The polarization of American politics started a long time ago and congealed in the summer of 1968 with the Chicago riots at the DNC. The protesters were rioting against a Democratic presidency that was escalating the war in Viet Nam. The Chicago Seven were immortalized on Netflix recalling these troubling times under Democrat leadership. President Johnson escalated the unpopular war and then opted out of running again and being held accountable during a second contentious term. Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King were emerging political icons. Both would be dead by assassins’ bullets before the August DNC. It was an overwrought time of civil unrest, young men coming home in body bags being protested against a canvas of sex, drugs and rock and roll. We survived that and sex, drugs and rock and roll became big business. Hopefully, we pivot to a better consequence this time as well.
If another week goes by without Joe Biden being president, we all are going to die. With his steely eyed stares or maybe half-closed eyes he has been ogling at me through my television with unwarranted access. He said he will vanquish all enemies known and unknown, real or imagined. If the alien invasion happens, Joe is ready. He is going to be like Jeff Daniels or Bill Pullman, yeah Bill Pullman in Independence Day ready to jump in a fighter plane. Barrack will be pulled in like Capt. Will Smith. Then Joe goes bi-partisan and has Mitch McConnell playing the Randy Quaid role. Tough talking, Sheriff Joe is ready for any battle as soon as he takes off his Aviators and remembers where he is.
In the most improbable of pandemics, the impossible has happened. The baseball season was played to a conclusion and the Dodgers were crowned champions. It had been an arduous 32 years since their last title. It was a lifetime for the Yardlings. It was a difficult stretch in myopian history. Dodger nation has sustained long droughts between championships previously. In Dodger history, this cavern of best effort not being best was not unprecedented. The original Dodger team name was the Brooklyn Grays in 1883. The Dodgers went to the fall classic for the first time as the Brooklyn Robins and lost to the Babe Ruth lead Boston Red Sox in 1916. The Robins persevered through the 1918-19 pandemic. The Zack Wheat would lead Robins to the fall classic in post pandemic 1920 and lose to the Cleveland Indians. The Dodgers would make their first named appearance in 1941. The franchise's first title was with Jackie Robinson and the Boys of Summer in 1955. It would take eight WS appearances and 52 years for the Dodgers to win that first title. What made the past 32 years rough, was the hated Giants won three. Yard psyche did not anticipate Dodger drought and Giant cornucopia of titles in parallel universes. It was to be and the trajectory of the two franchises seems to have been recalibrated towards historical truths.
The haters have been crushing the Yard customer service line with cries of the validity of a 60-game season, Justin Turner COVID party and just hating on the blue. It was a short season but any baseball fan who had a dog in the fight loved it. Every game mattered. There were subtle changes that moved things along at a faster pace. The DH might be in the NL to stay. We liked starting a runner at 2nd base in extra innings. The playoffs were greatly expanded and required the Champion Dodgers to win more playoff games in one postseason than any team in MLB history. Hopefully, it is a record that is never broken. Not because of Dodger narcissus but because it would require another pandemic shortened season. Baseball grappled through COVID, stumbled, recovered and declared a champion. It was good for many in this nation and all of Dodger nation. It was unfortunate that Turner got called out for COVID at the end. He did not know when the game began but he did when he went on the field to celebrate the championship. No one at the Yard has a problem with that. He was not a super spreader at a college frat party. He was in a select group of healthy well-paid humans. Turner fought with all of those core Dodgers through two previous WS failures. He might be gone next year. Party on JT!
Before the Dodgers could claim their first title of this century, the Lakers had to secure theirs for the first time since 2006. Los Angeles has had a long title drought. The Lakers and Dodgers refilled our champagne flutes during this season of the witch. Lebron had declared at the first Laker game, pre-COVID following Kobe’s merciless death, that he would carry the team in his honor. He could not have honored Mamba with no better statement. Basketball had a more fractious season than baseball with fits and starts but the bubble was effective. Not a single COVID case and a 17th title for the Lakers franchise. There were great storylines with Pat Riley and the Miami heat. At the end of the day Jimmy Butler was really good but the Lakers were really better.
In the clubhouse: The Hunter Biden narrative was floated and flouted throughout the election season. It never seemed to get much traction which is tied to the Giuliani taint associated with its origins. With all of Biden’s moral outrage about any potential impropriety about his son getting a $50,000/month job in Ukraine when he was VP just does not pass the smell test. Beau Biden is hailed as an American hero, Hunter not so much. Hunter was kicked out of the Navy for failing a drug test. He did date his dead brother’s widow for two years. They did not have any children together, but he did impregnate a stripper while they were dating. Hunter met her at The Mpire club in DC. Ms. Roberts was a featured dancer under the name Dallas. Hallie Biden had seen enough and ditched his cheating ass. Hunter moved on to Melissa Cohen and married her after a solid six days of dating. You cannot make this stuff up. Cohen and Biden added the fifth Biden to his clan this year. Joe said there was nothing unethical in Hunter’s behavior. I cannot find any ethics in any of his behavior. If his last name was not Biden, does he get that Ukraine gig? Sounds like Hunter has the kind of rare talent that a Ukrainian gas company in a corrupt country could use. As well as some sperm donor clinics. If Biden wins, the Secret Service might have to protect all of these children. They have demanded that Hunter have a vasectomy.
2021: Two titles in the bank for 2020 and 2021 in the approach window. Professional sports are glad to get their seasons under the wire. Baseball is in good shape by finishing at about the same time as advertised albeit light 100 games and millions of fans. The NBA has a serious situation. The 2021 season should be starting right about now. It does not get relevant until Christmas, but games are played. The teams want a break until February-March with an abbreviated season. The NBA wants a January start with a 72-game season. The Olympics are still on for August and that is a huge marketing tool for the NBA. The season might not be complete by then for any breathing room for the Olympics. There might still be COVID, there might not be a vaccine and all of the games are indoors. Let us enjoy this moment for now. Hail Los Angeles, City of Champions!
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