Have a great Fourth and see you on the flip side. I leave you with a brief blog before.

Greetings and salutations, people.  Another old school style blog.

1. Congrats to the Denver Nuggets.  They finally got a star to come to the mountains after asking but failing frequently over the last years.  Paul Millsap is a star and we really don’t need to break down the financials and wonder if Denver overpaid.  Everyone is overpaying these days.  When Otto Porter at 13 PPG is commanding max salary, that is a sign.  Anyway, Millsap fits PERFECTLY next to Jokic in his style of play.  Millsap and Jokic make Denver one of the most formidable frontcourts in the league.  Pick and rolls on offense will look great, and on defense Millsap can easily guard multiple positions. Suddenly, if the Nuggets can get Gary Harris or Jamal Murray to make a skill/ experience leap this year, they are a playoff team even in the tough West.
2. When reading articles about the crazy imbalance of stars in the NBA by conference, I notice it could be WORSE than what they are writing. Some still consider Kevin Love a superstar.  I am no longer in that camp and consider him a solid starting PF and that is all.  You have LeBron and Kyrie, Giannis, and Isaiah Thomas.  That’s about it.
3. Chris Paul and James Harden. LeBron and Kyrie.  Russell and Paul.  These are all two headed monsters.  Scary combinations.  What is horrible is that they are still 2 stars away from what the Warriors have.  Downright awful.
4. Laundry day happen to hit your possible death sentence day in court?   http://deadspin.com/man-facing-death-penalty-attends-sentencing-hearing-in-1796588589
5. Pretty quiet start to Wimbledon. You know.  I was thinking.  Nick Kyrgios talks a LOT of smack as we all know.  He either irritates people or entertains them, depending on your paradigm or demeanor.  Anyway, he got injured again in his first round match today.  I was thinking he probably needs to come around and realize that talking smack is more effective when you either a) stay healthy for a time or b) win something to back it up.  Really talented talker and tennis fans want a little more to tolerate the antics.
6. Still binge watching Game of Thrones. All weekend.  Still get SO angry at the Viper in that match and wish he would have stopped talking.  And, aside from the boat taking FOREVER to leave the pier at the end, Hardhome is SUCH a GREAT episode of ANYTHING.
7. And tonight I finish my choice episodes with The Door, The Battle of the Bastards, and The Winds of Winter.
8. You know, I am NOT an NBA GM. I know this.  But, just my two cents, but pretty sure paying Kyle Korver 3/22 mil is NOT the solution to beating the Warriors.  Just spitballing that.  If he wants to come aboard for pennies on the dollar, great.  Otherwise, I am not coming close to overpaying him.
9. You don’t realize you can get rusty at chess. I am playing it nonstop again on my Amazon Fire, and need to start focusing.  Not beating the computer enough for which level I am on.  Greatest game ever.  You all can keep Halo.  I will stick with chess.
10. Ok, well if Halo was sitting around and all hooked up, I might play some of that too. But, I have nothing in house.  Probably best that way.
11. Am I allowed to start using a seal on letters like they do in GOT? I want a symbol, I want to seal things, and guess I need another sword too while I am at it.
12. I really am kicking myself for not watching the whole Horn-Pacquiao fight. Because of the controversy on biased announcing, incorrect scoring, and corruptness, I need to watch it so I can talk intelligently about it.
13. Editor’s note: Yes, I realized before fight time Saturday that I did NOT need to “buy” the fight.
14. So, note to self. I need to still watch 22 Harvest Street and the replay of the fight.  GOT has jacked up my entire weekend and holiday.  And people try and tell me other shows I need to get hooked on…don’t have the time or bandwidth to be honest.
15. Auditions for the church band are at the end of the month. Might throw my hat in the ring for that.  Oh, wait.  That wouldn’t work.  Steelers frequently play at 11am.  Service is from 10-1115.  Good thought, but logistics won’t work.  Sorry, God.
16. The Raptors are misunderstanding how salaries work. Toronto, you are supposed to BE winning or ALMOST be winning stuff when you are on the list of over the luxury tax teams.  Just breaking it down for you.
17. Think Ibaka is wondering what being on the Thunder NOW would be like?
18. Maybe the Clippers and Raptors can play each year in the “we guarantee to be the same or slightly less after the draft and free agency each year.”
19. Also got our GNR tickets for August. They will sound like shit, but I need to be there.  It is what it is.  Listen, there is no way they sound worse than David Lee Roth for Van Halen last time I saw them in Denver.  They just HAVE to be better.  Everyone has to who ever gets up on stage in their lives.  Karaoke at a dive bar is probably better than Roth sounded last time.
20. Timberwolves strike again. This time with a non nonsense role player in Taj Gibson.  I love this pickup, as long as once again we view the pay and contracts through the view of EVERYONE is getting paid too much. 2/28 mil.  Here is the deal.  Thibs coached him for 5 years in Chicago.  He knows exactly what he is getting.  And, with Butler already on the team, Thibs is basically getting the band back together with a few minor adjustments with some hellacious up and comers.
21. I feel like everything I just said about Taj Gibson above can be somewhat repeated for everything involving the Rockets and PJ Tucker.
22. You know your career is declining when the media starts discussing ridiculous, meaningless records with you. Case in point.  Justin Verlander’s strikeout record just ended this weekend.  What record am I referring to?  Games where he has thrown at least ONE strikeout.  One strikeout?  That’s it.  Come on.  331 games is a lot for barely passing by with a K, but is that really saying about anything?  You were there.  You did one thing.
23. I appreciate the constant coverage all weekend with this whole Nene contract situation. THAT was big news.  THANK you, all.
24. I know the city of Detroit is breathing easier today. We all know they went to bed Friday night knowing that Langston Galloway is the KEY for them to make a deep playoff run.  Mission accomplished.
25. I really enjoyed watching the #3 and #4 teams go at it Sunday in The Confederations Cup. We can say the U.S. is so close, but sometimes the soccer just looks cleaner when watching two programs like that clash.  The passing is just…different.
26. LeBron, you coming out to SAY you are not recruiting anyone leads me back to my original thinking, which is an assumption you are.
27. I get it. They are older than us.  They get to call Wimbledon “The Championships,” the British Open “The Open,” etc.  I say we start renaming stuff immediately.
28. When I ran through hundreds of names to name my dog as a kid, I was young and could blame that fact when I ended up with the letdown name after all of that research, Pepsi.  But grownups don’t have excuses.  Seriously, Homecoming is a STUPID name for a Spiderman movie.  Stupid.  The roundtable could have done better.
29. I love how the Celtics STILL have not done anything in free agency.
30. Myself and a lot of experts were wrong. We thought Hayward would be the initial piece that would set everything else in motion.  Now, as we turn for the stretch, who is out there still?  Gordon Hayward.
31. If you didn’t get a point guard in free agency this year, than you didn’t pick up the phone. Just basically a large PG tease of musical chairs.
32. Speaking of PG’s and my closet love for the Timberwolves, I LOVE the Jeff Teague pickup. He is a less flashy upgrade from Ricky Rubio, and will understand how to get the ball to his dangerous lineup in optimal spots.  That team is getting more dangerous by the moment.
33. Watching GOT all weekend got me thinking on this again. Amazing how these rulers can talk to a whole army and everyone hears what they say.  There is no way that guy in the back row is getting pumped up.
34. Of all the people we were just talking about receiving that $201 mil contract in the last year, Steph probably is the most deserving. Finally, he gets paid and doesn’t have to live off those massive endorsement deals alone.
35. STOP, Tim Tebow. I had to dodge and not read an article about you doing some sort of wall catch.  Stop doing good things.  I can’t take this.  Maybe you have to hit above a certain batting average to even be LOOKED at for promotion?  Something MORE than getting more ticket sales?
36. Charlie Sheen’s Babe Ruth gear sold for 4.4 million. That should be plenty to cover whatever new lawsuit he earns in the coming years.
37. Listen to some of these absurd NBA free agent numbers. Cristiano Felicio-$8 mil per year.  Tony Snell-$11.5 mil per year.  Iggy-$12.6 mil per year.  JJ Redick-$23 mil per year.
38. And Iman Shumpert WILL get overpaid, whether it is in Cleveland, in Houston, or in other.
39. Oddly if ignoring stats, Iggy probably deserves that amount relatively, and JJ Redick can get a glimpse at a special couple of years for the Sixers, so paying him $23 mil is fine as long as you are realistic about what you are paying for.
40. During my GOT binge this weekend, I still listen to the theme song every single time in full.
41. Joe Thornton chose to stick with the Sharks. This means he is fast becoming one of those loyal, one team players we all root for to win a Cup very soon.
42. If you don’t like baseball THIS year, than not sure what you need. More HR’s this past month in like ever.  You want dingers, you got them.
43. Alright, I am about out of here. Hayward and Melo-complete the puzzle.  Well, I guess that actually would be scrambling up the Rubik’s Cube to try and solve again…hoping it isn’t housed in Oakland again.
44. And finally, what is the significance of July 1? Besides the fact that the bike race is underway?  Yes, until the year 2035, it is another July 1^st where Bobby Bonilla gets paid $1.1 million as part of the worst contract of all time pretty much.
45. Oh, and Happy Fourth of July. Have a great holiday, all.
46. That’s it. Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  Will I blog again?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.