The Debate

September 28, 2016 • by Victor Mandalawi • In Life • 0

The debate between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton was on Monday evening. It was highly anticipated and it did not disappoint for many. I am sure for some it was a circus that was difficult to watch. So who “won” the debate? You will not be able to ever get a definitive answer, no matter how well polls are worded or given. People are very diverse and think in many different ways. If you can not find a winner, you can certainly look at the statistics of the debate and listen to the words of the candidates.

One of my favorite parts of the debate and the discussion that followed is that Melania Trump wore a dress valued at $2,645. Now that is alot of money to be sure, especially for a dress. However, is it any of our business what anyone wears? No matter the cost of her dress, I want to know what her husband will do to change our country. Did anyone write an article about how much Bill Clinton’s suit cost? If so, I did not see it.

It is a nice looking suit to be sure, but I could care less how much it cost. What I do love about this picture is the look on former President Clinton’s face. Of course, I would assume he is just smiling to be polite, there is no reason not to. However, it is hard not to make a wisecrack based on past instances. She is a beautiful woman so I would love to know what he is thinking at that moment!

So who won the debate? According to this article, Trump won. If you look closely though at the voters, you will see that 64% voted for Romney in ’12. That tells you it was a most likely Republican audience. I would assume so because 83% think Trump won. That is a very high number! If you look at this article, Clinton was a clear winner while Trump only had 27% of the vote. One poll has Trump at 83% and another has him at 27%. That is a massive difference and I am not sure I would take either poll very seriously.

One clear winner of the debate were the television stations. It was the most watched political event in history. A staggering 84 million people watched the debate. That number is surprising for a few reasons. One reason is because there are so many more things to spend your time on in 2016 than there were in any other year. Also, it is early in the fall and I would think that it will really heat up as the election nears.

No matter who you will be voting for or no matter what your thoughts are on Trump. You can not argue that he moves the needle. I am not sure if it is positive or negative, but he is a certain draw. How about him saying that he did not go after Clinton because he did not want to embarrass her. That is pretty funny and I am pretty sure that he would garner cheers no matter what he says. You wonder if people are actually listening to what he says at times. The next few months should be very interesting to say the least!

-Victor Mandalawi

Fantasy Football is fun, but at what cost?

September 22, 2016 • by Victor Mandalawi • In Life, Sports • 0

Fantasy Football is extremely popular. We have mentioned previously that an estimated 75 million people will play fantasy football this year. These numbers continue to grow every year and I do not see them slowing down. It seems that just about every news source covers fantasy football in some way. They may not want to, but they have to because it is powerful and drives readers/viewers. There are websites, tv shows, radio shows and even entire radio channels dedicated to fantasy sports. It is a huge business at this point and it drives quit a few entertainment dollars. A few negatives to fantasy sports would be the lack of following a team as closely and especially fantasy football, player injuries.

Many would argue that the NY Times is a trust-worthy news source, they cover fantasy sports. They pay someone to write the articles and do the research needed to recommend players that you should start, along with countless other fantasy topics. Of course news outlets like ESPN, Yahoo, CBS Sports all offer free fantasy football. Why would they spend so much money on developers, etc to offer a free service? They receive so much attention and traffic that they are able to monetize their fantasy offerings greatly.

One part of fantasy sports that I find to be really bizarre is injuries. Anyone draft Adrian Peterson early in the first round this year? I would assume that he was in most formats and now that he is out for the most of the year if not all, it has hurt many fantasy teams. They will be losing their best running back and player. This will hurt the chances of at least one team in every single fantasy league. Not that it is legal, but I would imagine a few dollars have been wagered on these leagues. So people, including myself have friendly wagers on coaches/players/teams that we have no control over? Seems silly, but it is a blast! Peterson is not the first and he wont be the last player to get hurt this year.

The terrible part about this is that a human being was seriously injured. We are only focusing on the loss to our fantasy team. His injury has major consequences for numerous people. It effects every player on the the Vikings that is looking to win the Super Bowl, it effects the coaches because their job relies on production. It effects the front office and owners in plenty of ways. The injury can also effect the fans. They paid their money to see a certain team and now that is in jeopardy because the star player is out. However, the person it effects most is Adrian Peterson. His job status depends on his healthy body. He has been a great player to watch over the years, I do not think this will end his career. At least, I sure hope not, I do not want to see a guy go out because of injury.

—-Victor Mandalawi

The Season is Winding Down

September 14, 2016 • by Victor Mandalawi • In Uncategorized • 0

Major League baseball seems to have a very long season. Many would say that is is a 162 game grind. However, those 162 game are spread over roughly 6 months. The season starts as early as 6 weeks prior in spring training. If you are one of the lucky few teams to advance in the playoffs, you could be playing into November. The season ends up lasting 10 months for a “lucky” team. That is a long season, but you play to win it all so I would assume most guys want to play that long. Over the course of those 162 games many storylines emerge. This season will be the last for Big Papi. Ichiro was able to get his milestone 3000th hit. Those are great stories, but the real story is the playoffs.

David, Big Papi, Ortiz has been a thorn in the side of his opponents. You would think they would want him to be done, but being a competitor you want to play the best. He is one of the best! According to this article he is having one of the best, if not the best final season of all time. Not many guys are able to put up the numbers he has at his age, not to mention any age. I am glad he is having a great final season, but I am not sure I want to see him go out on top.

Another all-time great player might be in his last year. Ichiro Suzuki passed Lou Brock for 25th on the all-time hit list last night. Earlier in the season, he was able to get his 3000th hit. It was a pretty fitting way for him to get his 3000th. He has had a great career and it really makes you wonder where he would have ended up on the all-time hit list if he would have played his whole career in the Majors, instead of spending some time in the Japanese league. I would think he would have given 4,000 hits a serious run and maybe even Pete Rose’s record number. Nevertheless, he will be headed to the Hall of Fame.

In the next few weeks you will have players making moves for individual awards. At this point, I do not think there are any locks for MVP, Cy Young, or Rookie of the Year awards. Most teams have roughly 20 games left, alot can happen in 20 games to influence those numbers. Many think Mike Trout is the best player in the game but he plays for a bad team, so he might not get the attention needed to gain votes.

The season is long and many great plays, great players, and great storylines emerge every year. However, most memories are made in the postseason. It will be starting in a few weeks and anything can happen if you make the playoffs. Can you imagine what the coverage will be if the Cubs win it all? We will soon see!

-Victor Mandalawi

Football is Back!

September 8, 2016September 14, 2016 • by Victor Mandalawi • In Sports • 0

Fall is very close and that means that your outdoor activities may change a little. The leaves will start to change and fall. Snow will start falling for many before you know it. There are plenty of things that people enjoy about Fall/Winter, my favorite is Football. I enjoy NFL football and NCAA football. Many hours are spent watching football in the Fall/Winter. College Football started last week and the first NFL game is tonight! That means that Fantasy Football starts as well and that is a great thing for many people.

Tonight starts the NFL season. The game will feature last year’s Super Bowl teams. However, one of the many changes will be that Peyton Manning will not be the QB for the Broncos. How will that change the Broncos’ chances? If you remember, the Broncos won the Super Bowl with a less than stellar Manning last year. So maybe they will not be losing much going with a new QB? According to the Las Vegas odds, it is a dramatic difference. So they went from winning it to being listed as the #14 team based on the odds. The Patriots have the odds on favorite to win it all even though Tom Brady will finally be suspended for the Deflategate saga. I do not even want to talk about that as it has been beat to death. According to the Vegas sportsbooks, the betting public likes the chances of the GB Packers. No matter who wins, it will be a long, fun season!

When Pro Football returns it also brings with it Fantasy Football. How popular is fantasy football? According to the NY Post, there were roughly 75 million people playing fantasy football last year. That number will not go down as it gets more popular every year. The article states 4.6 billion was spent on it, how much of that was friendly wagering? There are positives and negatives to fantasy football. The positives are that even women and children play and enjoy it and that can be a positive thing for families to enjoy together. It gets more people involved in the sport as well. However, people tend to root for players more than teams, so maybe teams are losing the die-hard type fan as the next generation cheers for players all over the league not just one team. That is just my theory though!

College Football started for most teams during the last week. College is great because a team that loses more than once may not have a shot to win it all, whereas, Pro Football teams can lose multiple games and still have more than a fair shot at winning it all. Week one saw many things happen to highly ranked teams. Alabama stomped USC, LSU lost to Wisconsin, ND lost to Texas, and Florida St completed a great comeback on Monday evening. The College season is a true roller coaster as things like this happen every week.

No matter what you prefer, either type of football will carry you through the fall and into Winter. It will make being inside a little more tolerable for many. Even if you are not a huge fan, the statistics tell us that many are enjoying football through fantasy. No matter what your thoughts are, it is just great to to know that football is back!

Victor Mandalawi