Football this 'n' that

 Today's NFL slate doesn't bode well for the top two teams in the AFC East, although, as they say, fortune favors the bold.

Take, for example, division leader Buffalo, which will have the NBC Sunday Night Football game vs. Pittsburgh, which is five days removed from their first loss of the season to the Washington Deviants. A Buffalo win would eliminate 3rd place New England from division title contention, as the Patriots would be 4 games out with 3 to play, all in the division.

Second place Miami has an even more daunting task, trying to stop the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Good luck with that. As play begins today, Miami is a game behind Buffalo in the division. The Dolphins play New England next week, with a chance to eliminate the hated Patriots once and for all. If both Miami & Buffalo lose, the margin will remain 1 game headed into week 15.

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It's becoming increasingly clear that Patriots QB Cam Newton, in his 10th season out of Auburn, isn't the dynamic playmaker he once was. Sacked four times in the second half vs. the LA Rams Thursday night led to his benching in favor of 2nd year QB Jarrett Stidham, who was sacked twice himself. Color Newton gone after this season, as the Patriots may be forced to draft another QB.

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Politics plays a big role, bigger than most people think, actually, in deciding the College Football Playoff.

The Big 10 Conference, for example, had amended its rules due to a shortened season, decreeing that teams had to play a specific number of games to qualify for the league title game.

Ohio State has had three games cancelled due to coronavirus, the latest being their annual meeting with Michigan. They're 5-0. Six games was to be the minimum. Had the Big 10 suits stuck to their guns, Indiana, which lost to Ohio State last month, would be facing resurgent Northwestern in the title game on December 19.

However, there's the small matter of television ratings, and how much Ohio State generates for the NCAA's media partners (Fox and its cable cousins, FS1 & the Big 10 Network, ABC/ESPN). Indiana-Northwestern isn't what networks suits would call a "sexy" matchup for television. Ohio State vs. Northwestern, however, is, and that's what viewers will get next Saturday. If Ohio State wins, they punch their ticket to the CBP and a date with Alabama.

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Lovie Smith, a year removed from taking Illinois to a bowl game, was given the gate after five seasons with the Illini after Saturday's game. To say that Illinois underachieved would be an understatement.

By the same token, Arizona sent Kevin Sumlin packing after the Wildcats were smacked down by Arizona State, 70-7, on Friday night.

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Once the rankings are made official over the next 48 hours, expect Florida to take a nose-dive after losing to defending national champion LSU, 37-34, on Saturday night. The loss might actually cost QB Kyle Trask the Heisman Trophy, which will be handed out next month due to COVID concerns.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, USC's Cardiac Trojans pulled out another seat squirmer to remain unbeaten, taking down UCLA, 44-37, and making a case to move up the ladder.

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It's safe to argue that Navy was lost in the fog on Saturday.

Army, enjoying a legitimate home field advantage for a change, with the annual service game being played at West Point for the first time since 1943, shut out the Midshipmen, 15-0, with outgoing President Trump in attendance for Army-Navy for the 4th time in 5 years. Army is 3-1 in Trump's appearances. Hmmmmmm.

Charley Pride (1934-2020)

 This hurts.

It has just come across the wires that country music legend Charley Pride has passed away at 86. Cause of death as of press time has been tagged as complications from coronavirus.

Country fans know most of his hits, from 1971's "Kiss an Angel Good Mornin'", to his 1975 cover of Hank Williams' "Kaw-Liga". From "Just Between You & Me" to "Is Anyone Goin' to San Antoine?". From "Burgers & Fries" to a cover of "Mountain of Love".

But music wasn't his only interest. Pride also played in the Negro Leagues, and was in the minor league systems of at least a couple of major league clubs, including the Yankees, back in an era when they had Classes B-D in the minors, instead of A-AAA, like they do now. He tried out for the then-expansion Mets in 1962, but didn't make the cut. He served in the Army as a quartermaster, and after his baseball career ended, he found his calling in music.

Charley also dabbled in acting, including a guest appearance in the short-lived Jerry Reed-Claude Akins crime drama, Nashville 99.

From a 1978 appearance on Hee Haw, here's "Burgers & Fries", which peaked at #2 on the country chart here, and hit #1 in Canada.

Rest in peace, Charley. Heaven just got another vocalist in the choir.

It's time to wave the white flag. Another lawsuit goes down in flames.

 Late Friday afternoon, the US Supreme Court struck down a frivolous lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, & Wisconsin in another pointless bid to overturn last month's presidential election results. All 50 states have certified the results, and it will be a mere formality when the Electoral College meets on Monday.

In short, the ballgame's over. Unfortunately, President Donald Trump, whose personal & political reputations, as if he had much of the latter, have been irrevocably destroyed, will press on in order to maintain the facade that had lured over 70 million gullible voters to his side last month in a losing effort.

As for the over 100 GOP lawmakers who cast their support behind this fool's folly, Congressman Bill Pascrell of New Jersey is calling for them not to be seated when Congress returns to session next month:

As for the 17 GOP Attorneys General? How soon are they up for re-election? Or can they be impeached?

Even though Trump now calls Florida his home state, after turning his back on his native New York, once he leaves office on January 20, regardless of how it happens, there will be some severe heat in the form of litigation from NY Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, Jr., investigating alleged criminal activity in the Trump organizational chain.

In other words, Dumb Donald I & II, Stupid-E, Trust Fund Barbie, and the rest of this family of con artists, could end up swapping custom tailored wardrobe for prison jumpers, or, in Dumb Donald I's case, a straitjacket, right alongside his BFF, Goofiani.

And as for those traitorous lawmakers? Check yourselves before you wreck yourselves, if you haven't done that already.

What Might've Been: Sons of Thunder (1999)

 Every now and again, a show gets cancelled because the network and/or producers have some money issues.

That's what happened with Sons of Thunder, a spin-off from Walker, Texas Ranger, which served as a spring replacement for Walker in March-April 1999, even though Walker (Chuck Norris, who served as an executive producer) appeared on the show. Norris and his brother, Aaron, thought they had a hit on their hands, but CBS suits passed, citing budget concerns. Only six episodes were produced, and have aired recently on INSP, among other places. Fans are hoping for a DVD release, just the same.

Let's take a look at the series opener, "Moment of Truth". Alan Autry (ex-Mama's Family, In The Heat of The Night) plays a bartender pal of the titular detectives.

The above came from an Autry fan channel.

No rating. Didn't see the show.

Dunce Cap Award: Ken Paxton......and every other Republican sheep loyal to America's Oldest Baby

 As reported earlier this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed suit against Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, & Georgia in another lameassed attempt to overturn the presidential election. America's Oldest Baby and 17 other states joined the fight, continuing to push baseless claims of voter fraud which have been debunked so often, real con artists are going on strike until Donald Trump is out of office.

However, this cadre of dumbasses have little to no shot of succeeding with this fool's folly. The US Supreme Court shut down a lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania Republicans earlier this week, and this looks to be no different.

The problem is, Trump thinks that the justices he appointed, including Amy Coney Barrett, are honor bound to him and him alone. That's not how it works, Dumb Donald!!

All 50 states have certified their election results, and the Electoral College will have a virtual meeting on Monday. By then, it would appear, Paxton's stupid suit will get tossed into the garbage where it belongs. Paxton, Trump, and the fools supporting this suit all get Dunce Caps, showing once again they're so willing to destroy their careers for a cause that exists only in the splinters of the windmills of the President's warped mind.

Countdown to Christmas: Rich Little's Christmas Carol (1978)

 Impressionist Rich Little returned home to Canada to write and star in a virtual one-man show, Rich Little's Christmas Carol, a very loose adaptation of the Dickens classic. The supporting cast gets zero credit, while Rich uses the voices of W. C. Fields, Paul Lynde, Johnny Carson, Peter Falk, Humphrey Bogart, George Burns, Jack Benny, Jimmy Stewart, Jean Stapleton, and Laurel & Hardy, just to name a few, for many of the central characters.

This special would find its way to HBO here in the States a year later.

Awwww, that's funny! That's funny stuff!

Rating: A.

A little of this and a little of that

 It's gotten to the point where nostalgia obsessed network executives aren't letting the dust settle on recently ended series.

It was reported on Wednesday that HBO Max has picked up options for new series of True Blood (previously on HBO) and Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family/Freeform), both of which are owned by WarnerMedia divisions. Both are being entrusted to Riverdale showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, whose video version of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is finishing its run on Netflix later this month.

File photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Riverdale is set to return to CW next month, but Aguirre-Sacasa is still in no hurry to return to writing comics and his other gig at Archie Comics, and the company would be well served to pressure him into at least letting someone else finish the books he was working on.

It's my belief that neither Liars nor Blood need actually be straight remakes. Instead, they could follow Peacock's lead (Saved by The Bell and the forthcoming Punky Brewster), and continue where the previous series left off, a strategy Disney also employed with Raven's Home, the follow-up to That's So Raven, another recent series.

Whatever happened to originality in Hollywood?

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Since I work for an insurance agency in my day job, I am not fond of Progressive's radio ads featuring Flo (Stephanie Courtney), under the heading, Commercial Chicken, or her sidekick, Jamie, leaving voicemail messages for himself, since he's such a doofus. The parodies on TV are a lot more fun.

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I wouldn't be at all surprised if radio talk show host and former NFL punter Pat McAfee's next appearance for WWE would be at next month's Royal Rumble, which would virtually merit a SportsCenter mention.

Meanwhile, former women's champs Alexa Bliss (Lexi Kaufman) & Charlotte Flair (Ashley Fliehr) are in LA filming guest appearances for Peacock's Punky Brewster relaunch. Expect the latter to return at the Rumble, but Bliss should be back well before then.