I've always been of the opinion that managers/coaches get too much credit when a team wins and too much blame when a team loses. Yes, a good coach or manager can make the difference on occasion but not as much as you might think. They need good players who can make plays when the game is on the line. It's the coach/managers job to put those players in the best position to be successful. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. That's the nature of the beast. The good ones make their decisions and don't second guess. I would submit that there is more second-guessing that goes on with a decision not made than one that was. Some good examples were available on Saturday, which was not a good one for Wisconsin sports fans. The Brewers let a 3-0 lead disappear as LA evend up the NL Championship Series at a game apiece. Almost immediatly Craig Counsell started getting roasted for removing Wade Miley from the game when he had a shutout going after 5 2/3 innings. What they forget was, he was coming out of the game the previous half-inning anyway if his spot had come up to hit. He was also facing the potent Dodger lineup for the 3rd time and Counsell has been consistent in how he has used his pitchers this year to avoid that in close games. Plus, Corbin Burnes had been pitching great. It was the right move that just didnt work out on this night. Burnes and Jeffress struggled and the Dodgers rallied. Counsell would tell you he would make the same move again and he would be right. Just because a move doesnt work, doesnt make it wrong. And, for those Brewers fans who are screaming about it….it was Milwaukee's first loss in 21 days. What, you thought they were going to run the table? The other example is the Badger football game and this was a rare time when the Badger coaches did not put their players in the best position to be successful. Yeah, Hornibrook had a bad night but his coaches didn't do him any favors. A majority of his passes came on 3rd down with Jon Taylor on the sidelines. Gee, I wonder what the Wolverine D could focus on? The Badgers have injury and inexperience problems on defense right now and even a perfect offensive game plan was probably not going to beat Michigan on this night. And yes, I know Alex Hornibrook can be wildly inconsistent. But on this night, Paul Chryst and Joe Rudolph can eat some of the blame as well.
Another chunk of my childhood disappeared over the weekend. Packer legend Jimmy Taylor dies at 85. We would go out on the street after Packer games (Winton Street because Turner was too steep) and put on Packer jerseys with shoulder pads and real helmets to emulate Starr, Hornung, Dowler, Dale and especially Taylor who seemed to be the toughest SOB around
Things to annoy you today:
The US Post Office only gives Native American Tribal residents PO boxes. The Supreme Court ruled last week that only residents with street addresses can vote in North Dakota. A state with a very tight US Senate race. But these voter supression activities are going on in states all over the country. Texas, Georgia, Florida, Indiana just to name a few. Republicans know that gerry-mandering and voter suppression are the only way they can win election in many places and they are not even hiding those efforts anymore.
USA Today published a propaganda piece from the White House last week with no vetting. It was full of lies that went unchallenged. Trump had tha gall to claim that he and Republicans have worked hard to protect patients with pre-existing conditions. Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Leah Vukmir repeats the same lies in her stump speech and her commericals. In fact, Senate Republicans just killed a Democratic resolution that would have overturned the Trump administrations rule allowing healthcare insurers to either charge those with pre-existing conditions more money or DENY them coverage altogether.
Trump was doing one of his inane rallies in Ohio and praised Robert E. Lee as an “incredible” man and the crowd cheered. I'm relatively confident that Trump's histoiry knowledge is so tepid that he probably thinks that Ohio was a part of the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee was a traitor who picked his state over the union. He led an insurrection against the very idea of the United States. His troops undoubtably killed some of the ancestors of those in the crowd last week…and they cheered. “Basket of Deplorables” is too kind a phrase for the folks who attend these rallies. The venality and stupidity of Trump is on display for all to see on a daily basis. Those in the Congress who continue to shirk their Constitutional duty to reign in an out-of-control executive deserve nothing but our contempt and should be sent packing on November 6th. If we vote otherwise we deserve the shit-storm that will continue to rain down on us.
Mitch McConnell joined Trump at the rally and tells Trump to keep sending him court nominees and the Senate will confirm them and “change the courts forever”.
Over 500 border patrol agents have bee arrested over the past two years for everything from rape and murder to drug trafficking and domestic violence. Maybe the news could start covering that.
Republican dark money groups are running an ad attacking the patriotism of a congressional candidate (Dan Feehan) in Minnesota. Feehan completed two combat tours of duty as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom earning a Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal for Valor and the Ranger Tab.
Quotes of The Day
“Republican mentality: if you're rich and you pay no taxes , you're a genius. If you're poor and you pay no taxes, you're a moocher.”-Dante Atkins
“No other country in the developed world has “for-profit” health insurance. And you know what, that's why they have lower healthcare costs than we do. Their people aren't burdened with the cost of supporting billionaire health insurance executives and the millionaires who work for them.”- Dr. Thom Hartman
“On Nov 6th America has a choice. It can either vote for racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia and autocracy or it can vote for human dignity and democracy.”-Rob Reiner
“Hearing Republicans invoke god and Jesus Christ with regard to trump is beyond nauseating. As if Jesus wants babies in cages, wants to cut off health-care for people with pre-existing conditions and holds no regard for women claiming sexual assault. Thats a new kind of Jesus.”-Chelsea Handler
“So a guy running for Georgia governor is the guy managing Georgia's voter rolls, who's also the guy purging Georgia's voter rolls in order to win the race for Georgia governor. Got that?”John Stoehr
“To be clear, this is the President saying he doesn't want to hold Saudi Arabia to account for murdering a journalist because we make too much money from selling them bombs thay're using to murder children and civilians in Yemen. Just a sickening display of immorality.”-Serene Jones
“History won't look kindly on the political party that is trying to keep Americans–usually dark-skinned Americans –from voting.”-David Leonhardt
“Whatever your affiliation, if youre engaged in efforts to prevent any American citizens from voting, you're not a patriot. You are Un-American. Period.”-Jay Carney
“Any politician can wreck one branch of government, but it takes a special kind of Machiavellian malevolence to trash all three. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mitch McConnell.”-Paul Begala
“I'm President and you're not”-Donald Trump (when challenged by Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes”)
Songs Of The Day
A couple of tracks from John Hiatt's latest Lp, “The Eclipse Sessions”
This year at the Newport Folk Festival David Crosby joins Jason Isbell on stage to do Wooden Ships. Its been released as a benefit for the organization HeadCount which registers new voters. If you like it go buy it!
