*The judges note this could also be the headline for No. 3….
The Northeast got hit with a major bomb cyclone yesterday, and it was glorious!!!! Schools were closed and people left work early to hit the saloons in the late afternoon and experience the two greatest words in city winter living: SNOW BEERS!
Some serious hunkering down went on. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
2. When They Get High, We Go Low*
*The judges will also accept “Pot Sticklers”
Attorney general Jeff Sessions, who as a diehard conservative is all about states’ rights, suddenly decides that it’s a good idea to rescind states’ right in terms of marijuana legalization. Because why? Meanwhile, home-brewers of beer continue to make their raspberry-flavored pilsners with no interference from the government.
3. Call Us When They Devise A Way To Make It Glow In The Dark
In his farewell address in Chicago last January, outgoing (in every sense of the word) president Barack Obama spoke in his typical even-keeled manner for more than 20 minutes, but I did hear that one little dog-whistle statement that he dropped in near the end of the speech (I do believe we took note of it at the time, too). It was so subtle, so artfully crafted, that you might have missed it, so allow me to reprint those nine little words here:
“Reality has a way of catching up with you”
And so now we have Michael Wolff’s book, Fire and Fury, which has made the patron saint of firing people furious. Yesterday the White House sent a cease-and-desist publishing letter to Wolff’s publishers, who responded by moving up the release date from January 9th to today. This is what you can still do when you live in a democratic republic (which we technically still have) and not an authoritarian dictatorship, which our current POTUS would prefer.
Enjoy the shame, Donald. You’ve more than earned it.
Went down a little Benjamin Orr rabbit hole the other night when I realized that, despite the fact that most people identify Ric Ocasek with The Cars, it is Orr who sang lead vocals on just about every one of my favorite tunes of theirs: “Let’s Go,” “Bye Bye Love,” “All Mixed Up,” “Just What I Needed,” and this song, an underrated classic from Candy-O (1979) with some beautiful lovesick lyrics:
One too many times I fell over you Once in a shadow I finally grew And once in a night I dreamed you were there I cancelled my flight from going nowhere
Onstage, Orr, who died of pancreatic cancer at age 53 in 2000, looked like the consummate rock star. He may be the best-looking lead singer that ever lived (he looked like a Disney prince). But he never played the David Lee Roth/Freddie Mercuy type, he just sang the songs and played his bass and kept a low profile. When The Cars are inducted into the Rock and Roll HOF next year, let’s all raise a glass to him.
Remote Patrol
Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
Netflix
The greatest mobile talk show in web history moves to Netflix (that Jerry Seinfeld is smart as a fox, small “f”, isn’t he?). Favorite episodes we’d point you to: Howard Stern, Tina Fey, Barack Obama, Larry David.
BREAKING: Attorney general Jeff Sessions moves to eliminate marijuana safeguards for states where it is legal: “When they get high, we go low.”
Starting Five
Michael Wolff, who launched the most potent attack yet on the Trump presidency….
Wolff: Blitzer*
*The judges will also accept “You’re Fired and Fury’ed”
A journalistic bomb cyclone dropped on The Worst Wing yesterday as excerpts from reporter Michael Wolff’s forthcoming book (January 9th; see cover below) were published in New York magazine. You should read it for yourself (hyperlink above), but the overwhelming sense is that this was also a confederacy of liars, fools and grifters and that yes, the recriminations of folks such as your truly were always justified.
Moreover, since the report appeared yesterday, you’ve not heard a peep from one of its primary sources, Steve Bannon. The silence speaks volumes, as if to say what you are reading is true. The only defense of Team Trump is to deny it all, the way Roy Moore denied it all, the way Trump previously denied the sexual harassment claims of 19 women.
Part of the beauty of all this is that somehow Wolff got Worst Wing access that no one else in the print media was able to obtain, plopped himself on a couch there daily, and just absorbed the infighting and backstabbing and the president and his team were either so incompetent or disorganized or vainglorious that no one took notice or at least appreciated the damage that he had the potential to wreak. They do now.
Meanwhile, this was not in the magazine excerpt but pulled from the galleys. Wow.
Meanwhile, I imagine President Trump will be handing a special trophy to Mr. Wolff at Monday’s first annual Fake News Awards, which will be must-see TV.
2. Sager Saga
This is not a story arc from Dallas or Falcon Crest, but real life involving a recently deceased former sideline reporter. It appears peacock-festooned blazer wearer Craig Sager was a little parsimonious with the fortune, leaving it all to his second wife, the former Luv-a-Bull cheerleader, Stacy Strebel, whom he met and began dating while he was still married to his first wife.
And now all the dirty laundry is airing. What would Coach Pop say? Here’s his adult daughter from his first marriage, Kacy Sager, shedding light on the drama.
Alright, declined an interview w/ @TMZLive but told them I’d give them an official statement. Not sure where that will end up, so I’m posting it here.
Please read this before making any judgments. Or don’t, and accept your fate as an uninformed a-hole. Up to you. pic.twitter.com/WnH48NxdzE
The most prolific ‘baller in college hoops this season? Based on class, it may not be Trae Young of Oklahoma (who leads Division I men in both scoring, 29.6 per game, and assists, 10.7) but Kelly Williams of Division III Randolph-Macon. Like Young, Williams is a freshman but is taller at 6’3″. Through 11 games the North Carolina native leads D-3 in scoring (25.2) AND in rebounding, averaging a remarkable 19.5 boards per game. Perhaps she should be playing Division I?
In a defeat last night, Williams put up 38 points and 18 rebounds. The previous game she went for 22 and 22 for the Yellow Jackets.
Howard is 5’11” so his 52 (5, 1+1) is fitting
Unrelated, but Marquette’s Markus Howard put up 52 in an overtime win at Providence. Even more impressive, perhaps Grambling State’s Shakyla Hill recorded the first quadruple-double in women’s D-I college hoops in 25 years—15 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals—in a 93-71 win over Alabama State. The 10th assist came on a three-pointer in the closing seconds.
4. The Ripple Effect
There’s always something new, and there’s (almost) always a bull market somewhere. Two months ago I was pleading with you to look into Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) and with good reason: it’s up nearly 300% since then. However, as I was doing that the sharper millennials, many of them who work at Wall Street firms, were putting money into Ripple (XRP), which at the time was a penny stock.
Ripple is a cryptocurrency that is put out by a San Francisco-based company and is recognized and used by major banks such as Santander and Bank of America. You could have purchased a share of Ripple on Friday, November 3 for 20 cents. Today that share of Ripple sells for $3.60. That’s an 18 times markup in two months. Had you put down $10,000 on Ripple just after Halloween it would already be worth $180,000 (I did not).
The main problem with Ripple, outside of your ingrained fears about cryptocurrency, is that you just can’t purchase XRP via Schwab or E-Trade. First you have to register with a digital exchange such as Coinbase, then once there buy actual bitcoin, then once having done that use another digital exchange to swap it for Ripple.
And from personal experience, I found that it takes a few days after making a Bitcoin purchase for it to be processed. As many as five business days, during which time the price of Ripple may double (as I’ve watched with frustration this week). Buying Ripple is convoluted and inconvenient, but if you believe this bubble has a ways to go before bursting, it may be worth the exploration.
5. Get Out Sins
If you enjoyed Get Out as much as we did—it’ll probably win a Golden Globe for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy come Sunday night, then you may like this video showing all the technical or logical sins the Jordan Peele’s breakout hit made.
Reserves
Bomb Cyclone: Trust The Process
LIVE NOW: Can you see Manhattan? White-out conditions overtake the Brooklyn Bridge as major winter storm moves in.
Tip from a server (me) after having watched a dude step up to a cafe bar yesterday and ask the bartender to plug in his phone behind the bar, then constantly admonish him to keep an eye on it to make sure it’s charging while ordering a total of one cappuccino over half an hour: PLEASE DON’T DO THIS.
I’m recommending this not because it’s an impossible task for restaurant workers, but because it makes you look like a spoiled child. If a restaurant/diner/bar/Starbucks has an outlet that is within reach, go ahead and plug in your device yourself. Be aware that it is nobody’s job at the restaurant to worry about the power available in your device or whether or not that device is in peril of being snatched. If there is no outlet within reach, don’t bother anyone at the restaurant. They’ve got a job to do and providing good service only extends to your dining experience: would you like us to address your envelopes and maybe pick up some dry cleaning, too?
Most of you travel by car: your vehicle should have a charger, no? We all get into those moments where we need battery power and God help us if our phone isn’t available for half an hour, but if you are really in a bind, find an outlet yourself. Thanks.
***
Was there ever an SNL “Jeopardy” moment that was even this funny?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiLpMoUPkHA
****
We finished and we can’t stress enough how delightful and smart and charming and insightful this novel is. Author Amor Towles creates a wonderful tale of adaptation, sort of The Shawshank Redemption in a luxury hotel with a touch of Casablancathrown in. Here’s just one bon mot we circled to remember (this may just inspire us to join a book club, but probably not for the long term):
“Showing a sense of personal restraint that was almost out of character, the Count had restricted himself to two succinct pieces of paternal advice: The first was that if one did not master one’s circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them; and the second was Montaigne’s maxim that the surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness.”
Don’t worry about who Montaigne is. Think instead of the best people that you know. They likely conform to these two traits (then think of the man occupying the White House). It’s an estimable way to be, and perhaps a goal for all of us in 2018.
Music 101
Use Somebody
In early 2009 Kings Of Leon owned rock and roll and for good reason. This song would earn a Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance for the Nashville-based Followill family (three brothers and a cousin). Lead singer Caleb Followill’s haunting voice never sounded better.
Remote Patrol
Warriors at Rockets
8 p.m. TNT
U.S. Speed Skating Trials
6:30 p.m. NBC Spots Net
U.S. Figure Skating Championships
8:30 p.m. NBC Sports Net
How better to survive a bomb cyclone than with an avalanche of sports television? This is likely a preview of the Western Conference finals between the 30-8 Dubs and the 27-9 Rockets. The Warriors are on the second night of a Texas two-step, having beaten the Mavs on a Stephen Curry three at the buzzer last night.
The Heisman Trophy winner failed to lead the Sooners past midfield when they got the ball back with the score tied at 45 and less than one minute to play and then he failed to lead them beyond the 15-yard line in a pair of overtime drives. The magic ran out.
Most of Anderson’s magic took place in the first half
Overlooked in all the fuss about Mayfield and Georgia’s resplendent pair of tailback, Sony Michel and Nick Chubb? Sooner teammate Rodney Anderson rushed for a game-high 201 yards with two touchdowns without anyone appearing to notice.
2. Oh, Boykin!
Trailing 17-14 with less than two minutes to play, Notre Dame backup quarterback Ian Book tossed a go route to backup 6’4″ wideout Miles Boykin, who channeled erstwhile Notre Dame verbal commit Randy Moss and hauled it in one-handed, then juked a pair of LSU defensive backs.
No one in South Bend has made 81 look that good since Tim Brown
Irish win the Citrus Bowl 21-17. It was the school’s first New Year’s Day win since 1994 and its first win in the state of Florida, where it had lost six in a row, since 2002. Are happy days here again in South Bend? Oh wait, what’s that? Bonzie Colson has a foot fracture and will be out until early March? Why can’t we ever have nice things?
Coulson leads the 12-3 Irish in scoring and rebounding and is averaging a double-double this season
If you had Michael Young and Miles Boykin catching a pair of fourth-quarter TD passes from Ian Book in the pool, I need you to go down and purchase me a lottery ticket, by the way. Kthanks. Meanwhile, I think Kevin Stephenson and C.J. Holmes are not going to be all that much missed (and welcome to South Bend, Braden Lenzy).
3. MollyBall
Jessica Chastain and a whole lot of décolletage as Molly Bloom
Saw three movies in the past week: Phantom Thread, Molly’s Game and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Quick reviews:
—Phantom Thread: We get it: Daniel Day-Lewis is the male Meryl Streep. And Paul Thomas Anderson is a genius. But two hours on an unhappy dressmaker? It’s no Ghost.
Molly’s Game: Like Moneyball and The Social Network before it, this Aaron Sorkin project is a tribute to a renegade who trod his/her unorthodox path to success. And there’s lots of snappy dialogue and didacticism (did you know that Jackie Robinson’s brother finished second to Jesse Owens in the Berlin Olympics 200 while setting a world record himself? Neither did we. What does that have to do with illicit poker games? Don’t ask). We loved it, but we are longtime Sorkin fan boys. If you don’t like him, stay away.
Idris Elba spends more time in court in this film than he did as Stringer Bell in The Wire
Also, Kevin Costner is excellent in a small role (doing that Kevin Costner-y thing) and Idris Elba has a soliloquy so tasty that he may just nab a Best Supporting Oscar nomination out of this.
Three Billboards: Oscar winner Frances McDormand. Two-time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson. Sam Rockwell. Peter Dinklage. Clarke Peters (Lester from The Wire). Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird, Manchester By The Sea). We can’t remember if we’ve ever seen a more talented cast in a more wretched film (Cannonball Run?).
Where to begin? An early aerial shot allowed us a glimpse of The Blue Ridge Inn, just one hint that this film was probably filmed in Virginia or North Carolina and not Missouri. A cop gets away with attempted murder in broad daylight in front of plenty of witnesses (later that cop is put in the same hospital room with his victim). A local firebombs the police station and isn’t even charged even though it’s painfully obvious she did it. The police chief’s wife has an Australian accent that no one bothers to explain. A sadistic dentist.
There’s a host of Social Justice Warrior crap (this film would make Clay Travis’ head explode), including a completely unnecessary scene about Catholic priests that the film’s writer must have been so proud of himself for thinking up that he just had to wedge it in here. There are two African-American characters who behave as if they live in SoHo or Brooklyn, not some middle America backwater town.
This film is one of five Golden Globe Best Picture nominations in the Drama category. It’s the worst movie we saw this/last year, and we love Woody Harrelson and Frances McDormand.
4. Bomb Cyclone
Move over, thunder snow. The hot new meteorological term in 2018 is bomb cyclone, and if you live along the Eastern seaboard, it’s headed your way later this week. Fifty-seventy mile per hour winds plus blizzard conditions. If you’re planning to fly in the next 48 hours, you may wanna rethink that because we don’t want to read all of your airport delay tweets.
If you haven’t brought your tuna boat in by now, head to the Flemish Cap!
5. Big Little Lies
We’ve reached the point where our fabulously insecure president is now comparing the size of his nukes to those of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un. The Wacko from NoKo is nobody’s hero, but it’s just too bizarre to see a 70 year-old man who was afraid to fight in Asia 50 years ago now talk so tough about fighting Asians from behind a desk 6,000 miles away. Meanwhile, has anyone in The Worst Wing seen Dr. Strangelove? Can we schedule a screening?
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
Just the latest example of how your president is immune to irony…
Such respect for the people of Iran as they try to take back their corrupt government. You will see great support from the United States at the appropriate time!
There hasn’t been a commercial aviation death domestically since 2009, so does that mean Obama was eight times better than Trump in terms of dealing with commercial aviation?
Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!
Within 90 minutes of us, via USA Today report, learning about his alleged sexual harassment transgressions, the U of A canned football coachRich Rodriguez. It happens that fast.
Music 101
Riders In The Sky
This cowboy classic by Vaughn Monroe was the No. 1 song in 1949.
Remote Patrol
Thunder at Lakers (oops, Thunder x Lakers)
10:30 p.m. ESPN
Lonzo’s FG % has improved to .349
We were going to go with Fighting Sweet Peas at Celtics, but Isaiah Thomas is sitting this one out and we’d rather watch Russell Westbrook take fellow Westwood One-and-Done’r Lonzo Ball to school.
A fire that broke out in the first floor of an apartment building in the Bronx claims a dozen lives on one of the coldest nights of the year. The five-story pre-war building (i.e., before WWI) was gutted by flames that were fed by wind gusts. It was the deadliest fire in New York City since 1990, when 87 people died at the Happy Land Social Club blaze, also in the Bronx. No word yet on what caused it.
2. Yes He Did
The Rockets were up 26 on the Celtics around halftime and as color announcer Chris Webber said, “I was preparing my garbagio notes.” They were still up three after James Harden hit two free throws (he’d finish with 35 points) with under 20 seconds to play.
Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens pleaded to his players, “Keep hitting singles.” And that is what they did. A layup brought the Celtics within one with under 8 seconds to play. Then, trying to get free for an inbounds pass, James Harden, your early presumptive NBA MVP, pushed off and was called for an offensive foul.
Celtics ball. Al Horford scores the go-ahead bucket on an eight-foot tear drop shot. On the ensuing inbound play, Harden pushed off Marcus Smart (above) and was again called for an offensive foul.
Celtics win, 99-98. It wasn’t quite “Havlicek steals the ball!” or “Bird with the steal!” but it was a pretty incredible comeback. And when is the last time you saw the league’s leading scorer called for two off-ball offensive fouls in the final seconds of a tight game?
Psst: A week ago the Rockets had the NBA’s best record. Now they’ve lost four straight.
3. The Madness Of King Trump
President Trump was sitting in the Grill Room of his resort in West Palm Beach on Thursday when New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt approached him to talk. No handlers were around, Trump consented (even to being recorded), and what follows is excerpts from their 30-minute conversation. To read at greater length, go here….
“…frankly there is absolutely no collusion, that’s been proven by every Democrat is saying it.”
“My base is stronger than it’s ever been. Great congressmen, in particular, some of the congressmen have been unbelievable in pointing out what a witch hunt the whole thing is. So, I think it’s been proven that there is no collusion.”*
*Trump uses the phrase “No collusion” ELEVEN times in the first few minutes of this interview.
“I won because I campaigned properly and she didn’t. She campaigned for the popular vote. I campaigned for the Electoral College.” (he’s got a point there)
“If you look at my rhetoric, I said the problem with Roy Moore is that he will lose the election. I called it.”
” I know more about the big bills. … [Inaudible.] … Than any president that’s ever been in office.”
“But Michael, I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A.”
“I like very much President Xi. He treated me better than anybody’s ever been treated in the history of China.”
“This is a problem that should have been handled for the last 25 years. This is a problem, North Korea. That should have been handled for 25, 30 years, not by me.”
“And, by the way, it’s not a tweet. It’s social media”
“But another reason that I’m going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes.”
4. Looking Back At Our Stock Pick of 2017
Our 2017 stock pick of the year was Silicon Valley tech company Nvidia (NVDA), and please don’t ask us to tell you what they do (because we don’t fully understand it). Here’s what we do know: On the first day of trading in 2017, NVDA opened at $104.40 and this morning, the final day of trading, it will open at $198.40.
That’s a one-year leap of $94, or a percentage leap of 90%. So yes, we DO want to be your latex salesman.
Ah, MH Capital, but do you have a stock pick for 2018? So, sure, we’re going to be predictable here, but we suggest Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC). Yes, it’s an incredibly risky pick, and it already has risen FOURTEEN TIMES above its January 3, 2017 price this year (read: now THAT was the stock we should have picked a year ago). Can that type of magic sustain itself this year? Probably not, but if it even doubles this year from its $1,937 price this morning, that’s quite the win. Go Bitcoin!
p.s. You can’t buy it on the regular E-Trade or Schwab platforms, but keep an eye on Ripple (XRP), which is up 100% in the past month or so.
5. Films Of 2017
The problem with Dunkirk is that Steven Spielberg set the bar so high that it may be decades before anyone touches it
We didn’t see a movie we truly LOVED this year. We liked Get Out, but loved it? Nope. Same with Lady Bird. Luckily for you, there are less snooty film critics out there than us who did compile a few Top Ten Films lists. Metacritic.com took the time to compile the Top Ten list and aggregated the score so here is the closest we know how to come to a consensus of Top Ten Films for 2017 (in order, with asterisks next to those we saw):
Get Out*
Call Me By Your Name
Lady Bird*
The Florida Project
Dunkirk*
Phantom Thread*
The Shape Of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Blade Runner 2049
A Ghost Story
Honestly, go back and watch Casablanca. Or for the first time if you’ve never seen it. The only film on this list that people will be talking about even two years from now is Get Out.
Reserves
Wallis Simpson, her husband the former King of England, and the Worst Person of the 20th Century
We’ve already suggested you watch Season 2 of The Crown, but we just watched Episode 6, “Vergangenheit,” and man, you have to see that. Turns out that not only was Edward VI a Nazi sympathizer, he actively abetted Hitler during World War II, likely costing his own country thousands of lives. Imagine a man who is head of his country acting in a way that best serves that country’s enemy for the sole purpose of fulfilling his own personal wants. I mean, imagine that. Anyway, The Crown makes history so much more compelling.
***
Also, we were reading A Gentleman In Moscow last night and came to a vignette about a few characters who, unable to pursue their careers in the fashion they hoped due to the Bolshevik crackdown, each found their own paths to somehow remain involved in their vocations. As author Amor Towles put it, “For when life makes it impossible for a man to pursue his dreams, he will connive to pursue them anyway.”
Doesn’t sound like anyone we know.
Music 101
Rockin’ Into The Night
At the end of a frigid early winter week, nothing will turn up the heat quite like an early ’80s brain-dead rock song heavy on the power chords. Thank you, .38 Special. That’s band co-founder Donnie Van Zant on lead guitar. His older brother, Ronnie, was the original lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd (hence, “Free Bird”) and died in a 1977 plane crash. Younger brother Johnny has been Skynyrd’s lead singer since 1987. That’s correct: Ronnie, Donnie and Johnny Van Zant, from Jacksonville, Florida.
Remote Patrol
Cotton Bowl: USC vs. Ohio State
8:30 p.m. ESPN
In which quarter do you have Nick Bosa being ejected for targeting Sam Darnold?
Finally. Two heavyweights. We like the Buckeyes, who got shut out 31-0 in their “bowl” game last season, to rebound.
In 2010-11 the Oklahoma City Thunder went to the NBA Finals with a trio of stars all under the age of 23. They lost to the Heat. In the six-plus seasons since OKC, as a franchise, has yet to return. Those three stars—Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook—have collectively earned a total of one NBA championship ring since.
However, by seaons’s end all three show should have earned one NBA MVP. Durant has led the league in scoring twice, Westbrook has led the league in scoring twice, and Harden is leading the league in scoring this season. Harden led the NBA in assists last season and Westbrook is doing so this season.
Westbrook, who became the first NBA player since the Big O (notice the uniform number) to average a triple-double over a season, is the only one who remained
OKC has the NBA’s most passionate fans. What a tremendous era this might’ve been. And for those who say it could have never worked, well, it did before all of them were even 23 years old. And as for money and super teams? Of course, individually they’d earn more elsewhere, but look at Curry-Durant-Green-Thompson at Golden State. Or LeBron-Love-Irving the past few seasons in Cleveland. Of course it could’ve worked. And it would’ve been so much damn fun to watch. A shame.
2. Above U.S., Below Zero
Canada Dry? No, Canada Brrr.
Toronto and Winnipeg, minus-2 Fahrenheit. Calgary, minus-11. Montreal, minus-13. Ottowa, minus-14. Regina, minus-19.
3. Assisted Living
He only scored two points—on a layup—but last night Rajon Rondo dished out 25 assists in just 31 minutes of action as the Pelicans beat the Nets. That total puts him in a five-way tie for the most assists in a game in NBA history (the leader is Scott Skiles, who dished out 30 on December 30, 1990).
Skiles’ record may be tainted since he deployed Magic….
Rondo, who had a 24-assist game seven seasons ago, is one of only two players who appears in the all-time top 10 twice. The other is all-time assists leader John Stockton, who has the top 2-4 games (28, 27, 26) in terms of assists in NBA history. Stockton is also the NBA’s all-time assists leader and in the Hall of Fame (Rondo is only 30th all-time in terms of assists).
4. Why Video Replay Will Never Work, a.k.a. George Orwell and The Law Of Entropy
The concept of video replay, which is employed in some part for officiating games in the NBA, NFL, MLB and college basketball and football, is understandable and appreciated. Referees miss calls that are CLEARLY obvious when we have the advantage of 1) time and 2) video evidence.
The problem with video replay is that the determinations are still made by human beings as to WHAT is OBVIOUS, and as time has passed, the line of demarcation of obvious becomes broader and broader. Did first-base umpire Don Denkinger blow that call in Game 5 of the 1985 World Series, possibly costing St. Louis the title? Yes. Did Jim Joyce cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game? Certainly.
But each week, particularly in the NFL this year (but also in college football and the MLB earlier this fall), we see examples of video replay dudes located hundreds of miles from the actual game overturning calls that were, at worst, 50/50 judgments. The latest example was the Kelvin Benjamin catch last Sunday in New England.
Video replay is a lot like communism: the idea, in a vacuum, is noble to a degree. In practice, however, is where its flaws are exposed, because as long as humans are making decisions, entropy, the natural tendency of a system from order to disorder, will reign. Or, as George Orwell so artfully put it, “Some animals are more equal than others.”
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And here’s to the day when, upon further review, we scrap video replay and learn to embrace our imperfections as humans.
5. Big Little Lies
Is that twice-nominated Oscar actress Laura Dern, 50, schmecking with former NBA point guard Baron Davis, 38? Yes, yes it is. That’s so adorable.
Reserves
If you’re not following Vala Afshar on Twitter, you’re denying yourself access to wisdom…
Overhead conversation on Broadway yesterday (one of the best things about living in a big city is that people don’t drive…you can eavesdrop on so many more conversations without having to sit at a Starbucks) between a well-dressed 60-ish dad and his college-aged son (I’m presuming).
Dad: “The Republicans claim they’re fiscally conservative and then they vote to increase the deficit by a trillion dollars.”
Son: “But what about lower taxes?”
Dad: “That’s great, but most of that is to line their own pockets. They’re such hypocrites! They’re putting the country in far greater debt and claiming they’re the party of fiscal conservatism. When Bill Clinton was president we had a balanced budget and he eliminated the deficit.”
Son: “What do you mean, He eliminated the deficit?”
Dad: “We had a SURPLUS!”
Son: “There was no debt?”
Dad: “That was only 20 years ago. We had a surplus. No debt. That’s what surplus means.”
Son: “You sure about that?”
Dad: “A SURPLUS!”
Son: “I’m going to have to look that up.”*
*It’s true, son.
Only took 30 years, but we’ve come full circle back to Family Ties.
Music 101
Do You Want To Build A Snowman
This tune from Frozenseems appropos today, especially for those in the Midwest.
Remote Patrol
Rockets at Celtics
8 p.m. TNT
We have a hard time caring about the NBA before Valentine’s Day (okay, April Fool’s Day), but if you check the standings, Boston has the best record in the East (28-10) and Houston the second-best record (25-7) in the West. Only Golden State (28-7) is superior. Hmmm….no mention of the Fighting Sweet Peas among the top three records in the league. James Harden is on his way to his first league MVP, as he leads the league in Scoring and is third in Assists (take note: LeBron is third and second in those categories).
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