by John Walters
Starting Five
Heat of the Moment*
*The judges will also accept “Sear Suckers”
In Phoenix, locals are remaining indoors, planes are grounded, and rattlesnakes are becoming more visible as the Valley of the Sun braces for a potential fourth consecutive day of record heat. Monday: 118 degrees. Tuesday: 119 degrees. Yesterday: 116 degrees. All record highs for June 19, 20 and 21st, respectively.
More than 50 flights were grounded on Tuesday. In hotter weather, planes need more speed to achieve lift, and the runway at Sky Harbor is not long enough to accommodate them.
As for the rattlesnakes? They’re always the perfect side dish to hellish circumstances.
2. Burger Is Well, Done
Perhaps you can see why French model and fitness blogger Rebecca Burger was so popular on Instagram. Last Sunday Burger, 33, was killed when a faulty whip cream canister exploded and the siphon struck her in the chest, inciting cardiac arrest.
I have no words. I mean, I do, but they’re probably not appropriate at this time. Let’s move on…
3. Inside Sedition
Police in India arrested 19 people for celebrating after Pakistan defeated India in a cricket match in England last weekend. They celebrated with firecrackers, distributing sweets and raising slogans of ‘Long live Pakistan,’ ” police officer Ramasray Yadav, who is investigating the case, said. “They expressed hatred toward India and friendship toward Pakistan. They are charged for sedition and criminal conspiracy.”
4. Rupp’s Arena
You’ll likely be asleep, since the race will start at 1:09 A.M. Eastern time (even though it is being staged in Sacramento), but the U.S. 10-K Championship is being run tonight and Galen Rupp is striving for his NINTH consecutive win. That’s pretty damn impressive. Not televised. NBC Sports Net will be running a re-run of the Nitro Games at that hour.
All of this is taking place, by the way, as the USADA suggests strongly that Rupp and five other Nike Oregon Project runners violated anti-doping rules.
5. Close, But No, Seager
Missed this from two nights ago, but in the Dodgers’ 12-0 drubbing of the Mets (oh, Mets were drubbed alright), reigning NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager hit a solo homer, a two-run homer and a three-run jack.
Having already hit those three bombs, Seager stepped up to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning with the bases juiced and the opportunity to become the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit all four types of home runs, in terms of number of men in base, in one game. Alas, he lined out to left.
Oh, Cody Bellinger also hit a home run in that game. He’ll be this year’s NL Rookie of the Year. Both Seager and Bellinger are 23 or younger. The Dodgers are the new Cubs.
Reserves
On the first day of summer, Game of Thrones releases its “Winter Is Here” Season 7 trailer. Coincidence?
Music 101
American Girls
By the time this Berkeley-based band released this perfect-for-summer song in 2002, Counting Crows had already jumped the shark with critics and too many of its original fans. I was still hoping they’d pull out of their nosedive, as I loved their first two albums (the soundtrack of many fabulous weekends spent in San Francisco in the mid-Nineties). Damn, I’m oversharing again…
A Word, Please
Anodyne (adj.)
Not likely to provoke dissent. Inoffensive, often deliberately so.
Remote Patrol
NBA Draft
7 p.m. ESPN
Finally, an NBA event this month filled with intrigue and excitement. There’s a good chance De’Aaron Fox will fall to fifth, which in five years will seem incredible to me (it already does).
As turmoil grows in Cleveland, Susie B. goes silent…Looks as if the “Supervillians” have won.
I hope you like purple and gold!
Stop torturing me! LALALALA-I can’t hear you! 🙂 🙁 This whole week has been AWFUL! The damn media (sorry jdubs) has now gone from hinting there was a “chance” that LeBron might go to LA next year are NOW shouting it every damn day as a “done deal”! And then with Gilbert revealing his true reptilian nature, he might have just pushed him out the door for sure! Or MAYBE they are in cahoots? What if Sweet Pea had a “deal” with Gilbert that if he won a championship, Gilbert would have to then do something heinous so that NE Ohio won’t hate LBJ when he DICTHES THEM AGAIN?*
I HATE THE FREAKIN LAKERS! I’ve hated them for 20 years & I hate their obnoxious fans & one of the best things about watching the NBA again these past 6 years is seeing the Lakers suck! If LeBron actually joins that team, I don’t know what I’ll do but closing down my NBA watching once again will be on the table. 🙁
* Answer me this – WHY does the media seem to think that folks in NE Ohio will be peachy-fine keen with LeBron leaving again just because he won a championship there? Is a wife whose husband ditched her for 4 years to hook up with some 27 year old hottie & then begged to “come home” gonna be FINE when he ditches her again 4 years later for one of those 20 year old Hollywood tramps just because the divorce settlement is $100 million? Sure, the money is FANtastic but she’ll be HEARTBROKEN! And remember, the man wrote the following – “My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball… I always believed that I’d return to Cleveland & FINISH MY CAREER THERE (caps emphasis mine)…I started thinking about what it would be like to RAISE MY FAMILY IN MY HOMETOWN…I feel my calling here goes above basketball….I want kids in Northeast Ohio…to realize there’s no better place to grow up….Our community, which has struggled so much, needs all the help it can get”. WHERE in there does it hint he’ll want to blow that popstand once he got “them” a championship? If he goes now after writing this LETTER, I think it would be WORSE than when he went to Miami when he was desperate to prove he COULD win a title. Of course, if Gilbert makes it impossible for the Cavs to be competitive these next 3-4 years, then MAYBE that gives LeBron a “get outta Cleveland & you won’t be blamed” card. As long as it’s not the blasted Lakers!
The Dodgers are the new Cubs in more ways than one, as they fit the bill of “long-suffering.” The Dodgers have a longer World Series drought than all but four teams (Pirates, Nationals, Mariners and Orioles). Their last WS team was the Kirk Gibson team of 1988. Want to know how long ago that was? Don Sutton was on that team, and he is now 72 years old.