Athlete of the Month - December, 2019

November was here

 Giannis Antetokounmpo.  Runners-up:  James Harden,  Joe Burrow, Drew Brees

And that ends 2019.  Tomorrow - The Athlete of the Year.  Here are the nominees.

January-James Harden

February-Stephon Gilmore

March- Sabrina Ionescu

April-Tiger Woods

May-Steph Curry

June-Kawhi Leonard

July-Megan Rapinoe

August - Mike Trout

September - Elena Della Donne

October - Stephen Strasburg

November - Lamar Jackson

December -  Giannis Antetokounmpo

Top 20 Television Shows 2019

Here's 2018

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

4th quarter


1. Succession (HBO)
2. Fleabag (Amazon)
3. The Righteous Gemstones (HBO)
4. Euphoria (HBO)
5. Pen 15 (Hulu)
6. Barry (HBO)
7. Russian Doll (Netflix)
8. The Loudest Voice (Showtime)
9. Crashing (HBO)
10. Better Things (FX)

11. I'm Sorry (Tru)
12. High Maintenance (HBO)
13. Years and Years (HBO)
14. Superstore (NBC)
15. The Good Place (NBC)
16. Shrill (Hulu)
17. The Deuce (HBO)
18. Mindhunter (Netflix)
19. Broad City (Comedy Central)
20. You're the Worst (FXX)

Top 10 Television Series (Oct-Dec, 2019)

July-Sept

1. The Righteous Gemstones (HBO)
2. Undeniable (Netflix)
3. The Good Place (NBC)
4. The Deuce (HBO)
5. Mindhunter (Netflix)
6. Mr. Inbetween (FX)
7. Mr. Robot (USA)
8. Silicon Valley (HBO)
9. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
10. MLB Now (MLB Network)

Gemstones is the best Danny McBride vehicle to date (yup, seen them all - yup, I'm certain it's the best) and it edges out Undeniable, for which Merritt Weaver hopefully gets some recognition. Both Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine were on prior lists this year, leaving only Good Place as eligible from that strong NBC Thursday lineup. The Deuce and Mr. Robot both finished up this year; neither really needed to move beyond Season one (and if you said Mr. Robot got too muddled to remain on a list like this I wouldn't argue) Mr. Inbetween also didn't cover much new terrain in its second season and were it to return it will be interesting to see how many new roads there are left to walk.  Also done, Silicon Valley, which also could have wrapped up...I don't know, maybe when TJ Miller left, but certainly prior to its final season.  I preferred this season of Maisel to season two, the supporting actors really leaned into their performances and Sterling K Brown provided a nice jolt.  I watch a fair number of sports studio shows, the best is MLB Now and I'm glad to have found a spot for it. 

Tomorrow - the year end list, the 20 best shows of 2019.

I Pick All The Bowl Games, 2019

Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo -6.5 Charlotte
Frisco Bowl: Kent +7.5 Utah St (Utah St to win)
Celebration Bowl: NC AT -2.5 Alcorn St.
New Mexico Bowl: Central Michigan +3.5 SD St  (SD St to win)
Cure Bowl: Georgia Southern -4.5 Liberty
Boca Raton Bowl: FAU +3 SMU
Camellia Bowl: Arkansas St -2 FIU
Las Vegas Bowl: Boise St +3.5 Washington (Wash to win)
New Orleans Bowl: App St -16.5 UAB
Gasparilla Bowl: UCF -17.5 Marshall
Hawaii Bowl: BYU -2 Hawaii
Independence Bowl: Miami -6 La Tech
Quick Lane Bowl: Pitt -11.5 E.Michigan
Military Bowl: North Carolina push Temple (North Carolina to win)
Pinstripe Bowl: Wake Forest +4.5 Michigan St (Michigan St to win)
Texas Bowl: OK St +7 Texas A&M (A&M to win)
Holiday Bowl USC +2 Iowa
Cheez It Bowl: Washington St +3 Air Force
World Bowl: Iowa St +3.5 Notre Dame (ND to win)
Cotton Bowl: Memphis +6.5 Penn St (Penn St to win)
Peach Bowl: Oklahoma +13 LSU (LSU to win)
Fiesta Bowl: Ohio St +2 Clemson
First Responder Bowl: W Michigan +3.5 W Kentucky
Music City Bowl: Louisville +4 Miss St (Miss St to win)
Redbox Bowl: Cal -7 Illinois
Orange Bowl: Virginia +14.5 Florida (Florida to win)
Belk Bowl: Kentucky +2.5 Va Tech
Sun Bowl: Florida St +4.5 Arizona St (Arizona St to win)
Liberty Bowl: Kansas St +2.5 Navy
Arizona Bowl: Wyoming -7 Georgia St
Alamo Bowl: Utah -7.5 Texas
Citrus Bowl: Michigan +7 Alabama (Alabama to win)
Outback Bowl: Minnesota +7 Auburn (Auburn to win)
Rose Bowl: Oregon +2.5 Wisconsin
Sugar Bowl: Baylor +7.5 Georgia (Georgia to win)
Birmingham Bowl: Cincinnati -7 B College
Gator Bowl: Tennessee -1.5 Indiana
Potato Bowl: Ohio -7.5 Nevada
Armed Forces Bowl: Tulane -7 Southern Miss
Lending Tree Bowl: Louisiana -14 Miami Oh

The 25 Best Wrestling Matches of the Decade (2010-19)

I watch a lot of wrestling; here are the 25 best wresling matches of the decade.  Times are approximate.

1.       January, 2017 NJPW IWGP Title: Kazuchika Okada d. Kenny Omega (46:45)

2.       April, 2017 NJPW IWGP Title: Kazuchika Okada d. Katsuyori Shibata (38 min)

3.       May, 2013 NOAH GHC Title: Kenta d. Takashi Sugiura (32:30)

4.       August, 2012 DDT KO-D Openweight Title: Kota Ibushi d. Kenny Omega (37:30)

5.       August, 2017 NJPW G1 Climax Final: Tetsuya Naito d. Kenny Omega (34:25)

6.       August, 2018 NJPW G1 Climax Kota Ibushi d. Tetsuya Naito (25 min)

7.       June, 2018 NJPW IWGP Title: 2 of 3 Falls: Kenny Omega d. Kazuchika Okada (65 min)

8.       January, 2015 NJPW IWGP Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura d. Kota Ibushi (20:15)

9.       July, 2011 NOAH GHC Title: Go Shiozaki d. Takashi Sugiura (29:45)

10.   February, 2015 DDT: KO-D Openweight Title: Kota Ibushi d. Harashima (22:45)

11.   March, 2015 NJPW Never Openweight Title: Tomohiro Ishii d. Tomoaki Honma (24:45)

12.   June, 2017 NJPW BOSJ Final: Kushida d. Will Ospreay (28 min)

13.   August, 2018 NJPW G1 Climax Tomohiro Ishii d. Kenny Omega (22:45)

14.   March, 2011 NOAH GHC Jr Title: Kotaro Suzuki d. Katsuhiko Nakajima (24 min)

15.   June, 2015 NJPW BOSJ Final: Kushida d. Kyle O’Reilly (30:45)

16.   August, 2019 WWE/NXT WWE UK Title: Walter d. Tyler Bate (42:15)

17.   June, 2019 NJPW BOSJ Final: Will Ospreay d. Shingo Takagi (33:30)

18.   January, 2019 NJPW IWGP Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Kenny Omega (39:15)

19.   March, 2018 NJPW Golden Lovers Ladder Match: (Omega/Ibushi) d. Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) (39:30)

20.   February, 2018 NJPW IWGP Jr Title: Will Ospreay d. Hiromu Takahashi (20 min)

21.   June, 2010 ROH ROH Title: Tyler Black v. Davey Richards (35 min)

22.   January, 2018 WWE NXT Title: Andrade Almas d. Johnny Gargano (32:15)

23.   April 2019 WWE NXT Title: 2 of 3 Falls: Johnny Gargano d. Adam Cole (38:30)

24.   December, 2010 NOAH GHC Title: Takashi Sugiura d. Takeshi Morishima (22:15)

25.   August, 2014 DDT: KO-D Title: Harashima d. Isami Kodaka and Kenny Omega (25 min)