by John Walters

Tweet Me Right

Want to see a ref kick a dildo out of the end zone? pic.twitter.com/IkwTxp1ZbM

— Nora Princiotti (@NoraPrinciotti) October 30, 2018

Starting Five

Feat Of Klay

It was a veritable three-for-all at the United Center, as Klay Thompson set an NBA record for three-pointers in a single game with 14. Thompson finished the evening with an NBA-best this season 52 points and you almost forget that the Dubs led 92-50 at halftime (they won, 149-124).

The record-breaker for @KlayThompson! pic.twitter.com/gf46l7alIM

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 30, 2018

As second (no, third) bananas go, Thompson’s not so bad. Besides breaking backcourt mate Stephen Curry’s single-game three-pointers record by one (notice how upset Steph seems right here), he also holds the NBA record for most points in a single quarter with 37 (set in 2015).

2. Saturday Shame

who does this? pic.twitter.com/UbWk2E9Nq9

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2018

On the day eleven Jews were in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, President Donald Trump attended (performed?) at two political rallies.

–At the first he joked about perhaps canceling because he was having a bad hair day. Verbatim: “I said, ‘Maybe I should cancel this arrangement because I have a bad hair day.”

Trump jokes that he considered cancelling speech to FFA not b/c of the mass shooting in Pittsburgh, but b/c his hair got wet while talking w/reporters about the shooting.

“At least you know it’s mine… I said, ‘maybe I should cancel this arrangement b/c I have a bad hair day.'” pic.twitter.com/wLIlqQpENj

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2018

Then he attended a rally in Illinois, where in the first 10 minutes he told two giant lies (or he just got his facts wrong, which, hey, what does he or his MAGA audience care?). First, at 5:40, he says, “We must bring back the death penalty” to cheers. Except that we’ve had the federal death penalty back since 1988. Maybe he wants to take credit for that, too.

Then, at 9:45, he rationalizes that he’s decided not to cancel his appearance at this rally the same day as the massacre because “on September 11th, the New York Stock Exchange was open the following day.”

It was not. It did not reopen until September 17, six days and three full trading days later.

But here’s what’s beautiful about Trump, and how you know he’s not stupid but is instead a fabulous con man. Two days after this ridiculous error, forgetting for a moment how thoughtless it was for him to be out barnstorming on this day (because his ego is insatiable) and not even mentioning him trolling Los Angeles Dodger manager Dave Roberts later that night via Twitter, forgetting all that, let’s go to his interview with Laura Ingraham on Monday night. Because here is where you get the full measure of his character, of his duplicity (and of Ingraham’s complicity).

Again, he brings up the New York Stock Exchange opening so quickly after 9/11 to justify his appearing at the rallies, but notice how this time he does not claim the NYSE opened the next day. Instead he says, “As soon as posible” because by now he realizes people have caught on to Saturday’s lie. And notice how Ingraham doesn’t push back on this. She knows it was six days later, too, but she doesn’t push back.

Now, is this more important than 11 Jews losing their lives to a gunman? No. But it’s just one more example of the lack of character of the president, and his appetite for deceit.

3. Fun While It Lasted

Wouldn’t you know it, the couple who fell off a promontory in Yosemite Park, Vishnu Viswanath and Meenaksi Moorthy (purple hair), had an Instagram account and a blog, Holidays and Happily Ever Afters, that featured the two of them taking photos at the edges of cliffs and skyscrapers.

As Moorthy wrote in the blog, ““A lot of us including yours truly is a fan of daredevilry attempts of standing at the edge of cliffs and skyscrapers, but did you know that wind gusts can be FATAL??? Is our life just worth one photo?”

You tell us. You. Tell. Us.

4. Waterlogging Miles

Where else but in Venice would it be apropos to run a marathon partially below sea level? The Venice Marathon had some flooding issues this past weekend and we doubt any veteran harriers achieved personal bests.

But at least they’ll have a good story to tell. The flooding didn’t affect the runners until the last few miles, in Venice proper, but then the last few miles is when it already feels as if you’re running in a foot of water. The top finisher, who had been on a 2:09 pace for most of the race, finished in 2:13.

5. Cope and Haven

Lonely Planet just released its top 10 list of cities to visit in 2019. We’ve only been to three, including the city that tops the list. Maybe we’ll make them all next year (unemployment has its perks).

 

 

Music 101

Only You

This song by Yazoo (known here as Yaz due to copyright reasons) only reached No. 67 here in 1982 but climbed all the way to No. 2 in the UK. It was written by Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode, who teamed with vocalist Alison Moyet to form this side project duo. It’s a genuine New Wave slow song classic, and it’s sort of impossible to believe that it never made its way into a John Hughes film. It’s the ultimate John Hughes film torch song.

Remote Patrol

College Football Playoff Selection Show

7 p.m. ESPN

Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, LSU.

Next four? Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, ? (personally, I’d like to see Wazzu or UCF there, but watch them go for Ohio State).

Our friend Brett McMurphy has a piece on watchstadium.com where he predicts the Playoff as Alabama-Notre Dame, Clemson-Michigan. That would mean Michigan jumps Notre Dame, but we don’t quite see Michigan jumping the Irish unless the Irish lose, and we’re not so sure the Irish get in with one loss. So we’re not quite certain what Brett was thinking on this one.