Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Dodgers' Epic Season Collapse
How did the Dodgers go from possibly the best of all time to, right now, the worst team in the majors? https://t.co/FAnNoG7vfO pic.twitter.com/8agq2oTLUi
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 12, 2017
The first loss felt innocuous. On Aug. 26, a crisp, clear evening out at Chavez Ravine, there was no way Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could have foreseen the avalanche awaiting his team.More.
After getting shut out by the Milwaukee Brewers, Roberts wore a smile as he pulled up a chair at his postgame news conference.
“You’re going to have those nights,” he said. “We’ve got a good club.”
At that moment, the start of one of the worst stretches in franchise history, Roberts and the Dodgers stood atop the baseball world. The team had already won 91 games — the same number it won in all of 2016 — with a month remaining in the season. Their lead in the National League West was 20 games, and the primary concern was keeping the regulars fresh and settling the roster for an October playoff run.
The team entertained thoughts about making history: Challenging the major league record of 116 wins in the regular season, then snapping a 28-season World Series drought in October.
The best team in baseball. The sobriquet fit. Those were the 2017 Dodgers, the purported team of a lifetime, a group assembled by a high-powered front office, supported with the sport’s largest payroll, aided by strategic innovations, infused with a rare combination of stardom and depth, and imbued with a flair for the dramatic. No lead felt safe when the Dodgers came to the plate. Anything seemed possible.
Everything, except for what happened next. By losing 10 in a row and 15 of 16 heading into Monday night’s game at San Francisco, the Dodgers shattered the confidence of a fan base wary after four consecutive early playoff exits.
The pitchers have been pummeled. The offense has been silent. Yu Darvish and Curtis Granderson, the two stars acquired by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in July and August, have flopped. The losing has become constant, a counterpoint to a summer in which the team appeared incapable of it. And the Dodgers have three weeks to resurrect their morale.
With no answers in sight, fans have cast about for solutions. The explanations vary from the illogical (Roberts juggles his lineup too often) to the inconsequential (the arrival of Granderson hurt the team’s chemistry) to the supernatural (the team was cursed by a Sports Illustrated cover proclaiming “Best. Team. Ever?”).
The actual answer is something that cannot be solved by a ritual burning of a magazine or a campfire “Kumbaya” to build unity or a tough-love speech by a manager. The Dodgers have foundered because of diminished performances from the players they relied upon during their historic summer.
“It’s past the point of anger and frustration now,” All-Star shortstop Corey Seager said Sunday afternoon. “We have to go out and play better.”
The skid occurred in stages, building from a nuisance into a puzzle into a source of full-blown dread for fans and a source of lost sleep for team officials. Sometimes at night, Roberts joked over the weekend, he looks up at the ceiling and reminds himself what his team’s record is. He did not always sound this downtrodden.
After the fifth loss, on Aug. 31, which completed a three-game sweep by Arizona in Phoenix, Roberts offered perspective. The Dodgers had not experienced a three-game losing streak all summer. He was disappointed in his starting pitchers, but all teams, he reasoned, go through times like this. “We just have to turn the page,” he said.
After the eighth loss in nine games, Roberts looked resolute. The Dodgers had dropped three of four to the woeful San Diego Padres, but the manager crossed his arms and declined to overreact. “I can assure you, this won’t break us,” he said.
After the 12th loss in 13 games, Roberts bumped into a reporter outside the clubhouse at Dodger Stadium. The losing had gotten so contagious, even ace Clayton Kershaw was affected. Following another sweep by Arizona, Kershaw got pummeled by Colorado. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Roberts said...
Also, "Dodgers skip the champagne after their playoff-clinching victory they didn't know about."
Vast New Intelligence Haul Fuels Next Phase of Fight Against Islamic State
Vast new intelligence haul fuels the next phase of the fight against Islamic State https://t.co/LZIYajfG6K pic.twitter.com/I5x8Y9WM7p
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 11, 2017
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Today's Deals
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Lindsey Pelas Full Motion
👙 The incredible Lindsey Pelas in glorious full motion. Hit ❤️ if you'd love to wake up to this sight every morning 😮 #sexy #model #dance pic.twitter.com/PjBY9LJun7
— Man On (@ManOnToday) August 13, 2017
A Trump Presidency Damage Report
See, for example, Ta-Nehisi Coates, "The First White President."
Look for our latest issue online Tuesday, featuring cover stories from @jacklgoldsmith @EliotACohen and @tanehisicoates pic.twitter.com/JdffSeEtdk
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) September 8, 2017
Mexican Pride!
Posting this here cause FB banned me for 3 days over it 😂 pic.twitter.com/3voHZdHEtL
— Lauren Southern (@Lauren_Southern) September 10, 2017
Erin Heatherton
Erin Heatherton always knows how to make us laugh! https://t.co/hTltsQh6p3 pic.twitter.com/nfaz68CgrN
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) September 10, 2017
Dana Loesch
Live now! In your market or stream at https://t.co/AI5fToPM2X. #DanaRadio pic.twitter.com/9v6yrfU9oV
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 11, 2017
Is America Still a 'Nation of Ideas'?
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of solidarity? Is America Still a ‘Nation of Ideas’? https://t.co/v94Z1DEcUK via @politicomag
— Jed Purdy 🌹🌱🇺🇸 (@JedediahSPurdy) September 5, 2017
Monday, September 11, 2017
Yeehaw!
LAT's Mike DiGiovanna tweeted earlier:
Yeehaw! We have arrived at Sports Authority Field in Denver. pic.twitter.com/5lG3O7Qxg0
— Mike DiGiovanna (@MikeDiGiovanna) September 11, 2017
America, 16 Years After 9/11, More Divided Than Ever
See Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "IN THE LONG RUN, 9/11 DIDN’T BRING US ANY CLOSER TOGETHER."
And see Dana Loesch, on Twitter:
“I wish America could feel united again,” the repeat remark of every caller today. #DanaRadio— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 11, 2017
Die-Hards Hang On in the Florida Keys
As Hurricane Irma barreled into Key West, Peter Borch stood atop the oldest guesthouse in the city, a converted Victorian mansion built in 1880, to film the unfolding mayhem.More.
Storm gusts bent nearby palm trees nearly in half, stripping and scattering fronds down empty streets. The horizon was nearly obscured by a white wall of surf roaring in.
“The eyewall is about to hit here in Key West. No power. Trees down. No flooding,” Borch, 31, shouted to be heard over the wind.
Then he shifted focus to a porch below, where an older man sat, shirtless, sipping coffee from a mug, oblivious to the onslaught.
From initial reports Sunday, it appeared that the Florida Keys had taken a pounding but dodged the sort of catastrophic disaster that had been widely expected as Irma roared north out of the Caribbean. But there were reports of missing people, and fears for what might be found in the light of day on Monday.
Keys residents are a hardy, proudly eccentric bunch, accustomed to surviving storms. Many refused to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irma, including residents at the tip of the island chain in Key West known as conchs. The keeper of Ernest Hemingway’s historic home stayed put to care for his brood of six-toed cats. Watering holes like the Blue Macaw stayed open, offering a drink special called the “Bloody Irma” (five shots of Tito’s vodka). But as the storm descended Sunday, some denizens reconsidered and headed for shelters of last resort like a school on Sugarloaf Key. Others hunkered down, set up live feeds and promised to stay in touch.
One holdout filmed himself nearly getting washed away by storm surf striking the red and yellow buoy at the southernmost point of U.S. Route 1. Florida snowbirds and other island regulars posted queries online: How were the federally protected Key deer faring? Key West’s roaming roosters? Initial reports were good.
Then the power went out, cell service ceased and with it, the live feeds. Only those with satellite phones and land lines could stay in touch with the outside world.
Those at the Sugarloaf School were among the lucky few with a satellite phone, and used it to report that those sheltering there had survived the storm unscathed. Volunteer rescuers used an app on their cellphones called Zello to report what else they were seeing.
“I’m in Key West and we’re all right down here. I never do run from a storm,” said a man who identified himself as P.J.
Judy Cox searched online for signs of her friend, Borch, one of several Key West neighbors who decided to weather the storm.
She last heard from him at 9 a.m., about an hour after he posted his last video. She said he told her “it was windy and not a lot of flooding. Some trees down and no power since last night.”
Now, she was worried.
She had trouble reaching another friend, a boat captain, who was weathering the storm by Schooner Wharf, she said.
“Last I heard he was on his boat,” Cox said...
How Does Terrorism End?
On 9/11 anniversary, my @newyorker piece on how terror groups end: average lifespan only 8 yrs, only 5% "succeed." https://t.co/mQP5iaDecM
— Robin Wright (@wrightr) September 11, 2017
Delilah Hamlin
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Nearly 60 Percent of Florida Without Power as #Irma Moves North
Also, "Millions Without Power in Florida After Irma Lashing":
MIAMI — Millions are without power in Florida a day after Hurricane Irma swept through, bringing whipping winds, drenching rains, and coastal flooding to much of the state.More at that top link.
Early reports suggested Florida may have dodged the worst fears of the potential damage that the powerful hurricane could have delivered to the state of 20.6 million people. By early Monday Irma had weakened to a tropical storm as it moved over land on a path toward Georgia, but flooding worries remained in northern cities like Jacksonville.
About 62% of the state was without power—or 6.2 million customers—Monday morning, and cleanup crews were beginning to remove downed trees from roads while law-enforcement authorities escorted utility trucks to get the lights back on.
“Unfortunately we’ve got a lot of damage in our state,” Gov. Rick Scott said, speaking on CBS early Monday.
Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys Sunday morning as a Category 4 storm, before hitting Marco Island as it headed north toward Tampa Bay. It was the second Category 4 hurricane of the season to hit the U.S., after Hurricane Harvey hammered the Texas coast last month, flooding Houston and causing at least 50 deaths. Lixion Avila, senior specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said it is extremely rare to have two Category 4 storms hit in one season.
Unlike Harvey, which lingered for days while producing historic rainfall, Irma swept through, climbing up much of Florida’s Gulf Coast in about a day. While there were pre-storm worries that Irma could be the worst natural disaster on record, quick post-storm assessments suggested losses would be far below early fears.
On Monday morning, the remnants of Irma had cleared Miami. The sun emerged from the clouds, and a light breeze blew. Though the storm battered the region, the extent of the damage will become clear only after assessment teams conduct their surveys.
In the Brickell financial district downtown, waters that had risen 3 feet or more Sunday had retreated, leaving the ground caked with mud and crowded with debris. Toppled trees and downed power lines littered neighborhoods...
The Anniversary of 9/11
Click through and read it.