by John Walters
Tweet Me Right
Dunk you very much. There’s four moments here where Liz nails it, and notice the comic timing. She waits for the cheering to subside before delivering the coup de grace, “…assuming you can find one.” Probably a set-up question, but still, beautiful.
Also, catching this late but well worth your 2-plus minutes if you have not seen it…
Starting Five
Clean, Beautiful Cole
A few things to know about Houston Astros starter Gerrit Cole, who stuck out 10 last night as the Blastros beat the Rays, 6-1, to advance to the ALCS:
–Since May 22 he is 18–0 in 24 starts.
–He has struck out at least 10 batters in every game for the past 11 games, a Major League record.
–Last night his streak of recording at least one strikeout in an inning reached 73 innings before finally ending. That’s the longest such streak since at least 1961—as far as Elias could trace back—and the next best mark is only 40 innings, by Pedro Martinez.
–Combined with his 15 strikeouts in Game 2 of the ALDS, the 6’4″ right-hander from the mean streets of Newport Beach, Calif., whiffed 25 batters in consecutive playoff games. Only one man has ever struck out more in consecutive postseason games: Bob Gibson (27) of the Cardinals in 1968.
Either Cole (20-5, led the league in strikeouts [326] and ERA [2.50] and was second in WHIP, [0.89]) or teammate Justin Verlander (21-6, led in WHIP [0.80] and was second in striketous [320] and second in ERA [2.58] will win the Cy Young, which is why the ALCS may hinge on the fact that the Rays extended the Astros to five games, meaning neither will pitch Game 1 and even if Verlander does pitch Game 2, on Sunday, it’ll be on short rest.
Wonders: After a win, do the Astros dine at Mastro’s?
Thug Shots
You are looking at Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, Russian-born clients of Rudy Giuliani. Yesterday the pair were arrested at Dulles Airport as they had one-way tickets to Frankfurt. They are accused of breaking several campaign finance laws, including setting up phony companies in which to funnel money to Republican candidates, money that originated from an unknown Russian investor. They also allegedly introduced Giuliani to Ukrainian officials who suggested they push the Biden-corruption angle.
Besides being clients of Giuliani, the pair had their bail agreement ($1 million) negotiated by Paul Manafort’s attorney. President Donald Trump says that he does not know them which, well, of course.
This is paint-by-numbers stuff at this stage. Manafort, now in prison, was the original conduit to the Russian agenda. When he went away, Rudy replaced him. The game all along has been to funnel Russian money to Republican super-PACs and candidates via shell companies or third parties such as the NRA. FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Republicans pols, who consider liberals and/or Democrats the greatest threat to their U.S.A., have no problem accepting cash from Russians if it will keep them in power. And kow-tow’ing to them. And using Putin’s KGB methods to remain in power.
This is treason. If you want to hang some of these men, it’s not the worst idea.
Trump, yesterday afternoon before heading to a rally in Minneapolis:
Rudy, that bus ahead is the one you’re about to be thrown under.
Shame, Shame For Ol’ Notre Dame
We love our alma mater, tis true, but this is shameful: Attorney General William Barr, who could be going to prison within a year or may be resigning even sooner, is scheduled to speak at the University of Notre Dame Law School today. That’s bad juju, Irish, particularly on the eve of the USC game.
Here’s hoping a “Lock him up!” chant is started by a few spirited 1Ls.
By the way, since Ronald Reagan, every U.S. president has given a commencement speech at least once at Notre Dame. Donald Trump has not yet been invited—Mike Pence delivered it in 2017.
Mystic Achievement
We don’t have much to say about the Washington Mystics winning their first WNBA title after 22 seasons in the league other than Good job. League MVP Elena Delle Donne beats the state of Connecticut again, as the Mystics take down the Sun in five games (Delle Donne famously committed to UConn and then withdrew her first week on campus in the summer, likely costing the Huskies at least two national championships). Delle Donne played the series with three herniated discs in her back. And a broken nose.
It’s the first Washington, D.C., pro sports championship since the Capitals two years ago.
Mercedes Rule
We were strolling past the Mercedes dealership on 11th Avenue the other day when we noticed, in the showroom, this 2020 Mercedes AMG GT C Coupe. Sticker price of just $150,900. As soon as that Bitcoin play comes in, we’re purchasing one of these. We’ll even take you for a spin, Susie B.
Music 101
Alive
The first time we heard Pearl Jam’s breakout tune, in September of 1991, we just knew it. You did too, right? It’s not exactly a toe-tapper, more of a foot-stomper. This is the song, and the opening guitar riff, that started it all.
Remote Patrol
Nationals at Cardinals
8 p.m. TBS
A fine appetizer for tomorrow’s incredible day of sports ball: Oklahoma-Texas, Penn State at Iowa, Alabama at Texas A&M, USC at Notre Dame, Florida at LSU, Yankees-Astros. Crazy.
Verlander will be on regular rest for Game 2 vs. the Yanks.
That Kerr clip … just simple, thoughtful common sense observations. You could listen to the cable networks and the Sunday morning shows for a year and never hear anything like that.
Re: Thug Shots, I’ve always wondered how to kow-tow. Now we are learning firsthand how to Moscow-tow. (I promise I didn’t hurt myself with that stretch.)
Per my Facebook feed, it’s the day of birth for the witty G.A. (who is currently MIA). HAPPY BIRTHDAY Greg!
He’s currently on tour with the Auman Bothers Bland
Happy Birthday, GA!
All those pictures/videos of Rudy’s henchmen smiling happily with Trump and his crew … they might as well be sitting in Richie “The Fixer” Perry’s hot tub.
You’ve lived in NYC for more than 25 years & unless you’ve been holding out on us about your “available funds”, I’m guessing you haven’t driven all that much on a daily basis, except when out visiting mamadubs. How are your driving skills? A bit rusty? Did you see what happened to that boxer who had just won some bout/belt? He slammed a Ferarri onto a curb “at high speed”, flipping the car several times & being thrown from the vehicle because that Einstein wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. How he survived is a mystery. Listen, in MY GREAT & UNMATCHED WISDOM, I implore you to wear a seatbelt when zipping around in your future Bitcoin ‘toy’! And keep the speed under 75 when outside the city! 🙂 Would you REALLY buy such an expensive car? I THINK you’re joking but guys & cars…
Kerr’s response to the Sociopath’s attack was as measured yet piercing as I expected. That a man who has spent his entire adult life bouncing & shooting a ball &/or coaching or talking on TV about others bouncing & shooting a ball would be 1000 TIMES a better President than the pathological bullying narcissist in the Oval Office says what about our country?
It will be interesting to hear what the NBA guys, at least those most outspoken on social & political issues the past few years & that includes Kerr, will say about what happened in China & the future of the NBA in that country once all the NBA personnel (players, coaches, team support, media, etc) are OUT of China. Do they just ignore it & hope it blows over because SO MUCH MONEY is now at risk? Not just for the organization NBA but for each individual player if the cap takes a massive hit & for the stars that have VERY lucrative deals involving China. And what does the NBA do about the NEWEST owner of one of its teams? A Chinese citizen who came down STRONGLY in support of the Chinese government position? (But of course he did, if he displeased his govt, they would CONFISCATE any & everything he owned in that country & if he returned there, he would “disappear” for weeks/months/maybe forever).
And how long will Morey really keep his job with the Rockets? Oh, he won’t be fired for at least 6-9 months, but then, maybe he’ll “resign to accept a new opportunity” or “spend more time with his family”. His boss (the Rockets owner) was NOT happy about that tweet & you can bet your ass he would have fired Morey already if the NBA hadn’t forbade it (my assumption). On one hand, I absolutely agree with that tweet, on the other, I’m not the GM of what WAS the most popular NBA team in that country. What was he thinking? Surely he’s been over to that country multiple times & understood what life was like for the people there? If a GM of another team, one not followed much in China & not one with a team on Chinese ground at the time, had written that tweet, do you think it would have blown up the way it did? I’m guessing not near as much. Do you think Morey knew EXACTLY what he was doing & hoped for this debacle to force the issue about what the NBA & American businesses compromise to actually “do business” with/in China? Or was he just naïve & oblivious? Or maybe HE’D just made a killing on Bitcoin & was delirious? 🙂
I actually feel sorry for the super-wealthy & famous NBA stars as their words/actions or lack of about this past week will trumpet to all EXACTLY “their price”. And there will be factions on both sides that will NEVER let them (or us) forget it.