A few items of interest to post while wondering just how far the NFL will “drop back” in the wake of the blistering negative coverage it has received as a result of turning what used to a nice way to veg out on a Sunday afternoon into another day of politics shoved down your throat.

…along those same lines, you wonder what on earth gave these guys the idea to push this kind of crap. Think about it: you have what has come to be America’s pastime with tons upon tons of money to be made by everyone involved. You have a brand that has been virtually unassailable in the way it has been marketed. And all of a sudden you one friggin’ clueless dope who starts pissing in the punchbowl and the owners don’t know how to handle it. This “taking a knee” business could have been stamped out from the very beginning, but the owners are too afraid of what the players would do.

…along those same lines, Steve Sailor at Takimag.com has a lengthy but sobering take on the NFL’s problems, and they aren’t going away soon. It’s truly a must-read, one of the most riveting pieces I’ve ever read.

I’m hoping for the best from the Red Sox in the American League playoffs, but in my view they’re far behind both the Indians and the Astros in overall talent. Come the offseason, their needs first and foremost will be a bat and a new manager.

Paul Mirengoff at Powerline blog remembers the last day of the 1967 American League season and the impact Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski played in that last pivotal weekend. I remember it fondly – sometimes as if it were yesterday, sometimes as if it really were a half-century ago. Even today, it’s hard to believe just how crazy that season was for New Englanders.

Jimmy Buffett’s politics might be a little leftist for my tastes, but I respect him as an artist and, most especially, his ability to take a transcendent image and make a cultural dogma out of it. Heck, I had me a Pinot Grigio under a Margaritaville neon sign in my patio a little earlier.

Some examples of cultural rot and madness:
* Tennessee golf course changes its name.
* Federal judge tells Pennsylvania county to drop the Christian cross from its seal
* 10-year-old students called names after reciting Pledge of Allegiance in class
* That Cambridge, Mass. librarian is a moron. Mark Steyn explains why.
* Music teacher investigated for putting semen in students’ flutes

While I respect Salena Zito’s reporting, Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker can hardly be considered a Republican. But it doesn’t change the fact that Democrats across the country are facing significant headwinds going into 2020. It’s not hard to imagine that by that time there will be less than a dozen states towing the Democratic Party line.

I tried to watch the first two rounds of the President’s Cup and gave up. It’s a snoozer. And so, for that matter, is the coverage. To be blunt, it’s not important. Hell, given the level of competition (Jhonny Vegas, really???) it’s arguably one minor step head of the national long-drive competition. And I’m thinking most golf fans feel the same. Wake me up when the real 2018 season begins at Kapalua in Hawaii.