No Winners Here

The press may have think it found some winning point against Donald Trump in the sordid situation about his campaign manager's arrest for "battery," but the reality is that no one - Trump, Lewandowski, Michelle Fields, the press generally, or the police- comes out of this looking particularly well.

Yes, Trump is standing by his campaign manager after sort of denying the incident. In his defense, it now appears that Trump is denying that the incident is more serious than it is (which is true).

Should Lewandowski grabbed a reporter's arm? No. Should he be arrested for it? No, even though I understand the strict definition of "battery" supports the charge.

Michelle Fields filed a police report after having her arm grabbed. She said she did it to seek the truth after Trump denied it. If only all reporters went after the truth about campaign tax plans and policy proposals with the same tenacity and intensity. 

As per usual, the Washington Post editorial page wrote about the issue, characterizing her as being "manhandled," "roughly grabbed," and "yanked down." Her arm was grabbed and she almost - almost - lost her balance. She was not pulled down and never left her feet. And if a single "grab" is being manhandled then I guess I don't understand the term. Certainly, Fields can hardly be called a "brave" or intrepid reporter in the mold of war correspondents of yore like the deeply missed David Halberstam. Also, way to make yourself part of the story and insert yourself into the presidential campaign. So much for being a disinterested observer.

I suppose the police had no choice but to file the charge after Field insisted pursuing it. It is scary that what Lewandowski did could land him a year in jail according to Florida sentencing guidelines for simple battery. Wow - talk about overcriminalizing boorish behavior. But I doubt we'll be reading a Post editorial about that public policy issue any time soon. 

The Best Thing

Here's the best thing about Villanova being in the Final Four. All of the media coverage your team/college gets. You get to read plenty of stories about the history, the season, and the players. It's the same thing with your favorite pro team in the playoffs. The farther they go, the more (and exclusive) media coverage you get. It really is like re-living the season or seasons past.

When it clicked for Villanova this year.

Great things should be expected, not a surprise for Villanova.

Why Villanova can win it all.

Outta the East

In hindsight, it was probably best Villanova wasn't put in the East bracket. Notwithstanding playing at the Wells Fargo Center, the Wildcats match up better with Kansas than they do UNC - a team that appears to be really hitting its stride.

Villanova vs. Iowa

I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Villanova's 19 point win over 7th seeded Iowa was just what was needed to help purge the Wildcats' second round demons. It was a very good win, and much needed. But I'm not as gaga over Villanova's play as Verne and Spanarkel were, or just about any national commentator and the Philly.com sports writing staff.

I only tuned into the game at halftime. I was thrilled (and relieved) by the 25 point lead. But when I watched the first half on Tivo after the win, I was expecting to see a team on an unstoppable tear. Instead, what I saw was a team that hit a lot of deep 3s and played good defense. It wasn't the "explosive" or dominating play I anticipated.

In fact, their play was pretty ragged. Sure they had a good shooting night, but can you count on that every game? They shot 52% on 3 pointers. Sure their defense forced Iowa into 29% 3 point shooting - but even if they had made their season average of 37% Villanova wins.

All of this is to say that while I'm hopeful versus Miami am not entirely entirely confident.

Some other thoughts:

* Can 6'6" Kris Jenkins dunk? It sure didn't look like it when he tried a 2 handed stuff on a breakaway.

* Josh Hart had about 4 plays - maybe more - where it looked entirely possible that he was going to turn an ankle or blow out his knee. Amazingly, he didn't Knock on wood.

* It's been so long now I can't remember. Does Daniel Ochefu always play as if he is running with one peg leg? Hopefully he is more mobile in another 4 days.

* Fran McCaffrey - local boy nicknamed "White Magic." Who knew.

* Saw the big Villanova banner on the side of the Wells Fargo Center (along with the Sixers and Flyers logos of course). Was that wishful thinking? Villanova isn't the local college sponsor of the second round games are they? The NCAA still doesn't allow that, right?

March Madness

A couple of thoughts about the NCAA basketball tournament selection process:

* Is CBS insane? A 2 hour show to reveal the 68 teams in the tournament. Dear God, the show used to be a half hour long. An hour is plenty. They dragged that thing out forever. No wonder the bracket leaked early. Serves the NCAA and CBS right.

* Speaking of CBS, what was the thinking of completely submarining their regular college commentators and their big moment of maximum national attention in favor of turning over most of the broadcast to the TBS NBA guys - Ernie Johnson, Barkley, Walker, et. al.?  And nothing screams amateurism and college basketball like NBA announcers. 

* Having said that, I thought Barkley was spot on in his assessment of the selection committee. They really didn't want to make Villanova a #1 seed. Heck, I'm not even sure winning the Big East tourney would have made the Wildcats a #1 given that Mich. State was the top #2 seed (in front of Nova).

* It's also hard not to see the 'Nova snub as a slight to smaller schools and the Big East. The NCAA has a habit of doing this to some teams - like Gonzaga. They were an emerging power for years and the NCAA kept screwing them by always giving them an extra hard bracket. And when Gonzaga lost, they would just shrug and say, "see, we told you Gonzaga wasn't ready for prime time." 

That's the way it is looking for Villanova right now after they got moved out of the East and given a second round matchup vs. city rival Temple or Big 10 power Iowa. Pick your poison. Until Villanova can show it can get out of the first weekend expect more draws like this. Oh to be the basketball royalty of Duke, UNC, or Kansas.

* There really should be a limit on the # of teams each power conference can send. The magic of the tournament is David slaying Goliath, not Syracuse trying to upset Dayton. I only wish the mid-majors would at some point rebel against the selection committee's tyranny. (speaking of which, when do you think a mid-major AD will chair the committee? Never?)

For the mid-majors it's Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown. Monmouth did everything it was asked to do. Play a hard out of conference schedule - UCLA?! Georgetown. Rutgers. Notre Dame.USC - twice! And yet, when it comes down to it, the selection committee found some nitpicky rationale to deny Monmouth. Because their mid-major in conference losses were just too unfortunate. Give me a break. I'd much rather watch Monmouth play this week than a middling Michigan or Syracuse team. And that doesn't even take into account that entertaining bench! 

As Donald Trump would say, "Sad!"

Chip Kelly's Team

How weird is it that the Titans (and not the Eagles) will now have both Marcus Mariota and DeMarco Murray? Chip Kelly's dream backfield is ready to start 2016 in....Tennessee.

Ochefu

I still haven't seen any coverage much less explanation as to why an obviously lame Daniel Ochefu played - and played significant minutes - vs. Depaul the other night. The announcers at the time rightly explained the nearly invaluable role Ochefu will have in Villanova's tournament success as they were observing his clearly gimpy gait. But there was no information about why Wright put him in the game and kept him in the game, especially against an opponent where he 1) wasn't needed and 2) right befrore the Big East tournament and March Madness. Most frustratingly, there was nothing about in the reports after the game.

Media Love-fest

The least surprising development from last night's debate? The media's hagiographic praise for Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly. The Post's Paul Farhi's big wet kiss of an article complimenting the super hot, super smmart (she's a lawyer Farhi interjects!) is a prime example.

The media loves its own, especially when a mean old politician attacks one of the troops. But has the self-love gotten out of hand? Has the desire to promote Kelly and at the expense of Trump blinded the media to its proper role in the presidential debates much less the campaigns?

Farhi for instance, describes the Kelly-Trump interaction thusly: 

During the primetime debate Thursday night, Kelly landed a series of blows that seemed to leave the GOP's front-runner reeling....
At one point it appeared that the debate was between Kelly and Trump, not among Trump and rivals Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich.

Farhi doesn't ask the obvious questions and, indeed, it's not even clear he gave a thought to them. Is it the appropriate role for a moderator/journalist to "land blows" in a candidate debate? Hasn't a debate gone completely off the rails when it appears that the "debate" is not between candidates on stage but a candidate at the podium and a journalist by the cameras? 

These are legitimate questions about the role and responsibility of journalists and news organizations. It's almost laughable that the Post's media reporter doesn't see Kelly's combativeness as a problem worth exploring but the very reason to congratulate her.

Winners?

Gov John kasich and Megyn Kelly's false eyelashes. Curious if Chris cilliza agrees.

Highly Suspcious

If the timing of his accident weren't enough - one day after being indicted - Aubrey McClendon's care "accident" is highly suspicious given that it was a one-car accident, in an obscure area, he wasn't wearing his seat belt and the car burst into flames upon impact. Modern cars rarely "burst into flames" when involved in a one-car straight on collision.. 

Court Consideration

Vox has an article about an issue I raised last week about the SCOTUS political calculations. To wit,the rise of Trump and increasing likelihood of him as the GOP nominee might mean that the Senate GOP strategy of waiting till next year for a new president to fill the vacancy might not be the most prudent course of action to get the most conservative justice elevated.

Kelly for the Court

Love, love, love the idea of Janet Kelly as Obama's possible pick for the Supreme Court. Her stint as a public defender will, finally, bring some real world legal experience to the high falutin court.

Is That All There Is?

If this is the best conservative columnists can muster in terms of convincing Americans that they are better off now - after 40 years of wage stagnation - than they were at the turn of the century, than maybe Trump will win in a romp.

I mean, really? You have to argue that the quality of life is better now than it was at the turn of the 20th Century? That's the best you've got?

Maybe the funniest line showing the stunning lack of awareness about how the current service industry schedules workers is this Samuelson beaut: 

Not only was work more dangerous; it was also more insecure. "Factory-workers hours could be shortened from one day to the next," writes Leon, "leaving workers with a severely reduced paycheck." 

Golly. That never happens in 2016. 

Circular Firing Squad

Vox highlights the circular logic of the Anyone But Trump mentality. 

For most of the campaign, the assumption was that Trump would be a lot weaker and easier to attack once he was locked in one-on-one combat with a single opponent. Now the NeverTrumpers want to keep that from happening. And even as they point out (accurately) that Trump has never been hit with a sustained attack from another candidate, and could very well be vulnerable to one, the brokered convention Voltron fantasy makes it less likely that he'll experience that from another Republican.

 Does the GOP establishment want to winnow the field so that there is a one-on-one matchup vs. Trump in the winner take all primaries to come? Or does it want everyone to stay in to siphon off delegates and prevent Trump from getting to the 1,237? Hard to tell. The argument changes by the day...and hour.

The biggest question is whether they hate Trump so much that they're willing to back the almost equally hated (?) Ted Cruz.

Bradford

So Sammy will be staying in Philly for a while. And by a while, I mean two years. Chipper's trade looks pretty good for the Eagles right now. They got a #1 QB and locked him up for a couple of years and they didn't give up much to get someone of Bradford's caliber. The length of the contract gives the Eagles plenty of flexibility to groom a successor or keep Bradford if he continues to play well. The irony is that while he wasn't a great fit for Chipper's offense, he can be just what the doctor ordered for the Pederson era. Thanks, Chip!

Too Close for Comfort?

Last week's wildly hysterical Washington Post editorial about Donald Trump deserves another look. Is it that the Post is overselling Trump's faults or is it that they have rose-colored glasses on when it comes to the current and immediate past Presidents?

Here's they key part of the Post editorial with some additional context added that is both accurate and telling - both about Trump but also about the state of American politics and the presidency. The bold faced type is the added language.

This is a front-runner with no credible agenda and no suitable experience. He wants the United States to commit war crimes, including torture and the murder of innocent relatives of suspected terrorists, just like the extensive use of waterboarding that occurred under President Bush and the extra-judicial drone strikes that are routinely executed under President Obama's direction in foreign lands. He admires Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in much the same way President Bush did when he looked into the Soviet dictator's eyes to see his soul and then ascribed to him the cutesy "Pooty Poot" nickname and sees no difference between Mr. Putin's victims and people killed in the defense of the United States. He would round up and deport 11 million people continuing the widescale efforts begun by the Obama administration that has resulted in 400,000 deportations per year, a forced movement on a scale not attempted since Stalin or perhaps Pol Pot. He has, during the course of his campaign, denigrated women, Jews, Muslims, Mexicans, people with disabilities and many more. He routinely trades in wild falsehoods and doubles down when his lies are exposed on a scale akin to the Bush administration's dubious claims that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11, that Iraq was in possession of WMDs, or that the US "does not torture" (i.e., waterboarding) - wild assertions that were all categorically untrue but never repudiated by the President.

OscarsSuchaBummer

Hugely disappointing to not see Sylvester Stallone get the best supporting actor award. I was really looking forward to his speech and the full circle arc of his career Rocky Balboa. Has any actor been nominated for a best actor part and then gotten a second nomination (best or supporting categories) for the very same character? Certainly not forty years apart!

I always thought Creed and Stallone's nomination were the unspoken foundation of the #OscarsSoWhite protest in that the deserving Michael B. Jordan didn't get a nomination but Sly did. The fact that Creed wasn't nominated added insult to injury. I hope Sly's defeat wasn't prompted by the Oscars' protest but I have a sinking feeling it was exactly that reaction from the Academy's voters. What a shame.

Speaking of shame, how ironic that the protest movement against the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations was itself so lacking in diversity? Chris Rock was hysterical and completely on point in his withering critique. But the protest was #OscarsSoWhite - not #OscarsNotBlackEnough. To hear Rock tell it from the stage, the problem was not enough African-american representation in movies and in the nominations. He completely left out Hispanics and Asians as similarly - and in many cases - even more excluded from Hollywood movies. Highlighting this shocking blindspot was his stereotypical joke about Asians that was made even more awkward and offensive by bringing out Asian children to be the butt of the joke. Talk about awkward and insensitive.