by John Walters
Starting Five
By the age of 50, you have the face you deserve. This face says anger and hostility, no?
All The Light We Can Nazi
Last night we watched “Nazi Concentration Camps” on Netflix and last week we read the Pulitzer Prize-winning World War II novel All The Light We Cannot See (in other words, who knows how to party like this guy?). What comes across with great clarity is that Germany was lost as a nation as soon as ordinary Germans began to lose their humanity. As soon as people stopped wondering whether or not they were treating their fellow man with decency and rationalized all miscreantism with the explanation that it was for the good of the Reich, then you opened up a vault of evil.
Welcome to Alabama. And, to a larger degree, much of the United States. And that’s all I have to say about Roy Moore this morning.
2. The Moment Keaton Jones Became Black Mirror
Over the weekend our hearts broke as we watched the 75-second video of a Knoxville, Tenn., boy in tears, seated in the front seat of the family car, asking his mom why he was being bullied at school. Sure, we might have wondered what type of mom videotapes her son as he breaks down sobbing and what type of mom posts such an intimate and tender moment on Facebook, but hey, who are we to inquire (To be fair, Keaton reportedly asked his mom to videotape him after she picked him up early from school so that he would not have to eat lunch in the cafeteria).
Within a day the following happened: big-name athletes went out of their way to support Keaton, from Tennessee QB Jarrett Guarantano, who personally hung out with him, to Stranger Things’ Eleven, Millie Bobbie Brown, who tweeted, “I wanna be your friend,” to Titans tight end Delani Walker to Captain America (Chris Evans) to Luke Skywalker himself (Mark Hamill).
Keaton-Don’t waste time wondering why a bully would be so mean-They’re sad people who think hurting others will make them feel better because they really don’t like themselves-They’re just jealous because you’re so smart & handsome❤️Your friend-mh https://t.co/SUMw3OoCTm
— @HamillHimself (@HamillHimself) December 10, 2017
The video has already been viewed 20 million times.
But then it got crazier. A GoFundMe account raised nearly $60,000 (no one ever quite explained what the money would be used for) but then was taken down when the person who launched it, Joe Lam, admitted he had no connection to the family.
There was something about Keaton’s mom, Kimberley, posting something on Facebook with a Confederate flag or other racist posts. As if that had anything to do with Keaton’s classmates stuffing ham down his pants.
It’s 2017, and people can find a way to politicize a 12 year-old boy being bullied at school. It’s Black Mirror.
3. Speaking of Bullying…*
Ball in the family….
*The judges will also accept “Ball-tic State”
Yesterday LaVar Ball announced that he was shipping his two teenaged sons, one of whom just left UCLA and the other who is in high school and could play at any college he wants, off to Lithuania to play professionally. You have to imagine that at some point last night LiAngelo and LaMelo placed a desperate phone call to older brother Lonzo and begged him to become their guardian.
Silly us: 25 years ago a Lithuanian, Sarunas Marciulionis, was striving to prove that he belonged as a basketball player in the USA. Now we’ve got Americans striving to prove that they can play hoops in Marciulionis’ homeland.
It is only 5930 miles from Los Angeles to Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital
The Balls signed pro contracts so they are now permanently ineligible to play college hoops. Meanwhile, their pop said, “”I don’t care about the money. I want them to go somewhere where they will play them together on the court at the same time. The priority is for the boys to play on the same team.”
Couldn’t he have found a rec league in Chino Hills instead of Prienu Vytautas in the Lithuanian Club league? My guess is LiAngelo’s and LaMelo’s next stop is the Canada Goose website.
4. Jason and the I’ll-Go-Nuts
I like Jason McIntyre, the founder of The Big Lead. I think he knows that. But in a world in which Clay Travis blocks me on Twitter, I’m left to obsess with the bizarre ideas that emanate from Jason’s oral cavity. Two from the past week that struck me as odd and just misguided:
“Baker Mayfield’s stock is soaring – but why is his stock going up exactly? He’s just like Bitcoin. It’s not a knock on him, but nobody seems to know why everybody is so enamored with him.” — @jasonrmcintyre on @TBL_with_Jason https://t.co/J5nChBFycZ
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) December 9, 2017
No. No. No, no, no. See, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency whose value has skyrocketed but the reason for that ascension is something almost no one can ascertain and adequately explain. Whereas Baker Mayfield has the top QBR Rating in FBS history, has been called by former first-round NFL draft pick and QB Brady Quinn “the most accurate passer I have ever seen,” and has superior pocket presence and footwork. Plus, he has the IT factor. He shines in high pressure moments. His only drawback is his height, but it’s readily apparent why scouts are so enamored of him.
“I’m not saying that Stanton and Durant were 100% lined up. But Giancarlo Stanton just got to pick where he wanted to get traded, and he picked the best. Kevin Durant was a free agent, he got to pick, and he picked the best.” – @jasonrmcintyrehttps://t.co/WuI58w8DbH
— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) December 9, 2017
No. No. No, no, no, no, no. See, to understand anything, as Dr. Hannibal Lecter lectures us in The Silence of the Lambs, we must distill it to its essence. The essence of the Kevin Durant exodus is that he went to the very best team CURRENTLY in the NBA and to the very team that his own Thunder should have eliminated less than six weeks earlier. His departure shifted the balance of power whereas once there was one, now there no longer was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GeZsryVyHk
The essence of Gio to the Yankees, on the other hand, is the best power hitter in the National League going to a team that has the best power hitter in their league and who actually plays the same position. If Jason truly wanted to line up Gio on a hoops analogy, he’d be closer going Kyrie Irving to the Celtics (great player headed to the most dynastic team in in its sports history plus that team is, while not yet the best, on the upswing). And if he wanted to go for pure accuracy, he’d compare Gio heading to Yankees in 2017 to A-Rod heading to Yankees in 2004, not because it’s the Yankees, but because you have a guy who’s maybe baseball’s best hitter going to a team whose most popular player plays the same position as he.
Sometimes I wonder why I don’t have my own radio show, I gotta admit….
5. “It’s a Nice Butt, Dennis!”
This is American figure skater Adam Rippon of Scranton, Pa. He’s in the news today because he felt the need to assure everyone that his butt is not fabricated. Not exactly I, Tonya, but it’s news.
McAfee Meter
Days remaining until New Year’s, 2021: 1,116
Yesterday’s Bitcoin Price: $16,389
Current Price of Bitcoin: $17,061
Yesterday’s magic number: $880.59 per day.
That is, the price of Bitcoin must rise this much every day to reach $1 million by January 1, 2021.
Today’s magic number: $880.76
Takeaway? The price rose at just about that rate in the past 24 hours, just a little less than it should’ve, but almost a negligible difference. Bottom line is Mr. McAfee can feel good about not being the Theon Greyjoy of Silicon Valley, at least for today.
Music 101
Friends of P
The dying days of MTV mattering to music fans in the mid-Nineties saw this song by The Rentals getting heavy play. This, from singer/songwriter Matthew Sharp, is the supposed inspiration for the song:
“It is about Ric Ocasek wife Paulina Porizkova. Ric produced the first weezer record. His wife would come down while we were recording and she would do these palm readings. She was a very bright woman, and she would always do these palm readings for fun. She said the only people that have ever written her a song…she was a supermodel in the 80’s…the only people were these bad heavy metal bands…that night I went in the hotel that Pat Wilson and I were staying at and we said we had to bring her in and write a song about her for fun.”
Remote Patrol
The Crown, Season 2
Netflix
Haven’t watched an episode yet, but we were royally huge fans of Season 1. Knock ’em dead, Lizzy.
A Millennial’s Thoughts on Bitcoin:
My thoughts have been expressed here before, but I still feel like there is a continued misconception of Bitcoin and its exponential growth. I can only speak for myself. Even though I disdain the “M” word, I’ll oblige to follow the correct decorum the people use today.
Why Bitcoin? Honestly, I won’t even discuss Bitcoin per se. I’ll discuss the underlying movement of Blockchain and the decentralization of industries. I was 13 in 2008 and was shielded from most things can came from the financial crisis. As I’ve grown older, however, I’ve been able to view how institutions function and, to be blunt, it pisses me off.
Be it education, politics, Wall Street or healthcare, there’s this gaping hole of self awareness and morality. I don’t think anyone should expect benevolent institutions, but when does a line get drawn in the sand? Each of the aforementioned industries/institutions I’ve mentioned are based on the idea of trust. When you abuse that trust and neglect your customers, repercussions should be paid. First it was the internet in giving individuals the opportunity to voice their opinion. Now it is Blockchain to allow individuals to control their own data and information.
The decentralized system allows individuals to truly act out of their self interest, as opposed to the interests of the “elites” (not to be mistaken to some coastal elite idea, but instead referencing the true power brokers of these institutions).
In a capitalist society, money runs the joint. And unfortunately, people become too fond of making so much money that they lose awareness of what actually matters in this world. The “winner” mentality only furthered by the occupant of the White House has ill effects on society.
To end this diatribe with some organization, I summarize it all as follows:
You’ll never hear good praise about this system because it disrupts the status quo. The power elites are in a corner and will fight until their reputations are further tarnished. They don’t care about you, me or anyone else. And when the house of cards falls over, there will be liberty at last.
You’re having quite a week there, Jacob. Well said, again.
Meanwhile, Susie B., don’t blame me. I didn’t even bring it up today. And yeah, sorry about forgetting LeBron’s 57-point game last month.
Well said, Jacob! An exile to Lithuania doesn’t sound too bad, all things considered.
JW, if you adored “All The Light We Cannot See” by A. Doerr, I highly recommend “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. The courage, grace and resilience of the human spirit is a wondrous thing.
And there’s never been a better time to jump on the Hurley bandwagon. He’s turning the Curtain of Distraction into the Curtain of Distinction. ASU!
Do you guys honestly believe that the world’s power countries will ALLOW their monetary systems to be overthrown? All that has to happen to kill bitcoin or any cryptocurrency is to make it ILLEGAL to be used as “LEGAL TENDER” for any goods &/or services sold in their countries & BOOM, there goes the value of bitcoin ; back to the “dark web” where it started.
Meanwhile, until the, ahem, “deluge”, I hope you keep rackin up the bucks, jdubs! When did you actually buy into RIOT? Last Friday? If so, you must be up 50% or more by now! Does your kitty know what a BIG Christmas he/she has coming? 🙂
I was thinking this morning that anyone who bought $10,000 of GBTC near the beginning of the year (for $100/share) would now have $220,000! In a YEAR! Makes my AMZN 32-33 ‘bagging’ over 8 years look damn paltry in comparison. 🙂
LB question (& do you think one could bet on this in Vegas?) – which of the LB boyz will SUE his father 1st?