Super Bowl LII(E), One Versus All: The Official Super Fraud Prediction

As I start this, we are about 3 1/2 hours before kickoff.  I'm still not sure I'm going to watch the game as I have the last several Super Bowls (out in a restaurant, notebook in full effect)...

The National Football League is in about as much trouble as it has been over the last 25 years:

• The league now has a serious on-field thuggery problem it can no longer ignore.  (Both injurious play and unsportsmanlike conduct against the officials.)
• The entire mode of operation (sans the Patriots -- Gronkowski incident excepted) has been "Hit them.  Hurt them.  Put them out.  Win."
• For the first time since the first XFL, a top-level league will compete with it in three years.
• For the first time (period):  The NFL has made the rulings, officiating, and the conspiracy for the Patriots the main storyline of these playoffs.

And so, for the eighth time in the 9/11 National Religion Era, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick will lead the New England Patriots to play for the NFL's championship.

For, realistically, the first time I can think of:  On a national scale, their opponents have been rendered an absolute IRRELEVANCY.  I've said it myself (and did two weeks ago when it appeared the initial plan -- or at least the leaked one to misdirect, should you believe the NFL went that route):  The opponent today is irrelevant to the process.

This is, and always has been, about the New England Patriots.  And, really, they've been the only team to matter since (with respect to this season) the day the league ended the season of the Pittsburgh Steelers back in Week 15.  The league, barring some sort of scandal scenario, has told you for SEVEN WEEKS that the New England Patriots are winning this game today.

Another angle to look at is Las Vegas.  I pulled up a report from Vegas Insider, looking at the current situation.  Most books have the line NE -4 with the total 49.  They really don't want to move either, in the eyes of a Bookie's Hangman scenario:  A Super Bowl Middle.

They're getting Over money, and a lot of it, especially in parlays.

Late money has finally come in on the Patriots, after almost two weeks of getting blasted with big-money Philadelphia plays.  Still, with only a few (but very prominent -- the Wynn and the Superbook are two) exceptions, Vegas, almost across the board, needs a Patriots win.  And most need the game to go Under the 49.

However, there is one final scenario picking at it all here, and it's one that I think will decide how this game goes:

This whole Brady/Belichick thing about that doctor, Alex Guerrero.

It all seems like a backstory, frankly, to most people.  To me, however, I go back to when I was watching the spectacle of 80,000 in Philadelphia for the first round of the NFL Draft -- thinking "They've [Brady and Belichick] accomplished everything there is in this league.  Why are they coming back?"

The answer was obvious:  Another ring, and, for Brady, this would tie Jordan.

But he's 40.  He is the fifth-oldest player in the league -- and the oldest player in the league not a kicker or punter.  (Ironically, the kicker who consummated the first of this rig-job, Adam Vinatieri, is the oldest at 44.)

And there are increasing questions about this doctor of his.  So much so that Bill Belichick banned him in December from whatever he could with respect to the Patriots.

That indicates to me a scary reality that would not only shake the foundations of the NFL, but would also shake the foundations of the Republican right-wing arm of this Patriots dynasty:  Tom Brady was invited, by then-First Lady Laura Bush, to the State of the Union Address, and was represented to the cameras during an anti-steroids-in-sports statement by President George W. Bush as a paragon of drug-free play.

I'm going to say it:  If that was ever true, it's not now.  I believe today will be Tom Brady's last game, and I do not believe it is his choice.

I also do not believe it will be through injury either, just for the record.

Whether it becomes a function that something gets exposed or not, I believe Tom Brady will walk away with the six titles.

And that's why I think this game will not be particularly close.  Not only did the NFL already play this card from last year's Super Bowl (so much that there are actually hats with the FOX Scoreboard at 28-3 Falcons -- I know, I saw one yesterday on a Brady-uniformed Patriots fan in my hometown!), but I believe that NBC will need the fourth quarter to place Brady into Sports Godhood next to NBC's Patron God, Michael Jordan.

With that in mind, my prediction is 31-10 New England.

Super Bowl LII(E), One Versus All: Canton Welcomes The Worst Class Ever For Football

Ray Lewis

Randy Moss

Terrell Owens

All elected to the Hall of Fame today.

ESPN, congratulations, you just got the fucking class you wanted!

The NFL of today of the headshots and injuries and taunting and fights and trash-talk and all that shit started with these three guys and a four-letter network which glorified all of it!

And now, the whole she-bang heads to Canton.

Fuck the Hall of Fame.

OK, PGA of America... SHUT THESE FUCKING GALLERIES UP!!

(I would never believe I actually have four or five non-football bloggable posts on Super Bowl Weekend, but here you go...)

There have been at least THREE incidents of crowd misconduct of the NEW GOLF FAN screaming during a prominent golfer's swing...

First was Tiger Woods last week.

Now, one can easily accuse that the fans Tiger Woods has brought into the sport are largely responsible for this shit.  But the fact is that we now have fans out here who have no problem screaming their fucking heads off at inopportune times.

Just ask Jordan Spieth, who's going home from the Phoenix Open after at least two incidents caused him to miss the cut.

Golf.com (through my anonymous friend golf fan) has the gory details...

"For Jordan Spieth, the heckling also began during Thursday's first round. In the middle of his downswing on his final hole, the par-4 18th, a female fan yelled, "Tater tots!" Jordan found the fairway and the fan was removed, but Spieth did not to speak to the media after posting a disappointing 72."

"On Friday, Spieth found himself battling to make the cut. Facing a long birdie putt to get inside the cut line, Spieth took the putter back, and, as reported by Golfweek, a male fan yelled, "I have 100 bucks on you, Jordan!"

Needless to say, Spieth missed the putt as well as a chance to hang around for the weekend — his first missed cut in over eight months."

Either get these galleries to shut the fuck up during the swing, or start throwing galleries out carte blanche.  You are getting dangerously close to a gallery going rogue and deciding a tournament on their own.

Not been a good week for video games or video gaming here...

(Hat-tip to my anonymous friend again for research and some bullet points.)

Several articles showing that this has not been a good week since the Twin Galaxies situation started:

• It now appears that two of the most famous records in video gaming were frauds, in addition to the ones you already know about -- and both involve (increasingly in)famous video-game "record-holder" Billy Mitchell.

Mitchell is long believed to be the first person to ever complete Pac-Man to the point where the screen would crash, making further progress impossible, with the maximum number of points possible.

This person would like to beg to differ:

This video, from about 4 months ago, indicates another player claims he was given a congratulatory letter from Midway Games for the same fate...

SEVENTEEN YEARS before it is claimed Mitchell did it.  And, not only that, but the purported letter states (and the player admits -- he does not want to be referred as the first to do this!) that, though no records were kept, Midway believed someone (rumors have it a Southern California teenager) did it before him.

And now, controversy reignited over the famous "King of Kong" Donkey Kong records will now almost-certainly nullify Mitchell's world-famous "achievements".  (AV Club)

A prominent Donkey Kong forum has already removed his scores from their records.  Twin Galaxies and Jace Hall released a statement today...  They're still investigating.

At the core of this is that it is believed any video evidence given was made illegally from a MAME emulator, against Twin Galaxies rules.

The implosion of the entire 1980's "world record" scene and the Twin Galaxies clique that guarded and glorified it would be bad enough...

• Intrepid research has indicated that referee Ron Corcoran is not the only high-profile pedophile in the Twin Galaxies clique.  A purported tipster in the rarely-used Kotaku In Action subreddit claims over a year ago that Stephen Krogman, a former world-record holder on Galaga during the same era and is being lauded as such by both Twin Galaxies and Billy Mitchell...

... even though a Florida records search indicates Krogman was convicted in 2001 of five felonies involving sex and masturbation with and in front of someone between 12 and 15 years old.  Three of them carried 15 year maximum sentences, the other two, 5.

Krogman is on the outside, but he shouldn't be.

• The Game Developers Conference has fallen into controversy after they revoked the 2018 Pioneer Award from Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell.  The charges are decades old, which makes one wonder why they only became relevant now, in the light of #MeToo -- women, hot tubs, the 1970's, what have you...
• An official PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds charity match was discredited when the on-screen commentator appeared to have caught the winner cheating.  The winner of said match was claimed to know the location of all other players on the map, without being allowed to do so.  Many Twitch viewers on the charity event for Extra Life wanted the player banned, no word if he was.  (Kotaku sub-site Steamed)
• And tonight, another pedophilia charge against a major video-game figure.  Jess Cliffe, 36, was arrested for sexual exploitation involving a child, and remanded to custody, no bail -- in Seattle, Washington.  He is the co-creator of esports pioneer Counter-Strike.   (Kotaku)

Here's a hint, gamers and gaming industry:

STOP GIVING THE FUCKING REPUBLICAN NAZIS IN THIS FUCKING COUNTRY AMMUNITION TO GET THE ENTIRE ART-FORM OUTLAWED.

Because now you're getting even people like me beginning to wonder how many more #MeToo's (Tara Strong, prominent in the video-game community, has admitted on Twitter she's been assaulted, as one example -- not sure if it was in the gaming industry or otherwise...) or WORSE...

But, in the same vein as the "All Anime Is Child Porn" false meme given credence due to the rise of moe and underage anime that probably IS some degree of child porn, the video-gaming industry and gamers are giving credence to the darkest and most regressive wishes of Republicans like those who want to see Grand Theft Auto banned.

(Or the ones who are seeing surveys purporting some 20-somethings would rather collect welfare and play video games than work...)

We're headed for a baseball work stoppage. Only question is WHEN...

I have a baseball-historian friend who reads this blog and often contributes.  Said friend is certain we are back in the Collusion Era.

No reason to believe that my friend is wrong here, especially when you see that it is February, we are maybe 3 weeks or so from pitchers and catchers, and the hot stove is more like an icebox this year, sans a few people moving to the chosen teams and rivals of the Dodgers in the NL West.

Now, according to ESPN, Brodie Van Wagenen (a prominent MLB agent, with Creative Artists Agency) is proposing that the players may go on a spring training boycott as the first action against this slow market and deliberate means by teams like Derek 2eter's "Project Wolverines" in Miami to reduce payroll...

From the ESPN article:

"There is a rising tide among players for radical change," Van Wagenen said in a Twitter post Friday. "A fight is brewing. And it may begin with one, maybe two, and perhaps 1,200 willing to follow. A boycott of spring training may be a starting point, if behavior doesn't change.

"Bottom line, the players are upset. No, they are outraged. Players in the midst of long-term contracts are as frustrated as those still seeking employment. Their voices are getting louder and they are uniting in a way not seen since 1994."

I'll tell you what, players:  If you do decide to walk, do so with ESPN as well.  Yes, the owners ARE openly colluding.  I'd be interested in to seeing, if I had $3 billion or so to make up a team, what kind of team I'd have with just guys not getting money in the market this year...

My friend points out another fact that is probably upsetting the players:  Deadspin reported numbers which indicate the owner-player split in baseball of baseball revenues is now past 60-40 to the owners!!

The writer of the article (Emma Baccelieri) made a graph of league revenue from Forbes vs. player's salaries from Cot's Contracts.

When the current luxury tax system started (2002), players got about 56% of league revenues.

By 2007, 42%.  It's been 40% or below the last five seasons.

By contrast, Baccelieri points out the NBA's CBA requires 49-51%, the NFL47-48%.

I mean, is it any wonder that national outlets like ESPN are openly telling teams to cut payroll, increase profits, and throw in the towel???

We're getting a work stoppage.  Only question is how much longer the players want to take this crap.

Doesn't look like it at first glance, but good call on the NBA and the like on this one!

Bit of a kerfluffle last night as Denver fans were celebrating a win over Oklahoma City.

Russell Westbrook was trying to get off the court when a Denver fan just HAD TO GET IN HIS FACE on the arena floor.

Westbrook did shove him in the shoulder to get him out of his way, security did the rest.

Westbrook won't be punished for defending himself -- shitbag fan is banned.

Super Bowl LII(E), One Versus All: As Deadspin says, Just Ask Surprised. Or, better yet, don't.

In a quiet week that is 99+% Patriots...

• Deadspin has confirmed that Tom Brady has won the NFL MVP award for this year, even though the announcement does not come out til the weekend.

Well, more correctly, it was Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald who tweeted the following, and look CLOSELY at the close-up:

NFL MVP will be awarded this weekend, but someone was carrying Tom Brady's acceptance speech in plain view of media during Pats presser today.... pic.twitter.com/Oxo2DUKSyJ

— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) February 2, 2018

This entire week has been like 90% Brady and Belichick, and over 99% Patriots. About the only Eagles stuff this week is Chris Long boycotting Donald Trump if they win, another Eagle in a Lucha Libre mask, and a late sickness having a number of Eagle starters under the weather in Minneapolis...

Oh, that, and...

• The Let It Ride bettor is over $6 million now, Eagles to win -- another million at the start of this week at William Hill, according to ESPN.