Trump to orchestrate USA PyeongChang boycott because of dual attacks on him and Russia??

I was wondering if we might see this, but there is now word that the USOC is going to be pressured by Donald Trump to reconsider American participation in the Olympics 10 weeks from now.

Varying sources of varying credibility are placing discussions three ways:

• Donald Trump is prepared to boycott the Games for the United States unilaterally, given criticisms levied against him by the likes of Lindsey Vonn and others on the team.
• UN ambassador Haley states that the United States cannot go to the Games until the situation in Korea is stable enough to ensure their participation.
• And then the probability that Trump will boycott the Games in support of Vladimir Putin and the Russian state-sponsored doping scheme which fixed the Homophobe-lympics four years ago.

Oh boy...  The USOC has had no discussions, the official word from the White House is that they look forward to going, but...

Congratulations, headshot lovers of the NFL...

Ryan Shazier had spinal surgery today, career probably OVER.

All for your little fake headshot-fest.

EDIT TO ADD:  6:40 PM PDT:  Helmet to helmet hit in the first drive of the Thursday nighter between New Orleans and Atlanta -- and standout New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara suffered a concussion.

Keep believing...

And the Ratings for Week 13 of the NFL

Forgot that in all the haste.

From Sports Media Watch:

• FOX National Window:  Down 18% ratings, 20% viewers.  And the worst-rated and least-watched national window of the six FOX national windows this year.
• FOX Regional Window:  Down 7% ratings, 9% viewers.
• CBS Single:  Down 16% ratings, 18% viewers.
• Thursday night:  Down 10% in both measures.
• But the two national week-enders did quite well!  Sunday night with Philadelphia and Seattle was up 11% in both measures.
• And that Monday night debacle of blood with Cincy and Pittsburgh?  Up 34% ratings and up 30% in viewers.

Wonder how much of that Monday number came after the first of the dirty hits?

But one thing is certain -- it's one or the other:

Either the ratings are lying, or the White Right has spoken.

Daily Wire now reports the two-year hit for NFL ratings (basically since Kaepernick started the protests) is now 15%.

Two Important NFL Developments Today, and both will probably piss off the White Right...

Two important developments that will not strike well with the #NFLBoycott movement:

• Jerry Jones has lost.  Roger Goodell will be the Commissioner of the NFL for the next five years, with a contract that could get him $200,000,000 over that period (though only about $30,000,000 is actually guaranteed, in true NFL style!).

One of the major calls from the White Right to force players to stand for their troops or leave is the firing of Roger Goodell.  And, as little use as he's been on every other subject, the White Right has wanted Goodell fired, and has tanked the ratings of the league the last two years -- the first real endangerment of the sport as the #1 in this country.

Well, he got his contract, Jones notwithstanding.  The question, now, is whether Goodell will grow a spine, look at the record of the Cowboys with league discipline, and attempt to prosecute Jones out of the league for conduct detrimental anyway...

But this might piss off the Manly Men even more:

• The NFL has finally buckled (probably as a result of the criticism from two nights ago being the last straw) and will put on consideration for next year's rules some form of the NCAA targeting rule.

Oh, if this doesn't get the "YOU'RE TURNING OUR SPORT INTO FLAG FOOTBALL!!!  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"...

You fuckers want to see people killed out there.  Stop fucking denying it.

You damn near got your wish Monday night.  Ryan Shazier is still in the hospital after his illegal head-shot caught a rib cage and gave him a spinal contusion!

Someone almost died for you fuckers Monday night, and the bitching and kvetching and bitching...

And bitching...  (hat-tip CM Punk)

makes me think you guys want someone gone and murdered out there for your entertainment.

The NFL should've invoked that rule when college did.  Reason they didn't (and they will only enforce it selectively if they do):  Five ejections a game?  More???

And I see the #HoustonStrong sports propaganda got SI too...

Sportsmen of the year:  JJ Watt for his fundraising, Jose Altuve for leading the Astros to the scripted championship.

Mr. Watt, you deserve it.  Instead of just being propaganda about it, like so many other people (including T-Mobile ramming it down our throats during the playoffs), you walked the walked instead of just talked the talk.  You got on social media and raised $37,000,000 to help Houston.

So please take my congratulations, and excuse yourself from the rest of this post.

But this crap with the #HoustonStrong championship (in the mold of the 9/11 Patriots, Boston after the bombing, and, yes, the Golden Knights are nearly undefeated at home.  17-9-1, 2nd in the Pacific, 11-2 at home)...

And it was so obvious, and it may well have seriously damaged a franchise that, frankly, some fans now believe may never see the light of another championship in this Corporate Era of sports.

That said, it's becoming clear that propaganda and tragedy win.

MORE Week 13 Suspension Blotter

This is a team suspension, and, hence, does not apply to the Club Remittance Policy or any numbers I list as to NFL suspensions for on the field conduct.  However, it is a suspension the NFL should have levied, so I will at least mention it.

• Kansas City Chiefs:  Marcus Peters, suspended one game by the team for ejection-level unsportsmanlike conduct.

Peters, enraged at an official's call in last week's game, took the flag and threw it into the stands.

That should've gotten him tossed from the game, a la Kansas City's Travis Kelce last year.

This is also not the first incident the team has had with Peters this year -- Peters was caught directing an expletive toward the fans at Arrowhead Stadium.

And this is no meaningless game he's gone for -- it's the rematch with Oakland!

It does, however, bring up an interesting point about all the league suspensions for on the field:

• Trevathan:  Bears vs. Packers
• Lynch:  The first game between the Raiders and Chiefs
• Sendejo:  Vikings vs. Ravens
• Evans:  Buccaneers vs. Chiefs
• Talib and Crabtree:  Raiders vs. Broncos
• Gronkowski:  Patriots vs. Bills
• Iloka and Simon-Schuster:  Bengals vs. Steelers

Eight of the nine suspensions have occurred in divisional contests.

And, with the league's scheduling the last several years, it's backloaded with divisional games to increase the tension!

2017 Week 13 Score Report

• 42.31 points per game this week, season-long is now 44.14.
• Home teams had a good week this week:  11-5.  21-11 the last two weeks has finally normalized the home record a bit to 101-86. (.540)
• The over was 6-8-2 this week (yes, TWO pushes) to get the season to exactly .500.
• After several good weeks against the number, Vegas got some back this week, as favorites went only 7-9 against the spread and 10-6 straight up.  For the year:  97-90-5 against the spread and 132-60 straight up.
• In a week where dirty cheap shots made headlines, the team with more penalties drew even this week at 8-8.  Still 76-102 for the year.
• SEVEN non-competitive games this week.  Of the 192 games so far this year, 65, over one-third, have been outside of eight points all of the fourth quarter.
• Three Cliffhangers, including that bloodbath Monday night.   35 for the year.
• Two Last Chance Misses, 34 for the year.
• Only six of the sixteen contests finished within eight points, for only 91 so far in 13 weeks.  That gets us back down to the 48 or so percent it was the last year before I started tracking and that number exploded.

Vegas updates on my totals bets:

• 1-2 this week.  Patriots won for 10-2 (over 12.5).  Lions lost to Baltimore, not a great surprise (6-6, over 7.5).
• The big one that hurt was the Sunday nighter that Seattle won for 8-4 over Philadelphia (under 10.5).  There's still a chance, but that one took a hit.

Playoff storylines:

AFC:

• Pittsburgh over New England at 10-2 on common games, won't matter in two weeks as they play.
• Tennessee is the 3 at 8-4 (and Jacksonville the 5) because of Tennessee beating Jacksonville earlier.
• The AFC West is now a 6-6 clusterfuck.  The Chiefs, Raiders, and Chargers are 6-6.  The Chiefs have the 4 seed right now on division record.
• Baltimore is the 6 with an untiebreaker 7-5.  Meaning every AFC team over .500 is in the playoffs, and one of the 6-6s.
• There are four AFC teams that are 6-6, three more that are 5-7.

NFC:

• Minnesota now has the 1 seed over Philly at 10-2 after Philly's loss Sunday night -- common games is the tiebreaker.
• The Rams have the 3 seed and New Orleans the 4 at 9-3 because the Rams beat the Saints.
• Seattle and Carolina are the two wild-cards at 8-4, Seattle has the 5 on conference record.
• Seattle and Carolina do not play, nor do Minnesota and Philadelphia.