Hello Everyone:
For a few years, I held a little contest trying to guess where the first reports of wide scale violence on Black Friday would take place. I'll admit that was probably in poor taste and low class, but part of it was to raise awareness of a larger point.... that more and more, Thanksgiving is really becoming Black Friday Eve. The real meaning of the holiday is going by the wayside.
And I have a reeeal bad feeling that this upcoming Black Friday is going to be the worst one yet. What with the supply chain issues, the rising costs of goods, and mostly because we are emerging from the pandemic and people are itching to get out and do anything, I think it's going to be a real $h-tshow on Friday.
And what's not helping is that as the roads are getting more crowded, people are just losing their minds, or is that just a figment of my imagination? I live on Long Beach Road and I feel like I'm taking my life in my hands just driving to my house every evening. And that's out in the burbs.
I was coming home from a visit to Woodside a couple weeks back. Granted it was rush hour, but forget the perpetual traffic on the LIE, just getting from Roosevelt Ave to the LIE ramp was a nightmare. I figured I would just drive through Woodhaven and Ozone Park, but that was a parking lot too. And when we did move, it was people cutting each other off and all that kind of crap.
I really hope I'm wrong. Maybe they'll be an early Christmas miracle and everyone will behave themselves, but I don't see it. I just see a bunch of angry frustrated people who have been shut in for a year and a half going to war over a new toaster.
Speaking of angry people.....
VERDICT-Kyle Rittenhouse found NOT GUILTY
Before I get into our analysis of the verdict, I have to ask if any of you heard about this. Again, a tip of the hat to ace NBC News.com reporter David K. Li who has always been able to sniff out these stories.
So my understanding was that while the trail was being conducted, there were 18 jurors listening to the testimony. But when both sides rested, only 12 jurors were to deliberate. I'm guessing the other 6 were alternates.
So how did they go about deciding which 12 would get to decide the case and which 6 would be on stand-by? Apparently, the defendant Rittenhouse chose
Per Dave's article on NBC News.com
The Kenosha jury was picked from a pool of 18 people who sat through two weeks of testimony and arguments in a case that has drawn national attention and sparked debates over gun rights and race.
Rittenhouse randomly drew six jurors' numbers out of a tumbler, which resulted in the 12 selected to decide his fate.
Now again, I don't know if Rittenhouse was genuinely breaking down on the stand or trying to win an Oscar last week, but I do know this..If I was on trial for my life, and in order to choose the folks who were deciding my fate, I had to draw from a tumbler like we're playing Bingo at the Knights of Columbus? I'd be hysterical.
Well, he obviously drew the right numbers because on Friday (as I predicted in last week's post*) Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts. My social media lit up like the 4th of July with many of you celebrating the verdict and taking the media to task.
I of course think the little bastard was guilty as sin and got away with murder. I also think the judge in this case tainted the jury with his obvious contempt for the prosecution. Now, this isn't COVID-19 or the terrorist attack on the Capitol here, as I said, I know many of you were happy, and I'm willing to let you convince me why I'm wrong. I don't think you will, I can't believe for one minute you can convince me that a 17 year old kid crossing state lines with an AR-15 automatic rifle was going to result in anything good coming out of it. But like I said, have at it.
If there was any good news come out of the verdict, it's that the protests resulting from the verdict have been mostly peaceful. There was a riot declared in Portland, and a police car in Brooklyn vandalized. Those who attack the cops should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law (just so we're clear here) but it's far less that what some had predicted.
It's a 2nd Amendment issue, its a systemic racism issue. It's the perfect brew of what divides us in this country. And it did here again. Just under a week before Thanksgiving.
Happy Holidays America.
All right onto less important, but equally aggravating news
BASEBALL-No More Thor...
I'd love nothing more (than playing for the Mets) New York has a special place in my heart and always will be-Noah Syndergaard- (9/29/2021)
So naturally, he takes the first offer he gets to jump ship.
Now, I've been going back and forth on this. Did he really jump or was he pushed, either by the Mets not reaching out to him, or by their Keystone Cops like search for a GM (more on that later).
My first reaction was anger at the Mets. 6 weeks dicking around looking for someone to run baseball operations was bound to cost them. Bob Raissman in his Sunday column made the ridiculous statement that the same people bashing the Mets for taking their time on the search were the ones taken them to task for their poor judgment hires (Mickey Calloway, Jared Porter and Zach Scott)
Jeez Louise, you knew in the middle of August you needed a new GM, why not start doing your due diligence then? If you really thought you had a shot at Theo Epstein, there was nothing preventing you from talking to him in early September. I know David Stearns and Billy Beane you had to wait for, but that didn't mean you couldn't have backups ready to go.
But then I thought back to some of the things Thor said as he was making his comeback.
"I can't picture myself and don't want to picture myself playing anywhere else:
"It would be a tough pill to swallow not wearing a Met jersey next year"
But it seems like all it took was $3 million more. That was the pill he had to swallow. So he comes off as a punk.
Now Joel Sherman wrote that the Mets forced Syndergaard's hand. They didn't follow up after making the qualifying offer because they really weren't interested in keeping him. They made the qualifying offer just so they would get the draft pick compensation for losing him.
And that made me blow my stack too. Because you know what? F-ck draft picks.
I'm sick of draft picks. I'm sick of my teams leading the league in draft picks. The Jets have turned this into an art form, the Rangers too. The Mets had the 10th pick in last year's draft, drafted an apparent stud, then didn't sign him for one reason or another. In return they got, you guessed it, another draft pick.
C'mon!
Draft picks are great if you have someone who knows WTF to do with them. None of my teams apparently possess that capability. If Michael Conforto walks and we get yet another draft pick (which I'm sure is where this is headed) they can take the draft pick and shove it for all I care.
Of course it's just like the Mets to hire a GM just a couple days after losing a key player. Especially if the player left because there wasn't a GM in place. The hiring of Billy Eppler as GM makes me more relived than excited. At least someone wanted the gig. Not much on his resume to get pumped up about, but again, at least we got someone to take the job.
Maybe I'm being unfair here. Maybe $21 million a year for someone coming off major arm surgery is insane. Maybe Thor really did want to come back here, but didn't get the vibes he needed from the Mets. Maybe the Mets have a plan here, though I find that hard to believe. Maybe by this time next year, we'll be breathing a sigh of relief that we didn't give Thor the money because he tore another arm muscle lifting weights on Venice Beach and needs more surgery.
I wrote at the end of the season that I was as down on the Mets as I have been in years. They have done nothing to change that feeling and in fact have made it even worse. It is what it is. As for Thor, all I can say is, as I am a little over a year and a half away from 50, you would think that athletes ditching their fan base for the big mamoo is something I'd just deal with already.
But, well, here we are.
FOOTBALL: Jets QB Fiasco
Two days after saying "Now everyone wants to throw him away, he deserves better than that" in reference to Mike White, Jets coach Rob Saleh did just that, announcing washed up Joe Flacco would start Sunday's game against the Dolphins.
White threw 4 picks last week against the Bills, which while par for the course with Jets QB's, also should be taken with a grain of salt, as the Bills boast one of the NFL's best defenses. Also, the Bills were coming off a horrible loss to the Jaguars the week before and were ripe to kick someone's a$$.
I'm sure White isn't as great as he played against the Bengals on Halloween, and I'm also sure he's not as awful as he played against the Bills last week. I think he deserved another shot today. Flacco is done, he's barely a backup on a decent team, which of course the Jets are not.
Zach Wilson is still the QB of the future, but I'm actually all for letting him sit a couple extra weeks even after he gets healthy. Let him watch and learn a bit without throwing him to the wolves.
In the meantime, lets see what they have with White. We know what we have with Flacco.
I didn’t get to see much of the game today, but doesn’t look like I missed much. Flacco’s numbers were respectable, but again how does that help moving forward? What we need apparently is a new kicker, as the guy we have now missed two field goals and kicked the late on side kick right into the numbers of the Miami return man.
FALSE ADVERTISING: All you can eat?
A guy who live streams his trips to restaurants in China got himself banned from an all you can eat buffet because, well, he ate all he could.
According to the BBC, the man, known only as Mr. Kang told Hunan TV that he was banned from Handai Seafood BBQ Buffet in Changsha city.
The Post said that Kang was able to put away 3.3 pounds (1.5kg) of pork trotters otherwise known as Pig's Feet. The Post also provided a picture of the pig's feet just in case you needed a visual.
Kang is claiming discrimination. He says Handai Seafood BBQ is extreme eat-ist. Per the BBC.com..
"I can eat a lot - is that a fault?" he said, adding that he didn't waste any of the food.
But the restaurant owner told the same reporter that Mr. Kang was putting him out of pocket.
Out of pocket....gotta love the Brits.
And I love that one of Kang's defenses is that he's not wasting food. His mother must have been Irish Catholic.
They're starving back in China, so finish whatcha got-
from Nobody Told Me-John Lennon.
Well if anyone is worried about having too many leftovers after Thursday's Thanksgiving dinner, they can invite Mr. Kang over, he'll take care of that issue for you. If he'll eat Pig's feet, Aunt Bertha's overcooked sweet potatoes shouldn't be an issue either.
Does this look like a man who had "All he could eat?"
Please be careful next weekend.
Happy Thanksgiving
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
*If I could only predict football games like I predict court decisions…
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