Cleaning out the Inbox

   Time to clean the inbox again, and we start with a crazed Woodpecker in Massachusetts!

A Pileated Woodpecker has been attacking trees and homes for years in Rockport, Massachusetts, but the woodpecker has found a new target- windshields and side mirrors.

The bird is destroying vehicle glass and has driven locals to cover the glass by whatever means they can, as the theory goes that the woodpecker is seeing itself in the reflection and attacking!

The Ringer scores with the recollections of Bret Hart, who looks back to his match at Wrestlemania 13 with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as the "night everything changed".

The Hart-Austin match is rated by many as the greatest in WrestleMania history and was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the first match to enter the Hall.

With the induction, Hart became the first person to be inducted three times- as a single, in his match with Austin, and for his tag team with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart.

The Athletic writes of the legacy of Gregg Popovich, who recently ended his twenty-nine-season run as the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs.

Popovich won five NBA titles, and his over fourteen hundred wins is the all-time most in NBA history.

Popovich deserves his spot on the NBA coaches' Mount Rushmore, but his players rave about him for more than games won.

The Big Red Zone, a site devoted to the St.Louis Football Cardinals, writes the story of former Big Red running back Wayne Morris, who played eight seasons for the Cardinals after being drafted by them in 1976.

Morris finished his career with one season with the San Diego Chargers, finished his career with over 3,330 rushing yards, and his thirty-seven rushing touchdowns are still second in Cardinals team history.

A small business owner decided to test the theory that Americans will pay more for American made products and as the Yahoo article states- the results were "sobering".

Afina tested their top product- a shower head and after finding multiple American suppliers to provide the parts to make the shower head, the Chinese-made version was priced at $129 and the American-made piece was priced at $239.

The results?

After several days (the specific number wasn't mentioned) and over 25,000 visitors to the site- Afina sold 584 China manufactured versus Zero American style.

No love for the American style there.

The added cost came through the extra suppliers rather than one in China and an American version would be three times the cost, more than simply paying the Trump Tariff.

 

Spurned by the Spurs-Cavaliers fall 92-90

In a game that was the type of encounter that you expect to see in the playoffs,not in November,the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs held off the Cleveland Cavaliers 92-90 in Cleveland.
Anderson Varejao led Cleveland with 23 points and 11 rebounds in the defeat.
Cleveland drops to 5-5 with the loss.
The Cavaliers travel to Washington on Friday against the "Bullets"

Swashbucklings

1) Huge night for Anderson Varejao,who's double double kept the Cavaliers in the game.
Varejao played with reckless abandon with floor burns and bumps.
The only concern is how long can the "Wild Thing" hold up flying around like that considering his past injury problems?
On this night,Varejao was the best Cavalier.

2) LeBron James did dribble the ball off his foot at the end of the game,but these things happen.
James is being paid to be the guy with the ball at the end of the game and no one succeeds every time over the course of a season.
Yes,it was a failure this time,but James is the alpha dog-I'd rather him have the ball than not.

3) Kyrie Irving finished with 20 points,but just three assists.
Some of that can be that guys missed shots,but I'm still seeing way too much score first,pass second from Irving.

4) Kevin Love was shut down by the Spurs,who used various forwards to keep him away from the basket and gave few open looks..

5) I've always pulled for the Spurs as an old ABA team and as a huge Tim Duncan fan going back to his days at Wake Forest,but even beyond that-you have to love team basketball.
That's what won this game over Cleveland and that is what beat LeBron and Miami.
San Antonio uses role players better than anyone to surround their stars and few find better nuggets in the draft than the Spurs.
Looking for a model organization to have sustained success? Look to Southern Texas for your blueprint...

6) Gregg Popovich is my second favorite NBA coach next to Larry Brown in years.
I love his style and I love his cranky,ticked off demeanor in those NBA mandated interviews.
Check this close to the point interview from last night.
Chris Broussard;Rambles about the 1st quarter play of Tim Duncan for 30 seconds,asked for a response.
Popovich;Looks mad and impatient and replies disgustedly;"He's playing good"
Broussard: Goes on for another 30 seconds and asks for another Duncan comment
Popovich: Looks angrier and say "Playing good" and moves along.
I used to hate being bothered in youth baseball games,I can imagine doing these things in professional games!
Gregg Popovich is real and there isn't enough of his breed still in the game....

7) This is the type of hard noses,well played game that you like to see in a league with the reputation of mailing in some regular season games.
This was post season style basketball level and even though Cleveland lost-It was an enjoyable time to spend just watching the game.
If it is these two teams in the finals,it's going to be an excellent series....