The Perfect Lap
The Perfect Lap
The Cast
Date: 18 November 2019
FILLERBUSTER’S ELEVEN
BACKGROUND: This started as a long-winded numbered blog. It transformed into an organized long-winded category blog. Now, it is a quick-hitter to ease your pain. I lack time. So, the preparation of the blog actually made me procrastinate from writing the thing. Let’s see who makes the cut. Barely edited as usual unfortunately, so please excuse any mistakes during my stream of consciousness. I feel the need…the need for speed. Let’s turn and burn.
FORD VS. FERRARI: No obvious spoilers written here, so read on, and it is based on a freaking true story anyway, folks. You already know the ending.
SETTING: This is started briefly on Sunday afternoon, and finished Monday night before the football game.
- EVERGREEN 1: So, I suppose when your favorite team gets involved with one of the most surreal brawls the NFL has seen, you are expected to comment fully on the event. Noted, and let’s do that. My problems with this event are multi-layered, like an onion, but probably not as harsh as you think. Whatever happened before, during, or after fight, the bottom line is that Myles Garrett used a weapon-like instrument, the other player’s helmet to add insult to injury, to harm another player while ON THE FIELD. That is it. It was basically assault during the sporting event, no matter what triggered it. Whatever prompted this action is worthless when all said and done. But, let’s go further. First, Mike Tomlin should be faulted for calling weird, x’s and o’s pass plays, down two touchdowns, late in the game, deep in their own territory. There was NO reason to line people up and make them defend. Second, Rudolph DID try and take off Garrett’s helmet before the incident. Possible crotch grab and attempt to take off a player’s helmet and Mason gets off with no suspension? Shady. Third, no one should be kicking another player, even if defending their QB. Pouncey was getting his QB’s back, but the kicking is out of line regardless. Fourth, I still don’t get why NFL players fight with full pads and helmets on. Fifth, Garrett was bullying the Steelers’ offensive line, and if they should win a bunch during the soft part of their schedule, he lost sight of the bigger picture and sort of screwed his teammates over. If they rally and make the playoffs, they will need him when facing better teams when you can’t lose. I watch a Steelers game from beginning to end, no matter how painful it is. And, when that fight broke out, it was truly surreal. Sad. Shameful. Embarrassing. I love Tomlin as my team’s coach, and always have backed him. But, he lost me a little in this one. Throwing on 3rd and 4th and 1 is idiotic enough. Calling actual plays when down like they were is just plain dumb. Turning off the violence of the game immediately after each play as a player is very hard. But, putting players in those situations when the game is out of hand is just asking for it. Shame on everyone in that brawl.
- EVERGREEN 2: What a weird week it was in the Colin Kaepernick saga. So, the NFL hastily calls a workout on a Saturday for a player that can’t get a private workout, at the exact time 3-4 high profile college games are going on? The NFL won’t give him names of receivers he is throwing to? Then, Kaepernick CHANGES the time and location of this NFL-organized workout so show everyone it is HIS show? He lost some attendance when doing this change. As far as the workout itself, apparently he looked exactly like he did years ago when he played. Is this good? Well, it means he still had some accuracy problems, had decent arm strength, can be mobile, but basically looks like a decent backup QB, and nothing more. But, the change of venue showed he still enjoys clashing with the NFL, meaning you can bet the anthem kneeling would appear again. I am the farthest person from being against that protest, but we now have to answer this question when considering Kaepernick. He still has some skills. He is a worthy backup for someone. But, is a backup QB worth bringing on as a separate show when we just had this week of personal media attention? Was that workout really necessary if you are trying to prove you will NOT be a media problem? Probably not. I have supported him from day 1, but not totally happy with how this went down. Even Jay Z was disappointed with Colin this time around.
- NFL: Big Ben is out for the season, but he is staying pretty meme-popular given his grizzly look these days. Before getting too down on the Steelers loss in Cleveland, I remembered they only had SIX offensive TD’s in their four-game winning streak, so things weren’t necessarily just fixed. I hated the injuries, the missed tackles, the feeling like we should have been down double 14-0 at halftime, the only score having yardage mostly from penalties, still being in striking range and failing, the defense doing their thing with the offense not getting their back, the 3rd and 4th and 1 play calls ALL game, the Rudolph INT’s thrown directly to a defender, and most other things about that game. Since the last six coaches to be fired by the Browns were right after a Steelers loss, guess it is good they won. I really like Terry Bradshaw’s puzzle reference when looking at the Browns. You know the end result is in that particular box and can be figured out using those provided pieces, but right now it is just a jumbled mess. Let’s talk about some other items. Taking out the fact that it is an actual EXTRA game, does this 17- game proposition make sense to anyone when that means 50% of the teams will have one less home game alternate years? Kyle Allen had one of THOSE rookie games, and perhaps we WILL see Cam Newton someday as a Panther again. Four picks. The Falcons are confusing, as we were used to them starting fast and THEN blowing it, and this year they have decided to start slow and then start beating the hell out of teams. They not only won in New Orleans at the dome, but destroyed them, and then went to Carolina this week, and destroyed them in turn. A side note is that the Falcons also put me in the “second chance bracket” in my losers pool. I am slightly bitter. The 49ers were the darlings of the NFL, but some cracks have appeared. First, Seattle beats them at home on MNF, and then Arizona gets up on them, also at home, before they win AND piss off Vegas in the process. When reading about the eight-hour NFL-Antonio Brown meeting, I couldn’t get past thinking deeply how anyone could spend 8 hours consecutively with AB in the first place. The Broncos got up 20-0 and then ripped the hearts out of their fans’ bodies by blowing that lead, and setting records left and right in the process. Living in Allentown (love that 104.3 reference) just got a little tougher, but the kid still didn’t look bad early. Rock Bottom has been defined by many people, and Kiss even wrote a song about it, but I would just simply define it as losing to the Jets at home (talking to you, Skins). Finally, we were all excited about the possibility of challenging pass interference non-calls and calls, but success with that initiative is abysmal enough to be shady. Another missed on early in the Texans-Ravens game. The win rate is embarrassing and mathematically impossible.
- COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Is it possible that not only is LSU now rolling teams like Bama, but that their offense is getting BETTER? The joy and possibilities of beating Penn State were endless for Minnesota, but then quickly disappeared in a loss in Iowa City. They were going to have a tough enough time convincing the committee with an unblemished record. Now, they would need a miracle. Speaking of miracles, it seems a little surreal that UVA football is 60 minutes of good winning football away from getting the right to be dismantled by Clemson but still go to a New Year’s bowl. My optimism can get irritating for those around me, but if you asked anyone around me on Saturday night, you would know I never, never gave up on the notion of OU winning that game, even when down 28-3. Again, OU will make the freaking playoff, people. And that will make sure I have a happy wife in December. Their defense is beyond suspect, but when you have an offense like that along with that boulder on Jalen’s shoulder (hey that rhymed), not many teams will stop you. Speaking of Baylor, I watched their previous game, at home against TCU, and they had about 5 false start penalties in two drives…and still went to OT and won. Two of the most hated fan bases owned the longest sellout streaks in football. One just ended. Notre Dame is out. Nebraska continues its run. Speaking of Nebraska, they just extended Scott Frost for two years. Why wouldn’t they? He is 8-13 since arriving and their school is championship or bust. They should be proud. Auburn gave UGA a run at the end, but it wasn’t enough. One way or the other, Bo Nix of Auburn has proved himself frequently in many, many big-time games. He will be in the Heisman race next year without a doubt. Tua’s injury is sad for football overall, at this and the next level. Sadly, if Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert weren’t higher on teams’ whiteboards before, this injury will make that so now. When Lee Corso is stumbling over words, isn’t he just reading his own notes on a piece of paper in front of him? Dude needs to step aside before I worry about seeing someone have a heart attack on GameDay.
- COLLEGE BASKETBALL: James Wiseman is ruled ineligible and this is a loss for basketball fans and not just Memphis fans. The kid still might go #1 in the draft, but it would have been nice to have him showcased for the U.S. this year first. Don’t exaggerate Kentucky’s loss to Evansville because they lose one early every year because they are very, very young. But, what IS disturbing with this game is that the other, lesser team didn’t exactly even light it up. Evansville only shot 30% from deep, 38% overall, and had more turnovers than Kentucky. Weird. It wasn’t a outclassed team playing out of their minds. Nova is missing a couple of guys, along with having an injury or two. But, the WAY they got smoked by Ohio State wasn’t a good sign for a lightning quick reload. LSU snagged Cameron Thomas this week, and that is fine, and I know Tony Bennett’s team DNA is different than other teams, but would really enjoy him getting ONE of these local five star guys every year or two. Finally, Oregon women’s hoops is #1 preseason for the first time ever. And, to provide an exclamation point on that, they went out and BEAT the USA team…the best of the best.
- NBA: The Sixers are monstrous, but that isn’t translating yet, and I certainly don’t understand how Ben Simmons still can’t shoot. The Nuggets came back down 21 to beat them in a thrilling 4th quarter at home, and they are underachieving overall. Although I am not a fan of the Celtics or Nets, I am very much enjoying the Celtics being SO much better thus far without Flat Earth Kyrie. The fact that they are doing it without Gordon Hayward is amazing also. Dion Waiters had a panic attack after eating an edible, and that is pretty hard to do when in the relaxed state. We haven’t seen a 40-point clip per game since Wilt, but I could see Harden hovering where he is at, just below there, for the season. And when he is extra motivated, like against his buddy Patrick Beverly, he scores 47 points. He said no initially because he was humble and respecting his black heritage, but glad that Bill Russell finally received his Hall of Fame ovation this past week. Long overdue. The Blazers signed Carmelo Anthony this week. You would think this is a desperate move, and that anyone taking him on will be sorry. And, I am the opposite of a fan of him, but still understand what he brings to the table. Will they suffer a little on low block defense? Yes. But, are they backcourt-heavy in scoring right now? Yes. Do they need a big guy who can score? Absolutely. Are they starting out ridiculously slow in a very good Western Conference? Yes. Worth the risk, and they literally are the posterchild of a team that could use his unique skillset. I can’t believe I am saying this, but if he made sense with any team in the NBA, it is with Portland. Finally, don’t forget to read Ten Things by Zach Lowe, always one of my favorite reads of the week.
- MLB: Alfonso was an easy ROY pick, and Alvarez deserved it also, with a little more competition. Not only did Rocco Baldelli deserve the MOY trophy, but he did it in his FIRST year. Impressive, right? Sort of. Cardinals Mike Shildt did the same thing in the NL, AND tacked on that he is the first guy to ever win MOY without playing one inning of professional baseball. This whole stealing signals saga with the Astros puts a damper on the incredible method they built their title on years ago. But, have you forgotten about deflated balls and video tapes with the Pats? Yeah…mostly. Jake LeGrom won his second straight Cy Young, and is only the 7th pitcher to repeat. Justin Verlander is the 3rd oldest to win a Cy Young (36). Cody Bellinger is your NL MVP, and unless you live in a cave, you know that Mike Trout won the AL MVP, and is easily, by far, the best player in baseball. I have no problem with any of these picks.
- THIS AND THAT: I finally watched the rest of John Wick 3, and it is surprisingly a good flick worth watching, and I will watch the next one if they make one. I watched the last Godzilla on a night when Lindsey was not home, and it was decent, had yet another plot to root for, and I will also continue watching our favorite monster destroy shit in future movies. I was in a waiting room the other day and noticed for the first time there is an entire magazine, just for Fortnite. I was excited about The Irishman, but caught wind it will be a three hour and thirty minute movie. That sounds like a rental/ couch viewing/ Netflix thing to me. This is a cool graphic my buddy showed me last weekend. Worth a look after you finish my blog. Real time graphic of top selling artist. Some of the top ones, or length in stays by them, will blow your mind. Yes, you are a badass Eminem. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3w8I8boc_I&feature=youtu.be I have driven by the new Raiders stadium many times in the last month or two, and that thing is going up FAST. Take it from someone who goes to Vegas more than other people. If you want a centralized hotel that is cheap but nice, Vdara is the way to go. Let’s catch you up on Jeopardy. The sports bettor, James, won the Tournament of Champions, and now they have just released that him and the other two historical badasses will duke it out in January. I find it ridiculous how airlines own us and can raise and lower prices constantly and for no reason. Rocky Top in Berkley/ Highlands is own by Pub on Penn people, and also has the ridiculously low-priced wing special on Wednesdays. Check it out. John Daly apparently will be on Golden Tee moving forward, and that is sort of exciting. John Legend was voted the sexiest man alive, and this whole process confuses me. So, you are telling me that in the WHOLE wide world, with everyone out there, that THREE of the sexiest men alive all worked at one point on the same TV show?? That seems off. Adam, Blake, and John all have been/were on The Voice. JoJo (and Jerry Joseph) from Widespread Panic is playing at The Bluebird Theater and I am excited to go. I actually didn’t know before some research that Jerry Joseph wrote seven of the songs Widespread “borrowed” from him…including Climb to Safety, a favorite of mine. There was a guy on Shark Tank proposing a peanut butter PUMP, and not sure who around him is telling him he is on point…because he is not. I just found out about this cameo site. I don’t know if I will ever USE it, but pretty fun to page through and see A) who signed up from the celebrities and B) how much they are worth for their time. https://www.cameo.com/ My brain doesn’t process flooding very well. I just don’t understand how a round earth can keep water in a city or town like a bathtub. Anyway, there is flooding in Venice in the past couple of weeks. Since the city is already full of water, THEM flooding is easier for me to get. I hear scientists have finally figured out WHY we get hiccups. Those same smart people did NOT figure out how to STOP them. People who wait for stalls in bathrooms are weird and bother me. Find another bathroom. I think I will pass on that Mr. Rogers movie until it becomes a rental. There are a couple people in China who have the Black Plague, and although that is disturbing in this day and age, I learned that people get the plague regularly in iterations here and there through the centuries and decades and it is a normal progression. Still bothers me. Twinkies are making a Twinkies breakfast cereal, and haven’t they kind of missed their window? Shouldn’t that have come out BEFORE our generation’s overall health caring, and right after Diehard was released? The second season of True Detective was a total failure in comparison to the first one. Mindhunter is the opposite. The second season is just getting deeper into the first season, and is getting better and better. If you have interest in serial killers, this is one of the best shows I have ever seen on it. As far as The Voice goes, my rocker guy, Jake, is booted, and Katie looks like she might win this thing, and that is a good thing. Actually, I don’t even know if Jake has been eliminated, as I get confused about the system. Linds and I get bored as the show moves on, as it seems to take forever to eliminate people…saves, wildcards, etc. My nightmare of Hello Sunday continues, as I hate duos on the show, and they survive another episode. Finally, South Dakota just released a massive anti-meth campaign. Slogan? “Meth. We’re on it.” How did THAT make it out of the brainstorm room? Let’s talk about the movie Ford vs. Ferrari. No obvious spoilers. This is the text I sent to my buddy right after watching it. “Days of thunder will always have a part of my mind, heart, and history, and more quotable lines, but damn…ford vs. Ferrari dropped the mic in many ways.” The driving scenes were almost reason alone to go see it in the theater. They didn’t butcher or get wrong the historical parts of the story too badly. The acting was very good, and I think Bale stole the stage because of his character, but Damon did his thing perfectly also with less of a spotlight. It ran a little long, but I didn’t notice it as much as I thought I would going into, knowing the length. It runs about 2:30. And if you are worried about whether you will even care about the 24 Hours of Le Mans, trust me…you will care. Unless there is a lack of competition elsewhere, I personally don’t fully get the Oscar buzz for this movie. It was highly entertaining and a great flick, but I saw nothing that showed me it would beat out other great performances. One review I read said it best. You didn’t get a lot of fancy food with your meal, but the simple meat and potatoes were incredible. A- from me.
- THE FILLERBUSTER: I raked for 6 hours last weekend, and I hate the activity with a passion, and feel like there is nothing to show for it except for a bunch of trash bags. Ohana’s at Sloan’s Lake has a delicious breakfast sandwich with Spam, and previously I didn’t know that Spam was indeed a Hawaiian thing. I feel like I am caving and getting suckered, because the stupid posts on NextDoor continue, yet I read them out of amazement for the free time people have. Beechers mac and cheese comes in a box that costs $12 and it is worth $40 as it is the best damn frozen thing out there. I ate at the legendary Nora’s in Las Vegas during my work trip. Had lasagna of course. It was one of more highly ranked red sauce lasagnas, but truly feel like I just simply prefer white sauce lasagna these days. My wife and I have worked out most things in our relationship aside from deciding on where we are eating brunch when really hungry. We need to think about it after our last meal of the previous night. We went to Sarto’s in the Highlands and that place is quickly becoming a go-to. Fancy looking place, but they still have one TV on football still. I had the new item, the poutino, and it was amazing. I don’t think I even knew what carbonara and cacio e pepe were a couple years ago, and now I am literally addicted to both. We found a store on Tennyson Street called Feral. It is sort of an outdoor/camping store with other cool stuff. If you go to the back of the store, you will find racks and racks of “used” clothing. $300 Marmots for $30. Ridiculous. My wife and I bought some cool needed stuff, and you need to check this place out. Again, ridiculous pricing for great jackets.
- TWEET OF THE WEEK
11. PICS BY MY PIXEL
ALTERNATE CATEGORIES
- THE BEST WORKOUT SONG EVER FOR THIS WEEK (because the best song this week IS the best song ever…for now):
- QUOTE OF THE WEEK
- LINKS TO SAVE YOU TIME IN LIFE
- TRAVEL
- THIS WEEK’S LIST
- MY NUMBERS
- GONE FISHING (the riddle for money):
- LIFEGUARD ENTRY:
- NHL
- MISCELLANEOUS
The theme? The Perfect Lap is what Bale says to his kid about what he dreams about every race. A lap where everything is perfect from driver to track to car. He literally points in the distance and asks him if he can see it. Whenever I start a blog, I see the Perfect Blog, the same way Bale sees the perfect lap. He probably is a little better at getting close to the perfect lap.
And our weekly reminder of the greatest sequel ever made coming out next summer… Top Gun 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSqVVswa420
Happy birthday to one of my favorite players ever. White Chocolate was Jason Williams, and although he didn’t change the game or anything, he won a title, and made the game as entertaining as he could.
Schedule? I think I am heading to Winter Park next weekend, so will get out one before that, or right after.
That’s it for today. Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed. Remember two things. First, feed yourself, feed your family, but always, always remember to…feed the wolf. Second, if you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker. Will I blog again? That is a CLOWN question, bro. As one shepherd said to the other shepherd, let’s get the flock out of here.
| THROW IT BACK IN THE POND |
| chase young ban |
| more nike abuse claims |
| McCoy healthy scratch |
| Padres new uniforms |
| knicks angling for fizdale firing |
| stafford injury |
| bucs release hargreaves |
| ku lands first 5 star since NOA |
| cards bring back wainwright on deal |
| bengals cut brown |
| levy steps down as nets CEO |
| Eric Gordon injury |
| impeachment hearing |
| cuban approves of load management |
| chase young suspended one more game |
| jets ceo says gase is coming back |
| piazza will manage italian baseball team |
| texans pick up hargreaves |
| jeopardy stealing signs question hours after astros story |
| boras says teams are talking…at least to him |
| donovan new vp of operations mlo loyal |
| Austin rivers enjoys doc being tossed |
| sidney crosby out for 6 weeks |
| braves sign reliever will smith |
| impeachment stuff |
| lebron says walton did great |
| nj football shooting |
| haley blames kitchens |
| pelicans without 7 players vs heat |
| russell now out for warriors |
| golfer loses 8 strokes, misses ball |
| i read my blogs for fun |
| ron m |
Fresno shooting
| kyle busch captures 2nd nascar title |
| might slash minor league baseball |
| kobe attends lebron game |
| watson gives jackson mvp jersey postgame |
| ab not expected to play |
| Stafford out |
| juju agrees with ramsey-never be antonio |
| browns cut wr calloway-facing 2nd drug suspension |
| hue jackson to lead kap workout |
| i still laugh watching fully helmeted, padded football players fight |
| garrett suspended indefinitely |
| steelers rumors about picking up kap |
| princeton-dartmouth |
| iowa wisconsin goes over |
| Illinois beats msu at home |
| fsu over bc with new coach |
| wash at screws me |
| Arkansas fires coach |
| playoff pic |
| charles rogers dies at 38 |
| cfp rankings |
Standings
| Crosby gifts veteran new car he won |
| lilliard scores 60 loses to nets |
| Russell scores 52 in ot |
| don cherry fired for immigrant comments |
| clippers-rockets |
George 37 in 20
| mlb probe to include 2019 astros, red sox |
| eddie pepperell runs out of balls, dq’d, pulls a tin cup |
| zlatan/ galaxy part ways |
| federer beats djokovic, nadal now #1 |
| usmnt over canada |
| Justin Thomas guest picker gameday |
| Denver weather turned cold |
| national pickle day thursday-no thanks |
| Cali shooting kills two |
| Sloan’s tap highlands |
| altitude nugs |
| watched some of star is born when she was gone |
| vegas with ceo |
| billy’s stuffed burger |
| wife crested butte |
| wife sits next to jr phillips |
| buying beer for someone every trip |
| Rupert’s |
| slacker |
| Sounders win mls title |
| we are now fwi.com |
| panevino |
| dualingo hard core |
| bday coming up |
| billy’s john |
| enigma of watching browns steelers with linds |
| going to elizabeth’s dinner during ou-baylor game |
| garrett says vikings loss on him |
| eagles lose sproles for season |
| lakers bradley hairline fracture |
| calloway loses appeal of 10 game ban |
| pirate hire new gm |
| hate duos on voice |
| will sartos quito |
Wife didn’t know Elton john was so good
Early journey sounds like rush
West end
Tupelo honey Sunday dinner
Lindsey watching the politician
Article about broncos and Fangio being segmented