The Wind of Change
The Wind of Change
The Cast by the Fillerbuster
July 25, 2024
I really have to stop having this much time in between posts. Here is another version of targeted opinions, and quicker than I prefer to be on each. I can’t spend more than an hour or so on this today (once it is organized). Enjoy, and I promise this time to write something before so much time goes by. Not edited, so excuse grammatical errors.
NFL
- Jamarcus Russell stole 75k in donations, continuing his legacy as the biggest disappointment in NFL history.
- Terrell Davis got cuffed on a plane because a flight attendant thought she was hit instead of tapped on the shoulder. He is so nice in life that you sort of KNOW that he couldn’t do anything like that…ever.
- Joe Burrow mentioned this offseason how people forget about players and teams with injuries. Guess is new changed hairdo is to make sure we didn’t forget him in case his play doesn’t reflect that.
- I have time before the season to write predictions, so keeping NFL chat light today.
- I hope they figure out that Aiyuk contract, because I am sure tired of hearing about it.
- Amari Cooper held a chess event, so he now becomes one of my favorite players in the league.
NBA:
- NBA Summer League is going on, and somehow underachieving, 2nd round pick Bronny James scored a four year contract after like 20 minutes of play. Not saying I don’t support this whole Bronny-LeBron / Son-Father thing, but can you at least not say he is worth 4 years and fake it for a little more time like you are evaluating instead of just giving The King what he wants?
- The Clippers changed dramatically, but still are the Clippers. They actually paid aging regular season star James Harden, let Paul George go, watched Kawhi go overseas before he was once again injured, and got rid of Russell Westbrook, who is probably the best personality on that roster.
- The Nuggets are having some bad luck, by losing KCP instead of paying a few extra mil, and the ruptured Achilles of rookie DaRon Holmes, which was supposed to be the solution to Jokic’s backup for depth.
- The Knicks got Jalen Brunson on a bargain (thanks to his proactive sacrifice), and look good for next season. Losing Hartenstein to OKC sort of hurt inside though.
- If Klay Thompson has any shots left in him, he will get plenty of looks in Dallas. They are a little overloaded in the backcourt, but they could have worse problems. You wanted more time and the rock, Klay, now show us what you have.
- Team USA: I will save my thoughts for non-exhibition games. No time to talk about South Sudan today.
- What a guy LeBron is! He shaved a few mil off $50 mil annually to field a better team. So nice. What a sacrifice. Him and Brunson must be boys.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
- Dan Hurley extended at UCONN. If he was younger, I might say he will be there for 50 years as it is such a perfect fit, but so glad to see someone not want to make the jump to the NBA.
- Cooper Flagg, if you haven’t seen the viral video against NBA stars, is going to light UP college hoops this year (unfortunately at Duke), along with being the #1 pick next year. Dude can ball.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
- Dillon Gabriel from Oregon drives a minivan to show how down to Earth he is. And, he apparently uses the same minivan to cart around WR’s to throw to in fields.
- Nick Saban is picking Texas vs. Georgia, which is funny. I can agree with that, but Texas has TOO many top notch QB’s, and that could end up being a problem. Ewers and Manning can’t stay friends when NFL hopes are on the line.
MLB:
- Did everyone have a great Bobby Bonilla Day? Yup, 7/1 is always a fascinating day of contract skill by a GM.
- This year’s Home Run Derby was great, but they still need to fix the main problem. Everyone is getting gassed I the later rounds, and you can’t take rounds off. Ease off the minutes in the opening rounds.
- But, at least the Derby was better than that Colorado national anthem singer.
- Charlie Condon is apparently the next coming for the Rockies. Once again, they are being built the right way (again) before they give people away years from now (again).
HOCKEY:
- The Seattle Kraken not only have the coolest name in the sport, but also hired the first female assistant coach. Props.
- No time to talk about big pickups…
WNBA:
- The WNBA is taking break, Caitlin Clark not on the Olympic team, and this is a big lost chance yet again.
GOLF:
- Talk about change this year. Xander entered the year as #1 on best not to win a Major. He leaves 2024 as a TWO time winner, which is a much more prestigious list to be on.
AUTO RACING:
- John Force was racing when I grew up. He crashed. Get better, man, as he is one of the few things I remember as a youngster in auto racing.
- “Hooters can’t pay Hendricks Sports.” I didn’t read the article. I just thought it was funny and that I should share it.
SOCCER:
- EURO:
- England makes final after several Hail Mary’s throughout the tourney. They played badly, and still made the final. But, adjustments weren’t made, too much reliance on Harry Kane occurred too late in the match, and Spanish is not only good…but YOUNG. They are going nowhere.
- COPA:
- I won’t even vent on the USMNT. What a waste to get a red card in the “easy” win they needed. 10 on 11 is not good.
- Canada made it far, so they can now make fun of us for that during the World Cup we are all hosting as a group. They can even tease Mexico about their COPA longevity.
- The last match and the breakdown of doors at the stadium…is the US ready to host an event like the World Cup in these times? Not sure.
OLYMPICS:
- Swimming becomes cool to everyone and it is fun to watch.
- Some UVA people are on the swimming team. I am old enough to remember me going to school there and being good enough to make the team but I turned them down. Times have surely changed there. I could have made the tennis team also, and look at them!
TENNIS:
- The change occurred emphatically. Carlos not just beat Djokovic, but pummeled him. Even Tiafoe gave Carlos a good five set match. Torched passed officially.
- Jasmine Paolini lost in the finals and has had the best “almost” year someone can have.
MISCELLANEOUS:
- Having the Hot Dog Contest without Chestnut was sort of a waste. No matter the technicalities, you have the GOAT play in your sport.
- Michael J. Fox playing with Coldplay was really cool.
- We have not started House of the Dragon yet due to trips, but plan on getting on it immediately.
- Lake of the Ozarks was exactly what I hoped it would be. Just cruising around on a boat, bar-hopping and doing boat parties.
- We went to KC after and had some good BBQ there. I still rank Texas my #1 overall.
- Does anyone really watch the ESPY’s?
- Is it my time in life as a washed up tennis player with a bad shoulder to now pick up pickleball?
- Enjoyed the String Cheese Incident concert at Red Rocks. Let’s Go Outside was my favorite song, as I never can place any names of songs with them. LOVED their covers.
- If you can locate Miso Paste, it is the best hot sauce ever, works on everything, and I barely use my other hot sauces regularly now.
- What a crazy list of recent deaths. Richard Simmons, Shannon Dougherty, Dr. Ruth, Jacoby Jones, Bob Newhart. Richard Simmons was huge when I was a kid. Dr. Ruth was in all of my Dad’s playboys I recall, Shannon was on my college show 90210, Jacoby Jones was way too young for an athlete. Newhart was an old school show I watched all the time as a kid. Not sure if the show was just on or if I requested it.
- Is Flavor Flav voice doing Red Lobster commercials?
- These ESPN lists are getting exhausting. Did they plan the whole month of July as list month and I missed it?
- I again bought nothing on Amazon Prime Day. I think that is an accomplishment, but probably more due to my bank accounts and differentiating between want and need.
- The global cyber outage was just part of the robot roadmap, folks. They just wanted to see our reaction before they take over humans in 2029.
- Sad to hear my band’s (Widespread Panic) guitarist, Jimmy Herring, has cancer.
- The Wind of Change was a great accepted song by Glam Rock Band Scorpions after a bunch of very good not accepted songs outside of Rock You Like A Hurricane. My wife and I still disagree, as she thinks that Rock You Like a Hurricane sounds exactly like No One Like You. Anyway, Wind of Change was their second wind, if you will, on the airwaves.
- And, for me, here is my bombshell. I say “bombshell,” but no one really reads this thing. This is my outlet. The Winds of Change apply to me also. It is time, folks. Long overdue. And Rob Lowe, who I respect the career of, was on ESPN and talked about it, and it definitely helped me press the button (along with a recent event). Due to my family genes and history, due to my drive to achieve a better health level as I get older as it gets harder because of age, due to some personal binge drinking events recently where this 51 year old was acting more like a 21 year old when it came to the substance, due to a bunch of relationships being burned in my years because of it, due to the fact that it sometimes causes anger as opposed to fun, and especially due to my eternal love for my wife and need to make her happy, I hereby proclaim that I have started full sobriety. Today is Day #4. I am now aware that it was too hard to balance the beast within. I could stay away fully during the week very easily, and worked hard and kept in great shape, but there were other times during my personal time that it just took over. Wish me luck. It is for the best. And, given my history and past lifestyle, this is truly some hardcore Wind of Change. The Scorpions would be proud. I will talk about this in future blogs, but just putting it on paper, in a public forum, so it is “out there.”
Talk to you later, all. Remember (kind of applies to me a little here oddly), if you can’t spot the sucker in the first 30 minutes at the table, then you are the sucker. As one shepherd said to the other shepherd, I am going to get the flock out of here.
