Tag Archives: NBA

Kansas City Confidential [1952)

Just like we drew it up. (Feb. 11, 2024 [21:50])

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1756888470599967000

Mr. Big = “the big guy”

18% of voters more likely to back Taylor Swift-endorsed presidential candidate, poll shows (Jan. 29th, 2024)

https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/18-of-voters-more-likely-to-back-taylor-swift-endorsed-presidential-candidate-poll-shows-2024-election-voting-ballot-biden-trump-white-house-politics-travis-kelce-kansas-city-chiefs

Roll ’em, Pete!

49ers Stars Christian McCaffrey, Nick Bosa Infuriated After Hotel Fire Alarm Incident – ‘No Way It’s Random’ (Feb. 10, 2024)

https://www.westernjournal.com/49ers-stars-christian-mccaffrey-nick-bosa-infuriated-hotel-fire-alarm-incident-no-way-random/

Helen = Taylor Swift

“I signed and was responsible for the Music Modernization Act for Taylor Swift and and all other Musical Artists.  Joe Biden didn’t do anything for Taylor, and never will.” (Feb. 11, 2024 [15:35])

https://t.me/real_DonaldJTrump/16531

Travis Kelce = Joe Rolfe

Blazers find snake in locker room (May 8, 2014)

https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs/2014/story/_/id/10904374/portland-trail-blazers-find-snake-visitors-locker-room

Joe Rolfe was a Marine at Iwo Jima

LINE

4 years ago today, A/C went out at Spurs-Heat finals game, causing LeBron to cramp up (Jun. 5, 2014)

https://www.ksat.com/sports/2018/06/05/4-years-ago-today-ac-went-out-at-spurs-heat-finals-game-causing-lebron-to-cramp-up/

San Antonio’s Foreign Players Didn’t Understand Why Everyone Was Freaking Out About The Broken Air Conditioning (Jun. 6, 2014)

https://www.businessinsider.com/parker-ginobili-broken-air-conditioning-2014-6

San Antonio Spurs’ Manu Ginóbili Becomes First Argentinian Enshrined into Basketball Hall of Fame (Sep. 12, 2022)

https://remezcla.com/sports/san-antonio-spurs-manu-ginobili-becomes-first-argentinian-enshrined-into-basketball-hall-of-fame/

Tim Duncan’s Hall of Fame career has made the U.S. Virgin Islands proud (May 14, 2021)

https://andscape.com/features/tim-duncan-hall-of-fame-career-has-made-the-us-virgin-islands-proud/

Gregg Popovich showed up to Air Force intelligence training like a super-spy (Jun. 12, 2013)

https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/gregg-popovich-showed-air-force-intelligence-training-super-173949055.html?a20=1

Video: Who wants to hear Popovich speak Russian? (Jan. 8, 2013)

https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/video_who_wants_to_hear_popovich_speak_russian/s1_10012_12607681

East Chicago Native: Gregg Popovich (13 years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBrPa7PJh9s

[Chicago] Black Sox Scandal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal

1919 World Series

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919_World_Series

Arnold Rothstein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Rothstein

King of the Jews (book)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_the_Jews_(book)

Overtime.

19-19 (World Series)

Just like we drew it up.

Who tweets on behalf of Joe Biden?

Who’s “we”?

Taylor was right to care about the genocide/ethnic cleansing/war crimes being perpetrated against the women and children of Gaza.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/taylor-swift-selena-gomez-gaza-fundraiser-b2463425.html

Half of the 2 million inhabitants of Gaza are under the age of 18.

Death toll in Gaza from Israeli bombing (since Oct. 7) as of today:  28,200

https://tass.com/world/1744873

30 eyes for every eye.

Israel lost approximately 1,000 people on Oct. 7.

Just like the U.S.-Afghan War, a “disproportionate riposte” (to quote Thierry Meyssan).

The “wrong man” (to use Hitchcock’s most famous archetype) is blackmailed.

Like the three stooges who pulled the bank job (Jack Elam, Lee Van Cleef, and Neville Brand).

Taylor needed a Super Bowl win.

Biden needed Taylor to have a Super Bowl win.

Biden needs Taylor (desperately).

Fans lash out at Travis Kelce after 20-million-dollar deal with Pfizer (Dec. 30, 2023)

https://www.marca.com/en/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/2023/12/30/65903d1d46163f900d8b459f.html

Money equals control.

Visible investments to secure under-the-table deals.

How to pay off an asset.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Announces New Memoir to Publish in Summer 2024 (Feb. 8, 2024)

https://people.com/dr-anthony-fauci-will-publish-new-memoir-in-summer-2024-8572241

Truth (lacking from Trump and West):

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Anthony-Fauci-Democracy-Childrens/dp/1510766804

Truth (lacking from Trump [again] and RFK Jr.):

https://www.jns.org/enough-evidence-israel-committed-genocide-cornel-west-claims/

N.B.  Trump is the best of these three on the border, the economy, and abortion (to name just three).

Stay up to date every morning with curated news:

https://t.me/pdwnewswire

-PD

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Died Suddenly [Jan. 2021)

1/1/21

•Christine Dacera 23 ruptured aortic aneurysm [flight attendant] 🇵🇭

•Sun Qiaolu 25 heart attack [actress] 🇨🇳

1/2/21

•Rob Flockhart 64 heart attack [hockey player] 🇨🇦

•Guadalupe Grande 55 [poet] 🇪🇸

•Mike Reece 42 ruptured brain aneurysm [politician] 🇺🇸

•Yuri Saukh 69 [soccer player] 🇷🇺

1/3/21

•Cornelis Feoh 57 [politician] 🇮🇩

•Shyamji Kanojia 65 [cricket player] 🇮🇳

•Anil Panachooran 51 cardiac arrest [lyricist] 🇮🇳

1/4/21

•Ronnie Burgess 57 cardiac arrest [NFL player] 🇺🇸

•Jonas Neubauer 39 cardiac arrhythmia [Tetris player] 🇺🇸

1/5/21

•Emilia De Biasi 62 [politician] 🇮🇹

•Tyberii Korponai 62 [soccer player] 🇺🇦

•Telly Tjanggulung 47 [politician] 🇮🇩

•Vennelakanti 63 cardiac arrest [lyricist] 🇮🇳

•Pungky Purnomo Wibobo 52 heart attack [economist] 🇮🇩

1/6/21

•Mircea Bolba 59 [soccer player] 🇷🇴

•Thanasis Papazoglou 67 [soccer player] 🇬🇷

•Kate Payne 63 [nurse] 🇺🇸

•Iulian Șerban 35 [canoeist] 🇷🇴

1/7/21

•Alex Apolinário 24 cardiac arrest [soccer player] 🇧🇷 ⭐️

•Elanga Buala 56 [runner] 🇵🇬

•Deezer D 55 heart attack [rapper] 🇺🇸

•Ronnie Ellenblum 68 heart failure [geographer] 🇮🇱

•Grant Gondrezick 57 [NBA player] 🇺🇸

•Thomas Gumpert 68 [actor] 🇩🇪

•Vladimir Kiselyov 64 [Olympic champion shot putter] 🇺🇦

•Tom LaBonge 67 cardiac arrest [politician] 🇺🇸

•Lonnie Perrin 68 [NFL player] 🇺🇸

•Adebayo Salami 69 [politician] 🇳🇬

•Brian Sicknick 42 [U.S. Cap. Pol.] 🇺🇸

•Solange 69 [psychic] 🇮🇹

1/8/21

•Steve Hendrickson 54 [NFL player] 🇺🇸

•Peter W. Huber 68 [lawyer] 🇺🇸

•Barbara Köhler 61 [poet] 🇩🇪

•Deborah Rhode 68 [legal scholar] 🇺🇸

1/9/21

•Anton Cancélas 65 [voice actor] 🇪🇸

•Mohamud Mohammed Hassan 24 [security guard] 🇬🇧

•Howard Liebengood suicide [U.S. Cap. Pol.] 🇺🇸

•Todd Stadtman 59 [musician] 🇺🇸

•Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 🇮🇩 [62 deaths] (Boeing 737-500)

1/10/21

•Christopher Maboulou 30 heart attack [soccer player] 🇫🇷 ⭐️

•Wayne Radford 64 [NBA player] 🇺🇸

•Benita Raphan 58 [filmmaker] 🇺🇸

•Julie Strain 58 dementia [actress] 🇺🇸

1/11/21

•Sheldon Adelson 87 [casino owner] 🇺🇸

•Éric Babin 61 [politician] 🇳🇨

•Lloyd Cowan 58 [hurdler] 🇬🇧

•David Khakhaleishvili 49 [judoka] 🇬🇪

•Bogdan Macovei 67 [handball manager] 🇷🇴

•Mario Masuku 69 [politician] 🇸🇿

•Lindiwe Ndlovu 44 [actress] 🇿🇦

•Kurt Oddekalv 63 drowning [environmentalist] 🇳🇴

1/12/21

•Carlos Joseph 40 ruptured brain aneurysm [NFL player] 🇺🇸 ⭐️

•Tim Lester 52 COVID-19 [NFL player] 🇺🇸

•Keith Valigura 63 [politician] 🇺🇸

1/13/21

•Duke Bootee 69 heart failure [rapper] 🇺🇸

•Nicky Booth 40 [boxer] 🇬🇧

•Bryan Monroe 55 heart attack [CNN journalist] 🇺🇸

•Sinikka Nopola 67 [writer] 🇫🇮

•Øyvind Sandberg 67 [film director] 🇳🇴

1/14/21

•José Luis Caballero 65 [Olympic soccer player] 🇲🇽

•Storm Constantine 64 [author] 🇬🇧

•Sheikh Ali Jaber 44 [cleric] 🇮🇩

•Aleksandr Nikitin 59 [soccer player] 🇷🇺

•Leonidas Pelekanikis 58 COVID-19 [Olympic sailor] 🇬🇷

•David Roth 68 [magician] 🇺🇸

•Jane Sinclair 64 [priest] 🇬🇧

1/15/21

•Tyrone Crawley 62 [boxer] 🇺🇸

•Mark Langham 60 [priest] 🇬🇧

•Benjamin de Rothschild 57 heart attack [banker] 🇫🇷

•Jeffrey L. Smith 35 suicide [U.S. Cap. Pol.] 🇺🇸

1/16/21

•Sharon Begley 64 [science journalist] 🇺🇸

•Choi Jeongrye 65 [poet] 🇰🇷

•György Handel 61 COVID-19 [soccer player] 🇭🇺

•Sergi Mingote 49 [mountain climber] 🇪🇸

•Carlo Nayaradou 63 [author] 🇫🇷

•Meghrig Parikian 53 [bishop] 🇨🇦

•Sergei Rodin 39 [soccer player] 🇷🇺

•Arturo Tizón 36 [motorcycle racer] 🇪🇸

•Paul Varelans 51 COVID-19 [UFC fighter] 🇺🇸

1/17/21

•Joevana Charles 66 [politician] 🇸🇨

•Joan Eloi Vila 61 [guitarist] 🇪🇸

1/18/21

•Carlos Burga 68 COVID-19 [Olympic boxer] 🇵🇪

•Tony Ingle 68 COVID-19 [basketball coach] 🇺🇸

•Ákos Kriza 55 [health economist & politician] 🇭🇺

•Henryk Ostrowski 60 [politician] 🇵🇱

•David Richardson 65 heart failure [TV writer] 🇺🇸

•John Russell 66 [guitarist] 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

•K.V. Vijayadas 61 cerebral hemorrhage [politician] 🇮🇳

1/19/21

•Danial Jahić 41 COVID-19 [Olympic long-jumper] 🇷🇸

•Toleafoa Ken Vaafusuaga Poutoa 53 [politician] 🇼🇸

1/20/21

•David Brewster 56 heart attack [politician] 🇬🇧

•Mira Furlan 65 West Nile virus [actress] 🇺🇸

•John Jeffers 52 [soccer player] 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

•Rabi Mishra 64 cardiac arrest [actor] 🇮🇳

•Lonnie Nielsen 67 [golfer] 🇺🇸

•Ted Thompson 68 dysautonomia [NFL player] 🇺🇸

•Martha Jachi Umbulla 65 [politician] 🇹🇿

1/21/21

•Howard Carson 63 [NFL player] 🇺🇸

•Mauricio Herdocia Sacasa 63 [jurist] 🇳🇮

•Jerry Kiernan 67 [Olympic long-distance runner] 🇮🇪

•Johnny Rogan 67 [journalist] 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

•Hank Aaron 86 [vaccinated baseball player] 🇺🇸

•Hughroy Currie 61 [boxer] 🇬🇧

•Marius van Heerden 46 COVID-19 [Olympic middle-distance runner] 🇿🇦

•Tony Jones 54 [NFL player] 🇺🇸

•Meherzia Labidi Maïza 57 [politician] 🇹🇳

1/23/21

•Andrew Brooks 51 heart attack [medical researcher] 🇺🇸

•Robert Rowland 54 drowned [politician] 🇬🇧

•Song Yoo-jung 26 [actress] 🇰🇷

•Tom Stevens 64 [musician] 🇺🇸

1/24/21

•Nikolay Chebotko 38 [Olympic cross-country skier] 🇰🇿

•Bootsie Neal 68 [politician] 🇺🇸

•2021 Palmas FR plane crash [6 deaths]

1/25/21

•Ihwan Datu Adam 56 [politician] 🇮🇩

•Mike Bell 63 heart attack [motorcycle racer] 🇺🇸

•David Bright 64 COVID-19 [soccer coach] 🇧🇼

•Jaoid Chiguer 35 heart attack [Olympic boxer] 🇫🇷 ⭐️

•Iron 29 [rapper] 🇰🇷

•Masada Iosefa 32 [rugby player] 🇼🇸

•David Katzenstein 69 COVID-19 [virologist] 🇺🇸

1/26/21

•Berit Oskal Eira 69 [politician] 🇳🇴

•Ron Johnson 64 COVID-19 [baseball player] 🇺🇸

•Cara O’Sullivan 59 [singer] 🇮🇪

•Sekou Smith 48 COVID-19 [sportswriter] 🇺🇸

•Ansif Ashraf 37 COVID-19 [magazine editor] 🇮🇳

•José Cruz 68 COVID-19 [soccer player] 🇭🇳

•Guy Immanuel Alain Gauze 68 [politician] 🇨🇮

•Goddess Bunny 61 COVID-19 [drag queen] 🇺🇸

•Saini Lemamea 56 [rugby player] 🇼🇸

•Wendel Meldrum 66 [actress] 🇨🇦

•Mehrdad Minavand 45 COVID-19 [soccer player] 🇮🇷

•Tim Owhefere 57 [politician] 🇳🇬

1/28/21

•Adrián Campos 60 [Formula One driver] 🇪🇸

•Cédric Demangeot 46 [poet] 🇫🇷

•Shaibal Gupta 67 [social scientist] 🇮🇳

•Sibongile Khumalo 63 [singer] 🇿🇦

•Singing Sandra 64 [singer] 🇹🇹

•Heidi Weisel 59 [fashion designer] 🇺🇸

1/29/21

•Emilia Asim-Ita 33 [entrepreneur] 🇳🇬

•Christian Daigle 42 [ice hockey agent] 🇨🇦

•Didier Pasgrimaud 54 [Olympic cyclist] 🇫🇷

1/30/21

•Double K 43 [rapper] 🇺🇸

•Abbas Khan 66 COVID-19 [squash player] 🇵🇰

•Edward Stourton, 27th Baron Mowbray 67 [peer] 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

•Pantelei Sandulache 64 [politician] 🇲🇩

•Sophie 34 [singer] 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

•Marc Wilmore 57 COVID-19 [comedian] 🇺🇸

1/31/21

•Mihail Popescu 60 [Olympic ice hockey player] 🇷🇺

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Airplane! [1980)

My congratulations to Hulu for finally making a move in the right direction as regards comedic movies.

This is a chestnut from my youth.

Directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, this endless stream of one-liners hits some very special notes indeed.

[flying on instruments]

Ted Striker has a drinking problem…

His aim is off.

It dates back to when he was stationed on the island of Drambuie [sic].

He led the strike against Daiquiri.  We’ll be coming in low…beneath their radar.  Attacking from the north.

[when will you be back?  I can’t tell you that.  It’s top secret.]

Yes, his postwar record is even worse than his war record.

I know the feeling.

Leaves his cab with the meter running.

Striker is always coming in too hot.  Robert Hays.

World record for sweat.

But at least he has his Elaine for whom to hope.  Julie Hagerty.

Avoid the brown acid.  And the fish.

But if you do need a doctor, just look for someone perpetually wearing a stethoscope.

Leslie Nielsen.

Plays it straight as a javelin [donnnnnngggg!].

The cavalry trailing Kramer.

But back to Leslie…from Regina, Saskatchewan.

[Municipal bonds…AA rating…best investment in Canada]

Extremely underrated is Peter Graves as the pilot:  Clarence Oveur.

On the ovarian trolley.

[Have you ever seen a grown man naked?]

and

[Do you like gladiator films?]

or

[Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?]

And of course, the man himself:  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

{on this night when my Spurs fell a point shy to the Thunder}

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer (38,387) is Roger Murdoch.

I previously wrote about Kareem’s turn in the Bruce Lee “almost” Game of Death.

Airplane!, then, was his second appearance on the big screen (and first since his kung fu debut in 1972).

Lloyd Bridges picked the wrong week for everything.

All the vices.

From a fag to a swig to bennies to some genuinely Ramones shit.

{now I’m gonna have nightmares about Westbrook}

[How ’bout some coffee?]

[…never has a second cup of coffee at home.  …never vomits at home.]

Robert Stack checks in like Gregg Popovich after a meal at Taco Bell.

[That may have been the lousiest landing in the history of this airport…]

But the absolute secret weapon is the flamingly-gay Stephen Stucker as Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs.

[it looks like a big Tylenol]

[a hat, a brooch, a pterodactyl]

Stucker’s contribution is still alive (though he sadly passed away in 1986 at the age of 38).

And so the queen act was no act.

AIDS.

Shit…

[golly]

June Cleaver speaks jive.

Joey Hammen (Ross Harris) went on to have a very interesting music career which saw his path intersect with Beck, Stereolab, and The Dust Brothers.

[Odelay!]

David Leisure and Kawhi Leonard both went to San Diego State University.

That should definitely help us in Game 3.

But we’re going to need a lot more defense from Ethel Merman.

Really, the Spurs need to revisit this excellent tome by Joel Cohen:

dynomite

No library focusing on military strategy is complete without it.

From Jomini to Clausewitz to Winshield Wiper Man:

if he can just manage to get the hood back down on the Boeing 707 after checking the dipstick.

No need to commit hara-kiri, James Hong.  Just filed under “seppuku”.

It’s 1-1.  Go Spurs Go!

 

-PD

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Game of Death [1978)

Panopticon.

Self-censorship.

Can’t leave well-enough alone.

Yes.  In America we have our heroes of the Revolution.  George Washington.  Paul Revere.

But here…we have a sad goodbye to a great hero for Hong Kong.

Thus begins the Bruce Lee apochrypha.

It starts very bad.  Some of the editing seems straight out of the Tim and Eric Awesome Show.

But it gets better.  Way better!  No, this is not a great film.  It’s not even really a good film.  But for fans of Bruce Lee it is worth watching for several reasons.

I must admit:  Bruce Lee brought about a change in my innermost being.  I know that sounds naïve.  I owe some credit to Shaquille O’Neal.  I just happened to catch an interview between Shaq and Yao Ming in which O’Neal admitted that his passion for basketball stemmed from being inspired by Bruce Lee.

Having recently seen Lee’s canonic oeuvre when I came across this interview, it made total sense to me what Shaq was saying.

And that brings us to one of the highlights of Game of Death:  Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  Yes, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer indeed plays a fairly significant role in this film.  What is more, this gives me the opportunity to reach out and wish Kareem a speedy recovery as he has just recently undergone coronary bypass surgery.

It actually is amazing that director Robert Clouse put together a semi-watchable film from what little he had to go on.

Hugh O’Brian is pretty good in this.  It’s just a shame that his acting talents go to waste in dialogues with body doubles.

If I haven’t made it abundantly clear, let me clarify:  Bruce Lee was no longer alive when this film was being put together.  Though Lee filmed portions of it, his absence presented a particularly insurmountable problem.

It pains me to say this, but it really is the ensemble cast which keeps this film afloat when it should lag and sag from Lee’s missing contribution.  Dean Jagger is a disgusting psychopath who reminds me of what I imagine Donald Rumsfeld to be like behind closed doors.

The biggest saving grace is Colleen Camp.  She looks so beautiful in this film!

As for there being a conspiracy involved in the demise of Bruce Lee, I don’t doubt that for a second.  Unfortunately, it is not a subject on which I have any pertinent knowledge.

We fans can continue to gain inspiration from the anti-fascist characters Lee embodied.  His short life brought such joy and exhilaration into the world.

-PD

7 Comments