Friday, October 13, 2017

5 Things on a Friday: To Watch or Not to Watch?

The Yankees have moved on to the ALCS, I’ve fixed my running stride, and there’s a new Star Wars trailer out.  That’s not a bad week.

1. A Rebuilding Year? Not Anymore (NY Times)
Behind two home runs from their reluctant slugger, Didi Gregorius; a lockdown performance from reliever David Robertson; and an epic late at-bat from Brett Gardner, the Yankees capped a resounding comeback in this American League division series Wednesday night with a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The final out came when Aroldis Chapman froze Austin Jackson with a letter-high fastball before throwing his arms up in the air as his Yankees teammates raced out of the dugout.
Aaron Judge gets all the love from the press, but he’s hardly the best hitter in the clutch.  In time, he may grow into that role, but right now he’s a little more apt to put up a homer when the Yanks are already up by a couple.  Didi on the other hand...

2. The Growing Danger of a U.S. Nuclear First Strike on North Korea (War on the Rocks)
Trump’s options for dealing with Pyongyang seem increasingly binary: Either back down and accept the reality of a nuclear-armed North Korea while relying upon deterrence to prevent war, or conduct a first strike to remove the regime and its nuclear capabilities. To date, Trump and his top advisors have made clear that they cannot and will not accept a North Korean regime armed with nuclear weapons that are capable of striking the U.S. homeland — and will do whatever it takes to protect the nation from that threat. Moreover, Trump’s dangerously fiery rhetoric now make it incalculably more difficult for the United States to back away from its demands for Kim to give up his nuclear arsenal. A first strike that decisively ends the North Korean regime may well seem far more attractive to Trump than the personal humiliation of backing down and relying on deterrence.

I keep thinking, “Surely not…” but can we really be sure?  All this loose talk about nuclear weapons is a bad deal.

3. Rush Limbaugh says Trump's NFL stance is 'starting to make me nervous' (USA Today)
“[N]o president should have dictatorial power over individual behavior. A president should not be able to tell the owners of a business how their employees are gonna act and what they’re gonna swear allegiance to and all that. That’s up to the owners to do, and it’s up to the owners to come up with a system of punishment if their employees violate company policy, like it is in any other business."
What’s that Rush?  I can’t hear you over the sound of your oxycontin addiction.
So why the change of heart?  Is it by chance because “Trump Says Media Licenses “Must Be Challenged” After Reported Story Shows Him Not Knowing Anything,” and you’ve finally tumbled to the idea that you, too, are in the media?  And you’ve finally realized that Trump attacks all of his allies given enough time, and again, you--at last--realized that some day that’ll be you, too?
Honestly, Rush, I’m not sure you’re a big enough fish to earn the president’s attention, but…  I could be wrong.

4. Star Wars: To Watch or Not to Watch



I finally broke down and watched it.  It is a very good trailer.



5. Press conference takeaways: Eastern Michigan (Army Football Insider)
Monken noted that Roback completed passes to nine different receivers against Toledo (a 20-15 loss) last week and against Ohio three weeks ago, 12 different receivers caught a pass.
“We haven’t completed 12 passes the whole season, and they’re completing to 12 different guys in one game,” Monken said…
Eastern Michigan is 21st in the country in scoring defense (18.2 points/game).
“They’ve played Kentucky (24-20 road loss) and Rutgers (16-13 road win),” Monken said. “They also played Toledo, which was averaging more than 40 points per game, and held them to 20. They just make a bunch of plays and are doing a good job stopping the run (tied for 43rd in country). That’s going to be a big challenge for us. Obviously, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
As I said on Wednesday, this looks like a really compelling matchup.  Just like the Eagles’ last few games have been.
I can’t for the life of me find highlights of the Eagles’ game at Toledo, but if you have 2+ hours to kill, you can watch the whole thing below.
* * *
That’s all I’ve got.  It’s a bunch of quick outs.
Have a good weekend!
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