by John Walters
A Medium Happy 49th to Julia Roberts….
Starting Five
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjdoF7Es6s
Loop, There It Is(n’t)
Losing both Vine and Vinyl in the same year. This is tough. It’s worse because I still don’t really know what the difference between a Vine and a GIF is. Or why Twitter is dismantling it. Will this affect the quality of your life? Probably so, in a beneficial way.
2. Fast Out of the Gate
A laconic MVP-worthy talent in San Antonio who lost a parent too early in life. We’ve seen this before.
It was only one game but do you realize that Anthony Davis currently leads the NBA in points per game (50) and steals per game (7) and is second in the NBA in rebounds per game (16) and blocks per game (4)?
It was only one game, but do you realize that James Harden (yes, selfish James Harden) leads the NBA in assists per game (17) and that his oft-sulky teammate Dwight Howard leads the NBA in rebounds per game (19)? (UPDATE: Apparently Dwight Howard is now an Atlanta Hawk; no one told me.)
It was only two games, but do you realize that Kawhi Leonard is averaging 32.5 points per game and that is in part due to his being 22-22 from the free throw line?
Also, do you realize that all four of these superstars play along a 550 mile stretch of I-10?
3. Saint Lawrence
The Saints have allowed just six touchdowns in seven games
The stingiest defense in college football belongs to a Division III school located in upstate New York. The St. Lawrence University Saints allow just 5.9 points per game and have shut out four of their seven opponents. The Saints are 7-0 under first-year head coach Dan Puckhaber, an Ithaca alum who used to play professional football in Italy.
By the way, there are a dozen D-III schools that are still 7-0 or better right now.
4. Lonely Island
This is St. Kilda, the outermost island of the Outer Hebrides (60 or so miles west of the Scottish mainland and 40 miles distant from the closest remote island), that was once inhabited by humans but has since been abandoned.
Humans lived on St. Kilda once, but it is now a ghost town
It’s mostly just gannets and puffins (birds) now. Here’s an article all about it by the BBC. If you ever really, really want to get away from it all.
Above, that’s Stac An Armin, just off St. Kilda and the highest sea stack in the British Isles at 643 feet tall. It is twice the height of Big Ben.
5. A Stranger Things Christmas
Personally, I think they should have started with “Its The Upside Down, Charlie Brown,” but beggars can’t be Hoosiers.
Reserves
The return of Really Tall Portland Ken….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ntO-an3YE
Music 101
In The Wee Small Hours of The Morning
Sinatra. A-number-one. Top of the heap. King of the hill. Cream of the crop of the top of the heap. Believe it or not, this song was actually written in the wee small hours of the morning by David Mann (composer) and Robert Hilliard (lyrics) in New Jersey.
Remote Patrol
World Series
Game 3
FOX 8 p.m.
Smoltz, a Hall of Famer, is an excellent fit in the booth
The broadcast is much improved this season, with John Smoltz replacing Harold Reynolds in the booth and Tom Verducci designated for assignment (on the field). Think about how last October, in Game 1, that technical difficulty brought us Smoltz on the MLB Network international feed. Many of us preferred Smoltz and Matt Vasgersian. I think FOX saw our tweets. That electrical outage had some major broadcast ramifications.
Good for Greg Oden. http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/17908939/former-no-1-overall-draft-pick-greg-oden-back-ohio-state-buckeyes-student-coach
Aren’t Harden & Howard EX-teammates? I realize I was loopy all summer, re-living the MOST AWESOME CHAMPIONSHIP OF ALL TIME & all, but doesn’t Dwight Howard now play for the Hawks?
BTW, no one answered my question about whether the Cavs championship is at least a teensy factor in the Indians being in this World Series.
Baseball questions – why do they still play 2-3-2 in baseball’s “Finals”? Have they ever played 2-2-1-1-1 like the NBA does currently? And what is the “Instructional League”? And the “Arizona Fall League”? Have both of these entities existed for years? You probably realize by now (if not long before) that my ignorance of baseball is vast. Like Grand Canyon vast. Like Atlantic Ocean vast. Like Trump’s ego vast. Anyhoo, I’d never heard of either those “leagues” until Timmy got involved & was wondering if someone here could give me a quick explanation of their origin & purpose.
One more question today – which fan base will take it the hardest if their team loses in the Series? Both teams had been out of contention for so long that you’d think the fans would just be ecstatic to be there. On the other hand, it could be crushing to be THATCLOSE & lose. What do you think?