5 Thoughts for October 29, 2015

1. The Chinese say that they're not frightened by a US destroyer traveling near the disputed island(s) in the South China Sea. Of course everyone knows the only people who make public claims of bravado, are those who are scared; silence is the true voice of courage. It's a bit weird, then, that the Chinese want in on the Trans-Pacific Trade Pact, don't you think? On the one hand they're warning the US that the Chinese aren't afraid of war, but on the other hand they want in on the US-led TPP deal. All for show, people.
2. So who won the third GOP debate? It's hard to say, because facts and truth were evasive in this debate, and instead the most popular points scored were based on criticizing the media. Rubio, Trump, Kasich, Cruz and Fiorina seemed to be the most shrill and upset, and that aggressiveness is often popular with viewers, even if it's manufactured outrage. The way I see it, no one won as no one seized the debate's topics and made it about their ideas.
3. By now, it's clear to everyone except Republicans, that so long as Trump, Carson, Fiorina and Cruz vie for the presidential nomination, there's no way the GOP will take the White House in 2016. The only way the GOP fields a competitive race, is if a dark horse moderate enters late in the game, or a surging Rubio or Kasich can seize the spotlight and hold onto it. Jeb Bush's campaign is nearly dead, and it seems mostly because everyone sees Mitt Romney in him, including the art of the gaffe, and nobody wants another Mitt Romney. In the mean time, Hillary Clinton's numbers are surging, and you can probably thank House Republicans for that.
4. Over four hours later and Oregon, as improbable as it was, despite screwing up big time on multiple snaps, pulled out the win in triple overtime, and kept their slim hopes to make it to the PAC-12 Championship alive. So what did we learn? Well, Oregon's defense is really bad, for one. They gave up nearly 750 yards and it didn't matter if it was on the ground or in the air. Second, we learned that Vernon Adams is really the only reason why there is still hope that the Ducks will make it to a bowl game this season -- they are one game away from being bowl-eligible but have Cal, Stanford, USC and Oregon State left on their schedule, and the only sure win is OSU (given how bad OSU is this year, not yet ).
5. That third overtime TD score by Braylon Addison may seem controversial, but the thing is, the focus was on the wrong foot. ESPN's commentators were staring at the front foot; yes, it was out of bounds when Braylon put it down on the ground, but Addison was trailing his rear toe on the ground. Normally you're used to seeing the trailing toe as the second foot in bound for a catch in the NFL, but in this case where you only need one foot in bound, the trailing toe, as improbable as it may be, counts.