unclevlad

I'm sympathetic when dealing with someone who really is mobility-impaired...and normally I might be sympathetic with someone having a coughing fit. But, not right now. Masks are probably NOT good enough if someone is actively coughing, and most stores (at least around here) ask that, if you are coughing or otherwise feeling unwelll....don't enter the store. Gits babbling on their phones...well, this is just a new example of Common Cluelessness. Checks are rare, but remember back in the day when that was the norm? And the gits who would be tuned out the entire time their groceries were being scanned, weighed, etc. Until the total. THEN they dig out their checkbook, and start writing the check. Seemingly always asking "what is the date today?" Yes, I wanted to scream. Ugh. Since the low point in early September, the 7 day moving average for daily new cases has gone back up 20%. It isn't the major spike I feared would happen, but we never got close to even semi-controlled since June...if one could even say it was semi-controlled then. We're about a week away from 8 million cases. And Trump says don't fear Covid. What should we fear, then?

Is Trump going even further off the deep end? The Fed chairman calls for a stimulus package. Trump is trying to slam the door on any package before the election. He's "promising" a package after the election. Like anyone can trust that? Like anyone else can be blamed if the economy nosedives? Or is this another grandstand, and he'll reverse himself to say, see, I got it done...can't ignore that. Still...beyond the usual narcissistic reactions, this feels simply out of control. And Nate Silver made a point over on FiveThirtyEight https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economy-was-trumps-one-remaining-advantage-now-he-might-have-blown-it/ that he just handed the high ground to the Democrats. The blame now ALL goes on him.

The fact that Nature and Scientific American feel compelled to make ANY kind of political statement is mind-blowing. And IMO it is not an overstatement that, should Trump win a second term, the world will never recover. By the time he's gone, he'll have done SO much damage that it won't be possible. As it is, rebuilding the infrastructure may be tough (how many senior researchers have fled, how long will it take for quality young talent to fill in?) and rebuilding public trust will be exceptionally hard, even if Biden wins.

ohhhh mannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.......................... 2020 just plain sucks.....

And couple that with trading their top 2 picks, an 0-4 start is particularly ugly. So Baron Goodell hath issued new Pronouncements unto his fiefdom. https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-stresses-new-covid-19-protocols-in-memo-says-violations-that-result-in-sched IOW, Thou Shalt Not Interrupt The Revenue Stream or Thou Shalt Most Certainly Be Consigned Unto the Abyss!!!

Lotta starters barely make 500 innings in 3 years now...

Never, ever gonna happen. I get strikeout rates are obscene, and getting more obscene as time goes on, but Nolan Ryan struck out 5714. Verlander just broke 3000; CC ended up a touch under 3100. Scherzer has around 2700, but he's also 36. 3000, yes; 4000, not at all likely. Ya gotta remember that Ryan was damn near immortal. I looked it up; he had over 1400 Ks after the age of 40 (!!!!). Even in '90 and 91, he was still a very solid pitcher...13-9 and 12-6, ERAs of 3.44 and 2.91. At 43 and 44. As things are now, I think 300 wins is very unlikely, but 3000 Ks will be reached from time to time; an issue, of course, atop everything else we've mentioned is arm injuries, which seem incredibly common. Single season strikeouts...well if we go all time....never. NO way, no how. Cuz it's 513...a guy back in 1886. Post-1900, it's Ryan's 383. For 35 starts, that's 11 a game. Gerrit Cole had 326 Ks in 2019, and 13.8 Ks per 9 innings...but only averaged about 6 1/2 innings per start. Striking out that many --> high pitch counts, and therefore, the starter won't go deep very often. He'd have needed another 35 innings, and to keep that EXTREMELY high effectiveness (Scherzer was 2nd in SO/9, but was more than 1 SO/9 behind) despite the heavier workload. So...ok, not inconceivable, but very close.

Oof...Damontae Kazee just seized up and dropped to the ground, reaching for his lower leg. No contact. Much too similar to Kobe's blown tendon to be encouraging...and not a good memory....

SMU needs to say, fine, if you're not gonna follow the simple rules, you're out. Student section CLOSED. Mind, I don't expect they will do so, unless it gets repeated.

Huh. It's not that surprising it wasn't Gase...but O'Brien. It's not a crime to go 0-3, when it was Chiefs, Ravens, Steelers. OK, losing to the Vikes, that's not good. Phil Simms was pointing out, this is probably culture and attitude...but also getting the guy in to support and groom DeShaun Watson. They've been...I dunno if they've really been underachievers, but largely stuck in MediocreLand. And this may also be the ownership transition firming up, and the new guy isn't as committed. Well. I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple more before Cavity Day.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-hatred-negative-partisanship-came-to-dominate-american-politics/ Perhaps a more interesting article discussing the possible collapse of the current parties: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/22/two-party-collapse-republican-democrat-doom-loop/

Google is your friend. Yep, Grove in '31. He is the only other one in the last 100 years. And unless there's a huge shift in managerial style, we'll almost never see another. Justin Verlander had 24 wins in 2011, but that's the high-water mark since 1981. And with 5 man rotations, openers, load management, paranoia about arm strain, terror about letting a pitcher try to go through a lineup a third time...20 is exceptionally high now. But then, most pitching records will never be approached any more.

Not sure it's so bizarre, for the eariler parts of Thusday. Trump's collaborators will play ANY piece of information that Trump wouldn't want spread, as close to the vest as possible. And, yeah, why tell the press secretary? Remember here, you gotta think like a Trump lackey. I saw the same point about the Secret Service...they're seriously angry because, yes, now THEY have to be quarantined after that freaking stupid tour about the grounds. I wouldn't say disposable tho; I'd go with irrelevant, or inconsequential. They simply are non-factors in his decision-making processes.

Oh yeah. I was a kid in LA at the time. Dodgers had NO offense; I do remember quite a few instances of them losing 1-0, 2-0, 2-1. So, who woulda guessed Dodger Stadium would be a freakin' launching pad??? It's quite warm...90...and yes, that makes a huge difference. Still...3 1/2 innings in the books and *4* dingers already. None cheap; all of em between the alleys, and Dodger Stadium isn't a small park.

It doesn't; the Niners are decimated by injuries, so right now they're not very good. And they still came close to pulling it out. My apologies, tho, to all Niners fans, for the Barkleyesque kiss of death...

So with how things are progressing... Who all is in favor of denying the NFC East a playoff berth due to utter failure to meet even loose qualifying standards? If SF can hold onto this 4th quarter lead, they'll be a combined 2-13-1...with the wins being against the Eagles, and the choke-artist Falcons. 2 wins for the whole division...no other division has less than 7, and that's with 2 games Monday.

It wasn't just him. It'd been building. From 63-66, Koufax's worst ERA was 2.04, Drysdale wasn't much worse. Lolich dominated in the AL. Strikeouts were notably up for several years, compared to the 50s. But, yeah, that insanely good year of his was probably the impetus. Of course, if strikeouts are the concern...here's a tidbit for you. Every year since 2005, strikeouts per 9 innings goes up. Raw strikeouts went down this year...but there were also a LOT of 7 inning games. SO/9 broke 9 this year. That's MLB-wide. Yes, on average, there's a strikeout an inning. (In '68 SO/9 was 6.) Oh, and note that it still went up this year, despite the 3 batter minimum rule.

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MAKE THE POLITICAL ADS STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps, but this week? Cowboy defense is GODAWFUL. Browns *rushed* for 300. When's the last time you saw that??? 2nd and 3rd quarters, Browns go 9 for 75, 4 for 34, 6 for 51, 13 for 71 (4 minutes, had to kick FG as the 1st half ended), 7 for 70, and 4 for 40 for another FG. Yes, 34 unanswered. OK, Cowboys had 3 TOs, but still, that's just too many highly effective drives. Cowboys were 29th in scoring defense, and that's gonna jump. Beckham had 2 big plays...but Browns fans have to worry, because neither was from Mayfield, who only went 19/30 for 165. That's bad. Beckham caught a 37 yard TD...from Jarvis Landry. And scored on a questionable reverse when the Browns had squandered most of their lead...including giving up *3 straight* 2-point conversions. Almost lost big, but it worked. But the Browns are the 2nd worst passing team in the league (in yards per game) so it's not just a "well if they're gonna give us the run, we'll take it!" Cowboy fans, other than needing an intervention, have to be particularly upset because this wasn't week 1 or week 2. Teams should be starting to round into form; I doubt they're there yet, but they should be shaping up. And this was just a terrible performance overall...again. EDIT: Oh, and just to rub salt into the wound...Nick Chubb suffered an injury, I'm seeing, in the first half...so he wasn't even part of the rushing attack.

That article also shows AMC is likely to follow suit. More info on them: https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/3/21279098/amc-theaters-pandemic-revenue-sec-filing-coronavirus-movie-release-delays I think the big killer is the streaming services. If the megamovies get shifted out of theaters and onto streaming services, the theaters will feel a big pinch...I suspect that's where they make a LOT of their sales and money. I also think the 'flagship' offerings on the streaming services...Star Trek, The Mandalorian, etc....are probably reducing sales. Man....what a mess this is going to be...

The crunch is becoming acute. You've probably heard of the very large-scale layoffs at Disney, and the airlines. Britain's largest movie theater chain is going to close all of its theaters...128 in the UK and Ireland. Their last lifeline was the new Bond, which was pushed back. That in itself suggests they were hanging on by their fingernails anyway.

Could be worse. You could be a NY football fan. Yes, Vegas has lines for everything...including a team going 0-16. Giants and Jets are only +1800 (bet 100, get 1800 back) to do so. That was before Thursday, for the Jets. By contrast, the Steelers are running +1800 to +2200 to win the AFC...but the favorites are KC and Baltimore and they're still +600 and +700. So +1800 for such a long-term futures bet is not that big a long shot.

Rumor has it that astrophysicists are hotly debating if Trump’s skull will collapse to a neutron star; it’s clearly a white dwarf.

Stories about the whole timeline here, of diagnosis, start of treatment, etc....sound a whole lot like White House Revisionism...change the story to shape the narrative, even if it's intentionally misleading. On CNN, Samantha Vinograd raised an interesting point. It's reported that Hope Hicks was quarantined on Air Force One on Wednesday. Vinograd points out that it's completely implausible that this wasn't sent up the chain, as Hicks worked directly with Trump. Same after the positive test. It's also being reported that Trump knew about the positive result for Hicks, but STILL attended a fund raiser in New Jersey. No mask of course. Yes, this is Donald Trump.

Names never get struck from lists. I got TONS of calls from Republicans...from the local Party here, and from some candidates...to Make Sure I Voted in 2016. My mother registered Republican...I darn sure never did. I might have, at some point, somehow gotten onto some Republican lists...it's always possible. But darn if I can remember when or how.