Tonight is the third and final presidential debate in Las Vegas. You can place a bet at 30-1 odds if Hillary uses the words grab and pussy together. 

A Hillary Clinton campaign bus - without Hillary on it - is accused of dumping raw sewage on a street in Georgia. It was almost as much sewage as Billy Bush and Donald Trump dumped inside their bus.

Since you asked:

At UCSB, I had a great debate teacher, Ms McMahon. (She wanted us to call her Sally) She taught us one of the questions you have to ask yourself in preparing for a debate is: what do I have to do to do better than simply not showing up?

In a political/election debate you can do far worse than not showing up. You can make things a lot worse. So you need to focus on exactly what not messing up is. That means not doing one or two things badly and getting one, two big points across. Maybe three, but no more. Nobody will remember more than three. 

This is why, in this debate, Trump is at an advantage. He has nothing to lose. The only voters Hillary has in her pants suit pocket are the relatively few liberal, die-hard Clinton lovers. Almost everyone else is a “I guess I will” or “I hate Trump” voter. If Hillary does anything that paints her as a screaming, wild-eyed liberal, she loses votes.

And she is not going to win-over the crazy die-hard Trump lovers. So damaging Trump further is not important. If it is even possible. 

Imagine being in a boxing match against a crazy person, but being told not to appear too mean or aggressive? Hillary has to defend herself without throwing any haymakers. 

So Trump has to pull all stops. He just has to swing wildly and hope to land a damaging punch. 

Lexervations:

Big fan of the Amy, but Schumer’s controversies-over-laughs ratio is getting up there. She wants to keep it way out of Rosie O’Donnell range. 

Why is it nobody can ever remember when they fall asleep?

  

Annoying word use alert. When did narrative and transparency take over for story and honesty? And when did agenda replace plan? When did backstory replace history? 

Got alleged Cubs fans ready to give up the ghost when it is just 2-1 in a seven game series. What the hell? Why?

“Son of Zorn” surprisingly funny. “This Is Us” and “West World” damn good with great casts. “The Good Place” Amazing cast. Starts slow, but grows on you. “The Voice.” Do not watch it if you are a sap like me and you do not want to get hooked. Great judges. Amazing talent. Goosebumps and tears. 

Terms we have to stop using: “Live on tape.” and “Based on a true story.” Those are as close to meaning nothing as a phrase can be. 

Why are ratings down over 11% for NFL games? Oh, I don’t know. How about how annoying it is to watch a ton of commercials followed by live features that are introduced as “The GEICO halftime update brought to you by Aflac”? And it has a Verizon logo in the background.  How about that?  Huh? 

And while we are on the subject of too many commercials, the only commercial I really want to see Peyton Manning in is one for a one-size-fits-all hat. That guy’s noggin is Mount Rushmore-esque. 

When did passive-aggressive replace being phony, mean and bitchy? 

Anyone who does not like Joe Buck and John Smoltz as announcers are pains in the ass. Smoltz is particularly low-key and on point. Great insights. The catcher throwing to first and losing framing the pitch. That stuff is gold.

For better or for worse, the days of the colorful/ awful announcers are over. No Harry (better) Carey, no  Howard (worse) Cosell. 

The only announcer I have any truck with is Sean McDonough. His voice always sounds like he is about to announce he is going to take a nap. But Jon Gruden makes up for it with a lot of energy.