And Now, Presenting 2021...

The Schloss-Blog is distressed over some things that mark the legacy of 2020, but elated over some others.

Distressing: At a football game I covered, fans showed up, sans masks, neglecting social distancing in the stands, shaking hands, hugging and talking face to face about the team's championship chances this year. Their kids' team had to cancel to several games thereafter. COVID apparently found its way into so many of the players' households, it seems.

Proud: The relentless pursuit of caretaking on the part of frontliners, doctors, nurses and EMTs, police and firefighters, grocery store employees and everyone else working essential jobs, masked-up, but still at grave risk to their health and that of their families.

Distressing: Trump keeps trying to overturn the election results. He has allegedly threatened state electors. He has encouraged the Proud Boys to stand down but stand by. He has all but encouraged violence in the streets of Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when his Vice President, Mike Pence, announces to the world that Joe Biden is the next president.

Proud: Kamala Harris becomes the first woman - Black/Asian descent - to take up office at the White House, second-in-command to Joe Biden, ready to take the top spot if need be. Her arrival is a proud occasion in American history. 

Distressing: Trump rallies, pre- and post-election, attended by predominantly white crowds without facemasks and total disregard for social distancing. It was estimated that his pre-election mass rallies of such nature caused 30,000 cases of COVID-19 and the deaths of at least 700 from the coronavirus. It's bad enough 300,000-plus are dead from the virus. So he had to contribute? He had to prove he doesn't care if you die.

Proud: Volunteers tirelessly working the long lines of cars of people waiting to pick up holiday meals as their money and hope expire while Congress debates a relief package - which Trump threatens to veto. Bad enough he vetoed the military-funding bill because it didn't contain a rider blocking social-media platforms from flagging and even banning his ridiculous, false posts. None of Trump's vulgar behavior and threats daunted these volunteers from completing their tasks, however.

Distressing: Racism in America. As Trump tries to negate or simply declare invalid the votes from districts which contain ballots of so many Black and minority Americans, his base followers believe his cries of a rigged election. He will have a mock inauguration, supposedly, and a laughable pseudo-government, powerless but he hopes influential.

Proud: My family and my friends have stuck together, mocked Trump's rigged allegations and declared their disgust with Trump, throwing their hope at the future we can now have. I can never do enough Zoom calls with my family and my bros.

Distressing: The number of people who voted for Trump and believe the election was rigged. How? Now we have reports of continuing death threats against elected officials who certified their votes in their states, even Republicans. Trump doesn't care if they die.

Proud: Of the young people who have come out and voted this time around, helping spell defeat for Trump. And proud of the Black Lives Matters protesters who never relented.

Distressing: Alabama's new Republican Senator, former football coach Tommy Tuberville, believes the three branches of government are the House, the Senate and the White House. Yeah, he'll be a powerful voice in the Senate. Can we throw Alabama out of the Union, please?

Proud: My grandson doesn't see race, color or bias. He sees people.

So do I. 

Happy New Year, America.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Indeed.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show

What Now?

The Schloss-Blog really didn't know what to write about today.

Donald Trump's total insensitivity toward the millions of Americans who have contracted the coronavirus or the hundreds of thousands who have died from it?

As usual.

Or the fact that Notre Dame proved it doesn't belong in the College Football Playoff Final Four.

As usual.

The fact that millions are hurting financially because of the coronavirus, having lost jobs, income, benefits, even houses.

This is not supposed to happen in America.

Or the fact Congress can't reach an agreement on how to underwrite a solution or even a piece of a solution for all that.

These are our elected representatives. And they don't care about us.

They only care about being able to point a finger at the other side and being able to blame them.

Maybe, write about that Donald Trump would veto a bill to finance the military unless it included a totally unrelated rider that eliminated what is in essence social media platforms' privilege to tag or even take down posts like Trump's that so often (all the time) contain false or misleading information.

Or maybe, just write about how Donald Trump is posting on social media that the election was stolen from him.

Or that millions believe that (36 percent of Americans, a vast majority of Republican voters).

HTF do you steal an election by, as he claims, having machines that mysteriously change "Trump" votes to "Biden" votes?

Besides, as my cousin says, "How can anyone in their right minds vote for this man?"

Maybe write about the attorneys licking their chops for a go at Trump after he's out office, everything from tax fraud to sexual abuse to defamation, primarily lawsuits from which he cannot receive a federal pardon.

Or how about that football season? Owners, athletic directors uncaringly putting athletes in harm's way in the name of TV-contract money. Who cares if they get the virus and who cares if they or someone they come in contact with dies? As long as we get our TV money.

2020 was a tainted year in sports, with athletes at risk; in politics, with Americans everywhere at risk; and in economics, with businesses everywhere in risk of failing.

And our elected representatives arguing over how to help us instead of, y'know, just helping us.

Or maybe write about the advertising that promotes togetherness, partying, big crowds all together and general fun atmospheres all around, with no facemasks or social distancing in sight.

Which is exactly what we're supposed to be doing in America.

Right now. 

I'll close with words from Soft Cell, which kind of sum up Donald Trump's relationship with America, and especially with shortsighted Republicans in the Senate:

Once I ran to you
Now I'll run from you

This tainted love you've given -
I give you all a boy could give you.
Take my tears and that's not living - oh

Remember, Trump only want to stay in office to avoid prosecution. He doesn't care if you die.

If we die. Ane we are. In record numbers.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

Happy holidays!

And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forests will echo with laughter

Now What?

The Schloss-Blog is wondering, what happens now? What happens after that?

Monday, the electoral college votes. The Republicans are going to try something on Monday when the Electoral College casts its votes. By law, the electors are supposed to vote for the candidate whose vote totals won their respective states. But unless their states have passed such legislation, they are not officially bound, although each state's elector representatives to the college are chosen by the party whose candidate won the state. Many states, in line with a Supreme Court decision, have passed legislation binding the selected electors and their votes.

Not only that, but ninety-nine percent of electors have always voted as designated in U.S. history. NINETY-NINE PERCENT!

Yet, you know Trump and the 126 traitors who signed on to the Texas Attorney General's lawsuit to overturn the election by eliminating the votes in battleground states are going to try something to get the Electoral College representatives to change their legally bound votes.

Will it work? Can they really pull it off?

They're asshole enough to try, obviously. And something like 36 percent of American voters think the election was "rigged."

Every time we hear (except on Fox, Newsmax or OAN) that the Supreme Court has finally settled the matter, another lawsuit, another challenge, another unworthy, baseless, evidence-free accusation of fraud pops up somewhere, begging resolution at the state level and presenting ditzy, uninformed blondes to say so.

For instance, a lawsuit in Wisconsin was just dismissed Saturday, by the state's supreme court. Trump lawyers argued that they wanted the court to follow the rule of law and overturn the results. The court responded that in not doing so, it did just what the Trump lawyers requested - it followed the rule of law.

Make no mistake: the 18 state attorneys general and the 126 Republican congressmen who signed on to the Texas A.G.'s lawsuit are TRAITORS. The Supreme Court's ruling on that case and one preceding it  during the week clearly declared the unconstitutional grounds on which they were filed.

It makes me sick that these Republicans would pull out the stops they have to overturn this legitimate election.

And speaking of sick, while Americans die in records numbers from COVID, Trump makes no comment about such, offers no consolation nor condolence and doesn't reassure Americans that help is on the way. Instead, he accuses the incoming administration (is he conceding?) of likely screwing up the handling of the vaccine distribution.

I remain disgusted at the behavior of Republicans who have not only supported this coup attempt (that's what it is so call it such), but helped administer it. History will record them as abolitionists of freedom and the rule of law.

Yet, you've nary heard a bad word out of Biden or his camp regarding all this. They are forging ahead with filling important positions with competent people, unlike the "best and brightest" with whom Trump always told us he surrounded himself.

Funny, I didn't know he had Kelly Services (nee Kelly Girls) on speed dial.

With any luck, the Electoral College will complete its task on Monday and then Congress will certify such on Jan. 5, 2021.

Either that or, as the Beatles said:

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can

But if you want money for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

Answers Looking for Questions

The Schloss-Blog has a lot of answers looking for questions. Maybe you can help me out.

Answer: The election results have already been certified. Anybody got the question?

Answer: GOP attorneys are urging Georgia GOP voters not to vote in the upcoming Senate runoff elections. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Donald Trump called the governor of Georgia and asked specifically to overturn the election results in his state. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Lawsuits over election results, filed by Republican attorneys on behalf of Donald Trump, are still pending, although most have been dismissed for lack of evidence or having no standing. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Congress has still not authorized a renewed stimulus package to help the millions of Americans whose unemployment benefits are expiring. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Since Election Day, the president (not the president-elect) has not muttered a word about the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have died from COVID-19, nor the hundreds of thousands projected to die before a vaccine is generally available. He hasn't even offered a word of condolence. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Records are being set everyday for the number of people contracting COVID-19, the number of people hospitalized from COVID-19 and the number of people dying from COVID-19. Anybody got the question?

Answer: A CNN reporter (Dr. Sanjay Gupta), in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House, working on a COVID-19-related story, noticed that maybe 40 percent of people in the hallways were wearing masks. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Democratic politicians, including the governor of California, the mayor of San Francisco and the mayor Denver, were seen at events and/or airports during Thanksgiving, indoors, not necessarily wearing masks. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens had their game postponed three times so they'd both have sufficient players and some key players back and eligible to play. The Denver Broncos, by contrast, with four quarterbacks sidelined in COVID-19 protocol, did not have their game rescheduled, had to play with a guy who hadn't played QB since high school and got beat. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The NBA has opened preseason training camps, not in a bubble either. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The governor of Florida is a schmuck. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Trump has not conceded the election. Yet. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Trump and GOP lawyers are telling Georgia Republicans not to vote in the upcoming Senate runoff elections. No, they are, really. Anybody got the question?

Answer: The virus vaccine may be good for life, or just one year. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Don't travel for Christmas and don't party for New Year's Eve. Anybody got the question?

Answer: Republicans won't recognize that Joe Biden is the president-elect. Anybody got the question.

Answer: A petulant child and sore loser holding a grudge. Anybody got the question?

Thank you for playing Schloss-Blog Jeopardy. I wish we had Alex Trebek to moderate.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix Show.

Not a Schloss-Blog

In North Dakota, people on their deathbeds are telling the healthcare workers caring for them that they don't believe it's COVID taking their last breaths, instead of issuing their final, heartfelt good-byes to their loved ones.

It doesn't exist, they say as they expire.. It's not real. The president told them so, they say.

That's where we are, America. Those same people believe the presidential election was rigged and that Biden was elected by cheating.

In fact, 70 percent of Republicans believe that. No, really, they do. Google it.

We are in a sad place, America. The majority of Republicans believe COVID is not as bad as we know it is, even when they die from it, and they don't believe Trump lost the election.

It's as if Trump will set up an alternate governing body and run the country from Mar-a-Lago in Florida, except he'll be in court in New York, fighting off charges that will send him to jail involving his taxes and his over-valuing and/or under-valuing his properties, depending upon whether he was applying those values to his taxes or applying for a loan from Russian oligarch-controlled Deutsche Bank

Trump is leaving a true mess for the incoming Biden administration, with dead bodies piling up across the country, bodies in denial of the virus that killed them.

And while the majority of spineless, chickenshit Republican senators continue to enable the president's charges via their silence, the president's loyalists continue to lose case after case in court they have brought to try to overturn battleground state-after-battleground state outcome. Gives new meaning to most of OMG/WTF (Ohio/Michigan/Georgia and Wisconsin/Texas/Florida).

Trump will leave the White House, sometime before Jan. 20, when Biden is sworn in. But he won't go away. His Twitter account will remain in his banana republic state, except he can't tweet from a courtroom in New York City, where he will be fighting for his life to stay out of prison.

Hey Donald. Martha Stewart called. She said, give it up.

I Also Miss

The Schloss-Blog is here this Thanksgiving to tell ya'  that he misses his family.

Y'know, the family I can't Thanksgiving dinner with.

All of it. All of them.

My grandson is the light of my life. He's perky, a sports maven (just ask him about the Bears), aggressive yet chill, smart and observant. So proud of him. Excelling in first grade.

When this is over, I hope to get to see him more than four times a year.

My daughter has found a good man. They make each other happy. That's all I need to know.

Except that I'd like to see them more than four times a year when this is over.

My cousins, and their kids, are precious. We hardly get to see each other as it is, scattered all over the country as we are, and we had to pass on two occasions to get together this year.

Yet, we have a bond that we all adhere to - any occasion, any wedding, any bar mitzvah, any bat mitzvah, any funeral - we all saddle up and go.

Not this year. We had to shed tears silently, thousands of miles apart, when one cousin passed away and we were all unable to attend the funeral.

And we had to skip the party that never happened when another cousin's grandson celebrated his bar mitzvah.

As a family, we live for those opportunities to express joy with each or offer a shoulder for each other.

And at the one funeral none of us were able to attend, I missed the opportunity to visit my parents' gravesites, remind them how much I miss and love them and drop a few pebbles at the foot of their sites.

In tribute. In a message to let 'em know I was there, we were there.

Every Christmas, we visit my wife's family in Texas, no matter what. For 30 years. 

Not this year.

I miss them. They are loving, caring, generous and warm.

It would've been difficult enough to see my mother-in-law, in the home where she's living now, what with the restrictions they have on visitors.

And my father-in-law, alone in a big house in Missouri, needs our help and we want to give our support. 

Difficult to do this year.

The trip to Texas was always important enough to me that even though I had a basketball game to cover on the 26th virtually every year, I went to Texas for Christmas anyway and took a 5:30 a.m. flight home the day after.

I'm no hero. Just did what I had to do to see the people so important to me. It was, always is worth it.

I wanted to include this as part of the "things I miss" blog I posted four days ago, but that would've been the longest blog post in history.

To everyone struggling with a family visit this Thanksgiving that they couldn't do, my heart goes out to you. This Christmas too.

And with that, good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on my Radio Free Phoenix show on Sunday night.

Have a good Thanksgiving, no matter how much smaller than usual it has to be. Wish it could be with everyone.

But not this year.

Hey, cousin, hands off that drumstick. It's always mine.

But I'll end this the same way I've ended every phone call I've ever had with my brother since we both reached adulthood (according to our mother, never) and started living hundreds if not thousands of  miles apart ever since: So long, bro. Love you.

I Miss...

I promised the next Schloss-Blog would be about thing I miss. So, special midweek edition, here goes.

I miss having a real president. But that's a whole 'nother Schloss-Blog.

I miss my friends.

The ones we ate out with every Saturday night.

The ones we worked out with at the gym.

Where we can only go by appointment now.

The ones with whom we celebrated holidays and exchanged gifts.

Every year.

Haven't seen some in almost a year now.

The ones I play golf with. I love astonishing them with the occasional great shot.

The ones I went to college with.

My fraternity brothers - my college family.

Our reunion plans are at best on a bubble.

The ones I grew up with in Brooklyn.

They're either scattered all over the country.

Or gone.

Forever.

We're at a point now where we all likely know someone afflicted with COVID-19. Or - God forbid - taken from us by it.

I'm typing this and welling up as I compose it.

Really.

I miss watching football games with packed houses on hand, influencing the outcome, so to speak.

I miss teams from schools that have canceled games altogether anyway.

I miss the atmosphere on Friday nights when I go cover a game.

There's nobody there, relatively speaking.

I miss the NY Giants being a "real, competitive" football team.

But that might not even happen again in my lifetime.

Daniel Jones. Really? With the 6th pick in the draft. Really? Really?

And you wonder why I'm welling up as I write this.

I miss Lev, Beatle, Coach, Cool Guy (and Ellen), Rev, R.T., Hick, Rod, Dox, Tool, Matos, Corky, 'Spo, 'Slay, Whale, Broadway, Lush, Who (Hoo?), Downunda, Dienda, Trees, Butch, Monk (sorry, no Sundance), PK, Frick and Frack, Boobs, Hoe (not really), Big O (A?), and guys with real names like Mike and David.

And Nibs, Dero, Sap, Kwiz and Rhino.

I miss Keith and Gary, my two favorite receivers on East 2nd Street, Albemarle Road or at the schoolyard.

I miss my cousins, who relish in making fun of me.

I miss a lot of things. I'll bet your list of what you miss is similar.

Stay well.

My friends.

What's left of you.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on my show Sunday night on Radio Free Phoenix.

I Know I Promised But...

The Schloss-Blog is well aware that it promised after Election Day and Trump's embarrassment that we would not write about this garbage anymore.

Wrong.

Donald Trump has every right, as John King on CNN keeps reminding me, to go to court and sue for this and that in the way of election irregularities.

He doesn't have the right to be a presidential petulant child. Which is exactly what he is.

With multiple lawsuits and indictments facing him once he's is out of office, not even a presidential pardon will shield him from all of them. And so he's worried.

That he'll be indicted.

That he'll go to jail.

That he'll be broke (he is).

So, he's running around like the tantrum-crazed child that he is, screaming foul and asking his lawyers to invest any charges they can think of to undo his election loss.

Ballots were changed.

Dead people voted (he can see dead people - he's one of them).

Votes were still being counted in states where he was ahead, allowing Biden to catch up and pass him.

Votes weren't being counted in states where he trailed Biden so he couldn't catch up.

Count the votes.

Don't count the votes.

Depending on if you're in Michigan or Georgia, Wisconsin or Nevada.

OMG and WTF now stand for Ohio-Michigan-Georgia and Wisconsin-Texas-Florida.

On top of all that, petulant child that he is, he's refusing to share his toys with the president-elect, or Fox News' "guy who got more votes."

For now.

What Trump is really doing is looking for a way out without having to say that he's looking for a way out.

Without losing.

Trump is that guy you grew up with who, when you chose up a game of touch football in your neighborhood and he didn't like the team he was on, he took his football and went home. Or when you played 3-on-3 basketball at your local schoolyard, he was the guy who said he got fouled every time he got the ball.

Our national security is threatened because he won't share presidential daily intelligence briefings with the guy who will read them thoroughly once he's sworn in as president.

I swear, Trump just might have to be physically removed from the White House on Jan. 20.

And put in a New York courtroom.

Where he belongs.

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

Next week, we switch gears - things I miss.

Like, my friends.

Welcome Back...

Schloss-Blog is thinking about America...

We're saying good-bye to a president who doesn't know the words to "God Bless America." He had to fake mouthing them at an FBS championship game and at a White House ceremony.

We're saying good-bye to a man who thinks that immigrants come from "shithole" countries.

We're saying good-bye to a man who said the coronavirus would magically disappear while it continued to ravage the country, infecting more than 9 million people and killing another quarter-million.

We're saying good-bye to a man who encouraged states to drop restrictions that were succeeding in mitigating the virus and scolded states when they didn't drop the restrictions.

We're saying good-bye to a man whose disrespect for women is exceeded only by his hatred of and disrespect for Mexicans and Muslims.

(Maybe I shouldn't have written that - I mean, MS-13 could come looking for me now.)

We're saying good-bye to a man whose insistence on having super-spreader rallies infected at least 30,000 people and killed another 700.

We're saying good-bye to a man who spent his mornings at the White House watching Fox & Friends, tweeting about it, calling in to it and skipping his presidential daily briefings from our intelligence community.

We're saying good-bye to a man who believes Vladimir Putin outright more than the careful research and cautions of our top-flight intelligence community.

We're saying good-bye to a man who spent almost one-third of his time in office playing golf.

We're saying good-bye to a man who used the presidency to try to enrich himself. Instead, he failed to have the British Open relocated to his Scotland property and had the PGA abandon his club to opt for a tournament in Mexico. And the LPGA has abandoned any tournaments at any Trump properties.

We're saying good-bye to a man who claims to have built 380-plus miles of wall along the Mexican border, but it's really less than 10 miles. The rest was repair and replace.

Y'know what that wall can't keep out? An airborne virus.

We're saying good-bye to a man who also said Mexico would pay for the wall.

Not.

We're saying good-bye to a man who tried to raid the Pentagon budget for funding to build the wall, but was denied by the courts.

We're saying good-bye to a man who wants immigrants to come from Norway instead of from "shithole" countries.

When you think about it, we're not saying good-bye to a "man" at all. We're saying good-bye to the murderer of 250,000 Americans, to whom he offered hydroxychloroquine and household cleansers as fixes for coronavirus.

Prediction here is he will do what men who are chickens do: step down before Jan. 20 and be pardoned for any and all crimes federal by President Pence.

But Cy Vance and Letitia James are going to throw his ass in jail.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you indeed, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

This Is It. Or Is It?

Schloss-Blog watching the campaigns, the games, the gripes, the hypocrisy and getting ill and fatigued from it all.

Also known as sick and tired.

Sick and tired of Trump attack ads saying Biden will try to raise your taxes. If you make less than $400,000 a year, that is simply a lie.

Keep hearing that, in effect, there will be a trickle-down tax because corporations will raise their prices after they get hit with a tax increase.

When was the last time corporations didn't raise their prices anyway? Puh-leez.

Sick and tired of Martha McSally.

Period.

Sick and tired of all the coaches, athletic directors and college sports administrators who swore up and down they would protect our football-playing children from COVID-19.

BS.

Entire seasons have been canceled in college football. Too many games as well. Take Wisconsin, where the virus is getting to be a Badger of honor.

High schools are either not playing or canceling games left and right.

Or should I say Sam and Mike?

We're also sick and tired of Donald Trump saying he was glad to help save the Big 10 football season. From what? Itself? Sorry, Donald, but the college football championship team is not coming to the White House.

Neither are the Dodgers. Or the Lakers. Or the Lightning. You're a racist. they know it. They're not coming.

We're sick and tired of the White House saying it has guidelines for dealing with the virus - it's called death, especially if you attend a Trump rally.

Eighty-two percent of counties that have hosted Trump open-air, mask-less, not socially distanced rallies have shown dramatic increases in COVID-19 infections contrasted to counties in proximity that did not host Trump rallies.

You wanna' die? Go to a Trump rally.

Ask Herman Cain.

Go ahead, ask him

Oh yeah, he's dead. Two weeks after attending a Trump rally.

Wanna' freeze to death?

Go to a Trump rally in Omaha, where you'll stand outside afterward and wait for a shuttle bus. Until Christmas. Trump doesn't care if you die of COVID, frostbite or some combination thereof.

What has happened to decency in this country?

Trump actually scoffs at media reports of the second wave of the coronavirus, which is hitting record highs in daily cases detected and in hospitalizations.

You know what that leads to, right?

Just what Trump wants, your death.

Just vote first if you're one of his core.

I'm also sick and tired of Jared Kushner. He says Blacks don't want to help themselves.

So the next time Trump says he's the least racist person in the room or that he's done more for Blacks than any other president, he's obviously only at fault because Kushner says Blacks don't want to help themselves.

They also want Confederate generals' statues restored.

And Joe Paterno's.

If Biden doesn't win, your life will be different. Social Security will dry up. Medicare too.

Trump is also putting husbands back to work, so he says.

Except women are a larger part of the workforce than men nowadays.

Trump is running for the presidency.

The 1956 presidency.

Through it all, despite the campaign-long poll leads for Biden (which have been stronger than Hillary's), Trump still might win.

And all those people at his rallies will get COVID.

Like Herman Cain.

And die.

I know, this has been kinda' morbid. But so has this country been the last four years.

So, good night, Mrs. Calabash. Koo Koo Ka Choo, Mrs. Robinson.

More on my Radio Free Phoenix show Sunday night.

This weekend is our 30th. Love you, Joss.

And congrats, Dodgers, but Justin Turner, what in Gawd's name were you thinking about?

Put that mask on.

Everyone.

s

Things I Love to Hate ... Or Is It Hate to Love?

The Schloss-Blog overslept (drank too much) and is back with you. Listening to Joe Catanzaro's show on Radio Free Phoenix to help bring me back.

Anyway, on about my fourth of glass of wine yesterday, I realized...

..Every time Donald Trump opens his mouth he lies. Every time.

Unless it's to stuff in an order of McDonald's or KFC.

I realize that in Phoenix, "Stop" signs are for people.

Not cars.

I realize that Donald Trump's appointee, John Ratcliffe, is actually the Director of Unintelligence. The next time he says something intelligent will be the first time.

I realize Trump will say anything to get re-elected. Anything!

$100 trillion was a figure he mentioned repeatedly during the debate. Who does he owe $100 trillion?

Besides Putin's oligarch's.

I just realized I started a sentence with a number ($100 trillion). That is a cardinal Associated Press Stylebook sin, unless it's you start the sentence with a year.

I'm not changing it anyway. Take that, AP.

I just realized that the NY Giants may have drafted the worst first-round quarterback in history in Daniel Jones.

No wait, the Browns drafted Tim Couch.

The Bears drafted Cade McNown.

The Bengals drafted Akili Smith.

The Cardinals took Matt Leinert.

Doesn't make me feel any better about Jones.

I just realized that Bill Barr will be unemployed after the election.

Thank Gawd.

I just realized that "Individual 1" is going to be indicted after the election.

Yeah, babeee.

I just realized that I had a great time yesterday hanging with Joss, Lauren, Lara and little Ofelia. The latter is a beauty (check out my Facebook and Instagram post).

I just realized that the governors of Georgia (Dr. Death as a friend there calls him) and Florida (Dr. Dumb as a friend there calls him), really are Doctors Death and Dumb.

Except for the governor of South Dakota. She is Dumb and Dumber rolled into one.

I just realized a vote for Trump is a vote for the end of Social Security and the end of coverage for your pre-existing conditions.

And maybe insurance in general.

I just realized the next Black I see on a film clip at a Trump rally will be the first one I see.

I just realized that Brooklyn's own Anthony Fauci should be president.

What have we got to lose, right?

Except the virus.

It ain't going away under Trump.

So go vote.

Wisely.

But vote.

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on my show Sunday night on Radio Free Phoenix.

GDX forever.

Back to Basics

The Schloss-Blog is getting back to basics today. In other words, my sportswriting roots.

With a touch of coronavirus.How enormous?

As we are on the verge of baseball's World Series, the coronavirus is running out of control.

For instance, what was coronavirus-infected coach Nick Saban doing on the sideline this weekend?

Which leads to, why isn't sports doing a better job of protecting players, coaches, administrators and their facilities? Why are leagues and teams able to get testing and processing done at a pace none of us mere mortals could ever afford?

The scope of this is enormous. The World Series, being played in a neutral site, consider the illegitimacy of all this.

• It was a 60-game season. How validating!
• It included softball-prototypical 7-inning games in doubleheaders to expedite the schedule. Did starters have to pitch 5 innings to get a win in a 7-inning game?
• It included runners on 2nd in every extra inning. Why not just start with the bases loaded?

All in all, 43 games were postponed over the course of the season due to coronavirus There were 45 doubleheaders featuring 90 7-inning games. Your MVPs are going to have 10 home runs and CY Young winners could have 4 wins.

As the NFL enters week 6

• Its entire preseason was canceled.
• 12 games have been rescheduled due to coronavirus.
• 67 players opted out rather than play this season and risk the virus.
• There was a Tuesday night game. The last one was in Detroit 10 years ago, between the Giants and Vikings, when Minnesota's dome collapsed days earlier.
• The Titans, Bears, Chiefs and Patriots are among the teams dealing directly with the virus.

There will be more postponements, cancellations, to be sure.

Jason McCourty, one of the league's premier defensive players, challenged the NFL on its premise of what he says is pulling out all the stops to be sure that games get played, above and beyond the health and safety of the players, coaches, staff, stadium personnel ... and fans.

When has the NFL ever done anything not related to making money?

College football, that's a whole 'nother story. Countless games have been cancelled, then rescheduled, in the Big 5 conferences and now everyone else. Teams are allowing a percentage of fans in stadiums.

But that has come back to bite the the University of Florida. Head coach Dan Mullen was outspoken when his Florida Gators lost at Texas A&M, critical that A&M's fans who were allowed in were a factor in the loss. He insisted that Florida, per the (feckless) governor's order, should be allowed to have a full house in its game this weekend against defending national champion LSU.

Except the game never happened. Florida's roster was suddenly bitten by the coronavirus, with 20 players testing positive. The game never happened, may never happen and Mullen, disdainful of the virus, has not been heard from. And an FCS-level champion will not be crowned this year. Sorry, North Dakota State Buyzzz-on.

High school football is in a state of confusion. Arizona pushed its season opening back 2 months and shortened it to 8 games, with no make-up dates for cancellations built in. Still, too many teams state wide cancelled whole seasons or many games, including state powers.

Illinois and California moved their high school football seasons to the spring semester. Good luck with that. Uh, the vaccine may not be ready, boys.

In addition, whole teams canceled out of the NWSC and MLS season-opening soccer tournaments because of the coronavirus.

The Summer Olympics in Tokyo were pushed back a WHOLE YEAR.

Maybe. If we're lucky, they'll be competed before the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Did anybody really think that the coronavirus would not play havoc with sports at all levels? The virus doesn't care if you're an athlete, a politician, a coach or debate moderator. By the way, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post no longer send reporters on the road to cover Trump campaign rallies.

Would you go to one? 

In the end, the coronavirus has beaten sports.

Final score: COVID 19

                    Sports    0

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

More on Sunday on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. Happy birthday, Cheryl.

Bad Habits

The Schloss-Blog has been roaming around, looking around and seeing some bad habits.

As in, people not adhering to the standards of wearing masks or maintaining social distancing.

Not even close.

What is wrong America? It's almost as if there are people out there (Trump supporters) who want to kidnap government officials who want to enforce COVID-19 restrictions.

No, wait...

I was watching Texas A&M play Florida. A&M fans were locked in their arm-in-arm traditional swaying and not exactly seated socially distanced either.

Not even close.

Not at any game I've watched. Texas-OU. Tennessee-Georgia. Doesn't matter. Fans don't care. Bring on the virus. We don't care.

At a football game I attended, parents and fans, sans masks, greeted each other with hugs and handshakes like nothing was wrong in the world.

Not just some of them. All of them.

And it's not just the fans. The Tennessee Titans, the Chicago Bears, the Kansas City Chiefs are all having COVID run through their rosters.

Their games postponed. We'll even have a Tuesday night game this week.

At the White House, meanwhile, the president, who may be dead by the time you read this, disdains quarantine and greets mask-less guests before seating them, not socially distanced.

For a campaign event, which, according to the Hatch Act, it is illegal to do at the White House.

Who knows how many people the president and his traveling party may have infected. No, wait, we do know - 18. Senators, aides, advisers (Stephen "Racist" Miller - aw, shucks).

On airplanes, which you must wear a mask to board, several airlines are packing their now limited and fewer flights full, selling middle seats (looking at you, United and American).

It'll likely be that way for a while. Maybe until 2022.

I know people who won't get on a plane for at least six months after a vaccine is approved and administered, to give it time to make sure it really works.

I also know people who refuse to take the vaccine in any form. They don't trust the government's rushed development thereof or are just plain old anti-vaxxers.

And they voted for Trump.

That's not gonna' help herd mentality - uh, immunity (gawd, Trump is stupid).

I had coffee the other day with an old friend who happened to be visiting nearby and was kind enough to call me. We sat, socially distanced, outside at a Starbucks.

She told me she hasn't hugged ANYONE since the end of January. She's 40. Has a teenage son.

I have a relative who never - NEVER - leaves his house. Everything is delivered, ordered online, dropped off. Groceries, household staples, dinners, you name it.

I guess the White House is not using amazon. (As if Trump would ever use Jeff Bezos' amazon).

And now, the president, assuming he is still alive as you read this, is telling everyone that getting the virus, which he once denied existed, was a blessing. His whole family should be so blessed. Virtually his whole White House has been. Dominus vobiscum, huh? 

And now, thanks to COVID restrictions, there will not be a second presidential debate. Too bad. Trump is missing an opportunity to make a crude, interrupting fool of himself because he only wants to be face-to-COVID-generating-face with Biden.

Oh, and Donald, the Durham investigation will NOT be completed before the election. Either will the vaccine.

Bye bye, Donald.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday tonight on my Radio Free Phoenix show.

Remember When...

 The Schloss-Blog is wondering if you remember...

...when the only thing you had to worry about 7 months ago was whether you had enough toilet paper?

Now you're worried about paying the rent. And the medical bills.

Remember when, if you're an old-timer like me, the only thing you had to worry about was waiting in line for gas during the shortage of 1973?

Now you've got a full tank of gas and nowhere to go thanks to COVID-19.

Unless you live in Florida. If you live there and live that long, that is (thank you, Gov. De-Ass-tis).

Remember when the only thing you had to worry about in college was whether you could get a dime bag before you had dinner?

Now you're worried that there's a cannabis store across the street from your kid's school.

The one he or she is attending, remotely.,

Remember when you were worried about who your kids were hanging out with or socializing with or ... heavens to Murgatroyd ... dating?

Now you're worried that your kids are spending too much time at home.

On a screen.

Going ... who knows where.

With .. who knows who?

Remember when you went to the gym and worked out all the time?

Now you have to make an appointment to go.

And have your temperature taken when you get there.

And where a mask while working out.

Comfy, are you?

Remember when you covered your mouth and your face when you coughed or sneezed?

Now you cough or sneeze into the crook of your elbow.

At least you're supposed to.

Remember when you could settle in with a good book on a long flight?

Now you're wondering if you'll go on a long flight again.

Ever.

Remember when you never heard of online meetings?

Now where would you be without Zoom?

Or Webex?

Remember when you filled out a bracket for the NCAA Tournament?

Now you have to fill one out for the MLB Tournament.

In Texas.

Where the World Series will be played.

No matter who's in it.

Wonder if they'll have any 7-inning games?

And finally, remember when you had your accountant do your taxes?

Donald Trump's will be done by the Supreme Court, if he has his way.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on my Radio Free Phoenix show Sunday night.

If You Vote For Trump

The death of Justice Ginsburg and the battle over her seat has the Schloss-Blog thinking about the consequences of a vote for Donald Trump. With this being National Voting Registration Week...

...If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you are voting to support a belief that the coronavirus is affecting almost no one.

Almost no one. He said that. Think about it.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you are voting to support racism.

Trump has said it right out loud; Blacks will move into your neighborhood if you don't for him. I spent my life going to school in Brooklyn, in Albany, in DeKalb, Illinois, with Blacks. I've had minorities on either side of me all my life. I'm not too worried.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you will be voting for someone who stole money from the U.S. Military budget and dedicated it to building his wall, the one Mexico was supposed to pay for.

By the way, he has hardly built any new wall at all. He replaced existing wall, but hardly built anew. He's lying.

Shocker, right?

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you are voting for the coronavirus to disappear magically.

Magically.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

....you are voting for someone who prescribes hydroxychloroquine and household bleach to be put into your bloodstream, outright.

And that will kill you even sooner than the coronavirus.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...You are voting for your grandmother's death. He's already said so. It's a virus for old people.

He's 74.vote  

If you for Donald Trump...

...and depend on the Post Office for delivery of your prescription medicines, you're likely not getting them on time, are you? In other words, he doesn't care if you die.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you vote not to wear masks nor maintain social distancing. In other words, you vote to die.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you vote for deliberate delays in the delivery of your mail, perhaps your prescriptions, your support checks, your birthday cards from your grandchildren and your S.I. Swimsuit issue.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you believe like he does that your children and grandchildren are immune to the coronavirus.

Yeah, the ones who throw super-spreader parties at the University of Alabama, or whatever your favorite university is.

And will bring the virus home to Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, brother, sister...neighborhood.

If you vote for Donald Trump...

...you are voting for someone who doesn't care that more than 200,000 of your fellow Americans have been killed by the virus.

And lastly, if you vote for Donald Trump...

...you are voting for someone who is, through his disdainful disregard of protective measures against the virus, sanctioning the deaths of some 200,000 more by the end of the year.

But he says it hardly affects anyone.

Hopefully, none of your loved ones.

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Wear a mask.

More on my Sunday night show on Radio Free Phoenix.  

Doesn't Make Sense...

The Schloss-Blog is watching some things that just don't make sense.

Like in the U.S. Open golf tournament, why do these incredibly talented pros take 3-5 minutes to size up a shot, examine their notebooks, consult with their caddies, study their lies (of the ball, that is), measure up every angle of their putt from every which side of it, and then ...

...put the ball in a sand trap, in the water, 20 feet past the hole on a putt, on a slope on which it is impossible to keep the ball from rolling all way to Cleveland, or just plain leave it in a place where it is impossible to hit it anywhere near the hole.

I take not even a quarter of that time and do the same thing, which makes me feel not so bad about my game.

Why do so many politicians lie (speaking of lies) in their campaign ads? Outright lie. In Arizona, Martha McSally keeps saying she is all in favor of protecting patients with pre-existing conditions. In reality, she voted for legislation that would've eliminated such protection. Eight times.

Eight times.

Yet, a lot of people are going to vote for her because she worships at the temple of Trump. Interesting, because she didn't even attend his super-spreader rally in Arizona, mostly because she didn't want to be in an audience where masks are the exception, not the rule, and social distancing is nonexistent.

She about deserves to be in the U.S. Senate as much I do.

It doesn't make sense to me that the Big Ten conference announced the cancellation of its fall sports and now has reinstated them. Why?

As I always said t my students in class, IT'S ALWAYS THE MONEY and the conference has more than $700 million in TV revenue on the line, or about $55 million per member school.

Did anyone really think they'd walk away from that?

The players, by the way, the student-athletes, get none of that. None. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

However, the SEC, the ACC and the Big 12 had already decided they'd play and collect their fare share of TV revenue and the PAC-12 is considering it.

As renowned USA Today sports columnist and commentator Christine Brennan put it, the Big 10's decision was the day it became the SEC.

Student health matters not. Concussions? Meh. Sprains? Tape 'em up. Bruises? Rub some dirt on 'em.

COVID-19? Good luck. Ten percent positivity rates are OK. The World Health Organization says 5 percent is the acceptable rate for any community, region, state, school district, college, etc.

The sad part of that is the schools have allotted remarkable resources to be able to test athletes multiple times per week, with same-day turnaround.

Meanwhile, the student body at so many of these schools will not only be barred from attending the games, they're home, learning remotely, electronically, and paying full tuition for it.

Paying for the COVID-19 tests their fellow "student-students" are able to get, daily, if need be.

But back to golf. Tiger Woods stunk up the course at the U.S. Open. So many great golfers have not made the cut.

Heck, I could've done that. In half the time.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

Six Months Ago...

Six months ago, the Schloss-Blog was in another life, virtually.

This week, as President Trump heads into Phoenix for the umpteenth time this campaign season, he does so on the heels of the Arizona Cardinals not only scoring their big, opening-day upset over the 49ers, but after the Cardinals did not take the field for the National Anthem.

Fire those S.O.B.'s, Donald, and all the other athletes who continue to take a knee during the anthem or before the opening kickoff, or not go on the field for it at all. All of sports has told you to stick it. And got away with it.

Six months ago, I never thought I'd see an American President encourage people to commit a felony to try to vote twice.

Not anymore. 

Six months ago, I never thought the United States Post Office would see to it that my absentee ballot might not get there on time. Deliberately.

Not anymore.

Meanwhile, six months ago, I would go to giant Woodfield Mall once a month near my suburban Chicago home.

Not anymore.

Six months ago, I went out to eat every Saturday night at a nice, local restaurant, often with friends.

Not anymore.

Six months ago, I thought there would be a legitimate Major League Baseball season.

Not anymore. Now there are 7-inning games and guys on second base in extra innings in a 60-game season. No legitimacy.

Six months ago, I thought the MLB commissioner might actually do something punitive to the Astros and Red Sox, who cheated their respective ways to the World Series titles in 2017 and 2018. 

Not anymore. Now, none of them have been punished, suspended nor fined, and the only player punished was a pitcher for the Dodgers, who lost both of those World Series.

Six months ago, I thought I'd be spending more time in my adopted home in Arizona than my primary residence in Illinois.

Not anymore.

Six months ago, I thought the NHL and NBA seasons would end in June and start up again in the fall.

Not anymore. Now they've played through makeshift bubble playoffs, will finish in October, maybe, and start up again in December.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Maybe.

Six months ago, I thought high school football, which I've covered for 40 years, would start in August.

Not anymore. In some states, it's not starting at all.

Six months ago, I thought me and three of my fraternity brothers would be planning a reunion for 2021 for us all.

Not anymore.

Six months ago, my wife traveled virtually every week to her hospital and healthcare clients, for whom she designs award-winning facilities.

Not anymore. She's strictly working from home all that time. 

Six months ago, if you'd have told me that in our 30 years of marriage, we'd have spent the most amount of continuous time together that we ever have and still be talking to each other, I'd have told you, not anymore.

Boy, was I wrong.

Six months ago, I thought my wife and I would be on our 30th anniversary honeymoon trip to Paris.

Not anymore, obviously.

Six months from now, I hope we're on a new course, with a new president and the coronavirus on its way to be out of sight.

And that I never have to say "not anymore," anymore.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

Happy News Year ... And All That

The Schloss-Blog is watching the convergence of so many things and trying to stay upbeat.

However, the only thing worse than the president lying all along about the obvious severity of the coronavirus is that he is continuing to lie about lying about it. At the expense of nearly 200,000 lives now.

But sports is my thing, so I tried watching a couple of college football games, but with so many schools and conferences not playing, and the FCS  schools (D-1AA or 1-A, as you prefer) having already canceled their postseason championship tournament, it's hard to be excited when I know my alma mater schools - Northern Illinois (FBS) and UAlbany (FBS playoffs last year), aren't playing or aren't playing for anything meaningful this season.

The season has lost all legitimacy anyway. Virginia and Virginia Tech, two great ACC rivals, postponed their opener because of COVID concerns. The Ivy League canceled all sports until 2021, if then. Other schools, other games, have canceled.

I just don't care as much as I once did about college football for the first time in a long time. It has no purpose, no direction, no saving grace, a lot of angry parents from Nebraska who think they and their lawyer are the most important thing about the game and there's just no legitimacy.

What will the Big 10 presidents do though? We'll see by nightfall.

I'd love to see them all playing but have seen no guarantees that players and fans can be kept safe. Not reasonably safe but outright safe. I have to cover high school games starting Oct. 2 and I will put on my mask and go, stay socially distanced from the field instead of walking the sideline like I have done for 40 years and videotape postgame interviews from a distance.

But unlike cowards like Clay Travis, who hide in their basements and criticize sportswriters whom he says want to see the virus cancel sports, I'll be there, braving the elements of virus and crowds and people who don't believe they'll ever get the virus because President Trump says so. Ever notice, he never lets anyone within 6 feet of him Any. One.

Even with the virus hitting close to home, striking his Republican colleagues and crippling the Secret Service, Donald Trump doesn't care. Maybe if he got it he'd learn. He'd disappear, only be heard from on Twitter for two weeks, at minimum, his staff lying about why he's been invisible (in secret negotiations to take our troops out of Syria so the Kurds can get slaughtered or put troops in Portland so they can slaughter fellow Americans - no, wait...).

Did I mention my daughter got married last week. My ex, who hasn't spoken to me for 30 years, actually hugged me after the ceremony. I was very grateful for that, actually.

My daughter could not have looked more beautiful and it was her facial expression more than anything else that made the day. Instead of 200 people in a classy ballroom and a ceremony under the stars, a farm field and 25 people tucked into an open-air garage felt just right. Jordan was the classy ring-bearer. Kudos to Mike's parents for facilitating.

If only the college football season generated such enthusiasm. If only the football parents at Nebraska had the same pride to know how to do the right thing for everyone instead of just for themselves.

But they don't. They're just like Clay "I'm All About Myself" Travis. Clay says all sportswriters rooted against sports and for the virus to cancel everything. Then all the sportswriters showed up to cover everything and he stayed in his basement and didn't. What a coward.

Bite me, Clay.

Stay safe everyone. Vote early, no matter how you vote, vote early. If you vote by mail, btw, and show up to vote in person, you will be turned away. Even in North Carolina. 

For the first time in years, I'm going to be watching pro football more than college. The pros are keeping themselves covered while the college campuses are keeping themselves COVID-ered.

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Mrs. Robinson. And Daniel Jones, hold on to the damn football this year.

More on my show Sunday night on radiofreephoenix.com.

I'm Baaaaaaack ... In Arizona Again

Picking up where we left off last week, the Schloss-Blog has some more musings about life in the age of COVID. It's not all pleasant.

But some of it is (my daughter is getting married today).

Sports fan, and reporter, that I am, I'm watching some great NHL playoff games (Islanders-Flyers and Canucks-Avalanche are intense series), but am noticing that some of the broadcast play-by-play team is in studio, either in New York or Toronto or even at home (Eddie Olczyk). I guess it works but I guess I'll never get accustomed to it. I like to feel like I'm at the game when I watch it on TV or at least that the announcer's perspective in-arena gives him an advantage in analyzing for me what is going on. Technology has evened that up though, in every sport.

NFL, NBA, MLS and MLB are all broadcasting games that way, with at least one analyst not at the stadium.

What's heartening to me is that the NBA (Doris Burke), NHL (U.S. National-Teamer A.J. Mleczko) and MLB (Jessica Mendoza) have female analysts just as good as any guy, especially Burke and Mleczko, where Mendoza has a conflict, being employed by the Mets.

Not as much fighting in NHL games either now, as players realize that major misconduct penalties are not something their teams can afford to suffer in critical playoff games.

But back to lifestyles in general (my daughter is getting married today).

Me, I have gotten even more dependent on my electronic life than ever in the age of COVID, in my shopping, my dining, my friendships, my family relations, my information gathering and even my socializing.

Catherine Wolf, I miss our monthly dinners, our traditional BBQ and then soft-serve dessert. Emily Capdevielle, I miss our monthly beverages, whether they be blended by a barista or a bartender.

But I am enjoying my monthly Zoom calls with dozens of my fraternity brothers, from San Francisco to Boston, North Carolina to Oklahoma, Minnesota to Louisiana. It would still be better in person, but that's a reunion we can't schedule.

Yet. (My daughter is getting married today,)

I am enjoying discovering through renewed communication that Betsy Buenzow Petrie, about whom I once wrote an award-winning profile about her life as a track star/rock star in college, has had a successful, professional career and a handsome family.

I am enjoying that my Radio Free Phoenix compadre Jane Snyder Pecorella was someone who I probably bumped into once or twice at now-closed Nathan's on Long Island, when, in high school, my friends and I would go cruising for Long Island girls to pick up. Nathan's was the place to go. I admire her memory of that revered pickup hot spot.

(My daughter is getting married today.)

But I'm not enjoying some other things. Going into stores and locations in Wisconsin and Arizona where not everyone wears facemasks or socially distances. Not even close.

Not enjoying hearing that so many colleges are closing down no sooner than they opened up. We'll see how their football teams hold up.

I'm hoping that all the coaches who petitioned their high school and college administrations, respectively, really can keep their players COVID free. I wonder if those schools that are playing will finish their seasons. I'm hoping yes, and yes, but fearing no, and no.

I'm disgusted that Donald Trump is using the Post Office and the threat of minorities moving into the suburbs as political campaign tools. Slowing the mail only hurts veterans and shut-ins who depend on the mail for their medications. His racist taunts are his trademark. If you vote for him, you support racism, period.

He is so afraid of losing and being indicted, as he will be, that he'll do anything, promise a vaccine by election day, albeit not fully vetted, authenticated nor proven, let alone that it would be rejected outright by even his own supporters who are diehard "anti-vaxxers" who will jeopardize the country's chances of gaining full immunization against this devastating virus.

(My daughter is getting married today.)

I'm sad that I couldn't attend my beloved cousin's funeral in New Jersey, couldn't hold my best friend's granddaughter at a small gathering to send his daughter off to her new, very lucrative-looking career outpost, even if it is in Green Bay.

I'm sad whenever Trump says men clad in black boarded a plane to reap destruction on Washington and then reversed himself and said they were leaving Washington to do that, which means he must have dispatched them. Even Trump cheerleader Laura Ingraham didn't comprehend that one.

I'm sad Trump publicly encouraged people to vote twice, a felony.

And I'm sad I couldn't give my daughter the wedding she deserved, in a big ballroom with the family all around after a twilight ceremony under the stars and cocktails too.

But she's getting married today, in front of 25 people on a grassy field in Wisconsin, and I couldn't be happier for her.

I'd love to be able to say that my next Schloss-Blog post will see you on the other side of COVID, but we all know that won't happen, not even by Election Day, regardless of what Trump says or what he tells the CDC to say.

Sorry, Dr. Trump, we know better.

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

More tonight on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

The More Things Change, The More...WTF

The Schloss-Blog has been thinking about life in general.

How much has yours changed since the pandemic hit, since Trump let it run wild? Because what I'm heard come out of the Republican National Convention was not even close to the reality of life in the age of COVID.

Me, though, for the most part, I'm pretty much doing the same things I've done all along, just with a mask on and staying 6-feet apart from anyone else.

I still go to the grocery store once a week. I go through the Starbucks drive-thru a few times a week. I play socially-distanced golf once a week with the same group I've been playing with for years.

But everything else has changed.

Dinner on Saturday night, always a night out for me and my wife or sometimes with another couple, is gone. We bring dinner in now from our favorite restaurants.

Shopping? I can't remember the last time I went to a mall. Any mall. Banana Republic, Gap, Nordstrom, Macy's and all other places where I was a semi-regular, they haven't seen me since February, if then.

Vacations? We were supposed to be celebrating our 30th anniversary in Paris (France, not Texas). Had the trip booked. Not this year. Who knows when? Well, everyone knows '31' is the biggie, right?

Gatherings? We've been to three, all to celebrate someone's important occasion, birth of a baby, farewell to someone moving out of state or something like that. All small, all socially distanced, painstakingly, I might add, with no handshakes, hugs or any other physical exchanges of affection beyond elbow bumps. With a mask on.

Thanks to Trump's mishandling of COVID, who knows what's next and WTF?

My daughter, I'm so happy to say, is getting married next weekend in a small field in Wisconsin, in front of 25 people, instead of in a big hotel ballroom with a ceremony under the stars in front of some 200 people. I'm sorry we can't do more, sweetie, because I'd love to. So would our whole fam, who reside coast to coast - they all adore you.

Life in the age of COVID.

My fraternity brothers, a dwindling group at our ages, are trying to plan a reunion next year, in Albany, New York, where we attended college and because a close-knit group of New York State resident teenage blowhards, us guys, banded together somehow back in the day, originating everywhere from Buffalo to Brooklyn, to form a group of jocks, academics and drunks who somehow all got along famously.

Now, thanks to Trump's mishandling of COVID, who knows when we'll meet up again and WTF?

Travel, that doesn't exist anymore. We would go to New Jersey, Texas and Missouri to visit our respective families a total of six or seven trips a year. Now, I can't remember the last time we were in New Jersey nor think of the next time we'll be to any of the aforementioned. Couldn't even attend my beloved cousin's funeral.

As to planning events, no one knows when COVID will be conquered, even though Larry Kudlow talked about it Tuesday night during the Republican National Convention like it was a thing of the past. Uh, Larry, it has killed more than 180,000 of your fellow Americans and will have killed 250,000 by Election Day. It is not, Larry, a thing of the past.

Either is Trump's golf game, at which he's spent a third of his time as president. WTF?

Sports, my love, I miss. Those of you who know me also know how much I love covering prep sports.  I still cover high school football and basketball on a freelance basis. But not now. It's all been postponed, canceled or rescheduled until sometime next year.

Maybe.

In the age of Trump and COVID, WTF?

Much more on this next week and on my rock 'n' roll show on Sunday on Radio Free Phoenix.

Until then, goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, and here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

WTF?

Things Are Different Now, For Real

This special, mid-week Schloss-Blog cannot be held for the weekend.

The Milwaukee Bucks voiced their protest by not showing up for their game in the bubble, a protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, a Wisconsin town with a lot of Bucks fans.

Then the NBA canceled the rest of its games that night.

Then the WNBA.

And MLS. And some MLB.

Some baseball players said they didn't have enough time to discuss doing the same.

Hockey too.

I looked at all this and realized how lucky I am and how legitimate all these athletes are in their protest voices, their boycotts and their frustration.

When I go out and drive around, run errands or am on my way out to dinner or a game to cover, I am not worried that a police officer will pull me over.

Because I'm white.

But all these athletes are saying they are worried, for themselves, that they've lived through it, that they often tool around in fear.

They're worried for their kids, especially when they reach driving age.

I never had to worry about that with my daughter. No one in my family ever had to worry about that with their kids.

No one.

But black athletes do. Blacks do.

Now, with these protests, I see for real the legitimacy of their concerns and those of the entire black community. I was always aware of it, but now I'm not just seeing it, I'm feeling it.

I attended segregated public schools growing up in Brooklyn. My friends and I would ride out to Lost Battalion Hall just to play pickup games and test our skills with some of the best schoolyard players in Nu Yawk in the facility where our beloved Knicks practice at in those days. 

And then I attended the same environment in college.

And taught for 23 years at a college famous for its diversity of student body. And covered and wrote about athletes of color and still do.

Meanwhile, idiot Clay Travis is exploiting this racial element to rant about how stupid the athletes are in their protests, that they're proverbially shooting themselves in their feet.

The next time he has a black athlete on his show will likely be the first time.

This whole thing - George Floyd, LaQuan McDonald, Breonna Taylor and now Jacob Blake - makes it all too real, even for someone like me, who, like I said, grew up in and attended schools in mixed environments all the way through my education and into my professional life.

I'm listening to athletes, retired and otherwise, say, "I'm tired of being tired," which Jay Williams of ESPN just said on air.

I'm listening to athletes, like the most-high profile of them all, LeBron James, and respected coaches, like Doc Rivers, who I actually saw play when he was in high school, speak out in frustration that the white community does not understand the fear that blacks live in.

I wouldn't blame the NBA for not finishing its season. I might blame them if they do.

It's time for a change. But I've heard that before.

One more thing: to watch the Republican National Convention this week, you'd never know any of this is going on and when they do decide to recognize it, it will be to quiet and shame the protesters and not to address what they are protesting. And it will be to shame the athletes in their protests.

Which is exactly the point - the White House, the president, the First Lady, the Republican Party have no shame.

Not such a good night, is it, Mrs. Calabash? Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

So, I've Been Thinking...

So much on the Schloss-Blog's mind and not enough time to process everything. Need your help.

With the post office "slowed" by Trump and DeJoy, we know that many absentee ballots will not be delivered in time to be counted. Trump is counting on that.

But it's not the only thing being "slowed" by the post office debacle the president is trying to create.

Did you know that there was a 20 percent increase in prescription medicine delivery since the pandemic hit earlier this year? That means people's lives are stake. Now, those medicines will arrive that much later. Literally.

Is your prescription medicine delivery threatened? Is a loved one's? 

If economic stimulus checks ever get approved again and begin being dispatched to people, most will go electronically. But did you know that for people making less than $15,000 a year (there's lots of 'em too), 28 percent of them do not have a bank account. Which means they'd have to get a stimulus check, let alone an unemployment insurance check, by mail. 

Or, more likely, not get it. Not before food, meds and other critical supplies run out.

By the way, 10 percent of the U.S. population makes less than $15,000 a year. Could you live on $15,000 a year? Could a loved one?

And by the way, some 12 million Americans do not have a checking or savings account and therefore have no way to electronically receive a stimulus or unemployment check. They have to get it by ... yeah, you know it, U.S. Mail.

Which is being deliberately delayed.

The U.S. Mail is not the U.S. Mail anymore. It's a vehicle to prevent voting which is becoming a vehicle to prevent critical care for so many.

Hopefully, not you nor any of your loved ones. But some of of you likely are being impacted.

Speaking of being at risk, college students have been chased off campus and classes have gone back to being virtual around the country as "clusters" of coronavirus have erupted at colleges across the nation, in good part due to welcome-back-to-school parties that paid no particular attention to face masks nor social distancing.

But the football teams are still practicing at so many of those institutions, despite the way the University of North Carolina student newspaper termed the "clusters" of spikes:

Cool, huh? Not making this up. The college newspaper published this story and headline on its front page.

So, how are you feeling about sending your kids back to school? Are you confident that your kids' schools are doing what it takes to protect their health and safety and prevent them from eventually bringing it home as well?

Me, a retired college professor, I'm not that confident.

Yet, parents at many major colleges, especially at the Big Ten, are angry and sounding off that their kids should be allowed to play football this year, despite the conference postponing it for the fall.

So, to me, these parents are silent about and willing to send their children into mosh pits where they are likely to get life-shortening, life-threatening brain injuries with no protest to the schools to raise the level of protection from that but are angry that the schools are protecting their kids from contracting a deadly virus from which there is no known cure.

Me, I'm wondering, when did parents did take over college athletic administration?

One solution I've seen suggested is spreading out the kids along almost the full length of the sideline to keep them socially distanced when they're not in the game but to throw them into the mosh pit that is the offensive and defensive lines colliding when they're in the game. Yeah, that makes sense.

I am as much in favor of football being played as anyone in America. But I am in favor of doing it in such a way that keeps players, coaches and officials as safe as possible.

Like, maybe in the spring, when there is the prospect of a vaccine or herd immunity.

But these parents have never herd - uh, heard - of that. Fans in Utah and Alabama, where high school football is underway, are seen in droves not wearing masks nor observing social distancing. They can likely kiss their seasons good-bye sometime in October, if not before.

For me,it's time to say good night Mrs. Calabash and here's to you Mrs. Robinson.

More on my show tonight on radiofreephoenix.com, the station celebrating its 16th anniversary.

And Now, The Schloss-Blog Is Back....

We're back and thankful to be. So glad so many of you appreciated last week's respite from vitriolic diatribe and calling out lies and misleading claims.

We warned though, months ago, that Trump would announce before the election that a virus vaccine would be ready by election day and he's at it already. He is desperate to be re-elected because he knows he will be indicted if he is not.

But me, I have a little dispute with Clay Travis, sports talk-radio host (on Fox, where else?), who claims that Black Lives Matter is the reason NBA ratings have not peaked yet since the league's return and that NBA athletes especially are to blame for the increase in shootings across America because of their stands on Black Lives Matter.

He has offered no proof whatsoever other than he is Clay and he is God. Yo, Clay, the NBA format sucks and nobody cares about the tournament-to-be-in-tournament. The NHL got right into its playoffs, golf is doing well because it is naturally socially distanced (I play once a week) and baseball, ratings notwithstanding, sucks. A man on second to start extra innings sucks. Seven-inning doubleheader games suck.

If someone pitches a 7-inning no-hitter or perfect game, by the way, should they get official credit for it? If someone throws a 7-inning perfecto, should it be No. 24 in baseball history? Why not? The game would count in the standings, wouldn't it?

Have not heard you, Clay, address that. And so far, Clay, 24 games have been canceled or postponed by the virus. Maybe they'll be made up as part of 7-inning-game doubleheaders. What a joke.

Sort of like you, Clay. You claim that white elites are the moving force behind Black Lives Matter. Your proof, please. You claim that not only are fans turning away from the NBA because it is politically active but that NBA players being politically active is the driving force behind the increase in shootings in America.

By the way, Clay, Black athletes have long been reacting to political machinations, especially Trump's.

So, your proof, please, Clay, your proof.

Gee, Clay, who do you sound like who makes outlandish claims like that with no proof?

Mitch McConnell? Unqualified DNI John Ratcliffe? Mike Pence?

All of the above or the man above them, whose name we won't mention but whose initials are Donald Trump.

He wants all our children sent back to school, all of them. Sort of like the scene of the crowded hallway in Georgia, the school where Trump's "immune" children are packed together, super-spreading the virus and inviting it home with them after school. The kids who took that pic, btw, were disciplined.

Your children might die. How do you feel about that? I see you're sending your kids back to school. We'll see if the schools stay open.

But you're the great Clay Travis, whose Donald Trump-deplorable listeners have indicted themselves by believing that black athletes are spurring shootings in America via their politicking for Black Lives Matter.

So I guess Black Lives Matter doesn't matter to you and your WWE Monday broadcast partner Jason Whitlock, as both of you blame black athletes for the shootings yet offer no proof to back up your claim.

Hey Clay, Donald Trump thinks your kids are "immune" from the virus, so, no sweat sending them back to school, right? Right?

One more thing - our elected representatives in Washington, D.C., are negotiating - negotiating - the lives of our children, our relatives, our friends and neighbors and how much to spend to keep them alive and thriving. NEGOTIATING! OUR LIVES! And btw, Donald Trump's executive orders about money to people have no teeth. Only Congress controls monetary disbursement and the Republicans in the Senate refuse to negotiate about it and would rather let people die.

Makes you feel confident in D.C. policymaking, doesn't it? Trump can make policy, he can declare policy, but he can't finance it. But he can send United States military personnel into American urban areas to "enforce" the law. And that is entirely unconstitutional.

On that note, good night, Mrs. Calabash and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More on Sunday night on my rock 'n' roll show on Radio Free Phoenix.

Thankful for...

After weeks and even months of dumping on Donald Trump, it's time for a change of pace in the Schloss-Blog.

While Trump ravages the nation, lets the coronavirus obliterate the status of our healthcare and the economy, attacks innocents with paramilitary forces and tries to bend every Constitutional standard, for the rest of us, life goes on.

And I'm thankful for a lot of it, a lot of it which I would take for granted but can't in the age of Trump, COVID and the simple inability now to go out to eat on a Saturday night.

I'm thankful for my daughter, who is getting married on Sept. 6, to a great guy.

I'm thankful for my grandson, whose innocence and curiosity are so refreshing that you almost forget that there is a ravaged economy and a coronavirus out there.

I'm thankful I can still work, assuming that there is something for me to work on, if the coronavirus hasn't totally destroyed high school sports as I've known it for the last 40 years that I've covered it. There is no greater gratification than seeing the thrill in a high school athlete's eyes while interviewing him or her after a game.

I'm thankful for all the great coaches I got to work with and still get to work with all these years, the Mark Saylors of the world, the Grant Blaneys of the world, the Paul Moro's (AZ football) of the world, the Joe Sanchez's of the world, the Ted Ecker's of the world, the Donna Dubbelde's of the world, the Bill Ebenezer's of the world and the Tom Baumann's of the world. So many more. Wish I could name you all (John Camardella, Ryan O'Connor and John Novak).

I'm thankful that there is an "ion television," allowing me to binge-watch "Chicago P.D.," "Law and Order," "Law and Order C.I.," "NCIS Los Angeles" (Daniela Ruah is hot) and even "The Listener," about the EMT who is a mind-reader helping the police solve crimes.

Sorry, "ion," but I don't binge-watch "Through the Bible with Les Feldick." Besides, it's on too early.

I'm thankful for all my relatives all over the country, who I know would've all gotten on a plane and flown to wherever Erin's wedding would've been if it wasn't for the COVID virus.

I'm thankful Jocelyn has kept me on the relative straight and narrow, OK, one or the other, all these years.

I'm thankful for friends like Catherine Wolf, the Triad girls of my Sports Reporting class, fellow faculty like Carolyn, Norma, Barb, Lillian, Yolanda, Jeff, Jeff, Len and Shanitaaaaaaaah (and Kevin).

And best of luck and health to Caitlin, John and little Miles. And Grandma and Grandpa Brian and Cathy.

I'm thankful for my GDX brothers, who can get together and chat like the conversation never ended 40+ years ago. Whale, Corky, Bunky, Lev, Cool Guy (and Ellen), Hick, Harvey, Hoff, Hoover, Keenan, Coach, Butch, Monk, Schnepper and everyone else. Even Skulls and Rod. 

I'm thankful for my "Arizona family," including and especially GDX'ers Marcus and Fox and their significant others, and Lauren and Fernando (and little Ofelia), and Wayne and Karla, down the street, without whom I don't meet Sharon and Liz from Radio Free Phoenix and become the voice of Sunday nights. Andy, Dave, Dan, Joe, Cheryl, you have all made me part of the RFP family. Thank you.

And couldn't forget Candice, without whom my house doesn't get inspected and maintained out there.

I'm thankful for the Buffalo Grove 1978 football team, that still remembers me. Thanks for the round of golf, Bentley Patterson. You have become as good a man as you were an all-state linebacker. And the best jump shot ever, Joyce Gallagher.

And for runners like Dana Lee Mirobelli and Michelle Weissensee Jarchow.

I'm thankful for my brother and sister-in-law, who remember to remind me of everything I do that my parents would, or would not have approved of.

I'm thankful for all the students who wrote nice and insightful comments about me on anonymous reviews at semester's end every year when enough of the other instructors in the department scratched their heads wondering how "the sports guy" was being such an effective instructor. Sorry, Nancy, but I got tenure anyway. Unanimously.

I'm thankful for all the editors and publishers who trusted me to edit their books (Reji Laberje, George Castle, Ferguson Jenkins, Steve Zucker) and the students out there making me proud as the award-winning sports reporters they have become; Graham Couch; Rod Burks; Sue Jo; Alan Trubow; et. al. I'm thankful for Aaron Gabriel, Marty Maciaszek, John Leusch, Marty Stengle, John Radtke and the dear friend and colleague who made me look so good, Dwayne Heidtbrink. And most of all, my dear, dear friend, Bob Frisk. No one else ever like him.

And Quags. And Greg. Bruce Miles (the incomparable.). And Joe Aguilar.

R and I, Cahners folks, you too. Julie, Kathi, Maureen, Jane (R.I.P.), Brad. And Rick McNeilly. No, wait...

I'm thankful I can still sit here at this terminal and bang this out every week. Next week, back to being brash little old me, insulting everyone from Clay Travis to Donald Trump.

Until then, good night, Mrs. Calabash and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More tonight on my rock 'n' roll show on Radio Free Phoenix.

Not This Week...

Today, this special weekday edition of the Schloss-Blog looks at the fallout from COVID-19, and not just from Donald Trump's vantage point, but from ... yours, I hope.

I read everything I can get my hands on. Everything. And I try to take lessons away from everything I watch and/or listen to, from Zoom calls with my fraternity brothers every month to advice from my weekly golfing partners to the unvarnished wisdom of my 6-year-old grandson, who does not see racism, just other kids his age. But he does jump out of his skin for a chance to touch Captain America's shield at a superheroes parade and he can put a smile on the faces of Anna and Elsa from Frozen by telling them how beautiful they look.

And then I turn on my TV. For an escape, I watch Yellowstone, the Montana-based modern cowboy drama about a lifetime rancher trying to preserve his land, his family and the heritage of the entire valley where they reside, side by side with neighboring Native Americans. The show displays the plight that minorities have to fight against in the plight of the Native Americans intertwined into the narrative, not surprising so much for series-star Kevin ("Dances With Wolves") Costner though, right?

And then the news comes on. And there is a Navy veteran in Portland, Oregon, being beaten and gassed by unmarked U.S. military officers trying to supposedly enforce a peaceful protest that they ignited into a riot instead by their very presence. And a line of "Moms" trying to stand peacefully between the protesters and the unmarked riot police also being gassed.

Moms. Real Moms. Shame on you, Mr. President, shame on you, and for praising those paramilitary officers' work.

In the Sunday newspaper, there's a story about people spitting, literally spitting on people who wear (or don't wear) masks when they're out and about, especially in stores or entertainment venues, such as they are. SPITTING on each other. Here, have my virus.

And then come the stories about the removal of statues honoring confederate soldiers who fought and lost in the Civil War. They not only fought to preserve slavery, they were traitors against their government and fought to overthrow it. They were traitors.

We know, we see, how blacks and minorities are treated today in this country. Can you imagine if the South had won the Civil War?

And then there are the Clay Travises of the world. Travis thinks he's God's gift to (sports) talk radio. He spends as much time on his show talking about how great he is as he does about sports. He and Jason Whitlock, who has twice been bounced at ESPN and once before at Fox, tell people they are the only ones having a meaningful discussion about America and sports' impact on it.

Travis contends that the rise in shootings around the county - and it's bad, no doubt - can be traced in good part to athletes now bursting back on our countryside and TV screens who are taking up the cause for civil rights by kneeling during the National Anthem and dedicating their efforts to the late Brionna Taylor, who was shot by police in Louisville, Kentucky. That incident is still unresolved as she was shot while trying to protect herself from those police who entered her home. 

Now, months later, no one has been arrested nor indicted in that incident. That's Kentucky, Moscow Mitch McConnell's home state. 

But Travis contends that athletes taking up the cause for civil rights and Black Lives Matter are in good part responsible for the spike in shootings nationwide. This man who says he deals in facts and data to fuel his opinions has offered no proof whatsoever to back up this claim. To him, LeBron James is as much to blame for increased shootings for writing Brionna Taylor's name on his game-worn sneakers.

But Travis offers no proof. Who does that remind you of, someone very high profile in this country, who offers up far-fetched theories about the coronavirus or the value of hydroxychloroquine? 

Clay Travis is a phony. Yes, there are more shootings. No, they are not LeBron James' fault. In true Trump style, he'll deny he ever blamed so much of this on athletes taking up the BLM cause.

Travis goes so far as to offer, with no proof or evidence, that Black Lives Matter is a movement fueled by, sponsored by, supported by and driven by ... are you ready(?) ... extreme white liberals.

And that part of his audience which is uneducated Trump rednecks probably believes it.

Travis celebrated on air as baseball returned. Barely a weekend in and we already have a coronavirus outbreak on the Miami Marlins roster that caused a cancellation of their home opener and stranded their infected players in quarantine in Philadelphia, where they'd been playing, which caused the Phillies to cancel their home game against the visiting Yankees.

Still celebrating, Clay?

Sending your kids back to school in your hometown in Tennessee, Clay?

One more thing - Travis claims he doesn't have high-profile athletes on his show because he won't coddle "their balls" (his words) like other sports talk-radio hosts do. The next time I hear Dan Patrick do that will be the first time.

While we're on the subject of sports and coronavirus and rights, will American hockey players be allowed back into the United States after the entirely Canadian-hosted NHL Stanley Cup tournament concludes? I mean, Canada forced the Toronto Blue Jays of MLB to play all their home games in Buffalo, at their Triple-A affiliate's stadium.

Hey Clay, can you pull some strings and get those American hockey players back home when the music is over north of the border, y'know, pull some magic, like your hero Trump is relying on to rid America of the coronavirus.

And if you really believe that Black Lives Matter is being puppeteered by white liberals, then get out there, make signs, and you and Whitlock hit the streets and march to that tune.

Me, I've got a Robert E. Lee statue to tear down.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, indeed, Mrs. Robinson.