Memories Light The Corners Of My Mind...

The Schloss-Blog is writing this post in honor of fellow Brooklynite Barbra Streisand and her new memoir, all nearly 1,000 pages of it.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world...

...Why is everyone jumping on Biden's supposed mental alertness when Trump keeps forgetting...

• ...If he's in Sioux Falls or Sioux City
• ...If he ran against Barack Obama in 2016 or Barack Obama in 2020
• ...If Obama is yet going to get us into ... wait for it ... World War II
• ...and that he was serving as president and keeping us safe in the world in 2021 ... when he wasn't president

Can't wait to see what he forgets next. His children sure forgot everything at the Trump Organization trial in New York City.

***

Never forget - Hamas attacked Israel and still wants to kill all Jews, ceasefire notwithstanding.

***

Anyone watching the NBA In-Season Tournament games? The off-color, multi-color courts being used are U-G-L-Y!

Also, having trouble generating interest in these games, or about as much as I have for regular-season NBA games, in which no one plays defense.

They don't in these games either

***

I was a little behind in my reading, so I still had a many months-old edition of GQ (yes, I read that, fashion plate that I am), the one that had an in-depth profile of Matthew Perry. Because he only just passed away, picking it up and reading it put a lot about him into a little better perspective.

He was enigmatic, to say the least.

His descriptions of his days and nights on prescription drug-infused highs are enough to make you as sick as he was, literally rolling around in his own excretions and not knowing where he was. His reflections on the celebrities he dated are penetrating, as are the reasons he broke up with so many of them: he was afraid they'd break up with him first as soon as they discovered the truth about him. He was in and out of rehab - wait for it - 65 times.

The cast and crew of "Friends" never deserted him, always supported him and stood by him.

To the bitter end.

***

Spending as much time as I do in Phoenix now, I 've been peeking in on Phoenix Suns games (literally, just peeking in - I cannot watch an NBA game, start to finish until the playoffs).

The Suns have an almost completely redone roster and have added star guard Bradley Beal.

But since they're all still getting to know each other, their games look like average schoolyard shootouts and they don't have Devin Booker, who's been hurt.

And it shows.

***

Does anyone think Hamas would grant a ceasefire if Israel asked for it?

Yeah, me neither.

***

Ohio has enshrined abortion into its state constitution.

Virginia voted to ensure that its legislature doesn't propose any kind of abortion ban.

Republicans are not getting the message that abortion is a loser.

Just like they are. Just like Trump is.

***

Had the pleasure of covering Arizona's first Class 6A (big schools) Girls Flag Football championship game last week for the Arizona Republic.

What a blast. Refreshingly original. Extremely competitive attitudes from these star athletes. On the sidelines, they were as into it as their male football counterparts, but without the F bombs.

Worth watching. Worth covering.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mountain View girls flag football.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. And thanks for all the anniversary and birthday wishes.

No World Series Watchers, Culture Problems in Chicago and Let's Energize Joe

The Schloss-Blog, like so many others, noticed that no one watched the World Series this past week. It was between Arizona and, uh - oh yeah, Texas.

Before the World Series, could you name three players on either team? The managers? The cities in which their home stadiums are located?

Yeah, I could, but I'm a lifetime sports reporter and sports journalism educator.

Plus, as Deadspin noted, the Series, for the first time, started on a Friday-Saturday for the first two games, on the weekend preceding Halloween, when a lot of people who might otherwise be hanging at sports bars watching the games were at - well - Halloween parties.

That huge degree of unfamiliarity with the players and the inconvenient starting days added up to record-low TV ratings.

The games were for the most part close and entertaining, but only for those in the Dallas and Phoenix markets who bothered to watch.

Time for Major League Baseball to reexamine start dates, promotion, playoff seeding, et al.

***

The Chicago Bears dismissed their running backs coach this past week, without explanation.

They dismissed their defensive coordinator two weeks into the season.

They say the culture is just fine in their headquarters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Bet Alan Williams and David Walker are not saying that.

***

Torey Lovullo, the Diamondbacks manager, says he'll die trying to win a World Series for the fans in Arizona.

After the "bullpen" game he managed, which they lost 11-7 (game 4) and trailed 10-0 in the third inning, he has one foot in the grave.

***

Just a quick word to Joe Biden: survey after survey shows that voters, including Democrats loyal to him and his policies, would rather have a younger version running for president.

He does carry himself in a somewhat feeble manner, including his speech delivery.

He is 80.

Trump is 77 but carries far less of a negative perception in that dimension.

So, Joe, I'll pop for you to get a hair coloring and a new doo, for a subscription to Balance of Nature Fruits & Veggies, for weight training to pump up the bod' and for anything else that will add some zip to your step.

You've got a year - do it. That seems to be your only negative, but it's a biggie - do it. Even if Trump's in jail by then, do it,

Send me the bill, because we can't have Trump in the White House again.

***

The National Association of Realtors is reeling in the wake of being found liable to inflate realtors' commissions and a sexual harassment charge against its CEO, who has stepped down.

A PR nightmare for the industry's backbone association.

I could've worked there in PR. Was offered a position there just before I accepted my position on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago.

And stayed there 23 years.

Whew!

***

R.I.P. Walter Davis (North Carolina, Phoenix Suns).

A true pro and a great one.

He was 69.

***

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

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

 

Support for Israel and Practice, Practice, Practice

The Schloss-Blog is looking at Michigan State, the NFL, immunity pleas and please, everyone, support for Israel.

***

Do you know Hitler's birthplace?

Either do I, but Michigan State thought enough of it to put it on its stadium videoboard as a trivia question.

The question is, WTF is going on at Michigan State? As if they don't have enough problems and as if they haven't had enough things go wrong.

Congratulations, Michigan State, you're our school of the weak.

***

If you watch as much NFL play as I do, and you probably do, you've noticed an epidemic: nobody can tackle.

I mean nobody.

Missed tackles are a requirement for defensive players.

I remember revered high school coach, the late Grant Blaney, telling me after a playoff game against a team with a stud running back, that he stressed to his defensive players to tackle with their heads up, or else that stud back wouldn't be there when they went to wrap up.

And so I watch as NFL players tackle with their heads down and wrap up thin air regularly. 

That's only part of the problem. The rest is practice. Hitting in practice has practically been eliminated in the NFL, ostensibly to avoid injuries.

BS.

If you don't practice tackling you won't be good at tackling.

You keep hearing about players getting non-contact injuries in practice. The hell with that and they need to hit. And hit. And hit in practice or they won't be any good in the game.

They certainly can't be any worse.

***

Is it just me, or has the sensationalized, media-hyped Brock Purdy looked ordinary the last two weeks?

Yeah, he has.

***

Just wondering out loud: how long before Rudy Giuliani, Jeffrey Clark and John Eastman take plea deals in Georgia now that Jenna Ellis, Sidney Powell and Ken Chesebro have?

And then Trump?

***

The Arizona Diamondbacks post-season success tale has been storybook.

They had the worst record of any MLB playoff qualifier. They finished the regular season with a plop.

And dashed to the World Series.

Congrats.

Now though, how long before the World Series is over, regardless of outcome, before the Diamondbacks shake down Phoenix and Arizona for the $400 million to $700 million it's estimated they need to repair and upgrade Chase Field?

You can hear the cries now: 

• We need the stadium repairs to be able to sign free agents and win it all;
• We need the stadium upgrades to give our fans the ultimate experience they deserve;
• We need the stadium work or we'll be forced to move someplace that will make these financial considerations for us.

It'll happen. And with the winning streak they're on, they can do it.

And the fans will be behind them. Until they see ticket prices next year.

*** 

If you don't support Israel, then you support terrorism.

Period.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Golda Meir.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. And stay up following my show for John Kirk DeRitis, the Bohemian NightCat.

Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie, Disney and Women Shrieking

The Schloss-Blog is eying baseball and why he doesn't watch it anymore: because this year, strike outs surpassed hits.

Believe it.

And they have every season since 2018.

They swing for the fences. I swing for the remote.

***

Is it just me, or are women screaming? A  lot?

• Like in the Google Pixel 8 ad, when the woman screams as her boyfriend takes a knee to propose.
• Like in the Jacuzzi remodel-your-bath ad, when the chic designer unveils the new shower for the client. And she shrieks.
• Like on the SNL season opener, as the women in the audience scream when a clever spoof on Taylor Swift's impact on NFL coverage ends with her boyfriend, Travis Kelce making a cameo.
• Or the Mom in the Chick fil  A ad recounting how wonderful it was to be able to supply a goodie bag of sandwiches for their stationed-overseas son. And then he walks on. And she screams in delight.

What am I missing? Is it necessary to shriek? Is this the shark jumping out behind the boat in the first "Jaws" movie?

Ladies, why do you scream? Men don't. They gasp. They smile. Or cry. Or mutter a "Yes!" under their breaths.

But men don't shriek.

Do we? Guys?

***

Disney turns 100 (today). One hundred? How many businesses can say they've lasted 100 years? Not Sam Bankman-Fried's. Maybe not Donald Trump's, pending trial results in New York.

To celebrate, Disney is re-releasing "Snow Shite and the Seven Dwarfs" in a supposed 4K restoration of the 1937 original, although its live-action version caught a lot of flak. The technologically touched-up remake will be available on Disney+.

Jocelyn has a soft spot for Disney cartoon films. I'll have to get her one when the disk comes out.

***

Sidney Powell blamed Venezuela, and in good part Cuba and Italy, for technology that changed votes from Trump to Biden in 2020.

Now, she's confessing her lies and turnings state's evidence in the Fulton County, Georgia, case against her and Trump.

You can bet she's hoping Trump gets reelected so he can pardon her. By the same token, can't you just hear Trump muttering "That bitch" under pressure when he heard about it? 

Can he do that from jail?

***

Mitt Romney and Oprah almost ran together as a ticket in the 2020 presidential election, Oprah as VP.

Yeah, right, Oprah settling for VP.

Never.

***

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

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

 

Harvard, Hard Way, Hard Luck and (Microsoft Owes) How Much?

So much going on that the Schloss-Blog doesn't know where to start. Well, actually, sure we do...

...A bunch of students from varying organizations protested loud and long about that the whole thing going on now between Hamas and Israel is all Israel's fault.

Their protest was a little too loud and a little too long for billionaire Bill Ackman, who demanded the names of the students so they could be blacklisted when they go job-hunting. Ackman claims Harvard, via its corporate shield, is protecting the students from backlash,

Bottom line: want to protest, anything? Use your college, the bastion of free speech, right?

Wrong, says Ackman and others in the corporate world who agree.

And hasn't Harvard stirred up enough controversy lately anyway? Race neutrality. Affirmative action. And Ivy League sister Penn caught flak for hosting a Palestine Writers Conference, which got labeled "antisemitic" because of its attendance and focus.

Makes me feel better about my SUNY degree.

***

The Schloss-Blog swears, every golf course in Arizona is closed for overseeding right now, which means I haven't played in three weeks.

I don't want to hear it, Mark.

***

Do you wear Birkenstocks? 

The IPO of the fashionable footwear maker, while generating a lot of money, came up disappointingly short though.

There was a time when everyone I know wore Birkenstocks. Now everyone I know can own a piece of Birkenstock.

Although owning a pair might be a better investment than owning their stock.

***

In case you were wondering, Apple iPhones are the brand of choice with those in the Gen Z demographic.

They love the camera.

Looks like I'm as ancient as my Android.

***

Microsoft, which closed a $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, reportedly still owes the IRS $29 billion in back taxes.

Activision Blizzard makes the ever-popular "Call of Duty." The IRS, meanwhile, comes to your door with AR-15s if you owe back taxes.

Or so said Ted Cruz.

In a release from Cancun.

On vaca.

While Texas was freezing over.

***

ACT scores are at their lowest since 1991.

American youth has apparently forgotten how to read.

And add.

***

One last note to asshole Republicans: Iran can't touch the $6 billion, not a penny.

Got it?

***

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

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

 

Recent College Grads, Turn Away

The Schloss-Blog wants to know if you're a recent college grad, or know one, or have one in the family, because if so...

...life expectancy at age 25 (adult life expectancy) for those with four-year college degrees rose by 59 years on the eve of the pandemic. In other words, an average individual would live to 84 - up from 54 additional years (or 79 years old) in 1992. During the pandemic, by 2021, the expectation slipped back a year.

All this is according to the Brookings Institution, which found that life expectancy for the college educated in 2021 was eight-and-a-half years longer than for the two-thirds of American adults who don't have a bachelor's degree. Most alarmingly, that is more than triple the 1992 gap of about two-and-a-half  years.

Live longer. Go to college.

***

In other Schloss-Blog news ...

... if you watched the women compete in golf's Solheim Cup and then the men in the Ryder Cup on consecutive weekends last month, maybe you noticed the same thing the Schloss-Blog did:

The NBC networks carrying the competitions did not cover them the same. The shot-tracking technology used to trace shots in air during the men's competition was not used near as generously in the women's competition.

What, the women don't matter? At least the U.S. women's team had a shot at winning the Solheim Cup and actually wound up in a tie, which enabled the European team to keep the prize. The U.S. men's team was never close in the Ryder Cup competition. But the shot-tracer was still amply evident.

Oh yeah, the U.S. men's team, much more so than the women, can't putt. The guys I play with on Tuesdays all summer in Illinois make those putts.

***

Polls show that Joe Biden is considered too old to complete a second term as president, even though he has shaped and passed some remarkable legislation in technology, jobs, climate and ... yes, infrastructure, which was announced every week during the Trump administration but never executed.

Biden needs a jolt of energy to correct what is considered his more-feeble-than-most posture, speech, gait, delivery and general appearance.

Vitamin B12? Super Beets? Fruits & Veggies? He needs to resemble the Joe Biden that Jason Sudeikis so often portrayed on Saturday Night Live.

Well, who else should be the Democratic nominee? Kamala? Gavin Newsom? J.B. Pritzker?

Yeah, that's what I think too...

***

When the NY Giants play the Washington Red__ uh, Commanders, on Sunday, Oct. 22, play close attention.

After watching the Red__, uh, Commanders, put on a pathetic display against the hapless Bears, the Giants-Commanders showdown will be a battle to see who has less.

And when you have less than the Bears, that's a problem.

***

If you don't think there's a difference between Democrats and Republicans, consider...

...when Donald Trump got indicted, all the judges and prosecutors got life-threatening messages.

Repeatedly.

When Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) got indicted - again - no one got threatened.

And now, Greg Gutfield, on Fox News, has literally called for civil war.

How mature.

***

One last sports note:

During the regular season, Major League Baseball used a man on second at the start of every extra inning to speed up games.

In the postseason, uh uh - no such thing. Rule suspended.

Hey MLB - either get rid of the rule for the regular season or use it in the postseason. Can't have it both ways.

***

A quick tip of the cap to Terry Griffin (BG, '78) and guys from the Buffalo Grove and Barrington high schools classes of '78, '80, '82 and '84 who gathered last weekend to mark the memory of the late Dave Millay with their annual kegger.

I'll join you next year, guys.

***

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

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

 

The Schloss-Blog has been watching the fallout from the GOP debate, the fallout from Donald Trump getting his properties shoved up his ass and the fallout from Taylor Swift marrying Travis Kelce.

Just kidding on that one - they didn't get married. Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

***

According to Donald Trump, his brand is worth so much that his properties must be too.

***

Fox News commentators blasted Taylor Swift over her supposed "let's f#%king go" cheer at the Kansas City Chiefs game last week.

Hey Fox, Smartmatic will be talking to you soon about the same thing for which you paid Dominion $787.5 million. In other words, there are bigger things for you to worry about than Taylor Swift's potty mouth (besides, I like a girl who talks dirty).

***

Phoenix Suns fans and media are celebrating the departure via trade of center DeAndre Ayton, who is now a Portland Trailblazer.

Where, actually, at age 26 and so many years of being a double-double machine, he'll fit perfectly.

Meanwhile, local Phoenix media are pounding their chests over how the Suns are going to be bigger by getting smaller in what they got back in this trade.

Hey Suns, Denver or the Lakers versus Milwaukee for the NBA title.

***

At the Republican presidential debate, seven people who will never be president debated why they should be.

None of them should ever be, as the colloquialism goes, dog-catcher. Yet, they all want to be Trump's vice-presidential candidate.

That's going to be Kari Lake, who has her lips pressed to Trump's cheeks.

***

Donald Trump could lose his New York-based businesses, according to a ruling from a New York-based judge.

That's what happens when you estimate the value of your New York apartment at somewhere between $114-207 million in what the judge called a "fantasy world."

To many Americans, his presidency was that overvalued too.

***

Uh, Paging Bob Menendez: time to step down.

***

Uh, speaking of that court ruling last week in New York, no one was speaking of it at the debate on the same day as the ruling.

Not the candidates. Not the moderators (what a bunch of wusses). 

Oh, that's right, it was on Fox.

***

Who's Barbara Mullen?

Oh trust me, you know.

***

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce?

Oh surely, he can do better.

Just kidding, just kidding!

***

The writers are back and Bill Maher missed them, as he fawned all over Ron DeSantis when his "Real Time with Bill Maher" returned last Friday.

***

J.P. Morgan Chase paid $75 million to settle a lawsuit that it in good part helped enable Jeffrey Epstein and his sex trafficking..

Time to get my money out of Chase Bank.

***

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

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