While (most of) you were sleeping, the Astros managed to win a game and hang on to a share of the AL West lead in the process since the A’s did likewise.  I don’t know how it came to this, but injuries can’t be blamed nearly as much as a dreadful bullpen can.  I’m starting to watch the Mariners as much as the A’s now and see how we’re looking in the second wild card slot.  Your other winners yesterday were: Washington, Atlanta, Toronto (poor Balmer), Cleveland, Detroit, New York (NL), New York (AL), Cincinnati, Minnesota, San Diego, Arizona, and St Louis.

Give this man his job back

In college football news, Jimbo Fisher has some kid lob a bunch of accusations at him and is given a chance to respond (after the story was printed, of course) but declines to. Most of the complaints sound like a kid who doesn’t want to work hard anymore. A couple are a bit more serious, but we should remember that we’re only getting to hear one side of the story before the “investigation” is done and should take them with a grain of salt.  Meanwhile, Ohio State’s Board of Trustees will meet this morning to discuss the Zach and Courtney Smith saga and the role Urban Meyer played in it.  Rumors are swirling, with most people saying he will receive at most a short suspension. I guess we’ll all know some time today (after refreshing our google search of “Urban Meyer” every two minutes) when it finally breaks.  But if they fire him, you’re gonna have a lot of pissed off fans, boosters students, players, coaches and anyone who respects journalistic integrity and a right to respond before a story is published (and stealth edited a dozen times without note).  And fuck Brett mcMurphy for essentially using a scorned woman to advance his career. He’s ruining the lives of her children in an attempt to settle a score with Meyer, and its disgusting.  Also, fuck hypocrites like Clay Travis and Doug Gottlieb for being the way they are.

Thank you for your greatness

Frog composer Claude Debussy was born on this date. He shares it with: American chemist and founder of GE research lab Willis Rodney Whitney, Crazy Kat cartoonist George Herriman, author Dorothy Parker, filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, Sociopathic communist Deng Xiaoping, blues master John Lee Hooker, brilliant author Ray Bradbury, “Stormin'” Norman Schwarzkopf, Red Sock Cary Yastrzemski, football coach Bill Parcells, felon Scooter Libby, Brewer/Blue Jay/Twin Paul Molitor, musicians Vernon Reid, Juan Croucier, Debbi Peterson, and Tori Amos, tennis legend Mats Wilander, television’s Giada De Laurentiis, actress Kristin Wiig, and Wu-Tang Clan member GZA.

Its also the date on which James Cook landed in Australia, the HMS Resolution returned to England (without Cook), the US annexed New Mexico, Gandhi formed the NIC, Cadillac was founded, J Edgar Hoover was named assistant director of the FBI (but didn’t wear a dress to the ceremony), the Beatles arrived in New York for the first time, the last VW Rabbit rolled off the assembly line, “Stand By Me” was released, Nolan Ryan recorded his 5000th strike out (Rickey Henderson), and FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi murdered Vicki Weaver in Idaho.

That’s it for all that. Now…the links!

“Just write anything you want and I’ll sign it”

Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to a slew of crimes, including campaign finance laws and later accused Trump of ordering him to pay Stormy Daniels off.  Because somehow a mutually-agreed-upon NDA is illegal in this day and age even if you use your own money.

Elsewhere, Paul Manafort was found guilty on 8 of the 18 charges he faced, with a mistrial being declared in the other ten cases. I guess he’ll be trading the ostrich vest for an orange jumpsuit.  I just wonder if he will finally be let out of 24 hour solitary confinement now that he’s been convicted of the horribly dangerous crime of bank fraud.

Rose McGowan under fire for being a hypocrite. What a shame she decided to go and become a nutcase. She was pretty hot at one time.

You’re crazy? #metoo!

And in “even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while” news, it looks like the California government is going to do something right for a change.  Good for them. I hope this catches on quickly and we get some real bail system reform across the country.

Chicago police chief gets it wrong again. Well, mostly wrong. Maybe he needs to find a mirror or a look at the amount of money his department has cost the city in excessive force and wrongful death suits over the past decade. Or the reports of his black hole jails people get thrown into and disappear.

The Mollie Tibbetts case reached a grisly and sad ending. Now we can move on to the finger-pointing about the killer being an illegal immigrant (true), about the fact that he worked for a prominent republican family (true) and about how nobody cares about shit like this unless its a pretty white girl (not true), and all the other people out there who will climb on her dead body for their own selfish bullshit (without a doubt).

And in news that everyone who thinks about race first will be interested in, Idris Elba announces that he will NOT be the next James Bond. I hear that matters to a lot of people. I’m sure we will get a lot of hot takes throughout the day on it, although I won’t care because I’m completely absorbed in my work (and the Urban Meyer situation, obviously).

No, I most definitely did not go with Tori Amos. She does nothing for me. Instead, rock on!

That’s it. (except to say “Free Urban!”)  Go have a great day, friends!