Day 302

• We finally lost Lasorda today.  Tommy Lasorda passed today at age 93, after a long illness.
• Tonight is Alex Trebek's final episode of Jeopardy.
• One day after the first episode of ABC's The Chase, which features the three greatest Jeopardy champions as the mercenaries attempting to keep players from the big money.  ABC and the host of the show dedicated the nine-episode series to Trebek in a top-of-the-show statement.
• Appears to be the beginnings of a COVID outbreak in the NBA -- Robert Williams of the Celtics is positive (placing two more in the protocol), as did Seth Curry of the 76ers (but wasn't told til he had been on the bench the entire first quarter).  The 76ers have to stay in New York for contact tracing and testing.
• At least six top-flight superstar MLB pitchers have been named in a lawsuit against the Angels by a visiting clubhouse manager who apparently provided them (and others) with illegal substances to aid in gripping the ball.  I'm STILL wondering how this doesn't at least get a criminal investigation going.  That's the VISITING clubhouse manager.  

1. Gerrit Cole
2. Justin Verlander
3. Corey Kluber
4. Adam Wainwright
5. Max Scherzer
6. Felix Hernandez

• At least almost a week before the start of the NHL season, the Dallas Stars will not be able to begin because of coronavirus protocols.
• Trump's ban from Twitter is now permanent -- he is also banned from Twitch.
• The impeachment of Trump over the Capitol riot probably goes to the House on Monday.

Day 301: The Day After

• There is a report that says Tommy John has the coronavirus.
• His son is an anti-vaxxer idiot -- and proclaims the report to be fake.  Fuck you.  
• Because of COVID, the Cleveland Browns will be coached this weekend by Mike Priefer -- who once said that gays should be "nuked".  And the NFL will do nothing...  Michael Sam, anyone???   
• One of the most popular emojis on Twitch, the "Pogchamp" emoji, has been removed from the service.  Why?  The man pictured in the emoji, Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez, was caught inciting part of Wednesday's rioting in Washington, DC on his Twitter account.  He is also a believer that COVID and the vaccine are part of Bill Gates' "Agenda 21" depopulation movement, a common right-wing conspiratorial point.
• The head of the Capitol Police has resigned, taking heat for apparently taking sides with the protestors.
• One of his subordinates has apparently died as a result of the riot, bringing the death toll to at least five now?
• About 5 Pacific on Thursday night, Awesome Games Done Quick has passed the $1,000,000 mark for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Day 300: It's on.

A riot, on the day Congress is working on the Electoral College, has locked down the Capitol most of the day.

The scene is largely reminiscent of the armed mob which attempted to descend on Michigan's capital about a month into this Covidiocy.  The US Capitol was violently breached by Trump supporters this morning as a first counterattack in the Second American Civil War declared by BLM, etc. seven months ago.

There is some discussion that either the Congress is back to meeting in the Capitol to continue the attempt to certify the election (MSN) OR that they are actually in a secret location and FINALLY ready to invoke the 25th Amendment -- this after the National Guard was activated to quell the riot, Trump stood them down, Pence reactivated them.

The situation is extremely fluid.  It DOES appear that an overthrow effort is in it's nascent stages in the state of Washington -- that Capitol has been stormed as well.

At least one person has been killed in the riot, shot by the police.

Donald Trump's Twitter account has FINALLY been softlocked for at least 12 hours (took place in the last four), and at least two posts have been removed from the service for inciting violence.

In short:  It's on.

I guess it finally took the last vestiges of the certification of the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (plus a sweep of the two Senate seats in Georgia for the Democrats, giving the Democrats the tiebreaker control of the body on January 22nd or whenever they seat) to do it.

Trump has to go, and he has to go tonight.  Whatever legal or quasi-legal means to remove him, he has to go tonight, or we can kiss it all goodbye, soon.

More as it becomes apparent.

• And, about 7 Eastern, a new threat against the Capitol.  Back on lockdown.
• Now word about 8 Eastern that the Senators are returning.
• CBS News now reports (8:40 PM Eastern) that members of the Cabinet are, in fact, in communication with each other to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency via the 25th Amendment.  The 25th requires that the Vice-President (who is not involved as of yet) and the Cabinet declare the President unfit.
• Facebook has (9 Eastern) just banned Trump for at least one full day.
• At least one major manufacturing group and the Miami Herald (and Miami was one of the major centers which got Trump Florida in November!!) are calling for the invocation of the 25th.
• Now, so has the House Judiciary Committee.  But, again, the 25th MUST be invoked by the VP and a majority of the Cabinet.
• Large weapons caches and homemade bombs have been discovered near the National Committee offices of both parties this evening.
• Trump's deputy Press Secretary has resigned.
• His Secretary of Transportation is considering it.
• The first major challenge has been rebuffed magnificently by the Republican Senate:  At 10:10 PM Eastern tonight, the US Senate rejected the challenge to Arizona's electoral votes going to Joe Biden by a margin of 93 against to 6 for.
• Pigfucker former football coach and new US Senator Tommy Tuberville was one of the six affirmatives.
• It is apparent that the woman shot and killed was inside the Capitol and going after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• An ABC News analyst (I didn't get his name) said that a YouGov poll today says that 45% of the Republicans polled (no clue as to how many were in the poll) actually supported the storming of the Capitol building today.
• With about 115 votes still to cast (10:50 PM Eastern), the House of Representatives has also rejected the Arizona challenge.  However, unlike the Senate, a significant number of Republicans (over 100 now, with the voting still going on past time), are in support.
• At least three others have died as a result of health emergencies during the riots in DC today.
• Now the Washington Post has added it's call for Trump's immediate removal.
• 121 Republican House members voted to affirm the Arizona challenge in the House.  Still failed by a significant margin.
• After a similar smackdown of the Pennsylvania challenge, sufficient electoral votes are now in.  Joe Biden is the next President, Kamala Harris the next VP -- unless Trump is removed between now and the 20th.
• And a nation now holds it's breath, especially with a near-fight on the House floor just beforehand.

Day 299

• More pressure on the English Premier League to call it off.  Now up to forty positive tests, and lockdowns throughout England.
• The Browns have more positives (two coaches, two players, and head coach Kevin Stefanski), so Mike Priefer will be the acting head coach for Super Wild Card Weekend. 
• And, later on, apparently two members of the Browns got caught drag racing...
• Tonight is the Heisman Trophy ceremony -- two Alabama players and Clemson QB Lawrence are among the four finalists, and a third Alabama player finished fifth!
• Two important days in American politics the next two days:  Today is the two Georgia runoff Senate seats -- and if the Dems win them both, they win the Senate for the next two years...
• ... if the Congress, after closed-session debate after the challenges tomorrow, approves Joe Biden's victory in the Electoral College.
• Kota Ibushi is the new IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion, defeating Tetsuya Naito on night one and Jay White on night two of Wrestle Kingdom 15.
  
• DeVonta Smith of Alabama won the 2020 Heisman Trophy.
• Significance?  He's a wide receiver.  He becomes the first non-QB since Derrick Henry of Alabama won in 2015.  He becomes only the third non-QB this century, all running backs, to win the award and be able to keep it.

Day 298: The NFL's Black Monday...

• The second head coach to be fired is the LA Chargers'.  Anthony Lynn is out after four years.  "Falling short of expectations", Spanos?  You have no fans, no hope, and no real future.  Fold the team and get out of the fucking NFL!  Fuck you, Spanos!   
• The third is Jacksonville's Doug Marrone.  That's what happens when you go 1-15 and win the #1 Draft Pick.  After winning 10 games his first season and making it to the Conference Championship, Marrone's Jaguars have gone 12-36!  They won as many games (including playoffs) in 2017-18 as they have the three seasons since.  They fired the GM during the season.  This is another good candidate for NFL contraction, if the league finally loses it's status as a mint to make money.  
• The Lions (November 28) , Texans (October 5) and Falcons (October 12) already have fired their head coaches.  So that's six, and it's only 1 PM Eastern.
• If the 2021 March Madness is held, it will be held entirely in the state of Indiana.  Good fucking luck.   
• In a signal that $Cam may be about done in the NFL, he's saying it's too early to tell whether he'll accept a backup role.
• Numerous calls for the NFL to investigate last night's thrown Week 17 game with the Eagles  (several of them from Sports Illustrated).  Word is also leaking out, through "sources", Carson Wentz wants out.
• This IS going to be as bad as 2020, if not worse, isn't it???  About 5:15 this evening, announced from the Dodgers, the passing of Sandi Scully, Vin's wife of 47 years.
• Marty Scurll has been fired from Ring of Honor Wrestling for his improprieties exposed in the #SpeakingOut campaign from last summer.
• Today begins the final week of Alex Trebek's tenure on Jeopardy!  
• Kevin Durant will quarantine due to high-risk contacts for COVID, and miss four games as a result.
• Villanova's men's basketball team will postpone three for the same reason.

I know a lot of this is probably salt from a rival team, but the Spidey Sense is definitely tingling on this one...

Did the Philadelphia Eagles take a dive last night to put the Washington Football Team into the playoffs?

Many New York Giants fans think so, and I do have to wonder, after seeing two things...

One:  Why, after Jalen Hurts scores two rushing touchdowns in the first half and looks like he's moving the offense, he gets pulled in a three-point game for completely-unproven Nate Sundfeld because the coach wanted to get him some reps...

Two:  This was basically the last meaningful shot the Eagles had -- 4th and inches for Washington -- the two minute warning has just occurred -- midfield, and the Football Team is only up six points...

So why is Washington going for it, first off?

And then...  (It'll probably make you have to watch it on YouTube itself...)

The Philadelphia Eagles appear to have thrown last night's game to fuck the Giants.  HOO BOY -- who made THAT CALL in the league office, and why would anyone, at this juncture, want to bail out Dan Snyder??!?!????

2020-21 Start of Playoffs NFL Power Rankings

AFC:

1. It's Kansas City, and then it's everybody else.

Super Bowl LV is so looking like "Kansas City 41 -- Insert Fill In The Blank 17", it's not even funny.

There's a reason that Kansas City, as of right now, is +180 (9-5) to win the Super Bowl, and the next team, Green Bay, is +450 (9-2).

The reason they are so prohibitive of favorites is one narrative -- The New Man, Patrick Mahomes.

I don't need to tell you that the league has now spent THREE seasons basically installing this guy as probably the next Brady, perhaps even more than that.  I think it's clear that, barring an injury, an incident, or a change in the narrative, the Chiefs are winning five Super Bowls at some point in the next 8-10 years, counting last year as the first.

I think they are so prohibitive of political favorites that you may actually consider the unthinkable -- that the Chiefs are going to be prohibitive favorites to be the first team EVER to win three in a row.  And that might be just the beginning.

But there's two major hitches:  First, Kansas City, though it's fan base is growing with the bandwagoners, does NOT have a national following.  This Super Bowl is likely to be the least-watched in 30 years.  Though Mahomes and KC are a Hell of a story (only eight times has the Lombardi Trophy been successfully defended in the first place), it just doesn't seem Chiefs Nation has the reach of even Raider Nation, much less Cowboy or Packer Nation.

The second is the White Right.  You look up and down the list of teams in these playoffs.  How many Black quarterbacks starting?  Hell, New Orleans passed up the guy they just picked up in the offseason to go with an unproven talent because he was White.  Yeah, I'll say it, I believe it.

Get through those two hitches, though, and this is a fait accompli of massive proportions.

Next game:  January 16 or 17, TBD.

2.  I guess you have to go Buffalo here, but that gives you an idea of just how far down you have to go from one to the next.

Pittsburgh is flat on it's back.  Cleveland isn't ready and I'm not sure the league wants to showcase them anyway.  One of Baltimore and Tennessee, who would otherwise probably be contending for #2, will be out after the first weekend.

So Buffalo, who inherits the Earth the departure of Tom Brady from the AFC East, takes the mantle of "Any Given Sunday", which would give even the least of teams hope in the NFL going forward.

But is that the QUIETEST 13-3 in NFL history?  Not necessarily quiet because of fraud, like, say, the Pack last year.  More quiet because of irrelevance.

Next game:  Home against Indianapolis, first game Saturday.  CBS

3.  Tennessee, smidge over Baltimore for the White Right angle.

Tennessee has always has kind of a sleeper this year, with the running game being the forefront.

They're a very good team, but I think it's clear they are a step (or more) below Kansas City, and I'm not sure they have an up on Buffalo either.  That Green Bay game could've spoken wonders, but...

Next game:  Home to Baltimore, first game Sunday.  ABC/ESPN.

4) Baltimore

You know there's always one game where it seems two teams which should be in Divisional Weekend are playing each other on Wild Card Weekend.

Though I think Baltimore has the bigger star, I think Tennessee has the narrative here.  I could very easily see Lamar Jackson as that junior quarterback (a Peyton Manning or the like) who doesn't quite get to the top as much as he is seen to as "should" -- and this is for the same reason I see the second problem with KC.

Next game:  At Tennessee, first game Sunday, ABC/ESPN.

5) Cleveland

Oh, but for a couple earlier weeks in the season for Pittsburgh to fall flat on ass.

Next game:  At Pittsburgh, Sunday nightcap  NBC family

6)  Pittsburgh

11-0 to frauds, basically overnight.

Next game:  Home to Cleveland, Sunday nightcap, NBC family

7) Indianapolis

That win over Green Bay looks like a distant memory now.

Next game:  At Buffalo, first game Saturday, CBS.

Predictions, as I see the narrative now:

Buffalo over Indy

Cleveland over Pittsburgh

Tennessee over Baltimore in a tight game

Kansas City over Cleveland

Buffalo over Tennessee

Kansas City destroys Buffalo to win the AFC easily.

NFC:

1)  I'm still going with Tom Brady here.

I really think Green Bay at #1 is a SURROGATE.  There was one team, and one alone, which destroyed the Packers in the regular season.  The Indy win was an overtime GotW, the loss to Minnesota a flat performance, completely unexpected.

Green Bay was the highest scoring team in the NFL this year, held to ten points in a 38-10 romp.  No other team held the Pack under 22 (and that was the loss to Minnesota!).  

You know what that reminds me of???  San Francisco, last year.

And with everything appearing to go toward Mahomes, you really have two angles here if they go with Tampa:  Does Tom Brady get #7 as the White Right quarterback?  Or does he pass the torch truly as The Next Man to Mahomes?

As a result, I think, even though with the extra game and road movement, I do think Tampa Bay has the narrative here.

Next game:  At Washington, Saturday nightcap, NBC

2) As much as I hem and haw, and as much I don't think they're making it out of Divisional Weekend because they're going to be beaten by Tampa, I have to go Green Bay here, basically for lack of other options.

Especially if they are going to play the race card here, Russell Wilson is a question mark.  The Rams and the whole LA Experiment are as fraudulent as they were two years ago.  You still have to convince me the league won't screw New Orleans a third time, as well as can Brees' rib cases hold up.  Washington?  Please...  And the Bears...  still suck.

And there's one more very important angle which really will not have me dispute any Packer fan, even with difference of belief regarding the legitimacy of the games, about the Packers playing in the Super Bowl with two wins at Lambeau:  Packer Nation.  Again, this is going to be the least watched Super Bowl in circa 30 years.  This game, this league, NEEDS a stalwart fanbase who's going to cushion the losses.

Next game:  January 16 or 17, TBD.

The league has, really, two options here to save the ratings -- this is one...

3) Seattle is the other.  But, again, can the league afford two Black quarterbacks in a Super Bowl in which a large part of White America has functionally turned it's back on the National Religion?

It certainly has the biggest cult fanbase in the NFL in the 12th Man, but is that going to be enough?

Next game:  Home to the Rams, Saturday middle game, FOX

4) New Orleans COULD, very easily, get to the Super Bowl.  It would make all the sense in the world, and be an effective replay of Super Bowl XXXVII, where the team that got screwed (now, twice!) is basically there to play patsy for the NFL's narrative.

That said, two major concerns:  The fix plays into the kayfabe:  The biggest thing about New Orleans is:  "Don't tell me, show me."

And, secondly, does Drew Brees have enough ribcage left to get to Tampa for the Super Bowl?

Next game:  Home to Chicago, Sunday middle game, CBS/Amazon/Nickolodeon kid's based broadcast

5) The LA Rams are a product that the league still would want the LA Experiment to APPEAR to work.

There are three MAJOR problems, however:

a) The Chargers are done as a going concern.  They exist simply as a printing press for about the money of the six fans the team has left.  The NFL needs to chuck the Chargers and Spanos, create an expansion franchise someplace else, and cut losses.

b) You still have major questions about the future of LA in general, especially as the city and region continue to deteriorate.  You think you had it bad coming to Raider games in Oakland and in that part of the Bay Area?  That may be nothing to what Inglewood might look like if and when fans are allowed to return...

c) ... and when are fans going to be allowed to return?  I mean, if they don't recall Newsom, and especially with the second strain now becoming apparent in the States, are we looking 2023 before crowds can come back? If the "freedumb" Covidiots out here have their way, 2024?

Of what good is a shiny new stadium no one is going to be allowed into going to be, for the city and for the NFL?

Next game:  At Seattle, Saturday middle game, FOX

6) Chicago just kind of is...  there as the last team really standing of "everybody else" in the NFC.

Next game:  At New Orleans, Sunday middle game, CBS/Amazon/Nickelodeon kid's based broadcast

7) And Washington and that entire division need separate investigations.  The league needs rid of Daniel Snyder and needs rid of him yesterday.

Next game:  Home to Tampa Bay, Saturday nightcap, NBC

Predictions:

Tampa over Washington

Seattle over LA Rams

New Orleans over Chicago

Tampa over Green Bay

Seattle over New Orleans through screwjon

Tampa over Seattle

Kansas City 41- Tampa Bay 17