People do not understand the Laws...

Champions League Round of 16, second leg between Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund.

The German side won a 1-0 decision at home in the first leg, and now needed to draw Chelsea (there is no away goals rule anymore) to win the tie.

Too bad the Laws of the Game screwed Borussia Dortmund terribly.

Reference this video, from CBS Sports, for how it all went down...

After a 43rd minute goal by Raheem Sterling, we go to the 46th minute for all the drama...

A cross by Chelsea drew a massive penalty shout when it went off the hand of a Borussia Dortmund player.

Turns out, VAR ruled it a penalty -- and they were right!  It's the same penalty which should've been called in that USA-Germany World Cup quarter-final when Frings was able to handball a ball off the goal line by opening his hand and extending the amount of the goal he could (then illegally) block.

Penalty goes off the post, but, then, VAR intervenes again.

A still (shown at 8:24 of the video) shows a jailbreak of players from both teams infringing on the box before the penalty is taken.  At least three players from each team have infringed -- no one can enter the box until the ball is struck.

And here's how Dortmund got screwed:  You'd intrinsically think that, since Chelsea players also infringed, it should be refused.  But since both teams infringed, by Rule 14 of the Laws of the Game:

"[If] a player of both teams offends, the kick is retaken unless a player commits a more serious offence (e.g. 'illegal' feinting)"

I was about to write this as a rigged game, but it's another one of those senseless Laws of the Game motifs.

Ja Morant needs to be non-metaphorically dealt with. By the NBA, by law enforcement, by himself. NOW.

And we have ESPN to thank for the whole shitfest.

The one year Morant was in college, he was the centerpiece -- if not the entire extent -- of the college basketball coverage on the Worldwide Leader.

And the story now appears to be that Morant is completely out of control, as at least FIVE different incidents in the last twenty-four months have surfaced which indicate Morant is, in no way, fit to either be a professional athlete nor a productive member of society:

• May 28, 2021:  Morant and at least three Utah Jazz fans verbally got into it during a Jazz-Grizzlies playoff game.
• July 2022:  Physical violent incident/threats against a Memphis mall guard, after a situation with his mother.  Posse involved, as was the police.  Relevant parties sued Morant and his mother in January of 2023.
• July 2022:  Morant (admits) throwing a punch at a 17-year-old boy during a streetball game.  Another lawsuit filed, and also allegations Morant returned to his home...  to get his gun.  What has happened from there is the subject of a lot of "He Said, He Said".  Morant's lawyer claims the gun situation was not only investigated by law enforcement, but also by the NBA, finding nothing.
• January 29, 2023:  The NBA is compelled to investigate a confrontation between members of the Indiana Pacers and Ja Morant's posse during a Grizzlies-Pacers game.  Several member of the posse are eventually barred from attending any more games, but nothing further -- yet! -- has come from that incident, even though there was a charge that, eventually, red lasers were involved (implying either laser pointers during the game or an implication of laser-sighted guns thereafter, when another confrontation occurred).
• March 4, 2023:  Morant posts on Instagram Live him being outside a strip club, brandishing a gun, and there is some belief he is flashing gang symbols.  Police in Glendale, Colorado are investigating that one.  That was after a 113-97 loss to the Nuggets.  NBA rules prohibit the practice.

And if you listened to some of the squawkfests today, you have to start asking the very real question as to whether, instead of glorifying getting out of the gangs and ghettos, if he wants to try to bring them in to the NBA situation.

Adam Silver, BAN HIM.  Season and playoffs.  Then put out a multi-dimensional investigation on this guy and the last four years (three in the NBA, fourth in college).

There was some speculation Morant might want to be a member of the Crips.  If that's the case, what the Hell would it send, as a message, if the NBA had a card-carrying (more like gun-carrying) member of the Crips running around!!!

March 6, 2023 News and Notes

• Texas A&M basketball coach Mark Adams has been banned from the team for racially insensitive comments made to at least one of the players.   The suspension came down last Thursday.  There is even dispute as to whether he has apologized for the comments, and it appears he is well on his way to being fired.
• A "without cause" firing costs A&M $7 million.  This, and a possible COVID incident, where he allegedly spit on a player earlier in the season, will make this "with cause".
• There are now conflicting reports that the NBA may, actually, have suspended Ja Morant indefinitely (this time, not in dispute with fake videos, etc.), or for at least the rest of this season.
• Two additional incidents from the off-season have also come to light.
• And, perhaps even most concerning, there is now some real discussion that Ja Morant wants to be a member (Hell, I'd propose FRONT-MAN.) of the Crips.

March 5, 2023 News and Notes

• #2 Alabama was defeated at #24 Texas A&M.  The battle of the two top teams in the SEC went to A&M by six points.
• Murder suspect Brandon Miller?  19 points, chucked up 23 shots and made 7.

And yet another statement today...

Brandon Miller of Alabama, accused of (at minimum) accessory to murder on his campus, has been formally disqualified from the 2023 Wooden Award, given to college basketball's player of the year.

And, two weeks in, XFL v. 3.0 is off to a flying start...

Not talking about the ratings here -- more, talking of the possibility that a player needs to be Federally arrested.

And I think this one isn't going to be as ridiculous as some believe some of my claims to this effect are:  The Orlando Guardians have fired and scrubbed quarterback Quinten Dormandy from the team.

He was purportedly seen giving plays to the opposing team from his playbook.

OK, NBA: You can suspend Ja Morant any millennium now.

Earlier this week (and I think I reported it yesterday), there was a deep-fake video of Adam Silver (falsely, at the time) suspending Memphis Grizzlies star player Ja Morant indefinitely.

If Adam Silver has a set of balls, he'll make that real.

A *THIRD* dangerous incident regarding Morant has finally gotten enough league attention this morning, they're going to investigate.

Instagram Live video by Morant, showing a gun inside a nightclub.

EDIT TO ADD 11:10 AM PST:  The Grizzlies have banned Morant for at least the next two games.