Opinion: Five news stories from the weekend you may have missed

For many parents, this past weekend was filled with organizing for the first day of school. For others, maybe one last summer adventure. Either way, you might have skipped over the big and crazy stories from the weekend.

Here’s what you missed:

Virginia

A white nationalist rally clashed with anti-hate protesters in Virginia on Saturday. It became deadly when a 20-year-old idiot decided to ram his car into a crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others.

We should all condemn the actions of this idiot along with the actions of any protesters that get violent. President Donald Trump did just that and, of course, people were upset about it.

Monday morning headlines have been dominated by the likes of Merck CEO Ken Frazier speaking out against the president for not addressing the white nationalists and KKK directly in his comments.

The president did in fact address hate and intolerance and did so again Monday.

This is no different than the right getting fired up at former President Barack Obama for not directly addressing terrorist acts.

The bottom line is that our commander in chief is running a nation of 330 million people. When any president addresses the nation, it will impossible to please everyone.

Arizona Cardinals

Once fans, myself included, waited through very long (thanks Oakland Raiders fans) security lines, Saturday night’s preseason game did not disappoint.

Well, if you are Cardinals fan that is.

The first and second string both looked strong on both sides of the ball. As for the third string, well, coach Bruce Arian’s next man up program might need some work.

But all in all, it was a good showing for the Red Birds who beat the Raiders 20-10.

Next up will be the Chicago Bears Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Weather

Saturday’s storm delivered for the Valley and set a record by dropping 0.33 inches of rain at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

I find it funny that, every year, Phoenicians complain and complain that we aren’t getting enough rain. Talk of drought and water levels at Lake Mead become nightly evening news stories. Then, rain, lots of rain. The talk quickly turns to when we will dry out and see sunny skies again.

People, we live in the desert. This is how it works.

But I want to encourage each of you to take advantage of this rain. Start planning a day trip for the next couple of weekends. Get out and explore the desert. This rain has turned the desert green. The plant life is amazing, scenery better and the sunsets will blow you away.

It’s your desert. Explore and enjoy it.

Amazon

For the next seven days, you will hear a lot of talk about the solar eclipse. Personally, I’m excited. I’m a nerd and I geek out about this kind of thing.

Watching the solar eclipse requires some hardware — special glasses or a welder’s mask should do the trick.

But beware. Some of the glasses that are being sold will not protect you as advertised.

This weekend, Amazon announced that it has contacted and issued refunds to some customers who purchased glasses on Amazon that “may not comply with industry standards.”

Amazon has also removed a few listings for glasses on its website “out of an abundance of caution.” It did not name any of those listings in its statement.

If you purchased eclipse glasses from Amazon, contact their customer service department ASAP.

Ball

And we can wrap up with something lighter from the weekend. Let’s file this in the karma category.

Over the weekend, LaVar Ball lost a shooting contest to Ice Cube.

If you asked, “Who’s LaVar Ball,” good for you. Your life is better without him.

Ball is the flamboyant father of Lakers rookie, Lonzo. Think of these clowns as the Kardashians of the NBA. It won’t take you very long to make the connection.

What makes this loss notable is that Ball claims that he would “kill” Michael Jordan one on one with one hand tied behind his back.

So from this point forward, any loss, humbling or humiliation of Ball is just good fun for all of us.

Let’s treat him like I treat my dogs when they get too fired up: If I ignore them, they eventually calm down and go away.

Follow @GOMikeRussell