Deal the Wild Cards

Posted on January 3, 2020January 3, 2020 by boom booms room staff

Abby’s been playing some serious Texas Hold Em with her college football bet winnings these last few weeks. She’s feeling good (maybe too good) about her picking prowess. In between hands of poker last evening she decided to try her paw at the NFL Wild Card Games this weekend. She gnawed on and pawed her way to the following.

Buffalo Bills v. Houston Texans (-2 1/2) – The Bills have had a fine year defensively and have a developing quarterback in Josh Allen. They are a very live underdog this weekend. However, the Texans have a developing quarterback that is more developed and can make game breaking plays with his feet. Abby expects this one to be close for three quarters, but likes the Texans to cover.

Tennessee Titans v. New England Patriots (-5 1/2) – What’s wrong with New England? What’s wrong with Tom Brady? Is this the beginning of the end? The media’s rampant “what’s wrong with” story line is just the fuel to fire up Mister Belichick and Mister Brady. Tennessee comes in as the 6th seed and likely will play loose. They are a trendy pick. Abby likes a to zig when others zag. The Patriots cover and it’s not really close.

Minnesota (+8) v. New Orleans – This looks to Abby as the toughest game to handicap this weekend. Her contract with BBR insists that she make a pick, but she wouldn’t bet much doggone money on it. New Orleans has been scoring points at a prodigious pace recently. But, Minnie has been their kryptonite. New Orleans gets it done at home, but eight points and a healthy Dalvin Cook provide enough to cover.

Seattle (-1 1/2) v. Philadelphia – Seattle is the lower seed as Philly is the division champion. Philly hasn’t looked much like a champion in the weak NFC East. Seattle has played significantly better against significantly better teams all year. This one seems almost too obvious. Seattle wins outright.

Abby’s got two jacks for hold cards. Like the Wild Card weekend that’s a dangerous bet.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Soup to Nuts

Posted on January 2, 2020January 2, 2020 by boom booms room staff

Day one of the new decade is done. Your nuggets are as well. They’re from all of the food groups, random, and tasty. Dig in while they are still warm.

You don’t have to feel sorry for the NFL owners after all. Colin Kaepernick knelt down and the ratings fell down two years ago. Now riding a two year in a row year over year gain in viewership, the league has begun early talks on future broadcast rights. The NFL’s various deals are coming up soon, with the ESPN Monday Night Football deal running through the 2021-22 season, the CBS/Fox/NBC deals (both the Sunday packages and Fox’s Thursday Night Football contract) running through 2022-23, and the DirecTV Sunday Ticket deal also running through 2022-23.
Neal Pilson, the former longtime president of CBS Sports who now runs his own media consulting firm, estimated that the NFL could get a minimum of 30 percent more in broadcast fees under its new contracts, while one network official predicted a 50 percent increase. The collective value of all of the deals currently is 5.7 billion (with a b) dollars. The new deals will fetch between 8 and 10 billion and should be dry ink by the end of 2021.
Did you start your intermittent fasting diet yesterday? Or, is today the day? There seems to always be a new diet craze and every now and then one gains national momentum. Already the “experts” are telling us what is good and bad about the diet. Soon it will reach it’s zenith and then die a slow death. They all do. Don’t believe me? Ask Dr. Atkins. Well, you can’t actually. He died a few years back, but not before the his diet, the Atkins diet was the answer to our obesity. Bread was dead. Then his diet was.
The Big 12 is done bowling for the year, thankfully. Texas hammered Utah on the last night of the second decade of the 2000’s. It was the Big 12’s only win. The conference finished 1-5 in the bowls and were embarrassed in some games. Oklahoma was done at halftime in the 63-28 playoff loss to LSU. Kansas State lost to Navy. Oklahoma St. lost to five loss Texas A&M. Baylor scored 14 measly points last night in the Sugar Bowl to a Georgia team that had 18 (yes, 18) players out for various reasons and was bounced from the final four two weeks prior.
Robert De Niro has outdone himself with his disdain for President Trump to close out 2019. De Niro said in an interview with the Daily Beast late in November, “I think that if he became president for a second term he’d try to have a third term, and let smarter people manipulate it into getting us into some kind of altercation: a war.” De Niro added: “The only other president who served a third term was Roosevelt because he was in a war, and this fool would go and start something. This was what Marty Scorsese was saying, and I said, ‘Marty, I never thought of that. I never thought he’d go for a third term if there was a war or something.’” Bobby( can I call you Bobby?) and Marty have too much time on their hands. The Twenty-Second Amendment says a person can only be elected to be president two times for a total of eight years. They probably like that amendment better than, say, the second one.
One of the very best commissioners in any sport at any time passed yesterday. David Stern took over an NBA at a crossroads in 1984. His vision, preparation, and hard work turned the NBA into a global brand. He presided over the league for 30 years. Seven teams joined the league, and six relocated. Stern also helped in the creation of the WNBA and the NBA Development League, now known as the G League, providing countless opportunities for players to pursue careers playing basketball in the United States that previously weren’t available. Adam Silver has big sneakers to fill.
Joe Biden castigated Texas Governor Greg Abbott a few months back while stumping in Iowa for signing into law the right to bear arms in places of worship. “It’s irrational,” totally irrational,” he exclaimed. If you missed it over the holidays a hero in a small town Texas church took one shot with his handgun from fifty feet and killed a gunman who had opened fire on the congregation killing two before he was taken out. The whole episode lasted six seconds. How long would it take for police to arrive after being notified? Biden wasn’t going to carry Texas anyway, was he?
The New Orleans Saints worked out several wide receivers earlier in the week. One of them was none other than Antonio Brown. Afterwards Antonio called the workout a publicity stunt pulled by the Saints. That is a funny take considering Brown brought a handful of associates with him to his Saints workout, including someone who was documenting the visit with a video camera. He posted clips of his visit on social media throughout the day, including a picture of the waiver the Saints made him sign. Sometimes life’s lessons take a while to sink in.
Nancy, it’s a new year and a new you. You can walk the seventy-five feet necessary down the hallowed halls of the Capital Building and deliver the two Articles of Impeachment already. Or, don’t. Every major poll taken in the last wo months shows that America is tired of the circus. One of our BBR staffers has it from a great source deep inside of the action that the Republicans feel better than ever about regaining the House. If so, the gavel leaves the Madam Speaker’s hands once more. Time will tell.
Only Jerry Jones could drag the Jason Garrett “will he or won’t he be the head coach” saga out another day. He, his son Stephen, and Garrett will meet for yet a third time today discussing the Cowboys future direction. Jerry used to be quicker on the draw than the savior in the Texas church. What possibly is left to discuss? A ten year body of work is there. Make the call.

2020 Vision

Posted on January 1, 2020 by boom booms room staff

Do you have perfect vision? If the doctor says so, good for you. You know that hindsight is always 2020. What about your foresight? What does the year, no decade, look like to you?

We aren’t too much into measuring or evaluating priorities or goals when the calender provides the moment. We prefer an ongoing soul search actually. However, a new year starts only once every 365 days, and a decade only starts once every 3653 days. It’s a good time to look forward and dream a little.

So, if you’re reading this we know that you’re capable of taking a look. BBR readers are off of the charts smart and our staff is glad to have you on board.

What’s your 20’s decade vision for your work, your family, your friends, your interests, and yourself? May we suggest that if your goal is to do better than the past, define better. What is better? What does it mean? With your 2020 vision look for it. With your 2020 vision you’ll see it.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Decade!

Black Monday in the NFL

Posted on December 31, 2019December 31, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Yesterday was Black Monday in the NFL. As the NFL Network sat round table discussing the firings of some head coaches the conversation turned naturally to the hiring of some new head coaches. Over time the conversation morphed into the state of minority hiring at the key NFL franchise management positions of General Manager and Head Coach.

On the four man (no women) desk were host Steve Wyche, analyst Marc Ross, former GM and contributor Charley Casserly and a fourth whose name we couldn’t discern. Time and again the refrain was that the NFL needed to do a better job of identifying, training, and interviewing potential minority candidates. Time and again the refrain was that too few African Americans occupied these important positions. Ross stated that only 3 or 4 head coaches were black. It was flat out stated and repeated that the NFL needed to do a better job in creating diversity in the workplace.

Casserly once participated on the committee that created the Rooney Rule. Adopted in 2003, the Rooney Rule is a National Football League policy that requires league teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs. It is sometimes cited as an example of affirmative action, as there is no quota or preference given to minorities in the hiring of candidates. Yesterday he expanded on it’s intent and the progress that has been made. The panel listened and was unimpressed.

Yesterday’s news in and out of the NFL as well as their well intentioned discussion made us wonder.

One, in the ultra competitive NFL would owners choose GM’s and coaches based on race? Or is it always about qualifications and perceived future success? Either you win or you walk.

Two, how many black coaches or GM’s would make the NFL “truly diverse?” Would it be a percentage equal to the population in the U.S.? That percentage is somewhere less than 15% per the last census. If so 15% of 32 teams would mean 5 black head coaches. If you have 3 or 4 pending comings and goings right now are you that far off? Or, to be diverse, should it be more?

Three, so does it mean more than that? The data collected by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), shows that 70% of NFL players were African Americans at the start of the 2018 season. Should 70% of the GM’s and head coaches be black?

Four, what about other minorities, or women, being included in this diversity shortcoming. Nearly 52% of America is female. Shouldn’t 52% of the above mentioned positions go to females? NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, in his state of the league address last year said, “there is no reason why 50% of our coaches shouldn’t be women.” Apparently the NBA is progressive. The NFL is not.

Once upon a time all NFL place kickers were “straight on” kickers. Hell, they even employed the disabled. One kicker only had half of a foot. Now 100% are “soccer style” kickers. It seems like the league is predisposed, dare we say prejudiced, to one type of kicker. That isn’t very diverse. Ah, but the difference in the kicking style is the “how,” not the “who” you say. In other words anyone can kick as long as they are successful and are “sidewinders.”

Maybe anyone can man the running back position too as long as they are successful? Sure. Christian McCaffery, the only white running back of note in the entire league, has had such a great season that he might be a top MVP vote getter this year. See. Diversity indeed.

U Haul, the trucking company, announced yesterday that they were going to a “no nicotine” hiring policy beginning in 2020 and beyond. So much for diversity. If you can kick the habit come work for us.

The NFL says if you can kick a football come work for us. But, it’s time to stop kicking this can down the road when it comes to hiring head coaches. The NFL needs more diversity in certain positions of employ. In others it’s doing just fine. No need to take a knee after all.

Ten Piece Nuggets-NCAA, NFL, and Potluck

Posted on December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 by boom booms room staff

You’ve got to be tired of leftovers. Have some info and protein rich Ten Piece Nuggets below. They’re randomly served. Get all of your food groups in early. Variety is good for you.

The NFL is down to 12 teams while the NCAA is down to two. Let the playoffs begin for the NCAA this coming weekend, while the NCAA’s playoff will crown a champion on January 13. There are still some good bowl games to be played (Alabama v. Michigan, Baylor v. Georgia, Wisconsin v. Oregon), but the last of one of all in NOLA is the biggest. LSU was installed as a 3 point overnight favorite over Clemson but by dawn that rose to 5.5 on Sunday.
Did you listen to Dabo Swinney after his team’s thrilling comeback over THE? His shtick is already tired and we get to hear from him for two more weeks. “We’ll need to win 30 in a row to be champion.” Hmm. Is last year’s record relevant this year? If so, yes you will need to win 30 in a row since 29 are done. ” They’re ranked 1st and we’re only ranked 3rd.” So? “Nobody in the media believes in us.” Clemson was never ranked lower than fourth all year long. Lastly, why is Swinney pronounced sween nee? William Christopher “Dabo” Swinney’s Clemson Tigers are 10-1 in their last 11 games v. the SEC. If he wants “r-e-s-p-e-c-t” he’ll need to make it 11-1 according to him. Poor Dabo.
Today is Black Monday in the NFL. It’s the day players clean out their lockers till fall and fired head coaches clean out their offices permanently. Jay Gruden lasted only 6 games in Washington while Ron Rivera (more on him later) got booted a month ago in Carolina. Freddie Kitchens is out as of this AM in Cleveland. Doug Marrone is as good as gone in Jacksonville. They’ll be others.
Is Jason Garrett out in Dallas? Jerry Jones was quiet after yesterday’s final regular season game when asked. Jerry Jones is never quiet. Garrett owns an 85-67 record in 10 seasons in Dallas. He took the Cowboys to the playoffs three times, each ending in the divisional round. Garrett’s contract wasn’t renewed last off season. It expires on 1/14/2020. He’ll be gone before that. Sometimes it’s just time.
Let the Urban Meyer and Lincoln Riley rumors fly. Urban has never coached a single down in the NFL. Ask Nick Saban if the transition from the NCAA always works out. Riley looks the part. He’s young and offensive minded. The NFL is a copycat league. Sean McVay paved the way for Kliff Kingsbury. Is Riley next? If he is, he needs to hire a DC and stay the hell away from the D. His Oklahoma teams stop nobody and the Big 12 isn’t very good. They have been worked over in their CFP playoff appearances. LSU had 49 in the first half and throttled way down to a 63 point total Saturday afternoon. Riley said afterwards, “they went on a little bit of a run.” Little bit?
Did you want a weird and mostly worthless trivial stat this AM? We thought so. Alvin Kamara has caught exactly 81 passes in the regular season each season in his first three years in the NFL. It’s a ton for a RB especially when Michael Thomas is playing WR on the same team.
What’s wrong with New England? Yesterday they tripped all over themselves losing as a 16 point favorite at home to Miami. It cost them a first week bye They’ll need to dispatch of the Tennessee Titans this weekend then hit the road twice to get to the big show. NE, under Belichick, has never advanced to the Super Bowl from lower than the #2 seed. He had timeouts and time when they forced a Miami punt with 1:45 left in the second quarter. He let the clock run down on the punt, then had Tom Brady hand the ball off twice to go into the locker room tied at 10. Hmm. Brady was seen on the sidelines working to loosen his right arm all afternoon. Hmm. It’s going to be very hard for them to derail the team that has “it” this year-the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens will spend the week getting healthy while NE clashes with the Titans.
Ron Rivera will very likely be introduced as the next Washington Redskins head coach today or tomorrow. Be careful what you wish for. That organization has been a mess for two decades and running. They over pay for free agents, miss on draft picks, and cannot evaluate QB talent. Bruce Allen is out as president there as well. The one constant in the last twenty years there? The owner. Daniel Snyder makes Jerry Jones look like a smart owner.
Two live wild cards are Minnesota and Seattle. Minnesota travels to N.O. Seattle goes across the country to face Philly. Two teams getting no respect are Green Bay and Kansas City. Both are two seeds, both get the week off, and both are very tough outs at home.
This BBR staff writer goes to a movie in a theater about as often as the Cleveland Browns go to the playoffs. However, we took in Richard Jewell yesterday. It’s good work done by Clint Eastwood. If Abby were a movie critic she would give it four bones out of five. Quick question, Jewell was accused of the 1996 pipe bombing in Centennial Olympic Park during the Olympics held in Atlanta, but was he ever arrested? Convicted? Who did place the backpack filled with three bombs? The FBI stunk this one up almost as bad as they behaved in the “Russia collusion” investigation. Go see it. A bag of popcorn is seven dollars these days. Who knew? Sneak some nuggets in instead.

I’ll be Home(less) for Christmas

Posted on December 26, 2019December 27, 2019 by boom booms room staff

I’ll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents on the tree.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it? The lyrics don’t work so well if you don’t have a home though.

And, apparently in California the lyrics don’t work so well. New statistics released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that California’s 16.4% increase in homeless was “entirely” responsible for the nation’s overall increase of 2.7% by early 2019.

So if the nation’s homeless population increased by 2.7% and Cali increased by 16.4%, and that was “entirely” responsible for the increase, that means either less people were homeless in all of the other states, or they all moved to California.

Which one was it? If 49 states found a way to reduce the national embarrassment, how did they do it? Perhaps it was more drug addition, alcohol addiction, or mental health treatment? With the national unemployment near zero, did some find permanent work, and by extension housing? Or, did the nation’s homeless catch a ride to the left side of the continent? If so, why? Is it because California is more tolerant and accommodative?

These aren’t easy questions to ask, and the answers might be much more complex than meets the eye. But, isn’t it time, actually past time, that we asked the tough questions? As a nation are we willing to accept the tough answers and get after fixing the problem rather than passing it by under a tent under an overpass?

California Governor Gavin Newsom thinks so. He said earlier this week, “It is an embarrassment, it is unacceptable. And we’ve got to own it, we’ve got to own up and solve it.” How? Newsom and other Democrats in California insist the solution is more federal money for housing. Donald J. Trump disagrees. He tweeted, “Governor Gavin N has done a really bad job on taking care of the homeless population in California. If he can’t fix the problem, the Federal Govt. will get involved!”

We wonder if giving(throwing money at) housing to those without a house helps anything long term. You’ve heard of “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, but teach him how to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime,” haven’t you? Is the problem not having a home? Or, is the problem not doing enough good in society to be paid in kind for it and then renting or buying a place to live?

For a person homelessness should be a short term problem. Society should look for a long term solution. Gavin Newsom needs to lead the charge for change in how this is addressed, not lead the cry for national cash to address it.

You don’t get to tell the federal government to stay out of your sanctuary cities, but come build your homeless a city. Trump won’t carry California in 2020. There is not a chance. But he might have to step in to solve it’s problem for it’s downtrodden to have a chance.

Ten Piece Nuggets-NFL

Posted on December 23, 2019December 23, 2019 by boom booms room staff

It’s the beginning of a long holiday week. People are dashing around from shopping malls to shopping malls. Amazon Prime trucks are dashing from address to address. The BBR staff is having it’s annual holiday golf tournament today. So we’ll keep it short with a quick, NFL Ten Piece Nugget served five from the NFC and five from the AFC style. It will be good to get something in your stomach before the eggnog and bourbon take control.

The NFC side of the playoff picture is as clear as a bell and as foggy as England. Huh? Five of the six spots are spoken for, with the sixth a Philadelphia and Dallas mess. Dallas controlled it till yesterday’s loss to Philly. Now if Philly wins against the New York football Giants they are in. If they lose, Dallas is in with a win over Washington. Winner is division champ. Loser goes home.
If the loser is Dallas, Jason Garrett is going home too. Jerry Jones said he was very disappointed in his team’s performance yesterday. Duh. They failed to score a touchdown against a banged up, but hungrier, Philly team. With Cooper, Prescott, and Elliot as your big three on O a lot of money isn’t getting a lot of production. Prescott was asked post game, “what’s the problem?” His answer was profound. “I don’t know.”
The other five spots are sealed while the order and bye’s are anything but. San Francisco, Green Bay, New Orleans, Seattle, and Minnesota are in. Only N.O. is for sure the division champ and therefore a host of a wild card at a minimum. But home field is at stake as are the top two seed spots. There are too many “if’s” to detail them.
One thing is for sure though. There are too many “if’s” by team to consider anyone of them a prohibitive NFC Super Bowl favorite. New Orleans inexplicably lost to Atlanta a while back. San Fran did the same yesterday to lowly Arizona. Green Bay is much better at home than the road. Minnesota and Seattle might both need to win three in a row on the road. But, they are both very live wild card teams, if they wind up as wild card teams, built for post season play.
New Orleans lacks weapons outside of one who is nearly unstoppable this year. Marvin Harrison’s NFL record of 143 catches in a season stood for 17 years, and no one came within even six catches of it. Sunday New Orleans Saints receiver Michael Thomas broke Harrison’s mark with one game to go. Thomas already has 145 catches on the year after he caught 12 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s 38-28 come-from-behind victory over the Tennessee Titans. Can a wide receiver win the MVP award? Well, Thomas is 66-1 while Lamar Jackson is 1-30.
Speaking of Thomas as we swing into the AFC, the QB and his Baltimore Ravens now have to be considered a strong favorite to take home the Lombardi Trophy in Miami regardless of who the NFC rep is. Baltimore is winning big weekly and dominating in all aspects of the game. After a 2-2 start, they are winners of 11 straight. Eleven straight wins in the NFL is called domination. In an AFC Conference loaded with really good quarterbacking, this just in, Lamar Jackson is good.
But, as usual, don’t count out New England just yet. Their yearly trip to the biggest game of all got a shorter route thanks to Saturday’s gut check win against a gutsy Buffalo Bills team. A win this week against Miami in New England will give them a first round bye. This just in, Tom Brady is good.
Perched at # 3 is KC. If you fell asleep Sunday night you missed a 26-3 Chiefs snoozer over the somnambulistic Chicago Bears 26-3. They need a win and a week 17 loss by NE to have a bye. This just in, Patrick Mahomes is good. The Bears are not.
Don’t sleep on the Houston Texans. They clinched the AFC South for the fourth time in five years Saturday. They can score and they can play decent defense. If KC loses and Houston wins they could move up to the all important #2 seed and gain the all important bye week as well. This just in, Deshaun Watson is good.
Buffalo has won ten games and counting this year and are in as the fifth seed. They are a dangerous wild card team. They’ll scrap you for a ball anytime, anywhere. This just in, Josh Allen isn’t good yet, but he’s moving in the right direction. The Tennessee Titans could still get in. They drafted Marcus Mariotta in round one a few years back. Miami did the same with Ryan Tannehill. Tennessee looks to have given up on MM like Miami did on Tannehill. Miami’s loss is Tennessee’s gain for now. Pittsburgh needs lots of help to get in. Oakland needs lots and lots of help to get in.

Enjoy a few lousy NCAA Bowl games that no one really cares about and a few NBA early season games that no one really cares about till the weekend. Then it’s the NCAA playoffs and the final regular season week in the NFL.

A little sprinkle of cinnamon on top of the eggnog is just the right finishing touch.

Meathead Slays a Whopper

Posted on December 19, 2019 by boom booms room staff

President Trump traveled back from Battle Creek, MI last evening after another one of his pep rallies and newly impeached. The two Articles of Impeachment were voted on and were slated to travel over to the other side of our distinguished House of Representatives. Madame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi contemplated holding them back for a few days to “insure a fair trial” over in the Senate. And, the entire BBR staff is traveling this AM. With all of this holiday travel going on, we’ll keep it very brief today.

Nancy Pelosi and friends went from prayerful and solemn during the process to asking members of the House to not celebrate or gloat afterwards. Apparently with both coasts very much in favor of Impeachment, the wise owl Majority Leader’s words of wisdom from the east didn’t resonate all the way over to the west, and times two in Hollywood.

Take a look and read the attached to see for yourself. Noted academicians, scholars, constitutionalists, and deep thinkers ranging from Michael Moore to Alyssa Milano weighed in. Even “Meathead” himself Rob Reiner got even with the old, prejudiced Archie Bunker. They all did a Twitter dance or two filled with glee. One even called the President a MF.

The First Amendment guarantees them their right to do so. Apparently from some of the tweets, though, that right doesn’t extend to “angry, old, white men” who “were the only ones” expressing the opposite side.

Like ordering a Whooper, it’s a great country we live in. Especially if You Can Have It Your Way!

Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, special impeachments don’t upset us.

Ridiculous

Posted on December 18, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Yesterday in the hallowed halls of the U.S. Congress Madame Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked to comment on the six page letter sent to her by the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump.

“No comment,” she said while walking hurriedly to her next meeting. “It’s ridiculous,” she continued. Trump’s letter was a head strong opinion of all that he felt is wrong with the Impeachment process. “I haven’t read it, ” she continued, “we’ve been very busy today.”

We wonder. She said that she had no comment. But, she did call it ridiculous. That sounds like a comment. She said that she hadn’t read it. But, she did call it ridiculous. How would she know that it was if she hadn’t read it? Ridiculous, that is.

Last night the House Rules Committee was working well into the evening(earning the people’s business) to determine the exact proceedings for today’s full House hearing prior to two separate votes. At 10PM or so EST they decided that there would be six hours of hearings on the most important vote any of them will make in their lifetimes. Six hours for 435 representatives equates to 50 seconds per member. It sounds like many, many will only actually have time to say “yea” or “nay.”

At least they concluded their meeting with finality in their decisions. Late last week Jerry Nadler, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, decided to suspend that committee’s meeting as the evening had grown too late. It was nearly the same 10PM. He reconvened in the AM for the world to see the adoption of the two Articles of Impeachment. Grandstanding. Or, perhaps Jerry needed a late night snack. Ridiculous.

Meanwhile, yesterday the FISA Court in a rare public expression, came out in a strongly worded opinion against the FBI’s now exposed abuse and likely criminal behavior in obtaining warrants to surveil the Trump Campaign to begin with. Ridiculous.

The Johnny on the Spot FBI wanted everyone to know that they were going to quickly make changes. “As [FBI Director Christopher Wray] has stated, the inspector general’s report describes conduct by certain FBI employees that is unacceptable and unrepresentative of the FBI as an institution,” the bureau responded in a statement Tuesday night. “The director has ordered more than 40 corrective steps to address the report’s recommendations, including some improvements beyond those recommended by the IG.”

A quick THREE years later it’s time to change. And, more than 40 corrective steps were ordered! So, illegally obtained warrants designed to surveil for possible illegal activity provided all the cover needed to continue the FBI’s illegal surveillance. Got it. Ridiculous.

Wall St seems totally unfazed. Since the Impeachment Inquiry was formalized just seven weeks ago in the House the Dow is up 6%, the S&P 8%, and the NASDAQ 10%. They know that this is going absolutely nowhere. Perhaps we should impeach more Presidents.

All of which brings us to today. The full House will convene, and after six hours of burning the retreads off of tires that long ago should have been retired, they will vote almost 100% down party lines. The Democrats will say “yea” more times than the Republicans can say “nay.” Then the “yea’s” will have it, and presto, Trump will be impeached. Is it even possible for two power hungry sides to see things, or at least pretend to see things, so clearly differently? Ridiculous.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is preparing for the possibility of a January month long Senate Impeachment Trial(circus). Though just yesterday he hinted at an immediate dismissal vote after the Impeachment Articles are formally entered onto the Senate floor.

Hopefully he won’t be too busy to read the articles while walking in front of all of his staff members down the hallowed halls like the Madame Speaker was yesterday. If so, he’ll likely have “no comment,” just like Pelosi did, or did not. Ridiculous.

Keep hope alive!

Ten Piece Nuggets-Kitchen Sink

Posted on December 17, 2019 by boom booms room staff

It’s cold outside this morning regardless almost of where you are. Time to make a pot of soup, or a Ten Piece Nuggets. What do you want in it? Everything but the kitchen sink sounds good. So, we’re going deep in the panty to give you ten random thoughts, in no particular order, and covering no particular subject matter, though sports and the political madness are the roux. If we cook them slow enough maybe they’ll all come together. If they don’t we’ll go get an Impossible Burger later.

How long is the list before you get to Drew Brees as the greatest all time QB in NFL history? It’s hard to measure this objectively. Different periods of football, rules changes, differences in the order of importance of the metrics? How important are Super Bowl wins? For the sake of argument let’s afford him one more before he goes. Where would you put him then? We’d go with third best ever. Tom Brady has to get the nod given the Super Bowl performances and wins. Joe Montana would be second for much of the same plus his accuracy. Peyton Manning and John Elway aren’t far behind.
What fundamentally changes after Donald Trump is impeached, tried, and acquitted? The Republicans did a nice job of digging in and combating the Trump named “witch hunt.” Democrats insisted on a ready, fire, aim approach. They sure have a lot of bullets, but we aren’t sure that any hit a bullseye unless you don’t like him to begin with. Dislike doesn’t rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors, hence America’s collective yawn. If you were for it or against it before this started, you still are from whence you came.
The college bowl season gets underway this weekend. Forty one bowls are on tap in all. Eighty teams in all as two will play two games including the last one for the biggest prize. If you win as many regular season games as you lost or win one more, you’re in. If you are already feeling college football withdrawals, you might tune into something named the Bahamas Bowl brought to you by Meineke Mufflers featuring Idaho St. v. William and Mary. Or, you might not.
Coincidence or not? Elizabeth Warren’s polling numbers peaked in late October. They’ve slid since. The collective pharmaceutical stock prices slid until her numbers peaked. The stocks have been sharply higher since late October.
For the first time since 2010 Alabama did not have a first team All American named. Injuries, graduation and youth played a role. But at Alabama injuries, graduation, and youth hasn’t ever got in the way before. Is this the beginning of the end of the greatest 10 year run in college football history? Or is it a one year aberration? If you don’t think Nick Saban is working well into the evening to insure it’s the latter, they you don’t know much about his work ethic and burning desire to achieve.
Joe Biden is apparently the clear front runner again in the race to face the man with the orange face. It’s been nearly a week since Sleepy Joe has mixed up the decade that we are in or the state that he is in. He’s been in Iowa for two weeks straight. So, that part might be a bit easier for him. Trump needs no one to tell him how to run a race for President. But, he’d be wise to challenge Biden to more than the usual number of debates if Biden gets the nomination. Anyone remember how tired Hillary Clinton was at the end of it all? How tired was she? Glad you asked. She was so tired that she forgot to make a concession speech the evening of the election.
The NBA season is nearing a third complete. League viewership ratings are down significantly. Questions abound and answers need to be found. Have the early season matchups coincided with marquee players injuries making the matchups less interesting? Sure. Have the number of people who have cut the cord (no more cable or satellite tv) made it harder to find the games? Sure. Will the end of the football season have the ratings go up for the NBA? Sure, but it always does. Is the NBA concerned? Damn sure. Did the NBA turn off the fan who supports the freedom protests in Hong Kong? Sure, but to what degree and for how long? Did the NBA fan appreciate the LeBron lecture on China and all that is right with it? Not sure.
It seems like the persona that James Comey wanted you to know and feel with his testimony, tweets, Trump attacks, book, and book tour might have taken a hit in the last week. Even Comey himself was forced to admit on Chris Wallace’s Fox News Sunday Show that the FISA process (the keys to the engine that drove the “Russian interference” investigation in the 2016 election) was rife with problems as the proper process was not followed. That’s being kind to the process actually. Criminal proceedings, maybe not against Comey, will result after AG Barr has his final say. The investigation, like the deep state that caused it, goes deeper now.
MLB calls this time of the year “The Hot Stove League.” It’s been hotter than Hades for one team. The Houston Astros lost game seven of the World Series in late October. Since then they have lost Gerrit Cole, three major league scouts, the team President Reid Ryan (son of Nolan), advisor Nolan Ryan (dad of the President), and significant credibility. The investigation into the allegation that they were stealing signs electronically after being warned repeatedly to not do so continues. When it’s complete astute league followers expect suspensions of manager AJ Hinch, GM Jeff Luhnow, and perhaps others. Fines in the millions and lost draft picks are almost a certainty as well. It was a model franchise in the eyes of many not long ago. No more. The mess must be dealt with, and dealt with strongly. It’ll be late February or early March of 2020 before the investigation is complete we are told.
Their is an age old saying in politics. People vote their wallets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 28,332.74 on Monday, meaning it has rallied 10,000 points, or more than 54 percent, since Trump’s election victory on November 8, 2016. There are 11 long months to go till we find out.

I’ll have the Impossible Burger, no mayo please.

boomboomsroom

Author: boom booms room staff