Know When to Say “Uncle.”

Budweiser, in a responsible drinking campaign several years back, coined the phrase “know when to say when.”   Remember growing up when you were involved in a little physical tussle, skirmish, wrestling match, etc. and one side had enough they would say “uncle.”  Why would they say “uncle?”  It seems that while “crying uncle” is today regarded as an Americanism, its origins go all the way back to the Roman Empire. Roman children, when beset by a bully, would be forced to say “Patrue, mi Patruissimo,” or “Uncle, my best Uncle,” in order to surrender and be freed.

So, when should Uncle Joe Biden’s team say “uncle?”  Preposterous you say?  We actually think that Joe Biden means well.  We think that he thinks that he can continue to do something, or has done something in his 32 years in public office to make a positive difference.  But.

Wasn’t it just three years ago that very suddenly people named Bush and Clinton looked old and sounded so “yesterday?”  What does that make Biden look like and sound like today?

Ronald Reagan’s detractors pointed out repeatedly when he had a “senior moment” or three that he might no longer be fit to hold the highest office in the land in his second term.  Reagan exited the oval office for good after term two at the tender age of 77.  Biden would already be 77 if he won when sworn into the office.

Don’t you wonder why he passed on the chance to run one final time after he served eight straight years as VP under Obama?  Would the timing ever be better?  Did he think it was Hillary’s turn?  Please.  Who thinks like that when they need to have the drive, bravado, tenacity, and “can do” attitude to handle the insane pressure of the top job? When has that stopped someone who wanted something?  Or, was he just plain tired?

Several weeks ago he reminded us in his service to his country as VP that he had a chance to speak to some of the survivors and families touched by the Parkland School shooting.  The problem, of course, was that he wasn’t in office then.  His team said that he was referring to the Sandy Hook school shooting.  Hmm.

A few weeks later, when America was on it’s heels from the back to back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Biden spoke to gun control needs again and referenced these shootings in Houston and Michigan.  Well, that’s a wrong city in the right state and the wrong state when attempting to recall a city in another state.  Jeez.

Yesterday, to an assembled crowd, he advanced  the idea of an $8000 child care credit for families and said that it would put 720 million women back to work.  You can see the short clip here.  We aren’t convinced that one begets the other.  Further, when you subtract men and children from the estimated 330 million who call America home, you might get to 80-90 million women in all.

Remember, all of this is happening 14 months out from the general election.  There are 11, yes 11, Democratic Presidential debates scheduled prior to the nomination.  Then, the survivor gets to tangle with the man who loves to get people to say “uncle,” one Donald J. Trump.

Most incumbents, and all front runners, tend to limit their exposure and by definition limit the number and length of the debates.  Donald J. is not a  “most” incumbent.

Current odds on Biden to not be the Democratic nominee is minus $400.  You bet $400 to win $100 if he doesn’t gain the nomination fair and square.  You also win the 100 bucks if Uncle Joe says “uncle.”

“I want to be clear, I’m not going nuts,” Biden said Friday two weeks ago. The former vice president’s clarification came before he mistakenly praised Vermont when asked about his impression of Keene, N.H.   Painful.

Father Time is undefeated.  Uncle Joe might be best served by saying “uncle” before he is defeated.

 

 

 

 

Payton’s Happy Place

Late last week the New Orleans Saints and it’s head coach Sean Payton agreed to a five year contract extension.  Terms weren’t disclosed but our guess is that it pays $10 million per year at a minimum.  It’s great work if you can get it.  Payton can buy most anything he wants with that kind of dough.  Except, remember, money cannot buy happiness.

And, by Sunday night Payton was not very happy.  The Saints got worked in the second half by the NFC reigning champion LA Rams, and lost 27-9.  But, it was who they lost and how they lost that raises the coach’s blood pressure.  Midway through the second quarter, Drew Brees injured his thumb and after surgery Monday will miss the next six weeks.  Brees has played 15 seasons for the team and has played in at least 15 games each of those years.  That healthy streak is done.

But another streak is three games long and perhaps growing.  If you have any blood pressure you know that in the NFC Championship game in January was greatly influenced by a blown referee call effectively sending the Saints home and the Rams to the Super Bowl.  The head of NFL officiating apologized to Payton shortly after the game.

Fast forward to week one of this season and the Saints were victims again.  This time an improper run off of the clock just prior to the half cost them a chance at a shorter field goal in a tight battle with the Texans. The head of NFL officiating apologized to Payton shortly after the game.  Sound familiar?

And, on Sunday, the Saints scooped up a late second quarter fumble in a 3-3 defensive slugfest and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown.  Except the head referee thought that Rams QB Jared Goff arm had started forward, hence he blew the whistle, and the call.  The Saints got the ball on their own ten yard line as a consolation prize.  After a three and out the Rams got a short field and kicked a field goal.  This was a seven or ten point swing(depending on how you see it) in a deadlocked game.  Game changer.  The head of NFL officiating apologized to Payton shortly after the game.  Sound familiar?

Which brings us to a question.  If money cannot buy happiness, can it buy better officiating?  There is no grand plot to sabotage the Saints.  But, there is a standard deviation or two outlier outcome that puts them on the wrong side of three game changing, horrible calls.  Enough already.

Which brings us to a question.  If the NFL sent a whopping $8.7 billion net after expenses to the teams to share in 2018, could they consider paying for full time referees?  Doesn’t every other league worth talking about have full time officiating?   Of course they do.

Players are asked, er, told, um, must weigh in at a specific team desired weight.  They train year round, attend offseason OTA’s, study film, report to a fall camp, play four preseason games, play seventeen regular season games, and play as many as four playoff games.   You miss any of this you get fined.  You play poorly you get fired.  But most of all, you dedicate yourself  24/7/365 for the good of the team and the respect of the game.  Is it too much for the NFL to dedicate time, training, money, and people to officiate the sanctimonious NFL game in the same manner?  If they did, they could make far less “I’m so sorry” calls.

Money ($7.25 million) did buy Teddy Bridgewater as the highest paid backup in the league to Drew Brees.  He now needs to be a bridge over troubled water for six weeks.  Hopefully that money spent will buy Sean Payton some happiness.

Well, that assumes that the part-time employment referees will break their blown calls streak like Brees’ broken thumb will break his.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

If you blinked you missed 25% of the NCAA football season as of this past Saturday.  The NFL concludes week 2 tonight.  But, worry not.  Our Ten Piece Nuggets are here to give you another serving of all that you need to feed the craving.  The nuggets, as always, are the original, no leftovers here.  Help yourself below.

  1.  The NCAA football weekend had exactly zero games where the opponents were both ranked in the top 25.  Chalks dominated the outcomes for the most part.  The Top 10 saw only a very minor change.  Michigan was idle and was passed by.  Passing them by was now 3-0 Utah who won 31-0 over Idaho St.  Michigan only slid one spot to 11.
  2.  A week after Kentucky lost starting quarterback Terry Wilson they ended Florida’s starting quarterback Felipe Franks season in a wild 29-21 loss.  Franks’ gruesome injury was diagnosed as a dislocated ankle.  Backup and one time brief starter Kyle Trask came off the bench to throw for 126 yards and score a rushing touchdown, leading the Gators from 11 down to 19 unanswered points and victory.  Astute local observers of the program contend that Florida might even be better with him starting going forward.  Florida is ranked 9th and has Tennessee coming to The Swamp this weekend.
  3.  Florida is only the fifth highest ranked SEC team however.  Alabama (2), Georgia (3), LSU (4),  and Auburn (8) are higher.  Those four scored 47, 55, 65, and 55 in blowout wins over inferior opponents Saturday.  South Carolina tried to make a game of their tussle with Bama, but only slowed the Tua scoring machine a bit.
  4.  Wisconsin (tied for 13) took last weekend off and have the aforementioned Michigan Wolverines coming to Madison this weekend.   It’s but one of many in conference match ups across the land this coming weekend that will capture more of our attention than last weekend.  Wisconsin has scored 110 points in two games and surrendered a big fat 0.   It would be a good destination for College Gameday.
  5. But, Lee Corso and Company are headed to Athens, Ga.  The Bulldogs host The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in a rematch of the 2017 thriller in South Bend.  With Georgia sitting at 3 and Notre Dame at 7, it’s a good choice.  A Notre Dame win would vault them squarely in to the National Championship Playoff picture even if it’s only late September.
  6.  UCF, which held a parade for itself a couple of years back after an undefeated season found them looking from the outside in at the playoffs, is 3-0 and perched at 15.  The put 45 on a once proud Stanford team.  The Cardinal (we love teams with singular nicknames) surrendered 45 last week to USC as well.  UCF has little opposition until a trip on 10/26 to Temple.  We love parades.
  7.  In the NFL there are teams with franchise quarterbacks and teams without.  If you are with out you get to watch the playoffs from home usually.  If you are with you usually play in the playoffs.  Yesterday the Pittsburgh Steeleers lost Ben Rothliesberger to an elbow injury.  And, Yesterday, the New Orleans Saints lost Drew Brees to a thumb injury.  Both are seeing specialists today to determine the proper medical course of action.  It doesn’t look good for either.  ANd, as a result, they might watch the playoffs from home too.
  8. Brees was interviewed this summer on The Dan Patrick Show a day after the NFL Top 100 players (voted on by the players) were revealed on the NFL Network.  Brees finished second only to Aaron Donald, DL extraordinaire of the LA Rams.  Patrick asked Brees about finishing second to Donald.  Brees said, in effect, that it made total sense as Donald is in a league by himself.  He went on to say that Donald is unblockable and needed to be specifically game planned for.   Yesterday Donald broke thru the line and his hand hit Brees’ hand as he released a pass.  It sent Brees to the locker room and may send him to the operation room soon.
  9. Colin Kapernick’s nike commercial won an Emmy Award last evening.  The spot is dubbed Dream Crazy.  The commercial climaxes with the former San Francisco 49er saying, “Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything.” He concludes the commercial saying, “Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy. Ask if they’re crazy enough.”  Fair enough.  Disruptor enough.
  10.  Fifty years ago ABC disrupted normal fall Monday Night network programming by paying $25.5 million for a three year run of Monday Night Football.  The rest, as they say, is history.   Fifty years later there is Sunday night and Thursday night football to go along with MNF.  MNF was the first in prime time and it was the first with a “three in the booth” announcer set up.  In that first booth was Howard Cosell, Dandy Don Meredith, and?  And?  That’s right, it was Keith Jackson.  Unfortunately, all three are no longer with us.  But MNF sure is.

It’s only four days till Friday.  You’ve been fed.  Now, get after it.

 

Abby Takes Down Vegas, Year 2, Week 3

Abby urged caution last week, and a tricky week 2 in college football betting it was for all.  No bets are free unlike all of the promises of free she heard last night in Houston emanating from the ten Democratic Presidential Debate podiums where begging was very much in style.

Through two weeks Abby is a below average 4 games of 10 picked correctly.  More importantly she’s gathered 11 of 21 bones, just enough to balance the checkbook an have a gnaw too. Her hunch bet (Maryland -1.5) covered and then some.  To the picks we go.

Kansas St. @ Miss St. -7.5 —  Who is the loneliest person in Starkville?  The tooth fairy of course.  Let the cowbells ring.  This one won’t be close.  Three bones.

NC St. @ West Virginia +7 —  Is NC St. that good to be made a 7 point road favorite?  Is WVa that bad to be made a 7 point home dog?  One bone.

Maryland @ Temple +7 —  Maryland has scored 142 points in two games, good for the fourth highest point total in NCAA history.  The nation took notice.  We think they spent this week admiring the shine on their Terrapin shell.  One bone.

USC @ BYU +4 —  We aren’t sure that the correct team is favored here.  We thought about the money line.  Abby will settle for making money at plus 4.  One bone.

Florida -8 @ Kentucky —  Dan Mullen might be one of the most underrated Power 5 college coaches in America.  Florida’s D is quick to the ball and wraps up like a Gator death roll.  Kentucky’s QB is out and you don’t replace Josh Allen and Bennie Snell easily in Lexington.  Close, but the Gators cover late.  Two bones.

On a hunch Abby likes Arizona St. plus 15 and 1/2 to cover v. Michigan St.  The over/ under in the game is only 41 and 1/2.  It’s so low.  It’s so, so low.  On hunch #2 we’ll take under on a zig bet when others zag.

And, lastly we have an important announcement.  Abby is considering a run for President.  Her platform does not include free universal veterinarian care for pooches nor free meals for strays.  She has, however,  promised to fulfill her obligation to BBR throughout this football season.   Whew!

Woof!

It’s Just Week Two, But…..

Are you ready for some Thursday Night Football?  The 0-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers travel to Charlotte to face the 0-1 Carolina Panthers this evening.  ” Ho hum,” you say?  Understood.

The teams battle a quick four days after season opening losses.  And both teams lost at home to teams who traveled to time zones from the west to beat them.  The LA Rams beat Carolina 30-27, while the SF 49ers left the Tampa Bay area with a 31-17 victory.

If you’re underwhelmed imagine if you are a fan of one of the two staring 0-2 in the face five days after the season opened.  And, this game is a division game which carries added importance.   “One and one” sounds ok.  “Oh and two” sounds early season dreadful.

And, eight times out of nine, season long dreadful it is.  Since 2007, 91 teams have started 0-2.  Only 10 of them (10.9 percent) have turned the sluggish start around and made the playoffs.   One of those (the 2008 Chargers) made it with an 8-8 record. The Saints last season, the Dolphins in 2016, the Texans and Seahawks in 2015, the Colts from 2014, the 2013 Panthers, the Dolphins, Chargers and Vikings in 2008, and the 2007 Giants are the only others.  And, of course, that Giants team won the Super Bowl that season.

Carolina missed the playoffs in 2018 with a 7-9 record.  Tampa Bay has not been to the playoffs since 2007.  TB has finished last in the NFC South in seven of the last eight woeful years.

In the NFL you don’t need to look too much further than quarterback play to figure out who is ascending in the league and who has hit bottom.  For Carolina good, but inconsistent quarterbacking by Cam Newton tells most of the story.  Tonight he starts his 125th game as a pro.  He’s won 68, lost 54, and tied 1.  His career qb rating is 86.3.  Seventeen active QB’s with more than 50 starts rank higher.  In his defense his surrounding offensive cast hasn’t always been the best.  However, the Carolina defense has usually been between good and very good.  Cam is a sneaky 30, but in the QB friendly league that the NFL has become, he’s still got time to write better chapters in his story.  It’s time to start.

The Jameis Winston story, however, is another story.  Winston starts game 56 of his career tonight.  His record is a dreadful 21-24.  Winston’s QB rating is a shade higher than Newton’s at 87.0.   Fifteen active QB’s with more than 50 starts rank higher.   He played one year under Lovie Smith and three under recently fired Dirk Koetter.  Supposed QB whisperer Bruce Ariens now takes the helm.   Stability in the TB coaching has been wanting.  Also, in his defense his team’s defensive cast hasn’t been good.  However, the weapons around Winston have been solid, and sometimes border very good.  Four seasons in plus game one of five,and only 25 years old, he has plenty of time to write better chapters in his story.  Like Cam, it’s time to start.  Past time really.  Winston’s not looked at around the league as a leader, and his maturity has been questioned.  And “been questioned” is being nice.

Remember, “oh and two” means you sit home in January eight times of nine.  It might be week two, but this underwhelming match up could be a pivot point for both franchises.

On May 16, 2018, David Tepper, formerly a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, finalized an agreement to purchase the Panthers. The sale price was nearly $2.3 billion, a record.  Ron Rivera has been head coach for them since 2010.  You don’t shell out 2.3 billion for average.  If you miss the playoff this year does Ron go?  Cam’s deal is through 2020.  A new coach would have a year to work with him.

For Tampa, Ariens either fixes Winston this year, or not.  If not, Winston is likely out.  His contract expires after this season.

For a “ho hum” game, played just five days into the season, more is on the line than might normally meet the eye.

Which QB will pass the ball and the eyeball test best?

 

 

 

,

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth.

Yesterday the US Census Department released it’s annual report Income and Poverty in the United States:2018.  It’s 77 pages of some heavy statistical comparisons of who we are, how much we make, and how we are doing v. previous years.   In general there is pretty good news in it.

More Americans than ever are working.  Wages rose an average of 3.3% for men and women alike.  The percent of families and singles living in poverty reached record lows.  These wins occurred regardless of skin color as well.   Economists find much to like during a deep dive into deep details.

Trump’s unprecedented combination of  “Hire American” and economic growth policies is helping create those wage gains nationwide.  The growth policies pressure companies to hire more workers.

What follows is excerpted from a Breibart article printed yesterday.

The “Hire American” policy suppresses the inflow of legal and illegal migrants and also blocks demands from businesses for special infusions of cheap foreign labor, such as extra refugees, asylum-seekers, visa workers, and legal immigrants. 

Trump’s low-immigration policies have prompted many progressives and Democrats to claim he is racist. But his growth and “Hire American” combination is pressuring companies to compete for Americans workers — including blacks and Latinos — by offering higher wages and better benefits.

One expected impact of the shortage is a growing number of non-white Americans who are being hired and are getting wage increases.

Each year about 4 million Americans enter the workforce after high school or college graduation.  This includes about 800k of more highly skilled professionals in  the business, engineering , medical, etc. world.

But the federal government then imports about 1.1 million legal immigrants and refreshes a resident population of about 1.5 million white-collar visa workers.

The net effect of the two keeps the labor wage market in check even in good economic times.  In tougher times it drives the supply of good workers up and wages are held in check or even decrease.   This makes American workers from all corners unhappy.  This makes the corner of Wall Street happy.  Good supply and low prices of in demand assets is always welcome by shareholders.

Which brings us to claims that Trump is a racist for his immigration and buy/hire America(s).  Maybe he is a racist.  It isn’t today’s post purpose to discuss.

It’s purpose is to ask if you scream about the amount of college debt, are concerned about individuals ability to repay, and want it forgiven by the government should you reexamine the effect of immigration on a society who’s population growth relative to yesteryear has slowed.  If more work qualified immigrants (legal or not) enter the work force percentage wise v. US qualified workers you exacerbate the problem.

Wall St. benefits.  Americans scream that the rich get richer.   Students struggle with loans.  Americans scream that we should help them. Millennials struggle to find work.  Americans scream about the labor market.  Wages rise too slowly.  Americans scream about the income gap.

A good recipe has just the right amount of ingredients working together for a better meal.   Balancing the outcome is a very delicate process.  Put too much of one ingredient in and you spoil the soup.  There is a big pot on the stove right now.  Shouldn’t we step back and let the head chef decide how much of one is too much of one?  After all can’t we agree that home cooked meals taste best?

Ten Piece Nuggets- Sports

NCAA, NFL, and MLB dominate the menu today.   There is much to chew on.  The Ten Piece Nuggets are served.

  1. The new AP Top 25 poll is out following Week 2 action.   LSU has moved into the top five after beating Texas 45-38 in a thrilling affair in Austin on Saturday night. With LSU jumping Oklahoma to take the No. 4 spot, the SEC now has three of the top four teams in the country, as the Tigers join No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia.
  2. It’s very early in the season and these things sort themselves out when conference play starts in earnest.   The Big 10 might have plenty to say about it as well.  They check in at spots 6,10,13,14,18,19, and 21.  So, that’s seven spots for the Big 10 conference that actually has 14 teams.  Got it?
  3. Big 10 Maryland’s got it.  They are #21 in the poll after a 63-20 pounding of Syracuse Saturday.  This follows up a 79-0 blasting of Howard.  The combined 142 points are the fourth most in NCAA history in the first two games of any season.  It was but a few years ago that the Terrapins were lower than a turtle’s belly.  Kudos to former New Mexico HC and Bama OC Mike Locksley.  This is year one for him in the Maryland HC role after a 1-5 interim record when he took over for fired Randy Edsall from the Maryland staff in 2015.
  4. The Big 10 is scoring big time too.  Penn State has scored 124 points, Wisconsin 110, Ohio St 87, and even Indiana has 86, all in two games.  Maybe the rust belt has rolled out some shiny new offense models off of the assembly lines.   It’s on to conference play for them mostly as well.  Though Maryland goes to Temple, and curiously is only a 7 point favorite.
  5.  It wasn’t the best weekend for the great state of Texas in football.  The Longhorns played well, especially on offense,  but lost to LSU as mentioned.  Texas A&M played pretty good defense, but Clemson played better defense and won 24-10.  BBR thinks both teams are on the rise and wonder when the regular season is done if Texas might be 10-2 or even better and A&M around 9-3.  Texas dropped three spots to 12th, while A&M slid only four to 16th.
  6. Washington lost at home to a California team that actually plays decent defense, 20-19.  That leaves Utah at 11th, Oregon at 15th, and Washington St. at 20th.  The PAC 12 continues to disappoint on the national stage.  Other disappointments have to be Florida St., winners over Louisiana Monroe 45-44 thanks to a missed extra point in extra time.  At least they seem hydrated this week.  Syracuse forgot to play defense against Maryland and surrendered 63.  Two AP writers actually voted for Syracuse to still be in the top 25.  Lots of sportswriters and sportscasters go to Syracuse’s fine journalism school.  This might have been two of them.  Tennessee is now 0-2 with a second non conference loss at home.  This time BYU beat them which was an upgrade from a Georgia Southern debacle a week ago.  Note to the Volunteers, the SEC schedule is way tougher than that.  Pruitt needs to prove it, and soon.
  7.  Swinging over to baseball, we ask, ‘where are the pennant races?’  The closest division has the Cubs trailing the Cardinals by 4 games.  That one isn’t over, but with only about 18 games to go, it isn’t terribly close either.  The race for the best record in baseball is on though.  With it comes playoff home field advantage throughout.  The Yankess and the Astros are tied at a sizzling 95-50, while the Dodgers are two back at 93-52.
  8. Even the wild card races aren’t dealing aces.  While the Indians and A’s are only a half game apart for the last spot in the AL, the Rays look like they are in.  In the NL, Washington is two ahead of Chicago who is two ahead of Arizona for those two wild card spots.  Yawn.
  9. The NFL kicked off season 100.  We refuse to read too much into week one.  Or do we?  New England looked like New England.  Miami is roster purging and lost 59-10 to Baltimore.  If you live in Miami you can always enjoy the beaches, especially South Beach.  Speaking of south, The NFC South is 1-3 and the AFC South is 1-3 after one week.   Do the Falcons make it through the year without a coaching change?  Dan Quinn looked like a rising star four years ago.  Now, it looks like Arthur Blank has a DIY project to fix them.  Luckily he’s a Home Depot kind of guy.
  10. Is Antonio Brown fixable?  Master craftsman Bill Belicheck starts the remodel this week.  It’s a project.   BBR wishes the entire mess would get far less air time.  Brown makes yesteryear guys like Keyshawn Johnson ( “just throw me the damn ball”) look like choir boys.  Less talented players who disrupt like this would be out of the league by now.  This is the last whistle stop for Antonio.  We hope.

Sports has it all in fall.

You may be excused.

Splendid Splinters, Yankee Clippers, and Yordans.

College football heated up last weekend and some interesting story lines are developing.  We’ll explore them tomorrow in our Ten Piece Nuggets.  But today we want to explore a story in MLB that heated up just as summer heated up.

It was June 9th actually when Yordan Rubin Alvarez got a call from Houston and the Astros promoted him to the big show.  He made his major league debut that afternoon, at the tender age of 21, versus the Baltimore Orioles.  He went 1-3 with a two-run home run in his debut.  And, he hasn’t looked back.

Alvarez, despite missing the first eight days of the month, was named AL Rookie of the Month for June.  He garnered the award again in July.  And, why not, he was given the honor again in August.  He’ll be named AL Rookie of the Year when all is said and done, but it seems like he still has much to say and do in 2019.

Statistical comparisons with such a small sample size (he’s been active for only 70 major league games) are fun.  But often they don’t exactly play out in the future as the recent past would lead you to believe.  Undeterred, we’ll do it anyway.

Alvarez went 4-6 last evening in an Astros 21-1 romp of the hapless Seattle Mariners.  He drove in six runs.  That gives him 70 rbi’s in 70 games!  Ted Williams was only 20 years old in 1939 in his rookie year.  He drove in 145 runs in 149 games.  That’s the MLB rookie record standing tall for 80 years and counting.  Only four other rookies have ever had over 100 rbi’s in their rookie season, Joe DiMaggio among them at 125.

The Astros only have 18 games left, so Alvarez very likely won’t get to the century mark.  But, how many will he get in a total of 88 games?

His OBP is .409.  His slugging percentage is .655.  And, his OPS is 1.064.  Williams  put up .436, .609, and 1.045 respectively in his rookie year.  DiMaggio’s BEST year was  .448, .671, and 1.119.  Baseball is a numbers game.  These numbers put Alvarez, again after only 70 games, in some thin air.

Allow us for a moment to add Alvarez’s stats from Triple A in 56 games to the 70 major league games that he has played.  So in 136 professional games this year he has hit 45 home runs, driven in 141 runs, and hit for a melded .323 average.  His OPS would rise to 1.123.

We aren’t suggesting that Alvarez is the next Splendid Splinter nor the next Yankee Clipper.  His start suggests that he could be the next Yordan Alvarez.  And, that might be very good unto itself.

He defected from Cuba, then established residence in Haiti in 2016.  He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent in June 2016.  In August 2016, Álvarez was traded from the Dodgers to the Astros for middle reliever Josh Fields.  Cuba and the Dodgers loss is America and the Astros gain.

If you haven’t seen his strong, smooth, balanced, left side swing, you should.  And, you will.  Alvarez will be right in the middle of a stacked Astros lineup when October playoff baseball takes center stage.  The ball just sounds different jumping off of his bat.

May the comparisons never end.

 

 

 

 

Abby Takes Down Vegas, Year 2, Week 2

Abby’s offseason wasn’t spent howling at the moon.  Her rigorous research began to pay off in week one.  While only two of five against the spread picks cashed her bones won were six while her bones lost were only four.  We’ll take 60% money all season long if we can get it.  Her hunch parlay bet split(lost), as the under covered and the over fell just shy.

College football picking isn’t easy.   The smart money in Vegas (called the Sharps) focuses on a narrow window of analytics and doesn’t stray (Abby doesn’t like strays either).

That’s why it’s important for her to risk various amounts (bones) to weight average the risk.  Remember one bone equals $11 risked to win $10.

She urges great caution every year in week two.  Over reactions to good or bad play in week one can feel like chasing parked cars come late Saturday night.

Wake Forest at Rice +20 — Rice isn’t a very good football team.   But, they are beginning to play a bit if D in downtown H town.  And, it’s hot in downtown H Town.  Very.  100 degrees hot is predicted at game time.  That’s why smart Owls only come out at night.  One bone.

UAB -8.5 at Akron —  A little bird is chirping in Abby’s ear about UAB being a smart money play all year.  Abby normally chases birds away, but she’s embracing this one.  Two bones.

Texas A&M +18 at Clemson — Betting against Clemson is indeed like a dog chasing the proverbial parked car.  Abby has a soft spot for Reveille, the A&M mascot, but won’t let puppy love interfere with money.  A&M is a legit dog.  Three bones.

BYU at Tennessee -3.5 —  One of Abby’s credos to live by is to “never kick a blue tick hound when he is down.”  This one falls squarely in the over reaction of week one category.  Tennessee looked like road kill in week one.  Three bones.

Miami -5 at North Carolina —  Dorian the Hurricane is pounding the North Carolina Outer Banks as Abby digs through these lines.  The Miami Hurricanes, if they can fix their woeful OL blocking, will do the same to the Tar Heels.  The sunshine was on Mack Brown for a week.  It’s raining now.  Two bones.

The line of Maryland -1.5 hosting Syracuse makes no doggone sense to us.   When it seems so odd Abby likes to play a hunch bet.  Take Maryland over a 21st ranked Orangeman team that might be looking ahead to hosting Clemson next week.

Enjoy the games and say a prayer for The Bahamas and for New Mexico St.  They go to Tuscaloosa, AL as a 56 point dog!  Woff!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Love That Is Shared by Two

In a interview with the Washington Post earlier this week noted progressive Barbara Streisand described the United States electoral college system as “antiquated” and advocated replacing it with a system that allows the winner of the popular vote to win the election.

She went on to say, “If I could, I would end the antiquated electoral college. Twice in the last 20 years the popular vote winner was denied the presidency. This is an assault on our democratic principles, where the dictum should hold true: one person, one vote.”

And she isn’t the only voice from the left touting a change away from the now 243 year old way of electing presidents.  South Bend, Indiana mayor and announced Democratic Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg suggested making the reform as well calling it undemocratic.  Streisand would change it now if she could as she said, while Mayor Pete would do so down the road a bit.

We wonder if of the above is exactly why our founding fathers put the process in place at the outset.   We submit the following counterpoints.
  • That is, they had the foresight to realize that a ground swell could occur.  And when it did a simple popular vote taken on the matter could eliminate the electoral college vote and replace it with, well, a simple popular vote.  Stated differently, over the course of time, this would open up the opportunity to repeatedly manipulate how the president was elected.
  • What Barbara should know, and likely does, is if one person could do anything unilaterally in our union it would not be a democracy.
  • Citing twice in the last 20 years as a reason fails to speak to the fact that a) its happened only five times in 243 years, and b) it happened in a span of 12 years when in 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes won the electoral college and lost the popular vote and again in 1888 when Benjamin Harrison did the same.  The logic sounds much like two bad hurricanes in 20 years proves climate change, so we must change and now.
  • And, we’re supposed to be United States, not necessarily always united people.  States, as an entity all to themselves, have rights in our union and therefore each have two senators with equal say to senators from other states.
  • Buttigieg says that we won’t know in the 2030’s which party would benefit.  One, yes we do Pete.  Two, if we don’t know which would benefit why change from the current, unless you don’t believe in states’ rights.
  • Buttigieg hails from Indiana.   It’s a state that could be the poster child for why the electoral college is in place.  It has a) below average population making the two electoral senate seats important to them, b) is driven by farming creating a need for perspective that is anything but urban (ask them right now if they want a voice in who is the next president considering the effect on the state that tariffs are having).

The 77 year old Oscar winning Streisand might be an expert on “antiquated.”  It looks more and more like her party’s current front runner sure does.   But she is no expert on democratic principles.  She should  know that what she and other left voices are advocating to eliminate this “assault on our democratic principles” is actually an assault on our democratic principles.

Aren’t the real experts our founding fathers?