You Made Rain for L.A.
You Made Rain for L.A.
The Cast
Date: 21 May 2020
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.
SETTING: This is mostly written on Wednesday night while my wife watches her shows. Ben Platt on Netflix, Dateline, 20/20, and the Innocence Files. I am just in the same room writing. Finished up on Thursday before work (for some reason I like releasing the blog before work when my mind is going a million miles an hour as it usually is when I wake up) and released. Plus, I had yet determined a blog theme before finishing the 80% on Wednesday night. Had to sleep on it.
- EVERGREEN: SCARY CALENDAR. I usually have my evergreen articles separated during the week’s ideas, but nothing obvious jumped out this time. I might write my own evergreen this weekend as a solo blog without other stuff, but I am just passing along an article this go around. Got me thinking. We keep thinking about college sports and FANS. But, what about college sports and other STUDENTS. What about the SCHOOL schedule as opposed to just thinking about squeezing in non-conference games? What about the holiday schedule and doing what is right for the WHOLE student population? Anyway, interesting stuff, and another kind of sad article about the reality that we are facing. https://www.si.com/college/2020/05/19/colleges-shift-academic-calendars-sports-impact-ncaa
- EVERGREEN 2. COVID NOTES. As promised, it is MUCH shorter than previously, and we continue in the half-open, half-quarantined life we live. The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone reopened, and I know out here in Colorado, camping definitely is high on the post-quarantine radar, as it involves natural social distancing, outdoors, but some people. But, the animals are used to us NOT being there, so stories like that woman in Yellowstone who got injured by a bison ARE going to occur. I get more worried about churches than anything else. 180 people were infected at a service recently, and I just hope they all don’t say that God will protect them being less than 6 feet apart. Science and religion don’t need to argue like that, folks. Be patient. Gatherings will happen. I am pretty sure more priests should stick to firing Holy Water at congregants with a squirt gun like that one guy who went viral last week. There is an MSG employee from Florida who has been on the cruise ship or the hospital ship he is presently on in quarantine since this all STARTED. He is on his eighth test in over 60 days. He hasn’t passed the required two in a row before being released. That just sucks. The President is on hydro-whatever, we are hopeful by a new Moderna one, and I am fine with not being optimistic about anything until it is actually something that has jumped through a few more hoops before being exposed to the media. Don’t treat vaccines like an Antonio Brown story or Brett Favre comeback story (for you older folks). A Maryland restaurant/bar has the method of customers occupying the center of INTERTUBES and then bopping around the parking lot, patio, and bar and talking to people with forced social distancing. Sounds like there would be lots of traffic jams, and I didn’t read far enough into the article to figure out how you go to bathroom, but cool concept and I want to GO there now. You know that casinos WOULD find a way, and here we go. It is almost as fun thinking about when you will go again as it is to read about the methodical strategies that they are employing for opening back up with distancing during gambling. And here we go in general. Every single state is open to some degree. This is either going to be liberating or suck again worse really quickly. Outdoor dining seems to be a going theme with how we are going to pull this off, and I live by 32nd and Tennyson in the Highlands in Denver, so I will probably be a prime-time testing ground. Wednesday had the largest amount of “reported” new cases in a 24-hour period, and the hot spots are presently the USA, Russia, Brazil, and India, in case you avoid the news because COVID is all they talk about. Some scientists in Belgium or somewhere out there think this might be started by a A) mink or B) a cat. The mink would be more interesting than the bat story, but both would still outrank the cat thing, aside from the problem that many, many people have cats, and all would be better than the lab theory. DeLand, FL is the first town with a reported “block” party, to the point where the cops didn’t bust it until dark came down and it kept going. So, socially gather, but we aren’t ready for block parties yet.
- NFL: So, rather than Aaron Rodgers simply let the media run with this Jordan Love thing, He actually alluded to how he might not finish with the Packers. Well, you dropped a bit of blood into the ocean with sharks around, my friend. Now, THIS story won’t die soon. Ed Oliver (Bills DT) was arrested for a DUI, so this brings up two important concepts for me. One, if you drive, which you should be doing less of anyway during semi-lockdown, can you not hit the bottle for a couple hours of quarantine right before? Two, my eternal argument still rules overall. If you make NFL money, and HAVE to hit the bottle uncontrollably before you drive, you DO have enough money to pay for a personal driver. Come on, Ed. Pay someone. The focus of Big Ben’s tweet was the beard and barber trip, but I was focused on his throws to his receivers, and they looked solid. If there is a season, the Steelers WILL be dangerous if Ben stays healthy. And if not, PLEASE bring in Cam right now as a backup. The NFL did the right thing, whether you agree with me or not. They tightened up and expanded the Rooney rule and what it means. Good. Hold teams accountable for interviewing minority candidates. BUT, they stayed away from the draft pick-incentive play, which I thought was weak and misconceived from the get-go. Well played, NFL. That would have been misguided and overkill. WR’s DeVante Parker and Michael Thomas got into a social media tiff about some poll, so now in the eternal rotation of dumb public arguments, we can now wait for the next CB social media duel. Richard Sherman, you are up. The NFL is looking at a new style of face masks, and tread carefully, all. I am fine with you all playing with no fans, but I don’t want to change the whole game either. I would love to comment on the Cody Latimer thing, but first it was just an arrest, then it was a poker game, and then it was a poker game where a guy who assaulted his 4-year old son was at, etc. I can’t keep track. Of COURSE, the Buccaneers and Mr. Brady had an informal workout, because what would we do without Brady being the most perfect, most fit, person ever, and being followed by his troops so cutely into battle. Insult to injury. Brady is selling a new immunity pill called Protect DURING a pandemic. Are you not rich enough, Tom? Do you have to “help” us by pushing this down our throats too while we have bigger problems? Ugghhh. On a PLEASANTLY surprising note, Chad Johnson, yes, THAT Chad Johnson, was the guy who left a $1000 tip on a $37 bill, wanting to help the restaurant and server. Never saw that coming, if you ask me, but I smiled. This COVID thing is bringing out all KINDS of weird stuff. An unnamed NFL player is suing United for unwanted sexual advances by a female passenger and not being assisted. Lots of groping in the article, and I got the feeling that the flight attendants were watching it to add to cool stories instead of helping, or that social distancing is affecting that little button you hit above your airline seat too. And if Aldon Smith WAS part of this incident, it would have gone the other way, as we know, with reciprocal groping or assault. But, there is still a chance that happens on future flights. He is conditionally reinstated to the NFL. Yeah. HE will survive with new public rules post-COVID.
- COLLEGE FOOTBALL & COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Dematrius Davis was going to UGA on a baseball scholarship. No more. Clemson football gave him a call, then new QB offers came in left and right form other big schools, and he is now going to Clemson for BOTH sports. Not only is Clemson winning every year and recruiting like madmen, but now schools are recruiting prospects from other sports just BECAUSE Clemson is recruiting them for football. Hoops. Mac McClung, the hottest college hoops transfer in some time, announced his top SEVEN (in caps because he is really living this up, as who announces a top “seven?”) for his destination. He went to Georgetown (after breaking Iverson’s HS scoring record), is from Virginia, and the other predictions were MD and UNC. NONE of the above were on the list. USC? Wake? Auburn? BYU? No UVA, UNC, MD. Memphis I get, as Penny is a recruiting madman. Arkansas makes no sense. Texas Tech? This makes the most sense if he wants to win. Star PG just went pro, and there is an opening. Mac, you made me sad and confused me at the same time.
- NBA: 73% of people in a poll think MJ is better than LeBron. I didn’t realize that 27% of the world was from Ohio, but now I understand. LeBron will produce Adam Sandler’s new movie, Hustle, so maybe he is going to work on hustling that correct 73%. Some Jordan’s from the 80’s sold for $560k after the big documentary. Over half a million for a pair of shoes. Wow. ESPN is resorting to articles like the following, which occurred today. They had someone write a piece on the greatest all-time team for each team in the East. I love hoops. I am not THAT desperate for these lists. Am I supposed to call up a Hawks fan and debate the Sixers picks against his team’s picks? No, I am not. And today is the West, I assume. I feel like Mike Conley isn’t the greatest player of our era, but that he puts his money in good places. COVID hit and he seemed to be the only pro basketball player with an actual court in his home, and now he is donating $200k for COVID relief. I like the guy for no reason more and more every day. Orlando is the front runner for hosting the NBA playoffs, and before I read the article, I am trying to imagine WHY it would work the best. What happens when all of those kids come back to Disney?
- THE LAST DANCE (parting thoughts from Episode 9 & 10): Episode 9 & 10 (since they insisted on playing the double episodes in the same night irritatingly). Again, this documentary focused a lot on simple order of all of his feats. Not a bad thing, but really just a refresher show for those of us who lived it. It started on the Miller-Jordan mini-rivalry. I will agree with Reggie. Reggie DID carry himself like he wasn’t exalting Jordan every time on the court, and I credit him with that. The episode flipped between 1997 and 1998. We find out that the “flu game” was actually the “food poisoning of pizza” game, and amazing we went 23 years without anyone ever investigating this, since it wasn’t a flu?? Anyway, whether it was a pizza malfunction from a Bulls fan in Park City, or flu, or whatever, he was sick, and it was amazing. What was it? 38 points in 44 minutes? I also used to spit on pizza back in the day here and there when necessary, and I don’t believe that Jerry didn’t know Michael was sick. Anyway, very odd that it switched from flu to food poisoning. Just not the same ring to the name of the game. Episode 9 and 10 started making us sad for Jerry Sloan, John Stockton, and Karl Malone, who go foiled twice with a damn good team on their side. Episode 9 & 10 reminded me that Bill Walton actually used to announce BIG games before he went to more Dead shows and lost his mind. I LOVED Steve Kerr’s focused story on his dad’s death. I needed a reminder on how that went down. I totally forgot Kerr’s speech at the championship ceremony, where he said he had to “bail out Mike again.” With the big shot that won it. Hilarious. Nice reminder that the Pacers in 1997 was only the 2nd Game 7 the Bulls had faced in their run. I remember now MJ promising that Game 7 win. I laughed as I did not know that Scott Burrell was called by his full name by His Airness ALL the time. In that Game 7 in 1997, I forgot that Indiana was up 3 with 6 minutes left before that jump ball, and basically had to just walk it in. Then, Kerr hit that three and everything changed. Loved MJ telling Phil he wouldn’t switch on his man (Miller). Forgot MJ drove a Carrera, my dream car. The refresher made me wonder what IF Larry Bird won that Game 7. He might still be coaching. Jordan drained his soul. When they met in the parking lot, a hug happened with LOTS of cuss words. LOVED the Gus Lett story. I did NOT know all of that. Oh, and that pizza shop Bulls fan in Park City also named his son after MJ, we find out. I forgot Utah didn’t have home court in 1997, and had it in 1998. I forgot about that 54-point total by the Jazz in 1998. That was a debacle. For younger people who don’t understand the difference, there was no Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Rodman went to Vegas during the season, and then missed a FINALS practice to go wrestle with Hulk Hogan. Social media would have blown up had that happened now. When MJ and the Bulls won IN Utah with Pippen’s back like it was, it was yet another testament to MJ’s majesty. Batman won without Robin. I didn’t know that Jordan watched a classic movie and then used the “all for one, one for all” line in the huddle from the movie. That was cool. Jordan’s last shot and HOLDING the follow through is beyond legendary. It wasn’t just the result. The presentation was by a master. I had no CLUE about the final thing Phil did with the team. He brought them together and told them to write one thing on a piece of paper that they wanted to tell the team. They did that, and one by one, they burned that piece of paper. What a cool way to part. I hear Rodman even focused on that meeting. Parting thoughts. I LOVED what someone said about how Jordan presented himself. He was ALWAYS PRESENT. Good lesson to us all, and very obvious throughout the documentary. He fully engaged with every walk of life in that moment he talked to them. Hard to pull that off when as famous as he was. I thought the documentary was totally from the Jordan point of view. Not necessarily bad, but far from objective too. Horace Grant had a good point about the snitch rant, and Pippen should be a little miffed too in how he came off in almost all of the years (not sure how he could say 30 years later he would still have sat on the bench). I already mentioned how I thought it was weird there was NO Juanita, but going to steal/confirm three other glaring things missing/wrong about this thing from an SI guy. Flu-pizza story oddness, limited mentioning of the Knicks even though they eliminated them FOUR times (but Pacers got more credit), and a total glorification of his bullying throughout. Oh, and getting by the Pistons didn’t even MENTION Joe Dumars, who guarded MJ most of the time. Very well done overall, a conversation starter for sure, a great walk down memory lane, but with some holes.
- MLB: Sad to hear about Starling Marte’s wife through all of this COVID stuff, as she died from a heart attack at a young age. The Nats will do the first ever virtual ring ceremony, and I bet they were really hoping to do this ceremony with the Phillies in house, so Bryce had to watch it in person. Bartolo Colon will attempt a comeback at age 47. So, if he gets picked up by a new team, it will be his 12th. There are only 15 teams in each league, folks. He is approaching halfway.
- MISCELLANEOUS: The latest UFC fight had heavyweight fighters who were 45-18, and 13-7. Those records aren’t exactly going to peak interest. Apparently, when this guy Raidel Joke Brito won the Madden Championship recently, it was like Fowler finally winning a Major, Karl Malone beating MJ, or Dan Marino winning a Super Bowl. The Joke has apparently been on the cusp for years. Congrats for whatever you did. How DO you pronounce Bundesliga? I admit to watching Cornhole over NASCAR. Both were live. Good job, Kevin Harvick. I was watching the sport of Cornhole where they had a guy behind each side with a mask set up the bags for the guys for social distancing purposes, and everyone had a cool mask on. Sorry I missed it. Rory McIlroy won something, but not sure exactly what, or if it was a replay. FC Seoul put sex dolls in their seats to help space people out during an actual match. I am still trying to figure out my level of loser-ness if I actually bet on the Tiger-Phil-Peyton-Tom thing. I wouldn’t do it if OTHER sports were on, ok? Kentucky dismissed their entire cheerleading staff, and what I learned from the article is that Mean Girls stay mean (I don’t even know if Mean Girls were cheerleaders but I assume so) in college apparently, and Kentucky is like the Alabama of football or UNC of soccer. The US Open has cancelled its qualifying rounds, and that kind of takes most of the FUN out of the whole concept of the thing. There is always some random dude who made it out of a bracket we are rooting for. Like Tin Cup. They are mixing up the horse racing order for the Triple Crown and changing a distance, but it will happen without fans. Deep thoughts. So a horse will still race that fast without the noise? Well, I guess they do train them in silence, but just seems weird. If I never hit a horse bet with fans, I might be unstoppable without them. Who DOESN’T want new Bo Jackson stories? Nobody. https://deadspin.com/the-coolest-bo-jackson-story-you-ve-never-heard-before-1843288984 I assume you saw the guy who hit 30 drives in 30 seconds. I was more nervous about the guy placing the ball than anything. Sometimes things just BECOME magical as they happen. https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/what-the-hall-tennis-ball-protocol/video_d114ccc1-c1eb-5ff0-af0b-42eeb24a635b.html
- THIS AND THAT: We are still enjoying Chris Toler at 4pm every Saturday (Mountain). If you can get past the fact that he doesn’t care at all about being famous and just wants to spend a few hours getting jacked up in front of people with Star Wars references, then you can filter through that and appreciate his musical genius in voice, guitar, guest singers, and looping. Worth the show. We are still enjoying my boy Rob Meagher after Toler at 7pm Mountain, and he brought in one of his buddies, Justin, this weekend. There were times back in the day that all three of us would be behind the bar. Billions Season 5, Episode3 was entertaining, but obviously just more of a setup episode. Still one of the best shows ever overall and you should be watching. Chile’s has a killer delivery deal going. The Cajun Pasta wasn’t as good as I remembered it a decade ago (the last time I ordered Chile’s), but the chocolate ice cream cake was pretty mountainous for only $3. El Jefe has great food but bad COVID advertising on when they are open. Call once and let it go. Revelry has great food but bad phone service. Good luck in getting through on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Fire On The Mountain has great wings as we know, strong drinks to order takeout, and surprisingly good salads. For the 156th time, Drunk History is great because you learn something, because of the incredible lip syncing, because of the most random famous cameos, and because of the hilarity of the horrible special effects (like a train scene is done with a very obvious toy train set). Jimmy Fallon is SO damn talented. The fact he can act, sing, play instruments, and pretty much do anything with the best of them is sort of frustrating but demands respect. Widespread Panic’s Never Miss A Sunday aired a show that might have had a top five song back to back for me personally (and I have been to over 100 WSP shows). One Arm Steve, Love Tractor, Hatfield, All Time Low, and Pilgrims. For the record, that is my #7, #4, #1, #25, and #2 song all time by the band. Hatfield is #1 because I still remember jumping into a fraternity brother’s car after a Friday night party, going to Virginia Beach, watching this band called Widespread, and hearing Hatfield…and saying YES, I will follow these guys for the duration. Thanks also, to my roommate, Donald Suskind, for pushing Phish, Dead, and Widespread on me our fourth year in college. Great influence. Sounds like a recent Duke or circa 2015 Kentucky hoops recruiting class. It was International Museum Day last week, and I guess I celebrated how museums just aren’t my thing, with or without COVID. That is one thing I DO miss about the big East Coast cities, is that their museums were pretty freaking cool. Philly, DC, and NYC rock for museums. Enjoy the opening of pools, hanging with friends, and BBQ parties that come with Memorial Day. Damn you COVID. Not happening so much. I don’t understand people who don’t like Shark Tank. Great background show for me while on my PC or hanging with LInds, as long as I can hear the elevator pitch undisturbed. What a great and depressing show. The Voice ended and my guy won it. Todd. Dude is a pastor at a small church and has eight kids. He will need this fame and money to provide. They did a good job at embracing the virtual element of the show overall. Couple of hiccups, but got the job done. And Blake can finally talk shit about being the champion at the show (it had been 4 years since his last win). That show is SOOO much better than Idol. A man wore a watermelon on his head to rob a convenience store. No word on whether he wore a face mask too. Water World, my favorite place on Earth, officially cancelled its entire season, and that stinks. I would have volunteered my time to brainstorm on ways to make it work with social distancing. Like…seriously. Penguin poop has laughing gas in it. Tell your friends. India had a Super Cyclone hit its coast, and apparently that is actually weaker than most Category 4 Hurricanes. Spotify picked up “Super” podcast guy, Joe Rogan, as Apple seems to be relaxing in that field a little too much. Brian Austin Greene and Megan Fox broke up, and my #3 celebrity crush had someone break up with HER??? What is he thinking? Work it out. Did you buy stock in Walmart before all of this went down? They just had their best quarter in DECADES because of hoard shopping. My wife watches the Innocence Files, and MAN, those are some depressing stories of people getting locked up being innocent. She also is watching this new Ben Platt Netflix special, and man does that dude have a ridiculous Broadway voice, man he can play piano like no one’s business, and man, I am kind of glad he is gay (because of her love for him).
- THE FILLERBUSTER: My wife is not doing a very good job at offering to watch The Wire nightly, and I get my hand slapped if I bring it up if she is not in the mood or if I dare to think about watching one on my own. What a conundrum. I am still on Season 2, Episode 6. We had a lot of front porch time last weekend. She beat me for the 940th time out of 942 games on Saturday. “Jowl” apparently IS a Scrabble word, and she got 66 points off of it using the Triple Word Score. I thought we were supposed to be getting BETTER at things during COVID. True, I don’t go INTO grocery stores as of yet. My car pickup experience was a nightmare on Tuesday and took two hours of my life even though I live 5 minutes away from the store. Multiple trips. Ugghhh. When I tip you $5, kid, that means to take EXTRA time to make sure my order is right. Yes, I am much happier now that I pay someone to do my yardwork. I liked mowing lawns for all of my childhood, but when my wife’s pet peeve is leaves (which I like on the ground personally), I knew a change was needed. Plus, I rationalize and say that he probably needs the work right now, right? I went in my first grocery store last week…but it was to get a prescription. I won’t be going in again any time soon. Sammy Hagar says that Van Halen will only be dead when Eddie and Alex are dead, and that makes me happy. Sammy has dreams of him touring WITH David Lee Roth, with their kids leading off in a band, and all of these things make me very happy that more is to come. I have decided that the shows I am allowed to branch off from Linds are Treadstone and finally catching up on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Finally, my hair is utterly out of control. No haircut since quarantine began and the Steelers hat barely goes on my head anymore. Because of this, I probably look like a slow running Forrest Gump when doing that horrible workout chore. TRX workout going fine, Spanish lessons continuing, guitar progressing (although Kevin is taking away the working guitar today so I will have to work that out), piano refreshing is still refreshing, work is fine, and health is good. Peace, y’all.
- TWEET OF THE WEEK
ALTERNATE CATEGORIES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT:
- 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):
- PICS BY MY PIXEL (pictures from my phone):
- LIFEGUARD ENTRY:
- NHL
The theme? I had nothing much to go on, so I went Hatfield by Widespread Panic. Oh. You should probably hear the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQpKycp9–w Listen to any live version if you REALLY want to have some fun. Oh, and this is Pilgrims, the #2 one by these guys for me. Pilgrims. Acoustic version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sxQ33N2qbw
And our weekly reminder of the greatest sequel ever made coming out this winter… Top Gun 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epgkqPJ_bc0
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 |
| Phyllis George dies |
| ufc eyes zona if no vegas |
| legal fallout kobe |
| Cody Latimer arrested |
| m ichael McCaskey dies |
| mlb teams lose $640 per game |
| anthony Harris signs vikings |
| hope solo dog gunshot wounds |
| Arthur storm |
| MJ would have re-signed |
| lynn almost signed cam newton |
| trump fires Steve linick |
| tropical storm arthur |
| ny gov says state can host sports |
| jazz bogdanovic out for season |
| krause calls pippen trade to rockets going away present |
| Eddie Haskell leave it to beaver dies |
| Pensacola shooting might have been Al qaeda |
| nurmagomedov father covid |
| woodley-burns to headline ufc may 30 account |
| conner says it would be hard to leave pittsburgh |
| lebron was training as football plyer during 2011 lockout |
| governor not happy with big ben |
| nba weighing Orlando Vegas return host sites |
| Jones leads cowboys staff back into facility |
| twilight actor girlfriend dead in vegas |
| glavine says players could be blamed if no baseball |
| khabib’s dad in coma |
| shad Gaspard body found rip current |
| harbaugh says empty stadiums better than no fans |
| Clemson steals uga baseball player as qb |
| election 2020 |
| hungary bans changing sexes |
| mihcigan dam failures |
| john glenn’s wife dies of covid |
| krispy kreme giving free donuts to graduates |
| league expecting positive tests |
| seahawks offer devonta freeman one year deal |
nhl working on 24 team field
| one time waiver for transfers ncaa tabled until next year |
| arbery recorder in trouble |
| arbery tasing video |
