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I just imagine Ruby at home, all, "Damn, could you at least wait for me to clear out my locker? Or have the stuff in my locker cleared out and shipped to me?!?"

Watching the episode again. I didn't even pick up on the pool cues as light saber substitutes. What sells it is Jim holding his cue, then going "fuck this!" and breaking it in two.

Dream Bracket continues. I'm happy to report the '86 Mets have advanced to the Round of 32, dispatching the '18 Rockies in five games, including three straight shutouts to start the series. Their opponents are the Fay Wray of baseball, the successful maiden that gets sacrificed to the best team of that decade: the Padres. Specifically, the '98 Padres. They swept the '12 Giants. What else . . . the '94 Expos (the "what if?" wild card of the NL brackets) needed seven games to beat the '90 Reds. The '79 Pirates needed five games to oust the '03 Disposables (come at me, Marlins fans! I'll probably hear from Sasquatch before you!) The '04 Cardinals (basically the 1980 Finnish Olympic hockey team of baseball history) beat the '08 Phillies in six. The '95 Braves needed the full seven to beat the '11 Brewers; that series ended on Javy Lopez hitting a walkoff three-run homer with the Braves down by 2 in the ninth inning. The '19 Nationals took out the '77 Dodgers in six (weird that none of the Koufax-era teams were in the tourney), while the '16 Cubs ran out of miracles, losing in six games to the '11 Diamondbacks. BTW, am I too into this? As a kid, I had Micro League for the Commodore 64, and I used to run a lot of stuff similar to Dream Bracket. Yes, I was an only child. American League: '98 Yankees needed six games to beat the '19 Rays. They'll face the '42 Monarchs in the second round; they beat the '05 White Sox in seven. The '19 Astros swept the '91 Twins. No word if improvised drums were involved. The '93 Blue Jays and '88 A's had to go the full seven to advance (over the '95 Indians and '84 Tigers, respectively). The '01 Mariners took out the '15 Royals in six, the '02 Angels went the distance against the '83 Orioles, and the '11 Rangers beat the '18 Red Sox in five. Reminder for Mets fans: SNY is airing the '86 World Series, and Games 6-7 will air this weekend.

First results of MLB Dream Bracket 2 are in. Of course, the 1969 Mets were taken out in six games by the '98 Florida Disposables. And how did the Marlins get home field advantage? You can find box scores, recaps and game logs. The '86 squad had better destroy the '18 Rockies right away. There were a lot of screwy outcomes. The '96 Rangers took out the '68 Tigers in five games. The '85 Royals swept the '72 A's. The '54 Indians (111 wins) swept the '05 Astros, while the Giants (the team that swept them in the World Series that year) got swept by the '69 Cubs. And the '55 Dodgers -- the only team to win a title in Brooklyn -- got swept . . . by the '84 Padres.

ANW Nation shows us a few ninjas and their dogs. Yes, Roo Yori is in there with his two pups.

Jordan has won three times and finished four seasons. Think about it . . . in a figurative dick-measuring contest, he beats Wes for winning more titles in fewer seasons. Taking him out in an elimination is an achievement, even if Purgatory had come down to wanking without using the right hand. Fessy is Big Brother, and those people can go sit and spin, but he beat Jordan and got a Skull. It’s still an achievement.

Meh. Not something worth digging in for. In case you didn't know, Courtney is based on Geoff Johns' sister, who lost her life in the TWA Flight 800 plane crash. He introduced the character in Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E., which also featured Pat Dugan's robot suit. I don't know what the acronym is.

Funny115: Mario takes the piss out of Will. And also Dan, because Dan is Dan, and Dan will always suck. I don't think so. I was/am a fan of her, so my opinion might not be as valid. She beat Lil Morris. who had taken the Outcast route and was the subject of a stomping from the jury. But once again: she didn't kill Jon or Russell in their sleep. That makes her a queen in my book. Also: if Natalie had won W@W, would the season had been tainted like Chris Underwood's win? Once again, I'm biased towards her. Editors probably set up extra stuff to do on EoE so that someone coming back wouldn't be a rando like Chris. But as much as I say Tony hustled for his wins, Natalie worked to get fire tokens, and she validated that and EoE*. Also, as a woman, a win for her would have chapped Probst so bad. *Possible minus: she may have validated the return of Fire Tokens. Ditto Edge of Extinction, though Probst said that's gone, and I want to believe him. ETA: Clicked the HvV casting link. Shii Ann and Twila were listed as Villains. On what fucking planet would they be considered the bad guys?!? ETA2: And so was Vecepia. Boy, the blowback would have been tremendous by that categorization.

Watching Jordan face a game where he REALLY needed two hands, one has to wonder: when he jumped at the oppurtunity to get a Skull, did he consider he might wind up disadvantaged, against someone who was strong and had adequate brains? I think he did. Volunteering and thinking that could happen to him doesn't make him a hero. He is arrogant, abrasive, and really sure of himself. Still, watching him tear up a little as he told kids with disabilities to keep trying . . . I felt bad for him. I mean, even if he said that people looked up to him . . . better him than Cara Maria, right? She actually said girls looked up to her. For real. Anyway . . .Jordan gets to stew in defeat with Tori, and he has to still with Bear on the plane ride out. Poor Jordan. "Hey. Hey, mate! How do ya wank with that thing that was your hand?" Thank you, Nelson! You being an obnoxious asshole actually worked out for us! Fun mission. Think about it . . . in an area full of suds, you can sucker punch someone and get away clean. Sadly, players engaged in other sorts of cheating. Including Johnny. I'm guessing that's a side effect of taking Adderall. 🙄🙄🙄 And Josh is still extra "extra." Such a vacant asshole. He probably used his Big Brother prize money buying time shares.

I was going to call this thread "Stars & Stripesy Forever." For a quick history of Sylvester Pemberton and Pat Dugan (as well as Merry, the Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks), click here. Yes, they heard someone wish that the American flag would come to life, and those two created their own costumes. Individually. Some days, you gotta love the Golden Age.

Oh, neat. How about a blue marble with a black circle and dot for Watchmen? I’m only familiar with Adam Driver through Star Wars, and I’m guessing that isn’t his best work. I think he looks . . . odd. Especially when you bring out cats that look like him.

MLB is running the greatest half-innings in history. The Mets are represented by . . .Lenny Dykstra and Todd Pratt’s postseason walkoff homers. What?!? That doesn’t seem right to me at all.

Wait, so Mary taking the Batwoman role as her own isn't even on the table??? I'm kidding. Seriously, though, it's a shame Ruby is leaving. I felt she did a great job in the role.

In case you didn't hear, CBS has slated Survivor for Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. this fall. I'm thinking they're being really optimistic. When The Amazing Race got moved from starting in mid-May (tonight, in fact) to the traditional fall season, I thought that it would be filling in for Survivor, and that we'd get S41 in Winter 2021. Basically, they're banking on Survivor being able to film within the next few months. Even if the infrastructure is already there, I can't see production people being eager to potentially get sick filming the show.

I like how we got Damian Wayne, the son of Batman that was raised by mother Talia al Guhl and the League of Assassins . . . and he sounds like a kid. If it wasn't for the final scene in the Batcave,, I'd say he was intentionally playing up that annoying choice. Great episode with lots of fighting and characters. And we have the debut of King Shark . . . and even if he wasn't voiced by Ron Funches, there's something about a shark swimming around a pool in bathing shorts that's just so . . . wow. Of course, one drop of blood turns him into a berserker, but that's an acceptable trade-off for his hacking skills and jovial demeanor.

Funny how things work . . . CW was going to show Stargirl before the pandemic and subsequent quarantine. Now we keep our superhero fix going for a while longer, and a lot of us don't have to pay for streaming. Bonus: dopey-looking Bulldog that looks like he passes gas all the time. We're all winners! Good way to start. Given that Geoff Johns is involved, and Courtney was based on his sister who was killed in the crash of TWA Flight 800, you know a lot of his heart was put into this. Bec seems to fit in nicely, and Luke Wilson does good as Pat. And even though the comic canon was soaked in its Forties origin (Sylvester and Pat heard someone wish that the American flag would come to life to fight Nazis, and they ran with it separately), it worked in a 21st-Century setting. Too bad we wound up with a lot of dead old-school heroes to make the story work. Cosmic Staff . . . *sigh* I see it's based off Jack Knight's weapon in the critically-acclaimed Starman series. I'm good with the transition . . . but it's sentient? Like the illegitimate child of Doctor Strange's cloak and Thor's hammer*? That feels like a hurdle. Not as big as Courtney going to Basic School Tropes High, though. Those scenes were cringeworthy. Oh, and one of the Injustice Society is living in Blue Valley. And he has a son whose car Courtney blew up. *deeper sigh* Of course. *Of course I know it's called Mjolnir. What kind of geek would I be if I didn't know that?!? 🤓

Zombies? Well, that happened in the second season, but I'll allow it. Ditto Gary trying to save the day guided only by a hallucination of Gideon. Or maybe massive shocks are the only way she can directly communicate with anyone as a human. The Legends -- now mostly immortal -- go on another crappy road trip. And as long as they have zombies, why not borrow from Shaun of the Dead, ending things in a pub? Actually, that's a Time Bureau base. But that's in England, and I thought the Bureau was funded by the U.S. government. I'm guessing this is a case where I should let things slide. Ooo! Zombies! And a John/Zardashian near-death hook-up! And a hapless zombie trying to bite Nate's arm when he's steeled up! I'm just going along for the ride with the Fates, and I'm not really invested. I'm blaming the pandemic for that. Astra is showing depth . . . I'm honestly thinking she was going to cross her sisters all along, and Gary didn't actually her mind. But I will admit Gary was pretty gutsy trying to save the day. Too bad he got killed for that. I'm good with Ava as co-captain. I did think Sara was being fatalistic about her own impending death. I mean, she's come close to the line, and she's been over the line. One day, she might actually stay dead. Oh, and Caity got to wear a hat. I met her a few years ago at Heroes/Villains, and she told me she likes hats in real life. I feel like I'm missing something.

Damn. And she was good. Now I'm imagining Kate bandaged and in a coma, with a fed-up Alice sewing up a new face.

Plight of Minor Leagues is the cover story for the latest Sports Illustrated.

I keep forgetting to ask: does anyone here play Pocky Mortys?

@Chyromaniac . . . I was assuming that Old Man Bruce started out at Batman further back in the past on his Earth, and that Hush wouldn’t have to resemble Kevin Conroy. Thinking about it, how hysterical would it be for Tommy to stop quoting Aristotle and start reciting lines from The Dark Knight Returns?

Lots of stuff to say from last night's episode. "*tch* Florida" is one of 'em. Also, ten-year-old me would have been slowly and figuratively dying from 99 percent of sport being put into limbo. At 44, I'm okay. I'm liking that SNY has been airing classic postseason series in Mets history. The team did help start the network, but they've never broken that stuff out. They'll show division-clinching games, great performances and the time Bartolo Colon and his big butt hit a homer at the age of 43 . . . but not the good stuff from '69 and '86. Maybe John and/or the LWT staff figured the Yankees would be more identifiable? And they did wind up in the World Series. But yes, the Mets were the first local team to play at home following 9/11. Probably mounted on the walls during the indoor events of the marble races. No argument here. As for the marble races . . . I've seen that on ESPN whenever they ran their "Ocho" block (reference to Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story; usually brought out on August 8 every year). Truth be told, it was oddly mesmerizing. And yes, personalities are tacked onto the teams and even individual marbles. And that might be EXACTLY what we need at this time. I posted a link to one of the courses on the ANW Media thread. You can find the five courses here.

Yep . . . the pregame is intact. Costas hyping the Series, Marv Albert doing his "Albert Achievement Awards" (I'm holding off on a really cheap shot), and the introductions. How much does it cost to clean up a VHS tape? And how long? There were issues with the NLCS games, as well as the footage from the 1969 World Series. Wait, I thought there were introductions for the non-starters. I remember the only Red Sox player that got any love from the crowd at Shea was Tom Seaver. Huge ovation for him. Would that have been cut, or did I misremember that? Glenn Close sings the anthem. I think she was the official go-to in that area. Also, I think Fatal Attraction got released in 1987. Just a random synaptic connection for me.

I like to think Adam got the podium, Rob's torch has gone up to $10,300, surpassed only by the Immunity Necklace ($10,600). They are followed by the Immunity Idol ($8K) and Tony's torch ($5,850).

Before the loved ones' visit, Rupert was voted out. I'm gonna say it: if he was still there, Jon would have aborted the scheme. Seriously, if there's a guy there that already threatened you, and he would find out he was deprived of seeing his wife (I'm assuming it would've been Lauren) because of a fictitious dead grandma? You'd pull the plug. Jon and his buddy probably had a safe word for that sort of thing . . . or perhaps I'm giving those two too much credit. If case you didn't see the Past Seasons thread, I found out Mario Lanza (the Funny115 guy) has complied many pictures of Jesus Christ with some of Sandra's best quotes. Check it out.