NEW WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUE: TEAM NAMES ANNOUNCED

unrivaled logo“UNRIVALED” is the name of the brand-new Women’s Basketball league set to tip off in January of 2025. WNBA stars like Napheesa Collier are running the league and some other big-name WNBA players have already been signed. CAITLIN CLARK is being wooed with a fat contract but has not yet committed.

SOME BULLET POINTS

*** UNRIVALED will play during the WNBA’s offseason.

*** UNRIVALED will play 3 on 3 basketball: 3 starters and 2 alternates, giving each of the teams 5 players for now. Future expansion is possible. 

*** UNRIVALED will abide by Half-Court play rules like in Street Ball.

*** UNRIVALED is starting with 6 franchises, all of them playing in Miami until contracts with individual cities can be negotiated.

*** UNRIVALED would not have been MY first choice for a league name, but what do I know? 

THE ORIGINAL SIX FRANCHISES: Continue reading

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HAS TO BE SAID: OCT 28th

“So what’s new? I haven’t seen a paper in days,” as a very old joke went. Anyway, as a change of pace today, here’s my latest “Has to be Said” blog post.

FIRST, FOR OVERSEAS READERS – Trump supporters are basing that support on THE FOUR YEARS HE ALREADY HAD IN OFFICE, not on “promises”, like anti-Trump fanatics pretend.

           Those same four years that he already had in office are also why we know he won’t act like the authoritarian fascists of the Kamala Harris-Joe Biden Regime.

REMEMBER THAT EVEN IF TRUMP DOES NOT GET BACK TO THE WHITE HOUSE, YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO GET AWAY FROM HIS NAME BEING IN THE NEWS. Democrats have seen how well they can work their conformist sheep into a frenzy using Trump’s name. They will go on using his name in political campaigns against every male and female candidate who could remotely be construed as ever having agreed with President Trump on any issue.

           And by the way, remember when it looked for a brief time that DeSantis might beat Trump for the Republican nomination for 2024? IF YOU’LL RECALL, THE DEMOCRATS WERE IMMEDIATELY COMPARING HIM TO HITLER AND WERE CALLING HIM “WORSE THAN TRUMP.” 

AND NO MATTER WHO THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IS FOR THE OPPOSITION PARTY … be ready for the usual endless screeching and propagandistic comparisons of that candidate to Hitler, Mussolini and others. IT WILL CONTINUE. The Democrats have been doing that at increasingly shrill levels for the past few decades. Continue reading

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TEENAGE TERRORS: BAD MOVIES

With only a few more days left in Halloween Month, Balladeer’s Blog serves up another seasonal post.

teenage frankensteinI WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957) – Herbert Strock’s follow-up to I Was a Teenage Werewolf always calls to mind the Movie Host shows of the past and the way they would often pair up those two Teen Monster flicks as a Double Feature the nearest Saturday night to Halloween.

Whit Bissell returns, this time in the role of Professor Frankenstein, whose mad experiments caused him to be driven from Continental Europe to England and from there to the U.S. He still believes his ancestor’s theories were solid and he continues those ghastly efforts. 

Frankenstein grabs corpses to experiment on wherever he can, including robbing the graves of teen athletes or using the dead bodies of teen victims of hotrod racing accidents. (Hey, how much more 1950s can you get?) Anyway, it’s a car crash that gives the Prof access to the final parts he needs. Continue reading

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BALLADEER’S BLOG COLLEGE FOOTBALL: OCT 27th EDITION

HEADLINES

TEARING DOWN NUMBER ONE – In NCAA Division Two, the 4th ranked FERRIS STATE BULLDOGS paid a visit to the nation’s number 1 GRAND VALLEY STATE LAKERS. The Bulldogs were all over Grand Valley State, leading them 13-0 by Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended with Ferris State on top of the Lakers 27-7 and the 4th with a 34-7 Bulldogs victory.

NUMBER FOUR TAKES A FALL – Over in the NAIA, the number 8 MORNINGSIDE UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS took it on the road against the country’s 4th ranked DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS. The Mustangs were up 21-7 in the 1st Quarter and 28-7 at the Half. From there, the Defenders outscored Morningside 14-3, but with so deep a deficit the Mustangs still won 31-21. Continue reading

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NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS ROUNDUP: OCTOBER 26th

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at current events here in an America where putting non-citizens who are ineligible to vote BACK on the voter rolls is a vital priority of the Democrats. Gee, I wonder why?

Unrelated: With both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post refusing to endorse Kamala Harris, one might wonder – in this year that has already seen assassination attempts and more against Trump – will the Democrats force Joe Biden to step down completely and thus make Kamala Harris the new president JUST as a last-minute boost to her campaign?

           I can already picture Democrat newsreaders making their frowny faces and sternly saying the nation needs to rally behind new President Kamala and cannot afford the confusion of bringing in a new presidential administration right now. “So be sure to vote for Kamala to … uh … save democracy! Yeah, that’s it!” (And she’d be able to pardon Hunter Biden and others even if she loses, since she’d be in office until late January.) 

KAMALA HARRIS-JOE BIDEN REGIME SUCCESSFULLY FORCES VIRGINIA TO NOT ONLY STOP REMOVING NON-CITIZENS FROM THE VOTER ROLLS BUT TO PUT THOSE WHO HAD ALREADY BEEN REMOVED BACK ON THOSE ROLLS. Insanity. There’s only one reason that the Democrats would want this done, especially just days from the election.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP TRULY IS THE NEW FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT AND TEDDY ROOSEVELT. The latest article pointing out how Trump is being called a “traitor to his class” just like snobbish rich pigs called Democrat Franklin Roosevelt and Republican Teddy Roosevelt. Longtime readers know I’ve been praising Trump as the new FDR and Teddy for years.

MONTANA DEMOCRAT CAUGHT ON VIDEO TAMPERING WITH BALLOT BOX. Democrats want to make the 2024 election as tainted and corrupt as the ones in 2020, 1876 and 2000.

MARICOPA COUNTY OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE THEY PLAN TO HOLD THE COUNTRY HOSTAGE AGAIN BY STRETCHING THEIR VOTE “COUNTING” (wink) OUT FOR WEEKS. They’re already asking for two weeks of “patience” after election day. It used to be certain counties in Florida that had overtly shady activities, but Ron DeSantis successfully made Florida elections much more safe and legitimate. Now Arizona needs to do the same.

GALLUP POLL: EIGHTY-FOUR PERCENT OF AMERICANS FEAR OUR ELECTIONS AREN’T SAFE. Well, they aren’t if Democrats can prevent them from being safe and legitimate. Just remember 2020, 1876 and 2000. 

ALSO GALLUP: EIGHTY PERCENT OF AMERICANS WANT VOTER I.D., LIKE EUROPE AND SO MANY OTHER PLACES HAVE. Remember, it is ALWAYS Democrats who fight voter i.d. And I think we all know why.

KAMALA HARRIS’S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GANGS TIGHTEN THEIR GRIP ON COLORADO APARTMENT COMPLEXES.

RACHEL MORIN: “MY DAUGHTER DIDN’T GET A CHANCE AT LIFE BECAUSE OF KAMALA HARRIS’S FAILURES.” Her daughter was killed because of Kamala’s illegal immigrants. Continue reading

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VAN HELSING: FROM BENEATH THE RUE MORGUE & THE LONDON ASSIGNMENT

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post looks at the sidequels to Hugh Jackman’s 2004 movie Van Helsing.

van helsing comic bookFROM BENEATH THE RUE MORGUE (2004) – This Dark Horse comic book companion to the Van Helsing film is set in between scenes in the movie. After the death of Mr. Hyde in Paris, we see that Van Helsing winds up arrested for murder.

The monster slayer is ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death, but priestly agents of the Vatican (for whom Van Helsing works in his crusade against unholy forces) engineer an escape. Our hero flees through the catacombs beneath Paris.

Soon, he is forced to abandon his plans to escape the city when an unseen force abducts a female spiritual medium. Van Helsing follows the screaming woman and her invisible abductor to a secret laboratory beneath the Rue Morgue.

hugh jackman as van helsingThat lab is the lair of THE Dr. Moreau in his younger years. The mad scientist has created a number of beastly man-monsters that are barely controllable, unlike his later experimental creations.

Van Helsing learns that the invisible being which abducted the medium was made so by a process that Moreau stole from England’s Invisible Man, whom he double-crossed. The unseen figure is made visible and is a Moreau creation that resembles the much later Creature from the Black Lagoon. Continue reading

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CROSS OF THE SEVEN JEWELS (1987) BAD MOVIE REVIEW

Halloween month continues at Balladeer’s Blog!

Cross of the Seven Jewels 1CROSS OF THE SEVEN JEWELS (1987) – This Bad Movie Classic may be my favorite non-Paul Naschy werewolf production.

Cross of the Seven Jewels is easily the worst and weirdest werewolf movie I’ve ever seen. Forget The Werewolf of Woodstock, forget Face of the Screaming Werewolf, forget Werewolf vs the Yeti and all the rest of Paul Naschy’s lycanthropy flicks. You can even forget Werewolves on Wheels and the muddy-faced wolfman from Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein. Marco Antonio Andolfi starred in this film under the name Eddy Endolf plus wrote and directed it as well.

Andolfi was openly influenced by Paul Naschy’s werewolf films from Spain, but produced a cinematic mess that captured neither the eroticism of Naschy’s Waldemar Daninsky movies nor their goofy charm. Marco’s depiction of a werewolf is a bit … eccentric … and can only be described as “just a little something for the laaaadieeessss.”  

Personally, I would have titled this film

Personally, I would have titled this film “Ya Call THAT a Werewolf?” but I’m kind of weird.

When Andolfi transforms into a wolfman he somehow loses his clothes (which illogically reappear on his body when he reverts back to human form) and he sprouts long bushy hair in only a few places. The first place is around his face with his mouth left bare, making him look like he’s wearing a big hair-mask with eye-holes. The second place would be his hands and the third place is his crotch, which conveniently becomes bushy enough to block out the sight of his genitals. The rest of his well-built body is butt naked. 

Remember An American Werewolf in London? Well, think of this as An Italian Werewolf in his Birthday Suit. Speaking for myself I would LAUGH if a werewolf who looked like that came after me, but I’m not a character in this film and they all take the lycanthrope seriously. Continue reading

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HALLOWEEN AMERICANA: THE MONKS OF MONK HALL (1844-1845)

Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at a terrific horror tale which introduced some criminally neglected figures. 

Monks of Monk HallTHE MONKS OF MONK HALL aka THE QUAKER CITY (1844-1845) – Written by George Lippard, this strange and macabre story was originally serialized from 1844-1845 before being published in novel form. This bloody, horrific work was America’s best-selling novel before Uncle Tom’s Cabin

I always refer to this book as “Twin Peaks Goes to the 1840s.” On one level The Monks of Monk Hall deals with crime, corruption, drugs and sex-trafficking among many supposedly “respectable” citizens of Philadelphia the way Twin Peaks did with residents of the title town.

On another level the novel deals with supernatural horrors that lurk behind the Quaker City’s murders, vices and sexual perversions, again like the David Lynch series. The center of the darkness is Monk Hall, an old, sprawling mansion with an unsavory history and reputation. Many have disappeared into the bowels of the building, never to be seen again. The power players and criminals who mingle at the Hall in bizarre orgies, secret murders and drunken debauches are known as “Monks” – Monk Hall’s exclusive membership.

Monks of Monk Hall 4Think of Monk Hall as a combination of Twin Peaks establishments like the Black Lodge, One-Eyed Jacks and the Great Northern all rolled into one. The vast, multi-roomed Hall is honey-combed with secret passageways and trap doors. Beneath the mansion are a subterranean river plus several levels of labyrinthine catacombs filled with rats, refuse and the skeletal remains of the Monks’ many victims from the past century and a half.   

The sinister staff of Monk Hall are happy to provide their members with all the sex, opium and other diversions that they hunger for behind their public veil of respectability. Throw in the occult practices of the members and there’s a sort of “American version of Sir Francis Dashwood’s Hellfire Club” feel to it. Among the novel’s more horrific characters: Continue reading

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OCTOBER 23rd ROUNDUP OF NEWS, MEMES AND POLITICAL CARTOONS

Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog takes another look at current events here in an America trying to break free of the selfish concerns of privileged white Democrats and address issues that the voters care about. 

HARRIS-BIDEN REGIME UNDER FIRE FOR LEAKING TO IRAN.

KAMALA HARRIS-JOE BIDEN REGIME BLASTED FOR SENDING MOLDY EQUIPMENT TO TAIWAN. Considering that Kamala gets money from China just like Joe Biden did/ does I guess it’s no surprise.

SISTER OF DECEASED SOLDIER DEBUNKS THE ATLANTIC’S LYING REPORT ABOUT TRUMP. Anti-Trumpers will lie about anything. And their fellow anti-Trumpers will believe anything. Anti-Trump zealots are the most ignorant, uninformed and emotionally unstable people I’ve ever seen.

TRUMP ENDORSED BY STEELWORKERS. He’s a consummate man of the people.

THE MAN FROM S.C.U.M. – JOHN BRENNAN, CIA HEAD FORCED TO RESIGN OVER HIS SCANDAL ABOUT SPYING ON CONGRESS, STILL SNIVELING THAT PEOPLE SUPPORT TRUMP. People like Brennan, who have run America’s destructive and counter-productive CIA, are in no position to criticize anyone. The C.I.A. is one of the reasons America gets so much hatred around the world.

LOS ANGELES TIMES REFUSES TO ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS. They endorsed Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

IN FLORIDA, TWO MORE OF KAMALA HARRIS’ ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR SEX TRAFFICKING OF FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL.

KAMALA HARRIS DHS FIGURE OPENLY USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO PUSH ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.

FCC COMMISSIONER CALLS OUT FACEBOOK FOR CENSORING ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS. Corporate fascists still back Democrats. Continue reading

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NEW SOUTH ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ADDING FOOTBALL IN 2025

The New South Athletic Conference has finalized arrangements to add football for the 2025-2026 season. Seven of the conference’s twelve teams are on board for NSAC football. 

Institution: ATLANTIS UNIVERSITY

Team Name: ATLANTEANS

Location: MIAMI, FL

*** Continue reading

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