Daily Dose: 2/3/17

4:30 PMDomonique and Mina are sending me pictures from the Puppy Bowl and I’m so extremely happy for them, and really, really mad I’m not there. I don’t care about football. I do care about dogs, though. I’m so jealous.

The Trump administration is a mess. If nothing else, its outward-facing game is so unbelievably off point that it almost would make you laugh if it weren’t so scary. Earlier this week, it appeared that neither the president nor his press secretary Sean Spicer knew that Frederick Douglass was actually a person who’d been dead for more than a century. Then Kellyanne Conway, in trying to somehow defend the immigration ban, referenced a situation in which former President Barack Obama banned Iraqis. One problem: She botched it majorly and had to correct herself after the fact.

We’ve talked about Zootopia before. It’s the wokest animated movie ever, and it’s great. A film about predators and prey living together in harmony that actually is a metaphor for race relations in not just this country but across the globe? Sign me up. And it’s getting recognized by the people who actually give out awards for these things. Seriously. I want to have kids just so I can show them this movie and see how they react when they see it. Alas, I have no offspring. So, I’ll just have to read about how it’ll probably win an Oscar.

The Super Bowl halftime show is a big deal. Ever since Justin Timberlake ripped Janet Jackson’s shirt, sending shock waves throughout the broadcasting industry, what happens between two halves of this football game is a huge deal. Organizers always try to make it over the top, which is understandable considering how big the proverbial stage is. But some shows have gone far better than others. The best one of all time, obviously, is Prince. There will never be another like it. It was a decade ago.

Let’s be clear about something: Tiger Woods is never winning another major again. At this point, the likelihood that he ever wins another tournament is unlikely. It’s rough, seeing the guy who legitimately revolutionized an entire sport have his body break down, while he insists on playing through it all. If he walked away from the game right now, he’d still be the greatest of all time in my book, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I don’t understand why he doesn’t just let that be the case. Anyway, he withdrew from Dubai this week.

Free Food

Coffee Break: The NBA’s rookie symposium has been a source of controversy for quite some time. The scare tactics the league uses are borderline bizarre and the methods of psychology implemented are questionable at best. And the reality is that not only is it likely ineffective, it’s sexist and wrong.

Snack Time: Hakeem Olajuwon is one of my top five favorite NBA basketball players of all time. He’s also a Muslim. And he played in Houston. This interview with him is solid.

Dessert: Here’s some music. It’s good. Happy weekend.