Just, Just…..And the Beat Goes On.

Posted on February 26, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Last week, riding its post All Star NBA weekend high, nike unveiled its latest technologically advanced, lightest weight, and most breathable basketball sneaker ever. Just Do It. It’s light weight was achieved by removing the entire outsole. With the entire bottom of the foot exposed the air circulation is second to none. It was quite the stage for the reveal as Duke was hosting North Carolina in a great ACC showdown. It was so unexpected just 18 seconds into the contest that Zion Williamson was unprepared for it and he sprained his knee as a result. Duke was so unprepared for it that they got hammered by NC in their own Cameron Area without Zion. We trust that nike was unprepared for it as well.

Meanwhile President Trump was busy selling and building a wall on the U.S. southern border. He was all in joining Nancy Reagan’s early 80’s campaign of Just Say No to drugs. Mr. Trump’s triumph in 2016 gives him the political clout to keep pushing. He says that amongst other things the wall will stop the massive amount of illegal drugs entering into our country on a daily basis. Half of America is so unprepared for it that they attempt to verbally tear it down as it’s being built.

Nike has been riding high due to its Just Do It campaign and great connection to basketball on all levels for over forty years. A wise owl told us that the combined market share of nike and Air Jordan sneaks command a combined 92 percent of the basketball shoe market.

Unfortunately America has been riding high for those 40 years and then some on drugs in spite of Mrs. Reagan’s Just Say no campaign and thousands of DEA and border agents best efforts.

It’s highly likely that the nike blowout on the hardwood will have little negative effect on their sales and gaudy market share numbers. While we write and while you sleep the sewing machines in China and beyond that forgot to sew Zion’s pair are busy 24/7 sewing millions of pairs.

It’s also highly likely that the Trump wall will have little negative effect on the abundant supply of drugs. Global weed growers and pill makers are likely busy 24/7 as well.

If the roles were reversed and the Just Do It slogan was used to help the wall and the Just Say No one was used to try slow nike sales we also doubt that either would have any negative effect. Demand is what it is for nike, and, for very different and unfortunate reasons, for illegal drugs.

Therefore, supply always attempts to satiate demand. Always. Money always wins out. Always.

Sonny and Cher sung the hit song “And the Beat Goes On“ way back in 1967.

And so it does.

Kraft Heinz and Kraft-Food for Thought.

Posted on February 25, 2019February 24, 2019 by boom booms room staff

As Thursday, February 21st faded into the evening like week-old roses, who knew what was in store for the dead of winter Friday, February 22nd? After all, on Wall St. what is known as the triple witching hour had already come and gone Friday a week prior. But, the world of business, sports, and life came together and had a triple witching hour all of its own.

Prior to the market’s open Kraft Heinz Corporation came clean about being dirty and bad. Kraft Heinz shocked investors Thursday when it posted a gigantic loss due to the write down of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands, slashed its dividend and disclosed an SEC probe into its accounting. Krafty accounting some say. Oh, and perhaps it forgot its most important mission-make tasty products that people actually want to buy and eat. Analyst’s note that increasingly food shoppers are headed to the healthier aisles including fresh, not processed, foods. This financial behemoth could have invested more wisely.

But, the Kraft Heinz revelation disgrace paled in comparison to the revelation that Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, had a warrant issued for his arrest for being dirty and bad too. Kraft’s name appeared on a list of “John’s” not “Robert’s” that were in trouble for solicitation of prostitution in a Jupiter, FL massage parlor. The Orchid’s of Asia Spa has a menu of services. You can pay by the half or by the hour. Apparently the financial transaction and the physical action is all caught on a police surveillance tape. Krafty cops some say. This financial behemoth could have invested more wisely.

Kraft becomes the first NFL owner to have six Super Bowl rings and one prostitution ring. It’s a dubious record that likely no one will ever break, nor will ever want to break. Perhaps Kraft, like Kraft Heinz, should have made healthier choices.

What is it about the Patriots and getting caught on tape? And, what is it about Jupiter, Florida, sports figures, and tawdry sex tales? Tiger Woods had a bit of trouble in this town a few years back. Town crier, ESPN “NFL Insider Expert,” Adam Schefter tweeted out that his sources state that Mr. Kraft isn’t the only big name that will be exposed (sorry) in this ongoing investigation. Salacious.

Five years ago Warren Buffet’s company bought Heinz. Then Heinz bought Kraft. Buffet rarely swings and misses so, especially with such a great brand name(s).

Roger Goodell is the commish over a great brand name too. It’s the NFL. Like it or not, he might have to take a swing on behalf of the league at Robert Kraft.

Kraft Heinz told Wall St. yesterday that they were guilty. Robert Kraft proclaimed his complete innocence yesterday through his legal team.

We’ll watch too closely like we do all train wrecks.

More Kraft Macaroni and Cheese please.

Done With Work Week Eight. Feeling Great!

Posted on February 22, 2019February 23, 2019 by boom booms room staff

You don’t need someone to put a gun to your head to take a couple of days off do you? Enjoy, Monday is just about 60 hours away……..59…….

Stocks Rally To Close Higher For The Week

Posted on February 22, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

Friends

Stocks rallied today after yesterday’s modest selloff as hopes continue to build that a trade deal with China will eventually come to fruition. This, despite the continued weakening economic data and another disastrous earnings release from a large American icon Kraft Heinz. As we have mentioned, the weakening economy will surely keep the Fed on the sidelines for a while.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 181 points to close at 26,032. The S&P 500 was up 17 points to close at 2,792. Gold was up $2 to trade at $1,330 per ounce, while oil was up $.25 to trade at $57.21 per barrel WTI.

Despite the less than perfect conditions, stocks posted gains for the week, as has been the case all year long. Every time the bears think they have an upper hand, the bulls sweep the carpet right out from under them. Let’s see if the bulls can keep the bears frustrated next week.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

info@chjwealthmanagement.com www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

*Numbers and figures sourced from the following: Bloomberg.com, CNBC.com and Finance.Yahoo.com.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investment(s) may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly.

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

What Would Alexander Graham Bell Say?

Posted on February 22, 2019February 22, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Randall Stephenson, AT&T CEO, answered a wide range of questions yesterday in a back and forth with Maria Bartiromo while appearing on the Fox Business Channel. In ten minutes or so of air time Bartiromo had Stephenson cover his companies finances, outlook, debt, direction, long view of tv viewing, content, etc, etc.

We paraphrase the exchange. Their 2018 acquisition of Time Warner drove their debt up 40 billion to 173 billion last year. No worries he said. Free cash flow from operations would reduce the 40 billion by 75% by year-end 2019 and the dividend was safe. What does Time Warner bring to your business? Content. A 90 year library of goodies. Are you selling CNN? No, It’s an integral piece. Your subscriptions for Direct TV have slid 4 consecutive years, did you over pay for this mammoth division? Not at all he said. It gives us a platform to reach millions and a chance to convert them to our Direct Now streaming services. Plus its original content rich as well. People are getting their content from many other non conventional sources she stated such as YouTube TV, Roku, Netflix. He agreed and stated that the future looked to him like most households would use two or three different services and that AT&T was well positioned to be a provider of the means as well as the content.

In ten minutes not one word was spoken about the origins of the business, aka the phone, nor its outlook, nor its profitability. AT&T is the world’s largest telecommunications company, the second largest provider of mobile telephone services, and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States through AT&T Communications. The phone biz is a cash cow farm. In short the phone biz is paying for the entertainment acquisition and endless repackaging of its content. The race for your money by winning your viewing pleasure is on yet again.

AT&T can trace its origin back to the original Bell Telephone Company founded by Alexander Graham Bell after his patenting of the telephone. One of that company’s subsidiaries was American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), established in 1885. AT&T eventually established the monopoly known as the Bell System, and during this period, AT&T was also known by the nickname Ma Bell. The former AT&T was the world’s largest phone company.

In 1982, U.S. regulators broke up the AT&T monopoly, requiring AT&T to divest its regional subsidiaries and turning them each into individual companies. These new companies were known as Regional Bell Operating Companies, or more informally, Baby Bells. AT&T continued to operate long distance services, but as a result of this breakup, faced competition from new competitors such as MCI and Sprint. AT&T was in the phone business and phone business only then, but no more.

Speaking of new competition, all of that brings us to this. Is your telephone and television quality of calls, service, and content any better than it ever was? On one hand the answer is a resounding yes. Phone communication is mobile/wireless now. TV is in 4k Ultra HD and headed to 5. The plethora of choices in live programming as well as recorded is head spinning. Watch programming on your phone or on your Ipad or Surface? No problem. You can watch what you want, where you want, on what you want, and when you want to.

On the other hand the answer on phones lies in still too many dropped calls, intermittent call clarity, background noisy air pods, tangled ear pods, low battery, dead battery, and lost chargers. On the other hand the answer on TV lies in much higher costs, satellite bad weather outages, blocked programming, local blackouts, ever-changing content companies, to stream or not, and how many providers do you want providing what you want. Oh, and there is this small matter of passwords.

AT&T has the word “telegraph” in its name for a reason. How far have we come? Very, very. We’ve come from Morse Code to Al Gore’s Internet at your door/car/phone.

How far and fast will these tied at the hip industries yet go? Our guess is very and very still.

WWAGBS? What Would Alexander Graham Bell Say? Our guess is that he would say one or two things. One, he would likely say “I would just like a damn phone that works.” And, two, “Roku this!”

Weak Economic Data Weighs On Stocks

Posted on February 21, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

Friends

A plethora of less than stellar economic data finally put a little damper on the nearly 7 week rally. With interest rates extremely low and the Fed now firmly on the sidelines with regards to future rate hikes, the markets are going to have to decide going forward, if bad news is bad news for stocks or not. You know the drill, bad economic news guarantees an accommodative Fed therefore insuring that monetary policy is back to being a tailwind for stocks. With low interest rates, stocks become the only game in town, despite the fact that we are entering an earnings slowdown. This will be an interesting tug of war as we move towards the spring. Is bad news good news for stocks or not? Which is more important to market participants- dovish monetary policy/low interest rates or positive earnings growth?

As for today, by the close the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 103 points to finish the day at 25,850. The S&P 500 was down 9 points to close at 2,774. Gold was down $19 to trade at $1,328 per ounce, while oil was down $.33 to trade at $56.83 per barrel WTI.

The bears finally had something to cheer about today, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that they have claimed the high ground just yet. It is clear that the domestic economy as well as global economies are slowing, but what is not clear is what is more important to investors. Slow economies mean accommodative central banks around the world, and for about 10 years now, stocks have been the beneficiary (most of the time). Let’s see how the week finishes out tomorrow.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

info@chjwealthmanagement.com www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

“Made in China” made February 21st Relevant

Posted on February 20, 2019February 21, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Yearly February 21st holds little cache’. Sure it’s a week after Valentine’s Day so it might be remembered for throwing out dead roses that warmed hearts for about five minutes. But in 1972 February 21st was a day that warmed an ice-cold relationship and in turn gave hope to a world that had plenty of cold wars brewing.

President Richard M. Nixon arrived in Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China, on the first ever US President’s visit to the world’s most populous nation. Because the U.S. federal government had formerly opposed China’s communist government since it took power in 1949, Nixon was also the first president to visit a nation not recognized by the United States. In Beijing, President Nixon met with Chairman Mao Zedong.

At the Shanghai Communique on February 27, Nixon and the Chinese premier agreed to lessen the risk of war, expand cultural contacts between the two nations, and establish a permanent U.S. trade mission in China. The two leaders also secretly discussed how they could work together to carefully watch the growth of Soviet power in Asia and elsewhere around the globe.

It was progress, but it was begrudging and it churned forward slowly. As the years wore on the trade between the two superpowers grew and grew. But so did the trade imbalance and the tariffs imposed by China. Both have risen geometrically and unchecked by the US.

And now a mere 47 years later President Trump is attempting to tackle it. He is seeking what he calls trade equality. In short he states that he wants to balance the trade imbalance-make the China exports and imports more equal in dollar value. And he want the tariffs (taxes imposed by both countries on incoming goods) equalized as well.

After years of trade agreements that bound the countries of the world more closely and erased restrictions on trade, a populist backlash has grown against globalization. This was evident in Trump’s 2016 election and the British vote that year to leave the European Union. You know, MAGA.

Critics note that big corporations in rich countries exploited rules to move factories to China, then shipped these goods back to their wealthy home countries while paying low tariffs. Since China joined the WTO in 2001, the United States has “lost” nearly 3 million factory jobs, though many economists believe a significant percentage of that loss is not just to trade but to artificial intelligence(robots) that replaces human workers.

President Trump blames what he calls their abusive trade policies for America’s persistent trade deficits — $566 billion last year. Most economists, by contrast, say the deficit simply reflects the reality that the United States spends more than it saves.

In 1972 the US was very divided over Nixon’s visit to China. “Why should America even step on communist soil?” was a constant retort. Just shy of two years later Richard Milhous Nixon was impeached for all together unrelated reasons.

In 2019 the US is very divided over the imposition of these tariffs on China as well as the many other nations that the Donald John Trump team has renegotiated trade deals with. “Why mess with what has been working?” is the constant retort.

In fact in 2019 the US is very divided over everything. Two years from now a new congress and either a new president or President Trump are sworn in to office. If it’s a new congress that takes control of the Senate and President Trump is reelected might he be impeached for all together unrelated reasons?

If you are old enough you can still hear the tone and see President Nixon as he assured America, “I am not a crook!”

What fate lies ahead for President Trump? And what will he say when he exits the American political stage whether forced out, elected out, or has served the maximum eight years allowed by our Constitution? Our guess is that it will be strongly worded regardless of the pulpit, the audience, and the reason.

Meanwhile, the cost of your “made in China” items are about to go up it seems because Trump thinks China is a crook.

The Edmund Fitzgerald

Posted on February 20, 2019February 19, 2019 by boom booms room staff

We have a hunch that you have either heard the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” hummed along with it, or even contemplated the words of the over six-minute long ballad. It’s one of those that once in, you can’t get it out of your head. It was sung by Gordon Lightfoot and released in 1976. The popular ballad made the sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald one of the best known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping.

But for being one of the better known disasters in Great Lakes history the November 10, 1975 sinking remains to this day quite a mystery.

Some of the known’s follow.

The “Fitz” as it was nicknamed first launched in 1958. It was the largest ship to have sailed in the Great Lakes and remains the largest to have ever sunk there.
The ship and its crew had safely navigated over 1,000,000 miles in its 17 years in the lakes mostly taking the very same route each time. That is the equivalent of several trips around the globe.
It left Superior, Wisconsin on 11/9 with a quite full load of iron ore (26,000 tons) and was riding low in the water per its design.
Its destination was just outside of Detroit even though Lightfoot sang its destination as Cleveland.
Its captain,Ernest M McSorley, a grizzled veteran, saw the weather forecast prior to embarking and thought the worst of a gale force wind storm would pass south of Lake Superior when they got there. It didn’t.
En route to a steel mill near Detroit, they joined a second freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet high.
Shortly after 7:10 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet deep, about 17 miles from Whitefish Bay. It was near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Per the captain’s update, they were headed to the bay to get out of the worst of the storm and could have covered that distance in just over an hour at her top speed after his transmission.
Although Edmund Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank. Captain McSorley’s last message to Arthur M. Anderson said, “We are holding our own.”
Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered.

What isn’t known is why.

Clearly the wind caused the huge lake to grow violent. But McSorley was known as a bad weather pilot having steered through like conditions in these same waters many, many times before.
Rescue efforts began by air and by sea and quickly. They were in vain. A few life vests and a few pieces of wood were all that were ever seen floating aimlessly on the surface. Why so little after only an hour or two had passed?
One theory is that it’s design (low in the middle when loaded) allowed the waves to crash repeatedly over the top and unsecured hatches ( a rather common practice then) slowly filled with water causing it to sink.
Another theory is that three consecutive waves, commonly called three sisters, in excess of thirty feet each swamped the cargo areas in rapid fashion without allowing the first nor second wave to slide back into the angry sea. They could have caused the ship to rapidly sink, explaining the lack of a distress signal. The SS Arthur Anderson, about 14 miles behind, reported two such waves shortly before all communication with the Fitz was lost.
Yet another theory has the ship thrown into nearby shoals causing it to break up. Subsequent underwater missions have shown no evidence of that type of damage though.
A final theory had the boat structurally effectively snapping in two on the surface from the pressure in the ship’s middle. Research teams, due to the two pieces only lying 150 apart on the bottom argue against the surface breakup and for the breakup as it hit the bottom.
The Edmund Fitzgerald’s original bell recovered and now a museum exhibit.
These research “dives” have photographed the ship split nearly in half though supporting theories two or three above. The bow is sunk and “stands” vertically at the bottom while the stern is at about a 45 degree angle. These findings support the weight of the ore, the low middle of the ship, and the sudden disappearance.
Numerous investigations have led to numerous safety improvements since then for crew, cargo, ship design, navigation requirements, and storm notification. Perhaps some good came of a lot of bad.
No one will ever know what actually happened.

While this story pales in comparison to the mega tragedy story of the Titanic, it still fascinates to this day. How could a veteran crew sailing in familiar lake waters all perish without a prior word of warning? In Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad he wondered the same and honored those crew members for it.

The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
[Former version:] That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
[Latter version:] That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came earlyThe ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
Then later that night when the ship’s bell rang
Could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’?The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
When the wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too
‘Twas the witch of November come stealin’
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin’
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west windWhen suppertime came, the old cook came on deck
Saying, “Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.”
[Former version:] At seven PM a main hatchway caved in
[Latter version:] At seven PM it grew dark, it was then
He said, “Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.”
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund FitzgeraldDoes anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughtersLake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below, Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered[Former version:] In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
[Latter version:] In a rustic old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed ’til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early

Stalemate

Posted on February 19, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Independent Investment Management designed to protect and grow your wealth.

Friends

Stocks tried to sell off at the opening this morning, but the bears just couldn’t muster very much enthusiasm. Word that the China trade talks are progressing, and a good earnings release from Walmart were enough to spark modest interest from the bulls and stocks moved into positive territory for the rest of the trading session. Perhaps, the bulls are sensing that things have moved into very overbought territory, leaving both combatants a bit tentative at this point.

For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 8 points to close at 25,891. The S&P 500 was up 4 points to finish the day at 2,779. Gold was up $20 to trade at $1,342 per ounce, while oil was up $.53 to trade at $56.12 per barrel WTI.

As oversold as we were on Dec. 24^th of last year, is about as overbought as we are right now. We can work off the overbought condition one of two ways (or both actually)- price or time. A little sideways action might be what the doctor ordered for the bulls, to digest some of these early first quarter gains. Of course, the market is going to do what the market is going to do. But, as economic data continues to be mixed and corporate earnings are certainly not going to be as strong as last year, we are beginning to see P/E expansion once again, fueled by dropping interest rates (the 10 Year Treasury Note now yielding 2.64%). Moves like we saw in the 4^th quarter of last year, and the first 6 weeks of this year adds to the difficulty of predicting stocks price movements as we move further into 2019. Stay tuned, we’ll be providing the play by play.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Jim

10200 Grogan’s Mill Road, Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380
(281) 298-2700 Phone
(877) 824-4299 Toll Free
(281) 298-2760 Fax

info@chjwealthmanagement.com www.chjwealthmanagement.com

Investment Advisory offered through Carlton, Hofferkamp & Jenks Wealth Management, LLC (“CHJ”).

CHJ Wealth Management,
10200 Grogan’s Mill Road,
Suite 340
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Ten Piece Nuggets-Multiple Sports

Posted on February 19, 2019February 19, 2019 by boom booms room staff

Update-February still makes us shiver.

As the shortest month of the year rolls along we dug deep to find a savory serving of ten nuggets for our insatiable readers. We need to grab a bit from here and some from there to do so. The oven is on.

In men’s NCAA basketball the new AP Top 25 is out. Duke regained the no. 1 spot for the third time this year. Somehow, Tennessee dropped for 1 to 5. Sure, Kentucky worked them over in Lexington Saturday. But, a drop of four spots with only two year long losses in what is supposed to be one of the top two conferences seems a bit strong. It doesn’t matter too much just yet.
Kentucky, somehow rose one from 5 to 4. The same voters that punished Tennessee rewarded Kentucky for losing at home earlier in the week to LSU and then beating Tenn. It must pay to have the Kentucky blue unis come voting time. It doesn’t matter too much just yet.
This just in. The PGA is now allowing shorts for the pros in practice rounds. After an offseason of rule changes for the stodgy sport that includes leaving the flag in on putts, can beer kegs next to the Powerade coolers on the tee boxes be far off? One can hope. This just in. John Daly liked boomboomsroom.com.
How many mock drafts do you think you could review between now and the NFL draft in April. How many ways can the “draft experts” recast a list in hopes to get one to read one? Like the stock market pundits someone should write a column or three after the draft to mock the absurdity and inaccuracy of these mocks.
Speaking of mocks, mocking, and bad franchises; have the Cleveland Browns turned a corner? Baker Mayfield, Jarvis Landry, and a talented defense won seven games last year after the team won one game in the last two years prior combined. And they have a lot of decent, promising, young talent acquired in 2018 draft.
And, here is the kicker. The once and forever woeful Browns have their own pick in all seven rounds in 2019. Plus, they have an additional 3rd, 5th, and 7th thanks to some savvy moves on draft day 2018 made by their “suddenly to be taken seriously” front office. Can the heretofore bad ownership stay out of the way?
This writer sat fifteen rows from the ice in Nashville at a Predators v. St. Louis Blues game Sunday a week ago. The Blues prevailed sixteen seconds into overtime 5-4. Why is this now news? It’s not. It’s just the setup to say that hockey is SOOOO much better in person than on the TV. Two dimensions, even in HD, cannot do justice to what large grown men do at full speed on a relatively small piece of ice with wooden sticks and a small frozen rubber puck. If you haven’t recently, get to an NHL game soon. If they don’t look faster than ever to you it will be a surprise.
Pitchers and catchers reported to MLB camps over a week ago. With Tampa Bay now pitching backwards in some games (starting the closer and finishing with longer innings guys) and other teams increasingly going to “Johnny Whole Staff” for pitching games by committee, innovative thinking is accelerating in baseball. Can it be very long before a team decides to not have pitchers and catchers throw and squat in early February in hopes that they will still be able to throw and squat in early October?
In yesteryear four man starting rotations were the norm. Now nearly every team has a five man starting rotation, giving an extra day of rest to all. The analytics side to the game has really changed the thinking on many fronts for what we think is the good of yet another sport viewed by too many as too stodgy.
Which reminds us of the whispers emanating from MLB’s front office. “Should we limit the severity of the defensive shifts that teams are making against hitters?” Here is a simple answer-NO. Should teams, and hitting instructors from early ages, rethink their approach as to how hitters work their plate appearance? Here is a simple answer-YES. Can you imagine the NFL dictating that defenses must not overload one side of the field? Well, with this commissioner, maybe you could. The ever-changing strategy is the actual beauty of these games.

March is but ten days away. Who’s counting?