by John Walters
Starting Five
Korver was apparently upset that Popeye’s chicken staff in Atlanta referred to him as “white boy,” or do I have the wrong alliterative Atlantan?
The Kleveland Korver-liers
On Wednesday the Cavs shot 8 of 25 from beyond the arc in a loss to the Bulls. On Thursday, with serial in-game hugger J.R. Smith still weeks if not months away from a return, they made a deal to acquire white boy three-point marksman Kyle Korver from the Hawks. Korver, in his 14th season who has been an All-Star, is 6’7″ and can rain buckets.
Korver is a career 43% shooter from outside the arc, has thrice led the NBA in 3-point %, and has drained 1,952 career threes. In contrast, LeBron James, who like Korver entered the NBA in 2004, is a 34% shooter from outside the arc and has made 1,400 career threes.
The game is now dictated from outside the arc, if you hadn’t noticed (I’m working on a story on this at the moment), and Cleveland’s maneuver is going to set the Cavs up well for the Finals. Besides, now Kevin Love will have someone to talk to.
2. Black Ops*
This tweet wasn’t admiral-ble
*The judges will not accept “But I thought black people couldn’t swim”
Is this why they called David Robinson The Admiral? This Yahoo! Finance tweet remained up for about 20 minutes, but it got a lot more people talking about Yahoo! Finance while reminding us that Denzel Washington was the protagonist in Crimson Tide.
3. The Three Stooges
How do you say, “Piers Morgan without a British accent?”
Fox News announces that middle-aged Princeton eating club member Tucker Carlson will replace Megyn Kelly, giving the cable news channel a nightly 8-11 p.m. lineup of Bill O’Reilly, Carlson and Sean Hannity. That’s three hours of white-mansplainin’ of Donald Trump each night for those of you who live in states that only border other states or The Great Lakes (or Mexico or the Gulf of Mexico).
Jon Stewart appeared on Carlson’s show “Crossfire” a few years back and singlehandedly destroyed it. I mean, like, it was canceled soon after this appearance.
I may as well go all-in on coastal elitism, if I’m going to be accused of it, anyway. Meanwhile, Greta Van Susteren, who ceased being relevant about a decade ago, is moving to MSNBC (which ceased being relevant three months ago?).
4. We Never Gave James Madison and Youngstown State Their Proper Props
Rader pinned the ball against his defender’s back to make the game-winning catch of a lifetime. Something out of a movie.
Tomorrow in Frisco (“Kid, was a friend of mine!”), Texas, will be the FCS National Championship, pitting a pair of underdogs (or overcats, if you will) against one another: James Madison U. vs. Youngstown State.
JMU, Jason McIntyre’s alma mater (he even has the same initials), got there by taking down FIVE-TIME DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION NORTH DAKOTA STATE in Fargo, and with a first-year coach, Mike Houston (Hello!). The final was 27-17. Quite a feat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz4vBqXa5FA
Youngstown State also defied the odds, traveling out west to Cheyney, Washington, to upset favorite Eastern Washington (a school that took down Holiday Bowl participant Washington State) in the snow under its own first-year coach, Bo Pelini (you know him). Kevin Rader made a SICK catch with just :01 remaining to give the Penguins a 40-38 victory.
MH regrets not appreciating all this when it happened. The game airs tomorrow at noon on ESPN2.
5. Give It Away, Give It Away, Give It Away Now
Feeney made his fortune as co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Group, which George Costanza claimed he knew nothing about.
(Erstwhile) billionaire Charles Feeney is a man whom I imagine is familiar with the scripture verse Matthew 19:24:
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
(proof that Jesus visited zoos? We digress….)
Five years ago Feeney, then 81, pledged that he would give away the remaining $1.5 billion of his accumulated wealth (he’d already given away $500 million, or half a billion). Last week Feeney, now 85, gave $7 million to Cornell University, his alma mater, as a grant for students doing community service work. He and his wife, Helga, who live in a rented apartment in San Francisco, will now get by on his remaining $2 million.
Feeney’s quote? “You can only wear one pair of pants at a time.”
Feeney is “subsisting” on .01% of his former liquid assets. According to The New York Times, no American philanthropist has given away a greater proportion of his or her wealth. Charles Feeney is a real-life superhero.
Word Up
Ephemeral (adj): Lasting for a very short time
Johnny Manziel’s quixotic and ephemeral NFL career….
2017 Stock Pick!
We thank An Inconvenient Ruth for her suggestion of Vandalay Industries (you roll that up with Moland Spring Water, the Penske File and J. Peterman and you’ve got quite a promising portfolio), but we’ll pass. So what should we pick?
This is hardly a risky choice, since the stock soared 220% in 2016, but with the coming emphasis on Artificial Intelligence and the company’s early entry into the sector, we like Nvidia (NVDA), which is based in San Jose. It’s getting a lot of attention at the CES show in Vegas this week and at the very worst it’s a takeover target.
NVDA opened at $101.80 this morning, Jan. 6, so let’s say that the MH coffers are going to open up to buy 100 shares. That’s an outlay of $10,180. We’ll see you all on December 31st to see how that investment turned out.
(P.S. MH is always happy to hear the investing thoughts of the great and powerful Oz, our old high school friend who has the coolest hair of anyone over the age of 50 and owns a domicile or two in Park City. Oz is the best investor we personally know.)
Music 101
Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man (and….
Bob Seger released this song in 1968, when he was an unknown, and I’m sure when people heard it they thought, Well, this is a very nice effort by the Spencer Davis Group. The song shot up to No. 17 on the charts in early 1969 and it also became the title song of his debut album.
….Ramblin’ Man)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VxoXn-0Ezs
Then, five years later, The Allman Brothers released this song about a character who I can only assume is the son of Seger’s protagonist (“My father was a gambler down in Georgia/He wound up on the wrong side of a gun…”). It shot up to No. 2 on the charts and remains the band’s lone Top 10 hit.
Remote Patrol
Sunday
The Golden Globes
NBC 8 p.m.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnIGdb-sT-s
The above was only last year. It feels like about five years ago….
Tune in despite the fact that Jimmy Fallon is hosting. You get film and TV awards, drunk and well-dressed celebrities, and the obligatory cracks made at the expense of the Hollywood Foreign Press. Have we really gone from the caustic (and hilarious) Ricky Gervais hosting to the fawning Fallon? Yup.
1st, I’m still waiting for YOUR 2017 stock picks. Whatchugot? I will keep you updated throughout the year on my 12. (Contain your excitement).
2nd, the Cavs needed another player, especially with all these injuries. I like Korver. However, what I’ve noticed during my last 5 years of NBA viewing is that 3-pt guys seem to have a tendency to lose their shot as they age & then BOOM, it’s over. During his final year in Miami, even the great Ray Allen was not the shooter he’d been. I couldn’t get over how both Shane Battier & Ray (& Mike Miller the year before) were just not the shooters they’d been just one year previously. It was there & then it wasn’t. So, putting too much expectations on an aging “3-point marksman” might lead to crushed dreams. Hopefully, KK has not reached the, um, “(3)point of no return” yet.
3rd, Feeney RENTS in Frisco? (Does he drink whiskey or the wine or just eat the salted peanuts out of the can? 😉 ) And he’s given all his money away except $2 million? Let’s see, between rent in one of THE most expensive cities in the world & the cost of long term care, if Feeney AND his wife don’t have very good long-term care insurance policies & either or both actually need long term care eventually, they’ll qualify for MEDICAID within 3-6 months max! Meaning he’ll be living on TAXPAYER money when he could have & should have been living on his own money. And THIS is a “superhero”? Of course, as my old boss used to say, he could be “hit by a bus tomorrow” & render the care cost moot.
4th, ok, maybe I’m cranky today but I ask ya, who doesn’t like to start off the day with a dose of “MOOT”? Which coincidentally (or not) rhymes with, ahem, LOOT. 🙂
Also, thanks to Chris for his insightful ‘LA LA Land’ review. I’d heard many good things but wanted to wait till the MH Film Critic AND Katie were heard/read. So, Katie? 🙂
And jdubs, going by your tweets last week, you DETESED ‘Manchester by the Sea’ but now you seem to be backtracking a bit. Can (or will) you elaborate?
Susie B.
I didn’t “detest” MBTS. I just thought it was overrated. And it was a bit like a visit to the dentist. This is gonna hurt. I get that not every movie needs a happy ending, but this lacked a happy middle and beginning. And the rote scenes of him in ar fights just seemed so cliche to me. I appreciated it, I just didn’t enjoy it.
As for Mr. Feeney, he’ll be just fine. You get what you give, and I’m quite certain the world won’t let him starve to death. I think another religion refers to it as “karma.”
Look, Susie B., I may be onto something (see comment section): http://mediumhappy.com/?p=6797
Bitcoin closed yesterday > $1,000. Is currently trading ~ $908
Chuck Feeney’s story is one of the most compelling stories in modern-day America, but somehow one of the most undertold. The man made and then gave away eight billion dollars. Warren Buffett has called Feeney his personal hero. There are hundreds of stories that could be told about his charity, large and small (he has given Cornell University in the neighborhood of a billion dollars), but here is one not mentioned in the NYTimes article: the Teach for America program, which has put over 50,000 teachers in low-income communities over the last 25 years, came to fruition largely because of initial funding from two of Feeney’s philanthropic groups.
The comparison with Donald Trump is inevitable, and the article’s author notes that he made it in another article 20 years ago. Trump was born to money and made a fraction of what Feeney did, despite Feeney’s far more humble beginnings. Trump chose a life of self-promotion and ostentatious gluttony, while Feeney gave away his money in silence. And yet here we are.
Perhaps “black oops!” For the #2 headline would be more appropriate?
5. I absolutely adore Charles Feeney’s selfless and unassuming ways. But he is wrong. You CAN wear two pair of pants at the same time, if one pair are yoga pants, or the more elusive jeggings.
There aren’t enough accolades to express the impact of programs like Teach for America. The fates will always provide for men of great heart and stature like Feeney, who quietly #UsesHisPowerForGood.
Ding, ding, ding! Ahem, one of my MH 2017 stock ‘contestants’ has ALREADY shot up more than 20%! NE closed at $5.92 on 12/30/16 & right now it’s trading at $7.36. Why thank-you NE, that’s very “noble” of you. 🙂
Query (or clarification) – does your 2017 stock 20% ‘contest’ specify said stocks must increase by at least 20% at some/any point during the year or does only the year-end total return count?
Finally today, I think I’ll pass on MBTS – I like my movies to be MORE enjoyable than a trip to the dentist. 😉
I attended a museum exhibit opening last evening, and the curator told me not to miss the collection of ephemera she had gathered at the end. Thanks to Word Up, I already had a clue about its meaning, but here it is for posterity:
Ephemera: 1) things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time. 2) items of collectible memorabilia, typically written or printed ones, that were originally expected to have only short-term usefulness or popularity.
Thanks MH!
Somehow, I did not see your 2017 stock pick before I commented Friday morning. Did you add later? Or else I just scrolled down too fast & missed. Alas. Anyhoo, even though NVDA is not one of my 2017 MH stock contestants, it IS one of the stocks I own (which I’ve, um, pointed out here a few times the past few months) & hope you are correct that it does shoot up another 20%. 30% would be even better because then I’d have my 3RD 10-bagger! Whoo-hoo! 🙂
And by the way, I own AMZN, then you own AMZN. I own NVDA, then you own NVDA. You using me as some sort of stock pilot fish? You’re welcome. 🙂