Morning friends. Let’s handle our business, shall we? I think we shall.
First, here’s the podcast I did with VegasInsider and Brian Edwards. We discuss some college football picks and my hopes that Deion Sanders is the next Auburn football coach, even if he still blocks me on Twitter. He and David Carroll.
Now for the week’s Rushmores.
Rushmore of potatoes — Mr. Potato Head (who also was a strikingly underrated part of the “Toy Story” crew), potato famine changed history as we know it, McDonald’s french fries (I’m not saying the Micky D’s fry is the best, but it’s the most famous) and — with all apologies to the scattered, smothered and covered hash browns at the Waffle House — mashed potatoes and gravy edges the baked potato for the final spot.
Rushmore of OK — OK Corral, Ned Flanders’ cringingly perfect “okely dokely,” the slogan Oklahoma is OK and Eddie Murphy’s “O-Tay” as Buckwheat in the SNL skits of the 1980s. (Side note and our lesson of the day: OK was birthed in a Boston newspaper in the 1830s as a joking, purposely misspelled abbreviation of "all correct" with the gag being "oll korrect." Not sure what Johnny Jokester hatched that one, but there’s no way he or she could have guessed the staying power of OK.)
Rushmore of football nicknames for an offensive or defensive group — Steel Curtain has to be there. So does the Purple People Eaters. Man, the defenses have a huge head start, because it pains me to leave Legion of Boom or even the very clever New York Sack Exchange when Mark Gastineau and Co. were with the Jets off, but we will. Never mind the No Name Defense or the Killer Bs at various times in Miami. But the final two on this one will be the Hogs, which started with the Washington O-line and became a ubiquitous term for big football blockers everywhere and Greatest Show on Turf.
Rushmore of Kevin Kline (with this caveat, he seems very likable, but dude has made some stinkers) — “Fish Called Wanda,” “The Big Chill,” the ever-fun “Dave” and of course being Mr. Phoebe Cates.
Here’s a game story from some round-faced fella who watched a strong Brainerd second half close the season for the Signal Mountain Eagles. Man, that final high school game — regardless of sport — is a guaranteed waterfall. If you know, you know.
You know the rules, so here’s Paschall on the Vols’ focus for Saturday’s scorefest with UK and here’s Hargis on CCS having a swing at their first region football title.
(Side note: Kudos to CCS coach Phil Massey, and all-around good guy who has made his second area coaching chapter a smash in his first year with the Chargers. He has certainly made the most of his time downtown after getting fired at Baylor School after the 2021 season. And Baylor is rolling under its new staff, too, so it was one of those moves that looks to have worked out for everyone, you know?)
Also, here’s some fine hustle — and in the middle of the UT-UK and UGA-Florida coverage to boot — from Paschall catching up with Will Healy, the Chattanooga native and former Charlotte coach who was sacked last week.
To the bag.
From JoeDon
JG:
The throwback uniform discussion made wonder … throwback unis are more like throw-up? The worst of the worst:
Chicago White Sox wearing shorts
Anytime the Seahawks wear lime green
The Houston Astros in the 1970s
Anytime the Padres wear Brown, looking more like the UPS guy
Dishonorable mention to the A’s green and gold and the Steelers’ throw-back that looks like a jail break
JoeDon —
Thanks my man, and great list.
The White Sox shorts have to be there. I think the Steelers jailbreaks are worse than the Astros or the Padres. And the Broncos' old uniforms with the strange colors are awful too.
And wrapped around a rich history of fine-looking duds, the light blue Braves unis from the early 1980s that make me think of Dale Murphy and a washed-up Chris Chambliss as well as Terry Forester — that lovable tub of goo — were rotten too.
Fun start, which leads us to some serious stuff.
From SS
My understanding of (Jim) Nantz is that he was only going to give up basketball duties, but that he’d keep the Masters gig.
For the bag — don’t know if you saw the insane video of the transgender player slamming a volleyball into the face of a defender — Meet-the-Parents style — in a recent girls’ high-school match? Then, the player added the clip to a highlight reel to use in an effort to obtain a women’s college scholarship. Don’t liberal pundits realize that, in the name of advancing transgender rights, they’re actually destroying women’s rights?
SS —
I have the same understanding of Nantz’s future as you do. In fact, I think he will be doing something Masters-related at every tournament from now until he simply can’t physically get there.
Side question: Could we even see Nantz having a role in the honorary starting ceremonies for example when his announcing days are done?
As for your question, yes I did see that story and that clip. Here’s more on that here. https://news.yahoo.com/female-high-school-volleyball-athlete-191021646.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
I have written more than a few sentences on this, and I do not see how anyone could possibly think biological males do not have a clear physical advantage in matters like this.
That said, we are still a long way from “destroying” women’s athletics. It poses a long-term threat to be sure, especially if scholarships are being handed out to biological males over females. (Side question: Anyone know how that would affect the ledger on Title IX, the federal law passed more than 50 years ago that requires federally funded schools have the same opportunities for females as they offer for males?)
I think it will be a game-changer when a transgender basketball player tries to make a WNBA roster too, and how that organization — a group that has been open about its stances on social issues — reacts to that notion.
The handling of the video — the spiker posting it as a highlight even after the spikee was injured — is in bad form, and that’s the case whether we’re talking about a five-star QB, a middle-school softball pitcher or a transgender volleyball player.
And the potential game-changer — and narrative-changer — here centers on the school system of the injured spikee voting 5-1 to forfeit all coming volleyball matches against the school since a transgender player is on the other team.
From Intern Scott
What will the consequences of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter look like? I get the impression it will improve access to free speech, but I’m sure I’m missing something.
Intern Scott —
Excellent question, and the short answer is I’m not sure either.
I think Musk is a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of entrepreneur, and his quick posting and reference to “the bird being free” lends immediate credence to your impression. (Side question: Man, it would have been pretty awesome to see Skynyrd in action you know?)
And his commitment to run Twitter as a business feels like a step toward normalcy in terms of interaction but does wonder to what ends Musk will stand against the very outspoken and very loud and relatively small folks that form the morality mob on platforms like this.
Could it be as easy as turning the channel if you don’t like the programming? Will he cater to advertisers first over the First Amendment?
It’s hard not to be hopeful when Musk said Thursday that he’s not buying Twitter to make more money, but rather “because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”
The catch 22 on that, of course, is if Musk can turn Twitter into that noble goal, he will make ad dollars no one could ever imagine.
He did caution that no social media platform can be a “free-for-all” place without consequences. Heck, I hope he hires journalists. I know a few who would like to make some Musk-y money.
I have high hopes from his words, but I’m not sure there is a way for anyone — including visionaries like Musk — to completely foil the lunacy, desperation and self-serving motives on the extremes from each side.
From Big Dawg
God would you stop hating on Herschel! Still butt-hurt from his days whipping Auburn? Mad that he will always be better than Bo?
Or are you just another cry-baby liberal lame stream media (bleep)hole? Do you even live in Georgia Jay?
Thought so! Shut up already!
Big Dawg —
OK, let’s handle your crack-pot reasoning first. This may shock you, but growing up in Georgia and born in 1970, I was in the prime “Herschel (the football player) is a God” age bracket.
Now, is my bulldog named Bo Jackson, why yes, yes he is. Was Herschel a better SEC running back than Bo, why yes, yes he was. Is Bo a better all-around athlete than anyone I have ever seen in person? Why yes, yes he was.
My angst with Herschel — and with opponent Raphael Warnock — has been of equal fills on each side and centers on the fact that an election of this importance — control of the Senate could be hanging in the balance on this single Georgia race — has two terrible choices vying for office with this much weight.
It’s staggering to me. And even to high-level Democrats apparently, since Chuck Schumer was got on film by a Washington Post reporter telling President Joe Biden that the Warnock election is spiraling downhill and even said, “It's hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker." https://www.yahoo.com/news/schumer-caught-on-hot-mic-telling-biden-that-georgias-senate-race-going-downhill-for-dems-213502889.html
That may be true, Chuck, but it’s hard to believe Raphael Warnock is the best the Democrats could offer up too.
As for your email Big Dawg, first, anyone who thinks I’m liberal is either a) going to believe what they want to believe regardless of everything else or b) never consistently read my ramblings. So the name-calling is fine, but take it back to the playground. It’s a waste of my time.
I believe I am a conservative. I know I used to be a Republican, but I’m not sure what a Republican is these days, which is kind of sad.
And while we’re here, I think if Bo Jackson was in this race he would wipe the floor with either Raphael or Herschel considering the candidates’ history and Jackson’s.
Because while Warnock was trying to run over his wife with his car and Herschel — who is anti-abortion for everyone but his misstresses reportedly — was doing a slew of seedy things, all Bo has been doing is working with underprivileged kids, organizing bike campaigns across Alabama for charity and trying to help kids with speech impediments like the one Bo struggled to overcome.
Yes, Herschel was a better SEC player, maybe the best ever, and he went 3-0 against Auburn. Heck Georgia players going anything-and-0 against Auburn these days is a pretty big team picture, though.
That said, Bo Jackson is way better in every other category in my opinion. But what do I know, I’m just part of the liberal lamestream media.
From Spy
It’s deer season in Georgia. And the lead deer biologist for the state Department of Natural Resources is named …
Killmaster.
Spy —
We had some weighty topics today so I needed that. Thanks.
Enjoy the weekend friends.