The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I'm extremely disappointed in The Daily Show  for a segment they ran last night on the Buzzfeed /Mueller and Covington Catholic confrontation stories. Trevor Noah started the segment mentioning Donald Trump's oft-repeated line of the mainstream media only reporting "fake news" about him. He segued from that to a couple of stories he felt constituted as "fake-ish" news. As most even semi-active political listeners know by now, Buzzfeed recently reported that Donald Trump told Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. In a very rare move, a spokesperson for the special counsel, Bob Mueller, responded by saying the report wasn't entirely accurate. Speculation then ensued on what about the report wasn't accurate, if it was a minute detail or something much larger. Buzzfeed has since defended its reporting, claiming it's 100% accurate and time will showcase that. I've strayed away from writing about this story because I want to know all the facts befo...

I don't care how big of a football fan you are, college or pro, the playoffs this year have reeked more than a freshly sprayed skunk going on a shower strike. Let me run down the scores of these 13 games: NCAA Alabama 24 Washington 7 Clemson 31 Ohio State 0 Clemson 35 Alabama 31 Total score: 90 - 38 = 52 (averages of 30.0 -  12.7 = 17.3) NFL Houston 27 Oakland 14 Pittsburgh 30 Miami 12 Seattle 26 Detroit 6 Green Bay 38 NY Giants 13 Atlanta 36 Seattle 20 New England 34 Houston 16 Green Bay 34 Dallas 31 Pittsburgh 18 Kansas City 16 Atlanta 44 Green Bay 21 New England 36 Pittsburgh 17 Total score: 323 - 175 = 148 (averages of 32.3 - 17.5 = 14.8) Combined scores: 413 - 213 = 200 (averages of 31.8 - 16.4 = 15.4) Of the 13 playoff games that have been played thus far, only 3 have been decided by one possession (23.1%), while 8 have been decided by three possessions or more (61.5%). If we exclude the three one-possession games, the combined score of these 10 playoff ...

Did anyone see that Megyn Kelly-Donald Trump interview? You know, the first such interview since Trump insulted Kelly in any and every such way, from harshly criticizing her journalistic integrity to her level of intellect, to her monthly cycle, and beyond? Yeah, that played out like Mayweather vs. Pacquiao part deux - a great deal of hype and yuuuge disappointment in the end. The two transformed from Tyson and Holyfield to Mahatma Gandhi and Tommy Chong. Here's how it came across to me... Megyn Kelly: "You've received a lot of criticism for some of your comments over the past several months. Is there anything you've said or tweeted that you now regret?" Donald Trump: "Yeah, sure, I regret things, but you have to move on, you know? I mean, I don't want to get into specifics or reflect on these regrets, because what's the point of admitting guilt and learning from it in order to be a better person if all you want is to be a better person?" K...

- Was that not one of the ugliest Super Bowls in recent memory? The game may not have been a blowout, but it may as well have been. The two teams combined to turn the ball over 6 times, were penalized 18 others, the quarterbacks completed 31 of 64 pass attempts (48.4%) and averaged just 4.7 yards per pass attempt, and the winning team gained fewer than 200 yards total offense (194 to be exact). Yeah, with a game like that, I think we can rest assured Peyton Manning wasn't on HGH during its proceedings... - I have nothing against Coldplay and like a few of their songs, but was surprised by the announcement they'd be the centerpiece of this year's halftime show. They're not known for the fun, upbeat, dance-worthy music that's typically played during the Super Bowl halftime show. What I found to be even more surprising was when I heard that Beyonce and Bruno Mars would be accompanying Coldplay on stage during their performance. The three of them all have good songs o...

While part of me is sad to see that there's just one more episode left in the Psych series, another part of me is glad. The reason for that is I've been thoroughly disappointed in the eighth and final season. I started noticing the series going downhill in the seventh season, after six very strong ones. There were still some funny episodes in season 7, but there were also times when it appeared as if, due to the added romantic elements, Psych was going to become like Friends and turn into a romantic dramedy or soap opera. That element has definitely faded in season 8. However, it's been replaced by sub-par writing, extreme randomness, and a sense of, "Were the writers and actors high when making these episodes?" This season has honestly appeared to me to be one where the writers and actors weren't 100% certain if it was going to happen, and at the last minute, decided to gather all the "fun," random ideas they could, and place it on the screen - de...

Of all sports, I'd have to say that college football is my favorite, with curling being a close second. Having said that, though, I've been rather disappointed with the bowl games this year. Of the 33 bowl games, 10 have been decided by one possession. Of the 9 games that have been played since New Year's Day, only 2 have been decided by one possession. Baylor and UCLA had all the makings of a fun shootout in the Holiday Bowl, but while Baylor kept up their part of the deal, UCLA laid an egg in a 49-26 blowout by the Bears over the Bruins. Speaking of eggs, that's what West Virginia laid against Syracuse in their 38-14 loss in the Pinstripe Bowl. The typically pesky Air Force Falcons got pummeled by Rice 33-14. USC forgot to show up against Georgia Tech in their 21-7 loss to the Yellow Jackets in the Sun Bowl. Purdue had no business being in a New Year's Day bowl game, but still, they should have put up a better fight than they did, losing 58-14 to then 7-5 Oklahoma...

Sooooo...where was this team through the first 12 games of the season? The Philadelphia Eagles, whom were pre-season NFC East favorites, with some even predicting they'd make the Super Bowl, capped off a four-game winning streak to end the season 8-8 with a 34-10 win over Washington on Sunday. The Eagles have outscored their past four opponents (Miami, the Jets, Dallas and Washington) by the score of 125-46 (average of 31.3 - 11.5). The Eagles finish the year 8-8 to finish 2nd in the NFC East. Dallas finished with an identical record, but were swept by the Eagles in the season series. The New York Giants, whom the Eagles split their two games with, finished 9-7, one game ahead of Philadelphia. The sad thing about the Eagles' season is that they had the numbers and the opportunities. They only have themselves to blame due to penalties, turnovers and poor playcalling. Philly led Atlanta by 10 in the 4th quarter before relinquishing the lead. They led the Giants going to the 4...