Enough of Trump!

As of 10 p.m. on December 30, 2020, there are 518 hours remaining of Donald Trump's presidency. It can't end soon enough for me. 

After high noon on January 20, 2021, I hope he'll take his self-pardon, leave town and fade away. Period. 

After four torturous years of his presidency, watching Trump's antics another hour -- even if he's suffering! -- doesn't interest me all that much. So, if watching him face the music means I would have to look at him ... well, I'd rather not. 

You see, I've really had enough of Trump. And, I think the USA will be better off breaking its Trump habit. Consequently, after he's out of the White House, my hope is that the mainstream corporate media will finally wise up, do its duty, and make it a policy to ignore the son-of-a-bitch. That simple change would start shrinking the evil monster the media once did so damn much to build up -- so he could make plenty of easy-to-gather news that drew lots of attention.  

Hey, all of Trump's future schemes to stay in the public eye and raise money depend heavily on him being able to continue to steadily feed stories to the media that will grow legs. Yet, news stories about how great he is, or how foolish he is, or how terrible he is, all serve to buff his celebrity status. 

However, a serious national movement to boycott all media that focus on him/promote him would eventually finish off the dangerous threat he is to our pursuit of happiness. Here's the truth: Without the press keeping a spotlight on this monster, he will shrivel like a drenched wicked witch.

Enough of Trump!

-- 30 --

-- Words and art by F.T. Rea

 

Rams Coast to Road Victory: VCU 80, St. Joe's 64

Final Score: VCU 80, Saint Joseph’s 64

Location: Philadelphia, Pa. (Hagan Arena)

Current Records: VCU 8-2 (1-0 A-10), Saint Joseph’s 0-6 (0-1)

 

The short story: Junior small forward Vince Williams scored a career-high 17 points, while VCU forced 25 turnovers on the way to an 80-64 win over Saint Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both schools.

 

OPENING TIP

·      Williams played a complete game. He connected on 6-of-11 shots from the field an added seven rebounds and three assists.

·      Four other Rams scored in double-digits. Freshman point guard Ace Baldwin provided 12 points, four rebounds and four steals, while senior Levi Stockard III, junior KeShawn Curry and freshman Jamir Watkins added 10 points each

·      Dahmir Bishop led all players with 20 points for Saint Joseph’s

 

THE DIFFERENCE

·      Baldwin sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a triple from Watkins to fuel a 17-0 VCU blitz over an eight-minute stretch in the first half that provided the Rams with a 29-22 lead

·      VCU forced a season-high 25 turnovers and turned them into 29 points

·      The Hawks hit four straight 3-pointers to storm to an 18-8 lead in the game, but shot 3-of-20 from long distance the rest of the way

·      Saint Joseph’s shot .321 (9-of-28) in the second half

·      VCU shot .464 (26-of-56) in the game, including .412 (8-of-19) from 3-point range

 

NOTABLE

·      VCU has forced 15 or more turnovers in all 10 games this season

·      The Rams recorded five players in double figures for the first time since Jan. 28 last season against Richmond

·      VCU has won a season-high six straight games

·      The Rams have shot .455 or better from the field in five straight contests

-    Box Score

 

NEXT UP

VCU will open 2021 when it hosts Davidson on Saturday, Jan. 2 at the Siegel Center. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network. 

-- Game notes furnished by Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.

Season's Greetings

To all on Christmas Day, 2020:

Thanks for helping one another manage to get through the ordeal this year has been. So, I'd like to send out season's greetings to my friends and social media "friends" (the ones I know and almost know). This year we've learned something about each other and ourselves. 

No doubt, the times in which we find ourselves will continue to test us, but now we know how to do this. If we're lucky, with patience and a little more help from our friends -- to keep up our spirits -- we will land on our feet in 2021 ... with our bruised dignity still unbroken.  

-- Terry

 

VCU Has Become a Good Passing Team

Commentary on College Basketball 

by Mutt DeVille

The VCU Rams (7-2) have completed one-third of their 2020-21 (somewhat improvised) regular season schedule. All in all, the Rams have probably been a little better than what was expected. 

Note: At this time I'm not going to write about the changes that have already been imposed on the Rams' schedule by COVID-19. Plenty has already been written/said about that angle.

So much for the Rams' nine out-of-conference games that have preceded their upcoming 18 matchups with Atlantic 10 Conference foes. Next: VCU visits St. Joe's at noon on Wed., Dec. 30, in Philadelphia.

This short piece is about one particular aspect of Coach Mike Rhoades' team's performance on the court that has improved noticeably over last season -- its passing game is night-and-day better.

Which means I have to start with citing what an essential part of that passing game freshman point guard Ace Baldwin has become. Next, he plays like a veteran. Then, Baldwin is a natural at the point. 

So, rather than using a multi-talented scorer/ball-handler at that position, as the Rams settled for last season, Ace is the real deal. His overall orchestration of the offense has meant that if one of his teammates makes a move to get open, Ace notices it and he makes a good decision about whether to pass the ball to him. As a proper point guard should, he generally makes good decisions on the fly, because he trusts his instincts and he sees the whole court well. 

Then, if the decision is made throw it to a teammate, Baldwin usually passes the ball in such a way that it has a good chance of arriving right where and when the receiver needs it, to make the move he  wants to make. Being able to count on this simple feat running smoothly creates order and tends to make for better angles and quicker moves. 

Which, frequently makes for better openings to score points. While Baldwin has made the offense better, the whole team seems to be making more good passes this season. Some say the coaches put more emphasis on passing in the off-season. 

Perhaps more credit should be given to individual players who've improved, because they worked all summer on improving. Talented as he is on offense (18.2 points-per-game), sophomore Bones Hyland isn't a natural point guard, although he's a decent passer and he's good at getting open for a pass, which is another part of passing that matters. Bones is quite at home as a shooting guard; most of the time he's not thinking, pass-first.

Junior small forward Vince Williams has improved as a passer and as a shooter, too (10.6 points-per-game). Both he and sophomore power forward Hason Ward, who comes off the bench, are also decent passers. Second string point guard Jimmy Clark also plays with confidence; he would be starting on a lot of college teams.

In Zoom pressers Rhoades has praised his team for being "willing passers." That works for me. 

For VCU team and individual statistics go here.

-- 30 -- 

Rams Survive Rally by Dukes

Final Score: VCU 82, James Madison 81

Location: Richmond, Va. (Siegel Center)

Current Records: VCU 7-2, James Madison 3-3

 

The short story: Junior forward Vince Williams hit a crucial step-back jumper in the final minute as VCU held off comeback-minded James Madison for the Rams’ fifth straight victory.

 

OPENING TIP

·      Williams led VCU with 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in 33 minutes of action. He connected on 5-of-10 attempts from the field, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range

·      Freshman point guard Ace Baldwin supplied eight points and handed out a career-high 10 assists for VCU

·      Sophomore guard Bones Hyland also dropped 15 for the Black & Gold, while junior guard KeShawn Curry, in his first game back following a shoulder injury on Dec. 2, poured in 13 points off the bench

·      Freshman Jamir Watkins and sophomore Tre Clark added nine points each for the Rams, while Corey Douglas provided seven rebounds and five blocks

·      CAA Preseason Player of the Year Matt Lewis paced the Dukes with 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists

 

THE DIFFERENCE

·      VCU built a 21-point first half lead behind a defense that forced 14 turnovers and limited the Dukes to 39 percent shooting (10-of-26) in the opening period

·      JMU used a 9-0 burst to close within 77-74 with 1:30 remaining. On the ensuing possession, the left-handed Williams buried a step-back 17-footer from the right elbow with 41 seconds remaining and the shot clock running low to keep the Dukes at bay. The Rams hit 3-of-4 free throws in the remaining moments to clinch the victory

·      VCU forced 18 turnovers and turned those into 22 points

·      The Rams shot .455 (30-of-66) from the field. James Madison hurt itself with 12 missed free throws (15-of-27)

 

NOTABLE

·      VCU has won five straight games to close out non-conference play. The Rams have not trailed in the last 189:47 of game time

·      Baldwin’s 10 assists were the most by a Ram since Samir Doughty dished out 10 in a win over Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 14, 2017

·      This was the first meeting between these two schools since 2012. VCU leads the all-time series 45-21

-    Box score

 

UP NEXT

VCU is scheduled to kick off Atlantic 10 Conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 30 against Saint Joseph’s at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia, Pa. The game is scheduled to tip-off at noon on NBC Sports Washington.

-- Game notes from Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.

VCU to Host JMU; LSU Game Cancelled

The VCU Rams’ road game in Baton Rouge, La., with LSU, scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled due to COVID-19 issues within the Tigers program. Consequently, VCU has promptly scheduled a matchup to cover for the lost game with an in-state sometime rival James Madison University on Tuesday, Dec. 22, at the Siegel Center.

Tuesday’s 4 p.m. tilt will be Rams first meeting with the Dukes of James Madison since the 2011-12 season. At that time both schools were members of the Colonial Athletic Association. 

Thus, between 1971 and 2012 the two Virginia schools -- just 130 miles apart -- have plenty of history. As it stands, all-time, VCU has a 44-and-21 record in 65 contests with JMU.

MASN and ESPN+ will broadcast the game on cable TV. The radio version will be carried on WRNL 910 AM.

-- 30 --

Double-Take: Kass 333

By F.T. Rea

Note: In 2010 I wrote this piece for the James River Film Journal. Since then every time I think of this story, it makes me smile. It's a story I enjoy telling. 

Alan Rubin (one of the Biograph Theatre's owners) 

and Carole Kass in the lobby at the second
anniversary party (Feb. 11, 1974).
Photo by Gary Fisher.

This morning I thought of Carole Kass, longtime movie critic at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, who died at the age of 73 in 2000. So, for the sake of a little variety this week my post will be about her, instead of a list of five favorites.

During my nearly-12-year stint as the manager of the Biograph Theatre (1972-83) I spoke with Carole nearly every week, often more than once. Usually it was on the phone. She also came to the theater regularly to review first-run pictures. She came to see movies she liked on her own time. Plus, she was there for various social occasions and for a publicity stunt, or two. In the process, over the years, we learned to trust one another.

The genuine enthusiasm and warmth Carole brought to her work as a film critic/entertainment columnist was uncommon. Those same traits were evidenced in other things she touched. 

 

Whether she was helping out a little independent movie theater in ink, or teaching cinema history to undergraduates at Virginia Commonwealth University, or volunteering to teach film production to inmates at the Virginia State Penitentiary, Carole always cared and it showed. Carole understood the special power that motion pictures have to lift people from the grips of their vexations and depressions, if only for a few sweet moments.

My last show-biz encounter with Carole took place in 1998, when she was part of the Jewish Community Center’s presentation of a live Joan Rivers show at the then-Carpenter Center. My job, as a freelance videographer, was to record the performance for the sponsors with two cameras; one for closeups and the other for a static wide shot.

Rivers’ topic was surviving tragedy. In spite of the heavy subject she was quite funny. After her prepared remarks, Joan answered written questions submitted by the audience, then asked of her onstage by Carole. They were comfortable with one another, so their impromptu performance as a team was nearly as good as what had gone before.

At that time, it was public knowledge that Carole was battling cancer. She joked with me that night about fretting over whether she would live long enough to do the show for the JCC. A few days after that performance I went out to her home in the West End for a visit. I wanted to shoot some stills of old pictures of her to insert into the finished video, to play over the sound of her introduction in the show. I was also searching for a way to tell her how much she had always meant to the Biograph’s survival and, in general, to the film-loving community in Richmond.

Typically, Carole was her modest self. In her view, she had only been a background artist, helping out. Then there had been her forced retirement from Media General a few years before, which had never set well with her.

A week or so later, I delivered a video tape to her at her home. It included Rivers’ talk to the audience and what followed. At the end of the tape there was a tribute to Carole that I had staged, shot and edited without her knowledge. While I was there, we chatted briefly, but I didn’t let on about the surprise.

Here’s what Carole didn’t know as she watched the tape: The R-TD’s then-executive editor, Bill Millsaps, had helped me out by asking all the writers to come outside for about 20 minutes to be the performers in a tribute to Carole. Others from Richmond's film buff community, including former staff members at the Biograph, were also asked to be on hand to be in the main scene.

A the shoot the cast was directed to walk around for a while, then stand applauding in front of 333 W. Grace St., an entrance to the newspaper’s building that no longer exists. I had help shooting the scene from Jerry Williams and Ted Salins. They two of three cameras I used.

Later I edited the footage from the three tapes into a short piece, using music from the movie “8½” for sound; the imagery also imitated scenes in the movie, somewhat. That particular Fellini flick was one of her favorites. In the time that had passed no one had told Carole a word about it; it had been beautiful teamwork.

When she saw the tribute footage, watching it with pain as her only companion, Carole couldn’t fathom that all those people had actually been assembled, just to give her a standing ovation. When she called, she told me she had assumed I found the footage, somewhere, and spliced it onto end of the tape. 

Where had I found it? she asked.

With a measure of satisfaction I chuckled and informed her how the scene was actually set up. She didn’t buy it!

Carole thanked me warmly, but added a gentle, facetious scolding for my trying to fool her about the mysterious last scene, shot in front of the old entrance to 333. She reminded me of my reputation as a trickster.

Later Carole telephoned then-television critic Douglas Durden, only to hear from her old friend (they sat at desks next to one another for years) that it all had been just as I said.

After talking with others at the newspaper, to gather the whole story Carole called me back to laugh, to cry and to apologize for not believing me. She went on to say that what had started out as a rather “bad day” for her — coping with the indignities of her medical situation — had been changed into a “good day.”

As my mother died of cancer in 1984, I could grasp what Carole might have meant by “good days” and “bad days.” Carole thanked me for that good day. I told her I’d had a lot of help.

It began with an idea for a gesture to lift an old friend’s spirits and let her know how much her colleagues and the rest of us appreciated her. The finished product, with Carole’s double-take reaction actually turned out better than I had envisioned. 

Which is somewhat unusual for one of my stunts. Back in the summer of 1998, I also gave a print of the tape to Saps, to say, “Thanks.” Naturally, the JCC got a tape. No one else has seen it, as far as I know.

And, dear reader, a good day is wished to you and yours.

 

Note: What is shown in the YouTube video above is just the 90-minute tape’s last two minutes and 39 seconds. Unfortunately, owing to the half-ass transfer process used the look of it is rough, but hopefully better than nothing.

The Face of Sore-Loserism

Rather than face the truth, as dealt to him by the voters in November's first week, President Donald Trump descended into his convenient world of alternative facts, to stew in his own juices. While he was at it, blocking the General Services Administration from declaring Joe Biden to be the president-elect was probably soothing, at least to some degree. 

We can only guess how thoroughly Trump had convinced himself he was going to win. But holed up in his fit of fantasy, bouncing between depression and desperation, anything that could soothe Trump's sorry state of mind had to have been irresistible. 

Instead of seeing the voters had simply rejected him, he had to see skulduggery -- his presidency was being stolen by Trump-haters! In his twisted view only a massive voting fraud could explain what went wrong with his reelection.

At some point well into November, reports suggest Trump's overwhelming malaise subsided enough to allow him to focus on how he would play his cards. Then Trump could see that in keeping with his promise to "Make America Great Again," going forward, his heroic mission would be to bamboozle and motivate his most gullible and dear fans like never before. Embracing that uplifting thought he might have winked at himself in the mirror. 

Next came the lineup of horribles -- the elected Republicans who would willingly buy Trump's stolen-election contrivance. Once that nice piece of campaign propaganda strategy-realized fell into place, Trump knew he had cooked up a victimhood stew that would sell.

Thus, Plan A called for Trump to dispatch his team of lawyers, headed up by Rudy Giuliani, to file a blithering series of challenges to the election results in selected states, without assembling any evidence to back up the accusations. 

If nothing else, Trump must have figured Giuliani's evil clown act would goose the public's interest in his mission to save the country from ruin by protecting his presidency.

*

Back to reality: To date, none of that scurrying between courthouses has paid off. It seems the conservative Supreme Court has wanted nothing to do with Trump's fundraising campaign. 

Undaunted, Trump was already into rolling out Plan B: Twisting the arms of Republican state legislators and attorneys general, to force them to ignore the official voting results in selected states.    

Then, on Dec. 14, 2020, the Electoral College did its duty, which turned Trump's heap of unsupported claims of election fraud into yesterday's bullshit. Still, wasn't the collection of stunts also designed to boost Trump's most loyal and deluded followers into acting upon their "stolen election" anger?

Therefore, Plan C must include addressing the Mad Don's list of payback priorities. Which means anything that helps to quench his thirst for revenge, especially to do with what the "pussy hat" Resistance movement did four years ago, is a good thing. So sabotaging Biden's inauguration cheer must be high on the payback list. 

*

Until the 45th president came along, it had been unthinkable that an American president would attack democracy, itself. Yet, truth be told, there's been no real surprise to any of it. 

After all, this president has publicly mocked a handicapped reporter and bragged about it. Kidnapping and caging small children hasn't appeared to bother him. He has openly relished the support of white nationalists and such. Accepting no blame for his integral part in spreading the killer virus, he routinely shrugs off the nation's countless COVID-19 deaths. And, remember, he said many times he would do pretty much what he's been doing. 

Meanwhile, lots of pundits are parroting the opinion that as an ex-president, Trump will remain in place as the top dog of the Republican Party. Furthermore, that he's the GOP's 2024-nominee-in-waiting and so forth. However, his bumbling, annoying efforts to overturn the results of the election have been impossible to ignore.

Whatever they make of it, Americans of all political persuasions have witnessed the folly. Consequently, Trump has been exposed as a poseur and a loser.

Make that a sore-loser. 

Therefore, now my guess is Trump's true potential as a Republican Party king-maker and/or a TV network boss in 2021 is going to be severely hobbled by his damning history. Don't forget his ridiculous venture into the casino business. Then there was the Trump University scam with its humiliating lawsuit settlement, etc. How will the large debts still dogging him play out? Then, there are his tax problems and the lawsuits waiting for him. 

OK, I realize we've all seen Trump dodge the bullets of accountability so many times we've come to expect his self-dealing and abuse of the courts will never be checked. Still, given the monumental failure of his attempted coup d'état, my expectation is that Trump's future as a celebrity ex-president/traveling medicine show fundraiser is going to be marked by a descent into legal troubles aplenty. 

That, rather than another glorious ride down the golden escalator to claim the power to shape reality for the masses. The power to cow senators. Power!

* 

Please don't get me wrong. Just because I'm anticipating that Trump's influence and prospects will shrivel next year, I'm not suggesting that trouble from the shenanigans of his militant devotees won't erupt in the weeks and months to come. Nonetheless, as the days go by in 2021, with such a grievous loss of power gnawing at him, isn't it likely Trump's craziest days are yet to come? 

Who knows? Perhaps before he's fitted for a straitjacket, Trump will overplay his hand by shooting at somebody in the middle of 5th Avenue ... and missing. 

Bottom line: Becoming the face of sore-loser-ism is what fate awaits the Mad Don. 

-- 30 -- 

Words and art by F.T. Rea (all rights reserved). 

Rams Clobber Catamounts: VCU 93, WCU 68

Date of Game: Dec. 15, 2020

Final Score: VCU 93, WCU 68

Location: Richmond, Va. (Siegel Center)

Teams' Records Now: 6-2 VCU, WCU 6-2

 

Game notes from Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.

 

The Short Story: Fueled by a career-high 31 points from sophomore guard Bones Hyland (pictured below), VCU pulled away from Western Carolina for the Rams’ fourth straight victory.  

 

OPENING TIP

 

·      -    Hyland poured in 15 of his 31 points the first half as the Rams built a 43-30 lead. The Wilmington, Del. native connected on 6-of-11 attempts from three-point range. He also pitched in three assists and two steals

·      It took less than four minutes for senior forward Corey Douglas to put seven points on the board. Douglas would go on to match his career-high of 11 points while contributing a block and a pair of steals

·      Freshman guard Jamir Watkins broke out with a career-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. He also corralled three rebounds in 18 minutes

·      Sophomore forward Hason Ward provided eight points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal off the bench for the Black and Gold

 

THE DIFFERENCE

 

·      With 1:41 to play in the first half, Ward jarred the ball loose on the defensive end and the Rams were off to the races. Hyland received a cross-court pass from junior forward Vince Williams and lobbed the ball high above the rim for Ward to slam home. The alley-oop was part of a 14-1 run that would send the Rams to the locker room with a 43-30 advantage

·      VCU cashed in on 29 points off of 20 forced turnovers. The Rams totaled 13 steals; On the other end, the Rams committed a season-low eight turnovers

·      VCU shot .587 (37-of-63) from the field, including .655 (19-of-29) in the second half alone

 

NOTABLE

 

·      The Rams recorded a season-high 52 points in the paint

·      For the first time this season, four different Rams scored in double figures

·      VCU has tallied double-digit steal totals in six of its eight games this season

·      The Rams scored 90-plus points for the second time this season

·      Williams tallied 10-plus points and three-plus rebounds for the fourth time in his career

·      Hyland’s six 3-pointers marked the seventh time in his career he’s connected on five or more in a game

-    Box score

 

UP NEXT

The Rams will travel to Baton Rouge, La. to take on LSU at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 22. The game will air on SEC Network.

 

-    Logo and photo from VCU