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FLORIDA/WISCONSIN, SENATOR BOOKER, MARCH MADNESS AND APRIL FOOL'S DAY

 Three noteworthy elections today, one in Wisconsin and two in Florida.  

  • How much have the antics of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk hurt Republicans?
  • Those two Florida elections for the U.S. House are in solidly deep-red states, so the odds are very low that a Democrat can prevail there.  What could happen, though, is a much closer race than expected, so that alone will be an indicator of the damage Trump/Musk  caused.
  • In Wisconsin, the race is for the state's Supreme Court.  Elon Musk alone has provided $15 million for the Republican candidate, plus three $1 million prizes for those signing his petition.  However, Democrats and affiliated outside groups outspent Republicans on the airwaves, $42 million to $33 million.  The key point is will Democrat voters show up to vote showing disdain for Musk and Trump?  We will know tonight.

Senator Cory Booker is filibustering, now past 21 hours.  Watch live on You Tube.  Why?  

“These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said as he launched into his speech. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

Who is he?  

  • Is 55-years old, played tight end for Stanford University's football team, then went to become a Rhodes scholar, continuing on to Yale University's law school.  
  • Was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2013.  
  • Will he break the record of Senator Strom Thurmond's 24 hours 18 minutes?  
  • At this point, Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona interrupted to ask a question, but Booker made a long joke of how Kelly is really from, like him, New Jersey.  Funny exchange.  But Booker still looks strong.  At noon Hawaii time, Only 1 hour 18 minutes left to beat Thurmond.
  • Waste of time?  Hardly, for just this sudden notoriety now makes him the most likely Democrat to challenge President Donald Trump into the future.
Filibuster rules.
  • NO BATHROOM BREAKS ALLOWED!!!  Others have discreetly used catheter bags.
  • Can drink water or milk, but no food.  Perhaps sneak in some hard candy.
  • Must stand, but can't leave his desk/podium.
  • Don't yield to any Republican on anything, but they can ask a question, to which Booker must respond.
  • Can read a telephone book or The Bible, and just about anything else.
  • Can have Democratic colleagues ask a long question or seemingly give a supportive speech.  How long?  No limit, I think.  But he can't leave his position.
  • A memorable filibuster is Jimmy Stewart's from Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
  • CORY BOOKER BROKE THURMAN'S RECORD!
  • But, on this notification, said he had a few more things to say.  If still continuing, this is the site to see him still talking.

The Women's March Madness Final four will have three #1 seeds because Connecticut defeated #1 University of Southern California, primarily because their best player, Juju Watkins, was injured and did not play.  Games will be held on Friday, April 4, with the Finals on Sunday, April 6, in the Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida.

The Men's March Madness Final Four are all the #1 seeds:  Florida, Duke, Houston and Auburn.  First time this has happened since 2008.  Games will be held on Saturday, April 5, with the final on Monday, April 7, in San Antonio, Texas.

Doing fairly well in those ESPN March Madness basketball tournament challenges, with 93.5% in the Women's Challenge and 97.3% in the Men's.

ESPN Women's tournament challenge:

234K 
93.5% 

ESPN Men's tournament challenge:

674K 
97.3% 


The New York Yankees gained the attention of the sports world by hitting a Major League Baseball record 15 home runs in the first three games of the season.  What were they doing differently?  Used something called a torpedo bat.

  • Babe Ruth played in an era when the average pitch was only around 85 MPH.  He used a 36 inch long bat weighing 44 ounces.  Pitch speed is today 95 MPH.
  • Bats are only made of wood.  A generation ago, the the type changed from ash to maple.
  • From Wikipedia:  By regulation it may be no more than 2.61 inches (6.6 cm) in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches (1.067 m) in length. Although historically bats approaching 3 pounds (1.4 kg) were swung, today bats of 33 ounces (0.94 kg) are common, topping out at 34 to 36 ounces (0.96 to 1.02 kg).
  • More recently, pitchers began to dominate over hitters.
  • Aaron Leanhardt, an MIT-educated and physics professor at the University of Michigan for seven years, left academia for sports, and came up with an idea.  He worked for the Yankees in 2024 and this year is with the Miami Marlins.
  • The bat length cannot be changed, the weight varies from 31 to 32 ounces and the barrel size cannot exceed 2.61 inches.
  • What Leanhardt did was redistribute the weight from the end of the bat towards the sweet spot, an area 6 to 7 inches below the tip, which became the fattest part of the bat, with a smaller diameter tapering to the  tip.
  • "This bat is just trying to say: What if we put the mass where the ball is going to hit so that we have an optimized equation of mass and velocity?" said Scott Drake, the president of PFS-TECO, a Wisconsin-based wood products laboratory that inspects all MLB bats to ensure they're within the regulations. "You're trying to take a sweet spot and put more mass with that.
  • Leanhardt worked with the 41 approved bat makers and given model numbers that start with BP (abbreviation for bowling pin).  He now likes torpedo better as the name of the bat.
  • Theoretically, this sweet spot varies for each player, so there someday will be a special bat for each player.
  • This bat is officially allowed, and had a supposed debut over the past weekend by the Yankees.
  • Actually, Giancarlo Stanton, who is now injured, began using this torpedo bat last year, and had an average bat velocity of 81.2 MPH, nearly 3 MPH ahead of the second-fastest swinger, and more than 9 MPH quicker than the the average MLB swing.  He did hit 7 homers in 14 postseason games.  However, did the torpedo bat cause his injury?  Says he will continue to use this bat when he returns to play.
  • A 70 MPH swing speed results in a 101 MPH batted ball, while a 71 MPH swing brings a 102 MPH batted ball, which could be the difference between a fly out and home run.
  • The Marlins should also show more home runs because that is where Leanhardt now works.  However, they this year so far only rank #19 of 30 teams.
  • Third baseman Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays uses this bat.  Watch how he does.
  • More and more, others will too.

Oh, be careful about today.  This is April 1, or April Fool's Day.  Here are some pranks so far today.

In Japan, the Japan Times usually sneaks one in, but more recently, anime and games toss stand out.

-

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