by John Walters
San Francisco Bey
In San Fran, Saddiq Bey of the Detroit Pistons splished the Splash Brothers. The 6’7″ Bey hit an off-balanced three-pointer after taking an inbounds pass with 1.0 on the clock to give the Pistons a 122-119 win at the Chase Center. Moments earlier, Klay Thompson had buried a game-tying three to knot the score at 119 apiece. The Warriors trailed almost the entire game.
Once again, the NBA is koo koo. The Warriors entered the game with the NBA’s best home record 17-2. The Pistons were 10-30. It was Golden State’s first home loss to a sub-.500 team this season (the others, to West-leading Denver in October and to Indiana last month). All of this chaos took place inside while outside San Francisco was being racked by a hurricane bomb of a storm with 55 mph winds, etc.
Sure, upsets can happen but in this NBA one seems to occur on a nightly basis. There’s no sense of urgency when an 82-game season serves only to cleave the bottom third of each conference. Teams are far more concerned with stars resting, first of all (Steph missed yet another game) and being focused when April comes. All of these winter months are pure prologue, like how Rocky Balboa suggests to Hulk Hogan that they just dance around the ring and give the folks a decent show. Remember?
Worth noting: The Dubs and the Suns are now both 20-19 but sports books still have the Suns as the favorites to win the West and the Dubs at No. 3, behind the Clippers, who are 21-18 and in 6th place.
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Just when you thought Joe McCarthy had a lock on “Worst McCarthy To Ever Serve In Congress” (I mean, they coined a term off his surname that is synonymous with gas-lighting and reckless paranoia), along comes Kevin McCarthy. The California Rep. has now lost, as of our count, four five six votes to be named Speaker of The House.
It’s the worst showing for a majority member seeking the Speaker-ship since 1856 (when Chuck Grassley was just a junior member of Congress). Speaker-ship matters for, among other reasons, this is the guy who is third in line for the Oval Office. Just imagine if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris chest-bump and simultaneously experience commotio cordis! Sure, Dan Orlovsky will say a prayer for them on-air, but if they both perish the Speaker would inherit the job. Who was drunk in the framing of the Constitution when they added that clause?
Snow Bowl
For no other reason than that Matt Cashore took yet another magical photo, we present this. Cashore, a Notre Dame alum, is also a licensed pilot. He has mad skillz.
13.5
We were a little surprised to see TCU open as 13.5-point underdogs to defending champion Georgia. The Horned Frogs are being Dangerfield’ed for the second game in a row. A reminder that TCU were the ones up 21-3 in the first half versus Michigan (and they never trailed in the second half despite the Wolverines’ many runs) and that Georgia trailed for all but the final minute versus Ohio State.
Should the defending champion Dawgs be the favorites in LA? Yes. But TCU’s lone loss this season came in overtime and they’ve demonstrated over and over that they are physical and have playmakers. Also, like Georgia, they have a QB who doesn’t wow you on photo day but seems to be able to always make plays when it matters.
We’ll be surprised if this is a double-digit game. We think the boys in the desert were expecting a lot more money to come in on Georgia. This spread, now at 12.5, could be down to 10 or 9.5 by Sunday night.
Dollar Quiz
T.J won yesterday, which gives him two wins, we think. Remember and please: If you have to Google an answer, that’s not what we’re striving for here.
- What day marks the first real day of Breaking Bad (there is a flash-forward scene that precedes it that we will not count)?
- A 6-4-3 double play involves which three fielders?
- Name one professional team on which Bud Grant (still living) played.
- In terms of latitude, order these cities from southern-most to northern-most: London, Montreal, Vancouver.
- In a game of blackjack, how many cards in the deck have a value of “10?”
1. I know nothing about Breaking Bad
2. Shortstop, 2nd base, 1st base
3. Minneapolis Lakers
4. London, Vancouver, Montreal
5. 16?
P.S. Matt Cashore is magnificent.
Shucks.
Oh, and chronologically, Breaking Bad starts on Walt’s 50th birthday. (Ends within a day or two of his 52nd birthday.)
TJ,
Do yourself a favor and get to know Walter White