by John Walters
A Medium Happy 60th to Geena Davis, who was a decent backstop for the Rockford Peaches.
Starting Five
Drummond missed an NBA-record 23 free throws last night. Detroit still won, however, 123-114.
1. Andre .385*
*The judges would not consider Drummond an outcast, however.
Last night the Houston Rockets intentionally fouled Detroit center Andre Drummond 12 consecutive times to open the 3rd quarter. He was intentionally fouled 21 times total, and shot 13 for 36 from the line.
His 23 misses broke Wilt Chamberlain‘s record by 1. Any time you break a record held by the Big Dipper, that’s pretty, well, whoa.
Fans should actually thank the Rockets. They may force commish Adam Silver’s hand here in order to change the rule. Sure, it would be nice if Drummond, who missed more FTs last night than Stephen Curry has missed all season, would practice his foul shots more. But, you know, he leads the league in rebounding (15.4 per). He probably knows his job is safe whether or not he makes them.
2. Sheiks and Shale
“Well, the first thing you know old Jeb’s a millionaire…”
Yesterday I endeavored to learn why oil is so cheap (gas is now less than $2 per gallon) and why it seems to be hurting the economy. As a child of the Seventies, it was drilled into me that the world was running out of oil and we’d be waiting in lines so long you might as well be trying to buy tickets to Springsteen’s final show. Also, I was taught that high oil prices harm the economy.
Finally, I was taught to try and grow up to be a dad just like the one Bill Cosby is on TV. It was a confusing time.
Anyway, the simplest way I can figure it, with the help of an article or two, is this: we, alas, have stability in the Middle East (thanks, Obama) while domestically are also producing a lot of oil. The sheiks have decided to go the Walmart path: make oil so cheap that it drives their competitors out of business; then, when they have a monopoly, or close to it, they’ll raise prices via unnatural shortages again.
3. Sue Falls!
Kate Walsh is Sue Falls
Bored of the current television programming? I had some midseason replacement ideas in Newsweek, including CSI: Manitowoc County, America’s Next GOP Model, and Sue Falls, which is a dramedy based on a personal injury lawyer based in South Dakota. Starring the age-appropriately lovely Kate Walsh.
4. Flint-y
Flint native Michael Moore calls Flint’s water pollution “racial genocide.” Oh, this is going to get worse. And there may be an Oscar for someone in it eventually.
Water in Flint, Michigan? Not good.
Buffalo Bills? Hired a female coach.
Oscars? Hate black people.
Darius Fleming? Not Manti T’eo.
Stacey Dash? (See: Oscars)
Okay?
5. 73-9? Within Reach
The Dubs could Ezeli win 73 games.
Now 43 games into their season, the Dubs are 39-4. They just beat two of the three top teams in the Eastern Conference, the Cavs and the Bulls, on their home courts, by 34 and 31 points, respectively.
Sure, they have yet to play any of their three games of the year versus San Antonio, but they’re probably getting a break there, too. Why? Because 2 of those 3 games will be in the final week of the season, when playoff positions will likely be firmly entrenched. If the Dubs are still shooting to beat Chicago’s 72-10 mark from 1996, they may be going for it. Whereas Gregg Popovich may be shutting his team down, resting his starters. Though, as we’ve seen, Pop has a strong second unit as well.
Stay tuned. The Dubs had lost two of three, but it feels as if these last two games reminded them of what is possible if they remain focused. Why not go for it? Immortality doesn’t come around every day.
Music 101
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
Bob Dylan, live at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1966 is a landmark show in rock history (it’s where the Hibbing native first publicly plugged in). This song is delightfully messy, and that’s The Band backing him.
Remote Patrol
Psycho
11:15 p.m. BBC America
This lady is off her rocker (a reminder, by the way, that Hitchcock never won a Best Director Oscar)
There’s a terrific scene in the 2012 film Hitchcock (starring Anthony Hopkins) in which he stands out in the lobby during the premiere of this 1960 film, waiting to listen to the gasps and screams that he hopes will come during the shower scene. As the 2012 film attests, Psycho was a huge risk fro the director, a last gasp as commercial success in an industry that thought his time had passed. Well, I guess he and Anthony Perkins and mother (and, Janet Leigh, who is not the actual actress being stabbed; they used a stand-in) showed them.
The Warriors & Spurs actually play 4 times – next Mon (on NBA-TV only!), once in March & then the final two (ahem, as I mentioned here a few days ago) during that last week.
And you didn’t need to go LOOKING for the answer about what was happening with oil – If you look back in your comment section somewhere between Sep-Oct 2014 (not last year but 2014), I said OPEC was going to try and bankrupt as many American oil & gas companies as possible (as they were eating into their profits). Once they’d finished their version of the “killing fields”, they’d yank their prices right back up. If ONLY I’d listened to myself & gotten out of most of my energy investments, but noooOOOOOooooo, not only did I NOT sell then, I kept buying, alllllllll the way dowwwwwnnn. And some have now gone under (not officially bankrupt yet but when the stock price is in the PENNIES, it’s not lookin too good…).
Sure, watching the constant fouling/free throws is not exactly scintillating sports television, but WHY should the pathetic free throw shooters be PROTECTED? If Drummond (& others like him) are so incompetent at that facet of the game, they should suffer the consequences. The coaches COULD take them off the floor or gee, maybe make those guys practice or actually learn how to shoot from the foul line. If a tennis player has a terrible backhand, his/her opponents will constantly hit as many balls to that pathetic backhand as they can manage. Is THAT to be “legislated” too? Ridiculous. If you are incompetent in one or more facets of your sport, you pay the price & either get better at those facets or get beat. Deservedly so. My goodness jdubs, I can’t BELIEVE you support this. Why don’t we just give all the players RIBBONS for SHOWING UP?
And yes, I’m wearing my cranky pants today; still haven’t gotten over that Cavs beat-down (AT HOME!) & they are calling for a BLIZZARD, starting tomorrow. %^#*&@!
You’re right, Susie B. (for once!). To a degree. I agree that players like Drummond should not be protected. On the other hand I don’t like the idea of intentionally fouling a player under any circumstances. Fouls should be something teams are trying to avoid. Like, there shouldn’t be an upside to jumping offside in football, should there?
John –
Read your Newsweek mid-season “replacement” show article. Good stuff.
And while I know most of it was in jest, the Wednesday Night Football one made me think. How has there not been a “minor league” football system set up to take advantage of the huge growth of the sport?
I guess I’m suggesting that those who either didn’t make the cut in the NFL or those who want to extend their careers would be the “talent” pool. It could even be an outlet for high school graduates who’d want a payday, but don’t want to go to class (I’ll hold jokes about Alabama).
I could see a conflict of interest with the NFL and their TV partners. That rules out ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and ESPN. So, I guess that means that it’ll never happen without the NFL’s blessing.
But, that said, it would be great to have during the off season. Have opening kickoff of the National Football Minor League (NFmL) the week after the Super Bowl and host the championship game on July 4th. People don’t normally go out as much on July 4th, so the cookout/bbq
… continuing on …
The cookout/bbq would/could be a perfect fit for “Super Bowl” type parties for the new NFmL.
This timing wouldn’t intrude on the NFL’s regular season/playoffs. In fact, it’d fill the void between the Super Bowl and the beginning of mini-camps. And, it could be a potential talent pool/development league of the NFL.
The competitors for viewers would be MLB, NBA and NHL. But, given the craze for football, I’d think that it’d to okay in ratings against those, except for during the thick of the playoffs – and even then, only is certain markets.
Just some random thoughts.