Monthly Archives: September 2020

Monday Morning Coffee

September 28, 2020

The Los Angels Lakers are plucking hairs from guard Alex Caruso’s head to signify how many more wins until they secure an NBA Championship this year. Sources are telling Jock Talk LA that thankfully, he only has four more hairs left, which is exactly the amount of wins the Lakers need. It took 10 years but the Lakers are back in the finals! The job is far from over yet though. Miami is a tough team with a lot of confidence, but the Lakers will be well prepared after facing a resilient Denver team. Lebron and AD were incredible, as was the entire team defense. Imagine dropping 38-16-10 in an elimination game, getting a near triple double in game 4 and locking up the hottest player in the bubble, yet still having some Boomer like Bill Plaschke call you old and washed up. Lebron is a gift basketball fans take for granted. I will miss Inside The NBA now that TNT’s coverage is over, but glad we no longer have to hear Chris Webber and Reggie Miller. Somewhere in hell, I can imagine those two calling games.

Perhaps the least surprising development of 2020 occurred the day after the Clippers were eliminated from the NBA playoffs. Paul George was reportedly accused of lacking accountability by his teammates. “Pandemic P” gave a locker room speech about staying committed and running it back next year, but the rest of his teammates just rolled their eyes. I’ve been telling you for more than two years that George wants no part of being accountable on a championship team. This is not the same guy that was arguably one of the ten best players in the NBA during his Indiana days. He wanted no part of being a Laker because he didn’t want the scrutiny and the responsibility that came along with it. He wants to compete for a title, but without any of the responsibility that comes with it. We know this because Lebron actually commented on him not wanting this pressure the year he signed with the Lakers, and we saw signs of this too during George’s time in Oklahoma City. This is likely how the Clipper locker room encounter went….

https://twitter.com/DaKidGowie/status/1309616536005554176

Not only are you going to get a Lakers NBA Finals this week, but you’re also going to get Dodger playoff baseball. The Boys in Blue are going to be taking on the Brewers beginning Wednesday in a best-of-3 series. I don’t know if I’m more nervous for Walker Buehler’s start on Wednesday, or Clayton Kershaw’s on Thursday, since Buehler has barely pitched this season. If there’s one thing I don’t want to see, it’s Kershaw and Kenley Jansen being put in situations to fail. That’s right Andrew Friedman, I’m talking to you and your stupid computer. I don’t want to see you telling Dave Roberts to send out Kershaw in the 7th and 8th inning when he’s running out of gas. I also don’t want to see him closing games. I don’t want to see Jansen going out for 6 or 9-out saves either. If I see that it just tells me Friedman was once again unable to assemble a bullpen that is worth a damn when it really matters, despite his unlimited resources. This has been the best team in baseball, yet I have about as much confidence in them in October, as I do in whatever Presidential candidate wins in November.

Meanwhile, the Angels finished up their season over the weekend, and once again missed the playoffs. They also wasted no time at all in firing Billy Eppler as GM. I feel like Arte Moreno was just standing by his computer ready to pounce on the email “send button”, with a termination letter emailed to Eppler, while Bcc’ing Ken Rosenthal. John Carpino’s statement thanking Eppler was lame, and looked like it was designed by a 3rd grader using Microsoft Paint. That whole saga is symbolic of the perception of the Angels organization. Seven MLB industry sources spoke to the LA Times recently, saying “it’s a bottom third job”, “it’s not the job it should be”, and “it can’t just be the GM”. In other words, this is all on Moreno and his lack of modern-day power structure in the organization. He’s clearly lacking quality scouting and player development. Dave Dombrowski can’t fix this by himself, even if he’s the next GM. Time to stop pretending like this team is ready to win now, and take the right steps to actually have a successful organization.

Look, I’m sure many NFL folks are going to point and laugh over that ridiculous pass interference call that cost the Rams the game yesterday against the Bills. I get it, they have benefitted from those calls going in their favor against the Saints two years ago in the NFC title game, and even in week 1 this year. That still doesn’t change the fact the call was garbage, and we can evaluate it for what it was individually. Still, allowing the Bills to convert a 3rd and 22 to Cole Beasley is where the game was lost. You’re not playing against Patrick Mahomes here. It would probably also help to not start playing when you’re down 28-3 in the 3rd quarter. That only works when you’re playing the Atlanta Falcons. On the bright side, the running game is looking good, so is Jared Goff, and they’ve got a great chance to win their next two games. The division is brutal right now with every team over .500 so they need every win they can get.

What a surprise, the Chargers are losing at home to football teams they have no business losing to. This time it was Carolina. Coach Anthony Lynn said he needs to teach his team how to win games like yesterday’s. Lynn doesn’t realize that this has been a 60-year tradition for this team. Justin Herbert looks like he can play, but the Bolts don’t know how to meet the moment in big games, and they play down to their competition. That’s a sure recipe to continue underachieving. There’s also the story on Tyrod Taylor, and him accidentally getting his lung punctured by doctors who tried to give him an injection for his broken ribs. I’m not sure what the big deal is here though. Doctors probably did him a favor because he would have punctured his lungs anyway by playing with a broken rib. It’s going to get even tougher next week when they visit their old friend Tom Brady in Tampa.

Elsewhere around week 3 in the NFL, the entire NFC East should be demoted to the XFL. Even the Cowboys should be 0-3, while the Eagles punted to play for a tie against the lowly Bengals. There’s not enough cheesesteaks in the city for the fans to drown their sorrows in. The Falcons blew another lead, and they keep choking harder than a guy eating a Popeyes biscuit with no drink. If Dan Quinn isn’t fired today, he’s officially the real life George Costanza. Everyone remember to check in on your Minnesota Vikings friends today after they lost again. The Raiders got handled by the Patriots, and somebody needs to teach Jon Gruden how to wear a mask, otherwise his wife is going to think he just came home from the strip club.

You probably forgot that there’s actually College Football going on too! Oklahoma is forking over leads like they are the Falcons, and losing to unranked teams like Kansas State already. LSU has apparently opted out of the College Football Playoff after their loss to Mississippi State. If Oklahoma doesn’t make it, who is the SEC Champ supposed to blow out this year in the semi finals? Can we just save everybody time, and get to another round of Clemson and Alabama already? Meanwhile the Pac 12 is gearing up for their 6-game season starting in November. I’m sure each of those games will be part of a double-header with some intramural sports leagues. What a joke that conference has become!

Finally, I know the series finale of Game of Thrones was not what any of us were hoping for. However, what was brilliant was the NBA’s “Game of Zones” series on Bleacher Report. This was next level funny, and the fact they were able to end this series with a connection to Game of Thrones, and Paul Piece’s wheel chair incident was hilariously brilliant. In case you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. Here’s the series finale:

Monday Morning Coffee

September 21, 2020

What a clutch shot by Anthony Davis last night to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead in the West Finals! The Lakers probably didn’t deserve to win that game, but sometimes great players come through, and that’s what Lebron did in the 1st half, followed by AD in the 2nd half. It was also quite fitting that AD made a Kobe like shot while the Lakers were wearing their Mamba jerseys. This Nuggets team is still pretty talented though, and they have been rising from the dead like Jesus Christ. Don’t be surprised if this series ends up going 6 games, even though I still like the Lake Show. Apparently Alex Caruso played like he was pissed off about not getting MVP votes as well. More on that in a moment. Reggie Miller should be suspended for 3 games just for mentioning Kawhi in these Western Conference Finals. AD also looked like prime Ray Lewis when he took out Talen Horton Tucker on that chest bump.

https://twitter.com/don_linville/status/1307874383843618817

After game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Lebron said he was “pissed off” that he didn’t win the MVP. He was even pulling out voting results from seven years ago, and pulling out names like Devonte Graham. This guy holds grudges like Donald Trump. As I mentioned before, I would have voted for Lebron because he succeeded under circumstances far more difficult than his peers. I don’t blame people for voting for Giannis because he had a great regular season, and it’s a regular season award, but Lebron is right about the way the media looks at things. These days we typically hear about how the media wants to look at things, as opposed to what they are seeing. That couldn’t be more obvious with the Clipper narrative they tried to shove down our throats for the last year. I don’t have a problem with giving an opinion and it ends up being wrong. I’m wrong all the time. However, don’t double down on your wrong opinion when there is obvious visual and factual evidence that makes your opinion null and void.

You didn’t really think I was going to miss out on the opportunity to slander the Clippers did you? Clearly COVID-19 has not infected the Clipper Curse. Do you realize how clownish you have to be as an NBA team to have other players openly slander your choke job on Twitter? Nice tribute to Kobe Bryant by Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to combine for 24 points in game 7. Doc Rivers is an average coach who managed that series like he was Dave Roberts. Imagine how pissed off everyone in the organization was when Paul George said “this season wasn’t championship or bust.”? Steve Ballmer is probably going to gentrify all of Palmdale after that comment. Then you have to love the excuse that they were tired and out of shape, even though they were load managing all season. Or the fact they need more time to build chemistry, when it just so happens the Lakers incorporated 7 new players and have had beautiful chemistry all year. Don’t even try to tell me the Clippers are real contenders again because these clowns prefer chicken wings over championship rings. The media jokers that tried to spin this narrative all season deserve just as much slander, and shouldn’t even be allowed to watch the playoffs on TV for the rest of the season as punishment. Here’s another look at “Pandemic P”.

So far the demise of the Rams has been greatly exaggerated. Everyone in the NFL is complaining about the fact there was no preseason, except Sean McVay never plays any of his starters in the preseason anyway, so it’s been business as usual. The offense looked a lot like it was 2018. Reminder that Jared Goff is actually a pretty good quarterback when you give him time to throw. You’ve gotta love the digital booing of Carson Wentz after he threw that interception in the endzone. Did Robert Woods and Nickell Robey-Coleman not get along as teammates? That was a USC on USC crime when Robey-Coleman lowered his head on Woods and got a penalty. The league is doing the Rams no favors sending them east twice in the next three weeks, but they have a good chance to be 4-1 by the time they hit their showdown with the 49ers on Sunday Night Football.

https://twitter.com/ESPNNFL/status/1307766918775005184

Meanwhile, the Chargers managed to lose a close game? Since when? Of course the Bolts lost to Kansas City in OT. Not a great move to not go for it in OT and give Patrick Mahomes the ball back with an opportunity to win it. Injuries were so bad around the NFL this week that even Tyrod Taylor got hurt in warm ups. The Bolts must have felt even better about this home game because there were no fans in the stands compared to lasts season with all opposing fans in the stands. Leave it to the Chargers to have louder artificial crowd noise than real crowd noise when their fans are really in the stands. Justin Herbert did look good in his debut though, and I don’t see how you can go back to Tyrod Taylor after that since Herbert is the future. Anthony Lynn said Taylor is the starter if he’s healthy. Something tells me Lynn might be questioning his health for the next 14 weeks or so.


Elsewhere around the NFL, the entire league has been placed on IR after all the injuries that occurred this week. Russell Wilson is a video game cheat code, throwing 5 TD’s on the Pats. His team also has no offensive or defensive line. Death, taxes, and the Falcons blowing leads. Makes sense though because Charles Barkley bet on them. The Lions surrendered their 14-3 lead against the Packers in no time, and now it looks like they should be tanking. Tom Brady might not be washed up afterall. The good news for the Vikings is that no fans were in the building for the first two weeks to see their abysmal play. Kirk Cousins had the same passer rating as me at the end of the third quarter yesterday. Bills Mafia was probably jumping off tables in their kitchen after their team started 2-0 with a win over the Dolphins. Only the Jets would allow a 1st down on 3rd and 31.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1307753135117463552

Weird how the Pac 12 claims they are now ready to play football isn’t it? I mean it was only two weeks ago that they were saying liability was a problem, as was testing. I guess it took the embarrassment of the Big 10 actually changing their mind and saying they would play, along with Governor Newsom saying there was nothing preventing USC and UCLA from coming back to play if they wanted. If the Pac 12 can’t get their crap together and play at the same time as the other Power 5 conferences, they are going to look like buffoons compared to every one else. No serious elite athletes would ever attend a Pac 12 school again, since sports seemingly aren’t a priority for them. Pac 12 teams have been dropped from the AP Football rankings like 3rd period French since the season started. I feel terrible for the athletes, especially at USC and UCLA, who have had to put up with this incompetent leadership.

The Dodgers have stabilized things for now, and are closing in on another division title. However, Dodger fans should be more nervous than a mosquito in an AIDS clinic right now. Their starting pitching is looking less and less dominant by the day, the bullpen is wearing down, Kenley Jansen is a human hire-wire act, and Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy have been hitting like little leaguers. Take all that and combine it with Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman’s playoff mismanagement, and suddenly I feel like I’ll be needing to make an appointment with a therapist after another October disappointment. Thank god for Mookie Betts, but this man can’t do everything. Get ready for a stressful next few weeks.

As for the Angels, don’t dismiss their playoff chances just yet with 6 games left. They have blown their chance for the top draft pick it looked like they were going to get. Since they’ve got the jerseys on for the next week, they might as well go for it, even if the odds are slim. However, Arte Moreno is doing himself no favors right now when it comes to public perception. He just came out last week and said “it’s very necessary” to vote for Donald Trump in the next election. While I believe who you vote for is your own business on election day, Arte should be aware that he’s becoming more and more hated in OC each day because the Angels stink, and he seems like a guy who just meddles in his team’s operations. Now probably isn’t the time to become more polarizing by spewing out your political beliefs for everyone to cast further judgement on you. Plus, I can just see Trump coming out and saying “The Angels are a great team.”. Then CNN’s Daniel Dale would probably fact check Trump saying “he called the Angels a great team which is totally off-base. They’ve been garbage for 10 years.”

Angels owner Arte Moreno says it's 'very necessary' to vote for Trump

Monday Morning Coffee

September 14, 2020

Remember when everybody thought the Lakers were going to get swept by the Blazers? Remember when everybody thought they were an overrated #1 seed? Remember when everybody thought the Rockets were going to beat them in the 2nd round? Those people look foolish now, because the Lakers just dismantled Houston in five games, and now they are playing like the best team in the Association at the moment. Anthony Davis looked like he was playing against a bunch of 6th graders, and Lebron James has reminded us why he’s arguably the greatest of all time. Best of all, the role players are stepping up and making shots. Apparently “Playoff Rondo” is still a thing. If the Lakers make their outside shots, no matter who they face, they will win the NBA title. Lebron and Anthony Davis are just that good. Hopefully between now and Friday, they don’t die of boredom though in the NBA bubble.

Before I get to the Clippers, let me mention the NBA Executive of The Year. I don’t know how Rob Pelinka is not deserving of the award. The man acquired Anthony Davis with practically the entire NBA conspiring against him, except Rich Paul. He then turned around and assembled a championship contending team after Kawhi played him, with what was considered “spare parts” remaining on the free agent market. His useless boss, Magic Johnson, also quit just weeks before free agency started. Of course he won’t win the award though because every single voter, which are other NBA Executives, are jealous he got the Laker job when they didn’t even get a chance to interview. He also won’t win because people don’t want to hear him talk about Moses and Israel for 20 minutes in his award acceptance speech.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are gonna clip. Just when you think they are about to take off and turn into the elite team that everybody expects them to be, they look like they might blow a 3-1 lead to Denver. They also keep handing over leads in this series like they are some charity helping the poor. As many jokes as we can make out of this, I fully expect the Clippers to win game 7 and play the Lakers in the West Finals. However, there are some serious issues on this team that everyone has overlooked all season, even though NBA Twitter basically thought they were the greatest things since the 1996 Chicago Bulls. They have great individual defenders, but they aren’t a good defensive team. Two of their best players, who both come off the bench, are terrible defensively, and their 4 best players need the ball in their hands to be effective. I think you can blame Magic Johnson, who’s tweets just aren’t aging well right now.

Believe it or not, Power 5 College Football kicked off on Saturday as well. Notre Dame looks like they would be a welcome addition to the ACC permanently, even though they’ll never join. They pounded Duke, Oklahoma, Clemson, and Texas, all looked like powerhouses as well. However, the real story is the Big 10, which changes its mind more than a teenage girl. Now the Big 10 looks like they are going to reverse course and elect to play football sometime in the next 72 hours. Clearly parents in these Midwest states care much more about football than those on the West Coast. Meanwhile, the Pac 12 could care less, not even trying to come up with a solution to play earlier. They are proposing to play in January, like they are some recreational intramural league. I’ve seen church leagues more determined to play than these clowns. What an embarrassment this is going to be for the conference, and something they might never recover from.

To the NFL, where the Rams opened the Sofi stadium era with a win on Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys. There must have been a laundry accident that led to the Rams wearing their practice jerseys in that game. I am digging the helmets though. So glad Sunday Night Football is back, even if it means we have to listen to Chris Collinsworth. I can’t believe so many people picked the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl. Then again, if they are going to win it in the next 100 years, it might as well come in a year that is basically the apocalypse. The Rams benefitted from calls, including Jalen Ramsey flopping like he’s Patrick Beverley. Still, I have no problem with it because they got the short end of the stick in so many close games last year. The offensive line looked much improved, and they may be better than we think. However, they need major help at linebacker, and their running game isn’t quite as explosive as peak Todd Gurley. Nevertheless, this team might be able to sneak into the playoffs.

The Chargers actually got a win in a close game! Wow 2020 is weird. Randy Bullock and AJ Green are going to be the most hated people in Ohio for the next week, after they ruined Joe Burrow’s NFL debut. Knowing the Chargers, Bullock will get cut and probably end up missing kicks for the Bolts later in the year. The Chargers were saved by the offensive PI call, but the tide is bound to turn a little for them in these close games, and at least it did for them yesterday. I’m sure the Bolts will take the win, but they aren’t leaving Ohio without some concerns. They have a nice defensive line, a secondary that’s a little overrated, and an offense that looks pretty awful so far. Next week won’t be easy either against KC.

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Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 1, the Bears are probably going to reward Mitch Trubisky for the week 1 win vs. Lions with a 10-year, $504-million contract extension. The Saints spoiled the “Tompa Brady” debut. Watching the Browns’ and Jets’ inept offenses makes everything feel normal again in 2020. Speaking of The Browns, never has it been more fitting for Odell to play for a team called “The Browns”. I guess I’ll always have to consider him “a #2 receiver.” The 49ers lost to Arizona and are probably wondering how much longer Jimmy G’s contract runs. Aaron Rogers just gave the middle finger to everybody that said he’s done by throwing for 4 TD’s against the Vikings. You idiots really let Bill Belichick get Cam Newton didn’t you? Then there’s the Eagles who actually lost to a team with no name. Death, taxes, and a crummy Falcons defense every year. Finally, the Las Vegas Raiders got their first win, and their fans can’t even celebrate because the strip clubs in Vegas aren’t open yet.

To baseball, where the Dodgers beat the Astros last night, but they should be getting very nervous right now. Their lead over the Padres is shrinking faster than the ozone, and the health of their young pitching staff is falling apart. Walker Buehler needs to call up Rich Hill, and ask him to pee on his blister to help him heal his chronic issue. Thank god Dustin May didn’t break his foot, but who knows how much time he’s going to miss. Then there’s Kenley Jansen, who suddenly looks like the closer we all feared he had become. He got destroyed by the Astros over the weekend, and the worst part about it is the Dodgers don’t have anybody else that can take on that role at the moment. The Dodgers need to fix their issues quickly, or else their season might be over sooner than they think. Also congrats to Joc Pederson on the birth of his child. Joc, just make sure you don’t ever give your kid a 1st baseman’s glove. Mookie Betts is a stud, and easily the NL MVP. He would be on pace for over 50 home runs if this were a full season. Terrible ESPN broadcast last night, as they talked about pointless things like crossword puzzles and the New York Times. At least this call was good.

https://twitter.com/ilarissav19/status/1305320678594207744?s=21

Finally, the new norm in 2020, is really just the old norm for the Angels. Mike Trout is still great, Arte Moreno outwitted the city of Anaheim out of $175 million, and the Halos are still a terrible team with no pitching. Actually, the worst part about this season for the Angels is that they actually got just good enough to not get a top 5 pick in the draft, but still are nowhere close to getting into the postseason. This team is just sad and becoming more and irrelevant in SoCal by the day.

Monday Morning Coffee

September 7, 2020

The Lakers have tied their 2nd round series with the Rockets at 1-1 but it’s been a battle and will continue to be one. It turns out playing a bunch of midgets that do nothing but shoot threes is much tougher than it looks. It was great to see the adjustments Frank Vogel made it game 2, throwing a zone and a double team at James Harden, and a much more efficient LeBron and Anthony Davis. However, the 3rd quarter was scary with the Rockets making all those three pointers, and Lebron basically taking a power nap. The Lakers can’t relax against this team. They have to make sure they are getting as much as possible at the rim with their size and strength, while making sure they defend the three point line like they did for most of the first half last night. If they don’t have that kind of attention to detail, they will be going home early. The Lakers have enough to contend for a title, but I’m tired of people wondering about the Lakers “third guy”. Look people, those of us that have been watching NBA basketball all season know the Lakers “third guy” will be done by committee and can change on a night-to-night basis. Kyle Kuzma isn’t suddenly going to turn into Kevin Love or Chris Bosh. It is what it is, and it’s perfectly fine.

Meanwhile, the Clippers got off to a nice start to their 2nd round series vs the Nuggets, then they decided to mail it in for game 2. Kawhi must have caught a case of “Playoff P”, because he was ice cold from the field. Playoff P was his usual disastrous self though, shooting 36% from the field in the loss. At this point, the Clippers might be better off starting Kim Jon Un, who is in a coma, than Paul George. I don’t expect Kawhi to play that badly again though, nor do I expect Jokic and Murray to play like Shaq and Kobe again. However, the Clippers are still playing a dangerous game of thinking they can turn it on and off whenever they want, especially since the competition in this round is much better than the last round. I understand that NBA teams don’t always play their best every night. However, for a team that hasn’t actually won anything, they act awfully cavalier.

Elsewhere around the NBA, former Laker Brandon Ingram earned the 2020 Most Improved Player Award last week. I love how just about every Laker fan couldn’t be happier for Ingram that he won the award, became an All-Star this year, and is well on his way to fulfilling the potential that made him the #2 pick in the NBA Draft. Meanwhile, the handful of Pelican fans that actually exist are spitting hate every time Anthony Davis has a bad game in the playoffs. Even Brandon Ingram took some subtle shots at the Lakers, saying playing in LA “isn’t always about basketball”. Ingram and the Pelican fans need to get a grip. He was traded for a Top 10 Player, and both teams benefited from it. He played well in LA, and he played even better in New Orleans. Just be happy for everyone and move on. No need hate on anybody. Also, looks like BI took a couple of bong rips before getting interviewed on TNT.

The Dodgers are well on their way to the #1 seed in the baseball playoffs. However, there is still much to be nervous about. The playoff format is going to be scarier than seeing Pedro Baez on the mound late in a playoff game. The first round is a 3-game series. That means if the Dodgers run into the Phillies, Reds, or Mets, they could easily just get taken out by two hot pitchers in two games. The baseball playoffs have always been a crap shoot, but the fact there are 16-teams in it makes you think it’s even more likely a lower seeded team can steal the World Series. Who’s bright idea was this? Oh right, it was Rob Manfred, who is the dumbest commissioner in all of sports. As for the team itself, I normally would skewer Andrew Friedman for trading away a solid pitcher like Ross Stripling, however, this was a good move. It allows the Dodgers to put Tony Gonsolin in their rotation, who is another good young arm for them.

As for the Angels, the trade deadline was a disaster, which says a lot about where this franchise is. They traded away three of their most productive players: Tommy La Stella, Jason Castro, and Brian Goodwin. They got a ham sandwich with expired meat in return, and now the three players that are playing in their place are hitting well below .200: Justin Upton, Luis Rengifo, and Anthony Bemboom. It’s almost like “The Smash Brothers”, except they really should be called “The Trash Brothers.” Billy Eppler is going to be toast when the season is over. How much do you have to suck to miss the playoffs when half the teams in the league qualify, and you have the best player on your team? This club has been acting like they are going to contend every year for the last 7 years, but they never invest the money in the pitching they need, and they always invest in failed position players. As if that’s not bad enough, their farm system is still near the bottom of baseball. You don’t need to tank to build a great organization. You need good scouting and development. The Angels have none of that, on top of their very poor free agent decision making. They’ve got Mike Trout and Anthony Renton for the next decade, so they better hope their next decade with one of the best players ever is much better than the first decade with him.

Now the Pac-12 is acting like they are going to play football by January, which is pathetic. Commissioner Larry Scott appeared on the Dan Patrick show earlier in the week, and tried to sound excited over their ability to test for COVID in the coming months. Funny how the SEC, Big 12, and ACC don’t seem to have a problem with testing. Nor do they have any shame by just having their football players play while many of their students aren’t even on campus. Scott said that just goes to show you where the priorities for some schools and states are compared to the Pac-12 and California. While that may be fair, since his job revolves around college athletics, perhaps he should at least give the appearance he’s trying a lot harder to make football happen this year. Instead, he looks like a toothless figurehead. This also goes to show you how USC is now really failing the conference. Back when USC was great a football in the Pete Caroll days, they might have the influence to make football happen. Instead, their leadership is apathetic toward playing, which makes sense since they don’t even care about having a mediocre coach leading them anyway. On the other hand, Ohio State might singlehandedly sway all the votes in the Big 10 to get them to play in the fall. I also like how the President called the Big 10 commissioner and not the Pac 12. Obviously it’s a political move to get the swing states voting for him, but it also speaks volumes about everyone’s priorities.

Finally, 2020 has been bad, but now it’s just getting personal. Taco Bell is taking the Mexican Pizza off it’s menu starting in November. First they came for the Nacho Supreme and the Spicy Potato Taco, which people sucked it up and dealt with. However, now you’re talking about taking something off the menu that has been a Taco Bell iconic item for decades. This is probably worth rioting and protesting over. The pitchforks and tiki torches need to come out. Without the Mexican Pizza, life may not even be worth living anymore. I wish I could have been in that marketing meeting. “We need to be more innovative and eco-friendly guys, so let’s get rid of an item that’s been a staple for decades”. Apparently fixing the packaging was not an option. 2020 has taken everything, including people’s logic, and America’s favorite fake Mexican food.