February 25, 2023
Our primary purpose here is to Entertain you. Our secondary purpose is to occasionally make you a bit uncomfortable … requiring you to face “the face in the mirror”. Hopefully we achieve both purposes today. … But first, a bit of old news housekeeping …
A basketball game was played last Sunday “out at The Fairgrounds” that was either “yet another disappointment in a season full of them” … OR … “OMG! THIS was almost as AWESOME as “The Cinderella Game in 1983”. … depending upon which branch of the UNC System one happens to affiliate with.
When a current UNC player uttered That Stoopid Phrase that so many of his predecessors felt obliged to utter over the years – “Its just another game. They’re not our rival” – you knew right then it was going to be a Light The Bell Tower Red event in West Raleigh. … and indeed it was.
It certainly was “yet another disappointment in an epically disappointing season” for UNC’s apoplectically distraught fan base.
No, it was not among the 3-4 Greatest Wins in NCState History; but a good one nonetheless. Coach KK can install those new kitchen countertops now. He’ll be around a few more years.
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I spoke with a life-long buddy this week who, like me, was born & raised in the belly of the beast known as North Carolina’s Highly Partisan Sports Rivalries.
We marveled over how the jibes, insults and exaggerated stereotypes have not changed one iota in the 60+ years that he and I have lived among them … allowing that both of us have spent time “out in the real world” and “know better”.
That otherwise intelligent, accomplished and respected adults … community leaders, business moguls, movers & shakers in complicated occupations ACTUALLY BELIEVE that alumni / fans / partisans for the rival primary universities in this state are “all a buncha _______” – insert a tired, worn-out insult of choice in that blank.
That regrettable human trait helps explains how our country got itself to where we are – peering into The Abyss. … sigh.
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There was also an outdoor Hockey Game “at The Fairgrounds” last week. I was not there but watched a few minutes on TV. Raleigh is no threat to for-real “Hockey Towns” but Kudos Aplenty to all who contributed to The Nationally Televised Event. The Hurricanes are a fine asset to this community. WELL DONE!
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WHAT IF … That Messy Murder at Alabama was at YOUR SCHOOL?
If Your School was in the Top Five nationally, having its best season ever … and it was proven that the 5-star Superstar basketball player at Your School delivered a gun to a teammate at 3 AM (!!!) … and minutes later that gun was used to kill an 23 y/o single mother who had spurned the affections of said teammate …
… would YOU adamantly defend your Superstar player as totally innocent of ANY wrongdoings … knowing if he is suspended or removed from the team … your Dream Season goes kaput.
Would you concoct ridiculous “but … but … buts” to obfuscate the obvious because NOTHING is more important than Your Team winning? … not even the murder of an 23 y/o single mother.
OR
…. instead of at Your School … this scenario occurred at Your Hated Rival’s School? Would you be among a social media mob immediately demanding The Death Penalty for your Hated Rival’s obviously corrupt basketball program?
Are such perceptions simply a matter of Whose Ox Is Being Gored on any given day?
“delivering a gun to someone at 3:00 in the morning … and that gun be using to KILL someone minutes later ..” is not a scenario I have ever envisioned being involved in. I doubt anyone reading this has ever envisioned.
Unless YOU are a College Basketball Superstar and apparently immune to consequences; I would remind you of the old adage that …
“Nothing good happens if you deliver a gun to someone at 3 in the morning”.
Of course … we are not 18-19 year old young black men in a college town (Tuscaloosa AL).
The reaction of most of the Alabama fan base is classic “Just give us our “Bread & Circus” regardless of what it costs”. How would Your Fan Base readt?
If you are totally confused … Google Alabama Basketball Murder.
If you are certain such a tragic situation could NEVER happen at Your School “because ……..” Your School only recruits young men of the very highest character who are paragons of integrity, blah blah blah … then You Are a Blind Partisan and naive to a point of being a threat to those around you.
Brandon Miller is the 5-star Alabama player who delivered the gun at 3 AM … he will be an NBA lottery pick. I betcha Hubert Davis, Jon Scheyer and Kevin Keatts all recruited him … and until a week ago all would have welcomed him on their team. Maybe they all still would. Theirs is a business fueled by situational ethics.
Is this “just boys will be boys”? … Let he who has not directly contributed to killing someone at 3 AM “throw the first stone”.
Then give me a stone because I’ve never done that.
Jay Bilas – a very highly paid “shill” for ESPN and NCAA Basketball – says Brandon Miller has “a right” to do what he did and Alabama is “right” in doing absolutely NOTHING about it.
Jay Bilas also defended his alma mater – Duke – in a recent “racial epithet HOAX” involving a Duke volleyball player and BYU. A “racial incident” that has been proven NEVER HAPPENED. Jay Bilas is 0-2 in 2023.
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BobLee reconsiders “Barbecue”
My recent public admission that I had lost my hankerin’ for barbecue reached a 6.5 on the Richter Scale. Combining that with an admission of “liking Soccer” created cases of “the vapors” for many of you.
I have rethought Me & Barbecue.
My issues are with Pulled/Shredded Pork … and with Sweet Tea.
CHOP the meat instead of shredding it … and forego the sugar-overloaded tea and I can rejoin the rest of you in “a hankerin'”.
I’ve pretty much eliminated sugar in my diet so Sweet Tea – which I enjoyed for decades – no longer agrees with me.
I’ve been assured that Ayden’s World-Famous Skylight Inn vigorously CHOPS their pork with a meat cleaver … and offers several beverage options. If you can assure me that applies to Your Favorite BBQ Joint then invite me for lunch … I’m In!
As for Soccer … other than a couple of World Cup matces, I have not developed that viewing habit. I do know who Lionel Messi is. … On the women’s side … I saw this week where USWNT star Alex Morgan AKA “the pretty heterosexual one” came out in full support of Transexuals competing against “real women”. Jay Bilas probably agrees with her. I don’t.
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More BobLee’s Rimshots HERE
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