Morning friends. Let's handle that business.
First, congrats to the Wamps and the rest of the victors in the Hamilton County elections last night. Here's more.
Second, if one of the cable channels had a prime-time segment with a certain former pop singer called "Huey Lewis and the News" where Huey read headlines and busted an occasional lyric, I'd 100% give that a watch and a try.
Third, I am tardy on updating our "Better Call Saul" conversation. For that, I am remiss. (Have not watched last Monday's episode because the Mrs. 5-at-10 is out of town and we watch that show together. So it goes.) We will be back in the saddle next week. Deal? Deal.
Fourth, you know the rules. Here's Paschall on UT football in today's fish wrapper.
To the Rushmores. Which also brings us to the point that ESPN personality and former Fab Fiver Jalen Rose has now declared that Mount Rushmore is racist. Cool. Side question for the group, and Socrates: If everything is racist is anything racist? Discuss.
Rushmore of TV comedy 'boobs' - Barney Fife (and yes, it's dang hard not to add in several from the classic that is "There Andy Griffith Show"), Edith Bunker, Woody from "Cheers" and with all apologies to Sgt. Schultz from "Hogan's Heroes," the last spot has to be Homer J. Simpson.
Rushmore of 'diary' - Diary of Anne Frank, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Diary of a Madman by Ozzie and Guadalcanal Diary. This Rushmore was way more fun than I thought it would be, to be honest.
Rushmore of specialty pitch/pitcher - Fernando's screwball (yes over Carl Hubbell, who famously struck out five consecutive Hall of Famers in an All-Star Game with his screwball), Gaylord Perry's spitter, Mariano Rivera's cutter (when you get into the Hall throwing one pitch 96% of the time, there you go) and of course Phil Neikro's knuckleball. (Side question: How funny would it have been if Neikro had consistently made half a fist, punched his teammates in the crotch and screamed "Knuckle Balls" and run away giggling? Along those lines, by all accounts, Braves Hall of Fame right-handed Greg Maddux was apparently a) a wicked clubhouse prankster and b) as nasty a prankster as you could imagine in terms of disgusting jokes like wiping boogers on teammates and much, much, MUCH worse.)
Rushmore of things that were unbelievably cool in the 1980s that are a complete after thought today - VCRs, Beepers, Big East basketball, Bill Cosby. Thoughts?
To the 'bag.
From Spy
Champagne, mon ami? Oui, monsieur. I still may prefer a good red wine, but a glass of Champagne is never a bad thing, either.
I wonder what Ms. Griner thinks of the U.S. judicial system now? Is it perfect? No, far from it. Does it need help? Yes, possibly.
But, she ran afoul of their laws, not ours, and has to face their penalties, which are much more stringent. And don't think for a minute the Russkies aren't aware that they have someone who has protested vociferously against injustice in her homeland in their own custody now.
I wanna hear more about this VegasInsiders deal.
Spy -
You speak two languages? I didn't know you were amphibian. Or is that lying in two languages? I get them mixed up.
Anywell, I feel bad for Brittney Griner. I do. And Russia's laws about cannabis are over-the-top Draconian. Heck, I think marijuana should be legal - here and there.
But those are their laws, 'accident' or not. Is it worth nine years? Of course not. Is it Russia making an example of a high-profile American? Almost assuredly so.
But other than saying it was an 'accident' Griner's camp is not pleading innocence. And while my sympathy is true, I really hope the Biden folks do not trade some Russian operative who could be a true enemy of our nation because of the high profile of Griner's cause. But that's me.
As for the VegasInsiders thing, it was a ton of fun. I have already agreed to do another one in September. Nothing is official, but who knows, right?
We'll see, and either way, we are planning more gambling chatter around these parts in the coming weeks.
From Jordy
Hey. Read your 5 at 10. You know how you know you have a gambling problem? When you bet on the HOF game! This is nothing but a practice scrimmage.
Jordan -
Who else had the Raiders last night? That's right, 1-0 baby. Undefeated this year Vader.
Un-DEEEEEEEE-feated.
I used to think that way too, Jordy, but I truly believe there are better odds for the players vs. Vegas in preseason games. Yes, they are scrimmages, but there are assumed goals of said scrimmages.
Like last night, Raiders coach Josh McDaniels cared greatly about that game because it was 5 miles from where he grew up. Heck, first-team tailback Josh Jacobs played multiple series for Las Vegas.
Those kinds of edges are almost impossible for the lines-makers to fully account for, so there is a chance for players to get a head start to the season.
Either way, 1-0 is still 1-0.
Also, is it a gambling problem if you consistently win? Not saying that a) I consistently win or b) I bet on every game I pick. But if you win 55% and are making money, isn't that more an investing model than a gambling problem?
Which also leads me to this: Who wants to do another NFL eliminator pool this year? Thoughts?
From Doc
(On the Watson and Miami Dolphins decisions) Think there might be just a bit of racial bias there????
Doc -
I don't see that, unless of course you are thinking the NFL is over-punishing the billionaire white dude, which would be an extreme kind of racism and arguably the strangest racism claim of all time? Because we all know the billionaire white guy has forever been oppressed.
I do think the punishment was light on DeShaun Watson, but that's not as clear a sentence as many would think.
I think the retired federal judge did her due diligence. I also think her ruling took into account that Watson was theoretically suspended for all of 2021. But maybe most importantly, Sue Robinson's ruling was viewed through the flawed prism of Roger Goodell's and the NFL's previous rulings which were at best inconsistent and at worst ludicrously extreme - in both directions
Her ruling on Watson may have been fair considering all the facts before her, it just looked pretty dog-gone lenient compared to the bad rulings Goodell and Co. made previously.
As for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, I think his harsh punishment was a career achievement award for the Flores lawsuit, the tampering, the tanking allegations, et al.
From Ed
Jay, first let me give you credit for highlighting certain obituaries that are worth a good look. Thank you!
As for other opinions you share, I do not always agree, but credit to you for standing behind them no matter how asinine!
Which brings me to a local topic of the day, the Lookouts emails. I'm surprised that you, of all people have not weighed in on this matter. Have you read them? Neither party to this story, the Lookouts, and Weston Wamp, have stated that this anonymous leak of emails are fake. So, I and many other of your readers would be interested in your opinion. Hopefully, you are crafting one as I write this!
Ed -
I have touched on this here but not in print on A2.
I think the emails are 100% legit, and as you note, neither side has even hinted at them being fake.
I have read them. They highlight and confirm the details of the story lots of folks have heard about the personal feud between our next county mayor and the majority owner of the Lookouts.
And that feud will be a headline-generator through the duration of this stadium process. Although, in truth, I think Weston would be best served to take the high road on this one.
The stadium is a done deal. To sabotage it now would feel like something Commodus would do in "Gladiator."
We'll see.
As for the emails, other than the racist allegations, I call bull on that. I've never heard anything close to a racist comment from Weston, and dude is far too polished for me to believe otherwise.
Plus, I had heard variations of all the stories about Weston and the Lookouts meetings and all of those details were very familiar with what was in the emails.
Do I think Weston and Lookouts owner Jason Freier are besties? Of course not. Do I think they are both smart dudes that realize they are about to have to find a way to work together? I think so. At least I hope so.
For our county's sake, because this $80 million investment is coming, so now we have to make it work.
As for my opinion about the riff between Freier and Weston, I'm not sure I have one. Two smart dudes with a ton of self-belief not getting along in the private sector is about as newsworthy as "Dog bites man" headlines, you know?
That said, I do think the emails made the county mayor's race closer than many of us expected two-plus weeks ago.
But, while I believe Weston did not say anything racist, I also believe that unless he has zero political sense, Freier and the Lookouts were not using the emails as a political tool. Because if they were hoping the emails would sink Weston, the emails would have been made public during the primary, because there simply was no way Matt Adams was winning. Heck Patch Adams, Don Adams or John Quicny Adams was not going to win as a Democrat in this race.
So my two questions or would be after our local Email-gate would be, "Can we speak to the person that was made uncomfortable by Weston's alleged offensive remarks?" and "Who leaked the emails?" Not sure we'll ever get an answer to either, but for all involved, picking up the pieces and finding the best way to move forward for the good of our community should be a top priority in my mind.
Enjoy the weekend friends.
Jay Greeson