MAKING OUR WAY TO THE NEW YEAR

 YOWSA!! The Chicago White just pulled into the fast lane and passed a few MLB teams this week as they have clearly stated their intentions to play deep into October this year. After hiring TONY "just one more" La RUSSA to lead the ball club, the Sox obtained power pitcher LANCE LYNN in a trade with the Texas Rangers and re-signed right fielder ADAM EATON, a free agent from the Washington Nationals.  

Lynn is a 'give me the ball' type of pitcher who rarely starts less than 30 games in a season and has a 3-1 strikeout/walk ratio while winning 60% of his decisions. Eaton will fill a hole in right field that was created when they booted the overpaid and disappointing Nomar Mazara. 

Eaton is just an average fielder but with a lifetime batting average of .282 and a guy who works the count and sees a lot of pitches, the left hander should be an excellent #2 man in the lineup and he'll probably platoon with ADAM ENGEL. The Sox still need a back-up catcher but they're looking good. Six starters and a very nice bullpen.

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On the other side of Chicago, the Cubs aren't hiding the fact that they're dumping salary in anticipation of a total rebuild next year by releasing one of their best defensive players in ALBERT ALMORA, who also hit .270 on an offensively challenged team and only made 3 million.

 They followed that by dumping outfield mutt KYLE SCHWARBER and his $8 million dollar salary but no worries.....Mr. Schwarber is going to sign somewhere and make a whole bunch of money. 

Combine these two transactions with the earlier parting of JON LESTER and they've already saved $25 million dollars. Now all they have to do is figure out what to do with BAEZ, BRYANT & RIZZO, who all become free agents in 2021. Any bets on who goes first in a trade? I'll take Bryant.

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Hopefully, the 4th quarter collapse of the BEARS will seal the deal as far as the futures of both GM ADAM PACE and head coach MATT NAGY, who have dragged this franchise down and taken the 'juice' out of this football town. Nagy's incompetence is shown to you every Sunday but here's a quick reminder of Pace's repeated draft day/free agent signings that have doomed the immediate future for the Bears.

MITCH TRUBISKY (you knew that he was going to be 1st)

ADAM SHAHEEN

HIRANIS GRASU

LEONARD FLOYD

JIMMY GRAHAM (world's slowest tight end)

TREY BURTON

ROBERT QUINN

NICK FOLES

KEVIN WHITE

COACH JOHN FOX

COACH MATT NAGY

and on and on and on and on.............

Failure to draft even one offensive or defensive lineman with a first round pick. EVER.

"I plan on drafting a quarterback EVERY year because you never know."  He's only drafted one and you know that mistake by now. 

                                                      ADIOS, JERKOFF

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BIG TEN basketball is the real deal and they're demolishing the ACC in their annual crossover tournament and ILLINOIS also looks like the real deal after crushing DUKE, despite a hiccup last week against Baylor.

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NO OHIO STATE in the BIG TEN championship football game? Falling short of six wins because of covid cancellations, the buckeyes either have to find a replacement game by Saturday or keep their fingers crossed that the league changes the rules....quickly.

It would be a shame for them to be eliminated by Michigan's carelessness.

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Are the BULLS going to be competitive? They certainly have the right coach in BILLY DONOVAN, who made his bones in the coaching world by blending good basketball players into team players without a superstar...and that's exactly the situation he has now. Good luck.

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JOAKIM NOAH announced his retirement. I thought he quit years ago but good luck to him.

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Godspeed to DICK ALLEN, who turned the south side on it's head with excitement for three years back in the 70's and won the MVP in 1972 with .308 and leading the AL with 37 homers, 113 rbi's and 99 walks. His on base was .420 and slugging was .603 while swinging a 40 ounce bat. Simply put, he was awesome. RIP, my friend.

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Which brings to the part where we say our final good-byes to sports legends who passed in 2020. Soccer superstar DIEGO MARADONA died recently and he was one of the greatest. We say adios to him and:

DON LARSEN

CHRIS DOLMAN

HENRI RICHARD

BOB ARMSTRONG

PAT PATTERSON

TONY FERNANDEZ

KOBE BRYANT

ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL

ROCKY JOHNSON (the Rock's dad)

TAVARIS JACKSON

KAMALA

WES UNSELD (no, this is MY rebound)

JOE MORGAN

BOB GIBSON

LOU BROCK

GALE SAYERS

TOM SEAVER

MICKEY WRIGHT

AL KALINE

This list gets longer & longer for me every year but just typing their names brings back good memories for me.

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That's it for now. Enjoy the weather today & tomorrow !!              

A LOT OF THIS AND A LOT OF THAT

 BAM! The Supreme Court ended the trump nonsense today with a denial of his ridiculous attempt to overturn Pennsylvania's election results. His legal team presented their writ today and in just 35 minutes, SCOTUS dismissed the suit with a terse, one sentence:

 "The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied."  Simply put?...Don't bring that bullshit to us. 

Right to the point with NO DISSENTERS. GAME OVER, donnie. Time to start packing.

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KUDOS to 90 year old MARGARET KEENAN for being the first person in the world to receive a covid vaccine injection yesterday in London. Hopefully, this is the start of something good because we can all use a break.

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As we all know, 2020 has been a royal screw job and it's been tough to find humor and laughs anywhere............BUT........... my prayers were answered when "key witness" and certified blonde ditz MELLISSA CARONE became instantly famous world-wide for her 'expert' testimony on election fraud in Detroit. 

This is the absolute truth...........I was channel surfing when i came upon her speaking at the hearing and after 15 seconds, i was convinced i was watching a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE rerun! I laughed out loud until i saw Rudy Giuliani reach over and touch her arm.  wtf? It's not SNL but another farcical attempt by the guy in the white house (TGITWH) to overturn the election and the part of the carone testimony that i will take to my grave, was "I saw dead people vote."   

I watch it every day and if you missed it, just google her name. all she needs is a chain for her glasses and a pencil stuck in her hairdo. The clip is less than two minutes. no popcorn needed.

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To be fair, there was a small problem discovered in Chicago as the much maligned post office failed to deliver 37 ballots by the November 17th deadline despite the ballots having been scanned or postmarked BEFORE November 3rd but for whatever reason, the post office failed to deliver them in a timely manner. There were 554,000 requests for mail-in ballots and only 20% of those trusted the post office while the rest cast their votes at official drop boxes.

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Let me preface the next segment by saying I don't ever want anyone to get sick but when giuliani came down with covid, it's hard to do anything but shrug your shoulders and sarcastically state, "Gee, what a surprise."

Giuliani has toured, WITHOUT MASKS, four states over the last week with his circus act while working for TGITWH and trying to get Biden ballots tossed out and never once putting on a mask. While he has become the laughing stock of the nation and tossed out of every hearing, I wish him a speedy recovery. 

And to think this guy was once a feared federal prosecutor who struck fear in the hearts & minds of the mafia and sent many members of organized crime to prison. So sad.

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Hey, I've got a new series for you to watch but you have to watch it from episode 1. "BIG SKY" is a combination of several Hitchcock films (with a large dose of 'PSYCHO') decent acting plus incredible scenery and good writing. 

No spoiler here: two sisters disappear in an extremely remote area. truck stops? local bar? prostitutes? where's the car? It's only 3 episodes in with one to go before the Christmas break so you can catch up easily.

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Before you start ragging about First Lady MELANIA TRUMP re-doing the tennis court at the white house, remember that Barack Obama had turned the tennis area into a basketball court when he was president and all she did was return it to it's original use and the blue prints were presented back in 2018.      P.S...........She did it all with private donations and didn't spend one tax dollar so leave her alone on this one because JOE BIDEN just might turn it into a dog walking track and he has every right to do so.

                                                            

Some would argue that it's insensitive to be involved with a tennis court project while the corona virus is running rampant but sensitivity to the human race in general has never been a strong point of this administration. However, each administration has the right to redecorate both inside and out and they all do it.  next subject.

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Do any of you know anything about football? ANYTHING? if so, please contact the Chicago Bears immediately and put in your application for either coach or general manager because there's a very strong rumor those two positions will be available in about a month. What a train wreck.

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OMG, he strikes again. trump, thru Texas, files ANOTHER suit with the supreme court regarding the vote totals in four states (but NOT Pennsylvania). Does he think the justices are going to rule any different? I get a very strong feeling that somewhere in this great nation of ours.......a village is missing their idiot.

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Speaking of village idiots, 33% of Americans believe that the virus statistics are inflated by including homicides, suicides and auto fatalities. You can hazard a guess from which political party the majority of those 33% belong.   wow.

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The list of people in the entertainment world who have died from covid is staggering. Just a few from a list i read today include members of the FOUR SEASONS, the TEMPTATIONS, Roy from SIEGFRIED & ROY, singer TRINI LOPEZ, actor NICK CORDERO and many more. 

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Enough for now. Enjoy the weather today & tomorrow.

Better late than never

 Mea Culpa! I meant to post this on the tuesday after Thanksgiving but forgot to hit 'send.' So here you go a week late with more coming later. Just think only 44 more days....... and SMILE!

This year,  I decided to shut down watching or listening to the news over the four day Thanksgiving weekend and try to purge my brain. I spend the weekend eating, drinking and watching football and movies and enjoyed every minute of it. On Monday, I turned the 5 o'clock news on and watched the following topics:

 

Trump claims election was rigged

Wisconsin recount yields nothing to trump

Pennsylvania dismisses trump lawsuit

36 of 36 lawsuits have been dismissed

More murders in the jungles of Chicago

Local priest calls for peace in the jungle

Long lines for food

Long lines for covid testing

Covid out of control

People ignoring medical advice & traveling

NFL covid getting worse

Games canceled

 Nothing seems to change so i switched over to a movie.

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CONGRATULATIONS to HIS EMMINENCE, CARDINAL WILTON GREGORY, who was recently promoted from archbishop to the highest ranking in the church other than the pope himself. Cardinal Gregory was raised by a working mom and grandmother in Chicago and becomes the first African-American to wear the red biretta. Good for him.

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If you're a baseball or history fan, KEN BURNS' ten chapter history of the game is must see tv. Originally produced in the 90's, it starts with the advent of baseball in the 1880's and brings it into the 21st century. The black & white film is awesome and I was able to record every chapter during November from the MLB channel.  More popcorn!

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And why do you want to live in Chicago? Thru November, the jungle has produced 3800 shooting victims which were responsible for the majority of 716 murders. For those without a calculator, that's about ELEVEN PEOPLE PER DAY!!!

Chicago is a cesspool and has been for a few decades, with the above stats reflecting an almost 60% increase from the year before in both categories. Why on earth would you want to live there when it's a daily coin flip as to whether you'll be a victim of a crime?

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I realize that a weather forecast is a crapshoot after five days but the December outlook is for moderate temperatures thru the third week of the month before night time temps fall into the teens as they should at that time of the year. (hard freezes are great for killing various insect populations such as fleas & ticks) Moisture will be continue to be very limited. Sounds like a good month to me. (p.s.  A hard freeze is 5 degrees below freezing for at least 5 consecutive hours)

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Trump's personal choice as white house liaison to the Justice Department has been banned from the building after pressuring staffers to give up sensitive information regarding ongoing cases. Ah, another pardon?

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The thing that sucks about the possibility of trump having the power to preemptively pardon himself and other white house people before they are charged is that all future presidents would be able to run amok as trump has done and simply pardon everyone the last day of his or her term. And that's just wrong.

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Short & sweet, that was my holiday weekend! Now back to work!!

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

 Like many of you, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and even with the virus raging, I know I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Just of few thoughts to share with you.

I am deliriously happy & THANKFUL that the vaccine is almost here and hopefully by next fall, we will have this pandemic under control. And yes, I will take the vaccine.

I'm thankful that I'm healthy and Molly the Maggot is getting better.

I am so happy and thankful for all members of the military, past & present.

I'm thankful every time I look at the American Flag blowing in the wind. There is no sweeter sight.   

I'm happy and thankful to know Bob & Laura.

To DANNY PRETZEL , I'm thankful you're home for the holiday. Enjoy.

I'm happy that Nephew Frank gave me a ride in his Tesla and also that he's entering the countdown to retirement.......and planning it with a professional this time.

I am ecstatic over the election results.

I am also very thankful that Keefer is on the road to recovery.

I'm happy that Cookie & Mike are doing well and enjoying their retirements as well as enjoying the video of Cookie running down the neighborhood streets banging pots & pans to celebrate Joe Biden's crushing victory over the guy who won't admit he lost.

I still believe what attorney Michael Cohen believes......that the guy in the white house (gitwh) will head to Florida over the extended Christmas break and then not return plus not attending Biden's inauguration. He'll leave the packing to Melania but I don't know if she'll have the time because she'll be looking for a good divorce attorney. 

To my friend Joe, who's been under the weather for a couple of months.......don't make me come over and kick your ass at gin rummy. Now eat some turkey and watch a lot of football and i guarantee you'll feel better. ENJOY YOUR RETIREMENT!

I'm very thankful that the gitwh loses his presidential protection in January regarding prosecuting a sitting president. And I'm pretty sure the IRS and the State of New York are also thankful because their wait is almost over.

I was very happy & thankful to watch demented 'attorney' Rudy Giuliani's head melt under the hot lights of a press conference, It was actually cheap hair dye but funny none the less. I'm really curious as to what he charges per hour.

I happy that my niece Andrea is doing better after having both knees replaced.

I'm very happy to let you all know that i am once again a gazillionaire thanks to the Benin Republic and Nigeria, who are both sending me a lot of money..........as soon as i send them $49.00 to cover the export taxes from their country. As soon as the thirty million arrives, I will share it with all of you.

Ya gotta be happy for my lifelong friend Patti, who traded in her van for a..............................CADILLAC! I almost fell over when she texted me the photo. LIVING LARGE and good for you !!

I'm very thankful to have watched another member of his crack legal team, 'attorney' Sidney Powell, blame his defeat on money coming from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Unfortunately, Chavez died 7 years ago. WTF? These are the best lawyers he could hire? 

You have to be happy & THANKFUL that people like GSA administrator Emily Murphy will no longer be in a position of power in washington. She stands in front of a camera with a straight face and tells America that the gitwh had nothing to do with her holding up transition benefits to President-elect Biden. But moments after that bald faced lie, we received a tweet from him that stated "I am recommending to Emily to do what needs to be done with regards to initial protocol." What a bunch of lying scumbags and i am VERY HAPPY they will all be exiting soon.

I am very thankful to have watched STACEY ABRAMS rally the troops in the state of Georgia and get out the vote to win the state for Joe Biden and also force two senate runoffs in January. Keep your eye on her.

I'm happy to be watching sports, even the Bears.

I'm thankful for sweet potatoes covered in melted baby marshmallows.

ABOVE ALL, I'm thankful & happy to know all of you. We don't always agree nor should we because that would be pretty boring. So whether you live here in Illinois or in Wisconsin or Florida or Canada or Arkansas or California or Kansas or Utah or Nevada or Minnesota.......or even if you're a cubs fan....................stay safe, wear a mask and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!