FT Miami 106 Atlanta 97

‘Tis time for Kendrick Nunn to be named the early Rookie of the Year favorite. Look at his stat line tonight: 28 points on 10/15 shooting, 4/6 from downtown, 4/4 from the line. He is averaging 21 ppg in his first five NBA games. Behold! RevelatioNunn. 

Herro the Hero makes it a 16 point routish lead. Miami on a 10-0 run. Turn out the lights in HeatLanta.

When I first checked in on the “Heat” tonight they were rolling. It was 48-33 with 4+’ left in the half. Then The Butler did it: a missed shot, an ATL score; a charge foul, an ATL score; a missed free throw, defensive rebound, an ATL score. At the half an incipient blow out had narrowed to a graspable six. The game started slipping away from ATL from graspable to reachable in the 3Q, at the end of which MIA was up ten. Now with 6:59 to play it's 11, slipping more, not completely, but more, out of reach. Butler has had a terrible game shooting (2/8); does have 8 boards, 8 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks and 3 turnovers. The story of the game so far for Miami is Kendrick RevelatioNunn with 24 points on 8/13. But the “Hawks” aren’t going away quietly. It was down to 6, it’s now 9 on a big Myers Leonard trey...and now another one! Meyers Leonard is on 🔥! 102-88 “Heat”, 3:05 left. An obese woman is testing her voice just off court.

When BF Harris talks...

Yinz yinzers oughta listen. I done already made ya yuan. Now having bragged on my own self, of course, somebody will actually listen, lose money, and send me an irate email.

This being Thursday, All Hallows Eve and trading beginning Saturday, it is time to make your futures investments. There is one stock horribly undervalued that immediately jumps out at me: The annual World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party betwixt Jawja and FU. Now, Jawja is #8, FU #6, “Poodles” have lost once to unranked 3-3 South-Carolina-Must-Be-Destroyed—at home. Whatja call a bad loss. “Alligators” also have one loss—to then #5, now numero dos, peut-etre soon #1 Elle Esse Voux on the Bayou. The festivities are being played, per usual, on a neutral field in JAX. So whaddya think the line is?

UGA -6.5. Georgia’s innate talent and body of work through seven games make them the clear favorite, more than a TD, less than the PAT. To which the undersigned says with great unction,

As this here idiot blogger mansplained last week with his Beloved Pitt Panthers and the line agin scUM we will pore out similar logic here. You don’t have to think FU will win to win money. You will win money if they lose: by five points, by four, by three, two or one. And of course if they win outright. You will only lose mulah if the “Silver Britches” make the kick after touchdown. It’s a no-brainer, which fits me poifectly. Setting myself up: this is my strongest play of the year. Take all discretionary income and invest in FU.

              

Washington just added another one with two out in the top of the 8th. A single drove in a runner from second. 4-2 "Nats" now. However baseball is most famous for being the one game where there is no such thing as momentum. "Stros" could easily win this thing and the whole shebang in the bottom of the eighth and ninth innings. 

Holy cow (I bet this is a first.). In DC the Houston "Rockets" are playing the Washington "Bullets" in an NBA game. Houston has just won by the incredible score of 159-158--no overtime, that's regulation four quarters. We ought to make this a holiday, the eve before All Hallows Eve, to remember national wizards and rockets and bullets and astronauts.

The World Series Game 7 is being played as I type. In the top of the 7th inning Washington has just taken the lead on Houston on a two run homer, 3-2. The game is being played in Cow Town.

Baseball is famously a game of statistics. So you know, lies, damn lies, statistics. There is frequently a "first" in some statistical category. This one though is meaningfully weird: The 2019 World Series is the first where the visiting team has won each of the previous six games. Ergo (I think) if DC holds on all seven games will have been won by the visitors

Bad fight tonight in the NBA in Philadelphia between Joel Embid and Karl-Anthony Towns. Of course it takes two and they started stayed behind locking arms and swinging elbows along the Minnesota baseline long after the play had gone the other way. It looked like there was bad blood there, like in a hockey fight when the players have clearly determined to throw down the gloves as soon as opportunity presents itself. There isn't a comprehensive camera angle because it was so away from the play but it looked to me that it was Embid whose two-handed push on Towns' chest after they had unlocked arms who sent it from elbows and double technicals to a full-fledged fight and double ejections. After the fight Embid was going around flexing and high-fiving teammates and fans. Neither man was hurt, thank God, but a bad look for the NBA.

Fights in the NBA are by far the most dangerous in any other major team sport. The athletes are so goddamned big, they are completely unprotected,they play on so small a playing surface and with defenseless fans, older people, kids, women this close to the court. A full scale fight like tonight is a very dangerous thing. If these guys knew how to really fight, i.e. to box, to put your fists up in a defensive-offensive posture and throw a hard jab on an opening, as they do in hockey, one of them could have killed the other tonight. In hockey unless there is that one devastating, perfectly timed jab the players clutch, grab each other's jersey's and do a ridiculous looking waltz trying to maintain their balance on skates until they wear themselves out. There is not a traction problem in basketball.

I'm not sure what the NBA protocol is for a fist fight. In addition to ejection I think they are disqualified for the next game if they are deemed to be equally at fault but I could be wrong. If one is clearly the instigator (not here) or the escalator (Embid here in my opinion) then I think there's an enhanced penalty, a three-game suspension maybe.

Fourth fucking game of the season for both teams and we get a dangerous fight? Jesus Christ.

The Week in Academia

While finding the perfect gift for someone is a worthy endeavor, researchers recently discovered an often-overlooked factor that can influence whether a recipient will be pleased with a present: how the gift is wrapped. The study abstract is available online in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.

The investigators were interested in exploring the validity of the common assumption that recipients prefer gifts that are neatly wrapped. They hypothesized that the opposite may in fact be true. "When we receive a gift from a friend, we use the wrapping as a cue about the gift inside and form expectations," says Jessica Rixom, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Nevada, Reno. "If it's wrapped neatly, we set high expectations, and it's hard for the gift to live up to those expectations."

Rixom and her colleagues tested this hypothesis by asking study participants to unwrap a gift that was either neatly or sloppily wrapped. Inside, they found either an official Miami Heat or Orlando Magic mug. For this study, the researchers selected participants who were specifically Miami Heat fans but not Orlando Magic fans, so the Heat mug would be the preferred gift. After unwrapping it, the participants rated how much they liked the gift by answering five questions. The results showed that recipients had more favorable attitudes toward the sloppily-wrapped gifts—regardless of whether the mug represented their preferred basketball team.
https://phys.org/news/2019-10-danger-great-gift.html

Herro the Hero

This is a different team. It was a different team before Jimmy Butler, one of the top fifteen players in the NBA, joined Miami and tonight the "Heat" scorched Hotlanta 112-97 behind their new stars.

Nineteen year old Tyler Herro led the team (as the last man off the bench, too) with 29 points and 7 rebounds in 29'. The five Heaters who played the most minutes were Bam, continuing his strong third season, with 17 and 10 in 33'; Jimmy with 21 in 31'; Goran with 21 in 30'; Kendrick the RevelatioNunn had 17 in 30'. Only Justice Winslow regressed and Justice had a poor night, 2 points on 1/7 and 6 rebounds.

Herro was the hero tonight but in the previous three games it has been Nunn, Winslow and Adebayo has been a glass cleaner. Miami is going to be a tough out this season. This is a balanced, difficult team to play and to defend. When the last guy off the bench scores 29, you got your hands full. The "Heat" has gone from being the gang that couldn't shoot straight last season to a team of ICBM's this.

There is no book yet on Herro and Nunn, little tape to watch. That will accumulate and teams will learn their tendencies and their favorite spots on the floor and adjust accordingly. But while the Miami's NFL team commits crimes against sporting humanity and are cheered on by ministers of propaganda, Miami's NBA team is showing that tanking is not necessary, it is unthinkable for this franchise, besides being illegal, in order to escape lower middle class neighborhoods; that a philosophy of win then, win now, win forever and creative never-surrender management can lift a team out of Middlesboro into the more prestigious precincts

For what it is worth, after a measly four games, 4.8% of the season, Miami is second in the East. Looking at the putritude in the East, a nice modest upper middle class residence on Fifth Place seems the most reasonable. But, could this uber-conditioned, driven, young team overtake Boston for fourth? Boston is a bit teetery. And while fourth is plausible, any lower than fifth seems unlikely competing against Atlanta, Detroit, Orlando, Brooklyn and D.C. A move up five streets from Tenth to Fifth, that's damn good in one year.

The "Heat" are inspiration; the "Dolphins" indictable for thieving sports soul.

He's back.

IS HE BACK YET?

Has there been a Jimmy Butler sighting in Miami? If so, I missed it. This was the day, Monday, Monday was the day Butler (and Weighters) were to re-join the team.

Jimmy Butler to make Heat debut Tuesday after missing first three games due to birth of daughter, per report

(CBS)

So, "per report," which means “that's what we've heard”, t'ain't official, Butler is to play tomorrow night. But he was supposed to be back today. Per report, there is no report on Butler being in Miami today. Has anybody seen him in Miami? Does he plan to drop in via hot air balloon tomorrow, skip the shoot-around and pull on the uni at 7:30 pm? We don't know. And that is all on Jimmy Butler. No Info Butler. I'll believe it when I see it. You can skip the fireworks welcome as far as I'm concerned.

In the sum of our lives' of deeds, non-deeds and misdeeds, binding moments are rare and count heavily. In modernity our lives are quiet iterations of single-digit advances and setbacks. We get our paychecks at regular intervals and count down the days to retirement when we can get our paychecks without working. Instead of a blinding supernova there are a thousand points of light, opportunities every day to "make life better," and there are a thousand cuts to death instead of one premature, catastrophic wound. Ours are lives of gentle ups and downs over rolling hills rather than the vertigo of peaks and the compression of depths. We wish for ourselves and for others "enough."

Few of us know binding moments.

Great men are produced by the times, the adage goes. In this view few of us attain greatness because few have the opportunity. When the times require greatness, so this positivist outlook continues, we will have great men: you, and you, and you, and me. America was in a bind in 1861 and out of nowhere produced Abraham Lincoln; in 1932, FDR; in 1941, FDR again.

There is the fallacy of reversibility in that. If the United States had lost the Civil War Lincoln would have been consigned to presidential hell for the same tactics and strategy that place him in the first rank of presidents. It is not an explanation, it is a tautology.

Times-make-the-man history is selective. The times did not produce greatness in James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, the two bookends to Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Great Britain chose Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill at the same time. Decisions borne of fear and decisions borne of courage. The flip side to times-make-the-man positivism is that men do not affect greatness.

"First, were we truly men of courage?"
 -President-elect John Fitzgerald Kennedy, speech to Massachusetts General Court, January 9, 1961.

You do need the opportunity, most of us don't get the opportunity, but Lenny Skutnik got the opportunity and had the courage to seize it. Buchanan and Johnson and Chamberlain and George W. Bush got the opportunity and whiffed. There is fallacy also in the breezy view of latent greatness. Man can affect greatness and he can fail to affect greatness.

Opportunity is circumstances plus power. You don't have to be presented with the opportunity of existential threat. Dwight D. Eisenhower was presented the most placid eight years in 20th century America. He golfed a lot, yes, but he also created the interstate highway system, foresaw and forewarned the threat of the burgeoning military-industrial complex to civil society. Barack Obama inherited no existential crisis; he inherited the Great Recession and ended it; seized the opportunity to enact a national health care system; inherited the NSA spy scandal, the realization of Eisenhower's warning, and did nothing.

Greatness is opportunity plus power plus judgment.

"Second, were we truly men of judgment?"

There is then a necessary alignment of factors, circumstances, power, and judgment, all temporal and personal for greatness. It is rare, it is also discrete; greatness is discrete. For those who are presented the circumstances, who are given the power and who have the judgment there are discrete instances where the alignment occurs. In the three instances above Barack Obama went two for three.
The sum of a man's life are the discrete instances of the things he has done, those he has failed to do, those he has done poorly, and the circumstances of all three. The great ones count more.

(A version of this post appeared here on March 13, 2015)

The Criminal Donald Trump was greeted with boos and chants of “LOCK HIM UP!” at the World Series game he attended last night.

I Am Benjamin Harris, a Sonofabitch

“Heat Wilts” was not the theme of either of Ira’s articles on the game. The theme was Jimmy Butler, now absent his third game on paternity leave, and the continued revelation that is Kendrick Nunn. At least so far (3 games) Nunn is the “Heat’s” rookie of the year. Twenty five points tonight, 18 last night, 24 in his first NBA game against Memphis. My oh my.

I confess here for the first time to being irritated with Jimmy Butler. The day of birth, absolutely. But even that, he blindsided management. The first they knew was in the shoot-around the day of when he told Spoelstra he “might not” be able to play that night. It doesn’t seem like Spoelstra knew for sure because he didn’t inform the public, via the carpal tunnel afflicted wretches, until an hour and a half before tip off and then it was a short “Jimmy’s not here.” His mysterious “Everything is alright” consolation codicil added to the irritation. There was NO MENTION of the reason. The “Heat” had planned an elaborate welcoming ceremony for Butler. As much of that as could be was canceled I guess but some of it, the video welcomes were embarrassing under the circumstances. Since it was the birth of a child, as opposed to an arrest or something, WHY NOT SAY THAT? Jesus. Why leave people guessing, stunned. But okay, one day, one game, mazel tov on the birth of your daughter Jimmy, get back soon.

That was Wednesday. The “Heat” didn’t play again until Saturday. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, that’s three days Jimmy has been with his sig-oth and newborn, not in Miami, parts unknown, at least to me. Okay Jimbo, Saturday night! See ya then! No. Sunday! Nyet. Five days, three games. Paternity leave. That irritates me. The whole way Butler handled it, obviously blindsiding his employer the first night, giving NO EXPLANATION the first night and that I am aware of EVER. The intel that it was the birth of a child came from Spo. Jimmy has gone DARK since Wednesday night. And then missing these two games on the fourth and fifth nights including Wednesday, no. No! I’m not cool with that. Were there complications? Are mom and baby okay? Why do you have us speculating again! I pray that mom and baby are okay and that the horrible alternative is not the reason but the point is Jimmy hasn’t said. And if they are okay then, I’m sorry again, but I am irritated that a professional player has taken five days off work and missed three games for a normal, healthy birth.

In his write-up of Miami’s overtime win last night against the holding conference champions in Milwaukee Ira Winderman chocked up the huge comeback from 17 points down at the half to better conditioning by the “Heat.” For instance Bam Adebayo’s chase down block in the closing seconds of regulation. I thought so, too; the “Heat’s” youth and better conditioning. Tonight’s result, a 116-109 lose in Minneapolis, does not disprove that conventional wisdom but it does not support it either.

In each of the first three games this season the “Heat” has started slowly. Tonight they were down 13 after 1Q. Then they get their legs, and tonight too. They outscored the “T-Wolves” by 15 in the 2Q. They built on that slim halftime lead in the third and entered the fourth quarter up 7. Then they wilted, got blitzed by 14 in the 4th and lost by a touchdown. I have not read anything on the game yet but if “Heat Wilt” is not the theme of every article in south Florida on this game I’m a sonofabitch. It is the obvious angle, second of back-to-backs, and on the road, the first game in overtime, yeah. And most times the obvious answer is the correct answer. I agree, “Heat Wilts” is the theme for this game. I’m just saying that “Heat Wilts” is not reinforcement for “Heat In Better Shape.”

The 12-4 Cleveland "Browns" fell to 2-5 on the season after a 27-13 loss to New England in Foxborough. For insight on the "Browns" don't forget to check out cleveland.com.

Full time all around, 2-2 Arsenal-Palace, 2-1 Liverpool-Spurs, 3-1 ManU-Norwich and earlier today Newcastle and Wolves drew 1-1 Tyneside.

Piers:


Piers Morgan

@piersmorgan

That is the worst VAR decision in VAR history, and the bar for that dishonourable accolade is very very low.
2:19 PM · Oct 27, 2019




Piers Morgan

@piersmorgan
·9m

Oh FOR F*CK’S SAKE.

That is a diabolical decision. VAR is destroying football.


Piers Morgan

@piersmorgan
·10m

BOOOOOM!!!!! 3-2

Yep, overruled by VAR. 2-2 in the 89’.

It is. It is still 2-2. Goal disallowed, I guess.

Arsenal 3 Palace 2,

Wait, what happened here. Google had it 3-2 on a goal in the 83’, by the same Greek guy who had scored earlier. When I went back to check the minute it was 2-2...

ManU have their match at Norwich well in hand, 3-0 in the 82’ and I think I read that it could have been worse, that ManU missed two PK’s.

Liverpool 2 Spurs 1, 75’

Mo Salah with the PK.

Man, Arsenal got off to a quick start too! The Gunners boomed! in the 7’ and then Boom! again in the 9th. Still 2-2 now in 76th.

7m ago 17:54

67 min Liverpool have had 75 per cent of the possession, and 11 shots on target to Spurs’ one.

Oh my goodness, Crystal Palace has come from 2-0 to 2-2 at Arsenal. 62’. Let’s check in on Piers.



Piers Morgan
@piersmorgan

FFS.

1:43 PM · Oct 27, 2019



Umm, me no speaky Brit tweeter. Based on the time, I interpret that as NSFW.

 17:47

59 min This has been a stunning response to adversity from Liverpool. Since around the 25th minute, they have attacked with volcanic heat.

 17:43

55 min Salah’s volley is straight at Gazzaniga. This game is only going one way. Spurs can’t live with Liverpool’s intensity.

Liverpool 1 Spurs 1

As predicted, here and everywhere, Spurs could not withstand the pressure of 79% possession for 89 more minutes, not against a team of Liverpool’s talent, and they didn’t. It lasted until the 52’. Jordan Hendersen with the goal for ‘Pool.

48 min: Son hits the bar! It came straight from a brilliant goalkick/pass from Gazzaniga, swished from right to left and in behind Lovren. Son ran clear, went round Alisson and lifted the ball onto the crossbar from a tight angle.

3m ago 13:36

47 min: Fine save from Gazzaniga! Robertson ran at Eriksen and crossed towards the far post, where Firmino got between defenders and forced a good save with a downward header. Meanwhile...

Happens sooo often. In soccer, in hockey. A good save on one end leads to a break and a goal or as here a near miss.

This Week

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79% possession for Fetidpool in the first half. T'ain't gonna last. That 1-0 score t'ain't gonna last.

Spurs 1 Liverpool 0

Oh my God, the Harry Kane Club got a goal from Himself in the 1' of play and lead league leaders Mississippi upon Merseyside 1-0 at the half!

For the last couple of months as I re-read books I have on American colonial history I have been afraid to google Bernard Bailyn for fear he had died. Just now, as I was re-reading his The Barbarous Years I had to know. I was afraid I was going to see a "Died:---" underneath "Born: September 9, 1922" on his Wikipedia page. But...no "Died:".

Professor Bailyn, all of his academic life, has been the preeminent historian of the period and it is not even close. I have read two books by one of his most prominent students and I have learned from them. However, I have been more frequently aggravated by them. Every book that I have read by any other author has disappointed in comparison with The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution which I had the great good fortune to read as a young man in graduate school.

Frequently, I took Origins with me when I traveled or was working elsewhere. To my utter exasperation somewhere in the last few months I lost it. So typical of me. Too embarrassed to admit defeat I convinced myself that it would eventually turn up. It did not. So, a couple of weeks ago I waved the white flag and ordered a replacement from Barnes and Noble. It arrived in my mailbox last week. "How could it fit in my mailbox? I thought as I wedged it out. "It wasn't this thin." as I held it in my hands and took the elevator up to my unit. I tore the packaging open in the kitchen and,

A MACAT ANALYSIS

BERNARD BAILYN'S

THE IDEOLOGICAL ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

A Cliff Notes-like version. All of sixty-nine pages long.

It is still there on the kitchen counter. Some day, maybe today, I will order the real thing.

“If you are lucky enough to have read Bailyn as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, he stays with you, for Bailyn is a moveable feast.”

Oh my goodness! Well, my Notre Dame nightmare just disappeared as Notre Dame is disappearing at Michigan. "Wolverines" are blowing the "Irish" out 45-14 and there's just over two minutes left. There go the Irish. There go the Irish.

Elles and Gees, I am DONE. How many posts was that today, 30, 40? I've been up since 7. Enough. Too much. Later, sooners.

This is good reporting by Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

I mentioned the Dion Waiters and James Johnson situations briefly in an earlier post. Waiters was suspended for one game, opening night, and it was the management's decision that he not accompany the team on this Saturday-Sunday road trip. Sounds like a three game suspension but he will get paid for this weekend's games but not for the opener. That is the difference. When the suspension was announced by Pat Riley in a written statement last week the reasons that were given were unprofessional conduct toward coach Erik Spoelstra on the bench in the last preseason game against Houston and "a number of unacceptable incidents." Johnson was sent home during the preseason for not being in shape. Was he suspended? I don't think so but I don't remember. He returned, chastened and blaming only himself, but has not played in a game, today's was announced as a "Coaches Decision-Conditioning." So that is the back story to Barry Jackson's article today:

▪ One Heat basketball person in regular contact with Pat Riley described the team president as visibly angry in the aftermath of the James Johnson and Dion Waiters conditioning shortcomings and Waiters’ “unprofessional” behavior.

That is entirely credible. Riley being pissed is...yeah, Riley would be super-pissed.

▪ Here’s more background on what we’ve been told on the Waiters situation: During the preseason game against Houston last Friday, Waiters was complaining aloud about Erik Spoelstra and not getting a chance to play more, clearly within earshot of coaches and players.

OH OH OH! Rank insubordination, inspirational of mutiny. Unforgivable, just unforgivable.

Here’s the gist of the message Riley conveyed firmly and directly to both players, per a league source: I upheld my promise to you. I made a commitment to you. But you didn’t uphold your promise to me or live up to the commitment to me.

That was a reference to the sizable four-year contracts awarded both players in 2017 after nomadic, uneven careers, plus allowing them to play last season despite not being in optimal Heat condition after returning from injuries (sports hernia for Johnson; ankle surgery for Waiters).


This was personal for Riley, and understandably so. After giving both players the most lucrative contracts of their careers (four years, $60 million to Johnson and four years, $52 million to Waiters), the least Riley could expect was that both meet the conditioning requirements established for both players. And in Waiters’ case, behave like a professional.

And besides his behavior on the bench, a source with direct knowledge said Waiters also did not agree to do one mandatory weigh-in last week, angering Heat officials.

Wonder why? Dion Weighters, why did you refuse to be weighed? Again, it is entirely credible that Riley would take this personally,that he and other Heat officials would be angry and I agree with Jackson that it is "understandably so." This was man-to-man. Riley himself  made those deals with Waiters and Johnson, deals that, as Barry Jackson said, were with "nomadic, uneven" performers. Riley believed them when they signed and committed and he believed in them. The contracts hamstrung the "Heat" financially, they are still under a "hard cap," the players didn't even get in required shape and had poor years in 2017 and 2018. Riley has taken withering criticism, deservedly so in my opinion, for those contracts while Waiters and Johnson took the money and ran--to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts or head shop.

▪ One person in touch with the Heat’s front office said Miami has not found a team eager to trade for either Johnson or Waiters.

“That’s a hard sell to trade Waiters; they overvalued him initially when they paid him that and you would have to be desperate to trade for him,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “It would be hard to see a team saying this guy is going to help us win, with the maturity issues. And he’s a totally inconsistent player. The money isn’t [huge], but it’s a deterrence,” with two years and $25 million left on his contract.

That quote is all about Waiters but Jackson writes that both are basically untradeable. Riley is stuck with them. Or is he? Probably so but Riley has seen first hand the danger of having malcontent Waiters sitting on the bench. Riley is aware that there is risk of contaminating the rest of the team in having Waiters there, maybe even JJ, I don't know. Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinal responded to a reader questioning whether Spoelstra was in danger of losing the team. I thought Winderman would have responded something like, Not a chance. Spoelstra is coach for as long as he wants to be. He just signed a new contract. Instead, Winderman said that the optics are not good with two guys suspended so early in the season but that the key is Jimmy Butler. As long as Spoelstra keeps a good relationship with Butler, he's not going to lose the team. That sort of takes it out of Spoelstra's control! Winderman did not say, Even if Butler bailed on him Spoelstra would not be in danger. He implied exactly the opposite. My own view is that Riley is going to let Waiters and Johnson come back, to see if they can, and have the will to contribute, but if he sees moping or bitching he will pay them (which he has no choice but to do), but to sit their fat asses home rather than contaminate this team.

Do they get irony?

Trump’s former Chief of Staff John Kelly at a conference today:

“I said, whatever you do — and we were still in the process of trying to find someone to take my place — I said whatever you do, don't hire a 'yes man,' someone who won't tell you the truth — don't do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached."*

To which White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham responded,

“I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President."

*Trump of course denied. “John Kelly never said that.” In this instance I believe Trump. I don’t think Kelly said that to him.

Oh this is sweet. Bam Adebayo chasing down a "Male Deer" in the headlights and blocking his shot in OT. Bam’s a THIEF! https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/1188250528800792577?s=20

FULL TIME “Heat” 131 Milwaukee 126!!!!

Dragic ices it! Makes a foul shot to make it 4 with .7 left.

Bam Adebayo just missed two free throws. Full timeout Milwaukee, 5.6 left.
Oh
My
God.
           

Oh you fucking IDIOT. Kelly Olynyk fouled Kris Middleton shooting a three! Stopped the fucking clock and then Middleton made all three free throws. 129-126, 20.5 left. Spoelstra immediately yanked Olynyk the fuck out and substituted him. IDIOT!

“Heat” 129 “Brewers” 123, :54.1 OT

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. “Heat” gonna win their first two!

“Heat” don’t have Jimmy Butler (birth of child), Dion Waiters (suspension) or James Johnson (not in shape (smoking too much weed, too). 126-123, 1:24 OT. Justice Winslow has 13 rebounds, team high.

Wow. “Bucks” led by 17 at the half. Heat outscored them by 11 in the 4th! 123-123, 2:30 left in OT.

Isn’t it time for some basketball? I’m about footballed-out. Oh jeez. Doesn’t start for another half hour. I’m not going to make it till the end of that. “Heat” aren’t going to win anyway...WHAT? They’re in overtime?! I didn’t think the game started till 8:30. Shit, if I had known that I would have given up football two hours ago.

And the "Horny Toads" do take down #15 Texas, 37-27.
And unranked Okie State beat the #23 "Cyclops" at Ames.
And, "Yes, I will have another bourbon" is the most common sentiment in  Big XII headquarters.

I read today with a groan that Oklahoma's loss opens the door to the College Football Playoff for "another one-loss team from the PAC 12 or Notre Dame." Yeah, it does. Which is why I groaned. I have seen quite enough of Notre Dame in the playoffs--and I don't wanna see them again soon. The committee that chooses the four teams has said and re-said that they do not hold past performance in the playoffs against a team. That is how it is, that is what I would say were I on the committee, but it is not what I would do if I were on the committee. I would quietly knock the "Irish" down a spot or two in my own vote based on their past and would vehemently argue their demerits with my fellows. The PAC 12--the PAC 12 has sucked so bad that they have not been one of the four teams selected very many times at all. I would rather see Utah or Oregon in the playoffs than Notre Dame but I would most want to see another SEC team, even one with two losses.

Oh my, 3-3 Texas Christian is leading #15 Texas 30-20 with 11' to play in Fort Worth.

#23 Iowa State is knotted up 27 apiece with Oklahoma State in Ames, Iowa. 7 1/2 minutes left in that one.

With Oklahoma's earlier loss this is shaping up as a drinking weekend for Big XII officialdom.

#17 Minnesota of the B1G is just beating the snap out of the Maryland "Turtles," 52-10...It's final, 52-10..."Golden Gophers" are gonna zoom up in top 25 voting tomorrow. They then have a week off before hosting #6 Paterno-Sandusky, who are beating Michigan State in East Lansing, who will also advance a spot or two I presume, and who also have next week off. If Minnesota beats PSU on November 9--and they may--they'll certainly be in the top ten. Which is just mind-boggling.

Oh my God. 5-2 Indiana leads 4-3 Nebraska 38-24, 12' 4Q. There is nothing new to say about Nebraska, at this point you just gape and shake your head.

Texas A&M beat Mississippi State 49-30 in the annual Maroon Bowl but I write not about the Maroon Bowl but rather about A&M’s schedule. The “Aggies” are the only team I know to ever play the number one ranked team in the country twice in the same season. Two different #1’s! On September 7 they lost at #1 Clemson 24-10. On October 12 they lost to #1 Alabama. They have also played #8 Auburn and have upcoming games at #10 Georgia and at #2 LSU. If somebody shows me where that has ever been done before in the whole history of the earth I’ll be a sonofabitch.

Wildcats Win! Wildcats Win!

Kansas State hung on for a famous victory over #5 Oklahoma 48-41 in Manhattan, Kansas. For OU and the Big XII, it's see ya later "Sooners." Ain't gonna get a team in the CFP this year. K-State moves to 5-2. 

The 10-2 Pitt "Panthers" fell to 5-3 on the season after a 16-12 loss to Miami in Pittsburgh. For insight on the game don't forget to check out post-gazette.com.

Elsewhere, surprising Rutgers held off Jerry Falwell U 44-34 in Piscataway.

Oklahoma has closed on those wild, wild "Wildcats" of Kansas State. It's now 48-41 with 1:45 left in a wild, wild, game.

#3 Ohio State continued their flogging of all comers with a 38-7 beat down of #13 Wisconsin.

Umm, make that 48-30. Ho-ho-ho. Seventy yard pass by OU after the kickoff. Wild game.

Kansas State 48 #5 Oklahoma 23, 12:54 4Q

touchdown

K-State has it first and goal at the Oklahoma 2!!!!!

And underdog Ruptures is pouring it on the “Flames”! Dousing the fucking “Flames.” 41-24, 8’ left to play.

My Beloveds have kicked another FG and now lead Miami 12-10, 7:19 4Q. Go Kessman! Kick it again, kick it again, harder, harder.

Are you fucking kidding me! Kansas State now leads #5 Oklahoma 41-23!

Oh my God, the caption to an ESPN video is “Thompson helps Wildcats pour it on with fourth rushing score.” The Wildcats pouring it on the Sooners! Ho-ho-ho.

Well, it has completely gotten away from Wisconsin. Ohio State now leads 31-7 early 4Q.

Still 10-9 in Pittsburgh, also in the 4th.

K-State is up on #5 Oklahoma 34-23!

My only investment tip of the day was playing Rutgers +7.5. So far, so good. Rutgers leads Liberty 28-21 early in the 3Q.

Things started moving fast in 'Umbus. First the "Boogers" scored to make it 10-7. Then Ohio State scored to make it 17-7. 8:31 3Q now.

Miami 10 Pitt 9, 12:13 3rd

Miami's first possession second half--N'kosi Perry throws an interception. Pitt ran three plays from the Miami 17 before the FG: a run for three yards, Pickett got sacked, Pickett completed a pass.

Oh my goodness, Kansas State leads #5 Oklahoma 24-23 at halftime in Manhattan. Twenty-four points on the "Sooners" by halftime.

#3 Ohio State leads #13 Wisconsin 10-0 at halftime.

Miami leads Pitt 10-6 also at the half. Pitt QB Kenny Pickett has thrown two INT's and fumbled the ball away once. Pitt only has 214 total yards and Miami only 100! Pitt has run the ball twenty times for 96 yards. Miami cannot do anything offensively. They have run eleven times for twenty-three yards. To state the obvious the difference at the half is Pickett's interceptions, which led to all of Miami's points. Looking at the replay of the second interception looks like a re-run of the first. Pickett chased to his right, throwing off his back foot, throws the ball right to the same Miami guy, Ivy. Pitt is going to have to run the ball to win this game.

In other action...

#13 Wisconsin and #3 Ohio State are scoreless in the 2Q! Maybe this is the week OSU shows itself to be mortal?

Pitt 3 Miami 3, 4:45 1Q

Alex Kessman, who had gone through a very shaky streak earlier in the season, got Pitt on the board first with a 54-yard kick. Jeezus. Kenny Pickett, Pitt's quarterback, was sacked on that possession.

Pitt then forced Miami to punt but on the second play Kenny Pickett, chased by Miami's front line threw a bad pass that was tipped by a Miami guy, went over the head of the intended receiver (that pass had no chance) and was intercepted by a second Miami guy.

That is what I saw in last year's game in Miami Gardens. Miami's front four harassed Pickett all game. He could not, and did not, do anything. And Pitt had a running game last season, two 1,000 yard rushers. They also couldn't do anything in last year's game. If Pitt's O-line can't protect Pickett that's game. Pitt has no running game this year.

Iiiit’s Football Time in Pittsburgh!

My day is going FINE actually.

FT City 3 Aston Villa 0

Fernandinho was given a second yellow, two yellows=one red, so he was ejected and under the rules will also be out for City’s next league game. The consensus is that he was dumb for him to be messing when he was already on a yellow. This is a storyline because City were already weak at the back. Now they are down another man, the one who was their defensive anchor for years.

City 3 Aston Villa 0, 70’

The floodgates have opened as sure as the heavens had! Ilkay GUNdogan in the 80’!

GOAL!

City 2 Aston Villa nil, 65’

King Kev, KDB, gets the Angels a second!

goal

1-0 60’

I'm not sure I follow Kofi there. Pep’s boys will often pass back when they are pressured in midfield, i.e. “with their backs against the wall”? Pressure is what I preach against tiki-taka. By contrast, I think what Kofi is saying on the goal is that City took the direct route, “route one," if Route One is the main south-to-north highway in England.

City 1 Villans 0, 46’

HAHAAHAHA! 

Morning has bro-ken
Like the first mor-or-or-or-ning
Ci-ty has spo-ken through Ra-heem Ster-ling

goal

how’s your day going

0-0 33’

I’m taking a lap. Not following Groundhog Day minute-by-minute.

0-0 24’

Oh bother. This is just how the Wolves match started. City could lose this fucking match.

0-0 12’

oh is it going to be one of these city?

Conversation

GiveMeSport

@GiveMeSport

You know winter is here when you see these bad boys! #MCIAVL

i thought that was a fucking centipede