by John Walters
Starting Five
Bad Man v Supermoon
Yesterday’s two biggest newsmakers: a racist, anti-Semite with a homeless man beard and a satellite that is closer to the earth than it has been since 1948. Too close, perhaps. We oughta bomb the hell out of it.
When Trumpism sends its people, it’s not sending their best….It’s sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them.
They’re bringing drugs.
They’re bringing crime. They’re racists.
And some, I assume, are good people.
2. What’s In Storrs
Sophomore Napheesa Collier paced the Huskies with 28 points
The UConn women won their season opener (no surprise) by two points (big surprise). The No. 3 Huskies, who have now won 76 in a row (this is a different win streak than their 70- and 90-game win streaks under Geno Auriemma, beat No. 12 Florida State by 2 last night in Tallahassee. The last time UConn lost a season opener? 1995.
Next up: No. 2 Baylor on Thursday at Gampel Pavilion. “There’s a lot of angry basketball players and a lot of angry coaches in America,” said Auriemma, whose teams have won four consecutive national championships. “And a lot of them are on our schedule.”
3. Twitter Joust
Now that Richard Deitsch cannot tweet his true feelings about Jamie Horowitz or Clay Travis (SI and Fox Sports have formed a partnership, God knows why), we are left to find new battles. Newly liberated-from-TV Bill Simmons versus NBC Football Night In America analyst (and former NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver) Cris Collinsworth, for example.
Somebody needs to gently break the news to Collinsworth that the Pats have a weak front 7 and that’s why Seattle’s o-line looks good.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 14, 2016
….is what Simmons tweeted during Sunday night’s Seahawks at Patriots game. Collins worth later returned fire:
CC has since deleted his “sick burn” tweet from his timeline
4. Dassey Goes Free
Dash has been released on his own recognizance pending an appeal of his murder conviction. He’s not scot-free; more like Scott Walker-free.
Everyone’s favorite Wrestlemania fan and wrongly imprisoned teen, Brendan Dassey from Making A Murderer, was at long last released from prison yesterday. Dassey, now 27, was first jailed in 2005 after “confessing” to helping his uncle Steven Avery commit a murder.
Let’s give the last word to Cris Collinsworth again, who is probably someone we should all be following:
Can’t believe it took that long for the judge to get a @Netflix account https://t.co/KMlQzsmM69
— Cris Collinsworth (@CollinsworthPFF) November 14, 2016
5. Here Come The Clippers
Jamal Crawford, the Don Cheadle of NBA stars, is one of five Clips averaging double figures in scoring
This year’s Golden State Warriors may be located down I-5: the Los Angeles Clippers, who beat the Nets 127-95 last night, are 10-1. Their lone loss was by 2 to the Thunder, and they’re winning by an average margin of 16.6 points per game—the next best average victory margin is 10.7 points, by the Hawks.
I see fewer Blake Griffin ads and fewer Cliff Paul/Chris Paul ads on TV and maybe this team, whose nucleus has now been together for 3-plus seasons (Griffin, Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Jamal Crawford, J.J. Redick and coach Doc Rivers), has figured it out. Note: they have yet to play GSW.
Word Up
Logorrheic*
adj., “incessant or constant talkativeness; pathologically incoherent”
*After seeing this word in Richard Sandomir’s column on Bill Simmons’ exodus from TV
Music 101
Fly Robin Fly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pgJByML5xY
This song by German disco group Silver Convention actually rose all the way to No. 1 in the USA in November 1975. If ever a song was made for a K-Tel Hits compilation album, this one was it. The chorus isn’t much, but the instrumental bridge is solid.
Remote Patrol
No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 13 Michigan State
7 p.m. ESPN
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 7 Kansas
9:30 p.m. ESPN
Allen and the Blue Devils are taking a trip to New York City
This double header from Madison Square Garden features four probable Hall of Fame coaches who between them possess eight national championships (five by Coach K, one each among the other three). But none of them will score a point tonight. So who should you keep your eyes on? Grayson Allen of Duke, Josh Jackson of Kansas and Malik Monk of Kentucky.
JW,
I have become more fascinated with the dynasty Geno Auriemma has built at UConn.
Just this morning, I noticed that their associate head coach, Chris Dailey, has been there for 31 years. All with Geno. That’s obviously unique, but very cool.
I was going to prod in comment sections on if you have any anecdotes on her while you spent time with the team. I can only imagine there have been a few handful of teams that have tried to pry her away from Storrs. The fact that she has remained there for that long, with very little national recognition, is neat.
And, lastly:
It seems that many, after the fact, are questioning why they didn’t take Trump more serious in the early stages of the primary races. I have to give you credit, JW: http://mediumhappy.com/?p=6177 & http://mediumhappy.com/?p=6229 (to name just a few, probably).
Most notably, from the August 11, 2015 post:
“Dig it: there are more than a few people who are tired of being told that gay marriage is no different than straight marriage, that it’s not your place to weigh in on any racial issue if you’re not a minority, that it’s not okay to equate Islam with terrorism. Arguing the nuances of those issues is irelevant these days. You’re either all good or all evil. Trump appeals to that (larger than you thought) portion of America that is sick of tip-toe’ing about all of it.
There’s a reason, after all, that he cited Rosie O’Donnell. Trump isn’t going away no matter how many racist/sexist things he says, because he’s not about to apologize for any of it. That’s his secret. And he’s tapped into a YUUUUGE demographic.”
At least you held your word. Take it for what it is worth.
Question for you jdubs – if Ohio State wins their next 2 games (Mich State & Mich), do you think they will be in the Playoff? Do you think they SHOULD be in the Playoff? That Penn State or Wisconsin could be in the Playoff & not OS is just not right. And even worse – its possibility (or a similar scenario involving other conferences) is why I think the Playoff will unfortunately be expanded to 8 teams eventually. Normally, the winner of one of the Big 5 conferences is the best team in that conference but then you have what is happening this year in the Big 10. Penn State has lost 2 games & OS only one but that one loss was to Penn State. If the latter win out, THEY go to the Big 10 championship game & not the Buckeyes. And if the ‘committee’ vote the Big 10 champ into the Playoff, Urban & the boys may be left out! Pleeeease tell me my fears are for naught.
I have no idea if it will expand to 8, Susie B., though time has continuously taught me (see: last week) that Americans have no problem ruining something good if they think it will put more money in their pockets.
Anyway, I won’t be shocked if Michigan St. beats Penn State. But, to play along, let’s say Buckeyes get shut out of Big Ten CG. I have always maintained, as you know, that I put no stock in who is or isn’t a conference champ in regards to the the 4-team playoff. Ohio State beat Oklahoma AND Wisconsin on the road, two teams that are currently in the Top 10. That means a lot more to me.
Still a ways to go, but if I had to name top 4 teams, I’d go with Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and USC. Of course, those are not the 4 who will go. I’d love to see Louisville in ahead of a 2nd B1G school, should they win out.