Argue much?
OK, we have reached a place where we will argue about anything, especially online.
Anything.
Want example No. 1?
During the mid-morning on Monday, the conversation that dominated Twitter was "Seinfeld" vs. "Friends." Seriously.
That this is even a discussion makes any right-thinking American shudder at the possibility of any red-blooded American male wondering about such poppycock.
So there's that.
And right when you think the conversation could not get anymore nonsensical and one-sided, along comes the trending topic, "Who has the better chicken sandwich, Popeye's or Chick-Fil-A?"
Get outta here with that.
Hey, Popeye may be what he be, but no one is doing a better chicken sandwich than Chick-Fil-A.
No one.
Next step into the filth
The Bible famously tells us that a child shall lead them.
I thought of that parallel when I saw this story about Michael Avenatti and Nike. In some ways, this seems fitting in a story that is filled with the dirty secrets of AAU basketball and the overlap into college basketball that has caused several programs to become as familiar with defense attorneys as defensive switches.
Avenatti, not unlike how complete jackwagon Jose Canseco became the lone voice of clarity in the PED era, is a piece of work who tried to extort Nike.
Nike said no, and he's now turning over evidence, including 300 pages filed in federal court late last week.
Among that book of evidence was a text message exchange from 2017 among three Nike executives discussing plans to allocate money to Zion Williamson, Romeo Langford and Emoni Bates, who is a 15-year-old rising sophomore star in Michigan.
At the time of the exchange, Bates was a seventh-grader and two weeks past his 13th birthday and the Nike executives were talking about $15,000. For a seventh-grader.
The deal here for college basketball, the NCAA and coaches from Duke's Coach K to UTC's Coach P is not that these stories are out there. It's that the evidence is now directly before us.
And yes, Zion and Langford, the former Indiana star, went to schools that are handsomely paid by Nike and signed Nike deals now that they are in the NBA. So you can understand Nike's desire. Giving Zion $35K two years ago and the tens of millions now are part of Nike's domination of the industry.
So how does the NCAA react? Will anything come of this or will we all just shrug and say, "So what? We all knew that anyway."
Maybe so, because as long as we get to fill out a bracket and hear Dickie V scream "Bay-BEE" we're good, right?
But if that is the case, and the rules simply no longer matter, then why have those silly rules at all? If Nike is paying tens of thousands to the high school kids and tens of millions to the college coaches to make tens of billions, can we continue with the wink-wink, nod-nod "Good for ol' State U."
And this one eats at the core of all of college sports, gang. Because, while we care more about college football and the schools and conferences pay the athletic bills with football revenue and TV money from the fall, the NCAA gets roughly 95 percent of all its revenue from March Madness. And that coin funds all the other championships in all the other sports in all the NCAA divisions.
We've known for a while that this house of cards has been built on exploitation of the players by the corrupt hands of shoe execs and the power broker coaches who are happy to participate in some of both - the exploitation and the corruption.
And the narrative about attending school? PUH-lease. Do you think Zion had any idea where the library was? Dude had more than 1.3 million Twitter followers before he enrolled at Duke.
And what about high school sports leagues? If Emoni Bates, who is already 6-foot-7 and led his high school team to a state title last year as a freshman, is getting paid by Nike, is he going to be eligible to play in high school? Would he care?
(Side note: Since Bates will graduate high school in 2022, he likely will be part of the first wave of straight-to-the-NBA high school classes.)
Maybe we will all ignore this. Not unlike how the NCAA and most of the fans have all-but-ignored the FBI inquiries. Maybe this will all go away and not change Jim Nantz giving his necktie to a super senior at the Final Four.
But what does a Rick Barnes, a guy who has never even had a hint of NCAA controversy, or a Mark Fox or a Jeff Lebo try to do to compete with the guys like Pearl or Calipari or Miller or any of the other power players on speed dial with Nike and Adidas? (And friends, if you think the Dukes and UNC are clean, well, honey hush.)
Who knows?
Regardless, I do believe this: When you are in a place so scummy that the Avenattis and Cansecos are the ones who appear to be the agents of change, well, then we all need a shower.
Preseason poll ponderings
The voting is in and the polls announced. It's like it's college football game week or something.
Quick side note: The preseason polls should always be about who you think is the best team right now. Period. Not who has this schedule or that easy way to a possible playoff berth.
So with that in mind, and neither is an exact science mind you, but let's review a couple of clear shortcomings in the AP poll in the eyes of the guys in Vegas who put their paychecks on their rankings.
First, the agreement is clear: The AP's top three of Clemson, Alabama and Georgia each over/under win totals of at least 11. (Clemson, the No. 1 team, has an 11.5. And yes, Spy, I think it's going over.)
Vegas seems to think that either the poll is too high on Florida or too low on Miami. Those teams meet Saturday at a neutral field and the 7.5-line seems much closer than most would think for a match-up of the No. 8 team in the country and an unranked team.
Vegas thinks the Oregon-Auburn rankings are curious. Auburn, ranked 16th, is a 3-point favorite over No. 11 Oregon.
Hmmmmmm.
Giddy-up. Game week people.
(Speaking of Vegas, Alabama is a 33-to-35-point favorite over Duke. What would Duke last year be favored over Alabama in hoops? Not that high for sure.)
This and that
- Not sure what this means but 247sports.com has Auburn as the best place to tailgate this season, and with a home slate that includes visits from Georgia and Alabama in November, well, here's thinking that there will need to be plenty of Co-Colas to numb the pain.
- Great debate on Monday's Press Row about Brian Snitker benching Ronald Acuña Jr. Fun conversations for sure.
- Speaking of the Braves, Atlanta claimed Billy Hamilton off waivers. The speedy outfielder - dude has jets - will help fill the void created by the injuries to Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis and Austin Riley.
- Prayers and thoughts with Blake Anderson, the Arkansas State football coach whose wife Wendy died last night after fighting cancer. Cancer is a mother bleeper. Call someone important today and tell them that you are thinking of them. You'll wish you had when you can't. Trust me on this one, gang.
- Jimmy Garoppolo looked dreadful last night, finishing 1-of-6 for 0 yards and a pick. Egad.
- Speaking of Zion, the rookie survey came out and his fellow first-year NBAers think Zion will be the Rookie of the Year, but that his former Duke teammate Cam Reddish will have the best career in this class. Seriously. Here's more. And before Hawks fans start buying tickets to Reddish's Hall of Fame ceremony, the rookie results are quite varied. For every year that they have picked a Durant or Anthony Davis to have the best career, they have also voted for Jahlil Okafor, Wendell Carter, Jabari Parker and Kelly Olynyk to have the best careers in those classes.
Today's questions
True or false on Tuesday. For that we offer true.
True or false, nothing will come of the FBI-college hoops stuff. Nothing.
True or false, the AP poll is more about guessing where these teams will finish rather than ranking them as they appear.
True or false, no one does a better chicken sandwich better than Chick-Fil-A.
True or false, you cannot be friends with a man who likes "Friends" more than "Seinfeld."
Answer a few, leave a few.
As for today, it's Aug. 20, so let's review.
Robert Plant is 71 today. Jerry Lewis, the King of the telethon, (True or false, the telethon is way better than the telemarketer; that one is a no-doubter) died on this day in 2017.
Wow, on this day, the American Professional Football Association formed in 1920. You may know it better as - cue "Jaws" - THE NATIONAL Football League.
Happy birthday NFL.
Who makes the Rushmore of NFL? Go, and this one may be tough.