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Los Angeles Times Reports City Could Cancel All Sporting Events and Concerts Until 2021

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Via LA Times:

Los Angeles may hold off on allowing big gatherings until 2021 because of the coronavirus threat, according to an internal Los Angeles Fire Department email reviewed by The Times.

Mayor Eric Garcetti raised the issue during his weekly briefing Monday with a group of high-level staff from several departments, including Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas. Garcetti indicated during the conference call that “large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events may not be approved in the city for at least 1 year,” according to the email.

…

Garcetti also talked during the conference call with his staff about reopening the economy, starting with “essential businesses and small businesses … phased in over a period of time (6-10 months),” according to Richmond’s email.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that events that draw hundreds or thousands of strangers will be off limits for the near future, based on current guidelines.

As someone who was really looking forward to seeing the Eagles in concert and the Dodgers and Lakers bringing titles back to LA this year, this is another major blow. Although, at this point, nothing surprises me anymore. I’ve accepted the fact that it’s a long shot any sporting events or concerts are held before 2021 due to how rapidly COVID-19 can spread.

The LA Times article didn’t mention whether or not teams would be able to play in empty stadiums/arenas, but any gatherings with hundreds or thousands of people are out of the question. Aside from the health risks, I’m curious to know what the public perception will be after the government declares it’s okay to return to our normal routine. Honestly, I’ll probably avoid large gatherings until I get vaccinated because it’s not like the virus magically goes away as soon as the government lifts the quarantine order.

I know most people think they’re invincible but I’ve seen enough healthy young people hospitalized by COVID-19 to know that it’ll be dangerous for a while. Especially for a city like L.A., where there’s a plethora of concerts and sporting events on a daily basis it’s probably best to keep everything closed until we’re sure everything’s safe. People come from all over the country and world to visit L.A., which only heightens the chances of someone spreading the virus…all it takes is one. Until then, for the love of god, keep Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit safe at all costs.

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‘Better Call Saul’ Season 5 Episode 9 – Kim Wears the Pants in This Marriage

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We always knew that Kim wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and never shied away from confrontation, but until last night that was only to guys with receding hairlines in suits. But in the penultimate episode of season 5, which aired last night, Kim revealed that she has the biggest set of balls west of the Mississippi.

The whole time Saul and Mike were walking the the desert last week (episode 8) I totally forgot that Lalo wasn’t supposed to know what happened. If he knew that Mike had saved Jimmy, he’d know that someone in the Salamanca crew was giving intel to Gustavo Fring (Nacho Varga). So, when it came to Saul’s story, it had to be airtight. He told everyone that his car broke down six or seven miles from the pickup location and he had to walk back to the main road through the desert, which required him to spend a night sleeping out there as well. However, Lalo takes the same road that Saul did to pick up the money (coincidence??) to meet his cousins so that he can leave the country, and he discovers Saul’s car in a ravine littered with bullet holes. Instead of continuing with his travel’s abroad, Lalo tells Nacho to drive him back to Albuquerque.

*Knock knock knock*

For two people that have literally zero friends or social life, a knock on the door of their condo only means one thing: trouble.

*Saul opening the door to see Lalo Salamanca*: (in his head) “FUUUUCK”

Saul offers his guest something to drink, as any good host would, but Lalo isn’t there to socialize…he wants to know why the hell Saul’s Suzuki Esteem was in a ditch looking like it had just stormed the beaches of Normandy. According to Saul, it had just broken down, so why would it be all shot up and hidden? After Lalo makes Saul tell him the story of his trek through the desert with $7 million in cash three times, Kim has had enough.

Don’t forget that earlier that day, Kim discovered Saul’s “World’s Best Lawyer” cup, which had several bullet holes in it. She knew that Saul was lying about what really happened out there, but she’ll be damned to let some narco discover the truth!

Don’t forget that Mike has a sniper aimed at Lalo from a roof across the street this entire time in case he tries to kill Saul and/or Kim. 

In what was one of the most badass scenes of the series to far, Kim basically tells Lalo to fuck off if he doesn’t believe Saul’s story, because he is telling the truth! The part that really sold the story was when she said that in New Mexico you can’t even leave a can out without someone shooting at it, so how can you expect people to leave a car alone?? And that my friends, is a QUEEN. Had Saul or Kim wavered from his story for even one moment, Lalo would’ve known that they were full of shit. But, they stuck to their guns (no pun intended) and Lalo totally bought it. He then left their condo with absolutely no rebuttal and headed back to Nacho, who had been waiting in his car outside the whole time.

After quitting her job earlier in the episode, I was on the fence about Kim. I thought she was starting to lose it a little bit. However, after almost single-handedly sending one of the most dangerous men in the cartel packing, I will back her decisions till the end. Since she wasn’t in Breaking Bad, it’ll be really interesting to see what Kim Wexler’s future holds, because as of now, she and Saul seem unstoppable.

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‘Westworld’ Season 3 Episode 5 – Serac Is Definitely a Bad Guy

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I don’t think I’m smart enough/invested enough time into Westworld theories to be an authority figure here, but as a normal person watching this show, I think it’s safe to say this show is off the rails. Even though Dolores significantly altered the Westworld universe in “Genre”, the fifth episode of season 3, I won’t excuse it for being by far the most boring episode of the season so far. She finally released humanity of the routines Rehoboam had planned for them, thus allowing them to control their own fates for the first time in their lives. As was expected, people started to lose their shit when they found out their lives had been controlled by a system all along.

We also learned a little more about Serac’s origin, aside from the fact that Paris was nuked during his childhood. I’m not going to lie to you, I didn’t understand a single thing about the building of Rehoboam except for the fact that Serac and his brother built it to save humanity from itself. Enter Dempsey: owner of Incite, which has access to a ton of the world’s data. Dempsey backs the brothers and they build a supercomputer that can effectively predict the world’s events and plan the future. However, the most distracting part of the Serac/Dempsey storyline was the sudden jump in time where Serac aged 30 years and Dempsey aged five.

Via HBO

Another significant part of the episode was that Caleb knows Dolores is a host. She took those bullets like a champ, which obviously means that she is not human. But, that didn’t alter Caleb’s loyalty to her at all. If anything, it strengthened his loyalty because she effectively saved his life even though he was tripping on genre (a psychedelic drug) much of the episode.

This episode also continued the tradition of Westworld episodes incorporating orchestral renditions of pop songs. This week’s rendition was of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”, an all-time favorite song of mine; although “Wicked Games” takes the cake for my favorite rendition this season.

We also didn’t get any Maeve action this episode which tells me that we can expect to learn a lot more about her next week. My guess is that the robotic tag team duo of Bernard and Stubbs somehow link up with Maeve and take down Dolores. I think it’s too obvious that Maeve would team up with Dolores because she has as much reason as anyone to hate humanity. However, once she sees how reckless Dolores has been, she’ll team up with Bernard and Stubbs – especially after how Liam Jr. was just killed.

Through the first four episodes, this was my favorite season of Westworld so far, but episode five was a huge step back in terms of confusing storylines. The confusion aspect, in addition to my lack of empathy with the hosts in the first two seasons were my biggest concerns with the show before this season. All I know is that I need more Beast Mode in his #mood shirt.

Via HBO
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‘Modern Family’ Finale Marks the End of an Era

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The series finale of Modern Family aired tonight, capping off 11 seasons of one of the most successful sitcoms in history. Much like the Lakers were the team of the 1980’s, Modern Family was the show of the 2010’s, especially because it spanned the entire length of the decade. In my personal opinion, I think it’s the last of its kind. Networks are struggling to compete with platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video which allow for so much more artistic freedom. Seriously, when was the last time anyone really cared about a show on CBS, NBC, ABC, or FOX? I’m not saying people don’t watch the shows on those networks, but premium cable and streaming services are dominating the industry and awards shows.

Therefore, the finale of Modern Family marks the end of an era that we very likely will never see again. My family and I have watched this show religiously since the pilot episode, and we’ve celebrated the countless Emmy’s and Golden Globes that it received over the years like the Dodgers had just won the World Series. It’s stretch of FIVE consecutive Emmy wins for “Best Comedy Series” is only matched by Frasier, and is a feat I’m sure will never be reached again. Only the 1949-1953 Yankees have matched that type of success, and that was back when pitchers topped out at 85 and players still needed offseason jobs to survive. I’ll even go on record to say that those early seasons of Modern Family are undoubtedly the best of any sitcom in the last 25 years, and possibly of all time (you’ll need a boomer to tell you if it was better than Golden Girls or whatever shows they watched before the Clinton presidency). Yes, that means I hold it in higher regard than The Office and Friends, two of the most beloved shows by people of my generation. I’m not saying those weren’t good/great shows, I’m just saying that Modern Family was better. And just like The Office and Friends, I think Modern Family will have a resurgence in a couple years when younger people rediscover it on Hulu and realize just how awesome it was.

However, I’d be lying if I said I thought every season was better than the last, because they weren’t. But do you realize how hard it would be to write 250 equally amazing episodes of a single show? Eventually, the storyline falls a bit flat, the actors don’t exude the same charisma they did in the early seasons, or key characters exit the show. It happened to The Office when Michael left, in Friends when Joey and Rachel started to have feelings for each other, and to Modern Family when they brought back Dylan. I’ve never known what it’s like to write 22 minutes of intriguing TV, but even I knew that was a lame decision. But by then they had accomplished so much that it didn’t spoil anything about the series for me, unlike season 8 of Game of Thrones. I’d say season seven was the last truly great season of the show, even though the later episodes were still more enjoyable than anything else on network TV.

It would be impossible to write about Modern Family without reminiscing about some of its best episodes. I’ve narrowed it down to my top three episodes from the series: “My Funky Valentine”, “Family Portrait”, and “Caught in the Act”. “My Funky Valentine” introduced us to Phil and Claire’s sexy alter ego’s: Clive Bixby and Juliana, who they play when they want to spice things up in their relationship. “Family Portrait” set up an awkward situation for Phil when Gloria kisses him on the “Kiss Cam” at a Lakers game. He’s worried that Jay and Claire are going to find out and be pissed, which makes Phil act even weirder than he usually is. Plus the episode gave us on of the series’ most iconic family photos.

However, my all-time favorite episode is “Caught in the Act” which is where the Dunphy kids walk in on their parents having sex. Eventually Jay and Gloria are brought into the mix, because what father wouldn’t want to hear about his daughter having sex?! I also want to give a shoutout to “Manny Get Your Gun” which features one of my favorite Mitch and Cam scenes ever.

I’ve watched a lot of shows from start to finish in my life, but this one cuts deep. It was one of the first shows (aside from Disney or Nickelodeon) that I watched on a weekly basis. Now that I’ve started reminiscing about old episodes and watched some of my favorite scenes, it makes me realize how much of my life this show was on the air and how influential it’s been on not only me, but my family as well. Shows like this always feel like they’ll be around forever, but the sad reality is that all good things must come to an end. Wednesday’s at 9 PM won’t feel the same without you. Now if you don’t mind, excuse me while I binge all 250 episodes of Modern Family through the rest of this quarantine.

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2020 MLB Season Should Be Held at Arizona Spring Training Ballparks

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At this point, I think this is the only way we get a 2019 MLB season. I was like most of you…I thought this would all blow over by the summer, but as things seem to only be getting worse, I’m growing less and less optimistic. President Trump held a call with most of the major American sports commissioners over the weekend in hopes of getting sports back on track, but things still look grim. In response to news of the call, California Governor Gavin Newsom basically said he doesn’t even expect the NFL starting on time.

The NFL season starts in September. Sep-fucking-tember. If Newsom doesn’t even think things will be safe by September, then how would we be able to play baseball in places like Minnesota, where it starts snowing in like October?? Unless…the league quarantined players at Spring Training facilities. I really think this is the only chance we have at a 2020 baseball season.

In theory, you quarantine all players in Arizona and/or Florida, only allow them minimal access to the outside world, and don’t allow fans to attend games. Yes, this sounds like a dystopian novel written by George Orwell, but it’s the only shot we have. Plus, there would be less risk of exposure if all 30 teams were headquartered in just one state (Arizona or Florida). There are ten Cactus League stadiums in Arizona (the preferred location in terms of weather), and if they were to double up on games in each stadium, it’s totally possible to get in a sufficient amount of games to be considered a legitimate season.

However, all it takes is for some idiot to break quarantine and expose himself to COVID-19 to put an end to this fantasy. I mean, how likely is it that you keep almost 900 players and staff from exposing themselves to the outside world? And then there’s the whole minor league situation, which would be even harder to contain. In a perfect world (under these circumstances) MLB executives would find a way to make the Cactus League home to the 2020 MLB season…but if we were living in a perfect world, COVID-19 wouldn’t exist either.

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Malibu Paddle Boarder Arrested for Breaking Governor’s ‘Stay at Home’ Order

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SUP ATX or Tower or some paddle board company needs to use this video as a commercial. The pitch is simple: “Even with the risk of going to jail over breaking the governor’s stay at home order, paddle boarding is so worth it”. It also shows how crazy people are going since we have to stay cooped up in our homes all day. Was half an hour of paddle boarding worth the potential of six months in jail or a $1,000 fine? Not to the sane mind. But this is quarantine brain we’re dealing with.

This guy probably eat, sleeps, and breathes paddle boarding. You expect him to derail from his everyday routine at the drop of a hat? Haven’t you ever woken up from a nap thinking it’s the next day, but it’s really only been 45 minutes since you fell asleep? I think that’s what we’ve got going on here. The guy woke up thinking it was a typical April day and forgot all about the quarantine for the first time in weeks. He got down to the beach and saw how empty it was and became fixated on the ocean like a siren was seducing him. The more likely reality is that he just wanted to go viral…but I prefer the latter version. Regardless, this SUP pursuit was the most thrilling thing I’ve seen in weeks and is just a reminder of how badly we need this quarantine to be over (when it’s safe).

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The NBA Playoffs Could Be Held in Las Vegas & Have a New Format

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Via SI.com:

A return to the NBA’s Summer League home appears to be an increasingly popular idea as we enter the fourth week of the COVID-19 suspension, according to Sports Illustrated‘s Chris Mannix. The entire postseason could take place in Las Vegas, creating a sort of mass quarantine as 16 teams battle for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The idea may seem outlandish, but in a crisis, the NBA has no choice but to get creative.

Ummm yes please?? In a world were Big Cat’s “Cat Cave Derby” is the closest thing we have to live sports, I am dying for the NBA to return. And if the idea of every team playing in one location sounds ridiculous to you, I’m assuming you don’t watch college sports? NCAA basketball conference tournaments and the College World Series are held in one location and no one complains about that do they?

We’re already living in unchartered territory, so why not make things even weirder and host the entire playoffs in Vegas. No one will have home court advantage, so that’s one issue that’ll be automatically eliminated. Plus, if your concern is the health of the players, isolating everyone in a single location is the best thing to avoid “contamination”.

However, the most interesting part of this article is towards the end:

There could also be format changes to the playoffs along with an altered location, per CNBC’s Jabari Young. The first round and the NBA Finals could be best-of-five series’, and the middle two rounds could become a single-game elimination matchup.

Now THAT is a change I was not expecting. Do I think this format actually gets utilized in the playoffs? No. Do I think there’s a sliver of a chance it does because the world is already losing its mind? Yes. I don’t understand why you’d play two single-elimination games after a best-of-five series. I think if their goal is to shorten the playoffs, a best-of-three, best-of-three, best-of-five, best-of-five format is the shortest you can go. Unless they would consider a March Madness-esque single-elimination tournament. However, that format would taint the eventual champion’s title forever because no other season has been decided that way. That’s why I think the only format that wouldn’t forever taint the season would be the 3, 3, 5, 5 format.

Regardless of what the NBA decides, I’d like basketball back as soon as the public health concern is at a manageable level. Ticket sales would obviously be nonexistent, but at least they’d be able to charge for advertising and give the country something to get behind. I think we need it more than ever right now.

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Oregon Softball Players Are Thirst Trapping the Internet Again

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Several University of Oregon softball players (mainly Haley Cruse and Jasmine Sievers) have gained an online presence over the past couple years by posting thirst traps like the one above. Good for them. They’re taking advantage of their good looks and will probably be able to profit off of it (if NCAA guidelines allow Instagram/Twitter sponsorships) if they haven’t already. I just wonder what it’s like to be an opponent of these ladies, and if there’s any shit talking during games.

Look, I’m a guy, so I’ve never played softball, nor have I attended more than a handful of softball games in my life. But I did play baseball, so I know that shit talking absolutely happens – not as frequently as in basketball or football, but it happens. However, I’ve been told that girls are even more ruthless than boys, so I have to assume girls talk shit on the bases and from the dugout. That being said, wouldn’t a girl(s) who makes Tik Toks and is very vocal online be just the absolute perfect target for an opponent to go after to get under their skin? And if not the team, the opposing fans should do their bidding for them right??

Chirping is not hard. You can say almost anything after a player does something bad and it works. Being social media famous just adds ammo. Here are some examples:

  • “Why don’t you go make some more Tik Toks you bum!” (It’s impossible to come back from being called a bum)
  • “Maybe you should spend a little more time in the cage instead of practicing dances!” (Implies they suck at hitting – usually something a softball player wants to be good at)
  • Do you think you’re good at dancing? (Subtle, but hits deep. Now she’s self conscious about her moves)
  • “I bet you pay for your followers!” (The equivalent of using HGH in the influencer community)
  • “You’re only hot for a softball player!” (Possibly the most lethal chirp of the bunch. Doesn’t matter if you actually find them attractive, it implies they’re nothing special outside of sports and could destroy confidence for the rest of the game/series.

Those are just a few options off the top of my head, but every video they post puts more bullets in the chamber. I hope teams/fans in the PAC-12 are doing their job and taking advantage of prime chirping opportunities. Sadly, since this season is a wash they’ll have to wait till next year. However, that’s approximately 300 tweets and 47 Tik Toks from now, so I’m sure they’ll have plenty of ammo.

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Should the NCAA Have Granted Spring Athletes Another Year of Eligibility?

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The NCAA finally released their statement regarding the the status of Spring athlete eligibility:

The Division I Council on Monday voted to allow schools to provide spring-sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility.

Members also adjusted financial aid rules to allow teams to carry more members on scholarship to account for incoming recruits and student-athletes who had been in their last year of eligibility who decide to stay. In a nod to the financial uncertainty faced by higher education, the Council vote also provided schools with the flexibility to give students the opportunity to return for 2020-21 without requiring that athletics aid be provided at the same level awarded for 2019-20. This flexibility applies only to student-athletes who would have exhausted eligibility in 2019-20.

Schools also will have the ability to use the NCAA’s Student Assistance Fund to pay for scholarships for students who take advantage of the additional eligibility flexibility in 2020-21.

Division I rules limit student-athletes to four seasons of competition in a five-year period. The Council’s decision allows schools to self-apply waivers to restore one of those seasons of competition for student-athletes who had competed while eligible in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring season.

The Council also will allow schools to self-apply a one-year extension of eligibility for spring-sport student-athletes, effectively extending each student’s five-year “clock” by a year. This decision was especially important for student-athletes who had reached the end of their five-year clock in 2020 and saw their seasons end abruptly.

Winter sports were not included in the decision. Council members declined to extend eligibility for student-athletes in sports where all or much of their regular seasons were completed.

The Council also increased the roster limit in baseball for student-athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the only spring sport with such a limit.

In summary, they extended eligibility for all athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, schools will be able to expand their rosters, and ONLY seniors will be given financial aid flexibility. It’s great to see the NCAA finally make a decision that actually puts the student-athletes first, since they’re usually branded as the villain. As beneficial as this decision will be for a lot of NCAA athletes, sadly, it opens the flood gates to more speculation. How will smaller schools structure their financial aid to accommodate for more players? Will coaches even want to increase their roster size? How will it impact graduate programs?

Of course it sucks that so many players had their season cut short, but as tough as it is to hear, shit happens. A lot of players don’t go out on their own terms. Some get hurt, some get cut, but most don’t have a storybook ending to their career like Peyton Manning. And even though a global pandemic is the last thing anyone ever expected to happen, that’s just the way the cookie crumbled.

Don’t get me wrong – some players will definitely get fifth-year opportunities. However, it also puts coaches in a tough position because they could be forced to cut players or take away an incoming freshman’s scholarship. Ultimately, that’ll be a joint decision between college officials and coaches, who will have to determine what they think is the right decision for their programs. Sadly, many schools won’t be able to afford to give out more scholarship money, meaning players will have to pay the entire sum, which most can’t financially afford.

We’ll see how everything plays out, but the NCAA’s decision created more problems than it solved. While the harsher decision would’ve been to just chop this season up as a loss and not lengthen eligibility, it might’ve been the right one. Still – more power to the players that do find opportunities to continue playing…keep grinding.

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