Hello, Bill.

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.  Airplane rant.  Morning rant.  Speed version.  Let’s turn and burn.

EMAIL: mark_filler@hotmail.com

TWITTER: @Mark_Filler

RSS FEED:  http://thefillerbuster.com/?feed=rss

NOTE:  To be alerted when a blog is released, scroll all the way to bottom of page and register.

1. Greetings and salutations, people.  Thanks for coming aboard (the boat).  Cramped seat on the first of two short flights to Shreveport, Louisiana.  Some short hooks, some longer.  My blog, my rules.  Let’s move.  I only have 45 minutes of computer time on this one.
2. (Posted day after)
3. The better team won, the Cavs just ran out of bullets, and we might have the weakest MVP in a while in any sport. Iggy is the first Finals MVP to not start every game.  He missed like 9 straight free throws at one point.  Did he change the game?    He held LeBron from getting 50 each night.  Without a better choice on the Warriors, and without it going 7 games, it makes sense.  How come Dexter Jackson comes to mind?
4. Steve Kerr nixed the Zenmaster to inherit a team full of talent. He is likeable, smart, humble, and played his cards right.  A typical rookie coach would have panicked when the Cavs stole 2 games.  He did not.  How can you not root for a guy like that?
5. I said it would go 7 games. My bad.
6. I DID say 6 games for the Blackhawks, and THAT happened. Less though about my picks.  Duncan Keith was SO deserving of the Conn Smythe Trophy.  Dude played like half the game every game all through the playoffs.  Playing half a game in hockey is unheard of and kind of sick.  Every goal he scored was a game winner.  Dope.
7. Best moment in team sports is the handshakes and the presentation of the greatest trophy in sports. Nice to see the Blackhawks finally be able to do it in their home town since the 30’s.  Here is the deal.  Like big markets or not, seeing an Original Six team win it is good for the game, good for ratings, and genuine as hell.
8. I can’t do the Game of Thrones chick rankings in this small area with no WIFI, but will do it upon editing.
9. (Upon editing, the Game of Thrones chick rankings have to wait until the weekend-not enough hours in the day)
10. He is only 24, so maybe he will learn, but I feel like Lance Stephenson is a bad 80’s band who tried to have TWO hits. Dude just got traded to the Clippers, who DO need a wing player.  This after he was par and dangerous with the Pacers and shooting bogies and NOT dangerous with Charlotte while being overpaid.  But, at what cost for the Clippers?  He is a headcase, and the only person I DON’T want to get a ring more than him just DIDN’T…JR Smith.  Lance has mad skills, but I don’t see him going back to where he was with the Pacers.  The fact that he gets to go to a winning team makes me sick.  If ANYONE deserved to be a present day Knick, it would be him.
11. NOT Knick all time. Love the organization.  Just saying he would probably go out and get hammered with Melo and fun things would happen.  They suck NOW.
12. The captain just made this long speech about how his computer said we would have a smooth flight. Three minutes later?  Seat belt sign on again.  Don’t spill, Mr. Coke Zero.
13. I was trying to figure out a solid Pats-Cards tie in, but haven’t put it all together yet. You try.
14. What did the St. Louis owner say to the Astors owner?  It wasn’t in the Cards.
15. I don’t care that I am not funny.
16. By all means, Dez. Skip camp.  While you are at it, let’s have the younger Vick pick you up and take you to a strip club.
17. Speaking of my Rant Squad, which, like the Knicks, is being rebuilt, my brother’s kid, Joseph, had a FANTASTIC idea. Since I have retired Jennifer Capriati from The Rant Squad, and since I need one female on the team, let’s bring on Hope Solo.  If you beat up dudes, you need a spot.  Welcome, Hope Solo.  Marcus Vick is still on the team and will pick you up, and old school member Sebastian Janikowski will give you your first qualifying interview (or try and ra-…never mind).  Anyway, Manziel and you and some prospects.  Rebuilding efforts are tough.
18. The Chiefs looked at their history with wide receivers and cut ties with Da’ Rick Rogers. Probably a good play, and why not make sure you go another year without a WR catching a touchdown ball?
19. Brock Holt will be a FANTASTIC trivia question 10 years from now when naming Red Sox players hitting for the cycle. He even saved the toughest one, the triple, for last.
20. My brother has gotten to level 1000 in Sugar Mash/ Candy Crush.I am pretty sure that huge earthly sigh we just heard was the guy in the basement making new levels of the game and saying “THAT guy again?”
21. So, Russell Wilson is going to NOT sign a huge contract with a young and very good team with a ring and just get an insurance policy? Sounds to me like someone still is aching to play second base somewhere.
22. Scouts say he would be the best on the planet if he did.
23. There are still 8 Royals in the ASG starting lineup, y’all.
24. Y’all. You all.  I still say it regularly every single day.  I remember when I started saying it too.  My parents dropped me in Charlottesville my first year (we didn’t call ourselves “freshman” at The University) and I picked it up in about 5 days.  Nothing like a Jersey guy saying y’all.  I have to keep people on their toes though.
25. Don’t worry, Eric Weddle. The Chargers dissing you probably just means you don’t have to deal with L.A. traffic in a year or two.
26. The Saints backup QB recently got popped with a champagne bottle to the head. And now not only do I remember who the Saints backup QB is, but have also refreshed my memory on who the hell Ryan Griffin is too.  What a day.
27. IS there a way to teach Demon Kittens to NOT play with important shit while you are around the house? Do they do it when you are gone?  How do I tell the Demon that the computer is a no fly zone?
28. Go figure, and this made my day. Our office has a pool where you pick a golfer at random out of a huge bowl and that is your guy.  Well, the biggest fan, turned sour over the last few years, and now struggling biggest fan….got Tiger Woods for the US Open.  It is on.
29. Course sets up nice for him though. He is better at links courses, it has ONE tree on the course, and it is not your typical US Open.
30. Figures that I am out of town next week again to not even comtemplate going to the CWS Finals in case UVA makes it. Last time I checked, they are 2-0, people.
31. Quietly, Mr. Pitino picked up a five star wing, VJ King. Seen a little tape on the kid.  Dude can BALL.  Ranked #25 or thereabouts in most rankings.
32. Are they remaking Vacation, doing a sequel, or pretending like the other one never existed?  Confused, as always.
33. By the way, I had one person come up to me at work and then Lindsey told me the same thing. Hadn’t ever seen Battlebots.  Wow, are you all in for a treat.  That show is SO dope.
34. Kind of ironic that after months of me watching every single night either the NBA or NHL games, they are now done and I am gone for work for two nights. Sorry, Lindsey.
35. It would take her a year to catch up reading this thing.
36. That is my initial list, and typically I would pull the USA Today out and comment on things in it. Too cramped, and not even looking at the keyboard right now as it is tilted down at a 45 degree angle (sure hope it is typing something-that would suck to get there with nothing on the screen).  The next flight is a short flight, but a tiny plane.  Hoping for more space as I can’t imagine a whole hell of a lot of people go to Shreveport.  Regional airport.  Gotta have some space.  Until the next rounds of hooks.
37. I am back briefly, but that is because I am stuck at airport in the Dallas centered tropical storm Bill. Work is under control, so let’s blog quickly in case my tiny plane’s seat is…tiny.
38. Actually, it is a tropical depression, and I can’t stop saying that term now.
39. I am already tired of where the Warriors stand in history for all time great NBA teams. Not dissing a first time coach taking a first time team to the title, and the numbers match up.  I get it.  But, this team handles neither the older Celtics teams, the Lakers/ Celtics/ Pistons of the 80’s, nor any of the Jordan teams.  Probably not Kobe and Shaq either.  Let’s give them their due without putting the cart in front of the horse.  Don’t hate me, and not your fault, but the path was easier.
40. Or maybe I am just mad that they didn’t have to fight through some OTHER enemy like Jordan did against the Pistons, or the Pistons against the Lakers and Celtics.
41. Johnny Manziel will discontinue the money sign. This is today news.  This means my Rant Squad rebuilding effort is going to shit.  I need a new captain.
42. And I won’t give him the captain’s jersey, but I WILL say I admire the first efforts of Indiana DB Antonio Allen, who just got arrested for dealing meth, heroin, and cocaine.  SOLID start.  Don’t overdo it and land in prison though-does me no good.
43. Nice to go to an airport BBQ place at DFW and hear Dokken playing behind the counter. Damn, I loved Dokken.
44. The Phils are so bad that they are rolling out outfielders like Jeff Franceour to the mound. Dude went 1-2-3, and then both sides pushed their luck.
45. Harbaugh can spin it any way he wants. I have read enough on this subject to say it is “recruiting” having these camps all over the place.
46. The Cavs are favored for 2016 in Vegas without even worried about how that roster shakes out.  They have a lot of moving parts to figure out, including LeBron.
47. The Warriors are being super cool and have said they will assist David Lee in finding a home, as it is a travesty that the dude comes off the bench at all.
48. Have a feeling Iggy might be a little more resistant about coming off the bench too.
49. I was blindsided by the story that Michael Oher said his movie hurt his career.
50. I never said I was funny. I haven’t even had a beer at this fantastic airport.
51. Since I wrote the blurb about Dez Bryant, Jerry Jones has said he expects Dez to show up in week 1.   Pissing contest.
52. My US Open picks are guys I pick on a regular basis and I think can win ANY tourney. Angel Cabrera was my other random pick by the way.  Anyway, give me Fowler, Day, Dustin Johnson, Casey, and Stenson any day of the week.  Hell, maybe Charley Hoffman will make another odd appearance on the leaderboard of a Major.
53. There was an article in the Mag about two MIT guys who went to MIT and spent the rest of their life analyzing golf. I would LOVE something like that.  They just broke down 106,000 birdie putts in a recent study.  I could watch 106,000 putts and enjoy every one for me and for science.
54. I will put some pics on this thing later in my hotel room on final editing.
55. (Upon editing, no time)
56. “Editing” is a very loose term. I just clean it up a bit.
57. If you care, on this day a long, long time ago, Nicklaus beat Palmer by 3 strokes in a US Open playoff.
58. Looking through rest of USA Today…
59. San Antonio’s women’s basketball (yes, we are really delayed) apparently is not like the men’s and has started the WNBA season 0-4.
60. In MLS, I find it odd that the Colorado team is 2-4 with EIGHT ties.
61. Ten years ago, NBA teams shot 32 three’s per game. These days?  45 per game.  Tell your friends.
62. I will break down MLB baseball stats another time-the USA Today didn’t seem to present them today oddly.
63. Let’s look at the standings though. The Phils have 22 wins, and will be trading away their two best pitchers in Hamels and Harang.  The Cubs are 34-27.  The Rays are 36-30.  Wow, if THAT panned out at the end.  Seattle is underachieving.  Go figure.  Boston’s less pitchers, more position players theory is NOT working as they are 28-38 and 8 games out.
64. Props to John McKissick, who retired at 88 years young with 10 state titles and a DOPE 621 victories. He said a quote that is my new favorite.  Satchel Paige.  “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?”
65. Me?  31.
66. (Leafing through Life section) Stephen King is STILL writing books?
67. I still have not seen or read any of the Grey movies/ books.
68. I guess since I love saying “that is DOPE” that I need to see this new movie everyone is talking about that I can’t figure out what is going on with it in the previews.
69. There is a Fast and Furious EIGHT coming out? And how did it take so long to make an amusement park ride with that theme?
70. That’s it. Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  Will I blog tomorrow?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.