This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 3.06: The Supreme Court Has Lost It's Mind Again

6-3, ideological split.

It is now legal for any company in the United States to refuse business on religious (or other constitutionally-protected) grounds.

It is also legal for the courts to make shit up as they go along to ensure the Supremes give them the result they want.

303 Creative LLC vs. Elenis now makes it legal for any business to refuse service to anyone for whom the business would materially disagree with their opinions or beliefs.

And, worse, it appears that the base case didn't exist at all -- it was made up so that this fascist Court could come to this decision, by which the Court (in the next 24 months) could strike down Obergefell, Lawrence, Loving v. Virginia, and any number of situations which could leave us even beyond Plessy v. Ferguson's "separate but equal" doctrine.

And, once again, Denninger conflates this to a free speech situation, when in fact he is wrong on several material points, when we get to a comment he made on a post on his Market Ticker blog thereto...

Thombradley said the following:

"KD I was a bit confused on the equal service law but I think I get it. The fact that I design websites doesn't mean you come in and are discriminating against gays because you refuse to incorporate content you find abhorrent. If your gay and want a site chock full of Christain content analogous to what I have done before but I refuse you I'm in violation. In retrospect that's a pretty clear distinction."

To which Denninger replied he was correct and said (and I'll insert comments where appropriate):

"I can't refuse service based on who you are or your personal identity. I CAN refuse to create or harbor expression in accordance with your demands, or alter MY expression in light of same."

Which means that you are wrong, Karl.  You CAN refuse service based on who you are or your personal identity.  In fact, more than a few people would like to do so.  There are, in fact, certain groups who do so a priori -- this just EXPANDS the legal definition and allowance of who can be refused service.

One of the reasons you are wrong is one of the reasons you are seeing death threats to LGBTQ's across the board in Pride Month, concluding tonight.  Not only as a function of religious beliefs (up to and possibly including that it is against beliefs to allow LGBTQ's to even exist) but the false equation to public safety, it is completely legal now (as of Friday) to put on the door that you will not serve LGBTQ's at all.  And it's already happening:  There's one rib place in California, for example, we would like to see shut down and have reported to the Attorney General of the state in such regards about a month ago.

But does 303 indicate that their conduct is now legal, on any number of grounds?  It would, sadly, appear so -- and many believe it will lead to "coloreds-only" counters at restaurants, etc.

(Of course, what it will also lead to is an increasing number of businesses who may actually refuse to serve the dominant and protected demographics, using the same criteria.  Heaven help you if you are of those demographics and end up needing gas in an inner-city gas station.  You could well be refused service, especially in states and with people who (as one reparations supporter in California stated) believe the dominant demographic is a threat to the inner city.)

Denninger continues:

"For example: You're a D&S [sexual kink, dominance and submission] couple. You come into my motel and ask that I provide you with a room equipped for your D&S activities, including bolt-points on the bed for your various accoutrements.

I absolutely CAN refuse that. I CANNOT refuse to rent you a room for the night, but I CAN insist that you not clang your chains and crack your whips at 2:00 AM, and that you not alter the furnishings to accommodate your chains and other various items necessary to "accommodate" your fetish."

And, again, you are wrong in the material point.  Because their desire is something you disagree with on it's face, you can absolutely deny them service and a room for the night simply on the basis they've stated what they want.  Because if you try to rent them a room which does not accommodate the fetish, they may try to "retrofit" the room so that it does.

And 303 absolutely can give you the authority to refuse them service on the basis you don't like the concept of the kink, not only as a function of what you state of the business, but that you simply disagree with the practice on the whole.

303, in fact of law, gives you legal cover to actually refuse to rent that room at all, and state that simply your belief system is enough they have to go elsewhere.

Another Denninger example:

"You want me to photograph your wedding.

Let's say I am a devout Muslim. My faith holds that two men or two women cannot kiss in a romantic way, nor engage in sexual expression or be married to one another. I can't stop you from doing any of that but you can't force me to photograph, edit and print said expression; I believe such acts are sinful and am not required to participate in your action which I believe is a sin."

And what of those who wish, as a belief system of their own eternal life, to prevent those actions from happening in the first place?  You remember the number of county clerks refusing to honor Obergefell (which now most intelligent law experts do believe is doomed, with this being the main precedent)?

Especially with devout Muslims (and, yes, the evangelical hardcore Satanists masquerading as "Christians"), this is going to happen.

In fact, there is an endgame -- and you are already seeing it in one state.

Yep, DeSatan's Florida.  

Republican Senator Rick Scott, on Tuesday:

I’m warning socialists and communists not to travel to Florida. They are not welcome in the Sunshine State.pic.twitter.com/ZB4RVz6XdK

— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) June 27, 2023

It would be completely legal, under 303, for the state of Florida to refuse admission and refuse within it's borders all "socialists and communists" (read: Democrats).  And they need nothing more than the state's belief system or the concept of the "legitimate purpose" of persons within "The Free State of Florida".

That basically anyone who opposes "The Free State of Florida" cannot do business there of any kind and will be physically escorted to the border (if they are lucky, they'll get one free chance -- the second might get those shot who wouldn't get shot on sight the first time).

We are now headed for full-out segregation.  And anyone with intelligence knows the next step from there.

June 30, 2023 News and Notes

• Corporate end-of-quarter bloodletting at ESPN:  (And thanks to my anonymous friend for finding the rest on Deadline.com)
• Jalen Rose
• Max Kellerman
• Suzy Kolber
• Jeff van Gundy
• Ashley Brewer, who had done some SportsCenter
• Keyshawn Johnson
  
• Steve Young
• Chris Chelios
• Todd McShay
• In all, about 20 on-air personalities are going to leave at the end of their contracts.
• One of wrestling's biggest cautionary tales:  Darren Drozdov, paralyzed permanently on a bad "bump" in a WWE televised match, passed away today.  He was 54.  Many tributes are correct:  He could well have been bitter at wrestling for the rest of his life after the accident, but decided, instead, to try to work for the positive for it.   
• Another strike against the Tennessee Titans.  Hassan Haskins arrested for aggravated assault -- trying to strangle somebody.  He is one of the kick returners.

And, as usual, the ledes get buried again in the NFL gambling probe...

Well, there's the four more names, including, as we all knew a couple weeks ago, Isaiah Rodgers of the Colts.

That said, I have a number of points that I think need to be raised here:

• What's going to happen when a relevant player on a relevant team gets swept up in this?  We got closest in this round with Nicholas Petit-Frere of the Titans, a starting offensive lineman last year who is banned six games, but only for that he was not betting on the NFL while betting on team property.  It's clear to anyone with an IQ above Republican that there are big names and big money being illegally bet under the NFL rules.  In fact, just a few days ago, one player was rumored to have lost $8,000,000 in bets.
• The Titans are the first fringe-relevant team to be implicated, with the Lions (more on them in a second), Cardinals, Falcons, Colts, and Commanders also on the list.
• Speaking of the Lions, that is now the fifth Detroit Lions player from the 2022 season banned, three of them given the "life ban" (minimum one year, reinstatement through the NFL).  When is someone with legal and league power -- ANYONE -- going to investigate the 2022-23 Lions season and those five one-score losses (the first four in a 1-6 start!) for match-fixing?  That's five players and how many staffers, in a season in which there was a pattern of the Lions losing these types of games, especially early in the season.  This REEKS match-fixing.
• Perhaps here's one reason they don't:  Would a full exposition of the problem of player gambling actually lead to the admission of several situations the NFL would much rather keep quiet?  I'll give you three:
• We know the generic NFL and sports fan is opening up to the concept that the games are rigged.  They may not believe it to the extent people such as myself believe, but it does raise a significant question:  How many NFL players are actually playing the games with either the belief or knowledge that they are rigged contests, in the spirit of professional wrestling?  (And acting commensurate to that belief.)  
• The second would actually raise the question of the court precedents set out which give the leagues the power they has (ab)used over the last 30-odd years.  Would an exposition of the true lack of integrity of NFL contests -- understood by the NFL players -- result in a re-examination or even reversal of decisions like Mayer v. Belichick, Patriots, and NFL?  
• And then the question I gave above:  What happens when it IS someone who has played meaningful downs on a Super Bowl contender or otherwise similarly-relevant team?  Most of the teams currently implicated, even if they are near the playoffs, are not and never have been seen as real contenders in this era.  What happens when that changes?

And here's the next set of players banned for gambling, and the next teams you can remove from the list...

The announcement came down today.  Four more players banned for gambling.

Scratch the Colts from any meaningful surge this season.  Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry are banned for life.  (Indefinite suspension, at least one year)

Both players were immediately fired by the Colts.

Demetrius Taylor can be added to the list from the Detroit Lions.  Now a free agent, he's gone at least a year.  That brings the number of Lions players banned for a large-scale gambling ring to at least five.

Nicholas Petit-Frere of the Titans is gone for the first six games of the season -- his gambling was not on the NFL.  He is banned because of the zero-tolerance for any gambling at team facilities, regardless of sport.

Rodgers started nine games last year and played in all but two, as I stated in a previous blog post.

Berry was seen as a competitor for a roster spot in the offensive line -- was practice squad for the Jaguars last year.

Petit-Frere was the starting left guard for the Titans last year.  He played in about 84% of offensive snaps.  Keep in mind, however, the sanction for Petit-Frere is because all sports gambling is banned on NFL properties, so he gets the six-game sanction.

So that's the Colts, Lions, Cardinals, and Titans off the list.

EDIT TO ADD 3 PM PDT:  Cam Robinson of the Jaguars will sit the first four games of this season for PEDs.

June 29, 2023 News and Note

• It appears four members of the Cuban Men's National Soccer Team are trying to defect during their participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• A week ago, Square-Enix released a more action-oriented Final Fantasy XVI.  They announced on Wednesday that over 3,000,000 copies have been sold.  I'm not one of them, yet.  Gotta handle the work on keeping the bills paid and the like before getting a PS5.   
• The LAPD was planning to arrest every homeless person in Los Angeles -- until their e-mail outlining a "Hush Hush Task Force" caught them out.

Yes, I know it's the A's and all...

But the 12,479 people who watched Oakland's 61st loss of the season (against only 21 wins) saw history tonight.

For the first time in 11 years and the 25th 24th time in Major League Baseball history, controversial Yankees pitcher Domingo German has thrown a perfect game.  And a Maddux no less, only 99 pitches.  Nine strikeouts to get the 27 up and down.

(Jargon alert:  For the efficiency which Gregg Maddux used to pitch, a Maddux is a complete-game shutout under 100 pitches.)

The 11-0 win is also the largest win of a perfect game.

This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 3.0011: The Supreme Court Has Lost It's Mind

Yeah, I figured I finally had to do this one.

(Yes, the numbering is out of order, but it is a direct descendant of 3.001 -- just not about "nobody".)

The Supreme Court has vacated the stalking conviction of a Colorado man.

They sent back down a conviction of a Colorado stalker of a local singer.  They deemed the "reasonable person test" insufficient for at least online cases (though, sans a weapon or the like, I'd have to wonder how it could apply elsewhere either -- because, until an action takes place, how can you conclude that confronting a person on such a question is not also "speech"?) and said that a new, two-part process must apply:  Not only must the person be aware (whether being made aware by outside parties is sufficient there would be another Constitutional question -- and has been found largely unconstitutional in the same New York statute in which I was, in part, arrested for) that the speech could be seen as threatening, but that the person must also be aware that the speech is reckless.

The Supremes, in Counterman vs. Colorado (6-3), have lost their minds.

You see, especially after my arrest and the like, I do not believe in the First Amendment, nor Freedom of Speech, and I believe every effort is being made to dismantle it -- either above- or below-table.

If we are going to prevent the next Chapman or Bardo or whomever, then there has to be a far stricter situation in which speech, of it's own merit, MUST be sanctioned to prevent violence.

Want a good idea as to an extreme of which this could go?  This "gentleman" was slapped with a restraining order after his ex-wife believed he would kill her on a drunken rampage.

She was right!

On JUNE 15, 2023 Gary Don Barnett shot and killed his wife, his daughter, his 11 year old granddaughter, his 6 year old granddaughter, his 2 year old grandson, and himself. He also shot the soon to be step father.

The face of the Well Regulated Militia. pic.twitter.com/0gg0VzNDsG

— 🔸️The.Angry.Ostrich. (@DaAngryOstrich) June 28, 2023

The courts are now going to have to re-examine the criteria under which online harassment was deemed too broad by the New York courts a number of years back.  Especially in a case where the person does believe they are going there to talk (yes, to "hold the person answerable" (as was said in pre-trial hearings)), the only real way you COULD declare the former to be in scope for a person believed as mentally ill as myself is to enforce it from the outside.

(As "nobody" pointed out.)

Now you have to put out the question as to whether a given person CAN realize their speech is threatening -- and what to do when effectively prosecuting them under that becomes impossible.

Well, as I say:  This Blog Should Not Exist.  There's one way -- it's not polite nor clean, but it is increasingly the only choice you have!

June 28, 2023 News and Notes

• Can I buy an I-dol????  In a move which should surprise no one, given the last 20 years, Ryan Seacrest will become the new host of Wheel of Fortune after Pat Sajak retires after next season.
• Jose Mourinho has been banned at least 10 Serie A matches, banned four European matches, and forced to resign his UEFA committee position due to a tirade against the referee of the UEFA Europa League final.  That's about the level you start considering making the suspension time-based -- as in, see you at least January 1, 2024!!   
• MLB shows it's biases again:  The game last night in Chicago between the White Sox and Phillies was played -- in worse air conditions from the Canadian wildfires than New York City was when games were called off there a couple weeks ago.
• It appears the next set of NFL gambling bans is on the table:  Life bans, reinstatement possible in one season for several players, including Isaiah Rodgers of the Colts.  Adam Schefter has "sources" to that effect -- announced later this week.
• This year's charity "The Match" will be a 12-hole NBA vs. NFL affair at the Wynn course in Las Vegas.  Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce of the Chiefs will face Steph Curry and Klay Thompson of the Warriors.  No word on whether Course Marshal Joe will be involved in tomorrow's Match -- nor Sir Puttz-A-Lot.  
• The honor ESPYs were announced this morning:
• The Buffalo Bills training staff will be given the Pat Tillman Award For Service, for "saving" "Damar Hamlin".  Yeah, I'm going there.  Sorry to the world.
• The equal pay struggle of the US Women's Soccer Team will get them the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, just before they head to Australia to defend their Women's World Cup.
• Liam Hendricks will get the Jimmy V Award for Perseverence, cancer survivor who returned to the mound this season.
• Will be given out July 12 on ABC.
• The executives of the PGA Tour have deluded themselves -- twice!  They announce they will be the driving forces behind the future of pro golf, AND that Jay Monahan will stay on as Commissioner.
• Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...
• Oh wait...
• You're serious.
• Let me laugh harder then!
• HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....   
• At least 300 actors are concerned SAG-AFTRA is trying to sell them out in the name of preventing adding an actors' strike to the writers' strike.

June 24, 2023 News and Notes

• Bill Romanowski is not only a steroid cheat, but the Department of Justice accuses him of owing the country $15,000,000 in back taxes.
• Beginning of the CONCACAF Gold Cup tonight in Chicago:  USA vs. Jamaica.  
• USA to field a substantially different roster than that won the CONCACAF Nations League.
• Probably a good thing:  Weston McKinnie is suspended three additional matches (for four total!) and Sergino Dest banned three for their Violent Conduct red cards against Mexico.
• Cesar Montes of the Mexican team gets the same four matches McKinnie got, Gerardo Artaega got the same three Dest got -- both ARE on the Mexican side.  Montes will not play until the Gold Cup knockout round, Artaega will not play until Mexico's final group stage match.
• A further sanction against Mexico may be announced after the Gold Cup, as the chants which caused the USA-Mexico match to be abandoned are still being addressed.  My guess:  They'll gloss them over, in the name of seeing what happens in the Gold Cup tournament.  
• The big showdown with the Dodgers and Astros this weekend.  Dodgers won Game 1 in LA, Houston leads Game 2 as I type.
• Davonte Adams' assault charge in Las Vegas has been dropped.
• Just like the effective CFP, the baseball collegiate championship is SEC vs. SEC:  Florida vs. LSU.
• The only of the three major championships to go otherwise was the Final Four, where UConn won the title with three Final Four debutants, two from midmajors.

June 23, 2023 News and Notes

• The four-year NCAA investigation into LSU football and men's basketball is concluded.
• Will Wade was fired from LSU, and now will have to present to the NCAA for the next two years to be allowed to coach at McNeese State.  (That's the "show-cause" situation.)  He is also suspended the first ten games of this season.  Why was he allowed to coach in the first place?  Because it's McNeese State and no one cares?   
• 37 wins over a four-year period of the football program have been vacated from 2012-2015.
• This penalty disqualifies football coach Les Miles from the College Football Hall of Fame.  ... as if the findings should not have done this on their own.   
• One of the violations is from Odell Beckham Jr. handing out money to the team after the 2020 National Championship Game.
• And still LSU football is allowed to exist:  Three years probation for the football and mens' basketball.
• The NHL is now officially shitlisted by people who care about human rights.  The Russians have won:  Not only will there be no further Pride uniforms for the league, but no such special uniforms for any group will be allowed.  Mr. Bettman has shown the Russian contingent to be the league's greatest asset.   
• Speaking of shit list:  5% of the Washington Wizards, Mystics, and Capitals is going to be apparently attempted to be bought...  by the country of Qatar.

June 19, 2023 News and Notes

• The Mexican National Team has fired it's coach.
• One day after most Mexican fans boycotted the CONCACAF Nations League third-place game (Mexico won, 1-0 over Panama) and the championship (USA won 2-0 over Canada).
• Diego Cocca from Argentina lasted only seven matches.
• Probably was the only way either match could complete yesterday.
• In a goal that should make unique YouTube videos, Panamanian striker Anibal Godoy appeared to equalize for Panama with a beautiful bicycle kick, but the Mexican offside trap sprung on Godoy and two other Panamanians on the preceding cross.
• Draymond Green will test the waters of NBA free agency.  Here's hoping he's either done with the league or has to go back to Golden State, tail between legs, and at a steep discount.   
• New Zealand's full international soccer team and Ireland's U-21 team both abandoned their matches in Austria today -- both due to racial problems, both facing Middle Eastern opponents...

June 17, 2023 News and Notes

• New England's fourth-round 2022 draft choice, Jack Jones, will be fired from the team once the fallout from a weapons charge he was arrested for at Logan Airport today finishes.
• He was banned from the team for violations of team rules in December.
• He'll carry about a million in cap hit each of the next three years, but he's done with football.
• Speaking of done with sports:  Mountainair High School of New Mexico will not be fielding a boys' basketball team this year -- the revelation of the locker rooms being "rape rooms" with sexual assaults of younger players and various other debaucheries will cancel all boys' basketball in the upcoming school year.
• West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins was arrested for DUI this morning.  Another firing forthcoming...    
• Huggins won't wait that long -- he's resigned Saturday night.
• Hey, we might well get one part of it.  There is now some discussion among the Mexican men's national soccer team to boycott the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• There's a reason behind this I'm almost scared to find out.  After a fan vote was set to put him in, World Series hero David Freese has DECLINED the Cardinals Hall of Fame.

And the shit has officially hit the fan...

The months-long war against LGBTQ Pride in American sports has finally hit the table in Los Angeles.

For at least an hour and 45 minutes (and probably far longer) before game time tonight, an estimated 2,000 people blocked the main gates to Dodger Stadium, on Pride Night, where The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were slated to receive honors from the team.

A number of them were from out of state, and at least two couldn't figure out whether they were simply protesting The Sisters, Pride Night, or both.

The game between the Dodgers and Giants WAS started, apparently on time.  No guarantee, however -- and we're looking closely into it -- as to whether the ceremonies scheduled pre-game were held or not.

Apparently, the Dodgers gave them a designated protest area at TWO THIRTY -- and, of course, giving these Nazis an inch meant giving them a mile.

Hey Kershaw!!  You might wanna consider cancelling that religious day you got put on the calendar about a month hence.  I could see that counter-protested.

But the fact that we have had such war declared (just on the professional sports level, much less anything else!) on LGBTQ matters -- which see the Russian NHL and Gary Bettman's limp-wristed response -- probably means that the only league which MIGHT attempt this within a year's time might be the NBA, as I was going to say in the other article before this all blew up.

This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 3.05: You better enjoy this Pride...

... because, as things presently stand, the entire concept will be banned within two years.

Tonight is supposed to be the Pride Night at Dodger Stadium where The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are still scheduled to appear.

It is about an hour before game time as I begin typing this post.  And I can't help but check (in fact, I just did) that the game is still on.

Not only has the appearance of the Sisters been the focal point in the beginning of the retrenching of anti-LGBTQ sentiment across the Big Four Sports, but several realities are coming to foot:

1. Fuck Rob Manfred has openly demanded teams do NOT wear Pride jerseys and has said openly that MLB could not assure the players' safety if they do.  It's one thing to talk about this in terms of Nazi-state teams like the Rays and Marlins, but the fact has resurfaced that Rob Manfred wants this sport to be America's Pastime again -- in a White Right Nazi America.  And that means who are the first to go?
2. CONCACAF, FIFA, etc. need to move the 2024 World Cup from North America.  And I am not blaming any more than basically Mexico and Mexican fans, but last night's utter disgrace (with dozens of arrests and the match being abandoned for homophobic chants that have been glossed over by soccer authorities for YEARS NOW!) should be the final goddamn straw.
1. No Third Place CONCACAF Nations League Match with Panama.
2. Out of the Gold Cup this summer.
3. Banned from international play.  Period, full-stop, end.  It's not going to stop until Mexico is expelled from world soccer, 

EDIT TO ADD LATER:  I want you to listen to this.  This is ESPN's Sebastian Salazar, going so far as to say that the Mexican fans DO NOT CARE if Mexico is blackballed or exiled from CONCACAF or world soccer -- that the team is SO BAD, they would much rather see the national federation dismantled, so it can be rebuilt...

.................

AND THE SHIT HAS HIT THE FAN IN LA!

The main stadium lot was blocked about an hour before game time by these anti-Pride terrorists, who made it clear they were buying tickets to tonight's game to disrupt it.

More coming, obviously -- including more discontent about what's happening, but is now clear and ON!

June 16, 2023 News and Notes

• Michael Jordan is out as owner of the Charlotte Hornets.
• In a move which probably seals the Reynas out of the USMNT, Gregg Berhalter has been rehired as the coach of the USMNT through US/Canada/Mexico 2026.
• We now find out that the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal ended in complete disgrace.  ABANDONED for the homophobic chants four minutes from the end of stoppage time, which there already had been one stoppage and at least eight or nine minutes of stoppage time which were played.  Minimum penalty is that the Mexican team needs to be sent home -- no third-place match with Panama.  Then we start talking about how we're going to deal with 2026.  FIFA has to start looking at, at minimum, removing Mexico as a host, throwing them out of world soccer, etc.  And it's also clear this may not be sufficient.  It may be time to seriously consider moving the World Cup.   
• Three more reasons they damn well need to do this now:  First, the abandonment now, under US Soccer rules, means a two-year ban from all international matches in the United States for the Mexican team.
• They've tried to sugar-coat it in the past, but the fact is that no one really knows how much further it has to go until somebody actually does something.
• Second:  A mass fan brawl outside the stadium after the match.
• Third:  $112,000 FIFA fine for the chants in Qatar.
• A 33-year-old Las Vegas man was arrested for threatening to duplicate the mass Las Vegas shooting before Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  The only reason -- and I'm still not sure this whole immediate Las Vegas push doesn't do it anyway!! -- that I'm not in more fear of stans doing Tragedies For Championships is because I'm not sure people are that smart to figure it out without it being completely immediate!!!   
• Deion Sanders has already had two toes on his right foot, and no feeling at all in his left.  Very real chance doctors will have to amputate the left foot.

Not enough, but it's the next step...

Ja Morant will sit the first 25 games of next season.  Suspension was announced today.

And it is a conditional.  He must be approved to return to play.  It's a "soft" life ban.  He can come back to play next season, if he actually completes a program between now and about the first of 2024.

I really, REALLY hope Adam Silver did an investigation on any possible gang ties Morant has.

I fear he has not, or this suspension (and the conditions) would've been a material life ban (minimum one year).

I hope, now, after the 25 games, the Grizzlies cut ties.  It won't matter on the court:  In the 50 games he's missed in his two seasons after ESPN pimped an entire college basketball season around the thug, the team is 33-17.

June 15, 2023 News and Notes

• Pretty much a done deal, one day after the Reverse Boycott:  Nevada officials approved the necessary public funding for the A's stadium in Las Vegas -- it appears the move is a go, target date 2025?
• Late-inning heroics (more on the Rays bullpen) ended the seven-game win streak of the A's.  Tampa won 6-3, 7,055 watched.
• The ten-game suspension of Drew Smith is official.
• OK, MSN, come on...  Headline story about who may be in negotiations to do the Super Bowl halftime next year -- story is about Carson Wentz's offseason.  The former would've been far more interesting.   
• A fourth woman has accused Trevor Bauer of sexual assault.
• Antonio Brown has been thrown out of the Arena Football League.  The Albany Pride have been disbanded by the league, failure to pay league dues.
• Brown fired multiple coaches and fired both quarterbacks.  The team was 1-6.
• There may have been a lot of mystery to Los Angeles Country Club, but some insane numbers have been put up:  Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffle have broken the US Open 72-hole record, each shooting 62.
• It sounds like knocking the Miami Heat mascot into the emergency room wasn't the only crime Conor McGregor committed in Miami last week at the NBA Finals.  Sexual assault and intimidation of a woman during Game 4.  WHAT THE FUCK ELSE WAS HE DOING THAT NIGHT???   
• Speaking of "WHAT THE FUCK ELSE":  Nate Diaz has an arrest warrant in New Orleans for choking out a Logan Paul lookalike.
• Latest NFL Gambling Bombshell:  A report of a player who lost $8,000,000 gambling in 2022.  They don't say who, where, or on what.  I'm smelling a star player being ousted from the NFL.  Real.  Soon.  Now.  

This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 3.04: You Are Allowing Him To Live... WHY?!?!?!?!?!???

In a backlog of my own blog posts which numbered two, I saw this out of G/O Media's Kotaku site today, and have permanently lost at least my preapproved status there, and I really do not give a shit.

It is a story of Kylie Carter.  Known as justfoxii on Twitch, Carter was the victim of a very heinous crime -- a crime which I, personally, believe has one and only one punishment.

About 2 AM some day early last week or the weekend before (as Carter posted pictures before and after), a guy who apparently was known to Carter (and, hence, she could tell reporters he drove SEVEN HUNDRED MILES to do this!), took a barrel of some kind, filled it with a flammable substance, placed the barrel on her car, lit it, and walked away to have the front of her car explode.

In effect, either a bomb of it's own merit or turning her car into a bomb.  The only reason she was not harmed (which any intelligent person would have to think was his final target!) was that she was far away from home -- perhaps because of this guy.  She admits she's been having to deal with his type for a year and a half.

Apparently, they have full 4K on the guy, but no word as to whether the guy got arrested.  Remember, he lives at least 12 hours away!

And people have a problem with me saying the only way you prevent this is to KILL THIS MOTHERFUCKER!!

Again, for those wondering:

• Guy lived approximately 700 miles away.
• That's about 12 hours away.
• He knows where she lives, knows what she drives, knows all of this.
• He then gets a barrel or a pot or whatever, fills it with a flammable substance, lights it, and walks away like he accomplished something.

You tell me how that does not pass the parameters to shoot the motherfucker!!

This is WHY I tell you that the New York Police Department needed to shoot me on May 24, 1998 -- and, in not doing so, failed Debbie Gibson, her family, her castmates, everyone at the theatre, the entire New York City community, the entire Milwaukee community (where I lived), every Debbie Gibson fan of the day, etc.

Because THIS is the assumed conduct.  And then, the real fucking question on this motherfucker vs. Carter should be:

What in fucking Hell is your endgame?  You're going to blow up her car because she won't fuck you?  And you think she's going to fuck you after you BLOW UP HER DAMN CAR????

SHOOT THIS SON OF A BITCH!

Seriously!

And fuck you, from the writer of the article on down, if you don't think so.

This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 3.03: Fuck YOU, Karl Denninger, You Fucking Bigot

I've already deleted two salvos at the guy from The Market Ticker, Karl Denninger, about his anti-transgender bigotry.

The bigotry in this country has gotten so pronounced that most statements made well-meaning on the subject are either considered condescending or even backhanded compliments to even make things worse than the bigotry itself!

So, on Tuesday, Denninger posted his latest screed, stating the LGBTQ community is so dangerous because it actually endangers the future of human life itself.

Well, Mr. Denninger, in the same vein as your bigotry:

FUCK YOU

It is eminently clear, Mr. Denninger, that, as much as you want to state you are against the concept of rape (going so far as to censor the word every time it appears on your site), you are actually, quite conversely, FOR IT.

It's not hard to see why:  Because your idea of the concept of rape is completely and utterly backwards.

As many women whose bodies have been scattered at the floor of the American Sports Machine (be they prospective Olympic athletes, girlfriends of the star HS quarterback, or just the wrong woman showing up when the athlete is horny and drunk Saturday night at the bar) would attest, "No" don't mean shit.

You say that the only difference between sex and rape is consent -- when the actual only difference between the two is the ability and enforcement of such lack of consent.

Your bigotry against transgender people, especially -- but, just as such, your statements here are indicating that you have a compelling interest (perhaps even beyond governmental) of the survival of the species.  Hence, you have no problem stating that it is the ONLY "legitimate purpose" one has.

At which point, you will impose that upon and hence rape every LGBTQ you can find.

Sorry, that's what it is.

I would like him to come out and admit that procreation is the sole legitimate purpose one should have under the law, all other situations (stable family unit, jobs/financials, etc.) means to that end.

But, at that point, over and above the material rape of those who would want to love outside the cis-het paradigm, you'd have to remove three sets of people from the equation, the third being the same canard I tried to use against the Proposition 8 bigots here in California:

1. The infertile -- those who can't add to the population (with probable exception to those who already did).
2. Those who, like me, WILL NOT under any circumstances add to this population.
3. Or (and, reminder:  this is the canard that if we have such a vested interest in who pairs, the state is doing an exceedingly poor job of it!) those for whom it is not in society's interest to procreate, for whatever verifiable reason.

So, I see your Fuck You and raise you a Fuck You, Denninger.

This Blog Should Not Exist, Part 3.02: Arraignment #2 For The Fat Orange Fuck

Besides the packed courtroom, what took place in the courtroom was at least somewhat standard.

But it was the final decision of the day which basically confirmed one of America's worst-kept secrets.

Donald Trump is out on his own recognizance, without travel restriction, for a crime which very easily could be seen as TREASON against the United States.

And promptly went to New Jersey and began to rant about political witch hunt this and political prosecution that...

There was at least one moment of chaos when one of the people in Miami decided to try to get himself killed on national television.

Regardless of the side that person was on (and it does appear the person was anti-Trump), jumping in front of a Presidential Motorcade car is a good way to get one shot or run over!

But the fact of the matter is:  You don't get bail on something like this.  Especially as someone whose God-honest best strategy for 2024 might be "President In Exile In Russia/Saudi Arabia/North Korea".

So how the fucking Hell does he get not only what it appears to be an ROR (Released On Recognizance), but doesn't have passports taken away or any of that shit?

Unless what you're telling me is that the sole nature of the law is who you are, who you are not, and how valuable you are to American society...

Because, if that's the case...  Hoo boy, This Blog Should Not Exist!

June 14, 2023 News and Notes

• 9-3, Vegas wins the Stanley Cup.
• Jonathan Marchessault wins the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP.
• The 100th ejection of the MLB season -- a 10-game suspension for Mets reliever Drew Smith.  Substance violation.
• 11 in the last week, 4 yesterday and today.
• The Reverse Boycott night was Oakland's 7th win in a row.
• 27,759 attended on a Tuesday night, as a message to A's ownership -- as the second stadium plan, to blow up the Tropicana and put the field across the street from the MGM Grand, is sputtering to a halt.
• And tonight's win means the A's are no longer the worst team in baseball!  The Kansas City Royals, by percentage points.

June 13, 2023 News and Notes, other than The Orange Fuck

• The Denver Nuggets win the NBA Championship Monday night...
• ... and 10 people get shot in the celebration in a mass shooting.
• Drug deal gone south near the celebrations, per the Denver Police.
• The US Open is this week at the Los Angeles Country Club.  I think the best way to describe the fairway at 13 is a "false fairway".  You land just to the right of center, get out your wedge, that thing will literally roll off the hill and into the rough.  Here we go again -- what's the USGA's goal?  First to break 300 wins the tournament?   
• The USGA is having some fun with a couple of the golfers.
• Adam Hadwin had an incident after countryman Nick Taylor drained a 72-foot putt to win the Canadian Open on the fourth playoff hole last Sunday.  He went out to spray champagne on the fellow Canadian, and security promptly creamed him.
• The USGA sent a note to Hadwin's locker upon arrival, stating they had his protection in mind -- and, below it, a couple of hard hats and a protective vest.
• Joel Dahmen was left at the course after practice on Monday last year -- after having his car given to somebody else last year, he was told, for Monday practice, to park in Lot F while the other players were in Lot A so it wouldn't happen again!
• Apparently, Tori Bowie died as a complication of childbirth.
• The Swedish women's national team was forced to strip naked in front of various team officials to prove they had the proper genitalia. IN 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!   
• This was a trans panic attack after there were allegations that three men played for the team in Equatorial Guinea.  I'd probably lay money they were, more, the Differences in Sexual Development situation we've seen with a number of African athletes in the last 15-20 years.
• FIFA required SOME FORM of gender testing at the time, but not necessarily a full genital inspection.
• A report from a bystander indicates that an ambulance had it's tires deliberately punctured by a punk-ass bitch in Philadelphia.
• Apparently the only situation from that fracas at the end of Game 4 in Florida was one $2500 fine.  I thought the rule was that if you instigated a brawl at the end of a game, especially a playoff game, you were subject to suspension!   
• Don't look now.  
• Seriously.
• I mean it.
• The Oakland A's have WON SIX IN A ROW!!!!
• Now, this still only puts their record at 18-50, but...
• Tonight is supposed to be the "reverse boycott" game.  We'll see about that.
• Monday's game with Tampa Bay drew 4,848.
• The long national nightmare of Pat Sajerk is over.  Sajak is retiring at the end of next season of Wheel of Fortune.
• Jesse Waters of FOX "News" on homeless people:  "These are people who've failed at life and on their deathbed."  Speaking as one 9 1/2 years on the street in San Francisco and probably will be again at some point in the future, maybe:  Then it's in your best interests to kill us all the faster, you fascist cracker-ass punk bitch.   
  

Another Possible Watershed Moment, Or Another Pussy One?

Tomorrow, the 45th President of the United States of America will be formally arraigned on at least 37 counts regarding the retention of classified materials at various properties he holds, and perhaps the very beginnings of basically stating that the most sensitive and central secrets of our military and intelligence were for sale to Russia, Saudi Arabia, and anyone else Trump could get two nickels from.

We have at least two current members of the US House of Representatives and a former governor of Arizona who should be either jailed or shot (and, right now, I don't give a fuck as to which!!!), as at least one Representative and Terrorist Bitch Kari Lake (who, today, claims 90% of Americans will rise up in support of Trump -- facepalm) have openly called for civil war insurrection.

And, here's the difference:  This is in Florida.  If there is any place in this country where this shit might actually blow off and start up, consider Floriduh Man.

You know, the same type of "man" for whom there were 20 or so of which -- last week, weekend before? -- were in a median outside Disney World with DeSantis and Nazi flags decrying "Pedo World" and all that stuff.

These are charges that the standard situation, especially for someone with enough money and support to be in Moscow or Riyadh as fast as the plane would take him would be to be remanded to custody, no bail.

We're gonna have to do it, people.  And I'm sorry to those who believe violence is, in any way, avoidable in this country.

We're going to have to try and, upon conviction, hang a former President of the United States -- an action which undeniably mortally wounds this country.

Because consider the alternatives:

-- There's nothing in current law which says that Donald Trump could not win the Presidency from a Federal prison cell.  The sanction to prevent him from running or holding political office again would be separate (and probably Congressional, though show me if I'm wrong...)

If a separate finding (which may have to pre-date even the trial, unless you believe the trial can happen in the next 12 months) does not find Trump unable to hold political office again, he could very easily be remanded to custody (or flee the country -- both scenarios are equally possible, consider the ramifications of "Trump In Exile" and what his supporters might do THEN, now or in 2024!!!) and STILL win the Presidency.

He could be CONVICTED and SENTENCED and still win the Presidency.  Then what?  (Especially because such a victory probably hands the Republicans both houses of Congress!)

-- Even the concept of getting any reasonable amount of bail (or any conditions thereto, which Trump will violate the latter within, over-under, 6-12 hours) would be evidence the son of a bitch might well be above the law.

-- Now consider what happens if he is acquitted.

And then the most immediate concern:  Concerns for nationwide unrest.  There are certainly plans to bus several hundred MAGAts to Florida for the arraignment tomorrow.  There is belief that some form of terrorist attack felled I-95 in Philadelphia over the weekend.

At some point, some froggy MAGAt is gonna jump.  Is it going to be tomorrow?  If not, then what is it going to take?

A serious question to ask your IQ-45 MAGAt acquaintances, if you have any.

June 11, 2023 News and Notes

• Dammit, Part One:  League of Legends will have it's LCS going forward -- an agreement was reached to allow the 2023 Summer Split to begin next week.
• Dammit, Part Two:  The XFL V.3 lost $80 million in Year One.  The belief is that it could be profitable by Year Five. (2027)
• Dammit, Part Three:  Boris Johnson has quit British politics.  It is apparent that he, and a number of Tory allies (two others have also quit) violated COVID rules with private parties during the teeth of the pandemic.
• The WNBA has been forced to stiffen security due to continued threats against their players after the social-media pig who confronted Britney Griner in Dallas Saturday.
• With no feasible competition, the UFC's Amanda Nunes retires after a main-event rout at UFC 289.  So dominant, even 50-43 (two 10-8 rounds) was generous to her challenger.
• Novak Djokovic has won his third French Open, and, more importantly, has won a record 23rd Grand Slam title.  Defeated Casper Ruud in the final 7-6, 6-3. 7-5.
• Seven miles of Interstate 95 will be closed for the foreseeable future.  A vehicle fire and explosion has destroyed an overpass bridge in Philadelphia.  Oh shit... Just got one look at the map on that bad boy.  
• We would like to congratulate the Las Vegas Golden Knights on the 2022-23 Stanley Cup.  The chaos at the end of Game 4, a 3-2 win for Vegas in Florida to take a 3-1 lead, should (by my understanding of the rules) get two Florida Panthers suspended and the team heavily fined.
• After a massive save at the buzzer, not only did the Panthers appear to start a line brawl after the game, but fans started throwing things on the ice!

June 10, 2023 News and Notes

• Manchester City has flipped off the Financial Fair Play allegations of Europe and England, winning the treble:  The Premier League Championship, the FA Cup, and, today, defeated Inter Milan 1-0 in the final European club match of the year, the finals of the UEFA Champions League.
• Britney Griner was confronted by a MAGA provocateur at the airport today.
• Poland's Iga Swiatek has continued her domination of women's tennis:  Her third French Open title in four years, a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova.
• The last American was Coco Gauff, who fell in straight sets to Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
• Men's final tomorrow:  Serbia's Novak Djokovic goes for his third French Open vs. Casper Ruud of Norway, last year's runner-up.
• 14-time (yes, Nadal has won FOURTEEN French Opens -- the record by SIX) champion Rafael Nadal was unable to compete due to injury.
• Either Nadal or Djokovic have won 16 of the last 18 French Opens.
• Last American:  No American man made it out of the third round.
• Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, has died in federal prison.  He was 81.
• The blocks for the G1 Climax for New Japan Pro Wrestling have been given, and now it's time to kind of turn the key, because, as most people figure out, you can pretty much figure out the favorites to win the blocks based on the final night's schedule.
• Four blocks, eight per block, and they're going top two to an eight-person knockout tournament for the Wrestle Kingdom Challenger Rights.  (Layman's translation for Americans:  It's a Money In The Bank to be the challenger at next January's Wrestle Kingdom (NJPW's Wrestlemania at the Tokyo Dome January 4, 2024), but has to be defended against any wrestler, ostensibly who defeated the winner in the G1.
• Group A: Final night:  August 5 in Osaka.
• Shota Umino vs. Hikuleo, Ren Narita vs. NOAH's Kaito Kiyomiya, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA vs. Chase Owens, Yota Tsuji vs. Gabe Kidd.  Good grief, that's a wide open block.  Three recently-former Young Lions, a NOAH visitor, etc.  SANADA goes through, the second is anyone's guess!   
• Group B:  Final night:  August 6 in Osaka
• Taichi vs. Great O-Khan, Kazuchka Okada vs. Tanga Loa, El Phantasmo vs. Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA.  In contrast, everyone in this group has some degree of a name, and there's three guys who could conceivably join Okada in the quarters.  Taichi, Ospreay, and KENTA will make this a very interesting group, but that setup for the final night is...  interesting to say the least.   
• Group C:  Final Night, August 8 in Kanagawa
• AEW's Eddie Kingston vs. David Finlay, Shingo Takagi vs. EVIL, Tama Tonga vs. Aaron Henare, Tomohiro Ishii vs. Mikey Nicholls.  If I take the regular booking at pattern, Takagi-EVIL is probably an eliminator:  That winner probably goes through.  I think the second will be the foreigner match with Kingston vs. Finlay.  Eddie, though his kayfabe character will not admit it, is being honored with this opportunity, and I fully believe he may make the most of it by at least being in this thing to the Kanagawa final night.   
• Group D:  Final Night, August 9 in Shizouka
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito...
• Full stop.  That's not only an eliminator, almost certainly, but, by far, the best match of the seventh round.  
• Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Jeff Cobb vs. Shane Haste, and Alex Coughlin gets the comedy match and the night off with Toru Yano.  This is fairly straightforward, I would have to think:  Tanahashi/Naito winner and Goto/Sabre winner go forward.   
• Apparently, the Miami Heat aren't the only thing essentially knocked out of the NBA Finals.  Conor McGregor came to visit Miami for Game 4, and, in a moment everyone thought was scripted, legit decked the Miami mascot, sending him to the ER.  Da fuq????   
• Arcangelo won the Belmont Stakes (yes, the smoke was clear enough, they were allowed to run).  It was the first win for a female trainer in the history of the Belmont, over 150 years.  Arcangelo was just short of an 8-1 shot.  Favorite Forte finished second.

June 9, 2023 News and Notes

• To what should be no one's surprise:  Oklahoma wins it's third straight NCAA Women's College World Series and ends with a record record of 61-1 for the season.
• Chase Elliott finally drew the short straw, and was parked for last week's NASCAR race for wrecking Denny Hamlin -- and Rick Hendrick believes it is long past time for the drivers to settle down!
• And wouldn't you know who's second in the points with three wins?  Kyle Busch!  William Byron is first, because he has more points with the three wins he has.

June 8, 2023 News and Notes

• Today is one week to the deadline where League of Legends North American players must take to the Rift for the Summer Split or lose the entire Summer Split and any participation in the 2023 World Championships.  And given recent comments by Doublelift which are largely seen as undercutting the LCS Players Association, whether they do is ANYBODY'S guess!!!
• Historic moment in the Nuggets' 109-94 win in Miami to take Game 3 and home-court back in the 2023 NBA Finals.  Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists.  Jamal Murray had 34 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds.
• They are the first two players in NBA history have a 30-point triple double in the same game.  Not just the Finals.  Not just the playoffs.  It never happened before, in ANY NBA game.
• AEW is gearing up for Forbidden Door and the return of CM Punk to the company:
• Next Wednesday night on Dynamite:  AEW World Champion MJF has a World Title Eliminator match with Adam Cole (If Cole wins, he gets a World Title shot.).
• Also next Wednesday:  The Young Bucks will team with Hangman Page in a 6-man war against The Blackpool Combat Club and Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castignoli, and Jon Moxley.
• A week from Saturday, in Chicago, CM Punk returns to AEW for the first time since "Brawl Out".  He will be the feature wrestler on a new TNT wrestling show, AEW Collision, which will be on Saturday nights.  The first main event?  A stacked match.  6-man trios tag:  Former IWGP World Champion Jay White, Former IWGP US Champion Juice Robinson, and former NXT, Impact, and Ring of Honor champion and current Ring of Honor Television Champion Samoa Joe will face former Basically Every Other Companies' Tag Team Championship except WWE FTR and CM Punk.
• The two shows will be constructed with at least partial separation of the rosters, probably mostly to keep Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks from CM Punk.
• And then two matches set for a SOLD OUT Forbidden Door pay-per-view in Canada at the end of the month:
• Kazuchka Okada has accepted the challenge of Bryan Danielson.
• And Will Ospreay cashes his tournament victory #1 contendership for the IWGP US Championship against Kenny Omega.
• And if you want to see how seriously the NFL is taking illegal gambling by players, etc.:  The league has no less than tabbed Face of the League Tom Brady to do a PSA urging players to abide by league guidelines and not do so.  (Source:  Sports Illustrated)
• Malik Gant, formerly in the New England Patriots organization but never played a down in the NFL before being released and playing for Birmingham in the USFL in 2022, has died.  Age 25.  No cause of death revealed.
• Latest smoke-related cancellations:  
• No game in Washington tonight for the Nationals.  
• No racing at Belmont Park or Saratoga.
• The Belmont Stakes, FOR NOW, is still on for Saturday.  The Governor of New York, however, is stating it will be cancelled if a certain threshold of air quality is not met on Saturday.  And then, still, special veterinary exams may be required.
• As of right now, nine will contest the mile and a half.  And Forte, scratched from the Kentucky Derby and banned from the Preakness for fitness, is the 5-2 current favorite.
• The Giants called off an OTA practice today.

I didn't want to believe this unless Philadelphia won the last Super Bowl. Now, I have no choice but to...

This is the post earlier-referenced in the June 7 Daily.

Wednesday, the Buffalo Bills announced Damar Hamlin, in his OTA, participated in his first full football practice since he died twice on Monday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals.

I'm sorry, world:  With what I know now -- and this extends far past football -- there is no way that I can either believe it's him or be convinced it is.

Why?  All you have to look at is the current writers' strike, the upcoming actors' strike, and the overtaking of Artificial Intelligence in entertainment.

It all started out as ha-ha and fun.  I came across, on a YouTube stream from the talent competition show America's Got Talent, a rather unique act of talent.

It was a group called Metaphysic with specialized cameras which could literally make anyone or anything appear like it was singing, dancing, whatever you want.

Well (and I'll be the first to understand this is not the ONLY issue -- but I do believe the most damning one), it appears as if there's a very real chance that the entertainment, as you knew it, is about to become a thing of the past.

Why?

I want you to consider the market for the following:

It's the next "Fast and the Furious" or "Fast" whatever movie -- except, with the Rock and Vin Diesel, YOU are driving.  And not in a video game -- we're talking about an insertion of you into the movie in place of another actor.

Now, I think you can see why some actors would object.

Now, let's apply the normal "reasonable person test", and give this hypothetical, given my past:

A sex scene, with me and you-know-who...

Creeped out yet?

We could always take it, sex or otherwise, to the ultimate extreme...

If you aren't creeped out by THAT, I don't know what will.  But that's the idea, to get you thinking of just how bad AI can be, in the wrong hands...

Imagine every 20s/30s neckbeard who wants a night with Taylor Swift, and that it could be half-feasible to represent a night with her in that regard -- without her involvement, consent, or compensation....

Now imagine the impossibility of video being verifiable evidence of much of ANYTHING anymore...

Yes, Karl Denninger and his Libertarian brigade have explored this as well.

But, rather than take it to a court of law, let's look at what information we apparently have "known" from last January and early February.

• January 2:  Damar Hamlin is playing in a critical Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.  Tee Higgins of the Bengals lowers his shoulder into Hamlin's chest, Hamlin making a tackle you've seen a million times, 100% textbook, legal, and supposedly safe.  Hamlin collapses and dies on the field.  27 minutes later, after CPR and an AED, he "codes" (dies) again entering the hospital.  He is brought back, apparently successfully, twice.
• January 22:  Eleven days after he is reported to be released, but still with many questions per his actual condition, Hamlin is reported by CBS to be attending the Bills divisional playoff game, a rematch with the Bengals.  However, any attempt to gain video evidence that it's actually Hamlin is obscured by mass security and deliberately obfuscative camera angles (both from the outside to his box and inside his box), so that no one gets a fair look at Hamlin that day.  And, completely outside of both human nature and the NFL's exploitative nature of tragedies, Cincinnati dominates the game in Buffalo and wins 27-10.
• January 28, a video surfaces of Hamlin thanking everyone for millions in donations to his charity work.
• During Super Bowl week in Los Angeles (keep this thought in mind -- IN LOS ANGELES), Hamlin is featured, on camera, face front, to the public...

That is, if you believe it's Hamlin.

I don't, can't, and won't anymore.

Do I criticize Hamlin's family in any way with this?  No.

But do I think the NFL would lie to people this comprehensively and exploitatively?  Yes.

Do I think the NFL has the methodology to carry out this farce, and to enforce it?  Yes, which see the arguments by people against the NFL being rigged in the first place.

And do I think the NFL has the motive to do so?

Yes, and it doesn't matter what the eventual story was or actually is.

The story the NFL is going with is the one most of us would actually hope -- a shock heart stoppage due to a blunt-force trauma in the chest, called commotio cardis.  I have one problem with such a situation:  You can't tell me he's not going to suffer another hit like that at some point in any continuance of his career.  And how can you even think of justifying continuing the career if you're literally one LEGAL HIT (not a helmet foul, not your neck getting broken, but a clean hit to the chest) from more-than-probable death...

Then you have the other one I think it could be, though the anti-vaxx theorists took over the discussion so cleanly (Hello, do you remember why people were so panicked to build those field hospitals in China in late January and February of 2010?  People were "thudding" THEN!!!) that we never found out if Hamlin has ever had COVID -- the concept of that he could be the up to 1 in 5 COVID cases getting "Long COVID" and having permanent debilitative effects.  If this were the truth, not only would the NFL be materially finished, so would most, if not all, material sport -- AT ALL LEVELS.

And then there's the "Died Suddenly" hypothesis.

But no matter what actually happened here, there is no reason the NFL would want the truth to come out.  And, given it's place as a centerpiece, if not THE centerpiece, of American culture (not just the sports machine), the NFL would go to any conceivable length to cover this up.

So yes, I am now afraid, given what I know is possible and the motivations, to claim deep-fake.

I'm sorry, world.  If I'm wrong, I'll have God tell me.

June 7, 2023 News and Notes

• Josh Allen is the 2023 Madden 24 cover athlete.
• In a move which all but ensures God will have his back broken and made humble while the cameraman zooms, The Iron Shiek has passed away at 81.  I swear to you that I'm actually surprised - I thought he had died years ago.   
• Major League Baseball may have a major problem for most of the summer in the Eastern United States.  The Canadian wildfire season has literally exploded -- over 400 fires, 200 or more of which completely out of control.  New York looks about as apocalyptic as San Francisco did three or so years ago with the worst of Northern California's wildfires.  Weather patterns indicate Pittsburgh/Cincinnati/Cleveland/etc. could get the worst of it over the weekend.
• Games in New York and Philadephia were cancelled due to the air quality.
• Speaking of Pittsburgh, they may finally be coming down to Earth.  One big win and almost another for the Oakland A's.  That's still only 14 vs. 50 losses, but the expansion Mets are now at least somewhere in view.
• And a story in the NFL which, with some of the stories surrounding the writers' strike in Hollywood (soon to be joined by the Screen Actors Guild, who also had an authorization vote, and have overwhelmingly voted to strike, starting in July), has me drawing a regretful conclusion which nobody (and I do mean "nobody") is going to like.  It will have it's own post.
• Leonardo Messi has changed his mind.  He'll grab bags of dollars instead of Saudi blood money.  Inter Miami of the MLS is now his destination.

June 6, 2023 News and Notes

• Two Cleveland Browns players were robbed and jacked of their vehicles at gunpoint.
• The Toronto Blue Jays have sent the 2022 American League Cy Young winner to rookie-ball.  In 13 starts, Alek Manoah's ERA is over six.
• Oklahoma will face Florida State in the Women's College World Series.
• Jacob DeGrom is out another 18 months.  UCL tear, Tommy John surgery.

The Saudis just took over professional golf in the USA and Europe. Now the only question left is whether the process is pyrrhic.

THAT was a handful to wake up to this morning.

And my anonymous friend is correct.  Though I do believe that this is ultimate victory for the bad guys, there is question as to what, if anything, is left of professional golf (or any other!) in the United States when this all shakes out.

Because today, the PGA Tour, the DP World (European) Tour and LIV Golf just announced a merger.  Not the PGA Tour getting shut down by LIV, etc., but a factual merger which probably can only have come, financially, from LIV buying the PGA Tour.

My greatest fear of all of this is the Saudis basically taking whatever professional sports they can.  (And, don't look now:  Leo Messi is joining Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi soccer leagues.  AND MORE TODAY:  Karim Benzema, seen as one of the game's greatest strikers, has also gone to the Saudi leagues, signed today!  Spent the last fourteen seasons at Real Madrid.)

And, factually speaking, professional golf in the United States has been hanging by a thread since corporate and media made it the TGA 25 years ago.

And, in fact, the LPGA already is a world tour to begin with.  With this announcement, it is almost assured the PGA will follow.

But my anonymous friend urges caution.

First, as anyone well knows, the LIV Tour has done very poorly in the ratings, even on the CW.  One would have to wonder what kind of ratings the weekly tournaments are going to get when it becomes clear to everyone that the Saudis bought the PGA out, not the other way around.

And then second, what of the likes of Rory, Justin Thomas, and all of the others who opposed LIV Golf?  It's clear that non-Saudi options are running out or have run out.

But one thing is clear:  Whether they own it or kill it, the Saudi tentacles are tightening around world sport.

(NFL) Two cases of "Here We Go Again"...

First one, I put on the Daily, but I'll put it here too.

There's been rumblings the NFL has more people to ban for illegally gambling on NFL games.  Today, reports are out that a lesser member (not star, not one most people would know) of the Indianapolis Colts is under investigation and about to be banned for illegal gambling...

... especially since it involves, in part, Colts games!

A Fan Nation Colts source says he has it sourced that it appears the player involved is cornerback Isaiah Rodgers Sr.

And a later report today 

Once again, I must note:  Come back to me, NFL, when it's a member of a meaningful team or a known player...   

And with that in mind, it redoubles concerns on plays like this, which at least two people immediately put on Twitter:  (To this person:  Rodgers is #34, not #25.)  

Number 25 for the Colts is my number 1 suspect pic.twitter.com/FC13bn7Aag

— THE Monday Morning Quarterblack (@TheMMQBL) June 5, 2023

There is also a possible false report that Michael Pittman Jr. may be in trouble, but we'll see on that one, be careful.

UPDATE 7 PM PDT:  I think it's now safe to say that Rodgers is finished in the NFL:

pic.twitter.com/735qAiLH4h

— Isaiah Rodgers Sr. (@rodgers_isaiah) June 6, 2023

That's Here We Go Again #1.

Mr Rodgers:  You're done in the NFL, son.  From the reports we're getting, this WASN'T an "error in judgement".  This was apparently quite a pervasive pattern of gambling, including games on your own team.  Given the poor record your team had last year, there's nothing to say that you didn't bet against your team -- and we're gonna find out.

God, is he stupid.  According to Spotrac, his rookie deal was backloaded into the 4th year.  He was a 6th round draft pick in 2020.  Signed four years for $3.44 million initially, but the backloading would've made 2023 a year in which he made $2.7 million.

He played substantive snaps.  Out of the 50 games in his first three seasons, he only missed five.  But he missed the first two and last two (including the one in the video).

Here We Go Again #2:  You may have to start scrubbing the Cowboys from your Super Bowl List again.

The Cowboys fired practice-squad WR Antonio Callaway today -- arrested over the weekend, driving with a suspended license.

Now, if this had been someone like the quarterback or ANY starter....  

But, once again, Jerreh can't keep the house in order.  Let's remember that when he's watching Philly or the Giants or both in the playoffs again next year!

June 5, 2023 News and Notes

• Two-time (2022 and 2023) NCAA women's golf champion Rose Zhang became the first woman in over seven decades to win a professional debut.  Playing on a sponsor's exemption after winning basically every major amateur title, Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open in New Jersey this weekend.
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic has retired from soccer with his season ending on Sunday.  An injury-filled season at 40 and 41 finally called time on Zlatan's career.
• Liam Hendriks scored his first pitching win since his return for Stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma -- on Cancer Survivors Day.
• Another drab of information vis-a-vis the next round of NFL betting scandals.  As would probably stand to reason, the next reported target is another irrelevancy:  An unnamed member of the Indianapolis Colts is at least being examined, not a star or a player most NFL fans would know.  And Colts games, in this case, ARE involved.
• And someone made the point to mention this debacle:  Hold this thought...

Hopefully he wasn’t on them for this game 🫣 pic.twitter.com/3TbJJ8VnZw

— Full Slate Podcast (@Full_Slate_Pod) June 5, 2023

• Since the San Antonio Spurs play their NBA Summer League games in Sacramento, in addition to Las Vegas, Adam Silver was asked if generational #1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama would be acceptable to debut there instead of the higher-profile Las Vegas games.  Silver has no problem with Sacramento.  And why would he?  It'll actually increase interest in the other site!   
• The smaller Sacramento league will have six teams, including the Spurs.
• The dominant Oklahoma Sooners women's softball team is back in the Championship Series of the NCAA D1 Women's College (Softball) World Series.
• They are seeking their third consecutive national championship.
• During this time, the team has only lost 8 games.
• They have won 174 -- 174-8 the last three seasons.
• Including 59-1 entering the championship series.  Their only loss was a 4-3 loss at Baylor on February 19.
• This is their fourth consecutive WCWS Championship Series.
• They lost to UCLA two games to none in 2019.
• Went 57-6 that year.
• They have been in five of the last six Championship Series, winning four.  This now being six of seven.
• The Kansas City Chiefs made the annual Super Bowl Champion visit to the White House today.
• They did so without the team's matriarch:  Norma Hunt passed away on Sunday, wife of the team founder Lamar.  Norma is one of the few people who had attended every Super Bowl from the Chiefs' loss to the Packers in I to their victory in LVII.

And the people don't like it -- but the NCAA is saying "SHUT UP AND PLAY THE GAME", and more people should...

I've been, more and more, making complaint against the players and managers (though recognizing when ejections will occur when the call is THAT egregious) in MLB in the rising number of ejections for misconduct on the field.

It appears that the NCAA is taking notice, and in ways people are not going to like.

Look for taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct to be Points of Emphasis in Omaha this year.

I have three college baseball incidents and a non-college soccer incident to show why there is going to have to be a demand (up to and including PSA's) to "SHUT UP AND PLAY THE GAME".

First:  Last week, East Carolina star pitcher Josh Grosz was thrown out of an American Athletic Conference game and suspended from an elimination game later in the tournament for giving a hot dog to a player who just scored a home run in the game.

Second:  Last night, Tyler Cerny of Indiana was tossed from the semifinal regional game and banned from the regional final today for bringing a "home run chain" onto the field.

And, in both cases, the fans are in an uproar.

The NCAA has seen fit to change the rules to explicitly ban the practice and throw players out who violate.  It was a rule change made to the 2023-24 Baseball Rule Book.

Rule 5 Section 2(d) now reads:

d. After a home run, no offensive team member, other than the base coaches, shall touch the batter-runner before home plate has been touched. Team personnel, except for preceding base runners and the on-deck batter, shall not leave the warning track area in front of the dugout (a recommended minimum area of 15 feet) to congratulate the batter-runner and other base runners. After a home run, scoring play or at the end of an inning, teams shall not bring celebratory props onto the field of play. Any such props must remain in the dugout.

The underlined is a new rule this year for sportsmanship purposes.  There has apparently still been enough of this that the umpires are now going straight to ejection.

The third baseball ejection getting people riled is also from a new addition Point of Emphasis this year:  Unsportsmanlike Conduct.  Clemson second baseman Cam Cannerela has been banned from today's elimination regional game against the University of Charlotte for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the 13th inning between Clemson and Tennessee.

It was not caught by any video, as it was between innings, but Cannerela was thrown out of the game by the second-base umpire after he said something to a Tennessee runner after a double play wiped out what would've been the winning run for the Volunteers.  The second-base ump walked over, consulted with his crewmates, and tossed Cannerela under a completely new Rule 5 Section 17 in the rule book:

SECTION 17. Game personnel shall not use language that will, in any manner, refer to or reflect negatively upon opposing players, coaches, umpires or spectators. Any orchestrated activities by any player or dugout personnel designed to distract, intimidate or disconcert the opposing team or reflect poor sportsmanship shall not be allowed. This includes activities such as: 

- Negative comments directed at an opponent, umpire or spectator. 

- Bench jockeying. 

- Bat flips near or toward an opponent or umpire. 

- Use of props or signs directed at an opponent or umpiring decision. 

And why would the NCAA see fit to make these Points of Emphasis?

Let's go to the brand new The Soccer Tournament (the $1M winner-take-all 7v7 soccer tournament), held this weekend in Cary, NC.  During a group-phase match between a seven-man team from West Ham United and an amateur team from Dallas, owned and funded by a FIFA 23 video-game streamer, the game was stopped when Anton Ferdinand was given racial abuse on the pitch.

The amateur team from Dallas was expelled from the tournament.

At what point are we going to say "SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PLAY THE GAME" and damn well mean it, professional to Pop Warner/Little League?

Somewhere, the Alpha Video Game Incels are laughing...

I've been telling people for a long time that the video game fandom is not nearly as accepting and inclusive as they or a lot of other people would like to believe.

And I'd like to give you three new pieces of data to back this up.

But first, a little set-up:  After raising $3,442,033 in January of 2022 for an online-only Awesome Games Done Quick speedrunning week-long marathon for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, the event had been planned to return to it's pre-COVID Florida location for the January 2023 event.

In September 2022, in response to Nazi Gov. DeSantis' War On Woke in the state, GDQ pulled the AGDQ event from the site and made the event online-only for the third consecutive year, specifically stating the move was against the anti-inclusion, anti-transgender, and anti-LGBT moves made in the state of Florida making it impossible to hold the event in the state and ensure the safety of it's participants.

At least one Alpha Male Gamer (and I believe that was his name) blasted the decision on predictable grounds for a White cis-gendered male Republican fuck, it turns out the decision probably cost GDQ and Prevent Cancer Foundation some part of $770,000 -- the amount they lost year over year when the January event could only raise $2,672,553.

So that was the January event.

In February 2023 came the controversial release of transphobic cunt JK Rowling's Hogwarts Legacy game, seen as a hallmark for video-game-player bigots worldwide.

Upon it's release, and with the recognition that the game would probably otherwise have been a strong feature of the recently completed summer event, the heads of the Games Done Quick organization banned all Harry Potter games from the event, and from all events going forward, subject to further review.

The bigots took flight to that as well.

And, to me, there's a very real difference.  It's one thing to have someone or something of a person you either later find out to be a bigot or that it's well hidden.  But I do not believe it inappropriate -- when the bigotry is so on the table, out in the open, and face-up as Cunt Rowling has done -- to state that supporting the franchise going forward DOES mean you are part of the problem and a probable bigot.

But here are the two pieces of data to indicate the video-gaming fandom is as asleep as I fear it is:

First, the year-over-year loss of about $810,000 year over year for the summer event for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, leading to a total drop between the two events of almost $1.6 million -- from almost $6.5 million last year for the two big shows to $4,993,000 and change.

Second, after catching heat on the GDQ Discord for looking at the numbers cross-eyed this week, I was DM'ed by a person following some of the numbers, and he gave me this chart yesterday:

Don't worry about all the different lines, the point will be obvious when I tell it to you.

That is the viewership plot of all the GDQ weekly marathons since at least 2016.

The point?  The white line you can clearly see at the bottom is SGDQ 2023.

The least-watched event, and it's not close.

I don't know what's going to happen going forward.  It would be my hope that this is the economy -- but it has never been a secret that the GDQ corporation and it's events are heavy into transgender rights and the demanding of their enforcement.

I don't think it much beyond reality that many of the video-game incels of the culture are very happy with the charity results falling far short of last year, even with the economy...

June 4, 2023 News and Notes

• Today is the fourth and final day of Fremantle Media's "National Game Show Day" event on the BUZZR streaming service.  A poll was held between three sets of shows:  A set honoring the channel's origins, a set of Bob Eubanks shows, and a set of show debuts/closings.  The third won, called "One and Done".
• New Japan Pro Wrestling held it's Dominion late-spring supercard today.
• Will Ospreay won the final of a tournament to become the #1 contender for the IWGP United States Championship.
• Francesco Akira and TJP became the 72nd IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions.
• Zack Sabre Jr. defended his IWGP World Television Championship over Jeff Cobb -- his ninth successful title defense of the first reign of the new belt.  And that is actually the (IWGP World) Television Championship, in the name of their streaming service, IWGP World.  
• A unification match saw Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI become undisputed IWGP Tag Team Champions (at least temporarily unifying the Heavyweight Tag Team belts and the US-based IWGP Strong Tag Team belts)
• As is tradition, at Dominion, the beginnings of Wrestle Kingdom 2024 began to take shape, as the announcement of the field for the 2023 G1 Climax, the winner to get a rights certificate (to be defended against anyone who defeated him during the group phase of the tournament, etc.)
• 32 wrestlers will compete, I assume in four groups of eight.  Names include:
• Kazuchka Okada
• Tomohiro Ishii
• the new undisputed tag champs, Goto and YOSHI-HASHI
• the man who entered Dominion as IWGP World Champion, SANADA
• Tetsuya Naito
• IWGP US #1 Contender Will Ospreay
• Hiroshi Tanahashi
• Former Young Lion Shota Umino, the son of long-time NJPW referee Red Shoes
• KENTA
• EVIL
• Shingo Takagi
• IWGP World Television Champion Zack Sabre Jr.
• And AEW's Eddie Kingston gets the honor to compete in the G1.
• Second half of the card:
• David Finlay defended the NEVER Openweight Championship for the first time, just after he too was announced into the G1 Climax.
• Hiroshi Takahashi defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the 5th time in his latest reign.
• The Super Team of Kazuchka Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomohiro Ishii made their first defense of the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Championship with a win over AEW visitors Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli, with their partner, Shota Umino (who took the fall).
• And, in the main event:  SANADA retained the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Yota Tsuji.  Even though Tsuji did not win the World Heavyweight Championship, it is a huge honor for a 29-year-old in New Japan, just two years removed from being a Young Lion, to be placed into a major-event main event World Championship match.
• Summer Games Done Quick came to a merciful end Sunday morning about 7 AM Eastern time.
• The good news:  A lot of good money was raised:  They left the air with $2,241,723.
• Three pieces of bad news:  
• The annual Twitch Dump (a massive donation to account for all the subscriptions and cheering bits submitted during the show) was de-emphasized this marathon, because it was believed that some of the money had to go to cover the costs of putting on the marathon.  As a result, a dump that was about a quarter of a million dollars last year never occurred.
• A $155,000 sponsorship donation did help the total a bit.
• And that was operating off a total last year of $3,053,827 -- meaning the summer event dropped over $810,000 year over year after a $770,000 hit for AGDQ 2023.
• It was the worst GDQ total for the organization since SGDQ 2018.
• See post above. 
• Perhaps the most flagrant mess of the entire event was the donation incentive Saturday night for a The Legend of Zelda:  Breath of the Wild blindfolded run.  Since, when the last run before it ended, the total needed was short by $140,000, the show basically stopped for an entire hour for the viewers to be badgered to cough up the cash.
• The $1 million winner-take-all The Soccer Tournament was held this weekend.  Former US National Amateur Cup winners and US Open Cup qualifiers won the million by defeating Sports League Canada FC 2-1.
• The team from Wrexham FC lost in the Round of 16 to a team led by former USMNT members Jimmy Conrad and DeMarcus Beasley.
• A team from West Ham FC left the tournament after a racist incident with an amateur team from Dallas.  See above article.   
• 7-5 win for Miami today.  A's now 12-49.  12,507 in Miami for that one.  10,649 for Saturday's Marlins win.
• 4th loss in a row and, what, 18 of 20 now for the A's?

June 3, 2023 News and Notes

• To do consistency, doing the comparative Summer Games Done Quick final early morning totals, with one day of games to go, about 1:15 AM Eastern on the Saturday:
• This year:  $1,108,728.  They literally just made the $20,000,000 plateau for Summer Games Done Quick's history just minutes ago, about an hour into their final day.
• However, last year the total was $1,703,025 -- meaning they are effectively $600,000 short year over year (about 35%).
• Last year, the final total was $3,053,827.  At that rate of decrease, there is actually a realistic chance that, even with the Twitch dump which will come late in the marathon, the event may be the first SGDQ since 2017 not to raise $2,000,000.
• So what was it?  Doing it Memorial Week not conducive to the money?  The economy?  Some are going to ask after a $770,000 (22%) drop in AGDQ whether "Get Woke, Go Broke" is in play...  (I've spotted one Alpha Male Gamer on YouTube who thinks so, and was saying it in a screed before AGDQ, protesting the walkout from Florida.)
  
• I think I've spotted one problem.  If you look up the schedule for the event, there is a column devoted to game setup time.  Now, obviously, with dozens and dozens of runs, it'll add up.
• But THIRTY-EIGHT HOURS?  And COUNTING???
• To give you an idea of how poorly they were doing:  They had a $30,000 incentive for several hours to make a race of Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix into a Level 1 race, where the characters could not level up.  Even after nearly 40 minutes of stalling after the previous game, the incentive failed by nearly $10,000.
• 10:15 AM:  Just over $1,200,000 -- now $670,000 below last year's total at this time.  This has definitely reached "the bank's problem" level.
• The Churchill Downs stoppage has come after the number of horse deaths has now reached a dozen.
• 85 ejections now in the MLB season.
• Oakland:  Loses 4-0 to Miami Friday to go to 12-47, current pace is 33-129, eight games worse than the record.
• 8,582 in Miami for that one.  And Miami is now actually two games over .500!  3 1/2 back of Cobb County in the division, tied with the Mets.  Both would make the wild card slots in the playoffs (2nd and 3rd) if the season ended today -- yeah, it's June, but to make the point that Oakland isn't the only team with questionable attendance.
• That's two for Manchester City.  They have a domestic double, winning the FA Cup 2-1 in a Manchester derby over Manchester United.  They go for the treble with the UEFA Champions League next Saturday in Instanbul when they face Inter.

June 2, 2023 News and Notes

• In a signal it's probably a major suspension:  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will not announce any finding on Ja Morant until after the NBA Finals are over.  Yeah, this indicates a season or more, IMODO.  
• "Additional information" has been found out by the league since the Grizzlies banned Morant indefinitely for a second gun video after suspending him eight games earlier in the season.
• The decision not to announce was done so that the announcement would not overshadow the Finals, which Denver did defeat Miami to win Game 1 of Thursday night.
• Eric Lewis, under investigation for a possible burner Twitter account, will not officiate in the NBA Finals as a result.  It appears he and the PA do have a decision on Morant, but do not have one yet on Lewis.
• Diamond Sports Group must pay the teams in full for their games, a Houston judge ruled.
• We now find out that the Regional Sports Networks Diamond bought were actually also bid on by Major League Baseball itself.  The MLB bid was about $900M short.
• A shove on a Bonus Game pushed the midnight Eastern Friday total for SGDQ 2023 to $865,509.
• Last year:  $1,143,498.  OUCH!   
• And, a few hours later, the discrepancy had reached over $400,000!
• In a historic move, racing has stopped at Churchill Downs, in the face of a safety inquiry.  They will attempt to resume, a week out of schedule, at a track two hours away, while the Churchill Downs track and grounds are the subject of a top to bottom review.

SI publishes 100 hot takes on the NFL...

Sports Illustrated has done it's annual Way Too Early 100 Bold Predictions Post.  Here's a select some of them of my interest:

1)  As of right now, they have Cincinnati beating San Francisco in the Super Bowl.  I don't see it, for multiple reasons.  They'll be there, almost certainly, come January.  But this might be an indication SI sees something in, say, Philly and KC, that they may need a second or third choice...   

3) Patriots will win the AFC East.  Be interested to see what happens in Buffalo, then.  Especially if there is less and less evidence on Matt Araiza, I dunno about that one.  I do hope this means they think Tua will be forced to retire before training camp, though. 

4) The Packers will win 10 games.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Oh wait.  You're serious.  Let me laugh harder.  HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

If the Packers win more than five games this year, I'll be shocked.   

6) At least nine coaches will be fired this season.

Especially considering the moves in the NBA regarding title or bust, I could see that coming to pass, yes.  

9) DeRapist Rapist will have career highs in rushing yards and touchdowns.  If that's the case, I do see the Browns being at least a minor player.  The NFL loves them some rapist.   

10)  In thinking the new coach in Indianapolis will win Coach of the Year, they do think Indy is going to make a BIG move.

12) Helping to get the 49ers to the Super Bowl, Christian McCaffrey will be the first NFL running back to score 20 touchdowns on the ground in nearly two decades.

14) Also helping to that end, Talanoa Hufanga of the 49ers will lead the league in interceptions.  He only missed by two last year.   

18) At least one major NFL ex-player will run for major political office.  And the odds of him NOT being a Republican, IMODO, are about...  zero.  

20) NFL referee Carl Cheffers will release an Americana album -- and it will win the Grammy in that category.

22) Antonio Brown will be at least called by an NFL team this year.  Please, dear God, fucking NO!!!!! 

23 and 25)  Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray will be on the move.

27)  Predictably, the article predicts the Eagles will NOT win the NFC East.  One thing they note in that favor:  Division has not had a repeat winner since 2006.   

31) The Russell Wilson Experiment in Denver will be a short one.  If so, that might be time for him to retire.   

38)  You will forget to cancel Pay Peacock when you have to have it to watch that exclusive playoff game.  I can see it.  I still have a Sirius XM subscription I barely use.  And with me being on the outs with my former favorite sports-talker and Debbie no longer having a mixtape show on the service... 

42) The NFL gambling investigations will nail someone far larger than they have already.  It would stand to reason and be obvious -- except does the league really want that level of stain on it, especially if it's a Q-Rating quarterback or someone who would otherwise be in the Super Bowl?  Could that be what fells Buffalo, as just an example and not a hunch or accusation?   

45) They think Aaron Rodgers will shut up and play for the Jets.  That would be quite the indictment of the Packer brass, but...  And we did think Favre would do the same in New York, and he didn't.   

50) They also think Ezekiel Elliott will re-sign with the Cowboys.  Can't see it.   

51) With the new rule that any fair catch inside the 25 goes to the 25, you will see more squib kicks.  They'd have to be damn good ones, for to have them do anything, they'd have to get down beyond there and the team make it there to make the play.  Interesting idea.   

52) Tanking will be a continued fan concern, and the NFL will hear about it.  But will they DO ANYTHING?   

55) They predict the Seahawks, Buccaneers, Dolphins, Vikings, and Giants will not make the playoffs.  I think the Vikings are wrong -- I think the better play might be MIN wins vs. the rest of the division in total!  NYG, let's see...  The other three, I believe, are correct.   

63) The Chiefs will be 9-0 at their bye.  This league is so riding Pat Mahomes and Fuck Andy Reid...  That team is league-doghouse from three titles with Mahomes already!   

69)  Three predictions for overs:  IND and LAR at 6.5 wins and DAL at 9.5.  See #10 on IND.  

70)  But DAL will start 0-2.  That will make 10-7 quite difficult, especially in that division!   

74)  The league will instruct Al Michaels to curb gambling talk on his games.  And the thought and reasoning are quite sound!   

78)  They think the Packers might get Carson Wentz to compete with Jordan Love.  Interesting, but not a good idea...   

83)  Contenders will rest players more, seeing the regular season as largely useless, as in other sports.  Load Management is going to become a reality in all sports.   

86)  26 TDs, 13 picks, 3981 yards -- that's what they think Aaron Rodgers will get.  And they think that the Patriots are going to win the East?????   

88)  Super Bowl in Las Vegas:  Taylor Swift does the halftime, and brings surprise friends.  The boondoggle will cost Las Vegas a couple of needed infrastructure projects.

96) Damar Hamlin:  Comeback Player of the Year.  If that's even Damar...  And yes, I have more and more questions as time goes on. 

100)  Joe Burrow, NFL MVP.