by John Walters
Starting Five
1. Lying Donald Trump
It took the Director of the FBI, James Comey, to state under oath not directly that Donald Trump is a liar, but that nothing that he has tweeted in connection to being wiretapped is true. If there is one thing anyone paying attention should have learned by now, it’s that the truth is to Donald Trump what a speed limit is to those of us who have ever tried to drive more than 300 miles in one day.
“Would I lie to you (ohhhhh, yeah),
Would I lie to you, honey (oh no no no),
Now would I tweet something that wasn’t true?
I’m asking you, sugar, would I lie-ie-ie to you?
The more we see of him in the Oval Office, the more Trump reminds us of only one other leader of a nation in the world today:
That maniacal North Korean dictator is starving old people so he has funds to build up his nuclear arsenal.
No, wait. That’s Donald Trump! pic.twitter.com/sHI4DyeoOH
— Mack Butterfield (@mack465587) March 21, 2017
Finally, how often do you hear “White House sextuples down” and not think it’s a juicy story involving Bill Clinton?
White House sextuples down on false wiretap claims https://t.co/pMWJheGD8g – @jeffzeleny reports #TheLead
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 20, 2017
2. Connecticut’s Other Team
Quinnipiac’s quixotic quest quontinues
Yes, the UConn Huskies breezed past Syracuse by 30 points in the second round (pssst: the same two teams played for the national championship last April and the Huskies won that one by 31), but another Nutmeg State squad won last night in the women’s NCAA tourney. The Quinnipiac Bobcats, a 12-seed, stunned 4-seed Miami in Coral Gables last night, 85-78. Quinnipiac took down 5-seed Marquette on Saturday.
Quinnipiac is in the Stockton bracket, and would not meet its in-state neighbor until the national championship game if if got that far.
In other news, Tennessee failed to reach the Sweet 16 for only the second time, losing to Louisville. Kelsey Plum of U-Dub scored 38 to give her the NCAA single-season scoring record (1,080; she’s already the NCAA’s career scoring leader) as the Huskies put down Oklahoma. Finally, every 1, 2 and 3 seed in the women’s tourney but for one school: Duke, which was a 2-seed and lost to 10-seed Oregon by nine.
Bad weekend for Duke hoops.
3. Tapper Meets Maher
In case you missed this from Friday night, Jake Tapper of CNN has raised his profile greatly in the past three months. Here’s a smart conversation with Bill Maher from last Friday night…
4. Dwight Clark Has ALS
Tough news: Former San Francisco wide receiver Dwight Clark, 60, announced that he has ALS, which is incurable and a particularly cruel and debilitating disease. Because of the moment above, though, Clark is an immortal.
5. Hustle & Flow
Dramatic video shows man narrowly managing to escape car being swept away by raging floodwaters in Peru. https://t.co/WQh4cyf9Z1 pic.twitter.com/nRvJnGFtsZ
— ABC News (@ABC) March 20, 2017
You have to love the complete absence of chalance shown by this potential drowning victim. His car may be seconds away from being washed downstream with him in it, but he does not exit the vehicle until he is sure he is able to find his cell phone. As our friend @AuburnElvis suggested, “He needed to check his brackets.”
Music 101
Where The Bands Are
The Boss is a prolific songwriter, and some of Bruce Springsteen‘s better tunes never even made it onto his studio albums. This one, written in 1979, should have made it onto The River, but instead had to wait nearly 20 years to be included on his four-disc outtakes release, Tracks. Reading Born To Run, his 2016 memoir, you get the overwhelming sense that all Bruce ever really wanted to do was just play gigs. A dive in Asbury Park. A roller rink in Neptune. The Super Bowl. Makes no difference. As he says to the fans in another live version of this song on YouTube, “I wanna be where the fans are.”
Love how this version begins with him singing the first verse a cappella. No one will ever accuse Bruce of having a heavenly voice, but there sure is a life’s worth of texture there.
Remote Patrol
Double Indemnity
8 p.m. TCM
It’s “March Malice” week on my favorite cable channel, so why not take in this 1944 Billy Wilder classic that basically set the template for Los Angeles film noir. Starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, it was nominated for seven Oscars but received none.
No. 1 seed Notre Dame was taken to overtime versus No.9 seed Purdue, prevailing 88-82. No. 1 seed South Carolina narrowly escaped No. 8 seed Arizona State, 71-68 (granted, I believe their best –tallest? — player is out for the tournament).
Meanwhile, Baylor steamrolled Texas Southern by 89 (89!!!) in the opening round and soundly took care of Cal 86-46.
UConn will most likely play No. 3 Maryland in the Elite Eight (see Susie B.comments this week) and No. 1 Baylor in the Final Four. Arguably the two next best teams in the country. Surpass those teams and the Huskies most likely breeze in the championship game.
This brought to you by an occasional bystander of Women’s College basketball. Take note at your own risk.
I loved your Newsweek piece on ‘Northwestern Kid’ & the loss of innocence. That you close out the piece by mentioning what happens to be MY ACTUAL SPORTS ‘LOSS OF INNOCENCE’ (the 1972 USA-USSR Olympic basketball TRAVESTY) made it just about perfect*. Since I watched that Olympic so-called “game” on TV & was not constricted by people sitting next to me, I was even MORE demonstrative than NW Kid – I screamed, I cried, I was prostrate on the floor one moment & then next, stamping around our living room floor waving my arms screaming “WHHHHYYYY?! WHHHYHHYYY?!” & of course, “IT’S NOT FAIR!” I then screamed & cried for hours AFTER the game. I couldn’t believe it then & ALMOST can’t believe it now – that the Soviets were ALLOWED to blatantly STEAL that game. By OLYMPIC “officials”. I was totally on board with the American team NOT showing up for the awards ceremony to receive their joke of a silver medal & still am. If I had actually played in the game, I’d be a stone-face like Doug Collins too. He probably had ALL sense of fairness sucked right out of his body that day, so now whenever big emotional events are happening to him or the people he cares about, he goes numb with fear.
*So, why isn’t your piece perfect? Because you say “adults” no longer react as passionately as NW Kid. Only a sports journalist would say that. A FAN of ANY age can be just as unhinged. Example#1001 – my TV room during the final 5-10 minutes of Game 6 of 2013 NBA Finals. I STILL haven’t recovered & MY team WON. Staining the carpet are my tears of the expected “nooo-nooooooo” loss mingled with the jubilant & shocked “OMG! OMG!” tears of the eventual win. Unless NW Kid joins your tribe of killjoy sports media, he should have a lifetime of sports jubilation & tears (albeit they may be on the ‘inside’ like Charles’ clapping in his head. 🙂 )
Until The Sociopath & his Neo-Nazi treasonous co-conspirators are REMOVED from office & thrown into prison, our country & its government will continue on its plotted road to destruction. RESIST! IMPEACH! IMPRISON! SAVE YOURSELVES! SAVE AMERICA!