The Frankish Reich

"Rotisserie League." Actually still the best way of doing it. Rated on your rank in the league on batting average (yeah, sucky real world stat, but it was easy to get every week in the USA Today), HR, RBI, SBs. And then Wins, Strikeouts, ERA, Saves. Despite the crude "counting stats" by today's analytical era, the winners generally reflected what worked in real-world baseball. Good fun. But the fool who said "Steve Buechele is ready to break out this season" never won it.

Someone's gotta run the scout team.

I think that's right. Steve Buechele was always that guy on the verge of a breakout. Solid third baseman, looked like he was gonna have an All Star quality season or two. But a long and successful career nonetheless. Covered a lot of ground at 3rd, so I'm sure he could pursue all day long and then not tackle. We're used to that.

Which is similar to AJ Klein. Low 50s is really bad on their system. Sorry, not seeing this as an upgrade over what we've got. And yes, we will miss Edmunds. A lot.

I won't hold it against him that his dad, former MLB third baseman, is the primary reason I didn't win my fantasy league in 1992.

I will gladly stop quoting Jack's idiotic tweet - enthusiastically posted here by you! - as soon as either he or you admit that it was stupid and offensive. Otherwise? Well, it is hurricane season, and Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina are right there. And God's aim is true.

Yeah, this is bad. When Biden was running and there were all those questions and memes about his cognitive ability or lack thereof, I remember saying there's two almost 80 year olds out there who seem to not have lost a step at all: McConnell and Pelosi. They were, to me, exactly the same as they were 20 years ago. Haven't seen Nancy lately, but we are, at best, down to one .... ... a cautionary tale about giving really old people really important jobs.

Hey B-Man, you follow Jack Posobiec on Twitter X. Jack seems to have his finger on God's pulse. To what offense against God do the people of the ultra-conservative Big Bend area of Florida owe this carnage? Surely he's weighed in on that pressing issue by now. NOTE: Trump "beat" Biden 77 to 22 percent in Taylor County, below. I put it in quotes because Taylor County suspiciously had a "machine glitch" the night of the election that "required" them to run the ballots on a different scanner. Hmm ...

Except that some of the states that ratified the 2nd Amendment prohibited slaves (or sometimes even free blacks) from bearing arms. Was that because slaves couldn't be part of the state militias? Because they weren't "the people?" Because the right to bear arms was completely connected to the states' right to raise up a militia of free men? I can't recall what the Supreme Court did in Heller and the other 2nd Amendment cases to explain all of this away.

You know what it is? It's a turnabout is fair play scheme. Trump's "throw the election back to the states, nothing in the constitution expressly precludes the VP from rejecting a slate of electors" theory was the same type of thing. "That which is not expressly prohibited is therefore allowed." So if a state with a Democratic Secretary of State and/or legislature and/or governor says "Trump supported an insurrection, hence he cannot be on our ballot and cannot receive our electoral votes" well, who is John Eastman to complain?

The January 6 impeachment did not put Trump in "jeopardy of life or limb." He wasn't going to executed or have his probing fingers lopped off. The only legal effect would have been to disqualify him from serving as president again. Exactly. Which is why a sitting president can't be criminally charged UNTIL he is removed from office by impeachment. This is Trump's primary "legal" defense now (the scare quotes because it is more practical than legal): if I am reelected/inaugurated, all criminal charges must be dropped immediately or at a minimum be held in abeyance unless/until I am removed from office, die, or complete my term. He announced his candidacy just as it became obvious that criminal charges were coming.

I think that's right. The old Moneyball Billy Beane quote: "My [crap] doesn't work in the playoffs." Playing Zach Wilson and Mac Jones 4 times a year? Make them beat you by sustaining those long drives without a mistake (penalty, bad throw, drop, etc.) Playing Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs? He'll say "Thank you, I'll have some more."

You do have a point there. The words, standing alone, wouldn't support a reading that this clause was limited to those who engaged in or aided/abetted the rebellion of the insurrection in the southern states that led to the Civil War. What I see from the Supreme Court lately is this: the conservative faction says that we should rely on the words themselves and avoid contextual analysis. Unless, of course, the words themselves would lead to a conclusion they'd rather not reach ...

And that's why the Kanye associate is charged too. They (so the indictment charges) sent her, a black woman, out to similarly intimidate a black election worker wrongly accused of counting fabricated ballots. Again, subject to proof at trial, but this was the mafia style intimidation used by the campaign to use the power of the president's control of the Justice Department to try to make state officials engage in corrupt acts.

I don't agree with this approach, trying to disqualify him from the ballot based on the 14th Amendment. The proper constitutional approach was to impeach him, which happened, but did not succeed. (All you Ron DeSantis types out there - bet you wish that had succeeded) This is unlike the prosecutions, which I believe are valid and of varying strength/merit. Bragg NY prosecution: stupid, and a shaky legal theory Smith classified docs prosecution: solid and proper Smith Jan 6 prosecution: meritorious and necessary, but far from a slam dunk Willis GA prosecution: the best thought-out, but very complex and will depend on proof

Yeah, I'm gonna give him a pass on the drafting then cutting Zappe. If you're just not seeing it, then it's best to eat the sunk cost and move on. Zappe kind of reminds me of a Matt Flynn as Rodgers' backup. Gets in a few games and has great results. The Seahawks paid him to come in and be their QB after that. And then they drafted Russell Wilson in the 4th round, and Wilson thoroughly outplayed Flynn in camp and preseason. Pete Carroll made the right call. A less confident coach would've started Flynn ... ... we'll know when we see how much interest Zappe gets from other teams.

Bend but don't break! Leslie Frazier's philosophy. Or was in Sean McDermott? We'll find out.

You may be too young to remember Mike Dukakis with his helmeted head poking out of a tank prairie dog style in 1988. Fair or unfair, sometimes an image like that sticks. Like shiny white boots ...

A reminder: when the Michigan Republicans did this, they actually referred to the bogus slate as "fake electors." No one was even pretending that there was a legitimate purpose. "Fake electors." That's how cynical and illegal the whole scheme was.

Agreed. But I do require the donning of his kinky white boots.

Vivek is not insane. But he is the guy who will say anything he thinks will get him additional votes or popularity, even if it disagrees with what he said last year. DeSantis is not insane. But he was completely damaged by Trump and Trumpism and policy-wise no longer resembles the War on Terror JAG officer and congressman he once was.

All I can say is it's a damn good thing that this site requires age verification. Otherwise the children could see this and be scarred for life!

They're tanking all right. I expect they'll do a Kaepernick job with Kyler Murray and keep him on the bench all year, not risking a new injury that would guarantee his contract. If McCoy were the starter they'd probably win 5 or 6 games, which might just drop them to 2nd or 3rd in the draft and ruin the plan. So McCoy was cut because he's just a little too good to risk it.

True. But I'm not sure that's all bad. To be honest, I expect a semi-down year or couple of years. We saw that with other teams with great QBs: the Packers with Rodgers, the Saints with Brees. There was always a 7-9 or 8-8 or 9-7 for a couple years, but even that's not awful. But the "window" will always be open as long as Josh Allen is under contract and healthy.

I just ran into the same thing earlier this month in London. West End hotel prices were ridiculous. I enjoyed exploring a different part of London Spitalfields market is right there, and to be honest the energy of the newer/younger London has shifted east. Have fun!