Broadsword calling Danny Boy: Re(i)d Baron Mahomes kicks that Philly can, Hurts be the OCTOPUS and stuns The Man; Jeff Charles R.I.P. | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Knee deep in the hoops, or a tight gridiron fight
    Too many memories, teary eyed the night

    Marconi plays the mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember?
    They built this city, they built this city on Purple and Gold

    We just came to dance here, Jeff Charles owned the stage
    He called 'em like he saw 'em, truest Pirate sage

    Marconi plays the mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember?
    He built this city, he built this city on Purple and Gold - (Jeff Charles -- May 20, 1952 - February 10, 2023)


The Correspondent and the Hawk assess battle damage across Mostar, 1990-something: Above.     Click image to enlarge.
    When Jalen Hurts tied SB LVII on a crashing two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter, he completed the first Octopus in Super Bowl history and The Man took his largest prop loss in a generation. Reportedly, 98 percent of the tickets were on the Yes side and every small and medium player in the States seemed to take it both straight, and as a parlay multiplier.

    In the meantime Mahomes, factored by the strategic genius of Reid and the tactical nuance of Bieniemy, showed why he is the premier quarterback of his era. He never gives up and has the heart of a lion; even down ten at halftime and hobbling about, the guy comes off the deck to kick that Philly azz.

    Alas, our severe case of Unlucky Dragons continues as the safety was never even close to happening, as few, if any, drives started at the fifteen or worse. Philly's decision to keep going for it on fourth down from midfield was most correct for the Eagles but a killer for those backing the safety, as the punt from midfield can usually start a drive within the fifteen, if the punter is any good. Oh well, it only has to hit one out of ten times at that price and we be patient observers.

    Philosophy is fine but with the safety weighted twice that of the CHIEFS (+1) we drop 2.5 units and conclude the campaign down 9.7 units. This put a big dent in the previous March Madness plus fifteen bankroll, but the Chiefs coming through keeps us in the black overall with enough firepower to load up on those March Madness futures. March Madness futures are used to later squeeze out hedges against the game number and (hopefully) establish strong middle opportunities by the Sweet 16 round.

    But that is later and this is now; the Super Bowl was one heck of a game and Jalen Hurts showed why he is likely to be strong medicine the next few years. He played tough and with heart but was handicapped by a scoop and score fumble of his own making, and a vastly inferior coaching staff to that of the Chiefs. If this sounds incorrect to your own self, just look at Mahomes' two second half TD passes; each receiver had no defender within five yards as Bieniemy anticipated the Eagle defensive switches -- then showed brisk cross-field motion before having the receiver cut back at the snap to the open spot.

    There will be controversy until football ends about the late holding call that sealed the KC win. That was the only break that went for the Chiefs the entire night as they had a second defensive scoop and score called back and suffered the miscalled deep tight end throw; a spectacular catch but definitely out of bounds. Champions power through the indignity of being robbed by the fates and fight on -- it's called Doing the Mahomes, and is a most effective technique on the gridiron, or the remarkable journey known as life.

    Farnell's proprietary NFL post-season power ratings held up well as he had both KC and Philly as the top two NFL teams this season and the Chiefs far beyond the Eagles. The venerable Falklands vet Hughes unable to locate Farnell for comment on the game; the ENC scribe apparently last seen at Pam's guzzling sweet tea and mumbling about the genius of Taleb in a somewhat discombobulated fashion.

    Fortunately, our British half-cousin Westerby able to be reached while roaming the cemeteries of Uman, lamp lighting the ECU frat-boy Clarke's dead drops from the early campaign. He is preparing his digs there observing what will be the potential Ukie Bastogne opportunity if Moscow goes for the von Schlieffen opening, and is well suited to answer the burning question:

    "What is an Octopus in NFL wagering?"

    "The Octopus is a binary proposition bet that cashes when a player scores a touchdown and also the following two-point conversion. When Hurts ran that conversion attempt in, it generated the first Octopus in Super Bowl history; with a closing price of +1400, The Man got his arse sorted as Vegas reporting some 98 percent of the Octopus tickets were marked Yes."

    "The legal Nevada shoppes advising heavy losses on this play as close to half the tickets were parlayed up by the double-pony punters, while a number of Vegas scouts hit the window late with ginormous bag of sand tickets. The thinking was there would be a lot of scoring and with the Philly run game likely to be shut down, Hurts would be the choice for a critical two-pointer. With that variable out of the equation, the only question remaining was would Hurts be likely to score a TD?"

    "Well, the prop wager Hurts to score a TD -- Yes was even-money or better, thus the sole risking the biscuit was if Philly went the entire game without attempting one. Interestingly, there was a defensive foul on the Eagles first TD, scored by Hurst. A most pukka coach with that kind of QB run-attack would have taken the penalty, moved the ball half the distance and attempted the two-pointer to knock the opposition arse over tit, Reid would have certainly."

    "This was a blinding event and the Octopus likely to become a fixture of Yank jargon. Hat tip to Farnell for pointing out that the official statistic of 195 Octopi generated in the NFL before the game, while accurate, was in reality, factually inaccurate, (Give us a bell, Old Man.) He reminded us that the American Football League, founded 1960, used the two point conversion some thirty-four years before the NFL did, and all AFL statistics became official NFL statistics as terms of the 1970 merger."

    "Then the coffin-dodger tells us AFL football was a wide-open affair compared to the cautious run-heavy NFL of the time -- and when those ten years of high-octane offensive AFL statistics are added to the 195 ratio, it shows something a little different. Those stats indicate that strong offensive-minded, attack-style teams like the Chiefs and Eagles have a much higher probability of hitting an Octopus than The Man's implied six percent probability with the number at +1400. Sure hope the gaffer took a flutter on that one and caught the dosh."

    "When the Chiefs took an eight point lead late, we knew the deuce likely to be attempted as they were not going to stop the Eagles. When the Philly bomb ran out of bounds a yard short, scores of thousands of tickets became close to carpet probability while paying out fourteen to one. The crowd was getting jammy in anticipation."

    "It was a mint event in terms of Super Bowl high-end prop payoffs."

    What the heck is that guy talking about? Thought he was going to update us on the Russian offensive that opened early in the week. Oh well...

    ******************

    Bread and circuses is an ancient expression referencing the Roman strategy of keeping the population well ensconced under the jack-boot of battle-hardened Legions while the currency (coin -- duh) collapses. The debasement of the silver denarius over a couple centuries found the proud global reserve coins clipped, shaved and remaining with but a dollop of silver in them.

    Cheap bread and wine (subsidised through slave labour shipped to Rome via regional conquest) was combined with epic Coliseum-style Gladiator slaughters to keep the people distracted and functionally able to serve Caesar. The same thing is happening in America today with cheap convenience-store food, booze, and Chinese fentanyl all subsidised by the taxpayer and loved by the government-assisted recipient not footing the bill.

    In terms of circuses, the Super Bowl is about the biggest one there is and it arrived at a good time for the New World Order Globalists that seek to enslave all mankind. Peeps getting some kind of edgy biting on the Balloon Gambit distraction -- as East Palestine, Ohio becomes America's next Three Mile Island.

    Kudos to Tucker Carlson for having the courage to talk straight about this. That train was derailed with a sophisticated Spetsnaz strike as so many others have of late. Think about things like the Moore County power-grid strike or the cyber disruptions across the Midwest industrial heartland as you ponder this nuance.

    The United States is at war, America not so much. Rome collapsed from the weight of Barbarian invasions as free people rejected the tyranny of Roman aggression and didn't stop rejecting it until they collapsed the beast. As for the end, well, The New Radicals told you late last century all you need to know about that event horizon.

    The brunt of this fight will rest on that American generation now 20-35 years of age. The Baby Boomers never really appreciated how magnificent the American public education system was back in the day -- when local people had control -- and made it a priority to teach the three R's, American history, civics and personal responsibility; they just assumed it would always be such.

    Youngsters now in their twenties will be the final American bulwark against the overwhelming forces that seek total subjugation of the last free peoples in the West. United States government propaganda programming against the American people became legal this century and very well funded the last decade. Trust us, those psychological warfare operators didn't attend public schools in the south; the majority of the newest American twenty-something youth, that will save the day, did.

    Thus America's last chance to turn the tide already fighting with one hand tied behind their backs; they need all the help the old-timers can give them, and no, we don't mean debased currency. Those who have seen it have a duty to throw what they know.

    Knowledge is power they say, which we concur. However, knowledge without action is nothing but a busted flush and the wrong hand to check and raise as the Modern Game much more than just a defining concept in the Third World War. Someday, hopefully long in the future, an old slap-hitting enthusiast will go home with a smile on his face -- knowing a generation of Dirt Devils carrying a few extra tactical battle-concepts in their mental quiver.

    Finally, we think about Paul Whelan, the American marine left behind rotting in a Russian jail since December, 2018 -- while the WNBA-player swap for a veteran Russian arms-merchant deal checks all the woke boxes. This event tells you everything you need to know about what is really running the United States; back in the day so-called professionals within the community would have resigned and gone rogue to get their guy back.

    You gotta stay alive, Man. Your true peeps are on this and if their efforts to convince president Putin the wisdom in releasing you somehow fail, then they are coming to bring you home.

    An American never leaves one of their own behind on the battlefield.