Houses, Civil Services, The Transfer Portal, Trump in Court, Brain Implants, HoF, China, COVID and TikTok

Brittney Griner is back! Hallelujah! 

***

The Schloss-Blog sees Tik Tok in your future, unless you live in South Dakota, Nebraska and now Maryland, and coming soon, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Plus homelessness, taxes, transfer portals and steroids are all in the news.

***

Nobody wants people to be homeless but nobody wants to pay more in taxes to provide shelter for them and especially to have them located nearby.

But it may come to that in LA, New York, San Francisco and even Phoenix, where it's on the rise.

Get those homeless off the street. Provide shelter for them, even tiny houses (which are all the rage of the housing industry) and give them a place to call home.

Just don't put them near my home, right? Nobody wants homelessness but nobody seems to want homeless people living nearby.

This ain't gonna' get solved for a while.

***

Speaking of civil services, nobody wants to defund the police but nobody wants to pay a raise in taxes for them either, do they?

We all expect the best in civil services but nobody wants a tax increase - that is the bane of politicians, who know that raising taxes means waving good-bye to your career in politics.

But if you want service - pay for it or stop complaining about it, right?

We definitely need more security at power company facilities, as we just found out in North Carolina, where the power company was geared up for cyber attacks but not for bullet holes that shut down a pair of generators and left people cold and hungry.

Somebody is going to have to pay for the increased security that it going to call for.

***

The transfer portal is open and college football players have rushed in, some seeking a fourth team (J.T. Daniels) in six years.

The transfer portal has now become the holy grail of recruiting and coaches flock to it to the point that key players will pass on participating in bowl games to protect their status at their next stop.

Yes, I have always believed the players should have transfer accessibility, just like coaches break contracts and go to new schools. But the transfer portal has become the be-all, end-all for college players and needs to have the same restrictions I had when I transferred to SUNY-Albany after my freshman year at Baruch College of CUNY. I had to apply and await word.

If football players are STUDENT-athletes, they should too.

***

In China, they are relaxing COVID restrictions at last as riots and protests have reached critical levels in response, as have the outlandish responses of the Chinese police and government authorities tracking the protesters.

Oddly enough, these rule relaxations come as Tik Tok is being banned in Maryland on state communication devices, by governor's order. It's already that way in Nebraska and South Dakota and is leaning that way in South Carolina and Wisconsin.

The reason? Those state governments believe that Tik Tok is nothing more than a database-gathering machine for the Chinese government.

What about you? How do you feel about being a prospective information beacon for the Chinese?

***

Fred McGriff (493 career home runs) was elected into the Hall of Fame by baseball's Contemporary Era Committee. 

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were not and won't have another chance for three years with that committee.

So, the career home run leader and one of baseball's winning-est strikeout kings are not even close to sniffing the Hall. The all-time hits leader (Pete Rose) isn't either and isn't even on the ballot, by decree.

Should these guys be in the Hall? Wasn't everyone using steroids in the "contemporary era?" Didn't steroids just work better for some guys than they did for others?

I'd ask Sammy Sosa, but he's not responding in English.

***

Putin thought he had us over a barrel, but gas prices are actually lower now than a year ago. Over a barrel, hah! Over a barrel. Sometimes I outdo myself.

*** 

Finally, Elon Musk truly does want to put brain implants into people that would link them to computers.

He's already tested it on animals, through his Neuralink company.

And you thought Tik Tok and supposed COVID-injection implants were invasions of privacy.

Hah!

***

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

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

Riverboating, Road Raging, Footballing, Stadium Cleaning and Cell Phoning your Internet (or Internet-ing Your Cell Phone).

The Schloss-Blog is keeping an eye on what's left of the Mississippi River as well as road fatalities, football rankings, cleaning futbol stadiums and figuring out whether your cellular company is your internet carrier or you internet carrier is your cell company.

***

Been by the Mississippi River lately? That "Ol' Man River" is showing its bones.

Apparently, parts of the river are so tried up that the traditional barge traffic that carries so much freight, about $17 billion annually, is no longer or is barely passable for those barges. That would be like about 92 percent of that kind of traffic. Yes, prices will go up if this is not resolved (it won't be anytime soon and the cost of alternate transport will be a burden).

That threatens farm and ranch products that travel by barge, all the way to New Orleans.

If you don't believe in climate change and its impact, believe it now. Check out this story (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/14/mississippi-river-boats-barges-water-levels).

***

Road fatalities are up.

After two years of not hitting the road, we are back out there and killing each other and ourselves.

On-the-road fatalities are at their highest levels in some 20 years.

If you're driving someplace, be careful.

Please.

The life you save may be mine.

*** 

In Arizona, where I cover high school football as a freelance contractor, school assignments are not necessarily by enrollment.

But by level of success.

If you've been kicking ass in your class, good luck, because you're likely going to get kicked up a class and have to compete against perhaps schools of larger enrollment but definitely some schools that have established and maintained a level of success that is hard to buck.

In Illinois, where I covered high school football for more than 30 years, most class assignments were by enrollment. With 32 teams qualifying in eight different classes, there were often lopsided, first-round games between teams with 5-4 (even 4-5) records and 9-0 records.

Arizona has a special class for schools that have won too many times in their respective classes. In the "Open" division, schools that have conquered the field, primarily in the three largest classes, get a special invite to compete against each other come playoff time. It is both an honor and a curse, especially for newcomers in that class, to be invited there and know, perhaps, they're not going to win a state title this year.

No, someone who never has, perhaps, will now. It's both fair and unfair at the same time.

As an example, I covered a regular-season finale in 2021 where one of the schools, with a win, likely would've been bumped into the Open Division, against the No. 1 seed and championship contender.

They lost and instead went on to win the championship in their class.

Which one would you prefer - the elite status of Open Division with no hope of winning further or the opportunity to win it all in your class?

I'll wait for your answer, but I agree with you.

***

One of the most-amazing things at the World Cup, besides Christian Pulisic, has been watching Japanese fans at their country's games literally cleaning up after themselves as they leave the stadium after each game.

I mean the whole stadium.

Apparently it is a rich part of Japanese culture to be neat, clean and leave a place just as you found it upon entering (apparently, they've never ridden New York City subways but they're hired at MLB and NFL stadiums everywhere).

***

Finally, I've noticed and you probably have too that your cell-phone company is trying to be your internet company and your internet company is trying to be your cellular carrier.

They all claim they can do the other's job better than the other.

Me, I say stay in your lane.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Katie Hobbs.

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

Twitter, Tworld Cup and Twgeneration Z'ers

The Schloss-Blog is looking at Elon (Shithole) Musk, World Cup soccer (futbol) and problems for Generation Z.

***

Have I mentioned that I am through with Twitter? I need it for my coverage of high school football for the Arizona Republic. And as soon as that's done, I'm done.

Elon Musk's forgiving of and reinstating all suspended accounts is an insult to people like me who use it to insult him.

Big advertisers are abandoning him. As well as loyal users who keep it clean, for the most part time. I believe in free speech too, but not speech that incites violence or puts good people in fear for their lives.

Ironically, although his account is reinstated, Donald Trump is not leaping at Twitter for a second time around and is, instead, opting to stay on his Truth Social platform.

The next time he tells the truth on it will be the first time.

***

Read an article about parents reacting to their children coming home from college at Thanksgiving for the first time during fall semester.

It leads to awkward moments in conversation and in reactions to style, culture and taste.

For me, first time home after being away brought about my mother (Hennie) telling my father (Murray): "Murray, get a scissors and cut his hair."

Will never forget that. Exact quote. Really.

***

According to a study published by Fast Company, Gen Z'ers are having trouble paying their bills on time.

Seriously.

Seems their paychecks are not keeping up with inflation, let alone the cost of living. Gen Z, defined as people born between the late '90s to early 2010's, apparently are not finding jobs that pay well enough for them to keep up with the cost of living or they're not doing a very good job of managing what money they do have.

Some are moving back in with their parents to keep a cap on their costs of living.

Are your kids or grandkids doing that? What's been your experience? 

Life isn't easy. It's always expensive and we all spend as much money as we make. The problem for Gen Z is they're not making enough.

Until they become millennials. Then they spend more.

***

Irene Cara ("Fame," Flashdance") is dead at 63.

Cause of death undisclosed.

You're tapping your feet right now, aren't you, to "What a feeling," singing it to yourself.

I am.

***

World Cup soccer has been full of surprises so far: Saudi Arabia over Argentina, Iran over Wales, U.S. plays to a scoreless tie with England.

But off the field, Iranian players not singing their national anthem, people are wearing Iran protest insignias and no beer is being served at the stadiums. All tat has been bringing attention to a tournament marked by bribery for where it is being played and by censorship of foreign journalists being restrained from reporting anywhere and everywhere around Doha.

The World Cup at Qatar is a Doha-ha-ha.

***

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

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

Pelosi, Planes, Prices and Privacy

The Schloss-Blog pretty much scrapped this week's planned post after being moved to tears by the class and dignity shown by Nancy Pelosi in her speech to the House, stepping down from Democratic caucus leadership.

She helped accomplish a lot, working with presidents from both parties. Healthcare. Infrastructure. Prescription medicine. Taxes. Inflation. Jobs.

She is a hall-of-famer in every sense of the word. And yet, irrational actors with ill intent attempted to kill her and might have if they'd encountered her on Jan. 6 or when a lone wolf broke into her house and attacked her husband.

A wing of the Capitol needs to be named in her honor.

***

In her stead, Republicans, with control of the House, are promising investigations into everything from Hunter Biden to Afghanistan to the border to various cabinet members to Anthony Fauci, for God's sake.

Let them.

They investigated Hillary Clinton. Twice. Came up empty. Twice.

Their associates investigated Mueller. Came up empty.

The Jan. 6 committee investigated the insurrection.

And found everything that Republicans are denying happened.

This goes right into the Democratic strategy playbook for 2024. The American people spoke loud and clear on Nov. 8 - get something done for us, not for yourselves. With no policy initiatives and only vitriol for Democrats, you would think they'll pay the price for that in 2024.

You can only hope.

***

Quick takes (the ones I wanted to write about at length before Pelosi's speech):

* Airplane seats have shrunk to 16-and-a-half inches wide from 18, CNN and Bloomberg are reporting. Prices for those seats have not shrunk.

* The last jobs report showed 261,000 added, not the 205,000 that had been estimated. Unemployment remains at 3.7%. Nice. But the tech sector (Meta, amazon, Twitter, et. al.) is laying people off like crazy. Perhaps the tech sector, during the pandemic, overestimated people remaining imprisoned at home and continuing to rely so heavily on them. Tik Tok, however, is supposedly scooping up many of the rest of the tech sector's newly unemployed. Oh, those sneaky Chinese.

* All those investigations Republicans in the House are promising, do they really think Democrats are going to show up unprepared? They'll bring wads of Trump administration orders and policies to these upcoming hearings. Good luck, Kevin McCarthy.

* You can feel the increased need for security at school campuses. After shootings at Virginia and Idaho and numerous grade school and high school shootings, I was challenged for admission at a school at which I have covered games many times. I've been wondering about my own safety at schools this season, more than ever before. You never know.

* Donald Trump, who still insists he won the 2020 election, is running again. But he can't - if he did win as he claims, he can't run for a third term. 

* MAGAS defied tradition in this midterm election cycle - they lost. No Democratic incumbent in the Senate lost.

* Trump's candidacy announcement was so compelling that guests attempting to leave before he was done droning on about his usual complaints and they were bored to death were blocked from leaving before he concluded.

* Finally, got your Taylor Swift tickets? Shoulda' called me. She called with my tickets for wherever I wanted them along her tour. Too late now, and see you soon, Taylor. And you thought Bruce Springsteen tickets were expensive.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, taylor Swift.

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

McRobots, McAfee and McElections - What a Week

The Schloss-Blog is sending up a flare - the McRobots are coming, the McRobots are coming! Now what?

Yes, the one place where you thought automation would not displace humans - the hospitality industry - is where it's happening. Fast-food restaurants are experimenting with robots to take, prepare and serve up your drive-thru order.

The Jetsons' Rosie is upon us. Bet you can't wait to meet her. When you hear a mechanical, Brooklyn accent at the drive-thru menu, you'll know.

***

If you're expecting the Schloss-Blog to blather about the elections, fuhgedaboudit. Democrats did better than expected because, IMHO, Americans woke up on Election Day, or whenever they filled in their mail-in and absentee ballots, and realized that long after inflation is under control - and it always gets under control - democracy will be erased for an even longer time if election-deniers and Trump sycophants are elected.

Now, Trump is a media darling again, just not the kind he wanted to be - just ask Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, which skewered him with a Humpty-Dumpty parody.

A well-deserved one.

***

Pat McAfee is a clown who ESPN hired to be on its College Game day Saturday show for some reason.

Maybe it's because they're grooming someone to be the class clown of the show as aging Lee Corso's health has him fading. Unfortunately, McAfee is a poor man's Bozo to Corso's classy and knowledgeable P.T. Barnum.

McAfee is a disaster. He rudely upstages guest pickers at the show's climactic conclusion. He exalts at and can't wait for the opportunity to mention or pick the North Carolina Wolfpack so he can howl at the moon.

Maybe ESPN brought him on because he has an open highway to Aaron Rodgers, who talks to him openly on his YouTube show (Sirius/XM dropped him without even making an offer or negotiating to continue his show on its platform).

McAfee gladly and patronizingly pantomimes what Rodgers says and has him because he's about the only "reporter" (reporter?) who didn't challenge him when Rodgers told the world he was "immunized" from COVID when he wasn't. He and Rodgers share fandom for hydroxychloroquine, or at least claim to.

McAfee makes inappropriate comments on the show, as he has done to at least two coaches the Game Day panel was interviewing. You can only imagine that Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Rece Davis cringe after the show over McAfee's on-air behavior and antics, although they quickly cut him off and cover for, humor and tolerate him on the air.

They would likely deny that publicly, but you can see the creases on their faces when McAfee speaks out of school.

ESPN had to be betting that McAfee would be an avenue to exclusives with Rodgers.

Hey, @JimmyPitaro, not happening.

***

Hello Silicon Valley.

While the employment picture is rosy around the United States (3.7% unemployment rate), at Meta (Facebook) and Twitter (Musk's swamp) thousands have been laid off. 

Meta is transforming to a metaverse world and Twitter is now highly leveraged after Musk's acquisition.

Where will those who were laid off find jobs? Mastodon? Tik Tok? Amazon?

Sure, when the NFL starts up Tuesday Nigh Football.

***

Hey SCOTUS, you took away women's rights to make their own decisions. Michigan, Montana, even Kentucky and Kansas have responded.

You geniuses got it wrong and for the wrong reasons and America is telling you so.

Now, how will you rule when Donald Trump appeals being indicted, let along convicted?

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Gretchen Whitmer and Kathy Hochul.

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

Here's To the November Classic ... and More

The Schloss-Blog is watching politicians and election workers get threatened and attacked and is wondering what this country is coming to. 

Those polls you see just might be accurate - the country is headed in the wrong direction and the wrong people are making sure of it - militias, Mega-Magas, mass murderers (the Parkland shooter got life, not death), Elon Musk is off the rails and Kyrie Irving picked the wrong town in which to be a blatant anti-Semite.

Election deniers are on the ballot in so many states. Some will get elected.

The guy who attacked Paul Pelosi pleaded not guilty. I see an insanity plea coming, despite the cold calculation of his attack.

Oklahoma has a higher rate of violent crime than New York - really. The incumbent governor mocked his challenger for raising that point in a debate - but it's true. But Oklahomans will re-elect that prick, who is so proud to be denying women their privilege to their own bodies.

And as to election denial, there's no still NO PROOF that there was any fraud in the 2020 election. Yet, millions of Americans believe it.

This is scary.

***

On a lighter not, Saturday Night Live sucks this year, really. I'm watching so you don't have to. Where have you gone, Tina Fey?

***

Couldn't help but notice the wire-service item that Dustin Johnson's team won the LIV Golf Tour team tournament.

Who give a shit?

Johnson himself won $35 million meaningless dollars this season.

Who cares?

The sportswashing aspect of that blood money makes me sick.

***

LeBron James got the players he wanted and now the Lakers are struggling. Again.

Be careful what you ask for, LeBron.

Now, the rumor is he wants to play with his son in the NBA. That would mean he maintains his form until he's 40.

And when the Lakers trade it all to get little Bronny, or draft him ahead of someone more worthy, it'll be his team that struggles into the future. 

LeBron may be the GOAT, but he's not as a general manager.

***

I have made my decision and it is final.

When this high school football season is over, the one in which I contribute coverage to the Arizona Republic, I am quitting Twitter. Outright.

Elon Musk has turned it into a sewer in just a couple of weeks. It is a palace of filth, f-bombs and conspiracy theories and it won't be long until Trump is back.

That's where I get off. In mid-December, I'm gone from Twitter. Right now, I need it (under the banner of @hbssports1) to update from football games I cover. And it's fun. But Twitter isn't anymore and Musk is making sure of it.

I won't be part of that. In fact, rather than just walk away from Twitter, I will likely issue an insult so despicable to Musk himself that he banishes me.

Which would be a badge of honor.

***

The State of Mississippi would have you believe that the water in Jackson is now safe to drink again, but still has a boil-water order in effect.

Mississippi is the poorest state in the union. I don't think anything there is safe to drink.

Or eat.

***

Couldn't help but notice that hip-hopper/rapper Takeoff was shot. He was 28.

Before him,  PnB Rock was shot. He was 30. 

Nipsey Hussle was shot dead in front of his house three years ago. He was 33.

A year before that, XXXTentacion was shot dead. He was 20.

What trend am I missing here? Why are rappers and hip-hoppers being assassinated?

I thought the Super Bowl halftime show with six legendary rappers was terrific, and I'm no aficionado of rap.

Yet, rappers keep getting shot like politicians do lately.

***

Enjoying the November Classic, otherwise known as the World Series.

If Major League Baseball expands the playoffs anymore, game 7 should be played on Thanksgiving Day.

To lousy TV ratings opposite NFL games.

***

The tape of a 10-year-old girl talking to a 911 operator during the Robb Elementary School shooting is absolutely chilling.

And the police on the scene in Texas are absolutely disgraceful. Fire all of 'em.

***

To close ... trivia question to which I don't have the answer ...

...The Cardinals are one of six NFL teams whose nickname is not aligned with the city in which they play.

What are the other five? Honestly, I don't know and have not Googled it, but guessed Browns, Bengals, Titans, Jaguars and Chargers.

Anyone else, what have you got?

***

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

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

Durham is no substance, all bull and shootings continue everywhere

The Schloss-Blog is looking at the Durham investigation, which produced nothing (Trump said it would turn the "deep state" on its head - what deep state?), as well as shootings that continue to plague America and violence that continues to plague American officials, from Congress to your local election board.

John Durham, the federal prosecutor with a tough reputation out of Connecticut, was charged by then Trump-sycophant A.G. Bill Barr to investigate the investigators in the Mueller investigation.

So he did. For three years.

He came away with one misdemeanor charge and no convictions for anything.

Is he done? He's not saying, but it sure looks like it.

Next up: Trump gets indicted by Merrick Garland, who doesn't want to be the first Attorney General to indict a former president but with the overwhelming evidence, he doesn't have much choice.

Prediction: right after the midterm elections, Trump gets indicted in the Mar-a-Lago-Gate scandal.

***

No sooner did the Oxford, Michigan, school shooter enter a guilty plea than another shooter went to work in a St. Louis school.

The Oxford shooter's parents are being tried for enabling him. Meanwhile, they're still sorting things in St. Louis.

Now, the husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Paul Pelosi, was beaten in his San Francisco home by an invader asking, "Where's Nancy?" reminiscent of the Jan. 6 insurrection crowd chant.

How do I feel about this? Let's ask David Bowie...

Snowman melting from the inside
Falcon spirals to the ground
(This could be the biggest sky)
So bloody red, tomorrow's clouds

A little piece of you
The little peace in me
Will die (This could be a miracle)
For this is not America

This is so not America.

On top of that, Republicans are promising, if they gain control of the House, to investigate everyone who has painted toenails and/or eyebrows, just plain old eyebrows.

This is so not America.

***

Do you watch Morning Joe? It starts at 3 a.m., Pacific time, in Arizona (which goes on Mountain time next week, but more on that in a future post).

Regularly, Steve Ratner, identified only as a "former Treasury official," appears on the show with charts and graphs explaining the latest finance and economic conditions and trends.

That's cool. He does a nice job putting things in layman's terms.

But what the heck does "former Treasury official" mean?

Googled him. Turns out he has had a distinguished career in finance and in journalism, writing about finance. And he served as an advisor to the Treasury Secretary during the automobile crisis that was part of the Great Recession at the end of the first decade of this century. No formal title - just advisor.

So why doesn't Morning Joe identify him as that (he was called the "car czar"). 

Hey, I'm an official fantasy football and baseball expert, with the winnings to prove it, but no one calls me a "former fantasy official" (OK, a few ex-girlfriends do). 

Former Treasury official and "car czar," huh? Sure, and I'm the former "fantasy czar."

Well, maybe, actually.

***

Tom and Gisele have filed, so I'll ask again: is it too soon to call her?

***

Back to gun violence, did you know ... more teens die from shootings than auto accidents?

They do.

***

Some 50 percent of Americans are not participating in Halloween this year by virtue of not distributing candy to trick-or-treaters. They say they'll sit home with the lights out and/or just not answer the doorbell.

Boo. Hoo.

About 25 percent of that 50 percent say inflation is keeping them from stocking up on sufficient amounts of candy.

***

This week was the anniversary of the Matt Damon "Fortune favors the brave" ad for crypto.com, which was valued at $60,608 at the time. It's now at $340.

***

Jennifer, Chad, it was so much fun watching Aubree play volleyball. #GoFalcons.

And Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Marge Hayashi.

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

 

An Open Letter...

An open letter to my GDX brothers...

...I want to thank all of you for keeping me, Jocelyn and our family in your thoughts and prayers. Means a lot to me.

Missing the reunion this past weekend was the last thing I wanted to do, as you all know, but I had to be in Texas, to see my mother-in-law for the last time. She is weak, unresponsive, has congenital heart failure, is in hospice care and yet, is hanging on somehow.

Still, when I am one-on-one with her, she sits up, eats a bit of soft food and sips some water into her otherwise once lively frame, now reduced to maybe 90 pounds. Maybe. She can't walk. Can hardly breath. Is on oxygen. You can barely hear her speak.

When my own mother passed 14 years ago, she became my pseudo mother. I knew it because she was always busting my chops like my mom always did.

In Albany, meanwhile, I've had pictures forwarded to me (love you, Joel Lustig) from around the events of the weekend. I so wanted to be a part of it, especially after being part of the planning process since March, if not before.

It was a bitch to plan this. Post-pandemic, venues and caterers were hard to schedule. Really hard. All booked with parties, reunions, celebrations, weddings and bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs postponed for two years, some for 15- and 16-year olds, put off because of COVID. Thank you Fran Altshuler of Woman's Club, Betsy Manware of Healthy Cafe and Brittney King of 4imprint (T-shirts), the vendors I dealt with, for all coming through for us.

There was a time I wondered if we'd pull this off. Our usually cozy planning committee meetings of years past because snarly disagreements this time around. They too often degenerated into f-bomb sessions with threats to quit the committee abounding.

We could never decide how to split up our responsibilities this time around. And sadly, as brothers dropped from commitments to attend, so did our projected revenue and our ability to pay vendors and venues. We barely had enough.

I think.

At one point, we were almost at 60 attendees. After changes of circumstances for some guys, illnesses and family emergencies for others, we were down to about 38(?). We guaranteed the caterers 45.

For a while there, I was afraid that this reunion would become better known for who wasn't there. But seeing this picture, forwarded to me by Joel Lustig, reminds how much of a close-knit family we still are, 50 years later.  

Yes, there were disagreements in the family. And make no mistake, we are a family. One of the nicest things about these reunions is the ability of the brothers, after years apart, to pick up conversations like they had never stopped from so long ago.

And some of my favorite memories of reunions past still stand out. There was Jim Keenan reminding everyone that of all the successful professionals we've become, only one of us became a college professor. And, in his words, "Who ever thought it would've been Berg?"

And my conversation in 2015 with Joel Lustig, a freewheeling, save-the-world and figure-out-the-meaning-of-life chat that both of us still treasure to this day.

Anyway, when I got down about the process, I could always count on, out of nowhere, a note about nothing and everything from Gil Avery to lift my spirits. He is Mr. Positive. And Larry and Wayne to reach out and cheer me up.

Bottom line: through everything, my personal heartache, our committee fears on finances as commitments to attend fell off and the great cost so many of you were willing to burden to attend, I remembered why this is the fourth one of these I've helped plan.

Because you guys are worth it.

Love,

'Berg

Punch This!

The Schloss-Blog is wondering, what would happen if you walked into work one day and just cold-cocked someone? Just walked up to anyone in your office and slugged him or her, unsolicited, uncalled for, inappropriate to the hilt.

Would you get fired? Suspended? Docked pay? Maybe. Definitely. Probably.

So how come Draymond Green is still walking around at Golden State Warriors facilities and practices like nothing happened since he slugged Jordan Poole? Unsolicited? Uncalled for? Totally cold-cocked.

He was MIA at Warriors training camp and practices for a while, but has since come back, appearing unscathed and back in the NBA champion's lineup

Was he punished? Was it handled entirely internally? What about Poole? Should he cold-cock Green some time soon, unsolicited?

Do you think Green was punished by the team in a way that we'll never know about? How do you think his teammates feel? How would your coworkers feel?

Would you be ostracized? Should Green be? Should Poole press assault charges? What would his teammates think? What do they think now? What would your coworkers think if you pressed charges if you were the offended party? Would you press charges?

Which one of them is now the ostracized one in the locker room? Green, the sassy, physical, often inappropriate veteran star, or Poole, the kid coming off a terrific sophomore season?

Which one is the future of the franchise? In your case, which one of you fits into the future image of the company - the guy you slugged, or you?

Let's face it - if you walked into work and slugged someone, you're gone. Draymond Green is a star.

Who slugs you. Cold-cocks you. Unsolicited.

***

#GDXfordver

***

How excited are you about the Phillies-Padres National League Championship Series?

Where are the Dodgers, the Braves, the Mets? In other words, where are the big-market ratings Fox is counting on for the World Series?

At least the Yankees are still alive. Just barely. For now.

Maybe the Astros won't cheat this time around.

***

#GDXforever

***

Quick takes:

* Generation Z says Chick-fil-A is its favorite quick-service restaurant. They also say it has the worst drive-thru times.

* Tennessee beat Alabama and they're tearing up the stadium and the town and parts of the state. If it had been West Virginia that had beaten Alabama, every worn-out old couch on every front porch in the state would still be on fire.

* "I'm your chef, not your doctor," was what Guy Fieri said to interviewer Mike Wallace  of CNN, regarding the oftentimes questionable value of his dishes for your gastroenterology.

Sounds like he could run for governor of Georgia.

* The Alaska snow crab season has been canceled. It appears 90 percent of them have simply disappeared, victims of climatology? They are now the semiconductor chips of the foodservice industry.

* Elon Musk was going to stop supplying Starlink communications to Ukraine unless the U.S. Department of Defense started paying for it.

Then he changed his mind. So did he talk to Putin, or not? Or did war-weary Putin call him? Collect?

***

Good night Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Sharon Kelley, conquering the terrain of Portugal.

I'll be off this Sunday on Radio Free Phoenix. Saying my farewells to my beloved mother-in-law. 

Miss you guys, GDX, miss you. #GDXforever

The Hardest Position To Play Is The One You're Playing

The Schloss-Blog has a lot of complaints today (shocking, I know, right?). Let's get started.

***

Three jurors decided that the Parkland shooter should not get the death penalty.

A 15-year-old just shot up North Carolina, killing 5. 

But the Republican candidate for governor in Michigan, Tudor Dixon, says incumbent Gretchen Whitmer, who doesn't want guns allowed on any school grounds, is coming for your guns in that state.

She says having guns at schools is the best way to stop would-be shooters. Someone came for Tudor Dixon's brains a long time ago.

Let's get military-style automated weapons off the streets.

But back to Parkland, wouldn't you like to know who the three jurors are who voted not to give the Parkland shooter the death penalty? Would the Parkland victims' parents harass them the same way Alex Jones' followers harassed the parents of the Sandy Hook victims, who just won a nearly $1 billion judgment against him?

***

I am getting tired of reading about young quarterbacks failing because quarterback is the most-difficult position to play in football, especially after watching Justin Fields and Carson Wentz play against each other for the Bears and Reds ... uh, Commanders, respectively.

Bull crap.

The most-difficult position to play in football is the one you're playing.

It's most difficult if you're an offensive tackle lined up opposite Micah Parsons.

It's most difficult if you're the cornerback lined up opposite Stefon Diggs. One on one.

It's most difficult if you're the offensive coordinator trying to figure out Bill Belichick's defense that week.

It's most difficult if you're one of the 31 owners against whom Commanders owner Daniel Snyder says he has all "the dirt."

However, quarterback is most difficult to play when your offensive line sucks.

***

Female soccer players got what was due when the national team got paid on par with the men's national team.

Only to have a bigger foe - abusive behavior - come to light.

But now, NWSL owners are being chastised and booted for just that.

'Bout time.

***

Kanye, Ye, or WTF you want to call him, has been booted off Twitter for an alleged anti-semitic post.

This leads to a few observations.

Thank goodness Elon Musk does not have Twitter. Yet. (Anyone feel like he never will?)

And who does Ye think he is, Tommy Tuberville?

***'

Herschel Walker in the U.S. Senate would be one of the biggest wastes of time and money in history.

Yet, about half of Georgia's eligible voters will cast a ballot for this prick.

Yes, it is time to let the South secede (sorry, friends and relatives who live there).

***

The Try Guys are a thing.

Yes, they're hysterical.

The SNL sketch roasting them was even more hysterical, but they probably welcomed it - being roasted by SNL means you're really a thing.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, USWNST and NWSL.

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

My 9-year-old grandson is holding his own in his fantasy league against grown-ups. You go, Jordan.

 

Productivity, Cheating, Home Run Records and Gisele Bundchen

The Schloss-Blog is reflecting today on being productive, cheating (at fishing, yeah, fishing), home run records and my girl, Gisele Bundchen.

***

I've worked at a lot of places where employees' activity is often mistaken for productivity.

I've sat in meetings where someone walked in with a proposal that everyone thought was great (I didn't). Except it was completely "just thought of" and had no research basis to it whatsoever, but the person's "productivity" history (i.e., "activity") gave it a false sense of credibility.

That person's proposal was adopted as the banner for the division going forward. That division no longer exists.

As a career journalist, I pride myself on making deadline. One place I worked, I always made deadline. No one else did.

Ever.

So, one time, my work turned in pre-deadline, the boss asked me to help out some others behind deadline (slackers). I did. That time, and never again.

Going forward, I finished ahead of deadline as usual and sat on my work until deadline, turned it in, on time, and then got going on the next deadline's workload while everyone else slacked.

Off.

I occasionally helped people who legitimately needed it but I never again helped someone who missed deadline because they tried to make their "activity" look like "productivity."

In other words, they were slackers.

***

Now that Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady have hired divorce lawyers, is it too soon to return her phone calls?

***

Two guys who won the Lake Erie Walleye Fishing Tournament were disqualified when it was discovered they had cheated.

Apparently, according to CNN, "... it was discovered their fish were stuffed with lead weights and fish fillets – a moment documented in several viral videos shared on social media."

Should we be surprised? Chess champion Hans Niemann has been accused of cheating in a high-profile tournament. He's had opponents walk out on him rather than play against his alleged use of computer-aided chess moves.Kirk herbstreit

In baseball, an argument rages now over whether Aaron Judge of the Yankees or Barry Bonds, late of the Giants, is the true single-season home run king, thanks to Bonds' alleged steroid use.

But was steroid use really cheating if everyone else in that era was supposedly doing it as well?

What do you think? Are you a cheater? Was Bonds? Who's the real home run king?

***

Thinking real hard about returning Gisele's phone calls.

***

Finally, ESPN has added Pat McAfee to its College Game Day crew, with the popular Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso gang.

McAfee is an unpolished dork. He is crude, at best, as an interviewer. His highest level of achievement as an interviewer is "inappropriate."

He interrupts others, especially the celebrity guest picker in their highlight segment of the show. He makes patronizing comments to the college-student crowd around him. Any wonder they  haven't let him do a one-one-one interview yet, that I've seen, anyway.

His redeeming quality is that he regularly had Aaron Rodgers on his Sirius/XM show. But now Sirius/XM has not renewed his program.

Maybe ESPN was thinking because he and Rodgers are co-patriot anti-vaxxers and hydroxychloroquine users that he'd eventually drag otherwise interview-resistant Rodgers to ESPN for an exclusive.

Two points to remember though: McAfee's next intelligible question to anyone will be his first and he ain't dragging Rodgers over to Bristol anytime soon.

Hey, ESPN, lose him.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you women of the NWSL.

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

Sex and the Art of Rambling

The Schloss-Blog is writing today about everyone's favorite topic - sex.

First though, a thought and a prayer for all those in Florida and now the Carolinas being impacted by Hurricane Ian. Ian was so big that Hurricane Charley (2004), which did $15 billion worth of damage, would fit entirely in the eye of Ian.

But no such thing as climate change, huh?

***

I love reading the NY Times. This past week, the paper featured a debate of sorts, about sex, between columnist Michelle Goldberg and freelance writer and author Nona Willis-Aronowitz, whose work focuses on sex, among other things (sex drives the economy - ok, maybe).

Wills-Aronowitz ponders whether casual (dating) is sex worth it. Is it fulfilling?

She wants to know, Goldberg contends, whether women, instead of settling for what passes for what they want, settle instead for what they don't want.

She wants to know, according to Goldberg, what lies between sexual liberation and commitment.

And what lies between promiscuity and emotional non-involvement?

And finally, Goldberg says Willis-Aronowitz wants to know if the sex life of Kim Cattrall's Samantha in "Sex and the City" was so fulfilling for her that everyone should be using that as a model for their sex lives?

What was it though? Promiscuous? Casual? You tell me.

Anyway, bottom line: define good sex. Goldberg says Willis-Aronowitz can't.

To me, to have sex, as Billy Crystal said in "City Slickers," "...a guy needs to have a place. A woman needs a place, and a reason."

So what fulfills you?

***

Quick takes:

* LeBron James is buying into pickleball. Maybe you should too.

* Russia is sabotaging its own Nord Stream pipeline and annexing land in Ukraine. At what point does he drag the United States into this war?

* Republicans, who have told us consistently that mental health is the reason behind all the mass shootings in the United States, voted unanimously against a bill in Congress that would've provided mental health assistance.

* Did you hear the one about then-Congressman Ron DeSantis voting against storm-related climate control legislation?

* Have you signed up for amazon prime or are you missing Thursday Night football?

* If you're a former football player like me, you are sick and tired of watching of defensive players miss tackles as they lower their heads and just lunge. A smart coach once told me, if you don't tackle with your head up, you won't hit him. 

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Samantha Jones.

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

Man, Nose, Rules, Doubleheaders (Not Baseball) and Trailblazers, etc.

The Schloss-Blog, monitoring the news scene as always, has the latest and greatest. OK, the latest...

***

You've heard about the "man-bites-other-man's-nose" story, right?

A corporate executive (president of "Beyond Meat") bit the nose of another man after a road-rage confrontation in Fayetteville.

This was just after the Razorbacks' football game that day.

Welcome to Arkansas football games after-party?

***

You've heard about the new rules going into effect in Major League Baseball next year, right?

This should be fun.

Fifteen-second pitch rule with no one on base - 20 seconds with runners on.

Good luck enforcing that.

Here come fake injuries. Infielders conversing on the mound to be sure to get signals straight. Batters making believe they need to retreat to the on-deck circle for more pine tar. 

Wait until the first hitter either gets called out for stalling or is award a base on balls for pitcher delay. It'll be arguments royale. And further delays of game.

This whole thing is designed to speed up the game and apparently worked well in a minor-league test. The Major Leagues are not a test - it's the real ballgame.

Good luck, MLB. You're gonna' need it.

***

Albert Pujols hit his 700th career home run this past week.

Congrats.

He is retiring after this season. His Cardinals are playoff-bound.

He's 42.

He's been on a home run binge.

But his pursuit of 700 in his last year was a great story line and MLB likes great story lines. So, how much you wanna' bet he wasn't tested this past week - or month - for steroids?

Rob Manfred likes ratings-generating story lines. This was one of them. He wasn't going to screw it up.

***

Catch the NFL doubleheader last Monday?

Two blowouts. They both sucked and because they overlapped, you couldn't switch from the one to the other because they were - blowouts. 

Next time you want to do an overlap-doubleheader, NFL, how about competitive games (like Cowboys at Giants)?

***

The Portland Trailblazers hired the very capable Chauncey Billups as their head coach last year.

They miss the playoffs.

They could've hired Becky Hamann. She won a championship (WNBA) and is a former NBA assistant coach.

They could've hired Dawn Staley. She won an NCAA championship.

Hello, NBA, your next wave of championship coaches awaits.

***

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

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

Remembering Stuff

The Schloss-Blog sometimes knows what it's going to write about well in advance, and sometimes not until just moments before posting.

This is one of those weeks, when a few things I've tripped over have supplanted my opinions on violations of the Espionage Act or underwriters of the Insurrection or even how stupid Lindsey Graham is for bringing forth a bill to ban abortions nationwide.

For instance, my friend, John Wasik, is running for re-election to the Lake County (Illinois) Board.

I don't live in Lake County. I have no family residing there. Me and John were both contracted at the same time by Blackwell Publishing to write books in a series that included my "Sports Marketing" tome (Blackwell, Malden, MA, 1996), one of the first in the genre.

We became kindred spirits, keeping each other abreast of our progress on our respective books. It was an honor to be included in the same author group with John, a true warrior for fiscal and resource management in the county, all the while the heartfelt father and husband that's he been.

If I lived in Lake County, I know I'd vote for him. If you live in Lake County, you should too.

***

Been reading where Premier League soccer games have been postponed in England because of the Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, which so far has last about a month. Don't worry - her son has had 73 years of training and is more than ready to be king.

But the soccer matches have been postponed because there apparently is not enough "security" to post at the games, due to so much of it being detailed to security assignment for the funeral that never ends.

The miles-long lines to pay final respects to the queen are testimony to her beloved status by the British people. But the postponement of the games, is that testimony to the British soccer crowds being the overtly rowdy crowds that would be out of control if not for an overt police presence?

Queen 1, hooligans 0.

***

Had the unique privilege on Thursday of this past week to spend an hour with Sharon Bouchard, a standout athlete whose exploits I got to cover when she was at Buffalo Grove High School and I was a rookie reporter. I should say @Sharon A Bouchard, or what she goes by on social media.

She was kind enough to think to contact me when her cross-country bike ride brought her through Phoenix. We spent an hour reminiscing and catching up. Could have turned into all day if we'd let it.

God bless you, Sharon, and the charitable ride on which you've embarked. All the sports reporting I've done doesn't measure up to the heart you're displaying now. Thanks for thinking of me.

*** 

I post a lot on Facebook, trying to keep it funny and lighthearted, except for this blog every Sunday, which is sometimes funny, but never lighthearted. Most political stuff goes on my Twitter account. Having once taught a course on how to use social media to cover sports, and still using it to cover sports, I have subsequently maintained my social-media profiles.

Every once in a while, I post something that gets a lot of looks, a lot of likes. And I'm appreciative. I usually look to see who put a thumbs-up or a heart or something on one of my posts, even some of the most-lighthearted ones,

I like to check the list, so to speak, of people who put a stamp of approval on my work product, and one name coming up recently that I had not seen nor heard about in many years is Chris Molenaur, a modest, mild-mannered, 6-9 basketball star who hit some big shots, made some big plays and played some great games for Buffalo Grove High School, but always shied away from the spotlight, letting his teammates take the bows.

I reached out and sent him a DM, letting him know that after all these years, it was nice to see his name pop up on my social-media feed. He responded right away, his usual reserved, appreciative self, addressing me as "Mr. Schlossberg."

I think I got a chuckle out of him reminding him that now, some 40 years later, he can call me "Howard."

Sportswriters don't do it for the money - they do it for the gratification. Chris and so many of his Buffalo Grove classmates and teammates are among those high on my gratification list.

It makes me appreciative of guys like Bill Filetti, Bentley Patterson and Scotty Bastable of Buffalo Grove, plus former Wheeling track stars Michele Weisensee Jarchow and Dana Lee Miroballi. And so many more.

One of these weeks I'll get around to my former students, so many of whom are still in touch.

***

A quick greeting to Andy Olson, who is celebrating a milestone birthday this weekend. Andy runs Radio Free Phoenix, where you can hear my show every Sunday from 9 p.m. to midnight, Arizona time.

Four years ago, I submitted a list of songs on RFP's "Radio Freedom" tab, songs I would play if I was in charge of the station for an hour. To my surprise, Andy had me into the studio and made me an instant DJ.

What fun! I did it again a few months later and after encouragement from long-time DJ's Liz Boyle and Sharon Kelley, I asked Andy if I could fill an open slot he had.

Four years later, like I said, here I am, every Sunday night. Andy, Liz and Sharon have held my hand through "training" me on how to do this.

Forever appreciative, forever thankful for their friendships, confidence and camaraderie.

Thanks, Andy. Happy birthday.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you Sharon A, Dana and Michele.

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

Of Kyrgios, Cereal Killers, Gas at $4 and Being Upside Down on Gym Equipment

The Schloss-Blog is back in The Valley, battling himself, his computer, his software, his bookshelves (that he walks into and cuts his head open on) and reloading software on his laptop without the help of his trusty sidekick, Jocelyn.

OK, I'm really her trusty sidekick.

But really, as you read through this, remember it's actually a cry out to her, on the road, for H-E-L-P!

***

Hey, did you hear the one about the U.S. Open Tennis championships, where Australian Nick Kyrgios is doing his best John McEnroe?

Except without the major championships that Mac compiled. That would be 17. Nick has zero. Nada, Nil. None.

But spends his time on court, approaching major titles while talking to himself, the coaches and his lady friend in his box and anyone who will listen to him curse, chatter, stall, shrug and be every bit the iconoclastic idiot McEnroe could be.

Without the championship. Nick, shut up until you win one, OK?

***

Inflation is still a problem, and the Fed is raising interest rates to combat it while a favorable labor market and declining gas prices keep us from slipping into an outright recession.

Republicans are running on inflation, which is skidding, and abortion, which is going kill (pun attended) a lot of their unworthy candidates, especially for the Senate.

Let's hope Democratic initiatives to control inflation and raise the American anger level about Roe being overturned becomes votes at the ballot box in November.

Let's hope.

***

Did you hear the one about the woman who got stuck upside down in an exercise machine and had to call 911 to get freed?

Really 

https://nypost.com/2022/09/01/woman-stuck-upside-down-in-exercise-machine-calls-911-for-help-so-embarrassing/

***

Looks like the Cereal Killers have been caught, just couldn't stay out of their own way. No, literally.

Their UK string of cafes by that name have supposedly closed, although their Dubai location reportedly remains open (you can't kill over-the-top ideas in Dubai).

Brothers Dean and Gary Keery opened the chain and remain the operators, blaming the aftermath of COVID for their UK closings.

Maybe it was the menu.

***

People are talking about civil war, people like Republican senators and congressmen, if Donald Trump gets indicted, current DOJ appeals of the judge's "special master" order notwithstanding.

History tells us that after Ruby Ridge in 1992 and the Waco standoff with David Koresh in 1993, what happened next was Timothy McVeigh's conviction as a domestic terrorist for the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people in 1995. Domestic terrorist attack followed supposed government harassment of citizens.

So don't say there might not be a civil war or elements thereof coming when we've already had them (see 6th, January, 2021) in the wake of domestic standoffs with alleged dangerous elements.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Queen Elizabeth.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, which is always followed by the Bohemian NightCat, @JohnKirkDeritis.

Of Lake, Laredo and Links

The Schloss-Blog today is looking at Kari Lake (sorry), baby wipes in Laredo and what's going on on the links.

Kari Lake, the former Fox Arizona newscaster running for governor as a conspiracy-theory Republican, goes on and on that she has proof of fraud in the 2020 election.

This despite none being found in any - repeat, any - 2020 election recount or audit. But she says she's got it although she refused to share it in an exchange with an NBC reporter this summer, calling him a representative of MSDNC. He had asked her why she didn't turn over her proof of these crimes to the appropriate authorities. No, she never did that. Because she has none.

Now though, she and conspiracy-theorist Mark Finchem, the Republican Secretary of State candidate, had a lawsuit tossed in which they sued Democratic Secretary of State and gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs and the Maricopa County Republican election judges over having manual voting only this November, no machines, calling them unreliable based on 2020.

No doubt, she was counting on this as her proof. The judge said she had none though.

This is what Republicans are running on, conspiracy theories, while Democrats are protecting education, the border, voting rights and hedges against inflation.

To put it bluntly, Kari Lake is a liar who said she can prove election fraud. 

She can't. And she can't govern either. To think, she therefore just might have been lying to us all those years from behind an anchor desk.

***

In Laredo, Texas, at the official border crossing, inspectors found - are you ready? - $11.8 billion worth of cocaine stuffed into containers of baby wipes.

Baby wipes.

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott is sending busload after busload of illegal immigrants to New York, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, respectively, because he doesn't want them clogging up his state, his resources.

Maybe if he managed the baby-wipe shipments at his legitimate border-crossing sites a little better, they wouldn't.

Sounds like he needs the baby wipes anyway - he's got a lot of shit stuffed up his ass.

***

Breakdancing - yes, breakdancing - will be an Olympic sport in 2024. 

What was once a street-corner performance art will now be a gold-medal event, along with skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing.

The IOC is getting smart in its old age, legitimizing the sports of the streets that young people have popularized to get them as an audience for its advertisers and sponsors.

Hey, if we've come this far though, how about tightrope-walking without a net, skyscraper to skyscraper?  Maybe lip-synching? And in different categories (rap, rock, opera, country)?

And of course, slapping Academy Award-show hosts and presenters.

***

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene is opposed to President Biden's recently announced college-tuition debt relief plan.

Hypocritical scam-artist Greene recently had $183,000 in PPP loans forgiven. 

But they love her in Georgia, right?

***

This, meanwhile, will not become an Olympic sport. Put this in your browser and check it out. From Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdMzMdfDJ1A

***

Finally, LIV Golf continues to throw around "blood money" and several pros like it, despite the fact it comes from the people who bring you grotesque murders and underwrite terrorism.

World No. 2 Cam Smith has joined, as has rising American Harold Varner III.

Varner made $2.3 million in the 2021-22 PGA season, but at the press conference announcing his switch to LIV, he said he wants to make sure he took care of his kids.

Hey, Harold, take care of my daughter too and please pay my greens fees going forward, OK? Not like you can't afford it now.

Smith said he's excited to be playing for his teammates in the 54-hole, shotgun-start, no-cut competition. 

Enjoy your blood money, boys. Hey Harold, now your kids can go to a private school. Woo hoo!

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Serena Williams.

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

Randonly Random

The Schloss-Blog is all over the place today. Don't believe me? Just watch.

But first, we have exclusive insight into the affidavit, albeit redacted, that was released by the FBI regarding the probable cause for the search at Mar-a-Lago:

Trump's gonna' be indicted.

***

The Old Spice antiperspirant commercial with the Dolph Lundgren-like character dripping sweat from his armpits, causing the guy he's trying to save to lose his grip and plummet to his supposed death, is simply gross.

***

The Pittsburgh Steelers, with Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback, will bench him for rookie No. 1 pick Kenny Pickett mostly because their offensive line sucks and their weapons are banged-up wash-ups.

It's Trubisky's job to lose, and he will, but not necessarily of his own doing.

When Pickett gets hurt - and he will - Trubisky will re-enter, play the hero, and keep the job, possibly take them to the playoffs, especially with that defense.

***

My grandson thinks Trubisky sucks.

***

The 2nd Swing ad, where the gal pulls out and hits what the one of the guys in her foursome exclaims as, "New Sticks!," is the singularly most-phallic symbol ad I've ever seen, as water spouts go off up and down the fairway with her every stroke, and the stick on the green stands up straight as her ball rolls in the cup. 

They might as well have had Bar Paly swinging clubs.

No, wait...

***

Brian Kelly at Notre Dame had at least one player commit a rape he got away with and had a student assistant die filming from a tower that never should've been up in high winds.

He was rewarded with a $100 million contract at LSU.

***

Democrats have proposed and finally enacted inflation reduction measure, healthcare protections, infrastructure improvements, desperately needed chip-manufacturing incentives and protections for health risk-exposed military veterans.

Republicans have tried to block each and every one of those.

***

My friend Reji Laberje, under the pseudonym Jeri Shepherd, is writing a new science-fiction series, premiering with At Fault, her daring look at Earth's future after devastating climate change destruction has realigned all things politics, military, economic and otherwise.

It was a fascinating read. By a fascinating woman. Can't wait to get my hands on book two.

***

The Supreme Court observing what its ruling overturning Roe has done?

Women who have miscarried in some cases can't get medical treatment and new trigger laws are going into effect that will totally ban abortion in 16 states.

But America is pushing back. In Kansas, where abortion protection remains codified and in New York, where a bell weather seat in Congress when a Democrat who campaigned on "Choice."

Stay tuned. More to come. Republicans want total bans on abortion. They be careful what they ask for, come November.

***

Democratic campaign ads: Choice. Jobs. Clean Energy. Infrastructure.

Republican campaign ads: Make 10-year olds have babies.

***

The Twix ad, with the twins not deciding which side tastes better while two bears can't decide which twin tastes better, is gross.

***

Had a crudite lately?

Dr. Oz should be careful about asking for the ingredients for one.

He might get them.

Up his ass.

***

Herschel Walker thinks we have too many trees.

Have to wonder, did Atlanta-based Georgia Pacific, a pulp and paper manufacturer, contribute to his senatorial campaign?

Who voted for this schmuck to become a senatorial candidate? The same people with voted for Marjorie Taylor Greene.

***

Donald Trump is saying that those classified documents he took to Mar-a-Lago where "his." 

Now he could indicted for having them.

Looks like he'll get just what he asked for.

***

Finally, spotted this headline:

"Bugs flying around with wings are flying bugs"

Really. Can't make this up.

If you see one equally as auspicious, let me know.

***

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

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

Trump, Tweets, Twix and Beto, MotherF____r!

The Schloss-Blog does not want to nor like to delve into politics too often, but politics keep knocking on the Schloss-Blog door.

***

Donald Trump is in f__kin' trouble and ain't it grand.

He's been caught with top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort residence that he wasn't supposed to have there and been caught changing the excuses for why he had them 

*Didn't have them became didn't know he had them became didn't know they were classified 

*Which became his power to automatically declassify anything 

*Which became his standing order to declassify anything he took with him became FBI "raided" and "stormed" the property 

*Which became the FBI planted top-secret documents 

*Which became...

He's a lying ass and he's been caught. Problem is, this has put the FBI, the DOJ and the overseeing judge under threat of assault.

Much of it is from Republicans in Congress, no less, who couldn't cheer on the FBI quickly nor loudly enough when it was investigating Hillary Clinton.

Hypocritical assholes.

If you support them, if you believe them, then you want to live in a society where your freedoms are restricted, unprotected, and your life, when in danger, is not protected by credible law enforcement at any level.

Good luck with that.

***

Or, as Beto O'Rourke put it at a Texas town hall event about gun control and gun safety relating to the horrific Uvalde grade school shooting to someone who heckled him, “It may be funny to you, motherfucker, but it is not funny to me.” 

Problem is, people vote for these motherfuckers.

***

OK, enough about Trump.

Polio has been found in waste water in New York.

People, get vaccinated. Get your kids vaccinated. You, the non-vaxxers, you're going to kill people. Even Trump got vaccinated.

Damn it, said I wouldn't but I just mentioned Trump.

***

The government response to monkeypox is late, as was the response to COVID-19. The response to the former is red tape, to which the CDC admitted.

The latter was Trump's failure to attack it soon enough.

Damn it, did it again.

***

OK, as far from politics as you can get: how would you handle this - ahem - delicate situation?

In a recent Miss Manners post (she has freakin' hysterical stuff), the kindly, gentle columnist was presented with a predicament by a letter writer who said a guest she invited to dinner declined, but said she would come by and pick up a to-go plate instead.

Really.

Would you have complied (hah) with that request?

And look, no mention of Donald Trump.

Damn it...

***

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

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

Lies of the Desert; Life Without Vin

The Schloss-Blog is distressed today, over the primary results in Arizona and over the loss of two sports giants: Vin Scully and Bill Russell.

In The Valley, where I winter, and more, I will now have a different feel when I'm out and about.

Because "Big Lie" candidates won their primary races, it means a certain truth abounds out there in the desert.

It means when I go grocery shopping at nearby Fry's and Safeway stores, half the people in there shopping with me voted for Donald Trump and his acolytes, Kari Lake for the Republican gubernatorial nomination and Blake Masters for U.S. Senate.

It means roughly half of the people in line waiting with me to pick up prescriptions at the local CVS will vote for these people who believe the Big Lie.

It means half the people sitting in the stands at football games I go to believe in and will vote for candidates who promote the Big Lie.

It means the same for half the coaches and half the parents of the players,

It means at my favorite restaurants in The Valley: Base and Pomo for pizza; Chelsea's Kitchen for scrumptious eclectic menus and Starbucks for my favorite White Chocolate Mocha with coconut milk or Hot Chocolate with soy milk, half the patrons will vote to support the Big Lie.

It means at my health club, The Village, a comprehensive, enormous splendor with workouts for everyone from yoga to tennis to competitive swimming to every piece of equipment imaginable, half the people in there will vote to support the Big Lie.

When I go to Sky Harbor Airport to catch a flight or am there getting off one, half the people picking someone up or dropping someone off or being picked up or dropped off will be Big Lie advocates.

It means what my friend Larry told me one of the first times we went out to eat with him and his wife in The Valley, was to be careful about what we say about politics in an open space about the likes of Donald Trump unless I want to start a fight in a public.

These politicians promote "The Big Lie" even though they know it's not true, proven to not be true. Yet they spoon feed it to a lot of very amazingly gullible people in Arizona, despite the mainstream Arizona media regularly cautioning them that it has never been proven and no shred of evidence exists to support it.

Bottom line: all these people who think voting is fraudulent went out and voted.

***

Vin Scully spent 67 years calling Dodgers games, in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. He called the occasional football game, including "The Catch" by Dwight Clark, as well as golf tournaments and all sorts of other events.

No one had his vocabulary, nor his grace. At his last game, players for both the Dodgers and Giants stood on the field and applauded him.

But he'll be with the Dodgers forever - "It's time for Dodger baseball," will forever be the team's opening line on its telecasts.

His legacy of class goes far beyond that.

*** 

I despised Bill Russell. He died at 88.

Best defensive center ever, probably. Never played against Kareem though.

But in addition to basketball glory, he stood up for civil rights and at times endured harsh treatment as a Black man playing in Boston, where, at times in his career and since, it is still 1948.

He won 11 championships in 13 trips to the NBA Finals, crushing the hopes of my Knicks along the way too many times.

However, on his stance for equality, I commend him wholeheartedly.

***

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in NYC is now $4,000 per month.

I don't think I wanna' move back.

***\

45 and 440 - the only numbers you need to know. Speak for themselves.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Happy birthday, @ChadManis. Welcome back, @RonaGindin. 

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

Further Differences Between Mean & Women

The Schloss-Blog presents a re-visitation of or the further differences between men and women.

Recently, the Schloss-Blog noticed even more differences between men and women than previously noted in a blog post a couple of years ago, when we noticed, for example, that men wear jeans and women wear jeans that fit.

Now though, for instance...

Men go to dinner and talk about sports.

And sex.

Women go to dinner and talk about gardening, shopping, favorite restaurants, favorite travel spots, prospective weekend getaways and fashion trends.

And why do men only talk about sports.

And sex.

***

KANSAS!

***

Footnote: men don't go dinner. They go to a bar with lots of TV screens to watch sports, drink and order wings and pigs in a blanket and call it dinner.

***

A tuxedo is supposed to, even should make a man look good. Maybe even sexy.

A woman can look good and sexy - in anything!

***

Men read magazines.

OK, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Women read Cosmo, Good Housekeeping, Elle, Vanity Fair, Vogue and health, health, health.

***

KANSAS!

***

Men like catchy dance tunes.

Women know how to dance to them.

***

Driving around, men like to sing along with popular songs they hear on the radio.

Women know the lyrics.

***

KANSAS!

***

Men's favorite magazine bylines are Irina Shayk, Bar Refaeli and Nina Agdal.

Women's are Maureen Dowd, Michelle Goldberg and Rachel Maddow.

***

Curious note: could the Swimsuit Issue models who pose only in swimwear painted on them so well it looks real get into and be served in a restaurant or bar like that?

***

Men go to a game... and watch it on their phones.

Women go to a game, talk to each other, check their phones and then watch the game and explain it to their kids.

***

Men watch MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, think they know everything, and then go vote.

Women gather everything they can about the candidates and the issues.

And then go vote.

***

Men are pro-choice.

Women understand all the implications and complications being caused to health care by being denied pro-choice.

***

Men go to a game and scream J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!

Women go to a game and scream J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets! and get me a hot chocolate, please.

***

KANSAS!

***

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

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

Of Mickey, 50ths, Dean Martin and Raphael Warnock for President

The Schloss-Blog is thinking of things all over the place today, from rapper Mickey Avalon to singer Dean Martin to Raphael Warnock for President and all things in between.

Played golf yesterday with my friend Brian. Had a hole in one (no, I didn't).

It was his 60th birthday and it was my job to keep him out of the house while his wife set up his milestone birthday surprise party.

Almost didn't pull it off, but we had a great round and it worked - he was surprised. And I didn't have to park around the corner from his house so he wouldn't recognize my car.

***

Families of victims of 9/11 sent a letter to Donald Trump, letting him know in no uncertain terms about how they feel about his hosting the Saudi-sponsored LIV tour this weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course.

A lot of great golfers have signed on to that tour.

Fuck them and the terror-sponsoring, human rights-denying, journalism-killing assholes paying them.

***

News junkie that I am, I've been thinking about all the things I miss about the short life of CNN+.

Haven't thought of anything yet.

***

Jewish rapper Mickey Avalon did a great show at the Social Club last weekend in West Chicago. No, he doesn't do it in Yiddish.

But he is talented and has a message that young people deserve their kind of music and it's OK to drop an F-bomb in there every once in a while. His dancer. Lizzy, a stunningly beautiful blonde, is a virtual gymnast on stage alongside him, prosthetic leg and all. 

Mickey has respect for the great rappers who preceded him and/or are his contemporaries. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him pay tribute to them in is mood, his attitude, his presence and his lyrics.

Amen.

***

Is it just me, or does just about every commercial I see on TV these days include Dean Martin singing a song?

Yikes.

Is he that popular or are they rebooting the Matt Helm spy series of movies in which he starred? Speaking of which, Ryan Gosling is starring in the Gray Man spy series. His character's name is - not making this up - '6,' well, actually "Sierra 6," but '6' for short.

He's also going to play "Ken" in the "Barbie" flick, opposite Margot Robbie in the title role. Click on the link for a peek.

***

Raphael Warnock for president.

Seriously.

He's a man of god (a pastor).

He's already a Georgia senator, gaining valuable political experience.

And he's a level-headed Democrat.

His opponent for the senate seat he holds believes that our clean air has blown over to China and China's bad air has blown over to Georgia.

Really.

The former Heisman Trophy winner also believes that if man evolved from apes, how come there are still apes? Seriously.

The race for that Senate seat in Georgia is tight, which ought to tell you everything you need to know about the IQ level of so many Republican Trump voters in Georgia (see Greene, Marjorie Taylor).

Republican senate and gubernatorial this year candidates are Donald Trump on steroids.

Anyway, Warnock is not Joe Biden, who, apparently, nobody wants to run for a second term, Reconciliation Bill being so close to passage notwithstanding..

***

Thirty years ago, Dan and Dave were duking it out in commercials for the decathalon.

At the Barcelona Olympics.

Except Dan didn't qualify and Dave didn't win anyway.

All Reebok got out of it was egg on its face for the campaign.

***

It's the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the legislation that ensures that women have equal rights to funding and facilities at schools that receive federal aid.

Republicans have tried to rewrite it at every seminal anniversary, especially during the 'W' administration.

But women have prevailed. Now, 10 times more girls participate in sports at the high school level than when the act was passed.

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team now gets the much-deserved consummate pay of the men's team it so deserves.

Women rock the sports world. And they deserve more and better. And will get it.

Now though, about Roe... wonder if the Supreme Court realizes that its ruling has actually endangered more women's and babies' lives than they believe it may have saved.

***

On a lighter note, a Texas brothel recently went out of business and put this sign on its door to prospective walk-in customers: "Beat it. We're closed."

Can't make up this stuff.

***

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, and Sunday morning as I sit in for Joe Catanzaro. Join me for a cup of coffee.

And then a nightcap.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Title IX.