Of all the ways I want to go out, this is perhaps the way I want.
Shay Bradley was laid to rest on Oct. 12 in Kilkenny, Ireland, after succumbing a long-term illness but he got the last laugh as he was being lowered into the ground. Bradley's voice began coming out of the coffin in the form of a pre-recorded message, which sent the mourners into fits of laughter. His daughter told Sky News that her dad planned his final act for a year with just a select few knowing about it. It was his way to say goodbye, she added. Simply awesome and a 10 for creativity.
On to less important things:
Shut up and dribble
Remember when Laura Ingraham said that about LeBron James? It was a stupid comment and not necessary but it turns out that's exactly what James wants us all to do now.
James broke his silence on the kerfuffle involving the NBA and China and, as I expected, he laid the blame squarely at the feet of Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets (at least he was as of press time this week). Morey was "either misinformed or not really uneducated" about the situation, opined James. Even called Morey selfish. What a clown.
Reading his quotes from the scrum James had on Oct. 14, I simply shook my head and I wasn't alone. Tens of thousands of people decided to give it to James, who normally isn't shy about giving his opinion on anything political and will use his platform to spread the word. But it was a tough week in China for him and the league, you guys. Your thoughts and prayers are needed now more than ever for James.
It's awfully hard to take what he said about Morey seriously considering this was the same guy who tweeted out one of the more famous quotes from Martin Luther King on the 50th anniversary of his assassination in 2018: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
What's happening in Hong Kong matters because there are hundreds of thousands of people who are fearfully and genuinely concerned for their future. The agreement which guarantees Hong Kong the ability to have freedom of speech and freedom of dissent is almost half-over; it began once the British handed back the region to China in 1997 in the Hong Kong Handover and lasts for 50 years.
As I said last week, we've seen how China deals with dissent among the peasants and you know the communist dictatorship is just waiting for the right opportunity to release the hounds and put this situation to bed the way the People's Liberation Army did in1989. And now we have Xi Jinping, leader of the Chinese Communist Party, who told the world on Oct. 13 that anyone who tries to "... split any region from China will perish, with their bodies smashed and bones ground to powder."
I'm sure that's just Xi playing around. After all, I'm not educated enough on the issue to know what he meant by that.
Seems James has taken Ingraham's words to heart on this issue. Thanks, LeBron. Keep on digging … you may find yourself in China before you know it.
Pinball is back … praise Jesus
There is no one person who bleeds Toronto Argonauts Double Blue more than Michael "Pinball" Clemons. I always knew I was second. Cut me open and Jason comes out of my veins.
Anyway, Pinball is not only one of the greatest Argos of all time but he's one of the smartest football people in the game. Which is why I greeted his return to the team as general manager with all the giddiness of a small child. Why the team let him go in the first place the first time he was general manager is beyond me (he left on his own, but still) but he's back and that's all that matters.
Truth be told, Pinball didn't need this job. He's made a very handsome post-football-playing living talking to people and believe me when I tell you: when Pinball speaks, you listen. You will never leave a seminar or workshop where he's the keynote speaker and not feel the urge to grab the closest piece of weaponry within arm's reach and go to war for the guy. He is a masterful motivator and that's exactly what the Argos need right now.
Clemons knows the game inside and out and led the Argos to some of its most successful times when he was head coach between 2002 and 2007 and while that was then and this is now, players will come to Toronto solely because of him. The team desperately needs a quarterback, something Clemons identified during his welcome-back press conference.
Please stay forever, Pinball. Your adopted hometown needs you.
And finally …
Good Idea: A T-shirt depicting LeBron James as a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
Bad Idea: That it isn't really for sale.
Just wanted to throw this in there because it would sell like hot cakes.
Check out Barstool Sports and its meme involving the best salesman China ever had on a T-shirt. The second it goes on sale, guess who's buying one? Maybe even two! Cotton shrinks, don't you know.
Until next time, folks … shut up and dribble.