Random Notes from a Crank

I cannot understand how anyone watching the first presidential debate can justify Moscow Don's behavior and justify their support for such a man. 

People will say it was a "shit show," but the reality is that it was a shit show because of Trump with his constant interruptions, lies, and bullshit. 

As Rainn Wilson posted on FB in obvious reference to the 45th president's performance, "My parents taught me that it was rude and disrespectful to interrupt people." 

Regardless, during a presidential debate, the sitting president gave a shout-out to a white nationalist group and advocated for voter suppression. Class act. 

I checked the Real Clear Politics website this morning to check on the Senate races, and much to my pleasant surprise, the South Carolina Senate race has moved to "toss up." I hope Jaime Harrison is running ads that point out Lindsey Graham's multiple levels of hypocrisy. 

I contributed to Theresa Greenfield's campaign. Durbin is likely to easily retain his Senate seat in Illinois, but I'd love to see an Democrat from Iowa in the Senate. 

As the New York Times reported about Moscow Don's tax returns, he's in deep debt. He has loans coming due that amount to 421 million dollars. And the reason he hasn't paid much in taxes over the years because he's a terrible businessman. A person in that much debt holding political office is a serious national security threat. 

As a result, he's Putin's lapdog. 

What a con artist. 

Sunday Hangover: Mizzou

I didn't get to watch this game live because Mrs. Nasty scheduled us participating with other couples in an escape challenge deal at a local nature center. 

Scheduling such things during an Alabama game is grounds for divorce. 

Regardless, I caught up on the game later yesterday because I DVRed it. 

The touchdowns the Tigers scored were late in the game when inexperienced players were getting playing time. Mizzou's score didn't reflect how the Tide dominated the game. 

And they dominated it by offense. 

Mac Jones was silky smooth as a quarterback. He threw accurate passes, and he was especially adept at the deep routes. Many of those throws were just damn outstanding. As as Todd Blackledge noted during the broadcast, Jones does a good job adjusting in the pocket--moving to his right, moving to left, moving up in the pocket--as he adjusts to the pass rush and gets set to throw the pill. 

One matter I'm concerned about is the Tide's rush defense. They limited Mizzou to fewer than 100 yards rushing, but I still didn't like some of runs the opponent's backs had against our defense. 

Waddle and Smitty looked great. To diversify the offense, other receivers and the tight ends need to get integrated into the offense. Forristall had a great 34-yard catch, but I'd like to see more from the tight ends. 

As for the rushing attack, the Tide only gained 111 net yards because the passing game was so prolific. Harris had a decent game. However, Brian Robinson only toted the rock four times, and when Trey Sanders was in, he didn't do much to impress. I suspect both RBs will improve significantly going forward. 

It was great to have Dylan Moses back on the field commanding the defense. He makes everyone around him better. 

Musings of the Moment: College Football This Saturday

Don't look now, but Mississippi State's Costello just threw another touchdown against LSU. 

Ole Miss got waxed by Florida. The Rebels will have a tough offense, but the only times Ole Miss is formidable is when they have a defense to be reckoned with. It's small sample size theatre, but that game can't provide much confidence in the Ole Miss defense. Kyle Trask lit up that defense like a Xmas tree. 

The light blue jerseys and helmets for Ole Miss are not are handsome as the dark blue jerseys and helmets they've used. 

With the K State-Oklahoma and Texas-Texas Tech games in mind, defense is optional in the Big 12. 

If there is a truism in the college football it is that Big 12 teams have sucky defenses. 

Kentucky totally messed up a chance to beat Auburn. I was counting on you Wildcats. So disappointing. The refs also screwed them on that play on the goalline. 

And btw, Gus Malzahn looked like a doofus in that outfit inspired by Pat Dye. 

I was surprised to find out that Army was ranked, and then they lost to Cincinnati, a team that is also ranked. 

The U is back. They stomped a mudhole in FSU's ass. I think Miami might have a good chance at beating Clemson this season. 

Florida State was stupid in pissing off Jimbo Fisher, which made him take a job at A&M. 

Pitt's concrete grey uniforms and helmets are interesting. 

I'm hoping that Iowa State wins the Big 12. I'm a closet Cyclones fan from way back. 

Musing of the Moment: Mask Wearing and Flu Season

With the pandemic still raging on, people wearing masks is commonplace. In fact, I would argue that if you're not wearing a mask, you should be considered a moron. 

Which brings me to the anticipated flu season. I've read reports that health officials are worried about how the pandemic will get even worse with the flu season. 

However, during most flu seasons in the past, Americans were not wearing masks to protect themselves. This year they should be. 

So I wonder if the number of flu cases will be significantly smaller because of people wearing masks, washing their hands, avoiding large gatherings, and sanitizing the hell out of their hands. We'll see. 

I worry that this hypothesis is too simplistic, but I wonder. 

Music Friday: "Sign O' The Times"

I was listening to satellite radio in my car the other day, and the DJ was talking about how it was some anniversary of Prince's excellent album Sign O' The Times. 

In honor of that opus, I'm sharing the title track for Music Friday today. It's a fabulous album. 

Music Friday: "Don't Let It Bring You Down"

I hadn't listened to Neil Young in a good while. One of my favorite albums of his is After the Gold Rush, and one of my favorite songs on that album is "Don't Let It Bring You Down." 

Stay Positive: Summer Signings for Tottenham Hotspur

As a Spurs fan, I've been following the summer signings period on a daily basis. There has been lots of drama. It seems the Spurs can't sign a striker yet again. It remains to be seen if they will sign a back-up striker to Kane, but I sure in hell hope they do. 

Regardless, the signings so far have got me thinking in a positive manner. 

First up was Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, a central midfielder, who from what I understand, is more of a defending midfielder, but he's said to be good at making everyone around him better. 

Next was Matt Doherty, a right-back, who is quite aggressive in both defense and on the attack. He came over from the Wolves and is likely to supplant Aurier at right-back. But we'll see about that. 

They then signed the veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart. That move made me scratch my head a bit since they have two young goalkeepers in their academy. It's been written that he's a great character guy, so perhaps he's there for the dressing room and to play every once in a while because Gazzaniga has been a solid back up to Lloris. 

The big news recently was the double signing of Reguilion and Bale, both from Real Madrid.

Sergio Reguilion, a left-back, had been on loan to Sevilla who won the Europa Cup, but the Spurs have signed him. Apparently, he's a hell of a defensive back and is likely a replacement for Danny Rose, who fell out of favor with Mourinho, and possibly an upgrade among the options although I feel Sessengon needs to get his chance to compete. 

The even bigger deal has been the loan of forward and winger Gareth Bale, who returns to the Spurs after years at Real Madrid. 

With all these new players, Jose has lots of new toys to play with and try to figure out a starting XI. 

From my humble perspective, my hope is that Lo Celso, Lamela, Bergwijn, Sissoko, Sessengon, Aurier, Dele, Tanganga, and Ndombele get plenty of playing time. With all the fixtures on the Spurs' table, they're going to need to rotate plenty of folks in the starting XI, which runs counter to Mourinho's tendencies. 

It should be interesting. 

Music Friday: "Hunt Me Down"

A while back I realized I hadn't gotten the most recent album by The Black Angels, Death Song. 

It's a crackin' album from the purveyors of psychedelic-rock, and here's one of my favorite tunes on it. 

Musing of the Moment: Why the British Accents?

I've watched a lot of shows and documentaries about Rome and the Greek tales of Homer. Some are good, some are mediocre, and some are quite good. 

One constant, however, is that the actors and actresses playing Greeks or Romans usually have British accents.  

Even in the Netflix series Young Wallander had actors playing Swedes, and many of them had British accents. 

What is up with that?

Random Notes from a Crank

The last few days I watched the new Netflix series Young Wallander. The six-part series is well crafted, but I didn't like the ending. With that ending, there has to be a second season in the offing. If there isn't, I'm pissed. 

The second installment of All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur came out recently, and I binged it like a mofo yesterday. By the end of episode six, we're still not up to the quarantine, so I wonder how much time they'll spend on the club adjusting to the pandemic. 

As I stated previously in a recent Stay Positive post, I've taken a shine to Mourinho.  

Every day I'm checking a website that moderates the articles that speculate about what's happening with the squad during the summer transfer window. They signed Hojbjerg and Doherty, which were smart signings in lots of people's opinions. The other new face, Hart, is apparently a high character guy. 

I suspect Danny Rose will get sold or loaned somewhere with the emergence of Tanganga. We'll see what happens with Aurier.

But by Gods, they really need to sign a back-up striker who can also play other positions as a forward. That need is clearly apparent if you reflect how the squad played without Kane last season. 

It shouldn't be any surprise by the report by The Atlantic about how Moscow Don talks about veterans and military leaders. The report has been corroborated by multiple sources. 

Music Friday: "Look Out Any Window"

Time for some 90s hair in a video.

Take in the glory that is Bruce Hornsby. He's still putting out music if you're interested. He's had two new albums the last two years. 

Stay Positive: Top NFL Quarterbacks

As is my nature with fantasy football, today I picked up a draft guide from my local CVS in my slapdash preparation for a draft this Saturday. 

I was looking through the rankings and noticed something, particularly about the quarterback position. 

The top 6 rated quarterbacks are all black. 

I remember when there weren't many black quarterbacks in the league if at all. 

The top six are the following:

• Lamar Jackson
• Patrick Mahomet
• Kyler Murray
• Russell Wilson
• Deshaun Watson
• Dak Prescott

The seventh ranked QB is Josh Allen, who is basically a poor man's version of Lamar Jackson. 

Times have changed, folks, for the better. 

Stay Positive: Cubs Jerseys and Numbers

There have been many mediocre away jerseys for the Cubs over the years, but this year's version, which might be last year's version for all I know, is probably the best looking away jersey for the Cubs that I can think of. It's basic, but it's aesthetically pleasing. 

The only sports jersey I own is throwback late 80s Cubs Andre Dawson jersey. 

For a long time my son's number for baseball has been 5. He joined a new travel team this summer, and 5 was taken, so he switched to 2, which is football number the past few years. When numbers were picked out this season for Middle School baseball, both 2 and 5 were taken by 8th graders who get the first pick (my son is a 7th grader), so he went with 10.

10 is Ron Santo's number. 

I love the old school Cub logo on that left sleeve. They need to go back to that emblem. 

Stay Positive: The Tottenham Hotspur Documentary's First Three Episodes

Monday finally got here and revealed the first three episodes of All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur. I binged it on Monday evening and thoroughly enjoyed the episodes. 

While I've enjoyed Jose Mourinho's press conferences after matches, I appreciate him even more after seeing how he took over what looked like a broken Spurs squad partway through last season. 

Episode 3 leaves the season when the team is close the top four on the table, so it'll be interesting to see how the documentary depicts the run of bad luck in regard to injuries the Spurs suffered at certain parts of the season. Losing Kane for an extended period time was a blow even though the pandemic softened it somewhat because it upset the regular flow of the season. 

What I'm hoping to see more of is that tactical aspects of his coaching because The Athletic a while back had a great article on how Mourinho used the water breaks in certain games to change formations and tactics according to what the other team was trying to do. 

The next trio of episodes will undoubtedly recount the advent of the pandemic and how the team coped with the lockdown in Britain. 

I also suspect the documentary might also fixate on the disappointing year from Ndombele. 

Aurier and Dele Alli feature prominently in the first few episodes, and we know what happened with Eriksen. The odd deal is that Eriksen seems to be on the outs at Inter Milan currently. And I like how Mourinho busted Delli Alli's chops about being a crap player at practice and was blunt about how he could be a great player. In addition, the point when The Special One calls out Aurier on being a crappy defender in front of everyone was uncomfortable. 

I will say that I'm drawn to Mourinho even though he has a [justified] big ego. He's obviously a devout Catholic, but he swears like a sailor. I like how he says the team needs to stop being nice guys and needs to play with "balls." 

It'll also be interesting to see how the Amazon doc depicts how Mourinho shifts gears to focusing on qualifying for the Europa League when the lucrative Champions League is out of reach. 

Regardless, COYS.