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.

My Favorite COVID-19 Things

The Schloss-Blog has been collecting some favorite sayings, cliches and conspiracy theories about the coronavirus and our president in general. So today, for a little "lighter" touch, here are some of Donald's greatest hits...

...on the coronavirus:

• "You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down close to zero," Trump said. Sort of like Trump's approval ratings.
• "Wear a mask." Studies show that 79 percent of people wear a mask. The other 21 percent are in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Georgia. And parts of Wisconsin and the West Wing.
• "Testing is overrated." Well, actually, the SAT and ACT might be overrated and some colleges are no longer considering them or weighing them as heavily as they did before the pandemic. However, COVID-19 testing can't be done enough
• "We are all in this together." OK, everybody except Donald said this and it's accurate, proving he couldn't have said it. No, we are not all in this together and never have been. If we were, Florida would not be the epicenter of the virus right now and Texas, Georgia and Arizona would not be under consideration to have their statehoods revoked (jk). Maybe Iowa too.
• "We're doing a great job," says Trump. Yeah, right. See the number of infections from Georgia, Florida, Texas, Arizona.
• Trump is turning the coronavirus handling over to the governors. What a stroke of genius. Doug Ducey (AZ), Brian Kemp (GA) Greg Abbott (TX), and Ron DeSantis (FL) are national heroes for their performances in containing the virus in their respective states, right?
• "Fauci made a lot of mistakes." One of them was joining the president's task force
• Wednesday, June 17: The pandemic "is fading away. It's going to fade away." At the time, there were 20,000 new cases a day.
• Saturday, July 4: "99 percent of coronavirus cases are totally harmless." Actually, 15 percent become severe and 5 percent become critical or fatal. One-thousand people died from the virus one day earlier this week.
• On multiple occasions, Trump has claimed he "inherited a broken, bad and obsolete" system for testing for the coronavirus from the Obama Administration. Small problem: the coronavirus did not exist during the Obama Administration.

And who can forget these classics:

• As to just plain telling the truth, Trump is striking out. He has surpassed the 20,000 mark, according to the Washington Post and other media outlets tracking his deliberate misstatements. He just can't help himself. In other words, the greatest hits list continues.
• According to Golf News Net, Trump has played golf since being in office some 278 times. That's 278 times, or close to one-third of the time he's supposed to have been in the White House, as he said during the 2016 campaign, "working (his) ass off."
• "I'm going to send in the Feds." Well, Trump did. Into Portland. Now, innocent, peaceful protesters are being arrested without cause and hauled off to who knows where. The Attorney General of Oregon has sued the Department of Homeland Security to get these unmarked goons off the streets. Welcome to the USSR of A.
• Commuting the sentence of Roger Stone. If ever someone did not deserve to suffer in federal prison, it's Roger Stone, right? Here's the irony though: his sentence commuted, and Mike Flynn's hanging in the balance, Trump, if he loses the election, could be the one who winds up in prison (alongside Michael Cohen?) while the guys he pardoned and/or commuted will be roaming free, unable to do a thing about his sentence.
• On the tariff trade war with China: "We're getting hundreds of billions of dollars brought into our country." Tariffs, Mr. President, are paid by us, the importer, not by the Chinese, the exporters.; Or, on the military: "Our military is now regaining strength like it's never had before. We had budgets of $700 billion -- far, far more than ever before. And this year, $716 billion." Obama's final military budget was $725 billion; and of course: "We have lost 500 Billion Dollars a year, for many years, on Crazy Trade with China. NO MORE!" We actually never had a trade deficit with China that ever exceeded $419 billion, and that was the only time, including all goods and services, $378.6 billion in actual products.
• And of course, we close with ... Person ... Woman ... Man ... Camera ... TV

This greatest-hits list could go on forever, but updating it in real-time would be almost impossible, as it grows so exponentially fast. Wait until you see the lies and misstatements he issues as he continues to slip in the polls as Election Day approaches. And he will likely try to declare as many as 15 million mail-in ballots as illegitimate after he loses in an attempt to swing the election back his way.

Mark my words, Mrs. Calabash. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

I'd work my ass off on this some more now, but I've got a tee time.

More on Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. Wear a mask!

And Now For Something Completely Different

The Schloss-Blog has brought you all the outrage, all the inconsistency, all the stupidity, all the bluster, all the lack of logic and all the insensitivity of the Trump administration for many Sunday mornings now.

Not today.

Trump's stupidity speaks for itself. Hydroxychloroquine. Household bleach injections. Suppression of voting. Racism. "Many fine people on both sides." "Shithole countries." Mail-in ballots being sent to ... dogs? Really, to dogs?

And we've kept you abreast of the house of cards on which the return of sports is built in this country. Even as athletes, whole teams, are sidelined or eliminated by the virus from competing, or as they back out in fear of the virus. As the NBA bubble continues to threaten to burst.

But not today.

And what about returning to school? Do you want your kids and grandkids returning to school this fall? Are you confident they'll be kept healthy and COVID-free? Already we've had high school athletes testing positive nationwide. And they'll likely bring COVID home with them.

But not today.

And you've heard the stories - college kids gathering for parties, deliberately inviting someone they know to be COVID-positive and then starting a pool to see which one of them contracts the virus next.

At some colleges, you've heard the stories of football coaches (Clemson?) wanting their players to get sick, quarantine and then come back in two weeks healthy, healed and ready to go. Except no one knows if you can get the virus again (you can get the flu more than once). No one knows if the after-effects of COVID-19 are worse than the disease itself, the exasperating shortness of breath due to compromised lung capacity, the lack of endurance, the aching muscles, the always-tired feeling, the depression and more.

Some college conferences discussing the possibility of no football this fall.

But not today.

Sports, as we’ve seen, are already chipping away at itself as COVID-19 spreads. Non-conference football games canceled. Whole seasons canceled (Morehouse College). High school starting dates pushed back in hopes of the disease fading while it in fact multiplies.

The Ivy League has canceled all sports until January. January!

But not today.

You've seen the president stumble down a ramp awkwardly at West Point, and be unable to lift a glass of water to his lips.

You've seen the Supreme Court short-circuit his attempts to deny healthcare to the LGBTQ community. You've seen the Supreme Court rule that he is not above the law and the Attorney General of New York can seek his tax returns for purposes of indicting him for tax fraud.

But not today.

And racism. Now his niece claims she has heard him use racial and anti-Semitic slurs and the "N" word, time and again. What do you think? Does someone who thinks there "many fine people on both sides" use anti-Semitic slurs and the "N" word?

Does someone who is not racist use U.S. Park Service Police to route peaceful protesters from a public park so he can walk across the street and hold a Bible upside down?

But not today.

You've seen him do infrastructure week seven times. Still can't get it right, can't get it launched, can't get it fixed across America.

But he can take billions from the military by which he swears so mightily, and redirect it to build the wall which, as we all know, is helping keep the coronavirus out of America. 

Or ... not.

However, as I said at the beginning of this post, today is not going to be dedicated to any of that.

Or ... not.

Anyway, good night, Mrs. Calabash and koo koo ka choo, Mrs. Robinson.

More tonight on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. You must wear a mask to listen as special technology has been installed which will block transmission if you're not wearing a mask.

Or ... not.

Scarier and Scarier

As the Schloss-Blog keeps looking back at the situation in the United States and in sports, we keep getting more and more scared.

As I write this, White Sox pitching phenom Michael Kopech, he of the 100-mph fastball, and Giants MVP catcher Buster Posey have opted out of the 2020 season.

Am I missing something, or are all these leagues chasing the all-mighty dollar ahead of the health of their all-mighty players?

Fans want sports, some to the point of being willing to get sick to have them, but science has already confirmed that even the after-effects of COVID-19 can be and have been more devastating than the virus itself. If you're a multi-million dollar professional athlete, do you want risk compromised lung capacity, let alone the virus itself?

As I write this, Florida keeps setting records for daily counts in COVID diagnoses, ICU bed occupancy and hospital capacity. So does Arizona. And Texas. How many Major League ballplayers want to go there to play?

How many NBA players want to go to Orlando, live in the bubble and eat the grade school-caliber platters of food they're being served instead of the expensive dining-out experiences to which they are accustomed? And still risk getting the virus.

How many of you want to go to one of those games in Orlando? Or an NFL game in a domed stadium in Arizona? Or Detroit? Or Texas? Or Houston? Or New Orleans?

At this point, even if they do compete, with the virus in play, how many of you not named Donald Trump care that some players will take a knee or raise up a fist in protest during the National Anthem?

As I write this, among those out sick or opting out include: four Arizona Diamondbacks, including Kole Calhoun and Mike Leake; four Atlanta Braves, including Nick Markakis, who is approaching his 3,000th career hit; four Boston Red Sox players; Delino DeShields of the Indians, or whatever they end up calling themselves; three KC Royals; three Colorado Rockies, including all-star Charlie Blackmon; two Milwaukee Brewers; two Yankees, including D.J. LeMahieu; one Oakland A's player; two Pirates; three Cardinals: two Padres, including Tommy Pham; two Rangers, including Joey Gallo; four Twins, including Miguel Sano; Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Ross among the defending-champ Nationals;  David Price of the Dodgers; and Tyson Ross of the Giants, along with Posey.

Players have opted out in other team sports. But what happens in baseball, when, at the midway point, a team with an 11-19 record has its star players drop rather than risk getting sick? If you think it won't happen, you are as delusional as Trump is about the coronavirus in general.

Colleges are feeling the pinch too. The PAC-12 and the Big Ten have canceled their non-conference football games. The Ivy League has canceled all fall sports and all sports in general until January. Some sixty-six schools have had players test positive.

The MLS and NWSL soccer leagues have had whole teams withdraw from their "season tournaments," en totale.

And lest we forget, the Summer Olympics have been pushed back an entire year in Tokyo. In golf, the Ryder Cup and the President's Cup international competitions have been pushed back a year.

Yes, somebody out there is recognizing the danger. So why are Rob Manfred, Gary Bettman, Adam Silver and Roger Goodell willing to send their gladiators into battle, perhaps their last, wearing the same protective gear they've had on for decades?

And now high school athletics are in flux. School openings are in jeopardy as the government wrestles with local school authorities over opening protocols, with Trump threatening to withhold federal funding to school districts that don't open. Trump wants schools to open in defiance of protocols set out by the CDC. Apparently, he doesn't care if your children get gravely ill. Or your grandchildren.

Or you.

Do you want your children or grandchildren going back to school until and unless you are 100 percent convinced that they are in a 100 percent safe environment?

Me neither.

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

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

This Is Really Scary ... No, Really

The Schloss-Blog is looking back at last week's post and wondering if sports is really coming back, especially after hearing that the United States set a single-day record for coronavirus reporting with 57,000 new cases.

No, Mr. President, it is not going away magically anytime soon.

But sports might be.

Remember Spencer Dinwiddie? His buzzer-beater defeated the Lakers for the Brooklyn Nets, in Los Angeles, in the last game before the league shut down.

Yeah, Spencer Dinwiddie, and the Nets.

Now though, he has tested positive. So did teammate DeAndre Jordan, an all-star-caliber center, and six other Nets (including KD).

Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker and Alex Len of the Sacramento Kings, part of the NBA's Pre-postseason tournament to determine who gets to play LeBron for the title, all tested positive.

That Orlando tournament "bubble" the NBA is building is looking flimsy and about to burst.

Baseball's Colorado Rockies had all-star outfielder Charlie Blackmon test positive.

I'll bet division-mates the Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks and Padres can't wait to go to the Mile High City to play them.

And when the Dodgers do go, they'll go without top-flight all-star pitcher David Price, who has opted out of the 2020 shortened season because of coronavirus hesitation. Now, Atlanta Braves all-star first baseman and leading hitter Freddie Freeman is out indefinitely with the virus, maybe all season.

Not good.

ESPN is reporting that two Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on the eve of NFL training camps, have tested positive. No, not Tom Brady. Or Gronk. But the NFL has already canceled its Hall-of-Fame induction ceremonies and accompanying preseason game and now has taken two more preseason games off the board for all teams, leaving them all with just two to evaluate rosters. 

For the Bears, that leaves the Nick Foles-Mitchell Trubisky question up in the air, literally. Good luck with that, Matt Nagy.

The National Hockey League, also set to have teams begin training for its makeshift postseason tournament, reports that 11 players, at minimum, reported to their respective facilities having tested positive.

Baseball's Astros and Blue Jays each had at least one player test positive and the Phillies had eight people report positive, five of them players, three from the front office. The Rangers also locked down their facilities for scrubbing after reports of players having tested positive.

Clemson has had 47 positive tests returned and Alabama at least 30. Talk about a crimson tide, it's running through Tuscaloosa.

Without them, or weakened versions thereof,  is there even a college football playoff about which to debate who should be included?

Yet, Tennessee's athletic director says the football team will likely play in front of full houses of 100,000 all season long.

Good luck with that. I guess he believes in magic.

Even Dallas star running back Ezekiel Elliott reportedly tested positive. Not good news for franchise-designee quarterback Dak Prescott or new head coach Mike McCarthy.

Von Miller, the Broncos' star linebacker, and even Knicks owner James Dolan have reportedly tested positive (Knicks fans reportedly not crying).

It's a long list and it goes on and on. Your favorite team, or players, have probably been impacted. In Arizona, high school football, which draws the kind of media and Division I attention coveted by so many, has had its season-openers pushed back three weeks, to Friday, Sept. 11. The delay is a sobering reminder of the virus’ impact at any and all levels of competition and raises an eyebrow as to whether they'll even play this year.

Anyone up for spring football, that counts? Pro, college and prep?

With that, this would be a good place to say "Good night, Mrs. Calabash," and "Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson."

But it's neither a good night nor a toast-raising occasion. Money is what is driving all these attempts to get these sports in and wind up putting people at risk, perhaps fans, if they're ever allowed back in.

I'm hoping sports return, but like so many others, I'm hoping for the best.

And planning for the worst. 

More on my Radio Free Phoenix show at 9 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.

Fifty-thousand-plus in one day. Fifty. Thousand.

Que Dieu te garde!