Sports this 'n' that

 This is how bad things have gotten for the Baltimore Ravens.

Starting quarterback Lamar Jackson went on injured reserve on Wednesday after suffering a thumb injury that requires surgery in Sunday's loss to Buffalo. Backup Tyler Huntley is out for the year with a toe injury.

So, on Wednesday, the Ravens traded for journeyman Jacoby Brissett, who lost his starting job in Arizona on Sunday. Not sure if Brissett will be in uniform for tonight's game vs. Jacksonville, but it's looking like the Ravens might not make the playoffs unless Jackson is able to return at the end of the regular season, though no one thinks that's possible.

Tonight's game streams on Amazon Prime beginning at 8:15 pm (ET), and will replay for the rest of us tomorrow on NFL Network.

While it's unlikely he'll win a Cy Young Award, the Mets' Nolan McLean won a Gold Glove for fielding excellence on the mound. Rookie outfielder Carson Benge is a finalist for NL Rookie of The Year, and that, of course, has Mets fans hoping he upsets Cincinnati's Sal Stewart for the honor when the awards are handed out as early as next week.

WWE gave viewers a reason not to watch NXT last night by telegraphing what would happen in the main event between NXT champ Grayson Waller and visiting challenger CM Punk. Kevin Owens, who's been feuding with Punk for a few weeks, was told to leave the Performance Center hours before the show. Savvy long time viewers could figure out the rest, and, sure enough, Owens showed up to cause a distraction to cost Punk the match. A blind man could've told you that would happen. Punk will face Owens on Smackdown tomorrow in a match taped on Monday due to the troupe leaving for Saudi Arabia.

Major League Baseball owners are now suggesting a salary cap won't be implemented until no earlier than 2028, but there's still talk of a lockout taking effect December 1. Can't have it both ways, guys.

This time, the wave was like a thunderstorm..........

 Four years ago, when the GOP reclaimed control of Congress, the "red wave" turned out to be little more than drizzle, as the party did just enough to gain control.

Tuesday, it went the other way, and, did it ever. MSN referred to it as a "blue tsunami". Oh, sure, Republicans won some regional races, like Byron Donalds succeeding Ron DeSantis as Florida Governor, and Sticker Mule founder Anthony Constantino inheriting Elise Stefanik's seat in the 21st Congressional District here in NY.

President Donald Trump kept telling supporters to "pretend I'm on the ballot". Unsurprisingly, around midnight Eastern time Wednesday morning, Trump backtracked, whining that because he wasn't on the ballot, the GOP got spanked. Some examples:

Here in NY, Governor Kathy Hochul routed Trump clone Bruce Blakeman by 20 points, according to media reports. In Texas, Gina Hinojosa upset Greg Abbott to become Governor, the first Latina to hold the seat. James Talarico, who gained national attention at the beginning of the year, defeated AG Ken'L Ration Paxton in the race for Senate. In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms ascended to the Governor's mansion. Troy Jackson sent Susan Collins into likely retirement in a race for Senator in Maine. In New Hampshire, despite native son Paul "Triple H" Levesque being brought in by Turning Point USA to help encourage GOP voters, second generation politico John Sununu fell to Chris Pappas in the race for Senate in the Granite State.

In higher profile races that gained national attention, Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy to become Ohio Governor, and Sherrod Brown defeated Jon Husted for Senate. To be fair, Husted was done in by Trump's bizarre obsession with the candidate's buttocks. Abdul El-Sayed earned a Senate seat in Michigan, despite the rhetoric coming from the likes of Trump and Just Dumb Vance.

In South Carolina, Darline Graham, sister of the late Lindsey Graham, failed to secure a full term, losing to Annie Andrews. In North Carolina, Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley for Senate. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton took down Roger Marshall for Senate. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola told supporters the final results of her Senate race may not be final for a few weeks, anticipating continued challenges from the oldest sore loser in America and the Department of Injustice.

In the final analysis, the strategy to run ads for races in Ohio, Michigan, & Texas nationally during sports, like college & pro football, for example, backfired on the GOP. The heavy emphasis on lies & nonsensical rhetoric backfired. Republican deflection of blame for high prices to the Democrats backfired. Now, it's the Democrats who can quote the last universally popular Republican President, the late Ronald Reagan, and declare, "it's morning again in America". It sure is.

The one thing Republicans fear today is.........

 Losing.

The paranoia gripping the GOP heading into today's midterm elections prompted the Department of Injustice to file frivolous lawsuits in Alaska & California just days before the polls opened. A week ago, we told you how AG Todd "Bleached" Blanche and president Trump think Alaskan voters can't read, thinking those voters would be confused between Daniel S. Sullivan and Daniel J. Sullivan, who are running against Democrat Mary Peltola. The middle initials are the dead giveaway, you idiots.

Right before the polls opened today, a judge threw out the suit in Alaska, but, of course, the DOI is planning to appeal, which itself is a waste of time. Kentucky's James "Gomer" Comer weighed in, claiming Peltola would not be seated in January if she wins. Good luck making that happen, bub.

Also, the suit in California got tossed, where the GOP wanted a number of ballots set aside, falsely claiming that these were to be cast by "non-citizens". If you can't prove it, again, you're wasting everyone's time.

Yeah, I'd hide my face in shame if I were you, Dumb Donald.

All the GOP wants to do is sow doubt & distrust, as if they hadn't done that already, led by the oldest sore loser in America. They don't do the work necessary to make their cases, and expect their base to take their words at face value.

Speaking of which, here in NY, Republicans, from Bruce Blakeman all the way to old school veteran Jim Tedisco, are deflecting blame for high prices to the Democrats, and they, again, expect you to buy their lies. Tedisco, with nearly 50 years in the state Senate, is expected to be re-elected. Blakeman? Not so much. Most recent polling has Blakeman down by 2 touchdowns and 2 extra points. If lies are all the GOP has, they're not going to gain anything, aside from maybe self-made businessman and wanna-be rapper Anthony Constantino inheriting Elise Stefanik's seat, and that's not a gimme.

The morning headlines on Wednesday will tell the tale.

Spook Rock: Lady Samantha (1969)

 Elton John & Bernie Taupin wrote "Lady Samantha", and released it as a single in the UK in 1969. Unfortunately, it didn't fare too well on the charts.

Not too long after, Three Dog Night recorded their version for the album, "Suitable For Framing". No performance video of TDN's cover exists, and maybe someday, we'll pull a clip of Elton performing the song.

Anyway, here's an audio of "Lady Samantha", a la Three Dog Night.

 

The implication is that the title character is a vampire or succubus.

Happy Halloween.

Fantasy/Family Fridays: Lily takes up modeling (The Munsters, 1965)

 From season 1 of The Munsters:

When Herman (Fred Gwynne) turns down a night out with Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo), Lily starts looking for a job, and becomes a model. Chaos then ensues. Roger C. Carmel guest stars in "Lily Munster: Girl Model":

East Potomac Golf Links is closed because a certain fellow doesn't like being told no.......

 And that fellow, of course, is the most immature, spiteful, petty, dishonorable president of all time, Donald John Fauntleroy Trump, who ordered East Potomac closed Thursday because a judge told him he could not be allowed to cut down more trees and/or continue to make over the course as he sees fit.

A once proud golf course, ruined.

Now, as a disreputable golfer himself, Trump knows that trees are common hazards on any golf course. That's just the way it is. He wanted East Potomac made over to attract the PGA and LPGA, but taking the trees out was a big no-no, and he's throwing another tantrum because he was told this was wrong.

"WAAAAHHH!! I want to do what I want with the course! It's mine! WAAAHHHHH!"

No, it isn't. Last I checked, you don't own everything in Washington. You just think you do. You refuse to go through proper channels to get something like this approved. You think it's on your say-so, and that's that. You just don't care about the consequences.

And we won't even discuss, for now, the fact that your assistant, Natalie Harp, is living somewhere in the White House. That's for another time. So, go ahead, keep whining & crying. You've embarrassed us enough already.

Sports this 'n' that

 Most of you know that ESPN's Pardon The Interruption airs on same-day tape, so guest co-anchor Frank Isola had no idea SportsCenter was not going to follow the show on Wednesday.

Instead, they cut to Ernie Johnson, anchor-moderator for Inside The NBA, confirming what had been reported earlier in the day, that he would leave Inside after the season. Reports also have panelist and Capital One shill Charles Barkley following Johnson out the door come June. Inside The NBA is in its 2nd season on ESPN after moving over from TNT last year.

Johnson's announcement gives ESPN 8 months to find his successor, and, no, it won't be Screamin' A. Cosell himself, Stephen A. Smith, who's already polluting NFL Monday Night Countdown with his unwanted presence. ESPN let Karl Ravech walk after the Little League World Series, but he is an experienced studio host, has called college basketball among his many gigs, and would be a good fit. I think they still have his number on speed dial.

Maybe Johnson saw the writing on the wall when he cut a commercial prior to the start of the season where he was trying to recite the lyrics to a 30 year old Ja Rule rap track..........

Cheeseheads are planning on a parade in Milwaukee after the Brewers won their first World Series Wednesday, defeating Tampa Bay, 4-1, to take the Series, also 4-1. Catcher William Contreras was named Series MVP.

Photo courtesy Yahoo!.

Keep in mind that the voting for post-season awards ended right before the playoffs began, and if Brewers manager Pat Murphy repeats as Manager of The Year, a rare three-peat for that honor, there will be those unwashed types that will think winning the Series clinched it. We'll see within the next few days.

WNBA fans are up in arms over the fact that Game 6 of the finals between Atlanta and Golden State will be a matinee, setting up a split-admission doubleheader with a Hawks game being played later tonight. Chalk it up to poor planning, and it could've been worse for the league and USA Network, which is televising the game (12:30 pm), while it streams on Peacock.

Y'see, reports have come out that the game could've been pushed back to tomorrow, with a 7 pm tip, bumping WWE's Smackdown to approximately 9 pm. However, that plan went by the boards, and hoop junkies get the doubleheader today.

Speaking of WWE, next week's Crown Jewel PLE will still take place in Saudi Arabia, but not at the same venue as advertised. Unfortunately, TKO frontman Ari Emanuel is putting Saudi money ahead of the safety of talent and other personnel due to the unrest in Saudi Arabia. Some guys will never learn.

After all those commercials for Nationwide Insurance, and other sponsors, Peyton Manning is finally playing a character in a series of spots for Cintas. Problem is, "Carl" is easily mistaken for Manning, and that leads to a running gag.

Maybe he should've started playing characters right from the get-go with MasterCard, Nationwide, et al. Next thing ya know, someone in Hollywood might actually look to exhume something like Mayberry RFD with Manning as the lead...........