March 31, 2023 News and Notes

• North Texas won the men's NIT in Las Vegas last night...
• ... and promptly lost it's coach this morning to Texas A&M.
• Aaron Judge hit the first home run of the 2023 MLB season.
• We had at least two major pitch-clock violations in Day One, one of them was actually due to a runner's delay in heading back to first base.
• Opening Day 2022:  Average game was 3 hours and 11 minutes.
• Opening Day 2023:  2 hours and 45 minutes, a 26 minute reduction -- about 15%.
• Yesterday was the first time in 55 years that MLB had all the teams play on Opening Day.
• The average cost to get in the door for the 15 games was $72.
• Only five games today to compensate -- the five four-game series of the opening weekend.
• Anthony Rendon is in a lot of trouble -- grabbed an Oakland fan by the shirt and took a swipe at him in Thursday's opener.
• Idiot on the Field at Dodger Stadium last night -- tried to propose on the field of Dodger Stadium, not realizing that by entering the field, he earned an annihilating tackle from the Dodger Stadium security.  Lady, say "No" and RUN!  Moron...  

March 30, 2023 News and Notes: MLB Opening Day

• Yes, the one day where hope springs eternal.  Even for the Pirates and other AA outfits masquerading as Major League Baseball teams.
• And a Hell Freezes Over day in the NBA:  For the first time in 16 years, the Sacramento Kings are in the playoffs!  It was the longest playoff drought of any franchise in the four major sports.
• The Kings are the seventh team to clinch into the main part of the playoffs.
• The Western Conference is going to be a mess.  With five to play, the Clippers, at five over .500, are the 5 seed and doesn't need to do the extra tournament to get in.  The Mavericks, at only three under .500, are the eleventh "seed" in the Western Conference, and out of the playoffs.
• The Warriors, at three over .500, are the six seed and the last team not to be in the play-in tournament.  31-8 at home, 9-29 on the road!

And while we're at it, fuck Vince McMahon too!!

Ever since it actually became rumored that Los Angeles (and the new SoFi Stadium) was going to host a WrestleMania, I was making plans to attend it -- and the surrounding independent events the days around it.

Then came word Vince was a serial predator, and then wanted to sell the WWE, with the Saudis a near-lock to be the buyers.

Congratulations, shithead.  I wanted to be there in LA this weekend, but with all of the different ramifications of the Republican McMahons, plus the probability that the Saudi blood money will be the owners of WWE within a very short period of time (would actually be shocked if they don't announce the agreement in principle with the whole world watching in LA this weekend!!!), there's no way, in any degree of conscience, I can attend any of this...

I've been a pro wrestling fan almost 45 years now.  Thanks, Vince, you stupid fuck.

And, a few days out of the event, let's see how much he's skewered LA:

Remember, for the longest time, the rumors were:

• Rock vs. Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Title.
• Rock into the WWE Hall of Fame
• Main women's match:  The long-awaited (and twice-aborted) Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch showdown.

Instead:

• Your 2023 apparent WWE Hall of Fame class:
• The headliner will be Rey Mysterio Jr. -- the third man to be entered while still active on the roster (Flair, Sting).  (Even Undertaker retired first.)  More than deserved:  A Lucha Libre legend, Mysterio brought Lucha and the cruiserweight division to the United States in all three major federations of the day.   
• The Great Muta/Keiji Muto, who formally retired earlier this year in Japan.  No question on this one either -- and I can't recall if this guy ever wrestled in WWE!   
• The only other main wrestler to be inducted this year is Stacy Keibler from the women's division.  Leering at her three-foot legs aside, there were actually a couple moments Keibler actually showed more class than ass...  One was when she refused to be the WWE Divas champion, feeling other women were more qualified.  Legitimately more qualified.  
• The celebrity inductee, given many Hollywood options, is probably the one Hollywood actor who could be a main HoF inductee:  Andy Kaufman.  And current word has Jerry Lawler inducting him, in his first public appearance since his January stroke.   
• In a move more akin to the original intent of the Warrior Award (though it needs to be renamed, asshole...), former referee Tim White is the final inductee this year.
• As for the card itself:
• The Rock isn't even going to be at the event in any capacity.
• Ronda Rousey is in a Wrestlemania Women's Tag Team Showcase (AKA "Get As Many People A Wrestlemania Match As Possible") with her friend Shayna Baesler.
• Becky Lynch is in a six-woman tag team piss-break match with Bayley and her heel "Damage CTRL" group.
• AEW turncoat Cody Rhodes will face Roman Reigns in the main event, to try to unseat Reigns' 962-day reign as top champion in the WWE, a reign not seen since Hulkamania I.
• Some of the other top part-time talent is trying to put over a couple of main-roster people:  Brock Lesnar has the 7 foot 400 pound Nigerian Omos, John Cena has to try to get over Austin Theory, one of Vince McMahon's main pet projects.
• The only two organically over acts in the company right now are Sami Zayn, who will team with long-time friend (going back to days they fought in the Los Angeles "Pro Wrestling Guerilla" independent promotion) Kevin Owens against the other two-thirds of the controlling Bloodline:  Reigns' cousins the Usos.  The above speculation makes this even a bigger match for Zayn -- he's released from WWE the moment the Saudis take over, as part-Syrian.
• The other is the father-son battle of the Mysterios, where, on his way to eventual retirement soon, Rey Mysterio Jr. is giving a major program to his son Dominik.

All things considered, the card is a major cutback for a Mania looked to be a centerpiece years in the making....

March 27, 2023 News and Notes

• Luka Doncic's 16th T has been rescinded.  He's not suspended...  yet.   
• Lamar Jackson has requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens.

This Blog Shouldn't Exist, Part 2.03: Have Some Guts or Shut The Fuck Up, Karl!

(Yep, another unscheduled part.)

And another unscheduled part based on a post by Karl Denninger on The Market Ticker.  I'll react to both the post and the comments section (or at least the first two pages thereto).

In Denninger's continuing call to dismantle the public American education system, this post completely forgets some very concrete facts which basically distill down to one thing:

We have a bunch of the Libertarians on that site who agree with the racist views of Scott Adams, but forget openly another part of his views, endemic to this particular situation:  The fact that you have only two options on violent youth:  Watch other people die, or kill them yourself, even if it's your own child.

Today's Denninger screed has but only real, honest, legitimate, and intellectually correct response:

GET YOUR GUN OUT OF YOUR ANUS, GET YOUR CLOTHES ON, SHUT YOUR SOCIAL-MEDIA CAMERA OFF, AND SHOOT US!!

Adams himself would tell you fuckers the same thing!  And, on top of that, it isn't simply my view on Libertarianism (that the sole source of personal responsibility in America comes at the hot end of another person's smoking gun).

1) Dingleberry:  "Separate a people from the consequences of their actions....you get a nation of fools."

It isn't just a function of there being no consequences, but the consequences which DO exist would actually be improvements on many of these people's lives -- real or perceived.

Let's get right down to brass tacks, Karl:  If society could tolerate most youth to be out and about during the day, there'd be no need for school.  We miseducate our children grossly on the first part, and there's no benefit at all for some children not to go to jail or prison (just like there isn't for an increasing number of adults).

I was literally out getting food at a local restaurant two days ago.  Two older people walked in and promptly marched off, unchallenged, with two mobile orders about $75 in total.  A third homeless man got the third call to the cops to that place in about 30-40 minutes.  And I can tell you, without question, none of the three would've given a damn about "consequences" or anything else of that ilk.

Another anecdote is the basis for the post:  The Denver death of a 17-year-old who admittedly had no business on the outside and shot two school administrators trying to pat him down.  Prison would have been better for him -- and he'd already been expelled from another school just two months before!

A third:  Some point in my homeless stint in San Francisco, I bought a liter of Vanilla Coke and was immediately accosted by a White idiot wanting it.  If the cops had not shown up within about another 10 seconds, he'd have gotten it -- over his head...

But this has nothing to do with a lack of consequences, because the "consequences" are of no deterrent to them.  The only real deterrent the law has had for DECADES is prison rape, as one good example.  What are you going to do, hire "Bubba" as a disciplinary feature of the school -- and you get enough trouble from a student, it's backdoor party time?

Jail is ZERO DETERRENT.  The only reason I haven't reoffended with Ms. Gibson is I DIDN'T WANT TO -- and, even then, with the laws in question, is there really a point to having released me at all?  (You'll get that in about 60 days in Part Three of this series.)

2) Denninger:  "State Constitutions may provide, and the Federal government may demand, that a "free public education" and "to the limits of each student's ability" each district is "obligated" to provide same, irrespective of cost disparity, but the last 20+ years of this crap has led to the premise that a student who is incapable of doing grade-level work or is disruptive to the class or school environment, whether with outbursts or even violence, cannot be and is not immediately and permanently removed from said class environment."  

Only way you are doing that -- not only as a function of law enforcement, but also as an economic function, an education function, a societal function -- is to shoot the kid.  Especially if you agree with the racist Adams.

The situation in Denver is a nice example of why you can't even jail or imprison the kid and expect him to improve.  Even for those of us only BELIEVED to want to be violent (see myself vs. Ms. Gibson), jail is a perfect environment to learn there is only one solution to most problems with other people in this society -- you either make it clear that you will force an answer/conduct from the other party or you won't get one!

In society, we call this a "threat".  Some call it a terrorist act.  But the fact is, to what gain, to a lot of these people, is doing a damn thing that needs to be done?  That can be teachers as well as students.

3) And here's the money shot from Denninger:  "If you advocate for leaving such individuals in the school system where other, peaceful kids are -- no matter the mix between the two in terms of percentages -- you are a criminal and should be expelled from society to starve and when you die of starvation your carcass and that of your entire family should be left to rot so your highest and best function, that of food for turkey vultures, is fulfilled."

Then you should immediately be identifying those children and eliminating them and their parents from the gene pool RIGHT NOW.

You'd have killed me by age ten, by the way, under the same concept.  By eight or nine (I forget if this was before or after my mother died, but it was in that one year), my family was exploring expulsion from the house for me to a reform school.  Some in my family have believed, at least for a time, my misconducts (decades before Gibson) killed my mother through stress -- and, if they did that, I got them both -- my dad seven or eight years later.

But the fact remains, Karl, if you believe this bullshit you're spewing:  On every conceivable level, you need to eliminate (KILL) anyone in society who you believe (and can get past a jury of twelve) to have no other purpose than as food -- for turkey vultures or as (as you've said a number of times) "long pork" for your own consumption.

Because, even on a more baseline level:  We take your resources, we increase your costs (inflation/money supply), we have destroyed any hope you have of a national infrastructure (because the largest city you MIGHT permit in a "new America" of your creation can't be more than about 50-100K in population), etc.

4) User "Joancrawford":  "I've come to the realization that nothing short of segregation will fix this mess. Most blacks will not tolerate any rules comin' down from "da white mon", so let them create their own little hells scape skoos."

That segregation, Joan, would have to be more than just separate schools.  You can't have us in your economy or even presence (and that's more than Black/White) -- and trying to starve us out just would mean we would have nothing to lose by attempting to rob you -- we're dead anyway if it gets that far.

4A)  To emphasize the point, she added:  "Addendum to my above screed: Todd was a very large boy who approached me one day with a raging hard-on and attempted to rape me during school hours. I escaped before one of his buds started toward me to hold me down.  I told no one and of course nothing was done. Todd was periodically suspended throughout the school year, which he considered a vacation. This was, btw, in a very wealthy school district in Arlington, Virginia."

He had value, Joan -- hence, he had the right to rape -- and, trust me, if your report of him already being hard is true (and I have no dispute to it), you would not have been his first rape of that day or even that part of the day.

My guess is that he was an athlete, between his school suspensions.  You would think, at some point, that if that was on the table, there would be (if there were such a right in general) the right to basically make it clear that one more step and his parents can collect his body.

5) User "Rporth":  "Homeschool or die. I know a gal who recently quit her job teaching 2nd graders in Rapid City of all places. Kids acted up so bad they removed the chairs, kids out of control. Fbombs constantly. No discipline."

Rapid City, SD.  You'd think, with that governor of yours, they'd basically take a National Guardsman to that school, walk in front of the class, pump his shotgun once, and make a last stand to get the point across.

Look, I was a piece of work in school (see above).  But if it's THAT BAD, someone's gotta get froggy against them or nothing is ever going to get done.

Karl's daughter Sarah went through there (and this is with one of the more virulent MAGA governors and not the nation's largest city in any respect!), and could not stay one more moment than necessary because of the feral zoo it had become.

I could go on, but it comes down to one fact:  You want better?  You're going to have to shoot your way to better.

I could make a very real case today that the Deagel Group 70% kill off in the next 33 months either must happen or damned close, and you idiots on the Right better make sure it's the 50-70% you want gone.

So get started or shut the fuck up.  You hate it now?  Just wait...

The Tournament Has Gone Nuts

One Power Five team, and it's Miami.

A 4, two 5's, and a 9.

Two of the four losing teams in the Elite Eight are fuming at the refs.

But, suffice it to say that the power structure of college basketball has been successfully upsot by One And Done.

Out of over 20,000,000 ESPN Tournament Challenge brackets, THIRTY-SEVEN correctly picked this Final Four.

March 26, 2023 News and Notes

• I think it's seriously time for the NBA to stiffen the Rasheed Wallace Rule.
• Dillon Brooks has received his second one-game suspension for reaching 18 technical fouls.  Between fines and lost suspension salary, Brooks has lost more than $300,000 to the league.
• That is, in fact, the third game Brooks has been suspended for.
• Draymond Green got a 16-technical suspension last week.
• And presumptive NBA MVP Luka Doncic will be suspended for his 16th T, given today.  He was just fined $35,000 for a gesture to the officials to indicate they've been paid off.
• Trae Young of the Hawks, who was just thrown out of a game over the weekend for chucking the ball at an official (and may get suspended for that) is on 17, so he's already been suspended once for T's already!
• Six players, led by Young with 19, were suspended last year.  Doncic and Green were also both suspended twice.
• Three players, including Doncic, were suspended two years ago.
• So how do you fix it?
• The minimum I probably would accept at this point would be that all suspensions accrue.  Meaning that, if you get any second suspension in a season, one game is added.  A third means at least two games are added.  Any more, and it's an in-person meeting with Adam Silver before you play again (meaning you go on the Commissioner's List or whatever), and a minimum of five (ten if any one of the other three was five or more).  The Commissioner (or an appeals group between the league and NBPA) must clear you, or you're out until next season.  Any fifth suspension, and you aren't playing again for the balance of the regular season and playoffs.
• If you're not going to do that, you need not only to make the "one-plus-one" rule (ejection from a game is an automatic one-game suspension at minimum) in force, you also need to drop the season suspension number to about 10 or so.
• End of the May sumo tournament was held this morning our time in Japan.
• Congratulations to Sekiwake Kiribayama, who defeated Komusubi Daieisho twice in the final day to win the May tournament in a playoff at 12-3.
• Yokozuna Terunofuji and Ozeki Takakeisho nursing knee injuries.  Takakeisho is now kadoban for the May tournament.  Terunofuji, FOR NOW, is expected back.
• At Sekiwake:  That's Kiribayama's first tournament at Sekiwake, so he can't advance yet.  Hoshoryu had an outside chance of perhaps being promoted, but lost two matches in the final four days and now only has 29 in his last three Sekiwake tournaments, and the SA won't promote that.  Wakatakakage has a knee injury of his own, and will demote.
• At Komusubi:  This is going to be where a lot of the action is going to take place for the May banzuke.  Wakamotoharu went 11-4, so he SHOULD promote.  Daiesho went 12-3 and lost in the playoff, he SHOULD also promote.  The problem is going to be, you've got a third possible promotion (Tobizaru at 9-6), but will the SA take five at Sekiwake, hoping one gets the 33 wins in 3 to make it to Ozeki?
• Maegashira:  Shodai (10-5) returns to Komusubi.  Other possible promotes:  Abi (9-6 at M2), Midorifuji (right on the line at 10-5 at M5).
• Juryo:  Ichinojo wins the division at 14-1 (only loss to Gonoyama), Asanoyama is 13-2 (losses to Ichinojo and a Maegashira).  They will probably be the only two promotes, as it appears there are only two who are going to be demoted out of Maegashira (Bushozan, 5-10 at M14, Azumaryu, 4-11 at M11).  Gonoyama probably ends up an unlucky winner at 11-4 at J6.  (He probably would need Kagayaki to go down at 5-10 at M12, but that's a dicey proposition.)

March 25, 2023 News and Notes

• Murderer Miller, ELIMINATED -- from the NCAA Tournament.
• Miller was a ballhog for the Crimson Tide, shooting the worst percentage that any player has ever shot (minimum 35 shots) in the NCAA Tournament, records going back to 1985.
• And for the first time in the history of the tournament, no #1 seed makes the Elite Eight.  Validates my decision not to do brackets this year.   
• UConn's having one Hell of a week.  While at practice at UNLV, a manager got his laptop stolen -- one of the team members got an iPad yanked.
• To zero fanfare, the CONCACAF Nations League continued today, the United States facing Grenada and thumping them by Germany to Brazil -- 7-1.
• The only real statistic of note in the game is an interesting one:  For the first time since the 1996 inception of the American major soccer league, MLS had no current players on the roster.
• To be fair, though, nine players in the early training exercise were from team academies.
• The Los Angeles Unified School District and it's teachers have reached a tentative agreement in their labor differences.
• More Final Four history -- this on the women's side.  Connecticut is out, and to give an indication of the dominance of the women's program, this will be the first Final Four without Connecticut since 2007 and the first time since 2005 it won't see the Elite Eight.
• In the men's tournament, Florida Atlantic has made the Final Four, the first #9 seed to make the Final Four since 2013.
• Nova Southeastern University of Florida has won the Division II men's basketball championship -- undefeated at 36-0.  In fact, they're 69-1 the last two seasons -- the lone loss in the 2022 Elite Eight.
• Northwest Missouri State was the three-time defending champion.  Shock-ousted in the second round this year.

March Sumo tournament entering the final day:

• Sekiwake Kiribayama and Komusubi Daieisho will wrestle for the March sumo championship.  Kiribayama must defeat Daieisho twice to win the tournament.  
• Yokozuna Terunofuji and now-kadoban Ozeki Takakeisho are nursing knee injuries, which may, as early as July, create a crisis at the top end.
• Now-former Sekiwake Wakatakakage has completely blown out HIS knee (ACL, MCL, and meniscus), so he's going to fall a number of levels, if not retire.
• The situation could create a bit of an interesting decision for the Sumo Association.  Hoshoryu is 10-4 and faces Takayasu in the final day.  A win gets him 30 for the last three tournaments.  The standard is usually 33, BUT the rule has been told to me repeatedly that there must be two Ozeki or Yokozuna.  The rule is usually stated two Ozeki, but Yokozuna basically become "Yokozuna-Ozeki" if necessary, as is now.
• Kiribayama is a first-season Sekiwake, so he needs at least through July, regardless of result.
• Daieisho will take Wakatakakage's place as a Sekiwake the next tournament.
• Four Komusubi entered this tournament:  Tobizaru will fall out due to a losing record, and both others, Wakamotoharu and Kotonowaka, are in the upper rank of Komusubi and have winning records by a margin.  Could be a logjam at Sekiwake when the next banzuke is announced.
• Especially because Shodai, with nine wins, is headed back to Komusubi.  Abi probably needs a win over Endo to join him.
• Tragic tournament for Ryuden at Maegashira 2.  With a chance to promote to the name ranks, he has fallen 1-13, a record which, though it won't demote him to Juryo, will get him close.
• As for Juryo:  Ichinojo will win the tournament, barring a massive upset, with only one loss.  Asanoyama has two, and will promote to Maegashira as well.  There appear to be only two Maegashira going down.

This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 2.02: Above The Law, Completely Above The Law

I honestly think I did less than this to get arrested, just saying...

HOLY SHIT, I knew trump was unhinged, but he posted a picture of him with a baseball bat next to the picture of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg????

This is straight up threat of violence.
Innocent, law-abiding folks don't do that.

ARREST HIM ALREADY. pic.twitter.com/UrOMmB7u16

— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) March 23, 2023

March 24, 2023 News and Notes

• The Staal brothers of the Florida Panthers are the latest to boycott warmups so they don't have to wear LGBTQ-positive warmups.
• The coach of the two-time defending Division II national football champions, Ferris State, has been suspended by the NCAA.
• For both championships (and against local ordinance, at least for the second), players lit up victory cigars.  Two did for the 2022-23 championship.
• For this, Tony Annese has been given a unique suspension.  The next time his team reaches the DII playoffs, he is banned for the first-round game.
• The school (which has lost only one game in two years) was also fined almost $18,000, including cleaning costs.
• The NFL is concerned an illegal entity is negotiating in the interests of Lamar Jackson.  Jackson has insisted otherwise, as have all other parties, but the NFL made sure to send a memo making sure teams negotiate with Jackson.  If they attempt to sign the franchise-tendered Raven, the Ravens have five days to match, or to get that team's next two first-round picks.
• There is a pastor in Missouri who claims a miracle that he has regrown, through the POWAH OF CHAY-SUS...  three toes in a woman in a one-hour prayer session.  Jesus wept.   

March 23, 2023 News and Notes

• Foster Moreau is very happy he was able, as a free agent, to be given thorough physicals:  He has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at age 25.  He's stepping away from football to deal with it.
• Japan defeated the USA 3-2 Tuesday night to win the World Baseball Classic.  The final out was Shohei Ohtani striking out Mike Trout.  Any questions left who the best player in the game is?   
• Eight celebrities have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for illegal promotion of cryptocurrency.  They are required to state who's paying them to do so, and they (allegedly) did not.
• They include Jake Paul, Lindsey Lohan, Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo, and Akon.
• The Chicago Blackhawks are citing Russian security concerns -- another NHL Pride Night (Saturday, other events are planned -- we'll see how many of THOSE get cancelled!!!) debacle.  Didn't we already have one of those with Chicago this season?  And when are you going to understand, Bettman, that this probably means your league is little more than an American KHL?   
• A situation in Dallas tonight that New York is going to have to solve.  With ten games to go in the NBA season, Dallas and Golden State are just about at .500 -- but a third-quarter timeout confusion had the Mavs guarding the wrong basket.  Golden State scored a basket in the confusion -- and they won by two points.  The pool report is a misunderstanding of the signals.  Mark Cuban is going to lose this one.  Reports have the last successful NBA protest lodged in 2008.
  
• At least two rare tornadoes made ground in Southern California on Wednesday.  One in Santa Barbara, the other near LA.
• There it is -- the final bigotry in track and field.  World Athletics has made male puberty the final word on the situation, banning all transgender athletes from women's track and field.  Watch standards PLUMMET, between this in most other countries and if they ever get the steroids under control in the United States.  People are going to get the same surprise they got in Rio 2016 with the women's 800 meters.   
• The Western Regional of the NCAA Final Four is being held in Las Vegas.  The Connecticut men's basketball team got unacceptable rooms at the Luxor, and had to change to another hotel.  Vomit, etc.  Really, Las Vegas and NCAA?  You couldn't see this coming and make damn double sure that this would not happen?   

This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 2.01: An Unscheduled Part As We Await New York And Beyond

(For the record, the grand jury in the Trump-Daniels situation did not meet on Wednesday, so push everything back at least one additional day.)

As I said before, I did not intend to do a "2.01", but, given the present circumstances in New York City and beyond, I felt the need to.

(And, also for the record, the fact that Trump would be indicted in New York, once this grand jury finishes, is mere coincidence to my posting this.  Though it would give me insight to see if they actually DO treat him like most other criminals.)

As everyone awaits the apparent criminal indictment of a former President of the United States of America, I sit here and think of everything going on and I basically came to the very quick conclusion that much of this also -- but for separate reasons -- falls under "This Blog Should Not Exist".

For those keeping score:  A grand jury in New York, one of several impaneled for various Trump criminal charges, is seeing if there is evidence to charge Trump with crimes associated with an apparent "hush money" payment to Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who told us all how little manhood The Orange Oompa-Loompa really has.

Admittedly, among the type of stuff he might well be charged with, it's about as minor as it might come, except for a couple of very interesting realities...

First, and probably central to "This Blog Should Not Exist"is the concept of not just there being the classic thought of "Two Sets Of Laws", but Trump's central campaign rhetoric in 2016:  That he's above the law, and so is anyone of enough "legitimate purpose" to society.

Now, I will be the first to admit that the law is no longer a function of what you do.  It's a function of who you are, and, often more importantly, who you are not.

That's one level of it.  When one states, as Trump did, that he can murder someone in broad daylight on 5th Avenue in New York City and get away with it, that's another.

When you state that, should you have the importance, you can grab any woman by the pussy and be applauded for it, that adds another level to it.

And when a bunch of men (and women who wish to be subjugated to all fours) vote for you to be President because of those two statements, that adds further.

If that's the case, then, where does that stop?

Clue:  It doesn't.  There are two very real reasons I use "The Purge Prayer", as I call it, on this blog:

1) The mere existence of certain demographics is seen as a stain on the mortal souls of those of the dominant demographic.

and 2) If he and his (and I think DeSantis would get us closer to this point -- because I think Pudding-To-Mouth Disease in Florida actually has the guts to at least start to pull it off!) get re-elected, I see that becoming a reality in this country, very quickly.

I could sit here and list any number of reasons that would end badly for me -- but let's remember that I spent almost a decade homeless in San Francisco.  That, especially given the "blue hive" mentality of how many Americans view the American cities, would be enough to see me gone.

But the other part of why I say this falls under a window of "This Blog Should Not Exist" is the explosion in talk of threats once Saint Donald of Jabba The Hutt is arrested.

I read one Tweet last Friday night propose that the war begins on Monday (this past Monday).  Protip, moron:  The Second American Civil War started with the George Floyd killing and riots three years ago!   

I read of one proposal of a 10,000-man human shield around Mar-A-Lago to protect him.

And two protests in New York might've drawn 20 people -- between them.

I have some statements and some questions for the White Right Men's Rights Movement in this country, known as the Oathkeepers/Proud Boys/Republican Voter Base/etc.:

1. You want to get crime in the cities under control?  The Second Amendment, as the courts have MISapplied it, gives you the framework.  Get your gun out of your anus, turn your camera off, put your clothes on, and get busy.
2. Do you honestly believe that you will get inflation or the money supply under control in this country (as the Conservative/Libertarian movements would desire it) without the immediate removal of half the American population...

Oh, that reminds me.  It's time to call Karl Denninger a hypocrite -- I believe again...

In comments to an article today on his The Market Ticker blog on the latest Federal Reserve day of meeting -- today -- on discussion of the raising of interest rates.

He responded, and threatened to ban, a disagreeing user on the interest/money supply policies needed to be done thusly:

"So the cry rooms and dead Americans it is for you [other user redacted]?  Care for a banhammer sandwich considering that a million people are dead as a direct result of that bullshit?"

First off, Karl:  It's not one million and you know it.  Think at least an order of magnitude higher -- and it's your own exposition of some of the cooking of the numbers which is PART of the reason I draw that conclusion.

(Another part is Long COVID:  A supposedly encouraging survey of five million in the hospital says Long COVID is down to about 1 in 16 Omicron cases.  But what if everyone in the country has had COVID, as many believe?  That's the better part of 22 million people!!)

Second, Karl:  Especially as a Libertarian who is into shunning people and the eradication of the medical industry, etc. -- isn't a mass-death to COVID event what you **WANT**?  (Especially to the believed demographics most susceptible to die to it, as you've said on your blog three years now!)  The problem you have is that you don't have control over the process, and you have no means to get that control, for you have the same cowardice the Proud Boys have!

Dovetailing back to that general list, here's some questions you should ask your remaining close Republican friends:

• If you are that certain that the 2020 election was stolen, why did you allow the Congress to seat?  Because the moment they named Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House, even a protracted dispute over the Presidency would not allow your man to remain in power past January 20th (of 2021) at noon.
• If you are that certain that the 2020 election was stolen, why did you allow the 2022 midterm election to take place?  
• Did you not realize that, on January 6th, 2021, you had significant inside help in the Capitol (Capitol Police, Secret Service, etc. -- portions of all sympathetic to Trump), and that all you really needed was the nutsack between your legs and open fire, and it's Game Over (in all conceivable matters) for the rest of us?  You'd literally have gotten to the "Biden can call a press conference, Trump can call in the 82nd Airborne" situation people have talked about in such a scenario.
• Or is it literally that you can't do anything without Trump's permission?
• Why are you not literally raising militias to seize the "blue hives"?  Why are you not seizing state governments like the West Coast states to reverse everything from city crime to homelessness to "Woke" wars, etc.?

I could go on, if people want, but start with those five (sets of) questions.  And then understand in how many different ways, non-personally, that would mean my end.

March 21, 2023 News and Notes

Non-Trump/Banking Edition...

• It is at least apparent the WWE is going to induct a Hollywood star to the Hall of Fame.  It's not Rock or Cena, though -- it's Andy Kaufman.  Somehow, I hope this means Jerry Lawler can make it to LA for the ceremonies.   
• Into the second week of the March Sumo tournament in Japan.
• In the top division:  Maegashira #5 Midorifuji is six away from a zensho at 9-0.  Komusubi Daiesho is 8-1.  Komusubi Kotonowaka, Maegashira #6 Endo, and Maegashira #7 Takayasu are 7-2.
• Shodai has dicked himself down to Maegashira #1 from Ozeki.  He's 6-3, so he might make it back into the name ranks at least.
• One real concern is the possibility that, should Terunofuji nor Takakeisho's knees come back from injury, they may be without any Yokozuna or Ozeki -- something which is not supposed to happen in practice.
• And it does not appear as if the March tournament is going to be any help:  You get to Ozeki through Sekiwake.  The best chance was Wakatakakage, but he's 4-5 and needs four out of six to retain the rank!  Hoshoryu and Kiribayama are both 6-3.  Hoshoryu loses his 11-win November tournament from the three-running-tournament total after this one.  Even a full 6-0 from here gets him to only 31 wins, two short of what many believe the cutoff is.  And Kiribayama, this is his first tournament at the rank, so he can't, by normal practice, sniff Ozeki until after July.
• And in Juryo:  Ichinojo (3), Asanoyama (1), and Ochaiai (14) are all 8-1.  Gonoyama (6) is 7-2.
• Willis Reed passed away at 80.
• The Los Angeles Unified School District is closed at least today, tomorrow, and Thursday -- massive teachers strike.
• Surprised it was only one race.  NASCAR has parked the XFinity car of Josh Williams.  After a wreck, Williams caused a caution by debris coming from his car, being expelled from the race.  So Williams promptly parked his car at the start-finish line and said "Screw you guys..."

March 20, 2023 News and Notes: SHTF Edition

This is going to be a separate log, as two sets of actual news hang over the country these next few days:  The banking situation and the probable arrest of a former President of the United States of America.

• First on the docket is the banking situation.  It started with four banks, all crypto or tech based, failing late last week in the highest-profile banking failures since the 2008 Lehman Brothers, etc. led situation.
• Then, large banks tried to prop up San Francisco regional bank on Friday, but many believe that's only a matter of time too.
• Nothing, however, could prepare for the news out of Switzerland:  Credit Suisse was bought out by UBS for $3 billion and a number of backstops from the Swiss government.  Whatever is going on, it is apparent that a bank run started something which has toppled more than one domino in the process.

But that might pale in comparison (and the personal and political ramifications of the second story will get it's own post "soon" -- give you a hint, an unplanned "This Blog Should Not Exist" Part 2.01 which has nothing to do with Parts 1 and 3) to the news out of New York.

• The grand jury proceedings into a hush-fund payment (two months before he won his term) to Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who showed us all how manly Trump really is, will almost-certainly result in indictments and the first arrest I know of (for a meaningful crime) of a former President of the United States of America.
• Rumors on Friday said Monday, Trump himself said Saturday it would be Tuesday, but, whatever (or if it) happens, it is clear that the violence-bleaters of the Proud Boys are planning something -- one group claiming they want 10,000 men at the Mar-A-Lago retreat to human-shield the orange cuck.
• The relevant grand jury is still hearing witnesses Monday.
• For what it's worth:  I do believe we are days (if a week or two) from "another January 6th".  Intelligent people are beginning to understand that there is a rising fear from the White Right that the country cannot survive the 22 months left in Biden's term -- many believing the bank situation not only evidence to same, but that a Trump arrest is distraction from it (madness talk from them, especially for anyone who's heard Keith Olbermann insist, since last August's launch of Countdown on iHeart Radio:  "Arrest him now, while you still can!").
• To which, Sunday night, Olbermann said to "Arrest him today, and then again tomorrow."   

So let's see what Monday holds:

• Looks like none of the bank bailouts or backstops appear to be holding very long.  The markets are just waiting, at this point, for the next shoe to drop.  The stock market tried to do otherwise, but a lot of people don't think that's going to take on the ground.
• Police in at least New York and LA are preparing for the protests which may be coming if the Orange Oompa-Loompa is arrested.
• In perhaps a foreboding that the grand jury is about to complete, word from at least three different NYPD sources that the entire force, over- and undercover, is to be in uniform 7 AM Eastern tomorrow morning.

March 20, 2023 News and Notes

• Fairleigh Dickinson gave it a run -- one-possession game within three minutes, before falling to Florida Atlantic by 7 Sunday night, in a game many felt one of the best of the tournament.
• Twelve players are tied for the lead in the ESPN Tournament Challenge -- all went 27-5 for the first round and 15-1 for the second.
• Two brackets are tied for first place in the Yahoo bracket challenge (the only of the four major games to give the top prize to it's winner).  One went 28-4 in the first round and 13-3 in the second, the other went 26-6 and 14-2.  One of nine brackets next in the scoring went 15-1 in the second round.
• Rule #1:  Do Not Get Sent Off.  Shad Khan's Fulham team was ousted from the FA Cup in a chaotic scene yesterday.  Up 1-0 with 20 minutes left against Manchester United, one player gets sent off after VAR awards a penalty.  A second Fulham player is directly sent off due to abuse of the referee, and the Reds get three in the last 20 minutes to win 3-1.
• Scenes in Miami.  Inside the stadium, outside the stadium, and, unassociated, in Miami Beach.
• For the first time in the six decades since Fidel Castro began power, a Cuban national baseball team played in Miami.  They were routed by the United States in the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.
• Outside the stadium, anti-Communist protestors protested for freedom for the island nation.
• And (later report Monday), as often happens (and why Castro never let the players play in the USA), one of the Cuban players has apparently defected.
• But in Miami Beach, it's Spring Break and the city has called for curfew.  At least two shootings have occurred, and the city is trying to crack down.
• As an adjunct to the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Las Vegas in July, the Eorzean Symphony scheduled two shows on the Sunday of that weekend.  All tickets sold out to the event within five minutes.
• This reminds me of a story while I was in San Francisco. The Game Developers Congress was in town, and a Final Fantasy symphony concert was part of the event (complete with Nobuo Uematsu), and, I believe day-of, I was able to get a ticket.  I snagged one of the symphony in the intermission and asked about a certain song (the one which any Final Fantasy fan HAS TO KNOW would be the encore) being the encore.  She could only tell me that "Something 'Angel'" was in the encore.
• Of course, the song I'm referring to is Sephiroth's anthem:  "One Winged Angel".  And this was before the VII Remake took that song, and most of the VII catalogue, to the next level.    

March 19, 2023 News and Notes

• James Reimer is the latest "religious objection" bigot against NHL Pride Nights.  Being of the San Jose Sharks, he might want to try to find a different team...  Like the Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Dallas Stars...
• Murderer Miller was a ballhog Saturday night.  He helped create history with his 5-17 shooting (though eight freethrows helped in getting him to 19 points) -- Alabama became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to win a game by over 20 points in which they shot under 40% from the field and 30% from three-point land.
• Princeton has become the fourth 15-seed to make the Sweet 16 -- and, in doing so, has ensured a 15 has won two games in each of the last three tournaments.

March 18, 2023 News and Notes

• The brutality of the sumo tournament system:  Six days ago, Ozeki Takakeisho was actually beginning a run which would have a very real chance, had he won this tournament, to become the next Yokozuna.
• He has torn his left meniscus, and, after a 3-3 start, withdrew before Day 7 starts today.
• Because that will make him kadoban (an injury absence counts, for promotion/relegation, as a loss in every match missed), he now will lose Ozeki status in May unless he can somehow recover from the knee injury by then and get a winning record.  He can regain Ozeki status, failing that, in July with a 10-5 record -- but that might mean, if Terunofuji does not come back, the Sumo Association may be in a shocking position (no Yokozuna, no Ozeki!!).
• Three top-division 6-0's entering today's Day Seven:  Komusubi Daieisho, and Maegashiras Takayasu and Midorifuji -- the latter two face off today.
• Asanoyama is 5-1 in Juryo (second division), he gets another 5-1 in Shonanoumi (Asa is rank 1, Shona is rank 3).  The one to beat Asanoyama, Ichinojo, leads at 6-0.  He has a 5-1 in Gonoyama. Hakuyozan and Ochiai are also 5-1.
• From the latest news:  It appears that Trump has been told he will be arrested Tuesday -- and word is already brewing it could be well ON at that point.  Stay tuned.

NCAA Bracket Game First Round Post-Mortem

Well, the Perfect Bracket Watch is over.  Fairleigh Dickinson University took care of the rest of that.

So let's see at least ESPN and Yahoo to see where the leaders are after two days and half the games:

Three brackets on Yahoo went 30-2 -- the problem is, one of them picked Purdue to win it all!  Marcus and Andy are 30-2 and still have a live champion.  At least 47 29-3's, but at least 10 have busted their champions (Purdue or Arizona).

ESPN:  Last year had no 31-1's.  This year has 2.  "Weezy" and an anonymous ESPN Number bracket both missed one game -- Weezy missed Purdue, had Purdue losing to Tennessee in the Sweet 16.  The anonymous ESPN number actually GOT Fairleigh Dickinson, but Arizona busted -- and that was a Final Four pick.

Last year had 15 30-2's to tie for the lead.  This year?  89 which have burned their champion -- more who did with Purdue or Arizona.

Uh-oh...

At least five different sources are indicating the long-awaited Trump indictments (New York version) may be coming next week.

This, the same day Vladimir Putin was officially indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in the Ukraine.

2023 NCAA Day Two Oddities

Here's the live one from Xavier-Kennesaw State.

Tell me how Gene Steratore could say -- other than a fixed game to protect Xavier -- that the Kennesaw State player didn't have the ball before his arm was hit, causing the turnover...

HUGE BLOCK FOR XAVIER 😱#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/NMiIZitmlg

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 17, 2023

(PS:  The block was good, no goal-tending.)

---------------------

Wasn't the only headscratcher Gene Steratore got people angry about.

He actually would've T'd up USC's Kobe Johnson for flopping on this, what turned out to be Michigan State player Kobe Johnson's third foul -- and, given it was in the neck, I'm surprised more wasn't called here!!

Flop of the year? Lol#NCAAbasketball #marchmadness2023 #USC #MSU pic.twitter.com/MPzWO0rS2Z

— Pete Havel (@petehavel) March 17, 2023

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It's (purportedly) a groin injury for Murderer Miller.  Taking it slow, will play tomorrow.

---------------------

Remember, this is a Farleigh Dickinson team which was only in the tournament because conference-champion Merrimack was ineligible, because Merrimack was in the fourth year of their Division I transfer.  Merrimack won the Northeast Conference tournament final by one point over Fairleigh Dickinson.

As a result, Merrimack had their season ended with that tournament victory.  No NIT or CBI.

---------------------

Last one is Florida Atlantic's 9 seed win over Memphis to face Fairleigh Dickinson.

What do you think?  Did Memphis get the time out before getting tied up (losing the possession arrow, Fla. Atlantic got a driving basket for the game-winner after)?

WHAT A WILD SEQUENCE 🤯#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/3o5jHgFqtN

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023

NCAA PERFECT BRACKET WATCH: Part Three: Day Two (FINISHED)

And now we get to the brass tacks of it.  Can this be only about the fourth year that someone -- ANYONE -- survives Day Two and gets a perfect first round?  We start with just over 750.

• Game 17 11:30 AM PDT:  A 7/10 coin-toss gets us down to 388 ESPN brackets.  And #3 Xavier is in some trouble, heading to the final TV timeout!  About 20% of the remaining brackets went with #14 Kennesaw State.
• Yahoo is down to ten.  The ten brackets have eight different national champions.  Only Michigan State and Alabama have two votes each.
• A Blogspot "Project Perfect Bracket" couldn't survive Day One.  After a zillion predictive algorithms, they got Princeton, but thought Oral Roberts would beat Duke yesterday.  (And other misses as well, that was just the first easily identifiable one.)
• Game 18 Noon PDT:  And Gene Steratore's trying to cover up for some refball that just saved Xavier.  Down one inside ten seconds, and that definitely looked like a hack to cause the Kennesaw player to lose possession of an offensive rebound.
• 315 ESPN brackets can thank that referee.
• Game 21 2:15 PDT:  Three more games.  Yahoo is now down to just four perfect brackets.  People representing themselves as named Andrew, Jessica, Fred, and Pete are the last four to survive 21 games.
• In Game 22, Iowa State-Pittsburgh, Andrew and Pete have Iowa State.  They are 10 behind at the second TV timeout of the second half of Pittsburgh, Jessica, and Fred.  However that game ends, though, there will be only two Yahoo brackets perfect after that.
• ESPN has 157 left at this point.  95 picked Iowa State, 62 Pittsburgh.
• As of Game 20, NCAA.com reports 205 perfect brackets.  At least 24 of them fell in Game 21, the difference in the ESPN number.
• 2:37 PM PDT:  Games 22 and 23 will end about the same time.  Pittsburgh up 14 on Iowa State 6 minutes to go.  Creighton six up on NC State about the same time to go.  If both of those results hold, we have our official final Yahoo survivor in 23 games.  Jessica picked NC State, Fred picked Creighton. 
• They also split on the 4/13 Game 24 - 4 seed Connecticut with Fred, 13 seed Iona with Jessica -- And Iona is up 2 at the half.
• With Andrew and Pete joining Jessica in picking Iowa State, it appears the final Yahoo perfect will be "Fred's Quality Bracket" at Game 23 (It looks like Creighton's game will finish first, even with the blowout in the other game).  And now the run is his alone:  He needs Connecticut to finish the second section.
• Creighton's win would leave 91 perfect ESPN brackets, but it's about half and half in the other game.
• 2:58 PM PDT Game 22 (PITT-IAST):  Nope, I had it right before.  Pitt won first.  That will leave 62 perfect ESPN brackets.  If evenly distributed, that number will probably be about 40 after Creighton-NC State.
• 3 PM PDT Game 23:  It's now official.  Fred is the last Yahoo survivor with the Creighton win.  Checking on the ESPN number before I head on an errand.
• 3:40 PM PDT:  As Game 24 wraps up, the NCAA is noting the total number between the four major online games is now at 30 (as of the end of Game 23).  24 (soon to be 22 -- Iona fell apart in the second half) on ESPN, 3 on the NCAA's game, 2 on CBS, and Fred on Yahoo (who we already know will join the other 22 to go on to Session Four).
• Fred's evening slate, in order of tipoff:  Purdue, Kentucky, Drake (a 12/5 upset), Gonzaga, Memphis in the 8/9, Kansas State, Indiana and TCU.
• 4:45 PM PDT:  As Session Four kicks off, we have our first (probable -- NCAA.com is not updating who is perfect in their game or the CBS game, and you have to log in to see all that!) complete wipeout scenario.  If Fairleigh Dickinson becomes the second 16 to off a #1 (Purdue), that fells all 22 remaining ESPN brackets and Fred.
• And Fairleigh Dickinson leads by a point at halftime!!!  My rule is, call me at the 8-minute timeout of the second half!   
• If Purdue wins, then the Kentucky/Providence game (Game 26) will get us down to either 8 or 14 teams.  Only three of the 22 remaining brackets joined Fred in picking Drake to beat Miami.
• 5:15 PM PDT:  THE DISRESPECT!  A caption of the impending 1/16 upset spells the 16 seed "Fairley Dickinson" on ESPN!
• 5:30 PM PDT:  We've made it to the 8-minute timeout.  Fairleigh Dickinson has not only been spelled correctly on the ESPN caption now, it has sustained a Purdue run and is up two at the timeout.
• 5:42 PM PDT:  Here we go!!! 4 minute timeout and Fairleigh Dickinson is up a point!  Could a second team into history provide the complete wipeout in Game 25 this year???
• 5:55 PM PDT:  Up three inside a minute, and they have the ball!!!!!
• 6:05:  Last chance for Purdue, down three with the shot clock out!
• 6:07 PM PDT:  BOOM!!! HISTORY AND WIPEOUT!!!  Fairleigh Dickinson University becomes the second #16 seed in history to defeat a #1 seed with a 63-58 win over Purdue!
• That wipes out all the remaining ESPN and Yahoo brackets at Game 25 in a 23-way tie.  Now we see if any other remaining perfect brackets somehow got this one!
• 6:20 PM PDT:  After Game 23, there were 2 CBS and 3 NCAA.com perfect brackets.  Checking with the NCAA.com blog to see if they are posting the post-mortem as we speak -- and probably replacing the Princeton game-end video with the Fairleigh Dickinson one!
• 6:23 PM PDT:  THE END FOR 2023!  It's official -- NCAA.com has posted the post-mortem, and Gregg Nigl's place in the Hall of Fame remains secure.  (They actually, in a link calling back to his 49-win streak in 2019, have a mock-up of Nigl as if he were in Cooperstown!)  Three other brackets remained, all busted with the 16 win.

The pursuit of perfection ends, failed, on Game 25, a 26-way tie.

March 17, 2023 News and Notes

• In today's "Fuck Florida" Department:  A 19-year-old idiot lay in wait behind a pole and, seeing a 59-year-old man coming out of a Fort Lauderdale hotel, charged him at full speed yesterday, knocking him down and causing head injuries.  
• What makes this newsworthy:  The 59-year-old is Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen.  The band did a double-headliner on Sunday with Motley Crue.
• Seven counts against a person (he attacked a second person as well), and who knows how many more counts after the damage he waylaid on a parking garage where he was eventually arrested.
• With all that, the shithead made bail on Tuesday.
• One long national nightmare is over:  Michael Jordan is in negotiations to sell his stake in the Charlotte Hornets.
• New Mexico State is rewriting the book on athletics to try to save the program.  New curfews and other rules are being written across the board.
• It already looks like the next NBA game Lonzo Ball may play might be in the 2024-25 season.  Two knee surgeries have apparently failed.
• Keith Olbermann is getting eviscerated in some circles for calling for the abolishment of the World Baseball Classic after the Edwin Diaz and Freddie Freeman injuries -- saying the whole point is gone when players can play for where their grandparents had sex.  OK, Keith...  THAT is a little bit far.   

NCAA PERFECT BRACKET WATCH: Part Two: End of Day One

The first day ended, and over 20 million brackets howled into the night.

The first two games, a coin-toss 8/9 and the tournament's first real upset (Furman at 13 beating Virginia at 4), felled almost 90% of all the brackets in the four major games the NCAA tracks.

It does look like the end of Day One got far quieter after Princeton took down Arizona, however.  Northern Kentucky at least gave a 16/1 a look with Houston before falling...

ESPN's first Perfect Bracket Tracker notes that, out of over 20,000,000 brackets cast, only six hundred fifty-eight (658) survived the first day.

The good news for players, though, is that number is four times the number of last year:

• 2022:  #2 Kentucky led a parade of upsets, only 161 ESPN survivors -- and, in all four games the NCAA blog tracks (NCAA, CBS, ESPN, SI), 192 total.
• 2021:  121 survived the first day in the four pools.  Ohio State, Tennessee, and Purdue were 5-liners or above that didn't help the pursuit.  The NCAA blog didn't split through the games.
• 2019:  On a day more like this year than the last two, over 42,000 ESPN brackets actually made it through Day One.  And, as we well know, that was the year of Center Road making it all the way through the first weekend.  15, among all games tracked, survived into the second round.
• 2018:  Information gets sketchier on the minute-to-minute level -- though it is to note that Warren Buffet offered $1,000,000 a year for life for a perfect bracket to the Sweet 16 -- one year BEFORE Nigl actually pulled off the feat!!!

As for 2023, according to NCAA.com:

• 658 ESPN
• 62 NCAA
• 44 CBS
• 23 Yahoo!
• 776 total.

And now the fun begins -- first on a pool-by-pool basis -- to find the last one standing.  And then, of course, the last one standing in all the pools.  Can they make it to Day Three??

2023 NCAA Day One Oddities

This first one will take the headlines:  

Murderer Brandon Miller, in the Alabama first-round win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi:

5 rebounds, 3 assists...  NO POINTS.

Miller played only 18 minutes in the contest -- to be fair, none of the starters played more than 20.

Only people who probably cared should be the ones either on Alabama covering the spread (they did not) or Daily Fantasy...

Still...

----------------------

Not as flagrant as some of the ones I've seen in sports, but this definitely raises an eyebrow or two:

You're Virginia, up two against Furman, and you have a timeout.

So why does Kihei Clark chuck it to a place where only a Furman player gets it?

That's definitely AT LEAST borderline on the "threw the game" scale...

----------------------

And we have a ref controversy:

Maryland-West Virginia, 47.1 left, Maryland up four.  And this happens:

Maryland-West Virginia refs after reviewing for a half hour:

🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/B5SbU6qakz

— Almost Content (@Absolute_Toast) March 16, 2023

Fortunately, in this case, the controversy had no effect.  The problem is the Maryland player got clobbered and it was no-called.  Maryland did still win, however.

NCAA PERFECT BRACKET WATCH Part One: Day One

• And, as usual, it didn't take long:  13-seed Furman ousts 4-seed Virginia 68-67 in Game 2.  For reference, that fells about 82% of all the ESPN brackets (though the fun doesn't really begin until the number isn't in the hundreds of thousands, but the hundreds).  
• To give reference, the Maryland-West Virginia game (Game 1, an 8-9 game, won by Maryland by 2 points) was picked, on ESPN, by about 49% of the brackets.  So, yes, only about (if averaged out) 1 bracket in 12 is still perfect.  But, even on the ESPN game, that's seven figures of brackets.  (Hence, they haven't started ESPN's Perfect Bracket Tracker yet.)
• NCAA.com's Perfect Bracket Tracker notes that the average is a little better than that.  Slightly more than one bracket in ten snagged the 8-9 coin-flip and the tournament's first upset (10.67%).
• I went from my research on the previous years, but the NCAA's research has an interesting quirk:  Three of the last four tournaments (Mr. Nigl's Center Road being the exception) have had the perfect runs end in exactly the 29th game of the tournament (which would be the fifth finished game of the evening run of Day Two).  
• 2015, which I skipped, had an ESPN bracket go 34, which ESPN noted was the first time in the 18 years the game had been going that someone made the Second Round.
• And the 36 in 2014 was reported by Yahoo as the best anybody got there -- to give you an idea of how much an achievement even 32 for 32 in the First Round is.  By my math, I think the number of tracked brackets in all four games to make Second Round is about three dozen, and most of those in the same year.
• 1:15 PDT:  Now ESPN is up to speed.  About half the remaining brackets fell in Game 3, a 7-10 win for Missouri.  And then in a quirk which does happen here, about 10% of the brackets who survived that fell when they actually picked against #1 Kansas.  As of the end of Game 4, three-quarters of a million perfect brackets (out of just over 20 million cast) survived, about 3.8%.
• 3 PDT:  Six are in the books, and we're under a half million now on ESPN.  The number on the NCAA.com situation is 2.21%, which combines Yahoo, ESPN, CBS, and the NCAA's own game.  Even with the ESPN number alone, though, that's 450,000 or so brackets left.  Fun still really hasn't begun just yet.
• End of first session:  DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IVY LEAGUE!!  15-seed Princeton got 2-seed Arizona!  
• And, as such, ESPN is now down to just 18,078 (and that's just for the first eight games).
• NCAA.com reports the percentage is now well under 1%.  The NCAA's own game reports about 1/8 of 1% left.  Yahoo is down to half that, only 0.06%!  CBS is "processing standings".
• 6:15 PDT:  A lot of fans picked Oral Roberts, and a lot of fans ate it.  ESPN now down to just 6,124 left after Game 10.  The NCAA game is down under 1 bracket in 5000 still perfect.
• 6:50 PDT:  12 in the books now.  ESPN down to just 2,598.  About 10% of that number actually picked #16 seed Northern Kentucky to beat national #2 Houston.  ESPN reports a definite down to, at maximum, just under 1500 with the last four games of the day starting.
• 9 PDT, Midnight Friday morning Eastern:  As of right now, it appears as if the final Day One ESPN number will be somewhere between six and seven hundred.  Game 14 has us down to 1,810, and that is fairly evenly split in the 7-10 between Texas and Penn State.

NCAA PERFECT BRACKET WATCH: Part Zero: The Ball Is Tipped...

But what I WILL DO this year is something which I actually enjoy.

There are, to me, two main joys of March Madness:  The madness of the First Round (and, sometimes, the Second -- and rarely, the additional rounds (Butler, Florida-Gulf Coast, etc.)), and the bracket pools.

Since I no longer run or participate in bracket pools (I wonder if ol' Plum City HS is still doing the bracket pools that good ol' Mr. Larson, the boys' coach, would do (I don't even know if Forrest Larson is still ALIVE!) -- entrusting his trusty statistician (me) with the numbers.), what I do now instead of playing is follow the bracket pools.

The NCAA has bowed to the realities of their tournament and not only runs a pool themselves but keeps a blog together of a Perfect Bracket Watch.  It tracks all of the brackets in four major online bracket games:  ESPN, Yahoo!, CBS Sports, and the NCAA's own game -- in the pursuit of the elusive Perfect Bracket...

Or, every year til now, the last to fall...

Prizes this year for the full tournament games:

ESPN:  One bracket which selects the national champion wins $50,000 (random drawing of all who select the champ).  25 players who play the full allotment of 25 full brackets will random draw for $1,000 each, regardless of result (The Mike Golic Prize).  Though ESPN will track perfect brackets, I believe for the first time -- the NCAA website keeps track of that as well as three other games, there is no prize for perfection.  Women's tournament has the same, and equal, prize structure.

Yahoo:  $25,000 for the best bracket score, each tournament gives one.  The only one of the four main online games to actually restrict it's prize to the top finisher in the pool.

NCAA:  Most-expenses paid (set amount for airfare, etc.) trip to the 2024 Final Four of the gender in which the player got into the top 1% of all scores in the NCAA game for the 2023 tournament, and then won a random drawing between all others who did the same in that tournament.

CBS:  Same base grand prize as the NCAA, a bit more expenses for airfare, hotel, etc.  You only have to get in the top 10% of all CBS Sports brackets to get in that drawing.  Anyone who enters both the Men's and Women's contests is put in a random drawing for a 2023 Nissan ARIYA and $500 of snacks.  The Nissan is worth over $60,000, the largest prize of the four main online pools the NCAA tracks.

Last to fall, per the NCAA's own research, which goes back to at least 2014:

• 2022:  Bekins24 of the ESPN game is the last to fall (Game 27) -- best of the ESPN first round only could go 30-2, 15 such brackets.
• 2021:  Katie C. Crouse was the only ESPN 31-1 in the first round.  Yahoo could get no better than 29-3.  The last perfect made it to Game 30.
• 2019:  The year of Center Road -- the all-time verified record-holder.  (There is a disputed report of an early ESPN-game bracket which did run the table, but that was probably with being able to pick round to round.)  Neurophysicist Gregg Nigl of Ohio actually made it to the second weekend -- and was sent by the NCAA and Buick to the Anaheim Regional (favorite team was Michigan, who played in that region) as a result.  It finally fell in Game 50.  Tennessee needed a double-digit rally to force overtime to overturn the perfect bracket.
• No brackets survived the first round in 2016 or 2018.  Meaning that only twice since 2016 (2017 and 2019) has a bracket survived the First Round perfect.
• The all-time record before Nigl went down on Game 40 (the last game of Day Three) in 2017.  The record before that was 36 (halfway through Day Three) in 2014.

And I set this to post at 8:30 AM Pacific Daylight Time on Thursday.  Within an hour of that posting, the pursuit begins anew.  How far will someone get?

I'll put the Over/Under at about last year's Game 27, because this has been a quite open season.

March 16, 2023 News and Notes

• I'm not doing brackets this year.  Not protest of anything (Alabama plays about noon today PDT) -- I had already basically decided I wouldn't, owing to what would otherwise be a wide-open tournament, more so than usual.
• With about 12 hours to tipoff, ESPN reports Alabama has about 1 in 5 brackets with them as the champions.  Houston is next, about 1 in 6.
• The Grand Canyon team had a mishap -- their travel supplies never made it to Denver.  They may end up playing in road Baylor uniforms.
• FOX Sports stepping in it again -- pre-empted the final inning of the Puerto Rico-Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic game for the United States-Colombia game.
• And the nickname works:  The winning celebration for Puerto Rico's elimination of a highly touted Dominican Republican team has claimed an injury for Edwin...  excuse me...  Edlose Diaz!
• Quinten Dormady has been reinstated to play in the XFL, an outside law firm finding no cause of impropriety.  But it does appear that The Rock and others want to take it more seriously than the NFL would -- as I said above, the XFL hired an outside law firm to investigate the claims Dormady gave pages from the playbook to another team.
• Two of the big stories of the March sumo tournament are going by the boards quickly:  Takakeisho's Yokozuna attempt is nearly failed already after splitting his first four matches (must win the tournament to get a vote for "the rope"), and Asanoyama has already lost to former Sekiwake Ichinojo, one of the demoted-to-Juryo wrestlers from January.
• Four wrestlers in the top division are perfect entering today's day 5, the one-third point of the tournament.

Are we actually going to clean up NASCAR yet?

This was at least some of the penalties for the last race, to give you an indication:

Hendrick Motorsports got caught modifying a roof part which is standard-supplied and not to be modified.  As a result:

• The 5 (Kyle Larson), the 9 (Chase Elliott, driven by Josh Berry), the 24 (William Byron), and the 48 (Alex Bowman) were all four Hendrick cars.
• A fifth car, the 31 (Justin Haley), was also involved.
• 100 driver's points
• 100 owner's points
• 10 playoff points
• $100,000 fines and four-race suspensions for all the crew chiefs...

AT WHAT POINT DO WE JUST THROW TEAMS OFF THE GODDAMN TRACK???

Oh, and that's not the only penalty:

• An aggressive-driving penalty was incurred by Denny Hamlin for intentionally wrecking another car -- $50,000 fine, 25 points.
• Two crew members of the 10 (Aric Almarola) were banned two races for failing to properly secure a tire.

March 15, 2023 News and Notes

• "Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmmm....":  Remember Jakobi Meyers, the guy who deliberately threw a win to the Las Vegas Raiders?  He is now...  a Las Vegas Raider!!!
• "Talk Shit, Get Hit":  A Vermont Christian high school who forfeited a girls' basketball tournament game, rather than face a team with a transgender player has been found in violation of Vermont State law by the Vermont Principals' Association (that state's sanctioning body for high-school sports) and EXPELLED THEREFROM!!  Their remaining dues were refunded and no student from that school can now play high school sports in the state of Vermont!
• Dick Vitale has picked Murderer Miller and the Crimson Tide to win the NCAA men's tournament.
• Speaking of:  There is now an armed guard posted on Miller.  Threats have been posted against him.  If the NCAA or the authorities won't do anything...
• There it is:  Aaron Rodgers has officially stated he wants to be traded to the Jets.
• Ja Morant has checked into a Florida counseling center, after meetings with Adam Silver.  Sounding more and more like the suspension will be the remainder of the season and playoffs, at minimum.
• And I'm wrong before I type it:  NBA insider Adrian Wojarowski says the suspension is eight games, with credit for time served.
• Ezekiel Elliot has been released by the Dallas Cowboys.
• The long-awaited Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Diamond Sports, of the Bally Sports Networks, has been filed.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Far more important than just sports...

Tucker Carlson @TuckerCarlson you’ve been #hacked 😛😛😛 pic.twitter.com/uFtZZ05vOC

— Anonymous Operations (@AnonOpsSE) March 14, 2023

I would just like to point out, as you begin to fill out your brackets...

... that the NCAA #1 team in the country has a star player who, by Alabama statute, should be facing the death penalty.

Not the NCAA death penalty -- the ACTUAL Death Penalty.

By the testimony given by the police investigators, Brandon Miller brought the gun.

By the Alabama state statutes (Section 13A-6-2):

"(a) A person commits the crime of murder if he or she does any of the following:

[...]

(2) Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, he or she recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person other than himself or herself, and thereby causes the death of another person."

Brandon Miller should be facing a capital murder charge, just as his two friends are.  And he's now the leading player on the #1 seed in the tournament.

Great, just great....

March 12, 2023 News and Notes

• And this college baseball series in New Orleans keeps on giving.  A day after an umpire was suspended for the ultimate Fuck You Strike Three in a New Orleans win on Friday, they beat Mississippi Valley State 35-3 (in baseball!!) with a 16-run third inning leading to the mercy rule.
• Several Alabama fans had their shirts banned from the SEC Conference tournament -- "Killin' Our Way Through The SEC in '23"...  Really...   
• Alabama, for now, is the 2023 SEC Champion.  19-point win over Texas A&M seals it and their place on the 1-line when the brackets are announced later today.  Piece Of Shit:  23 points, 12 rebounds.
• Casemiro has been sent off for the second time in a month, this one a studs-up challenge after a VAR ruling which left the Manchester United coach fuming.  This one will be at least four matches.
• The March tournament in sumo has begun, and the Yokozuna chances for last tournament's champion, Ozeki Takakeisho, took a fairly major hit Day One:  Komusubi Tobizaru got him.
• Formerly suspended Ozeki Asanoyama was left in the second division (even after his 14-1 in Juryo (second division) the previous tournament.  He won his first match -- as the highest-ranking Juryo and an odd number of wrestlers in the top flight, Asanoyama may occasionally be asked to face lower-end Maegashira.
• The travails of former Ozeki Shodai, who barfed and screwed around with being Ozeki for a year and a half or so, have him falling all the way out of the name ranks to Maegashira #1.  He won his first match. 

Three years, and we've lost...

Three years ago Saturday night, it was a Wednesday, and the real beginnings of it popped off in reports that a disruption to the game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz was surfacing in the hours after the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Then, Rudy Gobert of the Jazz (who, days before, mocked the entire process by "infecting" all of the microphones at a press conference earlier in the week -- which probably meant he actually HAD infected the entire Jazz press corps) tested positive for the coronavirus (to the extent they could've done then), and the following ensued:

Within 33 minutes, the NBA had called off the remainder of the regular season.  A form of the rest of the regular season and playoffs was eventually constructed in a Florida bubble environment.

Within 36 hours, for the first time, the meaningful nation had come to a screeching halt.  I want to say the next real sporting event in the country was at least 60 days away, and some schools waited almost two years to fully reopen...

... and it's clear they shouldn't have reopened -- and we have the false supposition of "freedom" to thank for that.

Keith Olbermann, intelligently, said that the most powerful entity in the world as of March 11, 2020 was not a person, but a small virus.  That's still true today.  Probably ten million US deaths later (yes, I think the number is being that badly underreported, and intentionally so!), it is clear that the intent of the American Right -- the Right To Infect -- has won the day.

Worse, it appears an effort to discredit the entire American medical industry, as well as make this country absolutely ungovernable going forward, is rising as many of it's supporters believe the South will, again...

In fact, we have about 40% of the country who actually believes that the United States intentionally and deliberately created a vaccine (in the name of trying to get a feasible restart) with a mechanism to create mass blood clots in most of the American population.

Do these stupid fucking idiots have one clue of what would actually be in play if that were the case?

I mean, SERIOUSLY...  If the United States government had any degree of intent to pull that off, do you not believe it would be far more selective in who it killed, etc. and so forth?

No, people...  I think it's clear what this is, and it's what the White Right has wanted since Day Damned One three years ago...  You see, especially the Libertarians -- but the rest of the "Freedom Loving" White Right as well -- want a mechanism to kill the old, the fat, the Left, the useless, the homeless, the illegal immigrants, the LGBT's, etc.

And the COVID-19 virus gave them that opportunity.  It was pretty much known, also, that Day Damned One that the virus coupled with comorbidities...

So you'd think the Right would actually love the ability to kill many groups it didn't like -- but that wasn't enough.

They actually, in the process of doing so, slaughtered any real hope of actually defeating the virus -- and this is why you are seeing quad-vaccinated people getting the virus.

And then there's the other real angle I explored with all this: What I called the All-Stop Condition.

I named three -- and I will leave it as an exercise to the reader how close we have gotten:

• Power grid/Internet go down large-scale
• Food supply chain breaks
• We just lose order

I think, of the three, we are closest to #3.  The only question left is how and why.

We may have to add a fourth:  Price-gouging or inflation, and the belief there is too much money in the system.  These Conservative pigs are going to have to understand that the only way to reduce the money supply is to do the same to the population -- or is that the point?

(Other) March 11, 2023 News and Notes

• Bud Grant passed away today -- long-time coach of the Minnesota Vikings.  My anonymous friend also notes that there is now only one remaining living member of the 1949-50 NBA Minneapolis Lakers, of which Grant was a member (Bob Harrison).
• As of the beginning of the World Baseball Classic, games are 15% shorter in Spring Training (2:37 vs. 3:06) because of the pitch clock...
• Latest hazing scandal:  Harvard women's hockey -- includes decades of homophobic slurs and forcing the women to skate in the nude.
• #4 Alabama in the SEC final.  11 point win over Missouri today (Miller had 20 points and 12 rebounds), large win over Mississippi State yesterday (Miller with 18-9-5.)  PLEASE tell me again why he's not facing the death penalty (or at least a charge of capital murder, like the man he went and got the gun for!!!).   

March 10, 2023 News and Notes

• Darius Miles and a friend were charged with capital murder over the Tuscaloosa, AL murder which appears to also implicate Crimson Tide star Brandon Miller, though he has not been charged.  There's now a very real chance that Miller is now only not facing the death penalty because of his college basketball stardom.   
• And here's Ja Morant Incident Number SIX:  Morant and his posse showed up to a girls' volleyball game last Fall to fight after someone called his sister a bitch.  There is some rumor an assault of a minor was taking place, an assault of someone taking video of the event, and/or the production of a gun.
• Otis Taylor has passed at 80.
• Chael Sonnen better have a good lawyer.  The former UFC fighter not only has accused LeBron James of using PEDs, he's also stated that he has as well -- and the two have the same dealer!  Lawsuit incoming in 3...  2...  1.......   
  
• And the Rich Eisen Show...  Tom Brady is reported he MAY unretire...  Word is Miami.
• And I can't slam an ex-friend Bears fan anymore.  Appears the Bears are trading the #1 draft pick to Carolina.
• Looks like Jerry Lawler kicked out at 2 again.  Reported to be back at home after his latest health scare.

March 9, 2023 News and Notes

• A historic day in Los Angeles yesterday, when what was rumored for a long time is finally coming to pass.  For the first time in 52 seasons, The Price Is Right will no longer tape at The Bob Barker Studio and CBS Television City at 7800 Beverly Boulevard.
• CBS and Fremantle announced yesterday that, due to new ownership and renovation of the Television City property, The Price Is Right will be moving taping next year to Haven Studios in Glendale.
• Mark Adams has, as any reasonable person should've guessed after news of his suspension after inappropriate comments to a player, been fired (I refuse to believe he "stepped down" -- he was fucking fired, the fact they didn't just get in his face and fire him could cost the university several million dollars it should not have to pay!) as the men's basketball coach at Texas Tech.  Tech was already eliminated from it's conference tournament in the first round, and went 16-16 this season.
• The WWE is actually considering bringing legalized sports betting on it's scripted matches to the United States.  Offshore sportsbooks and their odds give wrestling fans a good idea of who is going to be booked to win the matches.  You know, if Vince were smart, he could talk about Mayer vs. Belichick, Patriots, and NFL and see where THAT goes...   
• Shawn Kemp may be headed to prison on a drive-by shooting.  Altercation in Tacoma on Wednesday, and it is alleged and him booked on belief he tried to settle it with a gun.
• Brandon Miller spoke publicly for the first time regarding the murder he is believed to have been an accomplice to.  Stupid on so many damn levels.   
• XFL Version 3 is only averaging about 500,000 viewers a game -- and that's 13% down from Week 2.  Questions may have to start being asked as to whether the league goes the way of the Alliance of American Football, in that it does not survive one season.   

Two stories with a number of loose connections, and both involve bigotry...

I can't believe I have to agree with that sanctimonious Queen Q hag, Marjorie Taylor Greene.

A national divorce is the only way we're getting out of all this "alive"...

This whole thing about the LGBTQ community, and the supposed "Save Women's Sports" bullshit is gonna get people killed otherwise.  In fact, last weekend, a CPAC jackass openly told the annual conference that transgenderism needs to be eradicated absolutely -- meaning they die, their allies die, the entire medical infrastructure (physical and mental) dies, shall we go on?

But it is clear that, if there were any real remaining support in at least circles of this country for the LGBTQ community, it's evaporating very quickly.

Two stories out of Minnesota over the last week have shone the spotlight on a lot of this garbage...

The first is the continuing disintegration of relations between the LGBTQ community and the National Hockey League, with the Minnesota Wild becoming the fourth team in the NHL (Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Rangers) to have to scale back or cancel their Pride Night festivities, centered around the team wearing LGBTQ-friendly warmups for eventual auction to LGBTQ charities in the areas.

And Keith Olbermann on today's iHeart Radio Countdown podcast may finally have caught them out as to why.

It now appears that, since the game's most sacred record (the career scoring record) is about to fall to an avowed pro-Putin terrorist in Alexandr Ovechkin, the Russians are gaining a material political foothold in the National Hockey League.

Russians on at least three of the four teams listed, including the Wild, refused to take part in the Pride Night festivities, either forcing their teams to excuse them from the warm-up periods or scrap the events entirely.

It's clear that the league has a significant political Russian element to it -- and that's not saying specifically that it has to do with the Libertarian and Republican terrorism in this country...

That's in sharp contrast to Sage Steele and ESPN, who may have taken another few scraps of mask off the Worldwide Leader in condemning a Minnesota Supreme Court decision last week.

The Minnesota Supreme Court correctly (and this is shocking, because this whole anti-trans sports situation basically began with a Minnesota full-page ad demanding the MSHSL ban transgenders from women's sports, saying the only alternative would be to get rid of women's sports due to the "unfairness") ruled JayCee Cooper, a transgender MTF athlete, must be allowed by USA Powerlifting under the Minnesota Human Rights Act to compete in the women's division.

The situation has gotten so pronounced that the MSN article from the National Review (with a conservatively-loaded headline, by the by...) now cites almost 200 different races and organizations who have, effectively, created a "third division" -- either based on non-binary status, transgender, some combination of those athletes, or a truly "open division".

Steele blasted the decision on all the conservative talking points.

Look, BITCH...

The only damn reason you are on ESPN at all (commentator or if you were a female athlete (cisgender or otherwise)) is because the law mandates women's sports at public institutions which have men's sports.

It's called Title IX -- and if what I think is about to happen in this country happens, it's about 24 months from extinction.

Once that happens, women's sports is DONE in this country.  And I'll give you three reasons immediately:

1) I defy you to find a female athlete of prominence who does not fall into one or more of these categories:

• Sex object -- be it from their looks, the sport they are in, their outfit to compete in said sport, or some combination
• "Horse-faced Lesbian", as many bigots and misogynists view the WNBA and LPGA (so much so, the LPGA no longer exists as a purely American tour -- that now is a worldwide women's golf tour)
• a high-testosterone cis-female (example:  The Williams sisters -- and you remember they were called men by no less than the head of the Russian Tennis Federation at the time, for which he was expelled from the WTA)
• or a transgender athlete?

Remember (and, for the purposes of convention, I will throw Differences in Sexual Development (DSD) into the third quadrant of this -- though many bigots want to throw Castor Semenya and others into the fourth!) that all three of the 2016 medalists at 800 meters for the women at the Olympic Games were DSD.

It's one of the reasons World Athletics gaslighted the whole mess by banning Semenya and other DSD athletes from meaningful racing.

But the fact of the matter is:  You are not only seeing violent attacks against transgender athletes, you are also seeing cis-female athletes be called transgender because they are "too good" or "too much better than their competition and they have to be trans to be that good!!".  One of the latter already in Utah.

You realize that ends only one way...  (I'll get to that in a second.)

2) Loathe for me to agree with the bigot Karl Denninger, but, in another of his screeds on The Market Ticker about the subject, he has this to say about women's sports in general, vis-a-vis the legal force Title IX places on most schools to force women's sports to exist:

"That's the problem with Title IX; it presumes that the funding must be literally forced out of other's wallets with a gun up the asshole. That's bullshit. If there's a market for it then someone will fund it. That's how market economies work.

There are many things I might WANT but there's no market for them, thus they don't get delivered. Why should girl's sports (or ANY item for that matter) be given an exemption from this basic principle, particularly when the "exemption" requires shoving a gun in your face and threatening to kill you if you don't cough up the money?"

I have long been trying to tell these bigots that the only reason women's sports exist on any level is legal force.  That, in a general "free market" sense, there is no sufficient (non-prurient -- stories actually are coming out about creeps trying to go after girls after sporting events and getting a "surprise") interest in women's and girls' sports, except either by legal force or a means to attempt the eradication of transgenderism in this country.

In short, once they can get the trans athletes out of the way, they'll just outlaw Title IX as an unconstitutional hindrance of the compelling government interest -- especially as some states are now reversing child labor laws (Sarah Huckabee-Sanders in Arkansas) or trying to re-emphasize child marriage (the West Virginia legislature shot down a statute banning the practice, one of twelve states to allow for it -- and, in the first two decades of this century, over 300,000 minors were married).

3) It gets back to that Damon Bruce piece I wrote about some years ago, and put the Debbie Gibson picture in a leotard on the floor of Madison Square Garden:  What place do women have in sports?

In fact, if you get to this small sampling of Denninger readers on that same post on The Market Ticker, what place (other than to try to use them as pawns against other demographics Republican Nazis and Libertarian Nazis want eliminated) do they have at all?

• "Society cant [sic] survive women voting."
• "Title IX is garbage. Universities cite it to cut men's programs like wrestling or gymnastics. Remind me where are the women's football teams?"  (Forgetting, of course, that's the entire point of Title IX, to give women the opportunity to compete -- that is, unless you never wanted them to or tried to grope one and found out she wasn't cisgender...)
• A number of the bigots over there got into a discussion on, that if women wanted rights, they should be forced to be in the Selective Service, like their male counterparts.
• At least two proposed outright in-game violence on transgender athletes, including:  "I always thought I would forfeit if a tranny went out on the floor in a HS volleyball match. Better idea. Take 6 boys that want to play volleyball for the boys in the Winter, make them assistants or managers on the girls team, but carry them on a 19 person roster (if I am not limited).  If the opposing coach puts out a tranny, I sub out all six of my girls and give the boys the order to unleash hell."  The other proposed hard-fouling a transgender girls' basketball player -- saying they had six to give (or five).
• Or even this general misogynistic view:  "Social collapse will be the ultimate reckoning forced upon the ladies as feral humans couldn't give a rat's ass about 'rights' or respecting women.  Karens will end-up with black eyes and bloody lips talking back to men who don't give a fuck. Physically women are going to find out they are the weaker sex regardless of what they WANT to believe.  40, 50, 100 years of women working to be independent and politically equal to men is going to blow-up in their face and if they aren't careful, barefoot and pregnant is going to be their highest calling.  Sorry to say, but once we stop being woke because we're broke the ladies are going to face a harsh world of their creation.  Ass, gas or grass is going to delineate who gets fed and who starves..." (Feral humans such as yourself?)

Anyone who thinks this isn't just Step One is fooling themselves.

Sage Steele needs to be fucking fired -- TODAY -- from ESPN.  Because she has no place there if she chooses not respect women, all demographics of such.

Sage, walk.  Bitch.  Because if the Republican movement to abolish transgenderism succeeds, women's sports has about one season before people realize how many of the athletes are, one way or another, viewed as such, even if they are completely cisgender.

Anyone who is such a bigot is, whether they choose to admit it or not, calling for the end of women's sports, because all of it is a matter of legal force in the first place, and the only way you could get away with trying to be this bigoted is to then state they were not created by God -- and then good luck with that one!

And, in closing, there's the small fact that Joe Biden may a Day-One priority of including transgenderism in Title IX.  You want trans kids out and gone?  You're going to have to kill Title IX as well, and that's just the start of it!