There Is NOTHING Jesus Said That Was Anti-LBGTQ*

By now many of you have heard about the outcry about three Giants players writing references to scripture on their special Pride celebration caps for the game on Friday.  If you have not, this is a free link to the excellent article written by Grant Brisbee, who is this century's gift to Giants coverage.

What surprised me though, is that the reader comment count reaches well into the 4000s.   Most articles on the Athletic struggle to reach 100, and even when the Warriors writers spread out some fresh chum in the form of an article on Draymond Green, that still hits somewhere in the 400s.

The other thing that surprised me (first) was that this had happened right under my nose.  I was at the game, and while I had excellent club level seats thanks to my buddy Chris, this fabulous baseball-watching view does not give me the close-up look at people's caps that the TV audience got.

But this blog post is not going to be about the legitimacy and respect the Pride celebration deserves, or why it matters to minority populations to be seen and recognized even if in the form of a promotion that sells tickets.  I'm going to assume  you know all that.

No, it's going to be about the absolutely idiotic arguments made by a frighteningly vast number of vocal Americans who are impervious to logic because they simply can't follow an argument that requires critical thought.  

First of all, there's the classic "What about their freedom of speech?" argument.  This doesn't apply because what the Constitution (allegedly) protects is people being arrested by the government for expressing personal views.   There is no protection promised for people doing something offensive in public and catching flak for it!  You don't get to tell a bunch of innocent people you think that they're sick or worse and get free protection from hearing the clap back.  What makes it worse is that these people know this.  They know damn well they can't go up to strangers and say whatever they want and hide behind "Freedom of speech" for protection.

Second, they try to justify this "Free speech" because it's a deeply-held religious belief.  Guess what... deeply held religious beliefs are not inherently harmless or good.  Many many horrific tragedies have been carried out throughout history for religious reasons.  There are bloody wars going on right now in the name of piety.  

But the pinnacle of hypocrisy is they think that they're the ones standing up for freedom.  The descendants of the very people who came to America to gain religious freedom now want to tell people who they can love, what gender they have to be, and what rights they have over their own fertilized zygote.  Hell, you think taxation is an invasion of your privacy; it's a picnic compared to your violation of other people's freedoms.

And what principle are they even standing on?  We know there's nothing in the Bible that condemns Queer Nation because if there were, they'd be putting it on t-shirts.  It's so against what Jesus stood for that after finding nothing in the New Testament, they have to pull out some ambiguous language from the Old Testament, aka the Tanakh (the Torah is one of the three sections).   Even the verses they cited are pretty unclear on the condemning.  

Every day we have to face the fact that being right logically or morally does not mean you win a dispute.  And it's really disheartening to know that the idiocy that has been cultivated by some does carry the weight of numbers.  Big, stupid, empathy-free numbers.  

It's an embarrassment to Giants management, particularly the rookie manager Tony Vitello that they did not stop this fiasco before it started.  

I'm going to just finish with another photo from the game... this one of a drag queen presiding over the renewal of vows for five couples before the game.  I am pleased to say that as far as I could tell, the fans in the house were in full support of this as well as the unusually gay Kiss Cam.  

Play-in Round 1: Warriors @ LA Clippers (4/15/26)

That's what I'm talking about!

The Warriors upset the LA Clippers in the first round of this season's play-in by taking their first win ever in the Intuit Dome.  They beat the Clippers 126-121 in a game that looked lost many times, particularly after being bitten badly by the turnover bug; usually a sign of a loss.

But they persevered, put together run after run, then took over the lead late in the 4th for the first time since the second quarter and put the Clippers away without it even going down to the wire!   Some heroes:

STEPH.  Limited to 30 minutes max, once he got lit he had to stay out there except for a short break at the start of the 4th.  He played almost 36 minutes, and we got to see Playoff Curry go to work.  It doesn't matter what janky defense you throw at him.  It doesn't matter who's defending him.  He's going to get points, and he's going to do it in style.  35 points and a +9 for the game.

 

 
DRAYMOND.   I don't know why even Warriors fans say they wouldn't mind seeing Draymond leave.  He was a demon out there, leading the defense and of course instrumental in limited Kawhi to two points in the fourth quarter and stealing the ball from him twice at crunch time.  The first was leaping to block an inbound pass to him that was attempted to go over and he not only reached it, he had the wherewithal to poke it back inbounds to Podz who broke away for a critical advantage, getting a goal tend at the bucket while fouling the deadly Darius Garland (21 pts) out of the game.  The second was in their next possession, doing a clean pick off Kawhi's dribble and going to the ground to secure the ball and flip it to Podz again.  The game was not over on a bucket; it was over on two Green steals.  And they happened after it looked like he pulled a muscle in his calf and would have to come out!

PORZINGUS.  Kristaps got the very important BIG FUN game on the Warriors, slamming down two tip dunks (one on a foul shot), plus three threes and five assists and two blocks.  He finished with 20 points and a big smile that says what we've been waiting to see:  "I like it here."

HORFORD.  Big Al was not having a good game, yet Steve put him in there for the fourth where he railed four of four from downtown!  Just as Steph's teammates talk about how relieved they are to see it from his side, I remember Al lighting us up in the 2022 Finals and this was extra sweet.

SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS!   Gui played a great all-around game, getting to the hoop, sinking threes, making the right pass.   20 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds, he showed us everything he had without Steph and did it alongside him in playoff conditions.   He showed out hard as a 16-game player.

I was less sanguine about Sideshow Podz, who seemed to have a sub-par game for him, particularly in the first quarter when he was missing shots (from the field and the stripe), turning the ball over, and threw a particularly ugly long pass at the end of the first.  He thought he was the White Harden out there, pounding the air out of the ball and launching a bad three.  But he did make a couple big ones, realized he'd better stop trying to take over, and somehow ended up with 17 points and a +10, second on the team only to Gui's +16.

That was really satisfying.
This is why you don't tank to avoid the play-in.
This is why you don't let the fear of Steph getting hurt stop him from playing.
This is why the trade for Porzingus is a definite win for at least this year.
This is why Santos and Podz' playing time down the stretch pays off.
This is why Steve Kerr knows what he's doing.

Go Dubs!  What a great win!

Golden State Warriors vs. Brooklyn Nets - season recap a little early (3/25/26)

 There are small bits of positive spin, if you want to look.

Last night the Warriors were headed into the last 10 games of the season with only two games on the schedule against tanking teams and a virtual lock to be in the lower half of the Western Conference play-in.   While some fans have been rooting for the Warriors to tank (Bad form, in my opinion), I'm fairly certain their thinking goes no deeper than "Worse must be better." 

But in reality, it buys them nothing.  There's nine games left now and the Warriors hold a six game lead over Chicago in the battle for 10th draft seed.  They're going to get 11 or 12 based entirely on play-in results, so the Tank Commanders have to root for them to lose twice in the play-in just to get a 0.32% advantage in a shot for a top 3 seed or 0.46% for a top 4, and there's only three blue-chip prospects.

So bottom line... anyone who roots for Warrior tanking for any game the rest of the season is just a loser and should be dismissed as such.

Turning to last night's game, we saw the Warriors trail a G-league team of Brooklyn Nets most of the game, but manage to catch up and win by 2 at the end.  There were definite highlights from Kristaps Porziņģis who is impressing not only with his play, but also his availability.   He's now played 198 minutes in 9 games with the Warriors (Sitting for 13) after playing 413 in 17 games with the Hawks (Sitting for 36).  So that's 9 MPG (counting team games, not just the ones he played) over 7.8 MPG for Atlanta.  Hmm, not as drastic as I imagined, but still better, considering the POTS-like disease was well-known and I thought trading JK for him was a total salary dump.

No, I'm interested in focusing on the growth of the Warriors' secondary players this year.   Gui Santos would have definitely been an odd man out if the Warriors stuck with a 10 man rotation all year.  What we've seen of him since he's gotten regular time has been a revelation, as well as a partial redemption of Bob Myers' post-Looney draft record, now that Gui and Ryan Rollins have emerged as bona fide players.

Gui scored a career high 31 points (previous was 22 on March 7) and he did it the way he's been consistently doing it:  Drilling threes and showing deft body control and maneuverability near the hoop.   I'm not sure how to evaluate his defense, but by Defensive Win Shares he's 4th on the team this year.  The Warriors had a big need for someone with this size and ability, not to mention his high-energy play, and lo and behold, he's already on the roster.  It's like Peter Gabriel leaving Genesis and finding out that Phil Collins can sing.

The other guy who deserves respect is Brandin Podziemski.   There has been a lot of resentment building up against Brandin, probably largely because of the minutes and forgiveness he got from Steve Kerr compared to Jonathan Kuminga.  He dug himself a hole in the preseason by answering the question "Do you want to be as good as Stephen Curry?" with "I strive to be the same or better than Steph," which is a definite sports interview no-no.  When you play with a legend, your answer has to be that there's no possible way, but you'll do your best to be all you can be.

Last night, Sideshow Podz did three things that stood out to me as examples of how his "Little things" matter.

1. He was driving through the key right to left and they know he always wants to shoot lefty, so they blocked him and he cut right and finished righty.  That's about the third time I've seen him finish righty this year which means that he is both aware of its importance and he's working on it.
2. He's starting to figure out how to get the shooting foul calls on offense.  He got a few calls that look like ones he didn't get earlier in the year.
3. In the 4th quarter there was a missed Warriors shot that looked like it was going to one of three Nets in the key, all jumping together.   Most guys just get back on D in this situation, but Podz ran in there, reached high enough to tip it and it bounced off a Net to go out of bounds for a stolen possession.

These things are hard if not impossible to see in the stats, and they're the kinds of things that prove he is trying hard in every aspect of the game, and continues to work on all of it.  That's why I like him, even if he has less talent than the next guy.  He is trying to be the best he can be.

And although he's out for the season, Moses Moody has progressed this year.  His three-point percentage went up from a consistent 36-37% to 40% this year, and that showed linear improvement every month except December, and January continued the line as if December followed suit.   

One more shout out for the not-so-young Gary Payton II who has now made his last 16 shots: 5 for 5 last night, 8 for 8 the last game, and he made his last three in the game before that. He's been so consistent in recent months and provides game that the rest of the Warriors lack. 

So, the bottom line is that playing to win has demonstrable  value and playing to tank does not.  Even if this is a lost year and they make the playoffs (guaranteeing a mediocre draft pick) but get run, that will still mean they made the playoffs in three of the past four years, including the second round twice.   It wasn't that long ago that was a dream scenario. 

Think positively, DubNation.  Don't cost nothin'.

Golden State Warriors @ Houston Rockets (3/5/26)

Incredible short-handed win against the highly favored Rockets in their crib!

 Since Steph got hurt, and even more so since Kuminga was traded, this team has had games so full of life and energy that I find myself saying late "This is a great game" even though the outcome has been highly in doubt.  The wins over the Suns, the Nuggets, and the first win over the Grizzlies have been frenetic, energetic affairs with the explosion of joy that comes with emerging victorious.

Tonight they were missing a huge chunk of players to injury.  Not only Butler and both Currys, but Moody, GP2, Richard, and Porzingus.  They basically went out there with Sideshow Podz, Dray, Melton, Horford, and five guys who have spent time in the G league in the past year or two.  The Rockets are at full health (except for Van Vleet, out for the season like Jimmy) and Durant has been on a tear.   

But surprisingly, the Warriors led from the jump, and held that lead (except for one tie) until late in the third.  I had always been waiting for the Rockets to take over and assert dominance, particularly from Durant, who was pouring in his unstoppable jumpers casually, like he was just going to wait until it mattered to end it.

What was more amazing was that they were doing it without anyone getting really hot, certainly not hot like Reed Shepherd on the other team who poured in a game-high 30 points, including six sweet threes.  Steph really needs a guy like that to take some heat off.   

But the Warriors did not fold, and kept see-sawing leads in the fourth, and after an offensive rebound got passed around and sent to Horford in the corner to sink a three, it looked like the Warriors were going to either win or tie because they had the ball with about 20 seconds left and the game tied.  But they couldn't get anything going and Kerr smartly called a time out to get one last inbounds play to end it.  But nobody could break free and Gui hucked it up near the rim, giving Horford a chance to catch and put it in from about six feet.  He couldn't handle it, and it's possible Podz screwed up the catch by going for it too.  

So it's on to overtime, and it stays close until Podz nails a three over Sengun with the game tied, then the next time down he gets the ball and drives past Durant to dunk it in for a 5-point lead and about a minute left.  Seems like that would have ended it, but Amen Thompson pulled off a nice steal from Melton and took it the other way.  KD only needs to improve his free throws to have a 50-40-90 season and as fate would have it, he screwed up at the line.  When he had three shots (on a questionable foul on Melton... I didn't even see contact except a slight hip touch on his way up) he missed the third.  Then when he had two shots and needed to hit the first and miss the second he did it backwards... missing the first, and then accidentally banking in his intended miss.  Then the Dubs just had to run out the last five seconds or go to the line to seal it, and they managed to play keep away for a delicious win in front of the fans who really hate them.  The Warriors are 6-0 in postseason series against them, and today's upset has to really stick in their craw.  115-113 final.

I admit, I still like beating Sengun, who is a good player, yes, but just bully balls too much for my liking, and is always looking for foul call, even when Horford tracks him down on a breakaway and gets all ball from behind.  Plus he tried to back Post down once late and QP pushed back hard.  Sengun missed the hook.

Let's talk about specific players.

 

Brandin Podziemski played what Kerr called his best game of the year, scoring a team high 26 points with nine rebounds, five offensive.  He only had one assist, but it was a sweet ATO where he drove the lane and when Sengun collapsed on him, Dray went backdoor and Podz hit him for an easy layup.  And these were not empty stats... so many of his buckets and boards came at key moments.  Podz haters are just going to have to shut up and eat it, because he's been legitimately good, scoring in double figures in 19 of his last 24 games and pulling down 61 rebounds in the last six games!  And Steph hasn't even been on the court to make it easier on him!

Al Horford has been playing great for awhile now and tonight was an amazing game on both sides of the ball.  He had 17 points (3 threes) with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, and two big blocks.  It also seemed like he won every tip, especially the critical one over the taller Jabari Smith after the foul on KD was reversed with 20 seconds left in regulation.

Draymond Green did not screw things up with turnovers and missed shots, both only two.  Instead, he personally defended KD whenever possible and was on both ends of some sweet passes for layups several times.  Draymond played like we expect when the pressure and big lights are on.

D'Anthony Melton continues to be the guy who cannot be denied access to the hoop and scored 23.  He made up for his touch foul on KD late by getting the second offensive rebound off his miss and putting it back in before he came down.  

Gui Santos had "only" 14 points (none threes) along with six rebounds, six assists and he turned it over seven times.  But I continue to be impressed with his energy and his patience down near the hoop.  He made a wrong foot layup high off the glass on continuation after Shepard fouled him, and it had such touch.

LJ Cryer, two-way player, played 20 minutes, partly to give Melton a break, but he was a sharpshooter extraordinare.  He went 4 of 8 from deep, but it felt like he was hitting all the key ones.  That's gotta feel good.

Steve Kerr has also been taking undeserved grief.  All these close and late wins have Steve's fingerprints all over them, whether they are ATO plays, surprising but functional matchups, or whatever he does to pull the energy out of these guys.  They are committed to Kerr ball, and it's beautiful.  I particularly noticed tonight that there were a lot of drive and kicks, but they weren't fake drives that were intended to kick out all along.  I like seeing that.  The Warriors did not depend on gunning threes tonight, and it paid off with killing the Rockets in paint points, while the Rockets were tied or better on every other key team stat. 

Great fun, Warriors!  The heart and development we're seeing is both entertaining and a good investment in the future.  We may be out of the real hunt, but this is far from boring. 

Golden State Warriors v New York Knicks (1/15/26)

The previous few games were decently covered in the Athletic, though at a more traditional newspaper level of detail.  But this one was not, so here we go...

Last night the Knicks took a 31-14 lead in the first quarter and it was a test for Warriors fans:  Are you confident or scared?   I have long maintained that the greats in Bay Area sports history give you confidence in the big moments, even in spite of growing up in the 1970s and "learning" that the home team was going to find some way to lose.

Now the Knicks were missing Jalen Brunson after he twisted his ankle just dribbling the previous night against the Kings, and the Knicks were on a back-to-back night on the road.  But we've seen this year's Warriors team fold behind big deficits, go cold and stay cold from the field, and chase to close the gap late but fall short.   It could go either way.

Fortunately, it went the good way.  The Warriors rallied to get back within five by the first quarter buzzer, tied it with one of Moody's many threes (Nice to see one of our guys do that again) with 8:42 left in the second quarter, take a 62-59 lead at the half, and never trail by more than one the rest of the way on the way to a 126-113 non-clutch victory.

I have observations to share, but the biggest takeaway for me is how good Jimmy Butler is.   Just watching him play is fascinating, as he has the kind of athleticism that Barry Sanders had - just a slight hint that he's going one way gets the defender to bite, and then he goes the other way under complete control.  How many times have we seen him lay it in with no hand within four feet of blocking him because the defender went the wrong way?  Or more accurately, because there is no right way; Jimmy can go the other way no matter what.  

 Then he does stuff like follow his own miss and putting it back or tipping it in, which takes so much athleticism when he has to bounce back from the position he was in after missing to beat one or more guys who didn't.  And he gets fouled often, giving the Warriors points, a breather, and one more step towards the bonus.  

Jimmy finished with 32 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, no turnovers, and 1 foul for a +15.  He's played 37 of 41 games this year, which is a 74 game pace that he's only topped three times in his career, the last being 2012-13 with the Bulls.  He's given them the best non-Steph minutes since Durant.  How happy does Steph have to be that he can rest on the bench without anxiety?

That was a trade that was questioned (yes, even by me) that has only come up roses.  Sorry Heat and Wolves fans... you're just going to have to keep hoping we'll be disappointed. 

Observations

1. Sideshow Podz had another excellent game with 19/5/2 for a +22 in 25 minutes.  We had just been talking about his hook shot when he sidestepped into the lane and made one.  The announcers called it "An LA Fitness" move, joking that it's old crafty guys who take that shot.  He also hit two rainbow jumpers at the shot clock buzzer from the right baseline, one a three and one not.  Then he caught a couple of TD passes for layups near the end when the Knicks threatened to get close.
2. Stephen Curry is such a complete player.  He not only makes every kind of shot (including circus), his defense has gotten so good that no one tries to pick on him any more.   He makes steals with quick, anticipatory hands, keeps guys away from their attempted shots with quick feet, sets great screens, and makes passes downcourt that are on the money.   Always a joy to watch.
3.  OG Anunoby is a goddamn force of nature.  A guy that big, strong, and fast who wants to get to the hoop is a freight train.  But when OG's unstoppable twos are answered with Steph's unstoppable threes, say goodnight Dick.
4.  Jimmy's braids are back.   He's our fashion icon too.  I mean, competing with Steph's shoes, that is.
5. Refs did a good job.  I can't think of any truly blown calls, and I agreed with all their review decisions. 
6. Great shooting night from Moses Moody, going 7 of 9 from three for 21 points.  It really highlights what an asset he is when his shots are going down and also what an essential piece of his puzzle that is.   
7. A little too much Bad Dray last night.  He deserved that flagrant for grabbing KAT by the ankle.  He was 1/4 shooting (all threes) and passed to the corner for one of Moody's two misses instead of finishing.  And he made low percentage passes in the key that got picked off twice.  More below.

This might seem unrelated, but the great thing about Joe Montana that you can't tell from just highlights is that he always put the ball exactly where it was supposed to go.  If a receiver ran a good route, the ball would be right where his arms naturally go, away from any defenders, and a catchable ball.   Lesser QBs will much more often miss the spot, either by location or timing, or put up balls that the receiver has to "Go get," meaning they have to beat the defender to it.  

Dray makes too many passes that either aren't going to make it, or require something special from the guy trying to convert.   It's not that he never makes those great Joe Montana passes, but if he could just stick to those and not try the others, he'd be better.   And I do think a player's degree of aggression and risk-taking are conscious choices, even in a split-second. 

That's it for me today.  What's everyone else got?

Golden State Warriors v Milwaukee Bucks (1/7/26)

The Warriors actually won a game without making it a clutch game or using more than 10 players.  What versatility!  😁

Five observations

1. This was the coming out party for the De'Anthony Melton we've been hoping for.  Melt scored 22 points with five threes and was a pest on defense.  I also loved when he hung out on top near the end of the 3rd and despite being hot from deep he drove down the middle of the lane for a layup.  The turnaround two at the shot clock buzzer in Q4 was just rubbing it in.
    
2. Jimmy led the charge in the early fourth and kept the Warriors comfortably ahead without Steph or Dray on the court. Then when Dray came on, it worked fine.  It is really nice to have a strong leader in the non-Steph minutes.
3. Quinten Post showed three different ways he can score... besides the three he also made a two-dribble drive for a layup and an unblockable hook from the middle of the paint.   
4. Ryan Rollins still looking good, logging 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.  He's looking like he'll be the best drafted ex-Warrior.  There had to be one.
5. Steph Curry's still the greatest show on hardwood.   12 for 21 for 31 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds!  He also was a three-level scorer and last night he came out of the gate hot.  When he doesn't have to carry the team and can just play freely... watch out!

That's 7-3 in the last ten games with the Kings and Hawks coming up.  It's a good part of the season to make a move. 

Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Clippers (1/5/26)

Last night's game vs. the Clippers in their fancy Intuit Dome was heavy on drama.  It'll be remembered for the refs completely missing an obvious goal tending call on a GP2 bunny followed by Steve Kerr getting two technicals and an ejection for going ballistic about it.  In the end, the Warriors had the ball with the clock stopped and six seconds and a chance to run a play where any FG would win.  Steph had already fouled out, and the play was for Jimmy to go one-on-one and take a shot with everyone else crashing the glass for a put-back.

Unfortunately, Jimmy airballed it, and contrary to Fitz wisdom, not all airballs go to the offense.   

Nick Friedell's coverage in the Athletic was similar to his coverage of many recent games:  focus on the microcosm of the ejection and throw in a few lines about the rest of the game.   Here's my comments about said rest of game:

• I've complained a lot about the Warriors' poor shooting from the field AND Draymond throwing up too many bricks from three, and this was no different.  They just can't start a game hot.  The game started with no Warriors buckets even though Moody had two steals.  Dray missed three shots from deep right off the bat.  He wound up missing six in the game and hitting none.   I will say again:  He should stop shooting threes as soon as he's missed three more than he's made.
• Having said that, the rest of this game was not bad.  Dray scored when he drove to the rim (once coast-to-coast), and he logged 2 steals 5 rebounds and 12 assists while committing only one turnover.   He's just got to stop taking threes when he's missing. The Clippers were just giving him those shots and he was suckered in.
• Turnovers were how the Warriors stayed in this game.  They picked up the swarming trick from OKC, especially on Kawhi, and finished the game with 18 steals!   More of that, please!
• Lots of good ball and player movement through the paint.  I particularly liked one where Melt came through for a pass and threw up a reverse layup from out in front of the hoop.
• The scoring drought in the third quarter killed 'em.  They got a few points from Jimmy and Steph free throws, but just could not hit from the field.
• Gui Santos came in and good things happened again!   Six points, two rebounds, and an assist for a +13 in 12 minutes.  Kerr played 12 guys and again it worked well.   DNPs were Spencer, Hield, and Kuminga.

It's frustrating to lose when this team needs a run and is so close to getting one.  I started a poll in the Athletic about what people would do if they were Dunleavy looking at the trade deadline.  Check it out and vote here. 

---

What I feel like calling out is that Gary Payton 2 continues to have positive impact on these games.   The guy many people said they'd be happy to see thrown into a trade has gotten his bounce back and is dealing!  Last night he had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a block, and no turnovers.  I particularly liked this one play where was in the corner and snuck around out of bounds to zip back in under the hoop where Steph found him from the top of the key for a dunk.  

GP2 over the past six games has 49 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal and 5 blocks while playing 84 minutes.  Over the same period, Will Richard (who everyone loves, including me) has 46 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists, 9 steals and 1 block in 131 minutes.  Will obviously has a brighter future with the Warriors, but I feel like GP2 is playing great and getting largely ignored.   

I mean, it's not just 49 points... it seems like all of them are either layups, dunks, or threes, the statistician's trifecta.   And all of that are things he's doing on his own... the Warriors never run any plays for him.  These are plays that save the possession.   Good on you, Gary!

Golden State Warriors v Utah Jazz (1/3/26)

 The Warriors hosted the Jazz last night, and can I just say that it's long past due that they change their team name?  It made sense for the five seasons they were in New Orleans, but they should let the Pelicans have it and choose something else more worthy of Utah.  Arches?  Mormons?  Something!

 The Jazz came out firing last night, and while we got a deep drink of the talents of Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen, it still always felt like we should see the Warriors flip the switch and run away with it.  That finally happened in the third quarter when Steph did a Curry Flurry and scored 20 in the quarter!  They went from seven points down at the half to two points up after the quarter.

And then came the Jimmy Unit... No Steph until 4:xx minutes left in the game.  So a group with Jimmy, Sideshow Podz, Moody, Post, and Little Richard ran the lead up to 11 and looked pretty good doing it.   My favorite play had to be Jimmy backing down his defender, taking a turnaround from about seven feet.  He missed, but Podz was the inside rebounder and beat two Jazz to the ball, whereupon he took one step into the key and sidearmed it to the corner for Richard to hit a three.  

What is it about the Jimmy  unit that works?  Which are the right pieces?  It looks like Steve likes Draymond and Gui out there with Steph, but I'll be paying closer attention to who the best court partners are for Jimmy.  Probably one of you who looks at plus/minus by lineups already does it.

Just a word about Draymond's ejection, as it seems like some Warrior fans are joining the chorus of the haters to move him.  Objectively, he still has some game, albeit diminished from his peak.   I don't think he has great trade value because of his decline and obviously unique fit with the Warriors.  The best future success for Dray would include focus on keeping the turnovers and techs to a minimum, and if that diminishes the rest even further, that's OK.  Does anyone even mention his assists last night?  He threw some doozies.  Since I always said I thought he had more self-control than it seems, I'm sticking with it.  He just has to want it.

----

OK, I haven't run through the other Warriors talk, so I don't have tidbits to share, but I did want to make sure everyone knew about Eric Apricot's "Explain One Play" series.  Eric was part of a large contingent on "Golden State of Mind" when that was the best Warriors talk on the Internet.  At some point several years back, there was a split opinion on direction by the leaders and the bulk of them went on to form DubNation HQ, which really has some excellent chatter.  

Eric went with them, and continues to do his excellent video series on YouTube.  This not only breaks down Warriors plays, but is funny as hell.   But rather than point you to a YouTube search, I'm going to share with you the "secret" index he's compiled.   He stopped keeping it up until I pointed it out once, but it looks like he stopped again.  My guess is a little click traffic could inspire him to update it again.  

Golden State Warriors v Oklahoma City Thunder (1/2/26)

 Happy 2026!  I am soldiering on with post-game thoughts, partly because the Athletic isn't doing it, but also because I find that I like doing it.  I've kept a journal since 8/3/76 and there's a certain feeling of completion when I write about things that happened.  Onward!

The first game of 2026 was a home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kerr chose to rest Steph, Dray, Jimmy, and DeAnthony when they probably all could have played.  But they have a back-to-back with the badly mis-named Jazz tomorrow, so it's a bit of a "Fuck you" to the schedulers.  I'm just glad I didn't pick this game as my one guest game in a friend's awesome seats this season.  I'd have been pissed!

 As expected, it was an OKC rout.  But what was less expected was a genuine Warriors run to close the gap from 14 points to 2 featuring some inspired Warriors play from our middle tier players.  Sideshow Podz actually blocked Shai on his one-on-one drive to the hoop!  And in the next possession, Moody picked him at halfcourt and took it the other way.  Gui blocked Chet at the rim.  The ball movement looked good.

And then just as quickly as it came, it went.  OKC scored 19 straight points as the Warriors forgot how to score.  You could see how a good defense freaks players out, as they started rushing shots and missing close ones.  It was at least nice to see Al have a good day out there with the second team.  He finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and two blocks in 15 minutes.   That's the guy we thought we were getting.

----

I listened to a lot of Warriors podcasts, so I'm thinking for those of you who don't, it's a good idea to share the highlights.   Tom Tolbert's been doing a podcast/video podcast since leaving KNBR.  I've always liked Tom's take on things... it's always rooted from a professional player's point of view, and as such, his read is often right.   Also, he's an old friend of Kerr's since college, so Steve comes on frequently.

In this show on New Year's they talked about the value of moving the ball from side to side.   It used to be coaches would emphasize it, but now that there's metrics to show how productive it is, players are buying in.  Basically, the more you move the ball (and don't turn it over) the more opportunities there are for the defense to blow something or you get an advantage.   

Steve also confirmed what I had mentioned about the Jimmy offense... it's a deliberate rotation to put guys around him that he won't defer to.  It makes him take over.

He also talked about what happened with the Draymond dust-up.  Apparently Dray was talking to the refs, as he always does, and Steve was trying to get the team to huddle up.  He has to yell to get Dray's attention, and Dray assumes it's because of his bad turnover and says something snarky.  And then Steve fires back and it goes how it went.   

OK, that's it for today.  Not sure when I'm going to get to watch the Jazz game, but I will.

Golden State Warriors @ Charlotte Hornets (12/31/25)

Continuing on with game thoughts.   Now I only watched this after staying up for a fabulous new year's with Molly Tuttle, so it's going to be a bit more off the top of my head than previous notes.

The Warriors pulled off a glorious 132-125 win over the Hornets in Charlotte yesterday morning (10:00 West Coast time) and it felt a bit like a statement game.  

Let me put it another way; it felt like a vindication of Steve Kerr.   He's taken a lot of heat from fans about not having a consistent 9-10 man rotation, and for not playing young players, in particular Jonathan Kuminga, who remained on the bench.  And yet once again in this successful roadtrip his way works.  There's two ways I look at this.

The first is what I just mentioned - Strength in Numbers is working.  Last year felt so frustrating because with a wide selection of passable-to-good bench players, he would try to find the hot hand only to find that there wasn't one.  Players would just not perform unless the stars were carrying them and they would not turn their bad games into good ones.  

But now the bench guys are showing up and performing.   GP2 made another lefty drive like the other night, and sank an early three.  Gui Santos was a madman, particularly in the second quarter where he made three threes including a highlight play where he saved the ball going out of bounds, changed his original target to Melt, then got it right back to swish one.  And then Sideshow Podz continued his good string of games, ramping it up even further from three.  He had a sweet step-back early, almost Harden-like that will be very useful going forward.  Then late in the game he sank two big ones, the first while moving and jumping off one foot as the clock was about to expire.   Steve is doing a great job of mixing and matching and somehow pulling all the right strings.

The second aspect was just watching the style of play.  The Hornets have some tremendous talent.  Brandon Miller is an unstoppable wing, scoring 33 points.  Kon Knueppel scored 20 points from all over the court.  His performance and the recent Cooper Flagg one showed us what elite rookies look like.  But for most of the game (except their five minute burst in the third where they really looked like a team), the Hornet scoring came from isolation play - either a shot or a drive you can imagine them pulling off in any pickup game.  Sometimes they'd make a nice pass, but it was the kind that good players make when they play together.  

In contrast, the Warriors were always running the offense, doing their ball movement, split cuts, and backdoor passes.  It looked like they were going to win the game with the advantages of skill and a plan borne of experience, despite their obvious athletic inferiority.  And in the end, they did, though helped greatly by shooting well.  There are so many games this season that came down to making or missing shots, and in this game they were making them.  

Kerr deserves a ton of credit for this win.  He probably won't get it from a lot of people, but he gets it from me.  Also, Draymond was excellent, with 12 assists, two rebounds short of a triple double, and solid defense.  Steph we just take for granted, but he has to be relieved that 26 points was enough for a comfortable win.

Golden State Warriors @ Brooklyn Nets - 12/29/25

 This blog post has been written to prompt discussion about the game, as many readers of the Athletic have been disappointed at the recent editorial shift from game analysis to feature stories.  This is day 2 of them refusing to write anything about the game, or even the team at all.  Everyone is invited to comment here. 

I'm starting to think the Athletic started their weekly "NBA Rewind" as a strategy to give every team a little bit of coverage to create a poor substitute for giving every team regular coverage.  It's like they decided the way to address inequity was to make the better team service worse.

It's time to call them on it.

Many Observations

1. The Nets game was the proper unfolding of the finish compared to the Raptors game, which was apparently held in the Upside Down.  The Warriors had the 8 point lead late in the 4th, but instead of the Raptors bringing on the pressure and getting the turnovers, it was the Warriors.  Kerr went with the most athletic lineup he had, finishing with Melton, Richard, Butler, Jackson-Davis, and Curry.  Shout out to Fitz who made the observation earlier in the game that the Nets also had a turnover problem.
2. In fact, it was a pretty good game from the Warrior announcers.  Fitz made many interesting observations on the fly, including the Nets doubling Steph as soon as he crossed halfcourt and the synchronicity of Jimmy and Pat playing together. 
3. Having said that, Fitz still loves his favorite tropes, including attributing the other team's good shooting as an aberration and that Steph gets the worst whistle in the world.  While I didn't like those Steph buckets being taken away because they weren't considered continuation, Fitz's overreaction to it was pure hysteria.  Actually, Kelenna seems to be the honest one in terms of calling it honestly when they watch replays.
4. Two big standout games:  the first was Trayce Jackson-Davis, particularly in the second quarter.   He went strong to the rim, both finding a way from being guarded tightly inside as well as driving in from the outside and finishing lobs.  He defended much better than Post did, and had six rebounds, two blocks, and an assist in 22 minutes for a +10.  And he was said to be playing sick?  Here's another game where a guy who would have been left out of a "consistent rotation" made critical contributions.
5. The second was DeAnthony Melton, who brought everything we've been hoping for except the long ball.   He went coast-to-coast for layups, had two steals, and led the play that sealed the game by blocking a jumper from the side/behind and then taking off for the other end while Jimmy grabbed the ball and hefted it deep without hesitation.  That made it 114-106 and ballgame.  
6. I also want to call out a play Melton made when the shot clock was running out and nobody seemed to want to take a contested shot.  He drove from the right wing through the key and shot an unblockable fallaway jumper from the middle of the lane about six feet out.  Sweet!
7. Last Melton point:  Buike Bifocals broke down an excellent highlight where Melton got screened out but Sideshow Podz made the right defensive rotation to take away a sure assist and when the pass changed to go for the corner, Melton had broken free enough to snatch it from the air. 
8. Draymond seemed to have a better game defensively, but he's also returning to his hot potato ways, zipping passes out for missed threes instead of finishing while he's under the bucket.
9.  It looks like other teams are watching Warriors film.  The always risky move of breaking the paint then making an outlet pass without really looking at the defense first got penalized badly with several pickoffs.  The Nets were looking for it.
10. The stats might not confirm this, but it looked like we got our best success treating the offense like two separate teams, alternately led by Steph and Jimmy.  The personnel even seemed to be matched up to support it.  I don't know what the history is of teams doing this successfully, but it's new for the Dubs in this era.  It's not the same thing as the second unit performing well... it looks like a total stylistic switch.
11. Michael Porter Jr. is a hell of an offensive force.   There's no way the Nets are going to find it appealing to trade him for anything with Kuminga in it unless that's just salary filler.
12. But having said that, Kuminga's continued lack of unexplained playing is starting to look like there's a deal in place already and it's better if he just doesn't risk injury.  (Shout out to Mikey who offered the same thought.)
13. There's an increase in verbalized interest in trading for Nic Claxton, but nobody's brought up the point that the Warriors took Jordan Poole three picks ahead of him.  JP might have been more valuable for 2022, but Nic is the long run winner.
14. Another bouncy GP2 game.  Early in the game he hit a tough transition layup (lefty high off the glass), a corner three, and a dunk.  Strength in Numbers!
15. Steph only played 12 minutes in the first half and stayed under 30 minutes!  Still Steph, scoring 27 points with 5 momentum threes.
16. I liked seeing Pat Spencer getting a couple buckets along with four assists, a steal, and a board in ten minutes.  

That's a sweet 16 observations.  What's everyone else got? 

Golden State Warriors @ Toronto Raptors - 12/28/25

 This blog post has been written to prompt discussion about the game, as many readers of the Athletic have been disappointed at the recent editorial shift from game analysis to feature stories.  If they really care about simpleton metrics like views and comments, then I don't want to give them a false view of success by doing what they aren't.  Everyone is invited to comment here.

This game falls into the all-too-common category of "Close one the Warriors could / should have won, but snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, once again.  The Warriors are now 6-11 in clutch games while the Raptors are 11-5.

Short recap:  The Warriors led for a long stretch halfway through Q2 up to early Q4 until the Raptors caught up and tied the game to take it to overtime, where they just continued their roll and dominated. I'm stealing Anthony Slater's format again, because he had the knack of highlighting what to take away from the game for fans who have been paying close attention.

Calling out some unconscious bias in the SF Superior Court

I just concluded serving on a jury in SF Superior Court on a criminal charge.  The most important thing to share is that it was a valuable experience and I came away with a high opinion of the behavior and integrity of the judge, the assistant district attorney, the City's defense attorneys, and our jury.  I think we all did a good job.

However, during jury selection, I started to notice a pattern that concerned me.   Asian potential jurors were being asked questions that seemed to me to be missing the point of what they were trying to say.   Soon after I suspected it was a pattern about Asians, the last four potential jurors were dismissed; all of them Asian.   I decided to approach the judge, and was asked to speak to the courtroom on the record after all the jurors had left.

At that point I explained my observation and gave three examples (see one below).  I also made it clear that I do not believe this pattern would have any effect on the justice in this case.  I just felt that after hearing about the importance of surfacing unconscious bias for two days that the court itself was exhibiting some, and it’s my responsibility to say something once I saw something.  I am pleased to say that the judge expressed appreciation that I would make this statement and that he and the lawyers all took my observations to heart, although of course I don’t know how valid they found them.  They asked if it would bias me against any of them (answer:  no, they all did it) and if it would bias me in the case (also no). 

After thinking about it afterwards, I realized that there is a common thread to the observations, and I’ve never really thought about this as an Asian perspective, but maybe it is. 

1.       1)  We like to follow the rules.  Most of ‘em weren’t made to be broken.

2.       2)  We don’t like to say we’re absolutely 100% sure about anything.

Several times people were asked if they were certain that they could not be affected by personal bias regarding the credibility of policemen, the gender of the defendant, the presumed guilt of an arrested person, the certainty of circumstantial evidence, or willingness to be swayed by the opinion of an admired fellow juror.   It is my inference that following the repetitive focus on being unbiased, they were uncomfortable with giving the impression of too much confidence.  So while many of us took your questioning to mean, “Do you think it’s realistic that any of your biases (and we all have some) would affect your interpretation of the evidence?” and were comfortable saying no, I suspect their interpretation was “Are you absolutely sure that this particular bias can never affect your opinion no matter what?” and said, “No.  How can I be absolutely sure?”   Following that admission of the tiniest doubt, they became fish in a pond.

I recognize that the lawyers have a right to issue peremptory dismissals for whatever reason they want, but I think both they and the judge fell into this trap.  I’m willing to surmise that if you review the list of all potential jurors that were dismissed by any party, you’ll find that a majority, if not strong majority of them were Asian.

I don’t think this affects the worthiness of the jury selected in this case.  I have no reason to believe that Asians have a different view about what is just.  But I think the SF courts need to be more aware of their biases in a city that is 35% Asian.

 

Example:
The lawyer asked a prospective juror "Do you think that being arrested makes it more likely the person is guilty?"  If you're a lifetime American, you know they want you to say, "No, being arrested is not evidence and we make our judgements based on credible evidence."

But this Chinese person interpreted the question as if they meant "Do you believe arrests are made with reasonable suspicion of guilt?" and said, "Sure, if you were arrested you were probably doing something."   

Perfectly logical, as arrests are not done randomly.  Certainly more people arrested are guilty of something than people NOT being arrested on the whole.  But she got bounced for that answer.

God ≅ Pi (Just a little after Pi Day)

 I was just talking with my daughter and her friend (both 11th grade) about pi and how surprising it is that the relationship between circles and lines didn't come out to a less irrational number.  I mean, everything else in math and computers seems to come down to 0, 1, or 2^x so 3.1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 und so weiter seems kind of like a test to see whether or not you'll buy it and therefore everything else the teacher's going to feed you the rest of the year.

Then I decided to offer this:   Pi makes no sense if you start from the point of wondering why there's pi.   If you start from the point that there has to be a number that mathematically relates lines to the size of a circle then you have reasoned correctly that there is one.  And just to reward you with a bit of consistency that math is so good at, that number is the same, whether you're looking for circumference, area, or volume.  It's just weird. 

And then I said that this explanation is a lot like the existence of God.  If you decide to start with someone's idea of God and test to see if it makes sense, it's pretty easy to punch holes in the definition.   But at the same time, at least there was a lot of thought that went into someone's answer to the biggest question(s) in the universe.  That's at least deserving of respect, if not belief.  

On the other hand, if you start from the point that there's power in the universe greater than what we already understand, you'd have to be either an idiot or imagination-constricted to claim that there is not.  The entire premise of the scientific method is that there are ways to approach defining new things that we didn't already know.   Of course, the limitation of the scientific method is that it fails if it cannot rely on consistency.

So therefore the question of God is not whether or not power greater than us exists, it's a question of how tightly we feel comfortable defining it, or at least part of it.  And like pi, it probably is not a simple number or formula.   It's more like an irrational number. 

Boom!   I've had one epiphany today.  I can just go get lit now... it's Saturday.

I checked back with the kids to see what they thought about that.   And I got another one of those reminders that some things in life are still as simple as 0, 1, or 2^x.   And it's that even a good and polite 11th grader knows that saying "Yes" and otherwise staying quiet is pretty good cover for thinking about something else entirely.

Full disclosure:  I stole this idea about defining God by deduction from a C.S. Lewis book my old girlfriend Nancy (the Baptist) asked me to read.  But I claim credit for the analogy to pi!

 There's this new sucker post going around Facebook with a surprising amount of takers:

I would like to thank Everyone for telling me how to do the bypass. I wondered where everybody had been!

This is good to know: It's ridiculous to have over 540 friends and only 25 are allowed to see my post.

It WORKS!! I have a whole new news feed. I’m seeing posts from people I haven’t seen in years.

Here’s how to bypass the system FB now has in place that limits posts on your news feed.

Their new algorithm chooses the same few people - about 25 - who will read your posts. Therefore,

Hold your finger down anywhere in this post and "copy" will pop up. Click "copy". Then go your page, start a new post and put your finger anywhere in the blank field. "Paste" will pop up and click paste.

This will bypass the system.

If you are reading this message, do me a favor and leave me a quick comment...a "hello," a sticker, whatever you want, so you will appear in my newsfeed

 

 This is the parody I just wrote:

I would like to thank Everyone for letting me know who still falls for the bypass. I wondered if anyone was left!

This is good to know: Nothing you post on your Facebook page does anything to change what shows up in your news feed. It is just text. Someone at Facebook would have to deliberately program everything you think happens! And it would be stupid because it would undermine the control they already have over your news feed.

It DOESN'T WORK!! I thought the general population was excusably computer ignorant when the mainframe in "War Games" just up and decided that tie games of tic-tac-toe meant it should override nuclear launch commands. But that was 1983 and relatively few people had computer exposure.

I was sure everyone would roll their eyes and ask "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" in 1996 when the humans in Independence Day defeated the aliens by writing a computer virus and copied it into their advanced alien spaceship because the aliens happened to have a port that was perfectly compatible with the plug the human spaceship has. Surely everybody already had a drawer full of cords that never fit the device they wanted! But no! Audiences were fine with it! And that code was so universal even computers from another galaxy executed it. ChatGPT isn't that good. That human still has a job!

It's not possible I'd be the only one in the theatre shouting, "Come on! Why is he still on the access list?" when Tom Cruise broke into the building to kidnap the telepath by using his old eyeballs in a bag in Minority Report in 2002. Surely by then SOMEONE involved in the movie would point out that we already know today how to revoke people's access even if you use retina scanners. By then every movie was being edited digitally on a computer. But NOPE! That weak hack worked not just once but TWICE! Nobody learned from the first break in!

I have a whole news feed with posts from people I haven’t seen in years falling for this incessantly repeated dumb trick.

Here’s how to protect yourself from any future attempts to make you look silly. Hold your finger down anywhere in this post and "copy" will pop up. Click "copy". Then go your page, start a new post and put your finger anywhere in the blank field. "Paste" will pop up and click paste.

This will let everyone know you're never falling for it again.

If you are reading this message, do me a favor and leave me a quick comment...a "hello," a sticker, whatever you want, so you will prove you already get it or get it now

[ Guess what? *That* might affect who shows up in your news feed! With love and the best of intentions from GBM, 8/15/23 ]

Don't Fear the Boogeyman - Ads have always been about information you should parse

There's a recent Opinion piece in the New York Times that further perpetuates myths about digital marketing that should have been debunked years ago.   

I disagree strongly with this article. And except for select parts, it could have been written 20 years ago.  I started working in the ad tech industry in 2000 at Mediaplex. As far as I know, we were the first people to come up with behavioral targeting, though being on the buy side rather than the sell side, we could only use it to select creative rather than the advertiser. I left in 2014, when it had frankly become mechanical and boring rather than an innovative frontier.

 

First of all, advertising in concept is no different from what it's always been. Advertisers try to reach interested buyers, or in the best case, create interest by showing ads to people they hope are interested.  People try to be clever and scare you by saying, "You aren't the customer, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT!"  As if we weren't ALWAYS the product!  The idea that they target people with certain preference or lifestyle choices is not new. Sports sections have always run stamina and baldness ads. The audience at Harper's Bazaar is different from the one at Field and Stream. This has *always* been a profiling game. 

 

Second, ads have always included advertisers who are misleading or exaggerated. "Buyer beware" is part of the deal. We all know this. Despite that, I have been very happy with online-ad driven purchases that have alerted me to concerts I want to see as well as some products like the Grateful Dead metal logo that is now on my new car, or a free custom photo book that they usually charge $150 for but wanted me to try them out.

 

Third, and this is the one that people really don't want to admit, is that advertising is the tool that provides free content. Ads always paid most of the freight for newspapers and magazines. It was less obvious when it was a subsidy, and you still had to pay a subscription price. But the reason newspapers are dying isn't because you can read the news for free. It's because Craigslist and the like absolutely killed the value of want ads. It's another unintended consequence of the Internet, and Craigslist does no banner ads or targeting.

 

People have grown up with the Internet thinking that reading anything you want or using Google Maps or having an email address are all free because the Internet is a technology that makes them free. That is a COMPLETE LIE people like to tell themselves. Those things are free BECAUSE someone else is willing to pay for them. And those people are advertisers. 

 

People complain about compromised privacy, but if you make access to content "Free" if they'll only surrender some, they can't wait to click "Yes." We saw the same thing 30 years ago when people would give their personal information to anyone who would give them airline miles.

 

The true downside risk of the industry to society are these:

 

1) Advertisers are happy to target ads at stupid people because their money is just as green. Technology gives them greater ability to find the bigger fool.

 

2) The same technology can be used to manipulate the spread of fake news to the audience that wants to eat it up. Stupid people again... see point #1.

 

3) The technology only stops short of knowing people's actual identities with names by convention and compliance. There is the possibility of bad actors looking to do more than just sell products or swing an election. THIS is something worth focusing on.

 

If you're a teacher, fireman, or musician and you meet someone who asks you what you do for a living, it's easy to have a conversation about that. 20 years ago, when I told people I worked in Internet Advertising, they'd have one question before the conversation died: "So are you responsible for those annoying pop-up ads?" 35 years ago if I told them I wrote software for the phone bills, their one question would be, "Can you give me free phone calls?"

 

At this point, I have little sympathy for the fears of people who are suddenly freaked about what a big threat digital marketing is to the fabric of society. My own wife tried to use a Netflix special to claim more expertise than me in this area a few years ago and I asked her if she even understood what I did for a living for 15 years. Because I sure understand a lot more about what the psychotherapist experience is after being married to her for 20.

Speedy Chef Dude

 I, like probably many of you, managed to do a lot more cooking and therefore improving since COVID started.   I have been cooking for at least half my weekly meals since I went out on my own 35 years ago, but it hasn't been until recently that I've felt comfortable winging it in the kitchen outside of stir-fry and pasta-based dishes.

So I thought I'd share today's makeshift lunch as an example of my process and principles, in case anyone else is thinking about making the jump.  

First, there are certain things I always have on hand for makeshift meals:  brown rice, dry pasta, dry Chinese soup noodles, and frozen meat.  I took out a bag of Costco organic drumsticks this morning to thaw.   Then at 12:30 when I wanted to eat, I realized I didn't want to wait the usual 35+ minutes to bake them.  So this is what I did:

1. Turn on the toaster oven to 380 to pre-heat.
2. Put a cast iron pan on the gas stove and lit the burner.
3. Cut open the bag of drumsticks, washed off two of them, and then sprinkled some Shaloob seasoning (original flavor) on them, rubbing it in all over.   I discovered dry rub only about 10 years ago, but it's much easier to use than marinade because there's no soaking time.
4. Wrapped the chicken in a paper towel and put them in the microwave for 90 seconds to get the frozen all gone and the inside cooking started.
5. During that 90 seconds I put high smoke point oil (sunflower, probably a little more than a tablespoon) in the pan and threw in some pre-minced garlic.
6. The pan and oil were almost sear-ready when I threw the chicken in.   So that's some time saved by overlapping activities.
7. I let them sear, turning every once in a while with tongs, and adding a little more Shaloob.
8. After a few minutes of that, the oven was ready and I threw them on an open rack in there.  That cut my overall cooking time in about half and the first two cooking stages happened during time I'd have to wait anyway.
9. During the 10 minutes or so in the oven, I cut up some onion and threw it in the pan.   I used the spatula to make sure all the remaining burned bits got freed from the pan.   Then I added some day old steamed brown rice from the fridge, and a cut up cherry tomato that my wife wanted gone.  Then I threw in about a tablespoon of butter to add to the flavor and replace the oil.
   
10. Pulled the chicken out of the over, tested it for an internal temperature of at least 165, and then plated everything.

Voila!   Ready in less than 20 minutes and delish!   The only things that got dirty were the pan, tongs, spatula, fork, plate, and the surface under the chicken while seasoning.   I even used my napkin from eating to wipe out the pan and leave it seasoned, which I don't always do.  And it was cheap... 50 cents for each drumstick; almost negligible cost for everything else. 

I told my wife about it (because I had just invented that strategy to shorten the chicken cooking time) and she thought it should go on a blog.   I'm not starting a blog, but I'll add this post to the one I've got!

I didn't think of taking a picture of it, so here's a shot of a steak dinner I made last week with a similar amount of effort, except I marinated it:

I had not learned the proper searing technique until doing this one, but the Internet told me to get the pan as hot as it gets first... so turn it up to 11!

Comments and your stories welcome!

A Fond Farewell to Hammering Hank Aaron

 

Have you ever tried to remember how old you were when you had a lot of experiences and feelings you still can recall today? How does everybody remember the landmark year when you became more aware of the world outside of your direct experience?

For me, it was as an 8 year old. Dad took me to my first professional sports game, Giants vs. Cardinals at Candlestick Park on July 3, 1971. He got me interested in playing baseball, and he taught me how to learn to play well and subsequently have a discipline to learning any sport. I feel like I can set time markers for every range of 4-5 years since then based on what was going on in sports.

 

Starting last Spring, baseball players I learned about first who were still active started passing away. Glenn Beckert in April. Tom Seaver and Lou Brock in September. Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, and Joe Morgan in October. Richie Allen and Phil Niekro in December. Don Sutton last week, and now Hank Aaron today. As far as I know, COVID isn’t being cited for any of them except Seaver.

 

Hank was already a living legend in 1971. Willie Mays, everybody’s local hero was ahead of him in home runs, but ironically, his fall from greatness started right about the time I started following the game. Everyone said it was Hank who had the best shot at getting to 715 and breaking the career home run record of the biggest dead legend in baseball, Babe Ruth. Hank never hit 50 home runs in a season but it was ridiculous how consistently he’d hit around 40. I got to see a lot more of Hank than Willie, because Willie was traded to the Mets in May of 1972, and it was always the Braves, Padres, or Astros playing when the Giants held their promotional games, like Bat Day or Fan Appreciation Day. 

 

Dad liked Hank because he always liked players who performed excellently, but were not showy about it. “Speak softly, but carry a big stick” has a particular metaphorical resonance with baseball. Hank seemed to be a quiet guy. You’d never see him making headlines for saying something or arguing with anybody, and I don’t remember seeing any interviews. Baseball would promote Willie because he ate it up, but Hank was a real lunch pail guy. Steady as sunshine in L.A.

 

We had heard about Hank getting a death threat as he closed in on 714. My memory might be shaky on when we learned what, but I remember having the sense that the Venn diagram of people who didn’t want him to get there had big circles for racists and Yankee fans and I don’t know how much overlap between the two. We certainly have learned a lot more since then about what kind of abuse black athletes have had to take in their lifetimes. Willie and Hank both played in the Negro Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, so we knew they went through many of the same experiences Jackie did. Jackie’s significance was well understood.

 

Hank did pass the Babe in April of 1974. A white guy ran on the field as Hank was rounding the bases and ran up to him with the intent to congratulate Hank. Security got him quickly, but you can imagine Hank wondering what was going to happen. He went and crushed 40 more and retired with 755… the new magic number my generation would revere. When Barry Bonds broke that record with the public very aware of steroids in his regimen and suspicious of even more, I could understand how people who weren’t Giants fans really would prefer he didn’t do it. The game stopped and the scoreboard showed a video of Hammering Hank himself congratulating Barry and as always, it was all class. 

 

Major League baseball recently said that they’re going to consider Negro League games official. So it would mean that Hank gets his crown back because that gets him over 762, which is what Barry finished with. Except for some reason, baseball will only count them through 1948, which was still before Hank's time. That seems like a weird place to stop, but I'm guessing they figured they had to draw the line somewhere before the Negro Leagues became the equivalent of the minor leagues and two years with the color barrier broken was it. Hank still holds the career record for RBIs, which is surprisingly not as widely known as you’d think. Rest in peace, Hammering Hank! You also have a legend that will never die.