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The breaks of the game. Sometimes a team overcomes a tough break, sometimes they don’t. It’s that intangible you can’t forecast.

You can’t forecast a bad call by a zebra on a missed targeting hit which cost the Browns a late first half touchdown. Nor can you forecast Patrick Mahomes being knocked out of the game early in the second half due to concussion protocol.

It was there to be had by the Browns late in this game, but to the credit of Andy Reid and his team they made just enough plays at the end to hold on and beat the Cleveland Browns by a 22-17 count to advance to the American Conference Champion Game for the third consectutive year.

I vaguely rememeber Chad Henne from his Michigan days. I think Floyd Carr was his Wolverine coach, but I’m not sure. I didn’t even know he was still in the league to be honest. I never imagined Superman Patrick Mahomes would have to leave a game.

But to Henne’s credit after throwing a horrific interception —he steadied and got the Chiefs out of Dodge by doing just enough so Baker Mayfield couldn’t get one last possesion. Eveyone is talking about the fourth down gamble. Nonsense. The play which saved Kansas City was the 3rd and 14 when Henne scrambled to get within a foot of the first down marker. That was the play of the game from my view.

Win, survive, and advance…hope Patrick Mahomes gets out of concussion protocol. Vegas has already said with Mahomes the Chiefs are a home field 2.5 favorite. Without Mahomes the visiting Buffalo Bills are a 4.5 favorite. We’ll see what happens this week with the five steps of concussion protocol. Google it…it’s fairly interesting.

In the nightcap…Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Bucs got through a shaky first period then steadily took control of this game as their offensive line physically beat down the Saints as the game moved along in the second half.

Plus…it was an opportunistic Tampa defense which picked Dree Brees three times and recoverd a fumble as well. It’s very rare you lose when you can run the ball and you’re +4 on the turnover sheet. Very rare.

It wasn’t vintage Tom Brady, but it was enough given the Bucs’ defense and ability to control the line of scrimmage running the football.

So on to Lambeau Field these Bucs advance for a rematch of earlier this season when Tampa mauled the Packers 38-10. But the Packers of late don’t resemble the team which got smoked early in the season.

The Packers like the Bucs are running the football with physicality and playing some of the better defense we’ve seen in Green Bay in a while.

My Vegas line on this game would be Green Bay at home maybe -3.5. It’s supposed to be cold, but what better quarterback in the NFL to play in cold weather than King Tom Brady of Foxboro. Dude can play in cold weather.

How uncanny this year’s Super Bowl will be played in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay. You think this guy has so much confidence he picked the team beyond Belichick based on where he could have home field in the Super Field?

We now have the three best quarterbacks in the league in Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, and Josh Allen plus the greatest QB who’s ever played in our Final Four. You think the quarterback position is important…ask Chad Henne?

Speaking of Bill Belichick…thank god the Patriot organization didn’t allow him to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor from Fuhrer von Trump. If Belichcik had done so he would have tarnished his legacy by doing something worse then friending O.J. Simpson on Facebook.

On to concussion protocol and our conference championship games.

Bills Mafia: A look behind the rabid fan base of the Buffalo Bills | NBC Sports – YouTube

First off congratulations to the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers for advancing to their respective conference championship games. Both teams with the better quarterback play advanced. Pretty simple.

Two of the best fan bases in the NFL with Buffalo and Green Bay.. The Packers have been my favorite team since the Lombardi days. So like Tim Russert …I have a smile on my face today.

Everyone going in knew Aaron Rodgers vs. Jared Goff was a complete mismatch. So no real surprise that the Packers rolled to a 32-18 win while covering the Vegas spread.

In the nightcap—we really didn’t know going in with a Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson QB matchup. But we now know somewhat as Lamar Jackson’s inability to throw the ball into the tighest windows in post season play wasn’t there for the second straight post season.

The Bills win 17-3 after Jackson not only threw a red zone pick, but a red zone pick six with his team only trailing 10-3. That cannot happen. Period.

The feel good Bills advance to the AFC Championship Game versus the winner of today’s matchup of the Cleveland Browns at the Kansas City Chiefs. Last spread I saw was Kansas City at -10…which is probably about right.

However I would think Cleveland has a puncher’s chance because they have one of the better run games in the NFL, plus they get two key pieces back to their secondary in this game. One being their best cornerback in Denzel Ward. Plus, I don’t think there’s anything special about the Chiefs’ defense.

It’s all about Patrick Mahomes. His season stats….4,740 passing yards, 38 TD passes, a mere six interceptions.

By the same token Baker Mayfield hasn’t been throwing picks the second half of the season. Baker actually became more efficent after Odell Beckham was lost for the season due to a knee injury.

It’s an intriguing matchup. Can Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt keep Mahomes off the field and score enough points to score with the high octane Chiefs?

Two Hall of Famers in the nightcap in Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Hopefully a classic which isn’t a letdown. I can’t wait.

Now the Michael Smerconish’s National Question of the Week from yesterday:

Should the Democrats proceed with an impeachment trial even if they don’t have enough Republican votes in the Senate?

40,000 votes were cast with 90% of those voting yes. Keep in mind, Michael is a former Republican like me who became an Independent so his following isn’t comprised of the fringe elements of either party.

I easily voted yes. I’ll explain why I voted yes tomorrow on Martin Luther King Day. No politics on NFL Divisonal week-end for me. It’s all football today.

Hope your favorite team plays well today.

A career high 33 points for Gilgeous-Alexander with six Thunder players in all scoring in double figures. The young guys are fun to watch when they’re playing against bottom half teams in the league. Top half teams…not as much.

In my mind I’m trying to visualize what they would look like without Hill and Horford, but with maybe Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley in their rotational spots.

Of the six Thunder wins so far I would guess beating Durant’s Nets is their best win to date. So now they’ve beaten Durant and Billy Donovan in two of their six wins.

Again, kudos to Kenrich Williams, Diallo, and Isiah Roby for the manner in which they’ve been performing on the big stage given this opportunity.

Shai Gilgeous Alexander 33 points highlights vs Chicago bulls nba 2020-2021 regular season game – YouTube

Hard to tell what the Thunder are doing right now in what should be an obvious season of not winning too many games.

It was a magnificent setup for this game as Billy Donovan who never won a playoff series in Oklahoma City without Kevin Durant brought his underacheiving Bulls into Chesapeake Energy Arena with the chance of doing something first year Coach D had failed to do so far in his first season at the helm. That being…win a game inside of Chesapeake Energy Arena.

But leave it to Billy Donovan to find a way to have his current team choke on what was a 22 point lead and allow the youthful yet gritty Thunder their first home win of the season. The final score read 127-125 as it marked an inspiring win for the Thunder even though they should be losing.

Big Al Horford didn’t play and George Hill who doesn’t much believe Covid is a deal didn’t do all that much, but you have to tip your hat to the rest of the Thunder players for their heart and grit.

These kids and Mikey Muscala play their hearts out and stand 6-6 twelve games into a 72 game schedule. It’s frustrating to see them fall this far behind the streaking Minnesota Timberwolves who currently stand at 3-8. But in Oklahoma City where they at one time volunteered to be the narional guinea pig to test the effects of sonic booms in Operation Bongo…maybe there’s a geographical disconnect we on the outside aren’t of aware of just yet unless you are in the inner circle of the Oklahoma shakers and movers.

This year is supposed to be Operation Tank, but instead it appears so far Sam Presti and Coach D haven’t come to terms with what Oklahoma City needs to achieve in this coming summer’s NBA draft.

It’s just so Oklahoma is what it is. It’s everything and more which Sam Anderson wrote about in his epic book Boom Town.

In a state which needs federal aid from the hated blue states on an annual basis to keep afloat they boast of being an example of Milton Freidman free market creative thinkers. Trickle down they think they call it. Never mind its welfare from the blue states who create 68% of GDP and about the same rate in federal contributions to our U.S. Treasury.

Just so Oklahoma like Mike Gundy wearing a racist T-shirt when his very economic being has been created by young black athletes along the way.

Like becoming the self-induced earthquake capitol of the world at one time.

Like Joe Exotic being able to actually garner significant votes as a GOP presidential candidate in the 2016 Oklahoma presidential primary.

Sigh.

But in the end… I love sports and I admire athletes and coaches who compete their asses off. But this is the one singular time in my life I wish Coach D and these improving youngsters would start losing with more frequency.

Give these kids credit though…guys like Diallo, Kenrich Williams, Isiah Roby, Theo Maledon and maybe even Poku at times are inspiring. Veteran Mike Muscala has been an inspiration as well.

So if youre’ gonna do this then I would suggest trading George Hill right now since he doesn’t believe in Covid and start exploring what you can get for Big Al Horford… and just go with that.

OU at Cade Cunningham’s O State Cowboys tonight. I’m actually going to a modest little watch party of six where unlike George Hill…everyone there will be Covid aware. We think Covid is a deal.

• Well, no I guess I’m not watching the game as it was just postponed due to Covid protocol.

So here we are in the third week in January with Cade Cunnigham as the primary storyline hoopswise in Oklahoma…at least for me.

Next up for the Thunder…the Sixers on a Sunday while the Cleveland Browns play the Kansas City Chiefs and Drew Brees hosts Tom Brady in a matchup of Hall of Famers.

Operation Bongo footnotes in case you didn’t read Sam Anderson’s book.

Oklahoma City sonic boom tests – Wikipedia

Neil Young – Southern Man (Lyrics) – YouTube

Four days left, but who’s counting?

The Trump dashboard reads:

1 400,000 deaths from Covid, 2 more U.S. troops in D.C. than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined 3 multiple innocent blacks slain by white police officers, 4 multiple sectors of U.S. economy decimated to the point of possible extinction, 5 no delievery of additional vaccines to date, 6 no Cabinet in essence the last two weeks of presidency, 7 most economical upheaval since the Great Depression, 8 a complete repudiation of the Marshall Plan following WWII, 9 has lead the U.S. to become the most hated laughingstock in the world, 10 has U.S. more divided than in the Civil War-Reconstruction era etc, etc.

But you know, other than that, Trump has really stepped up and knocked it out of the ball park.

Do we as of this week consider D.C. like Berlin following WWII with an East and West Berlin? Good luck if you’re on the wrong side of the Trump Wall.

40% of Repblicans don’t feel Trump as of today should be impeached.

Ted Cruz’s father is with Elvis on the runway to go get JFK.

Yikes.

Job well done, sir…job well done. As Mike Pence once said before you tried to have him lynched…you are the next Teddy Roosevelt, sir.

If you’re the Trump person with the horns who stole Nancy Pelosi’s lectern and then tried to sell it to an FBI agent on eBay…the Teddy Roosevelt part was sarcasm. Just saying.

Sidney Lumet | The Verdict (1982) | Making Of – Bing video

I want to feature The Verdict again as we head into the week-end with the NFL divsional round plus Bedlam basketball. It will be all sports for me this week-end on the blog.

I will confess–this movie is a part of my heart. My father was the Frank Galvin character until 1982. This movie breaks my heart every time I see it. But in the end it gives me eternal hope because my father like Frank Galvin found redemption in himself. It wasn’t easy. It’s a twelve step process. A continual journey and evolution. But in the end, like Frank Galvin, my father found his own personal redemption. I remember it to the day.

We’re all complicit to varying degrees as to what has happened to our country. Putting all of the bullshit politics on both sides aside–we are all complicit as to what has happened to our country.

This wasn’t just Donald Trump. He was just the match thrown onto the burn pile which lit this collective rabble fire.

As a country, and as a people, I hope we find it within ourselves to start praying for one another and seeking salvation within ourselves to make this country what it should be once again.

We should all treat this week-end as we did the first week-end after 9/11 would be my suggestion and begin to see if we can find common ground on what it means to be American.

Now onto the NFL divisional round….Let’s go Green Bay and Cleveland!

Plus, the tanking Thunder host the equally bad Chicago Bulls with Billy Donovan back at Peake where he never won a playoff series without Kevin Durant. Maybe Sam Presti should ask Scott Brooks and the Wizards to take part in an NBA irrelevance threesome. PLAYER MAKES THE COACH. Ask Steve Kerr and Pop if you doubt me.

Have a nice week-end being an American. It’s really a very special unique thing. Don’t take it for granted.

Miracle Speech – You were born for this – Herb Brooks, Movie: Miracle – YouTube

I wrote earlier today on my blog that as an American I’ve never felt lower or more embarrassed than the past week. No hyperbole there.

So I began thinking through the course of the day and making a list of American events which made me proud.

First man on the moon. Getting Bin Laden. Desert Storm. The way the country initally came together after 9/11. Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. Barack Obama being elected the first black president. Hillary Clinton being the first woman to be nominated for the presidency. That’s my first draft so far.

But the winner for me was the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. I get chills every time I watch this video. It is an illustration of what America is capable of acheiving when its not divided and dreams big.

Nothing political with this hockey team. Not the liberals hating the conservatives or vice versa. Just some American kids with a dream of beating the Russians and winning the gold medal the next round.

They could have played the Russians ten times and been lucky to beat the best team in the world once.

And they went out and did it. Now that’s American.

We are so much better than what we’ve shown these past four years. So much better.

The 1980 hockey team is who we are and should aspire to be on a daily basis.

Final Minute of the “Miracle on Ice” – YouTube

Here’s the thing…at one time I kind of liked Lindsey back in the day before he sold himself to Trump like some sex slave.

I was watching those GOP debates in 2016…. and I actually found him to have a sense of humor. I mean…given that Ted Cruz finsihed second to Trump…I would have possibly considered the old Lindsey Graham. Then of course he became the first honorary member of the GOP Trump Enablers Brothel Club.

It’s just sad is what it is that the people of South Carolina and the South for that matter now view Lindsey as the biggest pussy to walk the face of the Confederacy.

So I’m going to co- give Lindsey this song that I gave to my grandson Little Robert to help Lindsey get through all of this on the road back to becoming something less than the biggest pussy in the South.

Since we all know the language Trump uses in being the titular face of Christian evangelicals in the South … I can’t imagine I’ve crossed a line of any sorts here.

Seriously…I’m a Libra the scales of balance and justice and all that. And I sincerely hope Lindsey can find some remnants of his soul moving forward in Trump rehab.

Enjoy the song, Lindsey. I’m singing with you on here ’cause I’m not an ideologue. I’m genuinely a good guy.

sedition, noun conduct or speech against the authority of a state or monarchy.

Felony murder is probably a stretch somewhat, but when this gets all the way to civil litigation aspects of the case I would think wrongful death statutes would be applicable.

For the first time in my life…I’m ashamed to be an American. I’m not an ideologue either. I voted for Gerald Ford in ’76 even after the Nixon pardon because I thought it was the right thing to do for our country even though Nixon was clearly guilty.

Nixon at least showed some remorse and contrition. And to be frank, I gave Nixon a bit of a pass because in 1960 when he ran for president he didn’t pursue a recount in Illinois when he lost the presidency to JFK by a razor thin margin. Nixon said he thought a recount would be terrible for the country. I always gave Nixon some slack for taking that approach.

Our country in the present seems two hundred years years removed from anything close to Nixon conceding defeat in 1960. Or to Bobby Kennedy being loved and admired by both the poor whites and poor blacks before he was asassinated while running for president.

Now here we are with 400,000 dead from COVID while every state in the union is under a domestic terrorist attack alert. And yet some still in the Trump base to the end and beyond defend Donald Trump.

Here’s a video with Cindy McCain. Keep in mind, as I write Liz Cheney is in the process of being censored by some in the GOP as well.

Now… it’s not only wear a mask and space, but be on the alert for Trump domestic terrorists in all fifty state capitols. Are you Trump enablers tired of winning too much yet?

Cindy McCain Reacts to Impeachment and Arizona GOP’s Move to Censure Her | The View – YouTube

And, yeah…this happened today as well.

James Harden was traded today to be with his old buddy Kevin Durant to take the place of the mercurial Kyrie Irving. Good luck with that Steve Nash. As far as the Nets go…Fool me once it’s on you..Fool me twice it’s on me.

Haven’t we seen this act before when the Nets mortgaged their future for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for a truckload of draft picks?

We saw how that went. But to be honest with you I could care less about the Brooklyn Nets. The only team I really follow in the East is the Miami Heat with Bam, Duncan Robinson, and Tyler Herro with that smirk of his.

The deal for us here in Trumpland, USA is the fact we want Houston to fall in the standings, but not to the point they fall too far since the Houston pick is (1-4) protected.

The only real player of consequence the Rockets got in the deal beyond draft picks which go into 2027 is Victor Oladipo and possibly Dante Exum is you live within the realm the latter could make the Rockets significantly better.

Let’s look at the top seven players or so on the Houston roster now as we hope OKC massively tanks while the Rockets moderately tank.

Oladipo, John Wall, P.J. Tucker, Christian Wood, Demarcus Cousins, Daniel House, and Eric Gordon. Not a real star there, but not horrible either.

Houston has no real star now, but there are eight players or so who shou;d be able to win enough games to keep OKC’s draft swap in place above the (1-4) threshold.

If I had to pick two players today in the 1-12 range in the upcoming draft based on the Thunder’s needs …I’d go Cade Cunningham with the Thunder’s pick and probably Evan Mobley from USC with the Houston pick.

I like Cade. He has all the intangibles plus a high bar potential to be the face of an NBA franchise. His main problem so far with O State is that he’s too damn unselfish. Mike Boynton needs to get it thru Cade’s head he’s the best player on the floor every night. Plus, he can beat you with every facet of his game and he’s extremely versatile on the defensive end of the floor.. Plus, he’s smart and comes from a solid background.

Here’s my recap on the LA Laker game. The Thunder lost big and they should have lost big.

It was a great night for the Thunder. They lost while Harden and Durant are now both in the East while the Rockets should stay competitive enough so as their pick falls in the top half of this summer’s NBA draft.