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A WEEKEND OF FIERCE COMPETITION

 From Worldometer (new deaths yesterday):


        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9     1093     4732        1185        246        82
July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120      572
Aug    12     1504     6556        1242       835       130
Sept     9     1208     6222        1136      1168        82
Oct     21     1225     6849          571       703        85
Nov    11     1479     10178        564       550        60
           25     2304    12025         620       518      118
Dec       1     2611    11891         697       500      109
           29     3398    13791       1075       285      497
           30     3880    14748       1224       299      465
Jan       5      3499    13106       1186       265      513 
            6      4100     14581      1266       221      392
            7      4207     14812      1455       234      441
            8      3914     14792      1044       229      616

Summary:

  • The USA had an all-time worst 301,655 new cases yesterday.
  • The scary development is Africa.  South Africa got 21, 980 new cases, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Zambia all are now into quadruple digits...and you know that continent is not exactly reliable in reportage, so it could be worse.
As I this morning sat down to generate this posting, it became obvious to me that this weekend was filled with a variety of competitions from the monumental to relatively trivial.  At the top, course, is Humanity's battle with this novel coronavirus.  We were leveled, but vaccines have been developed, and after this next week of probable increasing cases and deaths, I think the peak will then be reached so that a decline will become obvious by the time of Joe Biden's inauguration.

The one person in the world most responsible for those deaths in the USA is President Donald Trump.  How else can you explain that with 4.3% of the World population, we have 20% of all COVID-19 deaths?  But for a totally different reason, there is this weekend an effort in the U.S. House to impeach Trump for a second time.  If the Senate next week again rescues him by merely doing nothing, the new Senate from January 21 could well convict him after he leaves office.  So this appropriate Trump slam.

If you're a sports fan, this weekend is heaven for TV-watching.  Fierce competition, of course, but I'll start with the University of Hawaii's basketball team.  They ventured into the global hotspot of the pandemic, Los Angeles, and eked out a victory over the University of California at Riverside, who had already beaten the University Washington and were 7-point favorites.  Alas, they play again today and I can't predict a second victory for Hawaii.

The PGA has returned, and beautiful Kapalua on Maui will be the star today and tomorrow, for last year's tour winners are there showing why they won.  I think something like 21 players are within 4 strokes of the top.  There are two holes towards the end that, if the wind is blowing, should result in drives that might approach 500 yards, for when I last played there a couple of decades ago, I got a 300-yard drive because they both are downhill and with the wind.  The official PGA longest drive is 515 yards.  #18 is particularly spectacular at 663 yards.  You almost surely will see Humpback Whales.

There are also six NFL playoff games, three on Saturday and three on Sunday.  14 of 32 teams have survived so far.  Wow, just saw Jason Myers of Seattle kick a 61-yard field goal.  And, by the way, my five ESPN NFL teams all did poorly this year.  Nevertheless, I purchased two CDM playoff teams for $150, making these upcoming games more meaningful.  If Kansas City and Green Bay, the two bye teams this weekend, make it to Super Bowl LV in Tampa on February 7, I should do well.  I can brag that my three ESPN (meaning I play for free) NBA teams are all in first place into the third week.

Alabama is an 8-point favorite over Ohio State in the NCAA football championship game, set for Miami at 8PM on Monday.  The under/over line is the highest ever at 75.  Why it's so close is a mystery to me, as Ohio State has 20 players on the "might not play" list.  It appears that their quarterback, Justin Fields, has broken ribs, and a bunch of others have the potential to be held back by COVID-19 protocol.  Three of the top five players in the nation wore an Alabama uniform, and wide receiver Devonta Smith won the Heisman.

Thank you to all those creative people out there spending so much time to synthesize these mixes, but you just got to see this I'M SO EXCITED dancing melange.  One of the best remains "Old Movie Stars Dancing to Uptown Funk."  I'll end with a simple Astaire-Powell tap dancing sequence of Begin the Beguine from Broadway Melody of 1940.

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