Left Coast Sports Babe

United Airlines has 230 “comfort dogs,” mostly Golden retrievers, at 7 U.S. airports for the next few days. The idea being that petting a dog will reduce the stress of holiday travel. Although for a major U.S. carrier wouldn’t it be more appropriate at the airport to have cats? Like the airlines they don’t give a sh*t.

Tis the season: A Florida woman is facing misdemeanor battery charges after she elbowed, scratched and kicked her husband for repeatedly farting in bed. ‪#‎ifonlyshewerearmed‬

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Wonder why the NFL suspended Odell Beckham Jr. for one game after his three personal foul penalties last week? Maybe because that way he can come back and ratings will be through the roof to see what trouble Beckham can cause in the NY Giants season finale against the Eagles?

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Apparently Megyn Kelly will be back to question Donald Trump during a Jan. 28 Presidential debate. Well, we already know who will win – Fox News with their ratings.

Stanford’s Christian McCaffery won the AP college player of the year, a rare time when the winner did not also get the Heisman. Hmm, guess this means the AP voters stay up later to watch football games than the Heisman voters?

So at this point since it seems to be all about ratings can we get the next GOP debate moderated by ‪#‎SteveHarvey‬?

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A Quinnipiac University poll found that 60% of U.S. women and 40% of U.S. men would be embarrassed if Trump won the 2016 Presidential election. The scary thing is that this means the rest of them wouldn’t be.

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8.2 million people signed up for health coverage through HealthCare.gov or had their coverage automatically renewed, more than a one third increase over last year. ‪#‎IblameObama‬

Matthew Stafford’s wife Kelly posted on Instagram that she was selling great seats for last night’s Lions-Saints game on Stubhub. Well, since Matt only signed a 3-year $53 million contract extension, maybe she does need to feed her family’s family’s family? ‪#‎cantfixgreedy‬ ‪#‎cantfixstupid‬

So now it’s getting interesting. San Bernardino killer Tashfeen Malik on her visa application answered “no” when asked if she ever had “used or sold weapons.” Waiting for the first Republican to demand visitors submit to firearms rules.

Chelsea Clinton has announced she is pregnant again and is expecting a second child next summer. Prompting predictable congratulations from Democrats and conspiracy theories from Republicans.

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The Washington ‪#‎Redskins‬ look likely to make the playoffs and even host a game. ‪#‎IblameObama‬

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Trump on journalists. “I wouldn’t kill them. But I hate them.” Uh, without journalists there would be no Trump.

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PolitiFact gave the “Lie of the Year” to Donald Trump’s “Many Campaign Misstatements.” 76% of them were either “Mostly False,” “False” or “Pants on Fire.” Unbowed, next year Trump is going to work on that last 24%.

Drew Brees tonight became 4th QB in NFL history to throw for 60,000 yards. What might be as astounding, he did it without throwing against the Saints’ defense.

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Ole Miss star Robert Nkemdiche was suspended for the Sugar Bowl after he fell out of a hotel window and was charged with marijuana possession. Nkemdiche is expected to be a top draft pick, maybe with particular interest from Seattle and Denver?

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Phyllis Schlafly said “Donald Trump is the ‘Last Hope for America’ And responses varied from “who?” to “Phyllis Schafly is still alive?”

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#‎SteveHarvey‬ is John Travolta’s new hero. ‪#‎AdeleDazeem‬

Since the Miss Universe pageant has become such a hot trending topic, have to wonder, what kind of gaffe might Chris Rock be now planning at the Academy Awards for the show to become really relevant again?

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So on a cynical note. How often do most Americans know who won the ‪#‎Missuniverse‬ pageant? ‪#‎SteveHarvey‬ ‪#‎nosuchthingasbadpublicity‬

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Lindsey Graham announced he is dropping out of the 2016 Presidential race and thanked his supporters. Assume he’ll then be sending personal notes to both of them?

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Farrah Abraham, 24, who has been famous on “Teen Mom”, then as a porn star, then for her sex-toy business, says she is actually adopting another child to  sibling for her 6 year-old daughter.

And who’d a think Farrah would be one to put a lot of so-called “pro-lifers” to shame.

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Sad. Six American service members were killed Monday in a suicide bombing during a meeting near a U.S. base north of Kabul. But yes, folks, this is part of what “boots on the ground means.” ‪#‎nofreelunch‬ ‪#‎nofreebootsonthegroundeither‬ ‪#‎Warsucks‬

From Marc Ragovin:  “The only way the NY Giants are making the playoffs is if the NFL taps Steve Harvey to announce the post-season matchups.”

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Miss Puerto Rico, Destiny Velez has been suspended indefinitely for a number of angry anti-Muslim tweets – “Muslims use our constitution to terrorize USA & plant gas stations,” and Muslims “terrorize this country & many others.”
So did Ms. Velez think that Trump would help her win Miss Universe? Or was she auditioning to be his next wife?

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Steve Harvey apologized after he announced the wrong winner of the Miss Universe – saying it was Miss Columbia when it should have been Miss Philippines. Thereby causing much emotional trauma to both young women and all those who had bet either of them in fantasy pageants.

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Some talk about Hillary Clinton’s delayed return to the stage last night after a commercial break. Well, maybe even during a debate there’s a line for the women’s room?

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A Swedish study of twins found that anxious people are one and a half times more likely to develop dementia. Great, one more thing to feel anxious about.

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Apparently Martin Shkreli, a former student, gave a $1 million donation to NYC’s Hunter College High School, which is a public school for gifted students. And now the school is trying to decide what to do with the $$$. Well, suppose they could always keep it and make this year’s play a production of “Major Barbara.”

(for all those who didn’t read George Bernard  Shaw in high school or college , Google it.  Good play :-))

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Thousands of empty seats available this morning on Stubhub for the Bengals-49ers game at Levi’s Stadium. Wonder how much the team was offering to pay fans to come?

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Just imagine how good the ‪#‎Redskins‬ might be if they hadn’t given away the farm to get RGIII?

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Congress’s year-end spending bill has a provision, which apparently has been in for years, saying that no federal funds “may be used to maintain or establish a computer network unless such network blocks the viewing, downloading and exchanging of pornography.” Wonder if someone managed to write that with a straight face.

Donald Trump today on Hillary Clinton “She lies like crazy about everything,” So considering the source is that an attack or a compliment?

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On “Fox News Sunday,” Carly Fiorina was challenged by Chris Wallace on an ad linking her to Margaret Thatcher: “Mrs. Fiorina, respectfully, isn’t that a little over the top?” And Carly’s response “Many people have commented on the comparison and I’m flattered by it, frankly.”
Waiting for someone like Bob Dole or John McCain to respond “I knew Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher was a friend of mine, Carly, you’re no Margaret Thatcher.”

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At least one dead and dozens injured in Las Vegas after a car plowed into a crowd of people on a sidewalk on the Strip. Now, if the NRA was the National Automobile Association they would be screaming for fewer restrictions on driving and saying all those pedestrians should have been in their own cars.

This post failed to load last night. Blame technology. Or the operator…. Or Obama.

A Modesto man is recovering in the hospital after being accidentally shot.  In a firearms-safety class. By the instructor.  #Cantfixstupid #ifonlyhewerearmed  #youcannotmakethisstuffup

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Browns coach Mike Pettine says he doesn’t c-onsider Russell Wilson one of the “two, three, four, elite” QBs in the NFL. And Cleveland is heading to Seattle for a game Sunday. Two thoughts: 1. This should be fun. 2. How would Pettine know what an elite QB is?

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The NE Patriots cut short a Tom Brady press conference today because reporters were asking too many questions about Donald Trump. Really, why couldn’t they stick to the important stuff like “Deflategate?”

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Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is now facing criticism for a $7 million holiday party last week. The party which had a Gatsby theme, was titled “The Roaring 20th Year End Party 2015.” And Mayer sat on a white throne-like chair during the party to pose for pictures with employees.
Give Marissa credit, she is proving that women CEO’s can be equally as clueless as men.

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A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Ethan Couch, the “affluenza” teen who killed 4 people while driving drunk in 2013 at the age of 16, and got a judge to let him off with probation. This after Couch was seen on video playing beer pong and missed a meeting with his probation officer. Texas Police believe he and his mother have skipped town.

So congrats to all those who had December 2015 in the pool.

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So a thought about Ted Cruz and his seeming passion to return to the days of our founding fathers with the Constitution: So when is Cruz going to do something truly in keeping with the spirit of the times and challenge an opponent to a Hamilton-Burr type duel?

The Fed has raised interest rates 1/4 percent. So everyone getting pennies a month right now on your savings account, you’ll now be getting MORE pennies. (Although no doubt credit card companies will jack up rates a few percent.)

The morning after the CNN GOP debate, all the candidates are claiming that “THEY” won the evening. Just once it would be fun to hear someone say “Hey, I really sucked last night.”

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Wheaton College, a Christian school, suspended tenured political science professor Larycia Hawkins after she wore a hijab to show support for Muslims and posted on FB “”I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book,”
Now if she had only done something truly American in response to recent shootings, like carrying a gun to class.

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Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr is asking to review the GOP debate transcript because Ted Cruz commented about the % of phone numbers under surveillance – that information is classified.
Meanwhile, no doubt Cruz will be back today to ranting about Hillary’s email server.

At a town hall today, Hillary Clinton was asked if she would “rather be President or Beyonce?” Waiting for one of the GOP candidates to say “Taylor Swift is better.”

Stanford now has four second place finishes in the Heisman in seven years. Imagine what the results might be if the Cardinal actually played games when most Americans were awake.

(Who are we kidding?  If Stanford athletes wanted Heisman trophies and were really that smart, they’d have all signed with SEC teams.)

Christian McCaffrey may not have won the Heisman, but the 8pm EST show means more Americans probably saw him tonight than during Stanford’s late night games.

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Other than die-hard fans, the people who are most unhappy about the end of the Warriors’ streak have to be advertisers for the Golden State-Cleveland game on Christmas Day.

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While most of the NBA world was focused on the Warriors’ first loss of the season, meanwhile the San Antonio Spurs held the Atlanta Hawks to 25 points in the 1st half. 25 points in a half? The New Orleans Saints defense would be okay with that.

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The Philadelphia 76ers signed coach Brett Brown, 38-150, to a contract extension. Wow. Hard to believe that with that kind of record someone can get re-hired. Re-elected, maybe.

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A new video shows FSU QB Sean Maguire throwing a football over the stadium wall from the parking lot. Well, the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick could potentially do that too, the only question would be if he might completely miss the stadium.

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Riverside Mall in Hackensack, New Jersey mall was evacuated this afternoon after a bomb threat. Once police let everyone back inside wonder which store will be the first to have a “bomb threat recovery” sale?”

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Ted Cruz, in a leaked statement about Trump and Carson said : “Who am I comfortable having their finger on the button? Now that’s a question of strength, but it’s also a question of judgment.”
Fair enough, but one might ask, do we want someone’s finger on the button who has not only alienated those in the opposition party, but also in his own?

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Loring Wirbel, the leader of Colorado’s ACLU chapter posted on his personal FB page about Trump “If you are voting for him. I will have to shoot you before election day.” Wirbel stepped down after the predictable outrage. But had he only framed it as a gun rights issue….

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President Obama declined a petition signed by over 100,000 people to make the Muslim holy days of Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr federal holidays, The White House statement noted that states,cities and school districts can set their own holidays, and that federal law already requires most employers to make religious accommodations to employees to allow them to celebrate religious observances.
It’s going to take some work for the GOP Presidential candidates to point out this time what Obama did was wrong.

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Donald Trump’s latest is calling Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts “disgraceful” and a “disappointment.” Well, guess the Donald doesn’t think winning the Presidency will require winning Florida..

Ohio State star Adolphus Washington has been suspended from the Buckeyes and will not play in the Fiesta Bowl after being arrested on charges of soliciting a prostitute Wednesday night. Shocking. This guy is a potential high draft pick on a top 10 college team, and he can’t find sex for free?

Although it was close early, and Tony Parker took the entire night off, the San Antonio Spurs ended up beating the Los Angeles Lakers 109-87 on ESPN tonight. A great game for those who enjoy watching a cat playing with mice.

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Urban Meyer has hired former Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano as Ohio State’s new defensive coordinator. Could be a good fit, between the two of them the coaches have over 200 wins, and sometimes it seems like almost as many former recruits and players arrested.

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Ben Carson, unhappy about the idea of a brokered convention, said today ”
“If this was the beginning of a plan to subvert the will of the voters and replace it with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party.”
Somewhere GOP leaders are thinking “Promise?”

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Former NY Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos is facing 130 years in prison. He was convicted today of bribery, extortion, conspiracy charges, and no doubt, “failure to recognize he was NOT in Louisiana.”

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So the FBI was alerted after a small number of men together bought about 100 disposable cellphones from Wal-marts in Missouri last weekend, and as one sheriff said “it’s grounds for suspicion.” As opposed to if they had just bought some huge quantity of ammunition?

It’s mid-December and all those who were confident of winning the “Worst Food Idea of 2015” may be out of luck: In honor of the January 1, 2016 Citrus Bowl between Florida and Michigan, Buffalo Wild Wings has a limited time only sauce – Zesty Citrus – with “the bold citrus flavor of Mountain Dew infused with lemongrass and spicy red pepper-flakes.”
‪#‎NottheOnion‬

Meanwhile many people, including Mountain Dew fans are thinking “Citrus?  Really?”

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Chris Christie has modestly improved his poll numbers nationwide to 2.5%. But a new Rutgers poll today showed that only 33% of people in his home state approve of the job Christie is doing, a new low. So maybe the reason for the little bump is people donating money in the hopes of getting their Governor out of New Jersey.

Former Trojan football coach Steve Sarkisian, who insisted publicly that he didn’t think he had a drinking problem and didn’t need rehab, is now going to sue USC for $30 million for wrongful termination because they didn’t accommodate his “disability.”
And we wonder why many Americans hate lawyers..

Thinking maybe it isn’t such a bad thing that the ‪#‎SFGiants‬ missed out on a trade for Aroldis Chapman.

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Forget whether or not the Philadelphia 76ers could beat say, Kentucky or Duke. Could they beat the Washington Generals?

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The San Antonio Spurs, without Tim Duncan, beat Philadelphia 76ers 119 to 68. If the 76ers keep up at this pace, the NBA might want to consider a mercy rule.

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Three college football bowl teams this year have 5-7 records. Does this make them honorary members of the NFC East?

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Oops, a woman tried to get away from a hit and run where she hit TWO vehicles, but her car’s 911 Assist system, which automatically calls police after accidents, did its job and gave police details of where to find her. You guessed it, Florida. ‪#‎cantfixstupid‬ ‪#‎thankgoodnessforsmartcars‬

A woman driver was arrested near the Holland Tunnel, allegedly so drunk that she didn’t realize she was in New Jersey. Although to be fair, a lot of sober people try to forget being in New Jersey.

I cannot imagine the horror of having a friend or relative killed in a mass shooting. But 14 Americans are killed in San Bernandino and many want to change our entire way of life. Nine African-Americans were killed in Charleston, and after a while we just shrugged. ‪#‎alllivesmatter‬ ‪#‎toomuchhate‬

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So Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have named their newborn son “Saint.”  Is this part of some grand plan to keep daughter “North” from getting teased for having the strangest name in school?

Or is it just another step in Kanye and Kim’s drive to get full employment for child psychologists?

From my funny friend Alex Kaseberg “Jimmy Carter declares himself brain-cancer free. Such great news it almost makes up for there being another Kardashian.”

Get out the violins. Amongst USA Today’s “Losers” in the last week of the college football season was Illinois, who expected a bowl bid, but due to a variety of other scores look to be left out. The Fighting Illini are 5-7.

So the Fiesta Bowl is now the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl? Say it ain’t so. Now we won’t be able to hear announcers say in the 4th quarter – “This is for all the Tostitos.”

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NY Jets pulled out a win vs the NY Giants today. Can we can we start calling this the “We Suck Less” bowl?

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49ers said they are “open” to bringing Colin Kaepernick back in 2016. Right, except that open door might more like a trap door.

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Meanwhile, if they gave out a trophy for being the least bad team in the NFC East it would have to be a silver hot potato.

Wrap your head around this as bowl selections are announced: After Alabama, the highest ranked team in the SEC is – 9-3 Ole Miss?! ‪#‎howthemightyhavefallen‬

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Big difference between ‪#‎NCAA‬ & ‪#‎NFL‬ football in 2015. College football has more than 4 teams who could actually win a playoff championship.

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#‎Stanford‬ has played so many late night games. many  East Coast #‎Heisman‬ voters had to be wondering – so who is this McCaffrey kid?  He’s not bad.  ‪#‎USCvsSTanford‬

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Now to be fair, while McCaffrey did catch a pass for a touchdown and actually THREW for a touchdown, it did take until late in the 4th quarter for him get his first rushing touchdown.  So maybe a bit of an off day.  #only461yards

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Donald Trump urged his Iowa supporters to do everything they can to get to the caucuses – “Even if you’re not feeling good, if you’re feeling horrible, if you had a horrible fight with your wife or your husband… if you caught your husband cheating the night before, you’ve got to go to the caucus, right? And vice versa.”

So is this what the Donald considers “playing to his base?”

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Finally, on a serious note. Some seem very upset over Clinton and Obama  not using the term, “radical Islam,” Now personally, I am one of the least PC liberals I know. But we live in a world that is both very nuanced and fond of simplistic sound bites.
And if anyone says, oh, of course people understand that only a small minority of Muslims are radical. Right, just the same as everyone understands that only a small minority of Planned Parenthood’s health care is abortions, and that payment for fetal issue is a fraction of that. No, I am not equating the two, but I am equating the rhetoric. ‪#‎timetotoneitdown‬

There are rumors that the wife of the man who named shooter in San Bernadino was the one of the couple who was “radicalized” and a fan of Isis.  Okay, not denying this, but exactly what is the attraction for a heterosexual woman of 72 virgins in heaven.

Other than maybe never having to deal with housework or childcare again?

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And regarding that rumor that the  San Bernadino shooter was radicalized by his foreign-born wife; waiting for Trump to demand a ban on marrying immigrants….

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George Zimmerman has been kicked off Twitter after he posted nude pictures of an ex-girlfriend, saying “She cheated on me with a dirty Muslim. (The woman’s phone number.) She’ll sleep with anyone.”
Thinking at this point most of America is REALLY REALLY wishing Trayvon Martin had been armed.

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Donald Trump has said this week, “When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don’t kid yourself. When they say they don’t care about their lives, you have to take out their families.”
Does that include ALL terrorists? Even the Christian or secular American white men? ‪#‎Justasking‬

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said he doesn’t think there’s “any question” the ACC should have a team in the CFP.   Even if his team loses to #10 North Carolina.

Well, with all due respect, has there been a coach yet that said, “You know, our conference really sucks, so I can understand if we all end up at lesser bowls?”

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What’s more shocking for NFL fans – Aaron Rodgers’ 61-yard Hail Mary pass to win the game against Detroit? Or the fact that the Packers needed a Hail Mary pass to beat the Lions?

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How to feel old. When you hear that Scott Weiland, 48, has passed away. And you realize – a, he was younger than you, and b, you had no idea who “Stone Temple Pilots” were.

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Although many Dungeness crabs are now testing clean, there is still no word on opening the crab season in California due to toxins still found in some crabs in the Monterey area. This all is evidently due to high water temperatures causing an algae bloom..
Here’s one proposed solution – open the season first on a test basis for those who don’t believe in global warming and/or science.

A FIFA official from Guatemala who was charged with corruption was arrested today as he boarded a Disney cruise ship in Florida. Makes some sense. Maybe federal officials figured, if he could afford a Disney cruise….

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In sad times it’s so good to see our nation’s politicians focused on what’s important – the Senate voted Thursday 52-47 to repeal key provisions of Obamacare and strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood. ‪#‎sarcasm‬

And finally on a lighter note.  As if anything Hunter Pence does isn’t adorable

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/hunter-pence-gets-engaged-at-disney-world-and-it-s-totally-adorable-235742581.html

It is way too soon to draw definite conclusions. But a CNN headline trumpets “Officials – San Bernardino killer in touch with terrorists.”
Thinking, if I were involved in anything awful, even as a victim, can just imagine what “officials” would say based on my varied Facebook friends and blog readers.

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It’s sadly interesting to note that the suspects in the San Bernandino shooting had pipe bombs, along with all their guns and “5,000+ rounds of ammunition.” But the pipe bombs didn’t work. ‪#‎Gunsdontkillpeoplepeoplewithgunskillpeople‬ ‪#‎Otherthingskillpeoplebutgunskillthemfaster‬

Authorities in San Bernadino used a local golf course as a command post after the latest US mass shooting. But apparently this didn’t register with everyone. This from a police dispatcher 90 minutes after the shooting was report “Can you call the golf course office and ask them for people to stop golfing, there are still people out there golfing rounds.” ‪#‎priorities‬ ‪#‎focus

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An ATF spokesman says that the guns used during the San Bernardino shooting were purchased legally in the United States, including two semi-automatic hand guns, and two assault rifles – the rifles apparently could fire ammunition that could pierce bulletproof vests.

But all four legal. Heck, I can’t even get more than one package of Sudafed legally at CVS.

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Not surprisingly Fox News is referring to the shooters as “the Muslim couple who stormed a county social services office.” Maybe accurate, but how come Fox never referred to say, “the Christian man” who shot up Planned Parenthood, or the “Christian young man” who massacred people in that Charleston church?

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Well, okay then, so there was a woman involved in the latest mass shootings. This is not the kind of equality many of us were hoping for.

But while we’re on the bus to hell. Who kills themselves, or goes on a risky “mission,” voluntarily with a baby?  Now parent of a teenager, that’s a different story?

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On a lighter note on another sad night in the USA, today is the 23rd anniversary of the sending of the first telephone text message. Teenagers and 20 somethings are marvelling – it wasn’t that long ago we were in the Dark Ages?

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More on a lighter note: The NBA has revealed the uniforms for the 2016 All-Star game, which are modeled after those worn in the first NBA game back in 1946. Wonder if for accuracy the league got help from the game memories of Tim Duncan?