The postseason of professional basketball is officially underway, and the race for the championship looks to be wide open.
Inside this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts, the NBA Playoffs have begun, a new development behind the supply chain issues plaguing the country, and an inside look at how voting rights failed in the Senate. Plus, some of the top stories from the past week you’ll want to know about.
Also, you should go listen to the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! Episode 59 features Zander’s Facts’ NBA analyst Hill Billy joining the pod to help break down the matchups for the NBA Playoffs. Check out who Hill Billy and I have winning the Larry O'Brien trophy and becoming champions of the NBA. Download and listen to the Zander’s Facts Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
Zander’s Weekend Facts is here to give you the facts about what has been going on in the world around us this past week. You’ll just have to read these facts, instead of listening to them on the Zander’s Facts Podcast.
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, April 17, 2022:
The NBA Playoffs are here
Yesterday afternoon, tip-off had finally come for this season’s edition of the NBA Playoffs, the annual postseason for the top professional basketball league in the world. Two years ago, the NBA Playoffs took place inside a bubble at Walt Disney World with no fans present. Last year, the Playoffs began a month later than normal and only featured a limited fan presence. This year, the Playoffs tip off at their normal time on the calendar, and the fans are back in arenas.
This season looks to be wide open as, unlike previous years, no one team is expected as a heavy favorite to win the championship. There are several top seeds who have legitimate cases to make this postseason. First off, take a look at the official bracket for this season:
The Phoenix Suns took the best record in the NBA this season, finishing eight games ahead of the second-best record. Last year’s Finals runner-ups feature a reloaded squad of veteran Chris Paul and young stars Devin Booker and DeAndre Ayton. If any team is a favorite to win this season, it is the Phoenix Suns, looking to avenge last season’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat, went through some unexpected adversity to claim the top spot in the east. The Heat were missing two of their biggest stars, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry, due to personal reasons. A skirmish between Butler and other team members including head coach Erik Spoelstra on the bench during a game a few weeks ago also raises legitimate questions of whether the Heat can stick together to make it through the conference.
The Memphis Grizzlies have been a major surprise this season, with a young inexperienced core taking the team to second place in the west. The Grizzlies actually have a better winning percentage without their star player Ja Morant this season than in games with him. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane are additional young bright talents that have carried Memphis into the upper echelon of pro basketball this season. The question is whether that inexperience in the Playoffs will come back to bite them in later rounds.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for the second seed Boston Celtics this season. The Celtics were a below .500 team at the halfway mark of the season, and now have the second-best record in the east. Jayson Tatum is playing better than ever before, as Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams have also proved pivotal to the success of the team. The Celtics may not be the top seed, but they are playing as well as anyone in the NBA.
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks sit at third in the east as Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to perform better than ever. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green are all back for the third seed Warriors out west. The very interesting Brooklyn Nets face a tough first round draw as the seven seed against the Celtics, and hopes for the Dallas Mavericks may only rest on the now injured Luka Doncic.
There are several intriguing storylines in this season’s title race, which should make for an exciting postseason. The basketball that will take place over the next two months will be the highest quality that we witness all year. And just a reminder to check out Episode 59 of the Zander’s Facts Podcast for some more analysis on the Playoffs from ZF NBA analyst Hill Billy. The NBA Playoffs are going on now and run through the end of the NBA Finals in mid-June. The Playoffs can be viewed on ABC, ESPN, NBA TV, and TNT.
Intentionally causing a border crisis
If you’ve been paying attention to right-wing media over the last few months, you may have heard about the crisis occurring on the southern border of the United States. While mainstream news media outlets have not focused on news regarding the U.S. border with Mexico, Fox News has spent loads of time covering the topic. While the war in Ukraine has been progressing, Fox anchors have drawn comparisons to the southern border in order to continue coverage of the “crisis”.
While many can agree that the situation on the southern border is not perfect, it is certainly not worthy of claims that it is a more pressing issue for the country than the war in Ukraine, gun violence, etc. Fearmongering has been a common tactic outlets such as Fox have used for years on their viewers, not just on this topic, in order to advance their political agenda. Many can remember the infamous migrant caravan that was surging towards the southern border from Mexico just before the 2018 midterm elections. Coverage on Fox was non-stop before the election, and afterward? The caravan had suddenly disappeared.
So a new development this week at the southern border proved rather interesting, one that was seemingly not covered by Fox. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) recently announced a new policy that would require additional inspections for commercial trucks and other vehicles passing into Texas from Mexico. The implementation of the policy resulted in large back-ups for trucks trying to get into Texas, with some drivers waiting in upwards of 30 hours to pass through secondary border inspections. After some businesses estimated that millions and millions of dollars were being lost due to the back-ups, Gov. Abbott announced that he had reached deals with four Mexican state governors that would require Mexican states to provide additional security south on their side of the border.
While the deals gave Gov. Abbott an out to reopen the border to commercial use for businesses, the short-lived policy did not come without consequence and humiliation. Companies sending items from Mexico to the United States surely lost profit along with supplies for fresh produce, while supply chains were also disrupted for a nation already dealing with issues caused by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, Gov. Abbott’s goals regarding the policy appear to have not panned out. The Texas Tribune notes that when the initiative was announced last week, Abbott said the policy was aimed at stopping “illegal drugs and migrants from being smuggled into the state.” The Tribune cites the Texas Department of Public Safety when noting that as of Friday, “the Department of Public Safety had not reported any drugs seized or migrants apprehended as a result of the state inspections.” Illegal drugs and migrants are of course talking points used by right-wing media when discussing the southern border situation.
While the nation deals with more pressing issues in which bipartisanship would be helpful in solving, the southern border remains a conservative talking point in the leadup to elections in which Republicans hope to take control of Congress and stall any further policy developments by the current administration in Washington. While there are flaws in how the border with Mexico is treated on both sides of the border, this surely could have been handled in a better fashion than a gut reaction by a politician looking to score some political points.
For more information on the southern border developments, check out the following stories from The Washington Post and The Texas Tribune.
Washington Post - White House, truckers blast Texas as inspections snarl Mexico traffic
The Texas Tribune - Abbott ends inspections that clogged commercial traffic at U.S.-Mexico border for more than a week
What Zander’s reading this week
One article I found interesting over the past week involved the process the voting rights bills went through in Congress over the last year. Rolling Stone’s Washington bureau chief, Andy Kroll, published a story last Sunday night that takes an in-depth look at the inner workings of prominent Senate Democrats attempting to persuade their colleagues to pass reforms to the filibuster in order to allow for voting rights legislation to pass.
The article focuses most of its attention on the thoughts and actions of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D). Manchin was seen as one of two key votes on the Democratic side of the aisle, along with Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D), to get voting rights legislation through. According to the article, the reason voting rights ultimately did not get through the Senate was partially due to a lack of support from the White House, which was focusing on President Biden’s Build Back Better bill at the time. This and several other factors seemingly affected the outcome and have allowed election reforms to stall in Congress.
Check out this week’s featured piece on Rolling Stone: Rolling Stone - How Joe Manchin Knifed the Democrats — and Bailed on Saving Democracy
You can also check out the story on Apple News using the Apple News app: Rolling Stone - How Joe Manchin Knifed the Democrats — and Bailed on Saving Democracy
Rapid-fire Facts
The federal government instituted a couple of regulations this week, and both major political parties made some unusual noise. Here are some of the top stories from the past week.
The CDC extended the public transit mask mandate in the U.S. through May 3 on Wednesday. The mandate requires that travelers on airplanes, trains, and inside any transit hubs wear masks to protect themselves against Covid-19. While the mandate has been extended on several occasions since its introduction in February 2021, this new extension is due to a recent rise in Covid-19 cases nationwide.
On Thursday, the Republican National Committee made the decision to end its association with the Commission on Presidential Debates. The commission is responsible for holding presidential election debates in the United States and has done so since the 1988 election. The move comes after Republicans have signaled their displeasure with the commission since the aftermath of the 2020 election. The RNC notes that it could allow candidates to appear in alternative debates in the future, although any details of possible future debates are unknown at this time.
The Department of Justice announced new regulations on “ghost guns” this past Monday. Ghost guns are firearms that can be built from assembly kits and do not have serial numbers, so they cannot be tracked. The Biden administration is seeking to regulate the ghost gun industry in order for these weapons to be treated the same as regular guns. The new directive does not ban the guns or strengthen penalties for any wrongdoing. For more information on ghost guns and the industry, check out a “60 Minutes” segment in the second link from May 2020 that discusses the topic.
The Biden administration announced on Friday that leases will once again be sold for the purpose of drilling for oil and gas on federal land. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden called for an end to drilling on federal lands. However, with gas prices at high levels across the world, the move is expected to alleviate supply woes and high prices within the next year. Only 144,000 acres of land will be available, nearly 80% less than earlier estimates. Companies must also pay higher royalties in order to drill on federal land.
Last month marked a giant milestone for wind power in the United States. On March 29, 2022, wind power produced more energy than both coal and nuclear energy for the first time on a single day. Wind energy accounted for 19% of energy in the U.S., while nuclear energy also accounted for 19%, and coal produced 17% of the energy in the country. Natural gas, the most popular source of energy in the U.S., accounted for 31% that day. Despite the achievement, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects wind power to increase slowly in overall energy production over the next few years.
While the 2022 midterm elections are only a few months away, the race to 2024 is already gaining steam. This week, the Democratic National Committee altered the way it selects its presidential candidates. Among the changes, the party will now allow for states to apply to be selected to host their primary elections before Super Tuesday in March. This new process most likely means that Iowa and New Hampshire will no longer host the first caucus and primary in the presidential election, at least for Democrats. Iowa and New Hampshire have held the first contests in the presidential primary election since 1972.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
From an uplifting story here at home to a title race across the pond. Check out the latest stories from the sporting world in ZF SC:
In wonderful news, longtime college basketball analyst for ESPN, Dick Vitale, announced this week that he was officially cancer-free. Vitale was diagnosed with lymphoma in fall 2021 and only called a couple of basketball games for ESPN this past season after he also underwent vocal chord surgery. Vitale has long been seen on college basketball telecasts, joining ESPN in its first year on the air in 1979.
The race at the top of English soccer continues, as this weekend brings the semifinals of the Emirates FA Cup. The FA Cup, like the Carabao Cup played a few weeks ago, is a domestic club soccer tournament held in England each year. The tournament, which began in 1871 and is celebrating its 150th anniversary, is the oldest national soccer tournament in the world. The semifinals of this year’s tournament got underway on Saturday from Wembley Stadium in London, England with Manchester City and Liverpool matching up for the second time in as many weeks. After last week’s 2-2 draw in Manchester, Liverpool held onto a 3-0 halftime lead to win 3-2 and advance to the final, their first since 2012. This morning, the second semifinal takes place with Chelsea and Crystal Palace facing off from Wembley at 11:30 am et, with television coverage in the U.S. on ESPN+. Chelsea are seeking back-to-back title appearances after falling in last year’s final, while Crystal Palace are seeking their first final appearance since 2016 and first-ever title. Last year’s champions, Leicester City, were eliminated in the fourth round.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast. Download and listen to Episode 59 wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Zander’s Facts’ Linktree page for more on anything Zander’s Facts related: Zander's Facts on Linktree
The Zander’s Facts podcast returns with an all-new episode this Wednesday! Listen in to get a preview of next week’s pivotal presidential election in France with facts you’ll only find on Zander’s Facts. Remember to check out the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts podcast, coming out this Wednesday morning!
Do remember to check out the next edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts next Sunday! If you haven’t already, make sure to sign up with the link below to get Zander’s Weekend Facts in your inbox every Sunday so you don’t miss anything!
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The Facts in print return on Sunday, April 24, 2022.