Star Wars For The Splitting Soul Of America

Via GEFIRA,

The last episode of the successful movie – Star Wars – is actually a lot less about the stars in space and much more about culture and class. Most importantly, it reflects the dangerously growing disenfranchisement of the race-and-gender obsessed liberal upper class and everyone else.

The movie finally came out, the money started flowing and eventually the reviews arrived. The result? On the primary review sites Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes the critics loved it, the public did not, which left many wondering why.

Some explanations came out already: the good results are scientific, the bad ones are there because of internet trolls.Nope, there’s nothing scientific about subjective opinions, even if they (allegedly) represent the majority of those who express them. Science is, or should be, objective.

Trolls, more trolls, and finally, Russian interference.

That’s the cue to solving the enigma of the different ratings: the standard profile of the movie critic is a liberal arts graduate, easily identifiable by the verbosity of his writing and by the fact that he is easily impressed by cheap virtue-signalling elements like token ethnic minority leading characters and a strong female lead. As the movie panders (not even that much to be fair) to his ideological preferences, he gives high scores based on diversity and equality. The average-movie goer probably doesn’t care too much about politics. In a country where a “decisive’’ election like the last one, turnout is 55%, the biggest party by far is the one of those who stay at home. In comparison, in Europe important electoral dates easily get an 80% turnout.

So if the audience isn’t into politics, they might not care about the significance of a strong and independent woman outmanoeuvring a straight white male, the evil of mankind, in a duel with lightsabers to eradicate toxic masculinity⁴⁾.The non-politically biased movie goer wants a nice plot with unpredictable twists, satisfactory fight scenes, and some throwbacks to past episodes; and he didn’t get that. The plot falls flat.

Then there’s the other side of the political spectrum, the underclass who are simply fed up with the increasingly totalitarian tendencies of identity politics by the “liberal” Left and their constant attempts to shove their political beliefs down everyone’s throat. The new fad of the liberal elite, diversity, is being rejected like a bad transplant by the public. Nonetheless, it’s being pursued relentlessly and obnoxiously. The politicization of sports is already causing a haemorrhage of viewers for the NFL (the US football organization). Entertainment is also not immune to these attempts. The calls for the “diversification” of cast actors are regular.

The last two groups represent the “user score” and their review isn’t positive. The most interesting point, however, is another; it’s the reaction of critics to the public having a diverse (the irony!) opinion. That’s where the accusations of trolling or Russian meddling start, but they also reveal the insecurity of critics and especially, their inability to handle an opposite opinion. Just like the liberal political elite can’t accept that the world Obama built in the last 8 years received a negative review by the voters, who opted for the radical (in theory) change by electing Donald Trump, the liberal movie critic can’t accept a negative review of a work that reflects his ideological preference.

We might be seeing now the impact of those infamous participation trophies on the minds of the new generations: they don’t know how to accept defeat, nor any negativity whatsoever. They grew up being told that “everyone is special in their own way”, then Facebook arrived, allowing only likes but not dislikes contributing to the creation of a mindset where negativity is not allowed.

If there is negativity, then it must be from some malign agent… from Russia. One year ago, in one of our articles Russia did it ⁵⁾we spotted a trend: every political shortcoming of the Western elite would be blamed on Russia. We were right as the cases of alleged Russian interference have expanded from Trump and Brexit to the Italian referendum last year, and according to Joe Biden⁶⁾also the rise (and fall) of Marine Le Pen in the French elections and most recently the Green US politician Jill Stein, which may rank as the most hilarious cases of paranoia.

It turns out, however, that the Russian scapegoating is expanding outside the traditional boundaries of politics, as everything becomes increasingly politicized. Hence, even negative reviews of the Star Wars latest movie are now a result of the Russian sabotage.

As millennials, the generation that was put in a bubble protected from negativity by educators and social media and thus unable to handle it, are now fully settling in the job market, the prospect isn’t promising. If you think that’s bad, remember that the new cohorts in college campuses are now fighting to suppress free speech on the basis that it might offend someone’s feelings. Last year we concluded “expect to see more”. This time, expect to see worse.

Retired Green Beret Rages "We Are Long Past The Tipping Point"

Authored by Jeremiah Johnson (nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces) via SHTFplan.com,

So, let’s cite a few passages from President Trump’s National Security Speech:

“Throughout our history, the American people have always been the true source of American greatness. Our people have promoted our culture and promoted our values. Americans have fought and sacrificed on the battlefields all over the world. We have liberated captive nations, transformed former enemies into the best of friends, and lifted entire regions of the planet from poverty to prosperity. Because of our people, America has been among the greatest forces for peace and justice in the history of the world. The American people are generous. You are determined, you are brave, you are strong, and you are wise.”

Determined, brave, strong, and wise. Certainly, the President wasn’t referring to most of the population? Maybe he was in Wal-Mart, looking at these determined, brave, strong, and wise citizens:

But the generosity? Here is the “generosity” in a nutshell, for those can see it for what it is, just after that section:

“Fourth and finally, our strategy is to advance American influence in the world, but this begins with building up our wealth and power at home. America will lead again. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but we will champion the values without apology. We want strong alliances and partnerships based on cooperation and reciprocity. We will make new partnerships with those who share our goals, and make common interests into a common cause.”

Here’s some more generosity, of the “Black Friday” type…with the determined, brave, strong, and wise, once more:

Yes, it sounds very similar to the imperial hubris we have heard parroted for the past half a century and more.  Look at this oxymoronic sentence:

“We will not allow inflexible ideology to become an obsolete and obstacle to peace.”

Not allow inflexible ideology? And if our government is the unbiased “factor” to determine what ideology is inflexible, perhaps it should examine itself, first, as we are the ones not to compromise. Just the statement “we will not allow inflexible ideology,” is an inflexible statement; ergo, perhaps the government should fold.

We are at a very important juncture right now. The President made this speech to galvanize public opinion and support with ratings at about 60% disapproval. There is no clearly defined (let alone productive) foreign policy, with gross inconsistencies throughout this first year of the President’s term. Praising Russia for cooperation and sharing of intelligence to thwart a terrorist attack, just months after we expelled all Russian diplomats from the Russian embassy in California, as well as forcing them to vacate properties…in under a week.

Granted, all embassies (American and foreign nations) are full of spies, however, such a forced eviction has not improved relations with the Russians. The North Korean situation takes center stage:  as mentioned before, North Korea only has two options. They can either relinquish their nuclear weapons and submit to western hegemony as another IMF and World Bank vassal, or they can continue in their present course.

The punch line: they possess nuclear missiles with the capabilities of delivering an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) attack, or a nuclear strike against American cities. The President of the United States just stated (as printed above) “America will lead again.” What better leadership example than to do a 180-degree turn, and try…make the attempt…to extend full diplomatic courtesy to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un? What better strategy than to roll out the red carpet, and treat him with the courtesy of a leader of another nation…one with nuclear missiles…and show yourself to extend the hand of diplomacy?

The President owes that much: owes a legitimate attempt to help to protect the 320 million people of this country, who do not have a Mt. Weather or a Cheyenne Mountain to retreat to. He owes it to 320 million American people who are in the crossfire. And if Un is unresponsive? Then the attempt was made. Lead by example and take the first step, for the welfare of the millions…ours, and yes, theirs.

Any who may be smirking will lose such skepticism if the city their family lives in suddenly becomes a dust cloud spiraling into the upper stratosphere.

There was much the President said that was worthwhile, but he said most of it in the present tense…as if we are “there” already, and not that we have a long way to go. To credit him, the Obama years almost destroyed this country. We are now as the hollowed-out exoskeleton of a cicada…clinging to the Tree of Liberty, but emptied, with barely a pulse.

Determined, brave, strong, and wise? The teleprompter told him that: he certainly wasn’t looking out of the window and viewing actual people. Our people have promoted our culture and our values? And just what would those be?  Reality T.V. shows and professional football players who take a knee in a foreign country, and refuse to stand for the anthem of the United States, but will stand for Britain’s anthem?

Yes, there is our value system: not even pride or loyalty to respect the U.S. when in a foreign land… a nation that we fought two wars against, then saved in World War II.

Their right to “take a knee” exercised their right to freedom of speech, while they also exercised the freedom to make complete jackasses out of themselves. Such freedom was earned for them and is maintained for them by their betters…

Pat Tillman was one of those betters: standing for something he believed in, and remembering that he was an American…something he held higher in importance than being a professional football player in the NFL. We can learn much from the example that he set.

It’s from the ground up that we need to return to our basics, and give all of Washington D.C. and Congress an “enema” to drain the true polluting substance from the “swamp” of D.C.  We are long past the tipping point, and possibly past the point of no return, but we still must try. From the President of the United States down to the rest of us…all of us…We the People. Hopefully we’ll have one more example to go by. Lead from the front, Mr. President, and be a Statesman…and act as the Commander-in-Chief as a last resort.

You have the power, Mr. President, to destroy many nations and enter a war, but do you have the strength to not do this? Remains to be seen. If you care about the American people and the United States as much as you say you do, then the choice is simple, even though the execution of it will be tough.

Vince McMahon Considers XFL Relaunch As NFL Fans Evaporate

WWE owner Vince McMahon is considering bringing back his ill-fated football league, the XFL, amid sagging NFL viewership and a racially charged kneeling epidemic of players who won"t stand for the National Anthem which began during the summer 2016 pre-season. In a recent "30 for 30" documentary about the XFL, McMahon and his partner in the 2001 endeavor - former NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, pondered the possibility of relaunching the league once promoted as having fewer rules and rougher play than other leagues.

Vince McMahon

“I don’t know what it would be,” McMahon told Ebersol, adding “I don’t know if it’s gonna be another XFL or what it may be or how different I would make it. It seems like in some way it would tie in either with the NFL itself or the owners.”

Then, on Friday, journalist and pro wrestling fan Brad Shepard tweeted "EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon is looking to bring back the XFL and may announce it on January 25th, 2018." Then on Saturday, Shepard said that McMahon pointed to the "30 for 30" interview 

EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon is looking to bring back the XFL and may announce it on January 25th, 2018.

— Brad Shepard ???????? (@TheBradShepard) December 16, 2017

EXCLUSIVE: Vince McMahon told people in WWE that he developed the desire to bring back the XFL when he was doing the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on it.

WWE employees have been told internally to “get ready” because it is coming.

— Brad Shepard ???????? (@TheBradShepard) December 16, 2017

Without much else to go on, Deadspin"s David Bixenspan approached the WWE - which neither confirmed nor denied the rumor, but did state that McMahon is "personally funding a separate entity from WWE, Alpha Entertainment, to explore investment opportunities across the sports and entertainment landscapes, including professional football," followed by another tweet stating that WWE has filed for two new XFL trademarks this year.  

A WWE spokesperson issued the attached statement to me & @Deadspin in response to my inquiry about tonight"s rumors of a soon to be announced XFL revival. They declined further comment. Whatever Vince McMahon"s "Alpha Entertainment" is, it"s self-funded & separate from WWE. pic.twitter.com/oT0Oxyi2fV

— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) December 16, 2017

In what I’m sure is a complete coincidence, WWE filed for two new XFL trademarks this year, both long after the 30 for 30 premiered.

— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) December 16, 2017

And while the NFL has recently instituted a concussion protocol to address the league"s growing brain injury epidemic, perhaps a rougher, more violent version of the NFL is exactly what America needs right now.

As Mike Florio of PFT writes, 

Arguably, the time may be right for the XFL or something like it. A November 2016 Sports Illustrated article regarding the current state of football in America created the distinct impression that fans want old-school football, with all the big hits and none of the obsessions over safety.

 

“Those attitudes from fans coupled with the messages that invariably will be sent by the incoming Commander-in-Chief,” we wrote on November 16, 2016, “suggest that the time may be right for someone to roll the dice with $250 million or so in the hopes of launching a football league that would essentially operate like a modern-day XFL — loud, proud, violent, brutal, bloody, and everything that the NFL was before political, legal, and social sensitivities forced the league to change.”

Is Vince McMahon going to make football great again? 

NFL Network Exec Deletes Twitter Account After Graphic Conversations With Porn Stars Emerge

Earlier this week, the NFL Network and ESPN were rocked with a Harvey Weinstein-esque sexual misconduct allegation involving Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk and former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, and 3 other stars (See: NFL Network, ESPN Suspend Faulk, McNabb And 3 Other Stars After Sexual Harassment Lawsuit).

Both networks said they are investigating the sexual allegations and that the NFL stars have been suspended.  Just days after that bombshell, a low-key cleanup inside the NFL network is quietly underway, with an NFL Network Exec, who furiously deleted his Twitter interactions with prostitutes and porn stars before completely deleting his entire account.

NFL Media’s Vice President and Executive Director David Eaton, 53,  spent much of Tuesday deleting years worth of Twitter conversations with and unfollowing hundreds of accounts of prostitutes and porn stars; shortly after, the entire Twitter account was deleted in the late afternoon timeframe, according to Dead Spin.

In a much larger damage control operation, it appears Eaton had a sitdown with HR to discuss options in dealing with his idiotic conversations with porn stars on social media for the world to see.

Luckily, Dead Spin was able to screenshot Eaton’s "social" horniness on social media, before it was wiped away from the public view. Eaton, who runs the online news for the NFL-owned cable network, was not mentioned in the latest lawsuit filed on Monday by stylist Jami Cantor, but he did spend his work hours talking about his rather unique cooking techniques to one porn star, in which he ‘double fisted poultry.’

According to Dead Spin, “Eaton’s online horniness consisted of sometimes mundane, sometimes racy, and often one-sided banter with escorts, former escorts, and porn stars.”

Eaton drummed up a conversation with porn star Zoey Holloway…

In one exchange during the NFL offseason, it must have been a boring day, where he focused on one porn star’s dress rather than the upcoming NFL season.

Eaton managed to use “spatchcocking” and “double fisting” in one sentence while talking to a former escort Olivia LaRoux.

There was even one occasion back in 2015, where he tried discussing literature with an account featuring a topless women avatar, Dead Spin said.

Further, according to Dead Spin, Eaton’s Twitter conversations with porn stars had been an “ongoing subject of discussion” inside the NFL Network for quite some time, although aAn NFL Media spokesman declined to comment on the issue.

It’s been a rather embarrassing week for the NFL, as what we’ve coined ‘the Weinstein contagion’ is not limited to the NFL. The obvious questions for next week are i) where will ‘the Weinstein contagion’ strike next, and ii) when will all of this finally take down half od Wall Street?

Chicken Wing Spot Prices Collapse 30% As NFL Protests Take Their Toll

Back in November, shortly after Trump ignited a war with the NFL over player protests of the National Anthem, Papa John"s insisted that their sales were getting crushed by a backlash from fans who decided to boycott games (we covered it here: Papa John"s Pulls NFL Ads Due To "Negative Consumer Sentiment").  That said, the complaint from Papa John"s was seemingly discredited as a convenient excuse for poor earnings the very next day when Pizza Hut said they had seen no impact from the NFL protests.

Of course, with all of the noise of seasonality, weather and random accounting games played by CFO"s, it"s almost impossible to know if, or by how much, declining NFL viewership actually impacted Papa John"s earnings...any conclusions would be ambiguous at best.

That said, what doesn"t seem to be all that ambiguous, and probably should lend some credence to the original claims from Papa John"s, is the startling collapse in chicken wings prices that coincided perfectly with Trump"s first NFL protest tweets back in September.  According to the Bloomberg data below, wing prices started dropping almost immediately after Trump"s first tweets and have fallen a staggering 30% since.

Meanwhile, the collapse in wing prices was at least partially blamed for the abysmal earnings posted by one of the largest poultry producers, Sanderson Farms, earlier this this morning.

Asked for their profit outlook for 2018, SAFM management, whose stock tumbled 12% on the day, seemed to be somewhat optimistic aside from crushing traffic declines at wing restaurants which they said are being attributed to the NFL protests.

Analyst: That"s helpful. And then when you look at your pricing outlook and your profit per pound outlook for 2018 versus 2017. Any color in terms of pricing and your profit per pound?

 

SAFM Management: Based on what we, the productions, we think is coming in 2018. You never know who"s going to be running features on chicken and tenders. But the only thing that is puzzling me right now wings, we this – the wing, we have been talking to our wing customers and they"re the ones that are telling us that they"re seeing less traffic in their stores and they attribute that to the NFL.

So what say you...just more scapegoating for a bad quarter or is the NFL taking a bite out of the wing market?

Fan Sues Saints, Wants Season Ticket Refund Over NFL Players Protest

A season-ticket holder has just filed a lawsuit against the New Orleans Saints demanding the organization refunds his money because some players have disrespected the national anthem before games this season. The fan, Lee Dragna, filed the lawsuit on Monday against the NFL team for $8,000 plus lawyer’s fees. In the lawsuit, he claims, the protest by some players against police brutality and racial injustice has prevented him and his family from enjoying the games.

He bought the tickets for the “entertainment and intellectual enjoyment”, and said he would have never made the purchase had he known NFL players would “use Saints football games as a platform for protests.” Further, the suit alleges Dragna hasn’t attended a game since players protested the first home game, on September 17.

The suit said,

They passed directly in front of where the petitioner and his guests were seated. Many of the fans in that area booed and cursed at the Saints players.

 

Apparently, these players were following the lead of (former San Francisco 49ers quarterback) Colin Kaepernick by disrespecting the flag, the anthem, the USA and those who have served and are serving the USA in our military.   

On Tuesday, Dragna told The New Orleans Advocate,

That the rowdy, angry reaction of the people around his seats has made the tickets unusable by him and his family, as well as customers he would otherwise give the tickets to.

 

He said the behavior of some fans upset by the protests — cursing, spilling beer — is “borderline dangerous,” though he said he thinks the responsibility for that behavior ultimately rests not with the fans but with owner Tom Benson.

 

“The Saints created that behavior by condoning it,” he said.

 

“It’s my thought pattern that (players) should not be allowed (to protest),” he said. “If you sell tickets to a gaming event for entertainment, you should not be allowed to turn it political.”

According to ESPN, the Saints declined to comment, saying they had escalated the situation to the legal department.  However, an anonymous source said the organization is “taking this very seriously, and this fan best have his facts in order.”

“The Saints will come back at this fan who has brought forth incorrect information in his statement with everything to defend the team, organization and players,” the source said.

Two days ago, Saint’s running back Mark Ingram II lashed out at Dragna on social media.. ESPN notes that Ingram was one of 10 Saint players who sat on the bench during the national anthem in week 3, in response to President Trump’s comments about NFL players (see: Trump Goes Nuclear: Trump Sports Feud Escalates: Demands NFL Chief “Tells Them To Stand”).

The one time we protested an anthem was an away game. After a team meeting we decided to kneel as one BEFORE the anthem was played and STAND united as one DURING the anthem! Good luck dude ????? https://t.co/28huwGP0Pu

— Mark Ingram II (@MarkIngram22) December 13, 2017

According to Gabe Feldman, director of Tulane University’s Sports Law Program,

“Fans do not have legal standing or a cause of action simply because they are unhappy with how a team performs or acts on the field. If fans were allowed to sue for breach of contract every time they were disappointed with the performance or conduct of a player, there would be an unending string of lawsuits across the country.”

He further explained:  “An NFL ticket allows you to enter a stadium to watch a football game, but it does not guarantee that the players will act in ways that do not upset you — either athletically or politically.”

And as the story of Dragna’s lawsuit circulates across millions of American households, many of whom have stepped away from NFL stadiums and television sets on Sundays (see: NFL Ratings Slump Worsens As ESPN Forced To Slash $80 Million In Salary Costs.), one wonders: did Dragna start the (inevitable) blowback of angry NFL fans asking teams and Goodell for their money back?

NFL Network, ESPN Suspend Faulk, McNabb And 3 Other Stars After Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Ever since sexual assault allegations first surfaced against Harvey Weinstein several weeks ago, barely a day has gone by that some high-profile media personality or politician didn"t get exposed for their truly sickening sexual deviancy. 

Now, it seems as if the latest allegations have struck the sports world with the NFL Network and ESPN having suspended five former football players, including Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk and former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, due to allegations in a court filing accusing them of repeated sexual harassment. Other ex-players named in the suit include Ike Taylor and Heath Evans, who along with Faulk were suspended by the NFL Network, as well as Eric Davis, who along with McNabb were suspended from ESPN.

Both the NFL Network and ESPN say they are investigating the allegations and that the NFL stars in question have been suspended with pay.

According to CNN, the suit was filed in California superior court in Los Angeles by Jami Cantor, a former wardrobe stylist at the NFL Network, and listed the following complaints:

Faulk fondled Cantor"s breasts, invited her to his hotel room and pulled out his genitals in front of her and asked, "when are you going to get on this already?" He also is alleged to have pinned her to the wall and demanded oral sex while he pulled down his pants.

 

Ike Taylor allegedly sent Cantor inappropriate pictures of himself including a nude video of him masturbating in the shower.

 

Heath Evans allegedly sent Cantor nude pictures of himself on at least two separate occasions, told her "you"re making me horny," and that he "needed to get in you deep and hard."

 

Sapp allegedly gave Cantor sex toys as a Christmas gift three years in a row, and showed her nude photos of women he said he had slept with. She said when the network required her to work in the men"s bathroom preparing clothes, Sapp also allegedly came in and urinated in front of her.

 

Eric Davis is accused of sliding his hand between Cantor"s legs, grabbing her, rubbing up against her and making lewd comments to her. She alleges when she once slapped his hand away he aggressively told her never to push his hand away again.

 

Donovan McNabb is accused of sending inappropriate text messages.

Adding insult to injury, Cantor"s lawsuit also alleges that her complaints were dismissed by the NFL Network"s talent coordinator as she was told "It"s part of the job when you look the way you do."

Meanwhile, one non-athlete, former executive producer Eric Weinberger, was also named in Cantor"s suit and has since been suspended by his new employer The Ringer.

Weinberger is alleged to have also sent Cantor nude photos of himself and pressed his crotch against her shoulder, asking her to touch him He is also alleged to have touched her crotch, groped her breasts and to have reached down her pants to "check if she was wearing underwear."
Weinberger has been suspended.

 

"These are very serious and disturbing allegations that we were made aware of today. We are placing Eric on leave indefinitely until we have a better understanding of what transpired during his time at the NFL, and we will conduct our own internal investigation," the site said in a statement.

Of course, as we noted yesterday, CNN and WaPo are said to be working on 20-40 sexual misconduct stories at the moment...so the only question now is who will be exposed tomorrow?

Is The NFL"s Problem "Poor Product", Not "Disrespect"?

Authored by Doug French via The Mises Institute,

President Trump has lambasted the NFL more than 20 times for players’ “Total Disrespect of Our Great Country.”

Ratings are down for NFL games and Trump figures it’s because some players aren’t standing, hand over heart, and mouthing the words to the national anthem.

Trump may have made some political hay out of all this, but one only has to follow the money to learn the real reason pro football ratings are down - competition from college football.

The fact is, “Their product isn’t very good these days,” Nick Bogdanovich told the Las Vegas Sun. He is the chief oddsmaker for William Hill, which operates 107 sportsbooks in Nevada.

The league that used to claim any team could win on “any given Sunday” has turned into a predictable “If you have a quarterback, you have a chance. If you don’t, you don’t,” as Ben Volin wrote of the Boston Globe at the finish of last year’s regular season. As evidence, he pointed to “the four quarterbacks remaining in the playoffs — Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, and Matt Ryan.”

Jimmy Vaccaro has been running sports books for four decades. He says, it used to be, “Nearly $4 on the NFL for every buck on a college game.” That is no longer the case. Now it is more like 60–40 with the college betting handle gaining.

Joe Drape writes of the sportsbook legend,

And when Vaccaro says he is becoming bearish on the betting health of professional football, you lean in and listen. Last month, for three consecutive weeks, for the first time that he can remember, betting on college football at South Point surpassed betting on the NFL, by as much as $400,000.

The Wall Street Journal did a study back in 2010 and found that of the 174 minutes of an NFL broadcast there was 11 minutes of game action. The WSJ found there was about 60 minutes of commercials and “As many as 75 minutes, or about 60% of the total air time, excluding commercials, is spent on shots of players huddling, standing at the line of scrimmage or just generally milling about between snaps.”

This has only become worse with the advent of constantly replaying questionable calls. Meanwhile, many college teams have gone to the no-huddle offense to squeeze in more plays.

Making accurate point spreads on 16 pro games is much easier than getting 50 college games right.

“There’s more volatility and room for mistakes in the college game,” John Avello, a bookmaker at the Wynn Las Vegas, told the Sun. “You can find an edge there, and that is what gamblers do. We are hard to beat when it comes to the NFL.”

Professional gambler Chris Lawless wagers more on college games not only because there are flawed betting lines to take advantage of, but also because the games are more enjoyable.

“There are more momentum shifts and more exciting plays and more passion,” Lawless said.

Vaccaro believes betting on college football will continue to gain on NFL action. Overall, Nevada sports books are expected to post their eighth consecutive year of record handle, with Las Vegas taking in $5 billion in sports wagers.

September saw Nevada set a new betting handle record of $558.4 million, and the Nevada Gaming Control Board has now revealed that the handle in October came in at $522 million, the best-ever performance by Nevada sportsbooks in the month of October, as well as the third consecutive month of a betting handle in excess of $500 million.

NFL Ratings Slump Worsens As ESPN Forced To Slash $80 Million In Salary Costs

As the NFL continues to try to address the ongoing civil war between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Commissioner Roger Goodell, not to mention the intermittent hostile fire from the White House, viewers are increasingly deciding they"ve had enough and are abandoning professional football viewership altogether.  As the NY Post points out today, the embattled league saw ratings dip 6.3% in Week 11 meaning 1 million fewer people tuned in to see players take a knee during the national anthem versus last year.

The TV audience for NFL games steepened its slide in Week 11, losing 1 million viewers versus last year’s season-to-date average.

 

The 6.3 percent slump — worsening from comparable declines of 5.6 to 5.7 percent during the previous three weeks — plagued a week whose off-the-field drama made gridiron tackling seem almost tame by comparison.

 

After starting 11.8 percent behind last year’s TV audience for NFL games in Week 1, league viewership had either held its own or narrowed the gap through Week 8.

 

The 6.3 percent shortfall in Week 11 reflects an average viewership of 14.9 million for the NFL’s 68 national telecasts this year versus 15.9 million for the season-to-date in 2016.

Meanwhile, the ratings dip, combined with massive subscriber losses (see: ESPN Lost 15,000 Subscribers A Day In October), has taken a huge toll on ESPN which Yahoo News reports will have to cut some $80 million in salary costs to offset their plunging top line. 

ESPN is poised to slash an estimated $80 million in salaries and other costs in coming weeks, sources tell Sporting News.

 

The third round of layoffs in two years at the Disney-owned sports network is expected to come down after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Sporting News broke the news that ESPN planned to lay off up to 60 people in late November and early December. Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated followed up with a report that said 100 positions could be impacted.

 

ESPN lost a whopping $1 billion in affiliate revenue after dropping 13 million subscribers in just six years, according to the SportsBusiness Journal. Sports insiders agree ESPN overpaid for the NFL"s "Monday Night Football" ($1.9 billion annually) and the NBA ($1.4 billion a year). During 2016, ESPN"s prime-time viewership fell 19 percent, according to the SBJ. Rather than driving Disney"s profits, ESPN has been dragging them down, spooking Wall Street analysts.

 

Meanwhile, ESPN management threw money at many anchors, analysts and reporters whose contracts were up in recent years to stop them from jumping to FS1 and other competitors. Some lost those high-paid TV gigs this spring. But ESPN is still on the hook to pay their full salaries until they get a new job elsewhere. Not many have over the past six months. Given the length of some of these expensive deals, not many will in the future, according to Awful Announcing.

 

"ESPN is dealing with three simple math problems. They have fewer subscribers than they planned for. They have higher costs than they planned for. They lower ratings than they hoped for," said one source.

Perhaps it"s time for the NFL to admit that while most Americans can agree that professional football is really fun to watch, roughly half of them are going to disagree with whatever political stance its players decide to cram down their throats during games...so maybe best to just stick to football.

Bikini-Bearing Baristas Battle Bureaucrats Who Claim They"re "Turning Men Into Harvey Weinsteins"

Welcome to "Grab"n"Go" Bikini Hut - a coffee shop in Washington State that offers coffees, teas(e), and other hot liquids made by bikini-clad baristas.

The city of Everett, about 30 miles north of Seattle, is home to numerous bikini barista espresso stands, where servers dressed in everything from tasteful two-piece swimsuits to pasties and G-strings serve up lattes and Americanos at a drive-thru window.

But these successful entrepreneurs - having found an angle that differentiates them from your ubiquitous Starbucks numbness - face being shut down by local officials who are set to tighten the city’s regulations on what constitutes lewd behavior and push to institute a dress code that bans employees from wearing bikinis or showing too much bare skin.

Jovanna Edge, who co-owns five “Hillbilly Hotties” stands, denies that any illegal activity is encouraged and balks at the city’s claim that the stands -- with prices comparable to Starbucks -- attract crime or demean women.

 

She added that without the bikinis, the baristas would not make as much money as they do.

 

“My business generates more money than a regular, non-bikini-barista, stand because my employees express themselves through their manner of dress,” Edge said.

 

“By wearing a bikini, my employees expose messages through tattoos and scars, and they are able to open conversations that attract customers willing to pay more at my business than other coffee stands.”

As Fox News reports, the laws are just the final straw in a years-long battle against bikini baristas stands.

“The Constitution doesn’t allow the government to regulate the content of speech because the government disagrees with it,” Derek Newman, an attorney representing one of the baristas, told the Seattle Times.

 

“If the First Amendment was so limited, NFL players kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality would not be protected expression because the president interprets this as anti-American sentiment.”

Everett lawmakers have been steamed about the coffee stands for years – arguing everything from obscenity to mob ties – officials are taking a page out of the headlines and citing a new argument: The skin-flaunting coffee servers could turn men into the next Harvey Weinstein.

“The male gaze on bikinied women is on the continuum of sexualization of women,” wrote Mary Anne Layden, the director of the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology program at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert witness for the city of Everett.

 

“When you make the body a commodity, and sex a product which you sell, one outcome is sexual violence... If you can sell it, you can steal it.”

By this logic - the question has to be asked of every "accuser" that has come forward in recent weeks, calling out everyone from Kevin Spacey to John Conyers and Roy Moore, what were they wearing before they were abused? Can you imagine the leftist uproar?

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The baristas also say that their rights are being impinged upon and instead of feeling degraded when wearing a bikini, they feel empowered.

“This is about women’s rights,” coffee server Natalie Bjerk said, according to the Daily Star.

 

“The city council should not tell me what I can and cannot wear when I go to work; it’s a violation of my First Amendment rights.”

One such barista from Ladybug Espresso strongly agrees:

Welcome to the Land of The Free!!!

"Our Flag Is Very Special" - NFL Superstar Herschel Walker Blames NFL Commissioner For Crisis

Former NFL susperstar Herschel Walker - who aggressively praised America’s military heroes and first responders - slams NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for not quelling the national anthem protests.

NYPost"s John Aidan Byrne reports that the Heisman Trophy winner doesn’t beat around the bush:

“Guys, let me tell you this,” he said. 

 

“Our flag is very special, and black lives matter, but what we should do is go to Washington after the season and protest there instead. We have young men and women fighting for the flag. And we have to respect the White House.”

Walker - who used to play for President Trump’s short-lived USFL New Jersey Generals in the ’80s...

Was not done...

“I absolutely think the protests are so upsetting, and I blame the commissioner,” he said.

 

“I know people are going to be angry when I say it, but he should have stopped the protests at the very beginning.”

All of this comes after a week of turmoil between Goodell and the owners amid a continued slide in ratings.

"You"re So Dumb, You"re Beyond Hope" - ESPN Host Hits Out At Conservative Critics

Authored by Alex Thomas via SHTFplan.com,

Over the last few years the once dominant sports news outlet ESPN has come under fire for their perceived political bias after the network fired multiple employees for conservative viewpoints while propping up those that pushed the companies anti-Trump agenda.

From firing baseball icon Curt Schilling to allowing prime-time SportsCenter news anchor Jemele Hill to smear the president on Twitter, the network has an obvious liberal leaning and many conservatives have rightly called out this transparent bias.

Now, in a fiery interview with Sports Illustrated, one of the networks poster boys, Scott Van Pelt, has responded to his conservative critics by attacking them for even having the gall to question ESPN’s political bias in the first place.

Van Pelt attempted to act like a tough guy, calling out said critics for being cowards who he believes only speak out against ESPN on the internet but would never do so in real life.

“This make believe world where everyone talks shit, this shit talking, poke you in the chest virtual whatever it’s just there’s nothing more chicken shit than that, because it’s the easiest thing in the world to do,” Van Pelt laughably said before targeting those who have boycotted his network in the past.

In what one can only assume was a network approved attack on their critics, Van Pelt then described those that have boycotted ESPN as so dumb that they don’t even deserve to be prayed for.

If you truly wanna boycott the NFL and you wanna boycott ESPN, the notion that some guy sitting out there, or gal, and they decide, ‘you know what, I’m gonna cut my entire cable package because ESPN gave an award on a made-up show in July because there’s no sports, to a woman who used to be a man.

 

So I’m now not gonna have any cable TV at all and I’m gonna sit around at night and read books by candlelight like olden times because of that,’ that’s not happening.

 

And if you did that, than you’re so dumb that I can’t even pray for you because you’re beyond hope.

Yep, that is apparently what the networks most visible personality (and thus presumably the network as a whole) thinks about conservatives.

From Hollywood to the media, and now apparently the sports world, anyone with conservative viewpoints are being openly attacked and labeled racist as a means to silence all dissenting thought against the liberal world establishment.

Ben Garrison On Mending A Fractured America

Authored by Ben Garrison via GrrrGraphics.com,

Earlier this week I was on the Jesse Lee Peterson show out of LA.

It was a short segment early in the morning and we briefly discussed the NFL kneelers. I spoke about how they offended the fans, the veterans, and US history in general. I pointed out that black Americans have just as much stake and heritage in this country as anyone else. The first person to die in the Revolutionary War was Crispus Attucks, a black man. There were black Minute Men. I mentioned Andrew Jackson and the black battalion that was vital in defeating the the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

Peterson had one call for me - a woman who angrily denounced Andrew Jackson and how those slaves were forced to fight. I was taken aback by this, because those men were heroes and veterans to be honored regardless of slavery. Shamefully, some of those men did not get their freedom, but it does not take away from the fact that they put their lives on the line for their country. I might have added that nearly 600,000 ‘privileged’ white men died in the Civil War to end slavery.

The kneelers seem to have forgotten that.

Increasingly our country is divided.

 

Civility is being replaced by name calling–and even violence.

 

People want others with whom they disagree to lose their jobs.

 

Accusations of sexual impropriety are widespread.

 

Censorship is being implemented by the tech left.

 

Rational debate is replaced by name calling and fear.

 

Racial hatred is very real and always has been, but it seems worse nowadays—and our first ‘black’ president, Obama, actually set back race relations.

 

Too many people now hate our country, our history and our culture.

What is that culture? For most of our history it has been predominately European and Christian. For years we’ve had a huge influx of immigrants ‘of color’ who have a lot of children. White people will soon be a minority in the USA. There are some on the alt right calling for the protection of whites by means identity politics and segregation. Many black nationalists also want the return of segregation, after they fought so hard against it. Muslims naturally segregate themselves and demand special food, special treatment, and Sharia Law, which is completely at odds with our Constitution. The rich are getting stupendously richer and segregate themselves in gated communities. Three men in America now control more wealth than the bottom half of the US population.

Immigrants, illegal and otherwise, are now encouraged to keep their own cultures and languages. Some consider the traditional melting pot to be offensive - they say it’s ‘racist’ and ‘nativist.’

The end game of that kind of thinking will be the proliferation of ‘no go’ Balkanized zones in the United States. Trump’s brand of nationalism may be the glue needed to keep our country together. At least for a while longer.