There was a clear winner in Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, yet the victor was not on stage nor is he named Joe Biden. No, the clear winner was Curt Schilling, who in a response to a tweet from Donald Trump once again reminded us of his awesomeness.

In a September 23 post ("Impending Layoffs at ESPN Aren't Only About the 'Media Landscape'"), I argued that ESPN's impending decision to lay off hundreds of employees is at least partially due to its determination to stuff political correctness down viewers' throats.

I noted that the network's ratings suffered a nearly 30 percent decline from August 2014 to August 2015 — a sea change which begged for an explanation beyond cable industry turmoil. A commenter observed that the network's ratings were up during a recent week in September, so I said I would look at ratings for entire third quarter when they became available. ESPN's primetime audience loss spread over the entire quarter was over 9 percent — a result nowhere near as awful as August alone, but certainly nothing to crow about:

Word on the street is that ESPN is planning to lay off "200 to 300" employees in the coming months.

The go-to euphemism surrounding the impending layoffs, according to Variety's Brian Steinberg, is "the changing media landscape," primarily the "cord-cutting" phenomenon. In July, the Big Lead blog, in discussing Keith Olbermann's expected departure from ESPN, explained that "millennials are eschewing expensive cable TV bills and streaming everything online." While that might explain flat viewership or even a modest decline, cord-cutting is only a minor part of the problem. Someone needs to explain why ESPN's ratings have fallen by a stunning 30 percent in the past 12 months.

Because apparently even deflated footballs are racist, New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall says that there are many NFL players who believe Tom Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension was overturned because of race. “White players, specifically at the quarterback position, are treated differently,” the five-time Pro Bowler said.

Former NFL football player Lamar Lathon is lying about what transpired between himself and a Texas cop during a traffic stop. The 9-year veteran of both the Houston Oilers and Carolina Panthers was pulled over by a Pearland (Houston area) police officer at 1:15 am on September 1^st for going 65 mph in a 50 mph zone. Lathon was contentious and uncooperative throughout, which resulted in the officer having to unholster his sidearm.