(sung) I do not want a part of it…New York, New York…
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…
Not on the clock. Airplane rant. Speed version. Let’s turn and burn.
EMAIL: mark_filler@hotmail.com
TWITTER: @fillerbuster11
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1) Greetings and salutations, people. Thanks for joining me on the way back from NYC. Too short of stay as I didn’t get to see much with no free time, but too long of stay for the freaking stress that is the Northeast. Anyway, there must be some head winds as this flight to Denver is four and a half hours. BUT, after LABORING through the last two hours in WAY too small for that many flights LaGuardia Airport, AND getting a C draw on Southwest, I STILL snagged the VERY last window seat in the back of the plane. And got an open seat next to me. I went from nightmare C28 to heaven . Well, coach on a Friday night heaven. I love all of you people who don’t go to the back of the plane. It is decided. From here out, I will BEELINE to the back no matter what Zone I draw unless A) I have to get off the plane quick for a connecting flight or other engagement B) I guess there was only an A. I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out those logistics. Moving on.
2) I have been saying “logistics” like about 10 times a day recently. It is out of control.
3) (Sing this like Michael Jackson) Do you remember (when South Carolina used to be decent at basketball)? They never were really GOOD for a consistent time, but they are still in a power conference and should be beating lesser teams when needed. I read on the ticker last night that SC Upstate beat SC 74-68. Directional? Your tiny infant brother just whipped your butt. Wow.
4) I have this dream that they actually wipe down all of these seats with sanitizer with that ten minute interim before we board the plane.
5) The guy two over asked me if I was stopping in Denver, CA. Aside from the Dumb and Dumber visual I immediately had, I hope that HE knows he is going to Colorado. I didn’t tell him. I loved Geography class.
6) I got to watch Duke-UCLA in a crowded NYC bar with no sound (Ben and I HAD to eat-starving). Jabari Parker is a stud in case you live in a bubble, but I still say a bigger team knocks them out in the tourney before they are ready. UCLA? Shabazz should have stayed another year in school because of his reasons AND the program’s reasons (and because his family had money already), but that is giving more spotlight to my boy Kyle Anderson, who is the closest raw skill set to Magic we have seen in years.
7) Duke is almost impossible to catch when up by ten points in the second half at home. They are closers…like Alex Baldwin in Glengarry or the Rock in Boiler.
8) To FIND that food place in NYC, we had to walk around aimlessly for about 30 minutes. It is amazing that there is a convenience store every half block, and all kinds of foreign cuisine everywhere, but if I want a burger in the Wall Street District, then I have to network or go to some place that has tablecloths.
9) I am scared of bars or restaurants with table cloths.
10) Yay. Turbulence.
11) Shout out, Ben. Brief night hanging, and brief day outside of the work stuff, but always a pleasure, bro. Good luck to Cleveland in the NFL draft and to Ohio State in getting past the only other good team in the ACC this year-Clemson.
12) Sorry, Logan, I am not totally thinking Duke qualifies on the good team list yet.
13) 911 Memorial was closed when we got there, and we had no time before airport today. We did go stand in the general vicinity of it, so I guess I can say I have now been to pre and post Ground Zero in some way.
14) Airplane rant. No links or pics (except for Godzilla yesterday-that was different). Google “chuck Norris tops van damme commercial,” or something like that. Add “airplane Volvo” if you get nothing.
15) Don’t worry. My rant won’t be 4.5 hours. I have the extra seat and might fade later into a little shuteye later.
16) Drink orders. Let’s keep moving.
17) During the UCLA-Duke game, they showed Bruce Springseen on camera with his kids or grandkids (who knows). Anyway, I have to say. He looks pretty smooth still for his age. He is aging like Sean Connery but in a non foreign accent Northeastern way.
18) LeBron is #1 in NBA jersey sales. In related news, the grass is green and the sky is blue. A healthy Derrick Rose MIGHT be the only guy to catch you in this category while you are doing what you presently are doing. I want to welcome MY boy on the list, Paul George. Household name, here we come.
19) If I ever owned another jersey besides my Iverson jersey, it would either be Isiah Thomas or Tom Chambers.
20) Hello, quizzical look person. Look Tom Chambers up. He was a stud.
21) Kobe is out another 6 weeks with this Achilles thing. Tough break for an already bad team, with or without him. Pau Gasol is probably not being traded anymore because the Lakers are waiting for him to start looking close to good to boost his value, which he isn’t. With Nash out and Blake also hurt, that gives guys like KENDALL MARSHALL chances to be picked up. Welcome, Mr. Marshall (ex UNC player where they would have won it all if he hadn’t gotten hurt in the tourney). Tell Kobe to get paid less so you all can get good players on your team.
22) I miss Dunkin Donuts, and they are on every block in NYC.
23) I miss Wawa’s too (not really a New York thing, but Dunkin Donuts got my mind wandering to other East Coast things I miss).
24) People thought I was a Cali boy today. I ALWAYS travel in comfort AKA shorts. It doesn’t matter to me that Denver was 15 degrees today. Just a walk to the car and sandals throughout the airport.
25) This nickname thing in the NBA I think will be a slippery slope. Spike Lee got the ball rolling to have a game with player’s old nicknames on their jersey. That sounds fun, but then there will be another round of it, and then competition for the best nickname, and then the jerseys will outsell normal jerseys, etc… Anyway, however it turns out, it is pretty dope that Ray Allen is busting out Jesus Shuttlesworth. Glad they are doing it THIS year, as Paul Pierce’s “truth” might be that he is just old if they waited another year.
26) Speaking of. He should not be coming off the bench. Ever. Well, at least this year.
27) I think I surprised Lindsey the other night on how fast I busted out a drawing of T-Rex. It was just subconscious for me from my early grade school days. I drew dinosaurs, large Navy ships, and Godzilla beating up on some planes and people.
28) Granted, the drawing still just looked like a talented 2nd grader…or a washed up older guy who never advanced his skill with it.
29) I am hearing mixed reviews for Walter Mitty from the “experts.” That doesn’t sound like the “next coming of Forrest Gump.” Someone see it and tell me about it. Actually, someone go see that and then a couple of the SEVEN movies coming out on Christmas Day and you can just guest blog.
30) It is official after an entire week of hogging the wire and headlines. Aaron Rodgers will NOT play this week. Great, so if the Steelers win ONE freaking game against ONE of those bad teams they played, they would be in the mix and NOT playing against Rodgers. Sweet. Fantastic year. Moving on.
31) BOOM goes the dynamite! Back row ALWAYS gets you full sodas I have noticed. Coke Zero.
32) Harbaugh says he is staying with the 49ers and is not looking at UT. I actually believe him. I think he would have made more of a run with USC than with UT if he was looking, and I don’t think he cares if he gets paid $2 million or $6 million. He doesn’t seem like that type of dude.
33) Speaking of Texas, Oregon will wear new “Mach Speed” uniforms against them in the VALEROOOOO ALAMOOOO Bowl. Oregon ended up with FOUR losses. Wow. You guys need more like “Power Running and Strong Run Defense” uniforms.
34) Anyone else find it funny that Mack Brown’s last game will be at the ALAMO Bowl?
35) Quietly, a good thing for the Bears. LB Lance Briggs got cleared to play this week. He will help them a lot if he is even 80%.
36) I know we ALL have been losing sleep over this, but I am here to let you get back to your normal life. Luol Deng is NOT on the trading block anymore.
37) Now you can get DOUBLE sleep. Omer Asik is ALSO off the trading block for the moment. Deng is because I think they actually might want to keep him. Asik is because no one is giving them what they want. In case you didn’t know, Asik’s contract went something like $8 mil, $8 mil, and then $15 mil. The next year would be the $15 mil year, and no one really wants that for someone who has just been pretty good. He IS one of the 5 or 6 true centers in the league though.
38) Who the HELL ok’d THAT contract? Were they out partying and boozing? Was it forged?
39) Gotta say, this trip has involved one of the best ideas I have ever had. Bringing TAPE with me on trips. I am sitting here with my blog legal paper list taped to the back of the person in front of me. Yeah…I get some looks, but it is practical as hell.
40) Wes Welker is out for the playoffs. Don’t be concerned, Broncos fans. That is all you really need. Him and Peyton had good enough chemistry that he will fit right in when he returns.
41) I just turned to the guy in my row and said “these pretzels are making me thirsty. He didn’t get it. Actually, not many people do. I guess that is what I get for using mid 90’s Seinfeld jokes in 2013. Whatever. I am stubborn. Here is to another 18 years of me quoting Seinfeld.
42) A.P. will be returning this week for the Vikings. Way to make it back, bro. Here is to August, when we expect you to tell us once again you are rushing for 2500 yards in a year.
43) I hope if I seem interested in seeing the BC/ ND football game in 2015 at Fenway that the teams know it has nothing to do with them and only to do with making my second trip inside those glorious walls.
44) Some cool bowl stuff you might not have caught. Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville QB and future #1 pick possibly, initially committed to Miami. When Miami got rid of Coach Shannon, Teddy decommitted and went to Louisville. The schools play each other in relatively nearby Orlando. Kind of cool.
45) There are two bowl games with two players who got top ten voting for the Heisman. One is the title game. What is the other? The Advocare V100 Bowl in Shreveport, LA. Tell your friends.
46) One more. The University of Pittsburgh didn’t recruit a hometown QB who wanted to play there. He went to Bowling Green instead and now is on the NFL draft boards. He plays Pitt in his bowl game. Fancy.
47) In case you care, the OKC Thunder are 13-0 at home. You know why I like that? Because these days, teams don’t hold serve the way that they used to. Winning at the Boston Garden back in the early and mid 80’s and at the Pistons’ crib in the late 90’s was next to impossible. These days? The Spurs do ok, and the Nuggets just do it with the altitude.
48) I hear the Longhorns were “shocked and upset” with Brown’s resignation. We, the fans, are shocked and upset that you think any of us actually believe that statement. That oil is killing some brain cells.
49) Victor Cruz is done for the season. This means nothing unless you are a late playing fantasy league. And if you are deciding between Victor Cruz and someone to be in your starting lineup, then you probably wouldn’t be playing this late in ANY league.
50) Florida and Michigan football will play in Arlington in 2017. Set your calendars as it is right around the corner. It will actually be the first time Florida hasn’t opened at home in a long time.
51) Lovie Smith interviewed with the Texans. He definitely is a winner who SHOULD have a job, but a defensive minded head coach figuring out the QB and scoring problem doesn’t sound like a good fit to me.
52) I was on CNNSI last night after getting home from dinner. I caught the 15 minute span when the site had the pregame Duke-UCLA analysis as their main story about it when the game actually just ended. Whoops.
53) Brian Boitano announced this week that is officially gay. In other stunning news, the earth is rou…whoa whoa whoa. I will just end this. I think I am getting grumpy/ sleepy.
54) Seriously though, I thought we already knew that.
55) Carlos Beltran says “it means a lot to me” to come to the Yankees. That is shorthand. He really just said “that means a lot of money to me.”
56) BAD news for UNC basketball. It is official. They will NOT reinstate PJ Hairston. They just got McDonald back and Hairston would have added one more shooter, which I think they needed. Can they make a run without him? Sure. Can they win it all without him? I don’t think so.
57) That is it. List is under control for now and my mind rests easy. Hope you either enjoyed or are at least are more informed. Will I blog tomorrow? That is a CLOWN question, bro. Peace.