 have been called off as of about the same time.
• Miami and San Antonio are called off from tonight's NBA schedule.
• On the heels of the USA forfeiture to Switzerland at the World Junior Hockey Championships, Keith Olbermann posited the tournament might not make it through Friday.  It didn't make it through Wednesday -- the IIHF called it off today.
• The Westminster Kennel Club has postponed the 2022 Westminster Dog Show to later in the year.

Some wild 2021 sports-betting moments from ESPN Chalk...

You can tell the year is winding down and the news cycles are getting slow.

So David Purdum decided to come up with 21 wild bets from 2021 and his reporting on ESPN Chalk:

1. (Dec. 11) A 25-team parlay which out-won any other such parlay in the history of Caesar's Sportsbook by a factor of about EIGHTY.  Most of the just-over 100 25-teamers to hit are massive favorites who cash, so the largest such payout was something of the order of $3,400 on a $25 bet.  This one cashed for almost a quarter-million dollars.
2. (Ryder Cup)  One fan bet $8 that he could name the entire result (including halved matches) of the singles play on Sunday.  He did just that, nailing all 12 results for almost a million dollars.
3. (Week 9 of the NFL Season)  Try nailing both exact scores of the Sunday and Monday night games to the point.  A FanDuel bettor bet $1 he could, and walked out over $50,000 richer when he was right!
4. (Sept. 27)  Someone with far too much time on his hands decided on a 10-cent 16-leg soccer parlay for the day's games.  $67,500 won later...
5. (Europe -- Late June)  A European bettor nailed a six-way parlay with two Euro matches and four golf results (including all three major world tour winners -- PGA, LPGA, European).  Something of the order of $15.50 converted went off for over $1.36 million after the longest playoff in PGA Tour history finished and his golfer (Harris English) won it!
6. (Nov. 24) Someone who needs to just send me his or her money.  Some IDIOT has laid over $1,000 that Tiger Woods will win next year's Masters.
7. (May 20)  To tell you how long this year has been for me:  I thought Phil Mickelson won LAST YEAR'S PGA Championship.  Someone decided to be what I would've said was a similar idiot to #6 and laid a grand on Mickelson to win the 2021 PGA.  That netted $300,000.
8. (October)  The reasonable half of this $1,000 pairing was that the Dodgers would win Game 4 of their Divisional Series with the Giants.  The UNreasonable half was, then, Northern Illinois winning the Mid-American Conference football championship game.  First week of December, that bettor was handed a fat check for $34,725.
9. (Dec. 6)  Someone with way too much MONEY on his hands laid a bet, after seeing the insane weather conditions (the windy MNF game) that neither team in the MNF game between the Patriots and Bills would score 40 points).  At 1-100 odds, He bet over $250,000 to win about $2,500.  WHY??  
10. (March Madness Round 1)  Someone was able to successfully navigate all the upsets -- and I do mean ALL OF THEM.  $10 11-team outright-upset parlay --> $33,000.
11. (mid-February)  It's one thing to make a stupid bet and forget that all losing bets have value of zero.  It's another to bet $10,000 that the 9-17 Wizards will win the championship.  If you are that interested in parting with your money, please just send it to me at...   
12. (NFL Playoffs)  Nine bettors cashed a bookie's error for $10,500 when they spotted an error that basically looks like the promotional codes for the various online sportsbooks -- if each quarterback threw for one yard...
13. (Barkley being an idiot)  The famous bet where Charles Barkley actually felt he could beat 17 of the 87 celebrities in the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship.  He fell six short and lost $100,000 on that bet.
14. (June 2)  Single bet, but a huge one:  Dallas ML Clippers at +250 for $400,000.  That won a million.
15. (March 19)  A bettor, at 30-1, bet that Shohei Ohtani would win the AL MVP.  For $30,000, he won $900,000 as sportsbooks took an abject seven-figure BATH on the victory.
16. (Another Week 9 situation) The same week that one person nailed both prime-time scores, another person hit that both the Broncos and Jaguars would win as double-digit underdogs.  The $16,000 money line total hit for... only $86,400???  I'd think, at those numbers, that'd hit for 3 or so times that.  
17. (WNBA All-Star Game)  One of the reasons that betting syndicates are usually quickly banned is that they try to spot manipulation opportunities.  They saw a bookie error in the total for the WNBA All-Star Game when Vegas had it at 248.5 -- and eventually milked it down to 191.  Read books like The Smart Money if you want to see what usually happens after that situation.
18. (Week 8)  A Jersey small business owner laid a grand that Mike White of the lowly Jets would have the most passing yards in that week.  $150,000 later, he probably has some security in his small business.
19. (Week 7)  In an idea which seems to indicate that someone got the script, someone was able to make a 8-way parlay on the Colts-49ers game (and only the Colts-49ers game) to cash for almost $100,000.  He got the winner, the over, both quarterbacks going under on their yardage totals, two running backs going over their yardage totals, and two of the players to score touchdowns.
20. (Nov. 9)  In another "WHY??", a bettor bet on Gonzaga to win their season opener, and bet $50,000 on it.  Their opponent, however, was Dixie State, and the win was just over $700.
21. (Oct. 8)  The largest college football bet of the season was an almost $570,000 money-line parly bet on three powerhouse favorites -- at least this one would've won $105,656.  It lost when Alabama lost to Texas A&M -- Cincinnati and Ohio State hit.

Day 658 Part Two -- Starting With a FUCK 2021 moment...

• Did FOX know something?  On Christmas Day, FOX Sports aired a 90-minute retrospective into the life, career, and impact of John Madden.
• Three days later, Madden has passed away at the age of 85.
• The three remaining games in the NHL were played last night, the first in a week.
• 32 goals were scored.
• Her total took a hit last night because she basically was locked out of betting anything in Final Jeopardy (because her total was barely twice that of the second-place player going in), but Amy Schneider has become only the fifth player in the history of Jeopardy! to win 20 matches.  Her total of $768,600 makes her 11th on the female game-show winnings list of all time.
• It appears someone on YouTube is taking archivist Andy Saunders and plagiarizing his work on his The Jeopardy! Fan website.
• Saunders' predictive projections now have Schneider at 31 wins, and, at average win ($38,430), would be about $1.19 million, a total only (according to Wikipedia's research) ONE woman (Ashlee Register) has beaten.  $800,000 is #10 -- a five-way tie at a straight million is #5, and three Wheel of Fortune million-dollar bonus round winners are above that.

Day 658

• We have some bowl rearrangement:  The Arizona Bowl has been canceled, and the Sun Bowl has had Central Michigan move over to face Washington State.
• There's some chirping about the payout difference, but unless you think Central Michigan got Boise State to withdraw under spurious circumstances, stop that right now.
• FUCK YOU BARSTOOL AND EAT SHIT!  HA HA!!!!
• Last night, Greg Monroe played his first game of the season for the Minnesota Timberwolves.  He became, ALREADY, the 541st player to play in the NBA this season -- already a new league record for a season not 40% complete.
• Fan altercation in San Antonio with Utah's Jordan Clarkson.
• How much stake we put in this might be evident in several weeks (if the NFL playoffs take place at all, or nearly as scheduled...):  But there is some ESPN chirping that they may be setting up the Tom Bradys to fail.  Domonique Foxworth believes the injuries are making the Tom Bradys so thin that they have to count on a completely unreliable Antonio Brown to make another Super Bowl -- said today on a holiday edition of Get Up!  Just making note of this now, in case it happens later.   
• The NBA went over 100 cases on the COVID list -- and that's over SIX FULL ROSTERS -- yesterday.
• All of Monday's scheduled games got played, however.
• But now Oklahoma City's coach and star rookie are in the NBA protocols as well.
• In the NHL, still three of the four games scheduled for tonight are on as of 7:30 AM PST...
• ... but now four of Wednesday's eleven scheduled games are off, as is one of Friday's!
• Add two more cancellations to tonight's NCAA men's basketball slate.  That makes 13 for tonight.
• And two more by noon Pacific.  Make it 15.
• 32 additional men's games have already been called off for this week.
• Smoke Monday of Auburn (yes, that is his name) narrowly escaped a targeting call on a reversal in the bowl game today.  Had he been thrown out, it would've been the fourth time in three seasons he would be tossed for targeting.
• AND THEN HE GETS TOSSED ON A TARGETING CALL IN THE THIRD QUARTER ON AN INT!!!  No suspension, though -- today's his last game.  He enters the NFL Draft after.
• Guy was thrown out of each of the last two Georgia-Auburn games for targeting.  DQed in 2019 against Kent State.
• Add Carson Wentz to the over 100 people added to the COVID list in the last 24ish hours.  Unvaccinated and positive -- out for at least Sunday's showdown with the Raiders.
• Team USA is headed OUT of the World Junior Hockey Championships after two COVID positives on the team -- already forfeited to Switzerland.
• The 2021 AP Athlete of the Year: SHOHEI OHTANI.
• And, with less than six hours to go until kickoff:  The Holiday Bowl is CANCELLED.  UCLA COVID cases.  The SIXTH bowl game to be COVID-impacted, and we're just getting into the big boys.
• Bruce Arians, head coach of the Tom Bradys, positive for COVID.
• Make that five NHL games cancelled for tomorrow and three for New Year's Eve -- as of about 1:45 PM PST Tuesday.
• Nine Canadian-hosted NHL games will have to be postponed, due to COVID and attendance requirements.

2021 NFL Week 16 Political Rankings, as if it matters...

Why do I say this?

Tom Pelissero reports ANOTHER ONE HUNDRED AND SIX went on the NFL COVID list Monday.

That's two full NFL rosters who just went on the COVID list yesterday and EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS A POSITIVE COVID CASE.

And we haven't even hit the Christmas shit yet.

sigh

Really.

Well, I guess the caveat that we actually hold Super Bowl LVI at some point and juncture applies even more THIS WEEK...

AFC:

1) Kansas City, I guess...

I'm not nearly 100% believing KC is going to make it, largely on the Britt Reid trial coming up next March or April.  But it's undeniable that, with New England losing rather badly last week and Tampa rolling Carolina into elimination, Kansas City gets the Political #1 because there really aren't that many options...

2) You know what, just because:  MIAMI

There are two winning streaks in the NFL more than four games right now.  KC's is at 8, Miami's at 7.  And I definitely think the NFL would take Miami over Buffalo.  Now, would they take them over Brady vs. Belichick, for whatever reason??

3) New England

Brady vs. Belichick, nothing more.

4) Indianapolis

AFC DUD OF THE WEEK:

NOMINEES:

BALTIMORE RAVENS:  Same song and dance every week.  This is a one-man franchise at this point -- and if people don't like it, they better get some names there this offseason.

CAPTAIN FATFUCK AND THE MEN HE LEADS:  I'm hearing the "Days of Our Lives" theme again.  Dunno why...

WINNER:

THE LOS ANGELES CHARGERS:  You not only lose to Houston in your position, but you give up FORTY-ONE POINTS in doing so????  Fuck you, Spanos!!!

NFC:

1) Tampa Bay

Though, because of the other half of the Brady vs. Belichick, I think the #2 is closer this week.

2) Dallas

All they need is Green Bay to lose to either Minnesota or Detroit.  (I'd "insert punch line here", but Minnesota did beat Green Bay in the first meeting...)

3) Green Bay

That level of Refball cannot be ignored.  It just.  simply.  CAN'T.

4) LA Rams

As much as "Shut The Fuck Up, E. Stan Kroenke" still applies, at least the NFL appears to be moving the Cardinals out of contention.

NFC DUD OF THE WEEK:

ARIZONA CARDINALS:  For being shown NFL reality.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS:  For, once again, showing that the NFL is purporting itself to be a one-position game.

NEW YORK GIANTS AND CAROLINA PANTHERS:  For becoming the latest Squid Game victims and lying down in so doing...  (Seattle at least puts up a fight against Chicago, so they escape at least the Dud of the Week, but not Urinatingtree's bullets)

WINNER:

THE WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM:  For one of the sorriest-ass performances anyone in the league has put out at all this season -- and then a punch-up on the sideline besides.

2021 NFL Week 16 Kayfabe Report

AFC:

East:  Buffalo (9-6), by division record tiebreaker over the Patriots (4-1 vs. 3-2), Miami 8-7

North:  Cincinnati (9-6), one over Baltimore, Pittsburgh 7-7-1, Cleveland 7-8

South:  Tennessee (10-5), one over Indianapolis

West:  Congratulations to the AFC West Champion Kansas City Chiefs, the first AFC team to clinch a playoff spot.  Chargers and Raiders 8-7, Broncos 7-8.

Tiebreakers:

BUF-CIN for the 3-4:  Do not play.  Conference record:  BUF 6-5, CIN 7-3.  CIN #3, BUF #4.

NE-IND for the 5-6:  IND won 27-17.  IND #5, NE #6

#7 tiebreaker at 8-7:  MIA, BAL, LAC, LV for one spot.

Break West divisional first:  Chargers first win over Raiders.

MIA-BAL-LAC for the #7:  No HTH sweep or swept.  Conf:  MIA 5-5. BAL 5-6, LAC 5-5

MIA-LAC:  No HTH.  Common:  NE (MIA 1-0, LAC 0-1), LV (MIA 0-1, LAC 1-0), HOU (MIA 1-0, LAC 0-1) NYG (MIA 1-0, LAC 1-0)  Total:  MIA 3-1, LAC 2-2  MIA #7

1. KC 11-4 (AFC West Champions)
2. TEN 10-5 (Lead AFC South (Magic number IND 1), have the HTH over KC if needed)
3. CIN 9-6 (Lead AFC North (One more win wins division), Wins Conf Tiebreaker over BUF)
4. BUF 9-6 (Lead AFC East, Loses Conf Tiebreaker to CIN)
5. IND 9-6 (Wins HTH Tiebreaker over NE)
6. NE 9-6 (Loses HTH Tiebreaker with IND
7. MIA 8-7 (Wins all relevant tiebreakers with all 8-7s (LV eliminated by LAC HTH))
8. LAC 8-7 (Wins HTH tiebreaker over LV, Wins Conf record tiebreaker over BAL, Loses Common Games Tiebreaker to MIA)
9. LV 8-7 (Loses HTH tiebreaker to LAC to fall out of WC tiebreaker.  Wins HTH tiebreaker over BAL)
10. BAL 8-7 (Loses Conf tiebreaker to MIA and LAC, then loses HTH with LV)
11. PIT 7-7-1
12. CIN 7-8 (Wins HTH tiebreaker with DEN)
13. DEN 7-8 (Loses HTH tiebreaker with CIN)

Eliminated:  Jets, Jaguars, Texans (no additions this week)

MIA @ TEN, NE @ CIN, IND @ BUF, KC Bye

NFC:

Three of the division champs and five of the seven playoff spots are done (lots of money into Tree's piggy bank this week!) -- who goes what seed is another question.

East:  Dallas (11-4) NFC East Chanpions.  Three over the Eagles

North:  Green Bay (12-3) clinched last week.  Five over the Vikings.

South:  Tampa Bay (11-4) NFC South Champions.  Four over the Falcons and Saints

West:  Los Angeles (11-4), one over Arizona, both have clinched playoff spots.  San Fran is 8-7

Tiebreakers:

DAL-TB-LAR for the 2-3-4:  No HTH sweep/swept.  Conf:  DAL 9-1, LAR 8-3, TB 7-4  DAL #2

TB-LAR for the #3, since only one team can advance or drop per step:  LAR beat TB anyway -- LAR #3, TB #4

SF-PHI for the 6-7:  SF won Wk 2.  SF #6, PHI #7

1. GB 12-3 (NFC North Champions -- clinches #1 seed with a win next week and a DAL loss)
2. DAL 11-4 (NFC East Champions, Wins Conf Tiebreaker with TB and LAR)
3. LAR 11-4 (NFC West Leaders, In Playoffs, Loses Conf Tiebreaker to DAL, wins HTH over TB)
4. TB 11-4 (NFC South Champions, Loses Conf Tiebreaker to DAL and HTH Tiebreaker to LAR)
5. ARI 10-5 (In playoffs)
6. SF 8-7 (Wins HTH Tiebreaker over PHI)
7. PHI 8-7 (Loses HTH Tiebreaker with SF)
8. MIN 7-8 (Wins Conf Tiebreaker (5-5 vs. 4-7 with ATL after ATL first win over NO eliminates the Saints)
9. ATL 7-8 (Wins HTH Tiebreaker with NO first, but loses Conf Tiebreaker to MIN)
10. NO 7-8 (Loses HTH Tiebreaker to NO)
11. WSH 6-9

Eliminated:  Giants, Lions, Bears, Panthers, Seahawks  (New additions:  Giants, Panthers, Seahawks)

PHI @ DAL, SF @ LAR, ARI @ TB, GB Bye

2021 NFL Week 16 Score Report (and Week 15 Ratings, if they have them)

• 46.4375 PPG this week, 45.7 PPG for the season.  (Last year:  47.625 for the week, 49.39 for the season -- and remember last year's Week 17 had record scoring.)
• Home teams 10-6 for the week to go over .500 for the year at 119-117-1.  (Last year:  9-7 for 120-119-1)
• Over was 9-7 for 107-130-3.  (Last year:  7-8-1 for 116-118-6.)
• Favorites for the week:  8-7 ATS 10-5 SU  (Last year:  9-6 ATS 11-4 SU)
• Season favorites:  113-123-2 ATS 147-89-1 SU (Last year:  105-128-1 ATS 158-77-1 SU)
• Only 168 penalties this week (10 1/2 per game).  Season, for 240 games, 2,910 (12.12)  (Last year:  191 (Almost 12 per game) for 2,742 (11.4))
• Teams with more penalties this week were 7-5 for 94-109 for the season.  (Last year:  4-9 for 93-110)
• Two Cliffhangers for the week, 49 for the season.  (Last year:  4 for 44)
• Half the 16 games finished within one score.  112 for the season.  (Last year:  8 as well, but for 129 total)
• Six non-competitive games this week for 90 overall.  (Last year also had six, but for only 73)
• Five Last Chance Misses for 56 overall.  (Last year, 7 for 78)

Interesting side notes:

• That annihilation of Washington Sunday night was the biggest margin of victory in the NFL in over a year (NE 45 - LAC 0 Wk 13 last year).
• Dallas' 56 points were the most since Buffalo put 56 on Miami Wk 17 of last year.  
• Last time a team scored more was when Houston won 57-14 over Tennessee Wk 4 of 2017.
• There have already been more penalties and non-competitive games than there were all of last season.

Week 15 TV ratings from Sports Media Watch:

• Tuesday Night:  14.9 million viewers.  Better by almost 10% than the best of all five makeup windows from last year.
• Monday Afternoon:  NFL Network only:  5.86 million for Browns-Raiders.
• Monday Night:  Another Dualcast with ABC scores big:  15.84 million
• Thursday Night:  10.0 rating, 17.86 million viewers (up a third, give or take, in each metric over Week 15 TNF last year)
• Saturday Night:  Patriots-Colts NFL Network, 7.26 million.
• FOX National:  Packers-Ravens mostly:  11.6 rating, 22 million viewers (down 9% ratings, 4% viewers)
• FOX Regional:  Cowboys-Giants led a resounding thud.  7.6 rating, 14.06 million viewers (down 13% rating, 9% viewers)
• CBS Single:  7.0, down 17% rating.  12.92 million viewers, down 15%, with Titans-Steelers motivating many to try to finish their Christmas shopping.

Day 657 Part Two

• The population of the United States, July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021 -- rose just 393,000 people.  There's Piece of Evidence #3 that I think the Free-Dumb types have gotten at least a 1-1.5% total US population die-off due to COVID, and that, for those, is just the starting bid!!   The average change, 2010-2020, was over 2.3 million.
• Piece of evidence #4: That same study (announced Dec. 21st), put the total birth-death delta at only +148,000.  The rest was immigration.
• Washington's sideline last night devolved into a fight as Dallas came up with the biggest rout of the NFL season with a 56-14 routing of the Football Team.  At least one punch was thrown.
• With a 7-7 team in each conference in tonight's MNF game, both conferences' Kayfabes and Politicals will be tonight -- and boy, is it a mess, especially in the AFC!
• Three division champions and five playoff spots are done in the NFC.  Only one division champ and playoff spot in the AFC.
• Duke is losing two basketball games due to COVID.
• There is MAJOR concern at CFP contestant Georgia regarding their COVID situation, with the hot spot the state is having.
• The thirteenth member of the Boston Celtics in a week has entered the protocols.  With vaccinated players testing negative leaving the protocols, they have nine there now.  Boston is scheduled to play at Minnesota tonight.
• The first of four scheduled matches in the NHL for Tuesday has been postponed:  Columbus and Chicago will not play.
• Two matches on a full slate for Wednesday are already called off.
• 29 games were scheduled for tomorrow night in men's college D1 basketball.  11 have already been scrapped.
• Coach of the Phoenix Suns is in the COVID protocols -- third NBA coach to go in.
• The Carolina Panthers could be in some trouble for their next game.  The team was sent home from Monday film and the like today with a number of positives.  They had eight players out due to COVID yesterday, and a "somewhat significant" further number going out today.
• I usually do a separate post about this, but the fact is that I've already done like five posts today and I have five more, probably, to do tonight:  But looking at Week 17:  I see two irrelevant games.  14 of the 16 have some relevance.
• And for Week 18, as of now:  Two, maybe three.
• Add the Arizona Bowl to the list -- Boise State is out.  That makes at least FIVE bowls now off the table.

(Sports) 2022 predictions

Well, now that I've done what largely is quite unpleasant work, let's see what I believe will happen in sports in 2022:

• There will be no (soccer) World Cup.
• Any Olympics which is held will be dominated by China, with most of the organized world forced out due to COVID.
• The Super Bowl will not take place as scheduled.  My anonymous friend's idea of it being held far later in the year is probably the best guess I have on the subject.
• The NHL will shutter again in early January.  The NHL will not survive the year as you've known it.  A very real possibility that two separate professional hockey leagues may be the end result (one USA, one Canada) cannot be ruled out in the longer term.
• The NBA will come down to the length of time the cities remain stable.  I don't see that lasting long.  I would not put money on the NBA getting much past the scheduled period of their All-Star break.
• There will be no MLB season.  It may be the only thing which keeps Toronto (and any thought of Montreal co-hosting with the Rays) in the league.
• The end of at least one American sports league's season may well come at the point where a match is halted due to violence, on one political side or the other.
• A 2022 NFL season may come down to where we are on COVID (and where we are politically outside of sports) by about August 1.  I would be stunned, frankly, if we get an 18-game season next year, especially if the Super Bowl is postponed as far as I think it might be!
• College sports will finally get the decimation they have long deserved, but not for the reasons we want it to.
• ESPN will cease to exist.  The entire methodology backing it's continued existence will finally fall, as they will lose most college sports to financial, economic, and social realities -- the MLB season to the lockout -- and the NFL goes any which direction.

(Non-Sports) Denninger made his predictions. Here are mine.

This is in the same vein as the previous post, an enemy of mine's predictions on the year 2022.

This will be the non-sports version of that, and it's going to start with the same list, going down, of his -- removing more than a few of the technical points.

• Inflation?  If it's only simply that!  We are headed, I fear, for it spiraling out of control and the concept of the top of the power in this country basically in position to even want to stop it:  On one side, because they will lose power permanently and want to leave what is left as a smoldering crater.  On the other, as a mechanism to kill off the more liberal side.
• Midterms:  55-45 R in the Senate, 250-180 or so in the House.  If Biden is still President by this point, this will probably end it full-stop.  I think that, at some point in 2022...
• The Republicans will get the Congress anyway -- BEFORE the midterms.  Look, I get that Joe Manchin has a lot of power now, and he probably likes it.  The fact is, he's losing that power in a year, and, between the "unspeakable things" he claimed Biden said and the open-faced desire to be in with the "correct side" of the power flip, the fact is Manchin should flip the Senate at first opportunity in 2022.  The House is a bit trickier -- they need five votes as things currently stand.  There has been a long-standing belief among the CPAC types that the Congressional Black Caucus would flip, given the chance.  If Biden continues to deteriorate much further, I can't see how some of these people wait any longer.  More on him in a bit.
• Roe's gone, and so is much of the 14th Amendment with it.  For 50 years, the Republican party and it's evangelical wing have wanted to outlaw abortion.  They now have mechanism to do it.  And especially after the Texas law stood, it's clear that part of it is done, in all 50 states.  However, I believe the Court has much more work to do -- the complete elimination of most rights for some people and the complete elimination of them for others.  That's why I openly see a 5-3 decision (Roberts will concur in part and dissent in part, largely akin to Denninger's prediction that this will get a "split the baby" decision no one will like) which will state that a woman's legitimate purpose is to be barefoot and pregnant AND that any acting outside their legitimate purpose or have those who have none at all have no rights either.
• The supply chain is gone...  By design, I believe certain parties have decided to blow the entire supply chain to shreds.
• ... and we go All-Stop Condition on at least one city or area at some point after the scheduled date of the Super Bowl.  OK, maybe a small dabble into sports because of the societal nature of Super Bowl Sunday, but I would have to think we are now at the point where we get that All-Stop that I believe a lot of people on both sides have been begging for.
• In the vein of the "blue hives" being in particular trouble:  I will predict there will finally be a successful White Right move to seize the government violently, at minimum in at least one understood-liberal city or state.  "City" candidates probably are anything from the usual West Coast suspects to Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York.  I think the two main "State" candidates are California and Michigan.  Much of the fact that things are as they are is, at least partially, due to the White Right's cowardice.  A lot of them do not see us getting to 2024 -- and more than a few do not see us getting to the midterms.  At some point, someone is either going to have to move or the hope is everything collapses -- but of what value is it to claim Planet X in the name of the Earth if Planet X is now a small hunk of matter because the rest got blown to smithereens?
• The only question about Biden is what finally forces him out.  There is ZERO CHANCE he sees the end of 2022, and probably very little chance he sees the end of the year alive.  In fact...
• I will predict there will be at least three Presidents in 2022.  Harris is so unpopular, I cannot see her lasting more than a few days at best.  Pelosi isn't much better in that regard -- and, with Pat Leahy retiring from the Senate at the end of the term, does he have ANY desire to succeed to the Presidency for what would be two-plus years?  Antony Blinken is a non-zero chance.  Donald Trump is a much larger one.
• The entire education system is on abjectly thin ice, and will collapse -- doing so in 2022 is a question.  Part of it is, especially given where we are probably headed as a country, we are mis-educating our children, and being very disingenuous on top of it.  Then you add COVID considerations, then you add the ridiculous cost of college, then you add the very concept that the social structure of schools is inherently violent (esp. sexual against women)...
• Donald Trump is not finished.  Not by a long shot!  The only problem Donald Trump has right now is the concept of the 30% which consist his base demanding the kill-off starts.  If Trump won't do it, he'll go with 'em when it does.  As I said in the other post, Trump's viability is going to come down to the concept of whether he actually is willing to turn this country into a national reality show (on a quite literal, not just figurative, basis) or not.  If he decides to basically talk a big game and do nothing, he'll be offed.  Hell, I could see it done by his son, after some of what was said at a recent Conservative conference about what Don Jr. believes about the teachings of God.

Now, I'm going to add a few more that either aren't on this list or tangentially are:

• We will have a major grid-down -- and the associated "chimp-out" -- somewhere on some level.
• The White Right Revenge Purge will begin in 2022, even if on an isolated local level.
• Certain parties, even on the Conservative side, can start counting their life expectancies in a matter of months or weeks.
• The next long-term President of the United States is either going to Don, Don Jr. or someone akin to President Bracken in The Purge series.  In short, Conservative America wants this country to run red, and elected Trump to do it. I'm not sure DeSantis, even in his freedom kick to let COVID run wild, is actually willing to let all that go down.
• And, lastly, conditional on the concept that my message and belief system actually get across to Conservatives, you won't see me doing this again in one year's time.

So Karl Denninger has made his 2022 predictions...

First of several such posts this week.

I keep an eye on my enemies, one of them is Libertarian Karl Denninger.  He has made his 2021 Prediction Post.  I'll start with my thoughts on that, then do two of my own:  one political/economic, one sports.

• Inflation will not calm down, but will not go hyperinflation.  I think he's wrong on the back end, unless he somehow thinks The Purge will begin in 2022.  To give one example of how bad it is already:  A $954 SSI check last year will be $1,041 this year.
• Democrats will be obliterated in the midterms, so bad that, by 2024 elections, the House will be 280-150 Republican.  Frankly, about the only difference, vis-a-vis that, would be the complete outlawing of the Democratic Party, which I see by early 2025.  The fact is, the only question to me, regarding the 2022 House elections, is whether the R's get it by 30 seats or closer to 75.  I do believe the concept that Biden, as a going concern, IS DONE, is correct -- and he addresses it in another point below. 
• Actual Fed liquidity drains.  Thing is:  You lose the Fed, you lose the currency, you lose the country.  Now, starting what I believe to be a very short mortality, you could see Biden-Harris let it happen, let the country go to a smoldering crater, and tell The Revenge Tour, etc. to govern THAT.
• USSC won't completely overturn Roe, and no one will be pleased with the decision.  I think he couldn't be more wrong if he tried.  The five true Conservatives on the Court now have an opportunity to shape the post-Constitutional era of this country, and this decision will do so.  That we already see the bounty law in Texas upheld basically means Roe is being overturned.  (A great part of this belief is that I believe it obliterates "standing" in a way only the likes of California Governor Gavin Newsom gets.)  I believe Barrett writes the decision, and will do some very nasty things with that decision.  Roe will be overturned in all 50 states, women will be legitimate-purposed into the same Stepford Wife blank glance that robot bitch has, and anyone who decides not to act within their legitimate purpose has no rights.  I still wonder how she is allowed, by her husband, to stand on her own two feet and not be led into the Court by said husband on all fours.   
• Equity market extremely vulnerable.  Unless you can somehow force actual price discovery (at whatever value the Dollar has), I can't see this.  If the last two years haven't felled this market -- not just weakened, FELLED -- I'm not sure what can, short of the complete disintegration of this country.
• No short-term supply-chain relief.  Nor do I think there will any long-term supply-chain relief.  And, given what I believe is going to happen in the next 3-4 years, it will no longer be relevant.
• Business is going to get it both cost and labor productivity.  I, every day, am, more and more, believing the Deagle Group's prediction of a 70% die-off in the next four years.  So I'm not sure of the relevance of this either.  I do believe many more businesses will be simply wiped from the map, simply because the infrastructure required to keep them afloat will not exist.
• Cities are in particular trouble.  First problem is that most people shouldn't be coming in the first place -- between crime and COVID, the LA sheriff had it right that LA is all but a no-go at this point.  Denninger basically forecasts most of the cities to collapse by summer, Detroit-style.  He gets that, it won't matter much of anything else on this list, simply because of the fact this country will go tribal and Balkanize, probably about 50 miles on a side, tout suite.
• China/Taiwan or Ukraine go up.  The problems for us will be at home, especially with the Second American Civil War over 18 months in progress now.
• Maxwell's trial will not be the end of it.  Probably not, but not for the reason he hopes.  Eventually, it will be shown that being a rapist and/or a pedophile is the "in" to get into the "club you are not a member of" -- and how important it is to be in that club (see "legitimate purpose" above) and to stay in it once you are in it (see the college admission scandals).  We've already had two rapist pedophile Presidents in the last 30 years -- one in each party.  (If you are so inclined, Biden would make three.)  But my position on this is the same it's always been:  The reason it is tolerated and accepted is that NOTHING survives if it is taken down.  Entertainment, sports, politics, business, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
• Biden will be removed from office in 2022.  I'll tell you how bad I think it gets.  I think some people might want to get acquainted with the name Antony Blinken.  He is the current US Secretary of State.  He is currently fourth in line.  Harris and Pelosi are almost toxic, and I cannot see either surviving long as President, and President Pro-Tem of the Senate Pat Leahy wants out.  I won't put it likely, but I could see a President Blinken next year.  I never believed Biden was long for the office -- and the only reason he's still President is because of the mathematical impossibility in the Senate.  Remove Harris, you get no further VP.
• Business uncertainty lifts in the back half of the year.  I don't see it.  Here's what I think would have to happen to get that:  Manchin flips the Senate about as soon as it comes back in January.  (I get those who believe he wants to retain his position of power, but the problem is two-fold:  1) He will lose that power in a year.  2) He could easily be seen as an enemy from BOTH SIDES at that point.)  The House R's find the five votes to flip the House, name Trump Speaker, and force Biden out and try to get Harris out by any means possible.  Otherwise, between turmoil, COVID, and political realities, the uncertainty is going to get worse.  (See the third point above.)
• Housing Bubble Is Done.  For about 15 different reasons, I completely agree, and it's another reason I do not believe any business uncertainty lifts anytime soon.  People tend to forget how many businesses are reliant on house-as-ATM.  It's one of the reasons people are beginning to make a lot of an "industry" out of robbing other people, either off their porches, through their mail, etc.
• The medical industry is in for it, both credibility and cost.  If who I believe is about to come to power actually does, the medical industry is done about seven ways from Tuesday -- and the party in power won't have an issue with it, because they openly have wanted a die-off.  "Let THEM die..." is going to be one of the new mantras.  About 90-100 years ago, there were posters in cities stating openly that "Some people are born just to be a burden on everyone else."  You are about to see the back side of that.
• The concept of the credibility of some "top schools" will fall and some of them may not survive it.  He's talking more the $50,000/year and all that stuff -- and he's right, if but only if Biden writes off all student loans.  I think a lot of the problem is going to come from what Denninger admits:  It's more about getting the "in" -- and he's right.  Since your legitimate purpose in this society is determined not by what you do or who you harm but who you are (and, sometimes more importantly, who you are NOT), the question is going to become whether the current system of gaining such purpose and influence survives -- and that's both the likes of "top schools" and of the likes of the Epstein/Maxwell method.
• Trump is done, and so are those who cling to him.  Denninger thinks, at least as of the moment, it's going to be Florida Gov. DeSantis.  Trump has done some damage to his brand by stating he got the vaccine.  The fact is, the 30% or so who want this guy WANT.  BLOOD.  And they want to control whose blood gets spilled -- which is one of the reasons they can't be crazy about the realities of the COVID situation.  I think Denninger is flat wrong -- but with one very important caveat.  Someone "in high places" is going to ask him whether he is willing to go through with what his 30% want, or he might well be about the fourth (behind Biden, Harris, and AOC) to be hung at gallows in Washington DC when the violent flip occurs.

Day 657

• Weekend WWE shows were decimated with the COVID outbreak.
• The Sun Bowl becomes the fifth bowl to either be cancelled or otherwise impacted by COVID this season.  Miami has issues with COVID, but the Sun Bowl people are looking for an opponent -- I would have to think they have several possibilities.
• An interim coach for the Sacramento Kings blasted his team's effort in a 25-point loss last night.  Dude, you are the coach of a team masquerading as an NBA franchise, and has been that way for almost 20 years now after the rig-job against the Lakers in 2002.  If you can't understand you don't have an NBA team in Sacramento...

Day 656, Part Two

• The Dallas Stars and the Tampa Bay Lightning have placed five players each in COVID protocols.
• That gigantic teenage girl wailing you've been hearing today is as a result of the announcement that three members of Billboard act of the year BTS from Korea have been tested positive for COVID.
• Hey, at least by Don Jr. telling a Conservative conference that the teachings of Jesus have gotten the Conservatives nothing, he admits he and his orange fat-fuck of a father are godless assholes.  
• And no, I am not proclaiming to be the holiest of people -- especially after a rant like that!  That said...   

Day 656

• Merry fucking Christmas, Packer Nation.  WTF was that no-call on the winning pick?  (Blatant defensive holding, that was what.) 
• The Christmas NBA schedule somehow survived.  The Warriors won the third meeting of the year in Phoenix as the highlight.
• We're down to just three out of the ten scheduled Boxing Day (today) 2nd-level English soccer matches.
• Three matches in Scotland, one in Australia, and one in Belgium have also been scrapped, along with over two dozen matches in England among the top four divisions today.
• Two more bowl games have been scrapped due to Omicron:  The Fenway Bowl in Boston (Virginia COVID issues) and the Military Bowl (Boston College).
• Ten Atlanta Hawks are now in COVID protocol.
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu has passed away -- he was 90.
• It appears we have another major anti-vaxxer in the NFL:  Buffalo's Cole Beasley, who has been fined at least FOUR TIMES this year for about $100,000 because of violations of the league protocols.  And he had this to say regarding his COVID-list absence today:

""Just to be clear COVID is not keeping me out of this game. The rules are," he wrote in a Tuesday post. "Vaxxed players are playing with Covid every week now because they don't test. One of my vaxxed teammates is in the hospital missing games. I'm sure he didn't get this same energy. Thank you for those who support. Everyone else, if you don't get what's happening then there is nothing anybody can do for you.""

• I'll see if I can find others, but, as SOMETHING attempting positive these last few days, here is the list of the SportsCenter Top 10 Plays of 2021:

10)  Asshole Benoit Paire (What the fuck is he doing still being allowed to play tennis professionally?) with a sick drop shot in a Swiss tournament in July.

9) Sabrina Ionescu with a game-winner on the first night of the WNBA 2021 season.  Good grief, if a simple 3-point game-winner like THAT is one of the Top Ten Plays of the Year...  

8) Sergio Garcia aces the hole which walks off the WGC World Match Play Championship in March on the 40th hole of the Final.  That's more like it!   

7) Mookie Betts with a web gem in right to win one of the games of the first series between the Dodgers and Padres.

6) Terry McLaurin of the WFT making a big catch in a Week 1 game.

5) Patrik Schick of the Czech Republic with a wonder-goal in Euro 2021 from past the midway line.

4) Anthony Edwards wins Dunk and Poster of the Year in the NBA.

3) Anaheim Mighty Ducks pass over the net to a waist-high goal against Buffalo.  Zegras to Milano.

2) DJ Graham with a one-hand full-twisting interception for Oklahoma.

1) Jalen Suggs of Gonzaga kept the undefeated dream alive with a game-winning 3 to send UCLA home in the Final Four.

Day 655

• The NHL has cancelled at least one further day of play.  Now it'll be at least Tuesday before they return.

Day 654 -- Christmas Eve, 2021

• The last one more than a few of us are probably going to see...
• New York City is already in the process of scaling back the New Year's Ball Drop celebrations because COVID is running rampant in the city.  New cases up 35% day to day yesterday.
• At least one former women's college basketball coach believes ESPN has a blatant bias toward UConn.  ESPN???  Bias??!?!?!???  NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!   
• Knott's Berry Farm in Southern California has had to close and cancel it's remaining holiday schedule -- COVID and the weather.  The drought may finally be breaking in the state.
• You know it's Christmas Eve and there are no American sports when it's 6:30 AM and you're watching, effectively, Indian professional tag.  (Kabaddi is far more than that, but that's a layman's explanation.)
• Ah, the madness which is Toru Yano.  The last two years, they have had the KoPW (King of Pro Wrestling) Championship, ostensibly as a vehicle for Toru Yano to have his own brand of twisted comedy fun in the middle of a New Japan Pro Wrestling card.  He has finished this year, as last, as the non-provisional, now, King of Pro Wrestling for the year.  The final match, on the final card before the Wrestle Kingdom series in about a week and a half, was against Yoshinibu Kanemaru in a "End of Year Party Match" -- KoPW is contested under stipulations given by the wrestlers and voted on between the two by the fans.  The match was basically a regular pro wrestling match, but each wrestler had to take a shot of whiskey every two minutes until someone was pinned, submitted, passed out, or threw up.
• DeShazor Everett, a reserve/extra safety for the Washington Football Team, had a rollover accident in suburban Washington today.  He survived, a passenger was killed in the accident.
• As of right now, even though there are a significant number of positives in the NFL right now, the NFL has no plans to move any games this week.
• It looks as if the second game tomorrow in the NBA may be in some danger -- 8 Celtics are in the protocols.
• The LA/Brooklyn game at Singapore Fraud Arena is still an apparent go as well.
• A third EPL Boxing Day match is off due to COVID.
• Of the ten matches in the Championship for Boxing Day, six are cancelled already.
• Same drill in League One.

Day 653 Part Two

• COVID has put the Ravens down to just 13 defensive players in practice yesterday.  Nine on the defense are on the COVID list.
• It appears Rutgers will take the spot and go to the Gator Bowl and allow the game to be played.
• George Mason vs. Wisconsin is off for tonight -- COVID within the Wisconsin program.
• There were 15 games scheduled tonight in men's college basketball.  Seven of them have been called off.  Four of the remaining eight are a holiday tournament in Hawaii.
• Another $56,000 for Amy Schneider in win #17 on Jeopardy! -- now $687,400 and only about three wins at that average away from being one of the top ten female money-winners in American game-show history.
• She is now the all-time women's money-winner in the history of the show, even counting tournaments and events.
• The Timberwolves have seven in the COVID protocols.
• The Seattle Seahawks have nine.
• The NFL is noticing symptomatic players are driving this upsurge in their league.  Fucking "Rub some dirt on it" culture.  
• The Hawaii Bowl IS cancelled as Hawaii has too many COVID cases not to withdraw.
• UCF got a huge win in their bowl game tonight -- beating big-brother in-state rival Florida.
• ... after which, a fight broke out.
• Add a few more won to UrinatingTree's NFL piggy bank -- with the Titans' Cliffhanger win over the 49ers tonight, the Dallas Cowboys are the second team to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
• For those who don't get the reference:  Squid Game.  Eliminated teams are "shot".  When teams make the playoffs, more money is put in the bank!  And, of course, he also has the clip from the Most XTreme Challenge with the mantra we all must remember...  "DON'T GET ELIMINATED!!"   

Day 653

• If you want to see why I don't have much faith in about much of anything going to plan for the foreseeable future:  There is a group at the University of Washington who has done models as to the spread of the Omicron strain of COVID-19.
• Their report to USA Today is somber:  They believe, from January 1 to March 1 alone, 40% of the population of the United States of America -- 140 million new infections -- will get the Omicron strain.
• They also believe that only about one in six, if that, will ever get reported.  Oh fucking gee, I WONDER WHY!!!!  
• I know there's a way to read that article in saying only 400,000 TOTAL admitted infections out of 140,000,000 would be reported, but I find that completely impossible.  The only way that could happen is if everyone HAS, in fact, already gotten COVID at least once!
• If this is any degree of accurate and the current death rate (and this is from the announced numbers on Worldometers, not what I believe is true, where both numerator and denominator are at least a factor of 3 higher!!!) were to hold, that would be TWO POINT TWO MILLION PEOPLE taken by the virus in just that sixtyish-day period.
• Even if the one in six is reported and no one else dies (which is one of the reasons I think this country HAS, largely, gotten the Republican-desired 1.5% initial die-off!), the death rate of admitted cases would make it somewhere between 350,000 and 400,000 deaths to the Omicron strain in cases acquired in January and February.
• The theory is most won't be sick enough to notice -- I think that's a lie, because confront that number on a large-society scale and see what everybody's holidays is going to look like!   
• Not only that, but if this thing were to spread as much as the measles, who WON"T get the Omicron by about April 1st?   
• Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, is one of the traditionally biggest days of the year for the English Premier League.  Already, two matches have been called off for December 26th due to Omicron:  Liverpool vs. Leeds United and Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
• Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow said yesterday he believes his team is healthy from COVID because Cincinnati has a comparatively-negligible night life.  Sorry, bud...  I've BEEN IN Green Bay.  You want to talk about no nightlife...  AT ALL!!!  .....   
• A very probable sacrifice to the altar of football in the recruiting wars:  Robbie Roper, an advertised dual-threat quarterback in Georgia, has died due to complications suffered during a routine surgery.
• Word this morning, a day after it was announced President Biden has been exposed to COVID in the last couple days -- so has Vice-President Harris.
• The starting running back for the Vikings has gone to the protocols...
• ... as have the two top QBs for the Saints.
  
• .... and the starting center for the Browns...
• The Nets got three players back today -- Saturday's game at...  I'm not even dignifying it, you fucking fraudulent...  may be on.
• The Associated Press reports today that the baseball owners have succeeded -- player payrolls are now the lowest they've been since 2015.
• There was a bit of a stink on Wheel of Fortune a couple nights back.  A contestant named Charlene won the main game, got to the bonus round, and chose "What Are You Doing?" as the category...

Wheel is anal about this -- it's one of the reasons the "Crossword" category should be shitcanned, because the contestant is supposed to give only the list of words, no "and" included.  The puzzle solution must be exact and complete.

Charlene had another solution in mind, said it, was not correct, then corrected the final word but did NOT re-complete the puzzle -- and was ruled wrong, with Pat mealy-mouthing (as he is known to do as he is more than a bit of a pig) the reason why.

The prize was an Audi -- and fans were up in arms.

Apparently, so is said sponsor of said prize:

You're a winner in our eyes, Charlene. Now, let's get you a prize. Time to #GiveHerTheQ3. https://t.co/x0e3j1CqY9

— Audi USA (@Audi) December 22, 2021

Merry Christnas, Charlene. 

Day 652

• Two starters from the Packers are now on the COVID list.
  
• Texas A&M is in limited preparations for the Gator Bowl because of numerous breakthroughs.
• Nope, scratch that.  The 2021 Gator Bowl has been cancelled.  (I guess, as of the moment, the opponent for Wake Forest is "TBD", but how you gonna do this one without fucking up other bowls or making another team that's already played come in?)
• Illinois and Marshall are apparently wishing to volunteer.
• The head of the NFLPA now states the NFL was perilously close to cancelling the three games postponed this weekend due to the COVID surge.
• There are now THIRTY-FIVE men's college basketball teams who have stopped operations due to the Omicron-led COVID surge.
• They include Memphis, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Georgetown, USC, and UCLA.
• At least 18 Division I college men's basketball games have been cancelled tonight due to COVID.
• The COVID situation is so bad in the NBA, the Boston Celtics have just signed, as a replacement player, Joe Johnson -- who hasn't been in the NBA for three years!
• Alabama's offensive coordinator and offensive line coach have tested positive for COVID-19.
• As does the Head Coach of the New York Jets.
• And with 14 players on the COVID list for the Jets, that's a probable Week 16 postponement or even cancellation!
• And the Head Coach of the Eagles fell ill today, got tested, positive.
• The College Football Playoff has announced a champion can be crowned, if necessary, via forfeit.
• At least one NBA game tonight and one tomorrow, involving the COVID-ravaged Nets and Raptors, postponed due to not having enough players.  And the Nets are supposed to play in Cry Staples Center as part of the big quintupleheader Saturday.
• The NBA now has over 80 players in the protocols.  Enough for FIVE-PLUS ENTIRE TEAM ROSTERS.
• Including at least two new cases in the Atlanta Hawks, causing them to start dipping into a replacement pool for the likes of Lance Stephenson.  (My anonymous friend, through research, notes Stephenson has also not played in the league in three years.)
• It's several hours before relevant tipoffs -- they're the only postponements in the NBA so far.
• Luke Doncic of the Mavericks is probably out of the Christmas quintupleheader, in protocols.
• It's so bad, the Big XII is considering relaxing from a "forfeit" stance (which has already felled three games in the Big East), back to a "no-contest" stance.
• And, oh gee, what a shock -- whoda thunk??  ANOTHER WWE COVID outbreak!

2021 NFC Week 15 Political Rankings

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Same asterisk as Monday night's post on the AFC.

1) Tampa Bay

For largely the same reason I keep New England #1 in the AFC.  Not that this didn't complicate matters a bit, and is Arians bringing back Antonio Brown going to put a turd in the punch bowl on this one?

2) Dallas

Far closer than it was a week ago, I'll say that.

3) LA Rams

You know, it isn't just the huge refball call late in the game tonight that moves them up, but I just had a thought as I was doing the other two posts:  To save the Super Bowl, would they decide to default to Chargers/Rams?

NFC DUD OF THE WEEK:

NOMINEES:

CHICAGO:  For being eliminated in "style".

TAMPA BAY:  Really????

ATLANTA:  Will the real Falcons please stand up, or do we want them to?

WINNER:  ARIZONA CARDINALS

In your position, you not only lose to Detroit, but 30-12?????

2021 NFC Week 15 Kayfabe Standings

Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice...

NFC:

East:  Dallas (10-4), by three over the Eagles.  One more win by Dallas or one more loss by the Eagles wins the division, but Dallas has clinched nothing as of tonight.

North:  We have our first division winner and playoff team.  The Green Bay Packers (11-3) have won the NFC North.  Minnesota is 7-7.

South:  Tampa Bay (10-4), by three over New Orleans.  Same drill as the NFC East.

West:  Arizona (10-4) has the tiebreaker over the Rams with the same record.  They split in the regular season, Arizona is 4-1 vs. the NFC West, the Rams 3-2.  At minimum, a win over Seattle in Week 18 and a Rams loss either week wins the NFC West for Arizona.

The ONLY clinched playoff spot in the entire NFL is the Packers, and they have the 1 seed.

Tiebreakers:

DAL, TB, ARI for the 2-3-4.  

No HTH sweep or swept.  Dallas must beat Arizona in Week 17, or they lose any tiebreaker to the other two teams, which is important, given at least DAL and TB are basically locks for the divisions.

Conference:  DAL is 8-1, TB and ARI are 6-4.  Dallas is the 2 seed right now.  That conference record looks peachy!  (GB is 8-2, for the record.  GB is favored to win their three remaining games, but, if they don't, that loss vs. Minnesota could be COSTLY.)

TB and ARI won't play, and there aren't enough common games.  Fire up the computer!!

Strength of victory:  TB:  .493  ARI:  .450

TB is the 3, ARI the 4.

Rams are the 5.

49ers are the 6 -- that's three NFC West teams in because they have 3 at least 8-6.

The 7-7 fun:  Philly, Minnesota, New Orleans for one spot.

No sweep or swept -- Minnesota played neither team.

Conference:  PHI 5-4, NO 5-5, MIN 5-4.  So it's now between Philadelphia and Minnesota.

Common games is the determinant.  49ers, both teams lost.  Panthers, both teams won.  Lions, Minnesota split, Philly won.  Chargers, Vikings won, Philly lost.  MIN 3-2, PHI 2-2.  Condition satisfied, Minnesota is the 7.

1. GB 11-3 (NFC North Champions)
2. DAL 10-4 (Leads NFC East Magic Number 1:  Wins conference record tiebreaker over TB and ARI)
3. TB 10-4 (Leads NFC South Magic Number 1:  Loses conference record tiebreaker to DAL, wins Strength of Victory tiebreaker over ARI)
4. ARI 10-4 (Wins divisional record tiebreaker with LAR to lead the NFC West.  Loses conference record tiebreaker to DAL and Strength of Victory tiebreaker to Arizona to fall here.)
5. LAR 10-4 (Loses divisional record tiebreaker to ARI for the division lead)
6. SF 8-6
7. MIN 7-7 (Eliminates New Orleans on conference record, beats PHI on common games tiebreaker)

MIN @ DAL, SF @ TB, LAR @ ARI, GB gets the bye.

There are 11 NFC teams within one game of the playoffs at this point.

And Squid Game the Chicago Bears, as they join the eliminated.

2021 NFL Week 15 Score Report

Well, there's some refball for you.

And it benefits the Rams...  Hmmmmm....

Blatant DPI no-call on 4th down with about 3 minutes left ends any real shot the Seahawks had to beat the Rams.

It really is becoming apparent that you can see where the league is rigging games if you pay attention:  The two major ones you can keep an eye on (Brian Tuohy is always right in pointing out the inconsistent enforcement of offensive holding) are the enforcement of pass interference and roughing the passer.

Anyway, off to the week's work here:

• Lowest-scoring week in over 2 years.  38.825 per game this week, lowest since Week 2 2019.  (Last year:  51.875 -- an almost TWO TOUCHDOWN PER GAME difference)
• Season average:  Down to 45.647.  (Last year:  49.517 -- almost four points down per game)
• Home teams clambered back to 8-8 this week, 109-111-1 for the year.  (Last year:  8-8 for 111-112-1)
• The Over was 6-10 for 98-123-3 for the season.  (Last year:  10-6 for 109-110-5)
• Favorites were 8-7-1 for the week, with Philly pushing tonight.  105-116-2 for the year.  (Last year:  7-9 for 96-122-3)
• Straight up:  Favorites were 12-4 for 137-84-1 for the season.  (Last year:  11-5 for 147-73-1)
• 181 penalties in the 16 games this week (11.3 per game).  2,740 for the 224 games this year.  (12 1/4 per game).  (Last year:  156 (9.75) for 2556 (11.45))
• Two Cliffhangers, both winners in the AFC West (KC and LV).  47 for the year.  (Last year:  2 for 40)
• Seven games finished within one score this week, for only 104 out of 224 games ending that way this year so far.  (Last year:  10 for 121.)
• So, 15 weeks in and 224 games in, we are now over an entire week's schedule behind in games finishing within one score.
• Four games finished non-competitive.  84 for the year.  (Last year:  3 for 67)
• Meaning we are now over an entire week's schedule ahead in non-competitive games -- the same 17-game margin.
• And 2 Last Chance Misses for 51 for the year.  (Last year:  5 for 71)

Interesting side note that I haven't already noted:

• There's another statistic that I track that doesn't get really mentioned.  A game, on my nomenclature, can have the following notations:

1. CLIFF, a Cliffhanger -- the game had a tying or winning score in the final two minutes of regulation or overtime.
2. LCM -- A Last Chance Miss -- the losing team had a reasonable chance at a Cliffhanger, be it an onside kick, a failed drive which could've resulted in a Cliffhanger, or a missed field goal or the like.
3. W8 -- the final score ended within one score without either a Cliffhanger or a Last Chance Miss.  Often, and many times I'll note it off to the side to make sure I don't perk up at it later, the winning team will have had the ball the final over-two minutes of the game.
4. The nomenclature can be blank -- meaning a non-competitive game which was never within eight points at any point in the final quarter.
5. Or the interesting quirk this week is a mark of "4th" on my chart -- meaning that the game got within eight points at some point in the 4th quarter, but didn't end that way.

• You don't see the "4th"s on my statistics here, but you can figure them out by taking the total number of games and subtracting the games finishing within one score and the non-competitive games out.
• This week had five such games.  Last week to have that was Week 17 last year.  Week 3 of this year had six!

AFC Week 15 project: Have I got a whopper for you....

I said earlier that I would work on a sheet and take a look at the schedules of the 12 teams in the AFC with at least 7 wins and no ties.

My goal is to find the maximum tiebreaker, hoping I could get to 11 teams.

I CAN!!!

There are some permutations, and most of this must precisely happen in one particular way, but:

• Kansas City must lose out, to PIT, CIN, and DEN
• New England must beat JAX, lose to BUF and MIA
• Tennessee must lose to MIA, and then beat either SF or HOU, but not both.
• Cincinnati must beat BAL and KC, but then lose to CLE
• Indianapolis must beat two of the three of ARI, LV (the only 7+ win no-tie team which is an impossibility), and JAX
• Buffalo must beat NE and either ATL or the Jets, but not both
• Baltimore must lose to CIN, but beat the Rams and PIT
• The Chargers must beat HOU and LV, but lose to DEN
• Miami must win out:  NO, TEN, and NE
• Cleveland must win out:  GB, PIT, and CIN
• Denver must win out:  LV, LAC, KC

If all of that happens, EVERY TEAM ON THIS LIST is 10-7.

• New England, Miami, and Buffalo out of the East
• Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Cleveland in the North (and Pittsburgh can't jump the lot to 10-6-1)
• Tennessee and Indianapolis out of the South
• Kansas City, the Chargers, and Denver out of the West

So then who gets in?  Plug into the ESPN Playoff Machine and find out -- several of the tiebreakers for the division-winner tiebreakers for the 1-4 would be Strength of Victory.

It seems to be that you can get scenarios where the Dolphins, Bills or Titans can be the #1 seed.

Day 651, Part Two: Starting with an important NBA caveat

• As all but expected that there will be games deleted from the Christmas 5-spot on the ABC/ESPN family, the NBA has told the ten teams to be prepared for games to be moved, with the announcement as late as Friday.  Lakers-Nets is almost a sure goner.   
• But as of this afternoon, Adam Silver says the NBA will NOT suspend the season.  We'll see how long THAT holds!
• Priority will be given to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th slots of the quintupleheader.
• The NHL decision on the Olympics has reportedly been made:  They aren't going.
• The EPL is still (maddeningly) going ahead with their holiday match schedule!  For now...   
• In an announcement which will probably give joy to a few people  Stephen A. Smith of ESPN has announced he's COVID-positive, breakthrough case.  He said he probably got it during an endoscopy procedure last week.
• The Chiefs have added three to the COVID list today.
• Another $35,000 for Amy Schneider today.  15 wins and now over $600,000 as she keeps rolling and making history in several ways on Jeopardy!.
• Michigan is going to aid in ensuring their CFP run takes place by getting the COVID booster shot all at once as a team.
• The one NHL game was played -- Tampa beat Las Vegas 4-3 in the only remaining match before the extended Christmas break.
• Tottenham Hotspur, because of the congested schedule and a COVID outbreak, has been thrown out of the UEFA Conference League by forfeiting their final group stage match.

Day 651

• Close contact to the President has tested positive for COVID -- President Biden, at this point, has tested negative.
• In the "good news for the President" department, unless you are not a dog fan:  The country now has a new First Puppy.
• An umpire, according to Keith Olbermann's Twitter, had to be escorted off the field because the rest of the crew found out he was DRUNK!  And when the security came to see him (and I don't know the Spanish translation, so I'm not going to try it!), his first reaction was the "I LOVE YOU, MAN!" hug! 

This umpire in Mexico had to be removed from the game because the rest of the crew determined that he was drunk pic.twitter.com/1ZLWBns5Lb

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) December 20, 2021

• The Bears' Robert Quinn can expect a fine for bitching out the officials after the Monday Night game.  Don't want people telling the truth now, do we??  
• Out of nine penalties on the Bears, FIVE were personal fouls.  At least one player was ejected.
• One of the five was another controversial "low block" call, not realizing the NFL has outlawed the practice except inside the offensive and defensive lines.
• As previously noted, the NHL has thrown in the towel pre-Christmas.  Only two ONE of the ten scheduled games will be played tonight -- and, after that, see you next Monday (they hope!).  I don't like their chances.   
• Washington and Philly threw in the towel this morning -- leaving Las Vegas vs. Tampa Bay as the sole remaining NHL match before they shut down.
• The Alanis Morrisette-inspired Jagged Little Pill Broadway musical has closed permanently until COVID ends.  COVID was the last straw, the explosion of positives in NYC blowing up the production.
• Ten other Broadway shows are dark through at least Christmas due to the virus -- and that's big:  The Christmas holidays are usually a bread-and-butter time period for The Great White Way.
• The University of Alabama has increased protocols on it's football team to ensure it can face Cincinnati in ten days at the College Football Playoff.
• The German health minister has called for forced vaccination of the entire German population -- IMMEDIATELY.  BOUT DAMN TIME!  
• Ahhhhhh, karma...  Tom Brady was seen telling the New Orleans Saints coaches to go fuck themselves after throwing a game-sealing interception.
• There is a lawsuit by four minor-league teams which could fell Major League Baseball's anti-trust exemption.
• With the College Professors' Tournament in the books, Amy Schneider returned last night to Jeopardy!, and, though she was pushed by a very able challenger, Schneider won another $34,800 to see a 14-day total become now fourth in the history of regular play behind the three regular-season millionaires on the show (Amodio, Holzhauer, and Jennings -- in reverse order) of $571,200.
• She is now only $228,800 from #10 all time on the women's list of biggest game-show money winners, and Andy Saunders' projections have her making that and then some.  His current projection has Amy winning nearly 25 games -- 25 wins would get Amy over a million dollars.
• In the apparent (according to Wikipedia) history of American game shows, only nine women (and I'd have some question as to the inclusion of one of them -- on the basis on the show on which she won her million, not the achievement itself) have won $1,000,000 or more on an American game show.
• Can't believe I forgot to post this:  CM Punk with a T-shirt that probably ruffled a few Nazi feathers on AEW Dynamite last week:  A picture of a woman's reproductive organs and the tagline:  "Get your own and then tell it what to do".  I don't think I need to figure out why he would do such a thing...   

2021 AFC Week 15 Political Rankings

I need to break it to you very slowly, Football Nation America...

I don't think you're getting a Super Bowl this year.

(EDIT TO ADD 10:20 AM PST 12/21/21:  My anonymous friend makes a tremendous point.  Too much money in the Super Bowl to completely cancel it -- they'd try to hold it July 4th if they could get away with it...  Thing is, they may have to.  One thing we do agree on:  The odds of everything going to previous plan are evaporating by the day and hour.)

The NFL will do everything in it's damn power to do otherwise.  Seriously.

BUT:

Tonight, the NHL has formally suspended play, as of the end of the two remaining games tomorrow night.

We'll see IF they can restart next Monday (as of right now, they are just extending the league's Christmas break).

The NBA has been rather decimated, but, as of right now, has only one further game postponed than what they already have.

But the big one for the NFL has been the decimation of Week 15 (and I'm talking COVID, not the Tom Bradys and the Patriots losing -- I think that is an effect, more than a cause), in that two full rosters worth of NFL players tested positive this week at some point in the equation, a figurative explosion not unakin to the likes of the state of New York and the like regarding an Omicron-led COVID Wave...  Four, Five???

Now, think:  Saturday is Christmas.  You know what that means...  And a lot of the bump in this wave of COVID was from Thanksgiving and the like...

Yeah, they're in deep shit.  I've read more than a few calling for the cancellation of the NFL season, and, if Thanksgiving got this kind of a bump, just think what Christmas is gonna do.

And I do believe that, as an effect, it probably played into some of the things which happened this week -- see the losses by Brady and Belichick.  I do believe there has to be some serious question, at this point, as to whether Super Bowl LVI takes place in February of 2022 at all!!

So I guess what I'll do this week (and probably will be in play for the rest of the season as well) is the implied asterisk that this is IF the Super Bowl takes place in eight weeks...

What makes the AFC damn near impossible at this point is the understanding there is only one team with four losses (and the very real possibility that one high-profile COVID case is the only real reason THAT team has only four losses), and THIRTEEN of them are 7-7 or better, meaning the NFL is going to probably machinate maximum chaos!

1) New England

I'm still going to put Brady vs. Belichick as the lead possibility -- but the problem here is simple:  Even more so than any other "single Q-rating led teams" like Green Bay, Baltimore, etc.  If a COVID positive were to hit Brady a few days before the Super Bowl, the entire season would be lost.

2) Kansas City

Being the #1 has it's privileges -- one fewer game, everything going through at home.  Yes, there is the Mahomes Factor.  But, again there is also what I believe to be the Britt Reid Factor -- so the league is going to have to show me, rather than tell me, about all that.

And then a fairly precipitous drop to...

3) LA Chargers

As much as there other teams in better kayfabe standings positions, the fact is that a couple levers here or there and Spanos will laugh in the face of all us detractors telling him to officially fuck off.

Teams to watch, in both directions:

Baltimore:  Do you get now that this franchise, for the time being, is basically Lamar Jackson and a far-lesser supporting cast.  That said, give it to a coach who has the guts to wanna win this game right damn now.  Would you take your chances on Aaron Rodgers with 40 seconds and a timeout to get into field goal range?

Cincinnati, Henry-less Tennessee, Buffalo, Indianapolis...  do you get the point here:  Eek.  Just, eek.  I'm probably going to have some math fun with schedule and see what I can come up with.

AFC Dud of the Week

No, not Baltimore, not Harbaugh.  All that is is an expression, as I said, of how much Jackson means to the franchise, both on the field and off of it.  And be thankful your coach is not a coward, even if it's not working out.

You know what, AFC?  MERRY CHRISTMAS.  I can't see anybody really that deserving of Dud of the Week.

So COVID-19 AND THE OMICRON STRAIN WIN AFC DUD OF THE WEEK THIS WEEK.

There ARE deserving NFC candidates.  

*stares in the general direction of Arizona*

2021 Week 15 AFC Kayfabe Rankings

We need to have a talk in a moment, Football Nation America...

First, a reminder that, with the two games tomorrow, the NFC post and the score report will come some point tomorrow evening, etc., as circumstances permit.

So, for the AFC, the kayfabe standings:

East:  New England (9-5) now one up on Buffalo (8-6), and they play next week.  A win over Buffalo does NOT clinch the AFC East, but the magic number to do so with Miami would go to one.  Miami would have to win out (including over the Pats Week 18) and New England also lose in Week 17.

North:  Have fun!!!  Cincinnati has the HTH with the Ravens, and the division lead at 8-6.  The Yinzers' false hope is stoked with Pittsburgh's win over Tennessee to 7-6-1, and Cleveland is 7-7 as well now!

No, you drunk idiot, Steelers not gonna Supah Bo.  (If you need reference to that, watch Urinating Tree...) 

South:  Tennessee's (9-5) loss and Indianapolis' win cuts the lead to one and the HTH sweep over Indianapolis.

West:  Kansas City (10-4) has a two-game lead over the Chargers and three over the Raiders and Broncos.

No one has added their names to the Squid Game for being eliminated from playoff contention.

Why?  Let's take a look before I do the tiebreakers:

10-4:  KC

9-5:  TEN and NE

8-6:  CIN (division), BAL, BUF, IND, LAC

7-6-1:  PIT

7-7:  MIA, CLE, LV, and DEN

How's THAT mathematically possible:  13 of the 16 AFC teams are 7-7 or better.

Tiebreakers:

TEN and NE for the #2:  NE 36 - TEN 13.  NE #2, TEN #3.

For ALL THREE wildcards:  BAL, BUF, IND, LAC  Four for three.

No divisionals to break.

Conference records:  BUF 5-5, BAL 5-5, IND 7-3, LAC 5-4

IND #5, LAC #6 only because they won't play the Bills.  

And Buffalo is now the #7 per common games...  

• Both lost to the Steelers (Baltimore has a second meeting in Week 18), 
• Buffalo beat Miami twice, Baltimore lost.  
• Both beat the Chiefs.  
• Baltimore beat the Colts, the Bills lost.

BAL 2-2, BUF 3-2 -- condition satisfied.

1. KC (10-4, leads AFC West)
2. NE (9-5, leads AFC East, HTH tiebreaker over TEN)
3. TEN (9-5, leads AFC South, loses HTH tiebreaker with NE)
4. CIN (8-6, leads AFC North because of first win over BAL)
5. IND (8-6, wins conference record tiebreaker over the other 8-6s)
6. LAC (8-6, 2nd in the conference record tiebreaker (and this applies because no HTH sweep or swept with the other two 8-6s) among the 8-6s)
7. BUF (8-6, loses conference record tiebreakers to IND and LAC, wins common games tiebreaker over BAL)

BUF @ NE, LAC @ TEN, IND @ CIN, KC gets the bye.

8) BAL (8-6, loses tiebreakers to all four other 8-6s (HTH CIN, Conf Record IND and LAC, common games BUF) to be out of the playoffs if the playoffs were to be set today!)

9) PIT (7-6-1, if not for the tie with Detroit, they'd be the #7)

Then another 4-way tie -- LV over DEN 1st HTH, second this week to get it to three.  

Conf:  LV 5-4, MIA 5-5, CLE 4-6 (and DEN 3-6)

10)  LV (7-7, wins conference record tiebreaker over the other non-divisional 7-7s and first win over Denver)

11) MIA (7-7, 2nd in the list on conference record)

12) And CLE (7-7) beat Denver anyway

13) DEN 7-7

That means there are 13 teams which can be separated by three games with three to play.  I don't think we can get to complete chaos, though, like some absurd 11-way 10-7 tie (since both LV and DEN cannot go 10-7).  I may just have to have some fun with it to see how close I can get.

NFL Week 14 TV Ratings and some Week 15 Side Notes

• I can do the AFC now.  The two games are both NFC tomorrow and any interconnection has already been dealt with, so I'll do that in the next post.
• Unless unexpected scoring happens tomorrow, this will be the lowest-scoring week in some time.  The last time the NFL didn't make 40 points a game for a week was Week 2 2019 (38.625).  With the two games left, this week stands at just 548 points, 39.143 per game.
• I'd need to see if I can still find the ATS numbers (the percentages of money on the spread) on the scheduled Monday Night game.  Those who bet Minnesota and gave the 7 points can be very thankful of an obscure NFL rule.  By Rule 4, Section 8, Article 2 (c) of the NFL Rulebook (and it was actually done three years ago), a touchdown at the end of the game needs no conversion if the conversion is meaningless to the actual result of the contest.
• Minnesota won 17-9, and because of 4-8-2(c), covered the -7.  So Merry Christmas and go spend that money on your family.
• Gee, Las Vegas, you needed all those players out for Cleveland not to cover a -3 on the road and win a Cliffhanger at the gun???
• Tom Brady did not have a good night on Sunday night (and I think I know the reason why -- and will discuss that in the AFC post, since it applies to the NFL in general!), but it's been 15 years since a Tom Brady team has been shut out, before last night.  December 10, 2006 -- Miami 21-0.
• Agh, Harbaugh!!  The problem with the two to win is two-fold -- Rodgers has 40 seconds and a timeout...  And it is only a genius move if it succeeds.
• Houston and Jacksonville had a 39.5 total at Caesar's -- the lowest in the NFL since Week 5.

Now to the TV ratings for last week from Sports Media Watch:

• Sunday Night:  Bears-Packers cashed in -- 10.2 rating, 18.56 million viewers.  Up 6% ratings and 9% viewers from last year, and the biggest SNF since Brady's return to New England.
• Including non-Nielsen streaming data, Sunday Night games are up 11% for the year.
• The Monday Night Triplecast paid dividends as well:  Rams-Cardinals got an 8.4 rating and 15.9 million viewers -- best Week 14 MNF since 2013 and up 14% ratings and 28% viewers from last year because of the 2 and ABC triplecast.
• Thursday Night:  Steelers-Vikings, 8 rating, 14 million viewers -- pretty much a wash.  Down a tenth of a point in ratings, up 3% viewers.
• CBS National:  Tom Brady couldn't help this week.  Bills-Tom Bradys in most of the country drew 11.6 rating and 21.4 million viewers.  Down 5% in both numbers.
• Lowest rated Week 14 late window in over 20 years, least-watched in ten.
• CBS Regional:  Raiders-Chiefs headed a 7.0 rating and 12.1 million viewers, a wash from last year.
• FOX Single:  And Dallas couldn't even get anything off the schnide, as them and the Football Team led a Single window to an 8.2 and 15.7 million viewers -- down 11% ratings and 2% viewers.
• But the season-long general numbers, including the non-Nielsen streaming, is still up 7% over last year.