Bill

Dads and 90s kids, here's a fact: We had it so good with SportsCenter and we didn't know it.... How could we? We didn't know what was on the horizon that would try to take it down: first, league passes and TiVo and DirecTV... then the Internet and social media and YouTube... During that brief, bright spot in sports media in the 1990s, SportsCenter was the only way to get the day's highlights... We had black and white photos and box scores and features in the newspaper... We had brilliant writing and reporting and pictures in Sports Illustrated and Sporting News and ESPN: The Magazine... But for the day's highlights... To watch Ken Griffey Jr. make a diving catch or Jordan hit a game winner or Barry Sanders twirl through a defensive line... If you didn't catch it live, the only way to see it was on SportsCenter (maybe your local news sports show - maybe)... And into this void stepped Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann and Stuart Scott and Rich Eisen and Craig Kilborn and Linda Cohn and Robin Roberts and crew... And all the catch phrases every kid in high school and college would repeat: "cool as the other side of the pillow"... Jumanji... En Fuego.... We'd watch SportsCenter at night then again in the morning. It was a monolith. You'd show up at school and you'd have the same frame of reference for the highlights you saw. It was a shared experience. It was awesome. And even though the show still exists and works, it's not a cultural touchstone anymore... it can't be... not with every highlight available from 1,000 sources across social media instantly... And there are bright spots to be sure... My man and Top 10 Randy (@RandyScottESPN) is terrific. So are plenty of others. But classic SC, man. It was a shared experience. By everyone. These kids don't know... Sitting there, retweeting highlights, sharing reels, scrolling their feeds... Doing the work to find what they like with no commentary or context. Times change. I get it. And we always glorify what we grew up on. Maybe that's all this is. Still, I miss Stu Scott. He ruled. If you agree, share this and follow me @Jon_Finkel. Boo-Yah!

The largest wager placed on the account Isaiah Rodgers was using was a $1,000 bet on the over/under for rush yards for a Colts player. It won. (via @DavidPurdum)

A nuclear war would trigger Obama’s executive order 13603, suspending the US Constitution. This 10-page document govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR… is a blueprint for a federal takeover of the economy that would dwarf any tyranny we’ve seen within these borders since King George. It would seize control of: •All commodities and products that are capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals” •“All forms of energy” •“All usable water from all sources” •“Health resources –  drugs, biological products, medical devices, materials, facilities, health supplies, services and equipment” •Forced labor ( or “induction” as the executive order delicately refers to military conscription) •Moreover, federal officials would “issue regulations to prioritize and allocate resources.” •Each government bureaucracy “shall act as necessary and appropriate.” Per Forbes: “Obama’s 13603 seems to describe a potentially totalitarian regime obsessed with control over everything.  Obama’s executive order makes no effort to justify the destruction of liberty, no effort to explain how amassing totalitarian control would enable government to deal effectively with cyber sabotage, suicide bombings, chemical warfare, nuclear missiles or other possible threats.” According to The National Archives, as of the Trump administration, this executive order was still effective. I imagine the Biden administration has not repealed, replaced, amended or suspended it. And y’all are out of your gotdamn mind if you think there will be a peaceful transfer of power in 2024 if we’re in World War III. That absolutely will not happen. The Establishment will do whatever it takes to maintain their power in wartime. They were able to purge our military of undesirables because we still have selective service. Of course they’ll conscript young men to fight their world war. Nothing happening in Russia is good right now. We never should have rejected peace deals on Ukraine’s behalf. We never should’ve gotten involved in Ukraine. We never should’ve lied about having boots down in Ukraine. And I’m willing to bet the farm the CIA directly involved in the Russian coup. And finally, to the integrity inept 🇺🇦 artards, you know what bad for dEmOcRaCy and cLiMaTe ChAnGe? Nuclear war. Nuclear war is bad for all the things that bless your feigned moral piety. And if we even get so far as World War III, which I hope with my entire being we somehow do not— May they pull your birthday out of the bingo machine first. God bless.