…and there’s Parliament.

July 4, 2013 Filler

Read it, don’t read it, I don’t care…just needed to get some things off my chest.

In no particular order of chronology or importance…

On the clock. Morning rant. Fourth of July. I am sitting on my buddy’s (Scott) porch in beautiful Santa Barbara before a day of festivities. Let’s turn and burn.

EMAIL: mark_filler@hotmail.com

TWITTER: @fillerbuster11

1) Bartoli is in. Radwanska and Lisicki are duking it out right now. And we are excited for one of the least memorable final matches that no one sees in a LONG time. Those names aren’t going to carry big ratings, and honestly might not carry MY interest, whether in Santa Barbara or Denver, awake or asleep. Thanks, Sloane Stephens. You would have been THE story had you advanced. American tennis just BLOWS these days.

2) Manny Ramirez is back? It is ok. It is a minors stop. The Rangers evidently don’t mind their young talent coming into contact with Manny. Most of us would.

3) Apparently Jay-Z busts on Scott Boras on his new album. That is adorable. Now, we just need a rap album to come out by Boras to hear what HE has to say.

4) The moment Doc Rivers came over and the ink dried, the Clippers better had been thinking not only about being happy with the Chris Paul thing, but also about the remaining spots they need to plug people into on that team. They are dangerous. I wouldn’t say they are top tier though. Lob City will get you through the regular season in a fun, winning way. The court shortens in the playoffs.

5) Santa Barbara is beautiful. Already did the wharf, one beach, and a nice dinner last night. Doing wine tasting today which should be interesting being that I will drink wine if it is only the last alcohol around me. Local casino and fireworks later. Golf at Scott’s club and the other more remote beach tomorrow. Relaxing vacation.

6) I don’t know about you, but I am tired of hearing about “anchored strokes” in PGA golf. Either ban it or don’t and stop “updating” me on it.

7) I would like to apply my last hook to A-Rod’s rehab also. Exact hook.

8) Bryce Harper is back from injury, and announced his presence by hitting a home run on the second pitch he saw. That is my boy. And boom goes the dynamite.

9) If the Spurs are looking at Greg Oden, it must be real that he is better finally. Knee injuries or not, let’s not forget that he was the #1 draft pick at one point. Even though he has looked about 45 years old since high school, he is still pretty young and should be looked at by teams about to lose a middle guy (Spurs), or by teams who never had a middle guy (Heat). Seriously though, he looks OLD. This is him in COLLEGE.

10) Victor Cruz and the Giants might have aligned on a long term deal. Good for Giants fans. If you have Nicks and Cruz locked up on either side for Eli to throw to, you have a little happier everyone.

11) I am confused why Tyreke Evans is being chased by anyone. The guy is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, and his stats last year were 15-3-4. Sure he has the NBA body, but you are chancing it if you are the Pelicans, who just signed him to an offer sheet. Pretty lame free agent class.

12) Urban Meyer “won’t talk about” Aaron Hernandez. The media just wanted your opinion. The dude is locked up. Stop being all weird about it.

13) If I am a Celtics fan, I WANT Rondo out of Boston. Why? Sure, it would be nice to not have a COMPLETE turnover, but his stock is at the highest even coming off injury, and there is no way I would trust his personality to be well behaved during a total rebuild.

14) Is there a free agent the Mavericks are NOT after?

15) Quietly, R.A. Dickey is back to .500 at 8-8. The Jays and him have officially pronounced themselves BACK.

16) I hear that Tulsa is chasing the 2024 Olympics. I am not very familiar with the town. I admit it. But it still is TULSA. I have heard enough rumors to not think the Olympics should be held there.

17) THIS is how dedicated Deadspin is on their stories. This bug SURVIVES. http://deadspin.com/bug-survives-634532853

18) Sorry to see that Jim Kelly died at 67. Not THAT Jim Kelly. THIS Jim Kelly. And if you never saw this movie, drop everything and go watch it. http://deadspin.com/http-www-youtube-com-watch-v-cyfgoh4yte8-jim-kelly-w-639194065

19) I don’t remember doing the Rubik’s Cube at games when I was a kid. This kid is BORED. http://deadspin.com/today-in-disinterested-baseball-fans-a-kid-doing-origa-635569844

20) I promised it would make the blog. In playing poker with Lindsey recently, she has beaten me 5 out of 6 rounds. I will admit to being beat legitimately. That being said, I will also tell you my rule of thumb. When not drinking, I am a VERY good poker player. When having 3 or more drinks, I am NOT a very good poker player. “Well, I will just wait for the cards before folding this off suited straight possibility.” Yeah. Anyway, she beat me, and drinks were involved. Not an excuse. Just saying which classification my skills were in.

21) If the Atlanta Hawks get Snowball and lose Josh Smith, I just really don’t see the fantastic progress they make in the overall big picture after giving away Joe Johnson last year. The Hawks are the playoff version of treading water.

22) Speaking of the Hawks, they signed Kyle Korver. MONSTER moves going on, and that kid will ALWAYS have a job in the NBA because he can shoot the ball.

23) By the way, do you think Snowball actually IS looking at all of these teams, or just likes the attention? I could make a strong case for the latter.

24) Floyd Mayweather says he will fight out his new contract with a couple more fights, and then exit stage left after that 50^th win. Makes sense. I think he should stop talking about anything except Saul Hernandez for the moment. This kid is going to give him a RUN. TELLING you. Floyd should get by this one before talking about 50.

25) In one of the most boring moves in free agency, Bulls fans are ELATED they picked up Mike Dunleavy, Jr. HUGE move.

26) That is sarcastic. 10-1-3 is his stat line.

27) Andy Pettitte got Whitey Ford’s franchise strikeout record the other day. Goes to show you if you do anything relatively successfully long enough, you can get some records too. I actually was VERY surprised how low that record was. 1,958? That seems LOW for that level of franchise.

28) Did YOU know how many “t’s” Andy had in his name? I didn’t. No idea the second round was doubled up too.

29) Max Scherzer is the first 13-0 pitcher in 27 years. Amazing how it works when you have a team hitting for you. NO, I am NOT busting on Max. Winning is…winning. I am just saying it is scary when you have one guy with a 3.09 ERA at 13-0, and another guy (Kershaw) with a 1.93 ERA at 7-5. Interesting.

30) David West signed with the Pacers. Smart move, David. Smart move, Indiana. You do NOT want to mess with the core, and especially on the front line. You just need a pure PG, Granger back healthy, and that late 80’s style front line. As I said previously, the championship window is OFFICIALLY open with the Pacers as of now.

31) Brian Cushing says that JJ Watt could be the best ever. He sure could, Brian. Totally agree. Why don’t you two stop worrying about who could be the best ever until AFTER you get a big playoff advancing win? Start playing up to your talent level with the big boys, because unlike the Indiana Pacers, your championship window is ALREADY open. Those windows don’t stay open for long in most cases.

32) Richard Sherman doesn’t talk to his ex-coach. I am just impressed that Sherman DOESN’T talk to ANYBODY. Dude spouts his thoughts at everyone else it seems.

33) The three team Eric Bledsoe trade left me less thinking about Bledsoe and more thinking about the other players in the trade. I feel like Jared Dudley will be a trade part for the rest of his career, I think Redick going to the Clips gives them another knockdown shooter for Paul to pass to, and what the HELL happened to Caron Butler? The ex-UCONN star was a star early in his NBA career also, and then injuries and talent level just made him flame out FAST.

34) Thanks to the media for letting us know that Tim Tebow broke up a fight involving Aaron Hernandez…in 2007.

35) Homer Bailey is going to be the baseball version of golf’s Angel Cabrera. Just chill out in mediocrity until the big moments. Carrying a 4.39 career ERA, Homer just threw his SECOND no hitter. If he gets one more, he is going to be an AWESOME trivia question 20 years from now.

36) Andy Murray sure made it exciting, but he pulled out a five set win. With the talent left on your side of the draw, we totally understand getting sidetracked for a couple sets.

37) Manu Ginobli says he will sign with the Spurs. You could have just said “you will sign.” I think the debate was whether you were retiring or not, not whether you were going somewhere ELSE to play.

38) Jonathan Papelbon says that Yasiel Puig being an All Star is a joke. He might be this year, but your record of saying dumb things exists, and you will not be saying that for very long. Kid is a STAR.

39) If you are in Santa Barbara, check out the Palace Grill. Sing a longs, popcorn something that was delicious, great bread appetizer, the hope they have the redfish when you visit, and I had crab cakes that were off the hook.

40) The Flyers signing Lecavalier is the first proactive thing in a WHILE the Flyers have done that indicate they might not have totally given up on winning.

41) Gonzaga is HOPING this happens. Kentucky basketball is getting all of the top recruits. Now, some want playing time. Their sharpshooter, Kyle Wiltjer is toying with going back to the west coast to Gonzaga. That wouldn’t be a huge loss for UK to be a great team, but losing that sniper would definitely be a setback in the championship scheme of things.

42) WOW. NEVER thought it would happen. All of that talk about staying at a smaller school, happy where you are at, BLAH BLAH BLAH. Brad Stevens signs with the CELTICS. Amazing. He is a GREAT coach who I only thought would “upgrade” to a larger SCHOOL, not the PRO’S. Not sure they are going to listen to you, Brad. Not sure at all.

43) I heard from someone it happened. And it did. Big Ben visited Big Ben the other day. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/22611345/ben-roethlisberger-visits-london-meets-the-real-big-ben