Ty Watches "Godzilla Minus Zero"

I went out and watched "Godzilla Minus Zero" this past Wednesday, and I have a spoiler filled review for you all today. If you want to watch the movie before getting spoiled, go do that and then read my review.

I was highly anticipating this movie ever since I saw "Godzilla Minus One". RD is more of the Godzilla fan on this site, but he turned me on to "Minus One". I loved that, so I went into this one very excited. And it did not disappoint in the least.

This movie was pretty goddamn awesome. Some may say that the appearance of Ghidorah is a spoiler, but that is the first thing you see after a very short opening credit scene. The movie opens with Ghidorah running roughshod over some other town in Japan. Ghidorah has this short and quick fire breath, akin to a lightning strike, and those shots do some heavy damage.

After taking over the town, Ghidorah goes to rest, and this is where the humans show up again. This is what I love most about the "Minus One" and "Minus Zero" movies. These movies beg the question, what would the government do if some monsters started to randomly attack a city they are in charge of protecting? These are human stories, stories of survivors' guilt, being put in impossible situations, finding a way out, struggles as parents, all the while monsters are a constant threat to destroy at any given moment. I used to never care about the humans in Godzilla content, but these movies have changed that for me.

And all the usual suspects are back from "Minus One", with a few new faces. We have the doctor, the pilot, his wife, their kid and his buddies who survived from the first movie. Meanwhile we get a new professor, a meteorologist and a few new faces here to help with the fight. But make no mistake, this movie is about taking down Ghidorah, and when Godzilla does show up, this movie goes even harder. The scenes when they are trying to stop Ghidorah are great. They make mistakes, they screw up, and it costs them at first. When they drop a bomb, which they acquire from the US military, who is the villain in this movie by the way, they drop it and literally miss Ghidorah. They try some backup plans, to no avail. Ghidorah ravages the town they are closest to. There's a scene where Ghidorah lifts this entire city, to destroy it, and as our hero pilot from the first movie flies by he can see a mom and child screaming for help, in total terror. It was agonizing to see that happen. But Ghidorah is a monster, and this monster does not care who it destroys along the way. The stuff with the pilot, his wife and their kid was tough. The kid keeps getting left behind by the folks, they have to help save the day, but she always tells them to "have a safe trip". That is because her mom told her that if she says that there's no way they can be hurt. It is heartbreaking when she yells it at them over and over again during the final act of the movie. We also see that the wife, if you remember she was assumed dead in the first movie, but she opens her eyes and is seemingly okay, seems to be having ill effects from her encounter with Godzilla in "Minus One". This plays a pivotal part when Godzilla shows back up in this movie. And when Godzilla does come back, destroying the Statue Of Liberty and a bunch of people in New York City, it was like seeing an old friend that I missed. They need Godzilla's help to take down Ghidorah because, not only did their first attempt not work, but they realized that Ghidorah can regenerate and grow extra limbs if needed at the drop of the hat. After Godzilla wrecks NYC, the wife and the professor, a new addition in this movie, use the machinery they have to communicate with Godzilla. This leads to an awesome and massive fight between our two monsters. The humans think they may have stopped Ghidorah, but they did not, for a second time, and Dr Noda, my personal favorite character, dies a hero's death after seeing all of this go down. The fight between Godzilla and Ghidorah is awesome. They trade blows, Godzilla rips off one of Ghidorah's heads at one point. It looks as if Ghidorah has won and everyone is going to get hurt badly, but then Godzilla comes back, regrows an arm and has the atomic blast on Ghidorah to end all atomic blasts. Now, we all think that Godzilla has saved the people, and the people let him retreat to the ocean with no harm done, but after the credits you can hear some loud growling going on, and who's to say that is Ghidorah or Godzilla. I certainly don't know, especially after the conclusion of "Minus One".

"Minus Zero" is a more than serviceable sequel to "Minus One". Toho knows how to make these movies better than anyone in the game. I was cheering, tearing up and sitting on the edge of my seat throughout this movie, and that makes it all the more fun for me. I also saw it with rumble chairs and on a very big screen, which only added to my enjoyment. I definitely recommend "Minus Zero". This movie should be up for multiple awards come that season. This movie kicked butt. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Better Late Than Never on "Repo Man"

For a while now my brother has been telling me to watch the movie "Repo Man". So I remedied that and watched it last weekend and I have some thoughts.

First off, I enjoyed my viewing. This movie is from 1984 and it definitely shows. The graphics are incredibly old school, and that is a benefit for this movie. I liked how low fi and cheap, in a good way, the effects and the scenery looked. I have to imagine that the director and scout location people purposefully found rough looking neighborhoods. I appreciated that the locations felt and looked real as well. There didn't seem to be anything fake or CGI in this movie. That is one of the things I like about movies from the 70's and 80's, the look. Everything looks real. The effects are practical and the locations are real. They don;t do this anymore in movies and I miss that.

I also liked the acting from the two main characters, Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton. Sure there are other actors in the movie, but they play cliched characters, on purpose, but this movie is all about the two stars.

Emilio Estevez looks so young and so green in the movie. He truly nailed it as the young punk who goes corporate. I really liked his first scene, where he is stacking cans at his job, and he gets let go. He doesn't say anything, he just suplexes his coworker, the boss's son, and then gives his boss and the security guard the finger as he walks out. We then see him in an outside mosh pit listening to punk rock on the radio with his buddies. We know pretty much everything about him right away, and he barely speaks two lines of dialogue to this point.

After his night of moshing, we meet Harry Dean Stanton, who tricks him into repossessing a car for him. Harry Dean Stanton lies about his wife being in labor, he convinces Estevez to help him out for some money, and when he gets caught lying, he just brushes it off and eventually convinces Estevez to come work for him.

From here on out this movie is insane. I mean, the first scene we see a guy look into a trunk and get vaporized, but that was just the start. After Estevez goes to work with the repo men, and women, a bunch of wild stuff happens. Estevez's buddies become hard core robbers, but their robbery attempts are hilarious. I know that it is meant to be funny, but it still made me laugh so hard everytime. They would have conversations, and then walk right into a convenience store and rob it. Then Estevez meets his love interest while driving a repossessed car, and they fight and then inexplicably have sex in the backseat of the car. He continues to chase her, but we learn that she works for the government in some capacity involving aliens. At one point in this movie Estevez has a conversation with his parents about going to Paris, like they promised him in the past. They admit that they don't have the money for it anymore, and they just go about their evening, continuing to watch tv. Estevez has these in depth conversations with one of the dudes at the repo spot who looks like he burns stuff for fun and does trash duty. The other repo men play pranks on him when he starts working there. The repo men get into random fights with people that they assume haven't paid their bills. And, the guy driving the car at the beginning, the one with the trunk that vaporizes people, comes back and wreaks havoc on the main town. One of Estevez's homies gets vaporized. Another one dies in a shootout at a convenience store. His "girlfriend" allows him to get kidnapped and tested on by the government. The guy driving the car dies, but not before having what seemed like a very important talk with Estevez. This conversation made no sense, but that is what I expected from this movie. And when they eventually find the car they have been looking for, it turns into a flying apparatus, and Estevez and the trash guy from the repo spot fly off into the night. Harry Dean Stanton gets merked trying to take the car, Estevez's "girlfriend" gets left behind. We never see his parents again. The other people who work at the repo spot have a massive fist fight with one another. The movie goes off the rails, but in the best way possible.

I enjoyed the hell out of this movie. It was so ridiculous, but that is what made it so much fun. We don't make movies like this anymore, and that bums me out. Go check out "Repo Man". It is a dope throwback of a movie and you will have as much fun as I did when you watch. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Better Late Than Never on "Harold and Maude"

I finally had the time to sit and watch "Harold and Maude". This movie has been on watchlist for a long while now. Timing never seemed to work out. Then I wanted to watch it with my wife, but she had already seen it and was not into the movie. She saw it when she was younger and she remembered not enjoying it all that much. But my kids had longer than usual days at school, so I finally pulled the trigger and pressed play.

I loved this movie so much. I get it, "Harold and Maude" is a coming of age love story, but there is so much more going on in this movie. Bud Cort is wonderful as Harold. He plays the bored rich kid so well. His fake suicide attempts felt so real and looked real too. The whole movie starts off with Harold fake hanging himself, but I thought for a moment that it was real. I thought this was how the movie was going to start. Luckily for me this whole schtick is a running bit throughout the movie. After he has fake hanged himself, his mom walks in and seems so unimpressed by all of this. Harold's mom was my favorite person in this whole movie. Vivian Pickles plays his mom and she is a treasure. The way she accepts, but also controls Harold is so funny and so perfect. I actually kind of felt for her. There's one scene in which she is trying to set Harold up with the 70's version of online dating, and all the while she is filling out the questionnaire, she starts to answer the questions for herself. She all together stops asking Harold for answers and just answers how she feels. I was howling at this scene. And every setup she gets going for Harold, her reactions to Harold's shenanigans are pitch perfect. Vivian Pickles was tremendous in this role. For a movie that is about two people, the third actor, Pickles, left such a great, lasting impression on me.

Speaking of Harold, Bud Cort really owned this role. Like I said before, he played the bored rich kid to perfection. He is so underwhelmed with life and obsessed with death. He goes to funerals for the fun of it. He sets up these horrifc, fake suicide attempts. He doesn't take therapy seriously. He wants nothing but to float through life unassuming and unaware of what happens around him. At these funerals is where he meets Maude, played by Ruth Gordon. This has to be the first time we have ever seen a "manic pixie dream girl" in the movies. Gordon is living life to the fullest. She steals cars, she flirts with cops, she collects things during her endeavors and Harold falls for all of this, Gordon is the first to speak and make a move on Harold, but Harold is all in, hook line and sinker. Gordon was so tremendous in the movie. I rooted hardest for her. She made me appreciate life and living it to the fullest. The scene where she and Harold sing a Cat Stevens song was beautiful. I loved all her little quips and her joy for life. You could tell early on in the movie that she wasn't long for this world, but she made her time last and made it fun. I appreciated most the transformation Harold goes through after first meeting Maude. Harold is quiet and grim and looks like a ghost. He wants out. But as his relationship grows with Maude he becomes more outgoing. He starts to play the banjo. He makes jokes with his new dates. His face starts to get more and more color and he starts to love life. The final scene, spoiler alert for a movie that is about 50 years old, after Maude dies I was certain Harold would kill himself. Instead he crashes the Jaguar he owns, which he turns into a hearse, and walks away from the crash playing the banjo that Maude gave him. This was the perfect way to end the movie. Harold grew an appreciation for life after meeting Maude. She wouldn't have wanted him to die. She told him to continue to love more and more. She wanted him to grow the same appreciation for life that she had. That was wonderful and I'm so happy they ended the movie that way.

"Harold and Maude" is a classic for a reason, and I'm so glad that I finally watched it. This movie made me laugh, was heartbreaking, beautiful and gave me a brand new appreciation for life. I wonder if that was the whole idea behind this movie, because it works on every level so well. I love this movie and I highly recommend it to anyone who has not watched it as of yet and it is on their list. Check it out. "Harold and Maude" rules. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The College Football Playoff is Getting Ridiculous

News was released yesterday that the college football playoff is officially expanding to 24 teams. I should be happy about this. This means more college football, which is my favorite sport to watch. This means the season could last longer. This means more parity and more chances for my favorite team, Michigan, to make the playoff. But, I kind of hate this to be honest with you.

This is going to kill what makes college football the best sport in the world, the drama. Every game counts in college football. Every game matters. It used to be that, if you wanted to get to the national title, you had to win every game, or only have one loss in your column. Teams needed to win eleven or twelve games a year just to have a chance to be considered for the title game. Conference championships were also the most important games of the season. you had to win that to be considered for the playoff or title game. Championship weekend could make or break your entire season. And that is what I have loved about college football since I was a kid. It was the most dramatic show on tv. I look forward to every Saturday game. It has always been appointment viewing for me.

Now none of that matters with this expansion. Conference championships are officially gone. This was my first inkling that I was not going to be a fan of the expansion. I love conference championship weekend. Like I said, that weekend of games would be the season defining games. I would watch as many conference title games as I could, just to see who was going to make it to the big stage and who would be left out. I always looked most forward to the Big 10 title game, especially when Michigan was playing in it, because it was always the last game of that weekend. That is gone now. Those games are not happening anymore. They will be of a bygone era after this season and that stinks.

The expansion also means that regular season games are going to mean far less than they have ever before. It used to be that an undefeated season was the sign of who was the best of the best. That is how it should be. If you win every game on your schedule, you should have a shot at a major bowl game or the four team playoff, when that was still a thing. Now it doesn't matter. There will be more 7-5 teams vying for a playoff spot now in the new 24 team playoff. Michigan, as I wrote about yesterday, is having one of the worst seasons in the history of the program, but in the new 24 team playoff, if they were to win out, they would have a legit shot at being in the field, with a final regular season record of 8-4. That is not the standard that should be set. I feel like you should have, at the very least, double digit wins to be considered for the playoffs. But now, especially if you are a team from the power 4 conferences, 7 or 8 wins will be enough to make a case for an at-large bid. We will have teams that are 4-4 midway through the season, but due to conference affiliation and strength of schedule, that will have a legit argument to make the playoff field. That is not the way it should be.

I had my issues with the days of the AP and Coaches poll picking the national champs. The BCS era had the most problems of all. The four team playoff was rad, but it seemed to always find a way to leave out the group of 5 teams if they could. And the last two years of the 12 team playoff have been underwhelming. The stakes aren't high enough. Now that is going to be all gone with the new 24 team playoff.

This is the death knell for college football. It has been a long time coming, but this feels gross. College football has always been a minor league for the NFL, but now that is more relevant than ever. And let's not get it twisted in the least, this is all about money, and that is the biggest problem I have with all of this. This is a clear money making endeavor. Look at March Madness. The NCAA tournament makes more money than they can print, and college football saw that and wanted in, no matter how watered down it is going to make the game I used to love. Sure there will be more games, but that means more commercial breaks and more ad time for car companies, political ads when the time necessitates it and dumbass fast food restaurants selling some nonsense. Games have been getting harder and harder to watch because of how long they take. Games now last four hours. Three hours used to feel fast. But now the games just drag on and on and on. Every break in action seems to head to a commercial break. I took my son to a game this season, and he grew so weary of the red hat guy whenever he walked onto the field, which felt like every single chance he could. That is only going to increase with more teams and more games being added to the season now.

I should like this, I know I should. And I know myself, which means I will watch these games, much to my chagrin. But I don't like this and I think it is going to severely water down the game I used to love. Time will tell how I actually feel about this, but as of right now, as of the news becoming official, I am not onboard with the expanded playoff, and all that comes along with it. It is not for me. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Approaching Rock Bottom for Michigan Football

Things are not in a good place with the Michigan Wolverines football team. In fact this may be as bad as it was when it was at its worst under Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez. I thought those days were behind me as a fan. I figured that, at the very least, Michigan would be competitive and always in contention for a bowl game, and usually the playoff. But this season has been a very, very down one, and it all came to a nasty head Saturday night.

I have been so incredibly underwhelmed by what I have watched from this team this year. I was shocked when Sherrone Moore was let go, but I understood why they did it. That was a bad look for the university, and it felt like the tides were turning away from the Jim Harbaugh era, which was a great run for this program. And when they somehow lured Kyle Whittingham out of retirement to take over, I was so happy. This seemed like a return to form. I figured the team would look like they did under Lloyd Carr. Those teams were never flashy or high powered offensively, but they had a Heisman winner, they played ferocious defense, won a National Title and were always ranked inside the top 25. That has not been the case.

This Michigan team, namely on offense, has been abysmal. They have no heart. They have no imagination. They have no will. They have no oomph. The offense has been one of the worst in the country by the numbers. Michigan could, at the very least, run the ball under Sherrone Moore. They cannot even do that anymore. The run game, led by captain Jordan Marshall and five star super freshman Savion Hiter, has been underwhelming. The backs continue to try and run sideline to sideline. These players are not built for that. Marshall, Hiter and Bryson Kuzdal are bruising backs that want to hit the defense before they hit them. Instead they have been told and coached to try and outrun guys to the outside, and it has failed miserably so far. They barely average 3 yards a carry, and they have not scored nearly as much as I expected. The wide receivers have been okay enough. JJ Buchannan has been a revelation. I have enjoyed watching him play, and he makes spectacular catches every week. Andrew Marsh has been steady and consistent and is one of the more reliable players on the offense. And they mercifully took him off punt return, because he was fumbling far too much for my taste. But the tight ends never get used, and this offensive line is atrocious. I have become so accustomed to Michigan having a dominant and nasty o line, but that is not the case this season. They have looked as bad as I have ever watched in my lifetime. Guys whiff on blocks every week. They don't communicate with one another. They commit far too many penalties. They fall over themselves every game. This line is so bad and it seems to be getting worse every week.

Now, they fired Jason Beck yesterday, which felt like a long time coming, but I don't know that much will change these last three weeks. Beck never accustomed his play calling to the players he had. He was so intent on running the same offense he ran at Utah with players that were not equipped to run that offense. He never adjusted and he was made the rightful scapegoat yesterday.

But so much more has to change. I was wrong on Whittingham. He has no fire. He has no excitement. He stands on the sideline and doesn't say a word or make any kind of gestures to show he is involved in the game. His microphone on his headset is almost always up, and not near his mouth. He doesn't seem to be communicating with his staff at all during the games. And his post game and weekly press conferences are so dull and lifeless. He speaks the same monotone way every week and it is just getting older by the week. I'm over his calm demeanor. I was so into it when he was first hired, but now it angers me. He doesn't seem to have the will anymore. He looks like he wished he stayed retired and that stuff rubs off on the team. They also look lifeless and bored during games. The defense, for their part, has been amazing. They are literally one of the best defenses in the country. They just spend way, way too much time on the field and they get tired, like any of us would if we had to constantly stay on the field and get no rest. I love Jay Hill. He has been the best offseason hire by far for this team. If they were to move on from Whittingham, as I hope they do, Hill would be my first choice at the moment to be the next head coach. I have zero issues with this defense.

As for the QB play, I don't know how much blame goes to Bryce Underwood and Tommy Carr or if it all goes to Jason Beck. Underwood has not lived up to the hype. He has had some good games, but he has also had some very bad games, or games where you don;t even notice anything he has done. Tommy Carr leaves the pocket too quickly, tries to run too much and makes typical true freshman mistakes. At this point I'd go back to Underwood for the rest of the season, but make no mistakes, I'm about 90 percent certain that Underwood will be playing for a new team next season.

What makes this season so frustrating and maddening for me was what I watched on Saturday. Michigan should have stomped Michigan State. Michigan is, on paper, a much better team. And Michigan State is knowingly in rebuilding mode. But credit to Pat Fitzgerald. He has his team ready to play. They wanted to win that game and they did everything in their power to do so. MSU's defense, one of the worst in the nation, stifled this porous Michigan offense. Michigan didn't even reach 200 total yards of offense. MSU had five total turnovers for the season going into that game, and they caused Michigan to turn the ball over four times Saturday night. Tommy Carr looked confused. The o line was as bad as they have been all year. The receivers dropped easy balls, or fumbled when they did catch it. The run game never, ever got going. It was as bad as I have ever seen a Michigan football team play. And this was a rivalry game. This was the state championship. And every time the camera cut to Whittingham, his mic was not near his mouth, he looked calm and collected and he looked like his team was winning by a few scores. He never looked angry or nervous or upset. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world. And that is not the way I expect a Michigan coach to act when his team is getting wildly outplayed by an inferior team. Credit to MSU for showing up and showing out, but Michigan looked like they wanted to be anywhere else Saturday night.

The schedule only gets harder from here. They travel to Oregon on Saturday, and they just crushed the university of Ohio State in Columbus. Then UCLA, a top ten team in the CFP rankings, comes to Ann Arbor. And like every season, they finish the year off in Columbus, facing the university of Ohio State. I don't think they have any chance in any of these games, especially the way they have been playing all year.

This is a lost season for Michigan. I thought they made the right decisions, but I was wrong. It doesn't seem like Whittingham is the right fit. They should probably move on from him after the season and start a real coach search. They should try everything they can to retain Jay Hill and keep the defense in tact, but massive changes need to come this offseason. Michigan has a ways to go before being a contender again, but this season has been so incredibly difficult to watch, and the next three weeks cannot end soon enough. I'm over this year, and over the coaching staff, except for the defensive staff. Changes need to be made. Always and forever Go Blue. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Better Late Than Never on "The Banshees of Inisherin"

During the week I got back to watching more movies after my kids' long weekend, and one of the movies I got caught up on was "Banshees of Inisherin". I remember this movie coming out back during COVID. But it came out when some theaters were reopening. I was still pretty hesitant, even in 2022, to go back to the theaters. So, even though this new Martin McDonagh movie was being released in theaters, I was not ready to see it in theaters. And then I forgot about it, unfortunately. Then it got nominated for a bunch of Oscars and returned to my radar for a moment. Unfortunately for me it was not streaming on one of the many services we subscribe to. Then, while taking a break watching "Nirvanna The Band The Show", I saw that "Banshees of Inisherin" was also streaming on Hulu. So I fired it up and sat back ready to enjoy.

I loved this movie so much. While watching the other day I kind of bemoaned my anxiety from back in 2022, because this would have been a fun movie to see with an audience. The long and short story of this movie is, it is about a friendship that is suddenly gone one day. But there is so much more going on here. I mentioned to my dad, who also likes this movie, that when Colin Farrell works with a competent writer, director and supporting actors, he is great. He has already proven that he can go bar for bar with Brendon Gleeson in "In Bruges", also directed by McDonagh. This is not necessarily a sequel, this movie takes place in the 1920's in Ireland, but Gleeson and Farrell are the co leads and they play friends who have issues they need to resolve.

Farrell is wonderful as I mentioned. His arc in the movie, from happy go lucky to kind of sinister near the end was a blast to watch. He is the put upon friend. He is the one who has no issues at the start, and he is just happily living his life, going to the pub, having meaningless chats and taking care of his animals. Gleeson is the friend who has decided to end the friendship with no warning. But he has his reasons. He is tired of meaningless conversations. He wants to be remembered by history by writing a song. He wants to be left to do the things he wants to do with his life. And he takes this to the very extremes. I mean, he mutilates himself just to prove to Farrell that he wants their friendship to be over. Kerry Condon plays Farrell's sister, and she is wonderful as well. I saw beforehand that she was nominated for this movie, and after watching it it was easy to see why. She yearns for something different. She wants to get out of the rut she is in in this current life. She wants more. She is learned and educated and she wants to continue that education and knows the only way to do that is to leave her home and family behind, as hard as that may be. She is at times heartbreaking, understanding and hilarious all within one scene in this movie. Barry Keoghan plays the random town kid that is just involved with everyone. Keoghan is funny, charming and I found myself rooting for him. He is also a nuisance and hard to be around, but he does have heart. And his demise was so upsetting for me to watch. But make no mistake, this is Gleeson, and to an even larger extent, Farrell's movie. Gleeson plays the character he has nailed to this point in his career. He has this quiet confidence and knows exactly what he wants in his life. He nails this and Gleeson is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. And Farrell is dynamite. As I said, his arc is amazing to see and he nails it. I would vacillate between rooting for and against him from scene to scene. There's one particular scene, in the pub, that is so perfect and so heartbreaking. The conversation he has with Gleeson, while drunk, is performed to perfection. There's another scene when he barges into Gleeson's home, trying to be tough, and what ensues afterward sets the whole movie into motion. I also really liked his work with the animals, and I felt so rough for him when his sister left and made it pretty clear she was not coming back.

I'm so glad that I remedied myself and finally watched this movie. I have not stopped thinking about it since I finished it the other day. And seeing this makes me only want to see "Wild Horse Nine" that much more. Martin McDonagh is an amazing director, and "Banshees of Inisherin" is more than deserving of all the credit it has gotten since it came out. This movie rules. Check it out. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Better Late Than Never on "Willy's Wonderland"

On a recent episode of "Scott Hasn't Seen", director Kevin Lewis was on to talk about the movie "Possession". I have not seen that movie as of yet, but it is now on my list. But, during the podcast recording, when Scott Aukerman was interviewing Lewis, they got around to talking about some of his past work and the movie "Willy's Wonderland".

I remember hearing about this movie when it came out, it was released in 2021 during deep COVID, and it starred Nic Cage. That was kind of all I kept in my brain about it, forgot about it and then never really thought about it until "SHS". During the interview, the way Lewis described it, made me want to see it.

First off, I'm a Nic Cage fan. He does so much work, and for me, most of it hits. I do prefer his older work, but some of his new stuff is pretty decent. I loved "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent". I have heard great things about "Pig", and I have a plan to watch that very soon. I heard from my son that he was great in "Spider Noir". Even the crummy stuff is kind of watchable because Cage is always going to do something memorable. So the other day I found "Willy's Wonderland" streaming on Prime, it is on Hulu as well, and pushed play.

For the next 80 minutes I was pretty happy with my decision to watch this movie. Now, before I get too far ahead of myself, this movie is ridiculous and insane. The whole plot is basically tricking Cage's character into going into this Chuck E Cheese like establishment and having him fight these demonic animatronics. My son said it was very reminiscent of "Five Nights at Freddy's", which I have not seen, but from context clues I got what he was saying. But this movie is probably a little bit gorier than "Five Nights at Freddy's". And it stars Nicolas freaking Cage. What enticed me most from the podcast interview was the fact that the director mentioned that Cage's character doesn't speak a single line of dialogue. I guess Cage is a big fan of silent films and has always wanted to make his version of one. And when he was given this script he figured it was his best chance. And Cage is so very enticing in the role. His character is known simply as The Janitor, and as mentioned, he speaks no lines, he does scream a bit, but the majority of his acting is all within his face. And he nails it. I knew what his mission was and I understood why he was doing what he was doing as The Janitor. And the fight scenes in this movie were wonderful. I am all for taking a chance on doing something avant garde or different in movies, and having Cage fight demonic animatronics is very different and unique. I especially loved that when he would rip out the animatronics spines or "brains", in lieu of blood pouring everywhere and being splashed on people, it was oil. And Cage would be doused in the oil whenever he would vanquish another crazy animal. Sure, there's other people in the movie, and there is a whole story about a kid who's mom and dad were tricked into doing the work in this place and died, but she lived, but that is besides the point. Every movie needs a story to go off of, but this was definitely more in the grindhouse genre of movies. The other actors outside of Cage were ancillary and simply there to just move the story. And most of them, like in a typical grindhouse movie, met grisly ends. But make no mistake, this is Cage's movie through and through, and he made it a compelling watch for me. I could not take my eyes off the screen when he was there. He would take breaks after fighting the animatronics and play pinball and drink energy drinks and he would improvise these wild dances that only Cage could pull off.

Again, this movie is completely and utterly absurd, but I absolutely enjoyed my time watching it and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. It is not scary, it is gory, and it is also a totally wild ride. Check out "Willy's Wonderland". You will have a great time with your viewing. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Surfing That Beautiful Blue Wave

Today I am going to talk about the midterm election results from last night. I'm going to keep this short and sweet, RD is the political expert on the site, but I have some feelings I'd like to get off my chest.

As you all know I am a liberal and a democrat. I always have been. Since the day I could vote I registered as a democrat, but I have always felt democratic, even before I could vote. I want everyone to be treated equally, I believe America is a melting pot and I am still hoping for universal healthcare in the future. That may sound unbelievable to some, but that is the way I feel. So, needless to say, the past few elections have not been great. At least in 2020 we got Biden, but even those midterms weren't great. But 2016, and 2024 were pretty awful. And we are now living in the aftermath of all of that awfulness. Yesterday people finally used their voices and brought power back to the people.

The Democrats now have a majority of the house and the senate. I was cautiously optimistic going into the results last night, but what proceeded to happen made me feel hope and joy for the first time in a long time involving politics. The people spoke up, with their votes, and told all the billionaires and fascists currently inside the government that we weren't going to stand for it anymore. Not only did the Democrats win control of the house and senate they won by a landslide. This was what sports fans like myself would consider a blowout. This was a landslide victory for the good guys. All these tech billionaires and racist assholes in the government right now have to be reeling, and that makes me so very happy.

And it happened in so many unexpected areas last night. South Carolina flipped a seat to the democrats. Texas flipped blue, which is so wild to me. Abdul El-Sayed won his much talked about senate seat in Michigan. Speaking of Texas, Talarico made this humongous push and won out, and his acceptance speech ranks right up there with what Sayed said during his acceptance speech. Atlanta elected their first ever black female governor. A gay man, a trans person, a Native American woman and a Latina woman in Texas won for the first time in history. This is such a big deal. Hell, even in Missouri, where I live, we shot down the redistrict map that the GOP tried to pass off, kept abortion legal and Ann Wagner was finally beat by Fred Wellman, a democrat, knocking her out of her long standing seat in government. That made me so happy when I was watching the returns come in and get announced.

Believe me, I know a ton of work is still left to be done. This is far from over. But damn I feel hope for the first time in a long time in this country. The people spoke up and spoke out. Kids, some who were eligible for the first time, used their vote for good. The awful, horrible, miserable, racist president is pretty much a lame duck for the rest of his term. That makes me so joyous. That monster needed to get his ass kicked, and boy oh boy did he get trounced last night. And that feels so good.

I'm going to celebrate this for a few more days, and when all of the new democrats get sworn in, the real work begins, and I cannot wait. Thank you to all of you who made the right choice and voted for the right people last night. The work has just begun, but damn it feels good to be in control once again. Thank you for this blue wave, now let's get to work. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Long Live Peanuts

We found out recently that my daughter is no longer allergic to peanuts. This has been 11 years in the making for her, and to be honest, for us as well. We have been hoping this was going to happen. Let’s discuss.

When my daughter was a baby she was pretty much allergic to all tree nuts. She couldn't have any of it. We got used to making Wow butter and sunflower butter sandwiches. My folks would go out and find almond butter cups. We found a way to give her a simulacrum of the things we liked made from peanut butter.

Then a few years back I took her in for a test and we found out at that time that she was only allergic to peanuts. All of the sudden pistachios, cashews, all the good nuts, save for peanuts, were on the table. This was great. She loved pistachios the most. She enjoyed cashews as well, especially cashew butter for her sandwiches, but pistachios were her jam. First it was just straight up pistachios too. Then we expanded that to pistachio ice cream and other sweets with pistachio as the only nut in them. This ruled. I fell in love with pistachios again. I would go buy nut mixes with just pistachio, cashews and almonds. Those were great as well. But the big test was peanuts. Her allergist told us to get bloodwork done, and when she got the results she figured it was time to give peanut butter a try.

The test went great. My daughter had zero reaction to the rather large amount of peanut butter she had during the two hour visit. She was stoked, the doctor was happy and my wife and I were ecstatic. We love peanut based sweets and we both enjoy a pb and j during the summer. These were all on the table now for our daughter.

After her visit we asked what she thought of just the plain peanut butter. She was not too impressed, telling me that I overhyped it. But then she had some peanut butter M and M's. She was over the moon. She told me how much better peanut butter tasted when it was wrapped in chocolate. Of course I agreed. She has now gone through a bunch of other peanut butter sweets. She has had Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which she enjoys. She had a Butterfinger during Halloween, which was also a hit. She had some honey roasted peanuts which she said she enjoyed. Pretty much any sweet treat with peanut butter she is now a big fan of. And since I do the grocery shopping for my family it has now come to my attention all the things I can now buy for her since she is no longer allergic. I shared a Baby Ruth with her recently, which is wildly underrated to me, and my daughter was in heaven. We got Drumsticks, the ice cream cones that are chocolate covered and dipped in peanuts. She had one last night for dessert, and while her reaction wasn't what I expected, she seemed to still enjoy herself. I bought Moose Tracks Ice Cream. For those that don't know, Moose Tracks is vanilla ice cream with fudge and peanut butter cups in it. She can now have a Payday bar, which may be one of the best fueling foods for us distance runners. She can try Abba Zabba if she wants, which is basically peanut butter taffy. My dad and brother were telling her about peanut brittle today, and it dawned on me that she has never had that, and I haven't had any since she was born. She has never had a straight up peanut butter cookie, which we will certainly remedy in the near future. My mother in law makes the best peanut butter chocolate cake that I have ever eaten. That is back on the table. She has never had a Nutter Butter cookie or Nutty Buddy Little Debby. She has got to try those for sure.

It has just recently dawned on me how much stuff that is out there that she has never had, and we have not had to not entice her when she was allergic. It is not just sweets either. My brother mentioned pad thai this morning. She now wants to try that. There's peanut butter chicken we get at Chinese restaurants that she can now share with us. In fact there are a ton of Asian dishes she is free to try now that her allergy is gone. She can try my wife's wonderful peanut pasta. The possibilities are endless.

This was some great news the day we got it, and now going to the store is so much more fun for me because I don't really have to read labels or worry about what kind of factory the food is processed in. i'm stoked that my daughter and son have had their food allergies go to the wayside. Shopping and cooking is much more fun with zero limitations. And I cannot wait to make peanut butter cookies with my daughter as soon as possible. Food is fun again in our home. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "The Invite"

Last week I was looking for a movie to watch while I had some free time at home and I happened to come across "The Invite" streaming on HBO Max. I remembered I had wanted to see it when it was in the theaters, but couldn't find the time. Then when it popped up on HBO Max, and I had a few hours to kill, it seemed like a no brainer. I am also a big Seth Rogen fan, and the chance to watch him do something a little different, a little out of his comfort zone. I'm there. I had read some good reviews of the movies prior to watching, so that was another feather in the cap for me to watch this movie.

I have been hit and miss on Olivia Wilde's projects prior to this. I love "Booksmart". That movie is funny and charming and it moves along at a wonderful pace. On the other hand, I despised "Don't Worry Darling". That movie was bad from the start. I usually enjoy watching Florence Pugh act, but even her performance felt stilted and uneven throughout. I also don't think Harry Styles is the best actor in the world. That's fine because the dude can sing his ass off. But "The Invite" might be my new favorite Olivia Wilde directed movie. I really enjoyed my viewing. This movie is minimal, on purpose, and Wilde directs and acts the hell out of it.

For people who have not seen it, "The Invite" is a movie about a dinner party gone awry. But there is so much more to it than just that. The movie stars Wilde and Rogen who are a married couple in a rut. Rogen seems very unhappy and, to be frank, miserable at his lot in life. He is a former musician who now teaches music to kids that don't seem to like playing music much at all. Wilde appears to be a bored-ish housewife that wants to spice things up a bit. She shops to stave off boredom. She plans things without telling anyone. She throws blame on others. She won't let people speak their minds. She and Rogen's characters just feel like they're going through the motions, but they also verbally argue, and they do it a ton. Wilde invites their neighbors over, played by Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, to said dinner party. While they are a little older than Rogen and Wilde, Cruz and Norton appear to be younger, happier and more in touch with one another. Their relationship is newer, so the love is a bit fresher and they are more open to pretty much anything. From the start of the dinner party you could tell things were going to be wild. Rogen and Wilde are fighting so much that when Cruz and Norton arrive they make mention of how long it took them to answer the door, and that they could hear them arguing outside the apartment. Rogen seems to have an issue he wants to talk about with Cruz and Norton, but Wilde keeps cutting him off because she doesn't want to be embarrassed by him. They have an issue with wine and champagne. Things seem a little weird when Rogen goes to his office to get high and Cruz joins him. Norton and Wilde stay back and talk about rugs, and then Wilde gives him a grand tour. This is where some things start to come out about the unhappiness and unfulfilling nature of Wilde and Rogen's relationship.

When the couples finally meet back up after hanging out separately, this is when it goes off the rails. Cruz and Norton have a relationship in which they engage in group sex and they decide to see if Wilde and Rogen want to get involved. From here on out I was cackling at times and started to feel for all four people in this movie for separate reasons. I felt bad for Wilde because she wanted the happiness back that her and Rogen had when they were first together. She wants them to be more explorative and more willing to try new things. Rogen is clearly in over his head and I feel like he is kind of content to be miserable and live the rest of his days grumpy. I was so impressed with Rogen and Wilde's performances. They played this new age, unhappy couple to a T. It was almost too perfect. We all know couples like this, and these two nailed it. Cruz and Norton were fantastic as well. Norton played your typical new age, older guy who is trying so hard to stay young. He gave himself a nickname, and the scene where we learned how he got to that point is hilarious, and then heartbreaking. Cruz was dynamic in this movie. She was aggressive, in a good way, but also was a willing listener and gave the best advice of anyone in the movie. She was the most sure one of the bunch and made no qualms about who she was. She was the voice of reason in this movie, and we needed that as a viewer. I was kind of blown away by her work here. I also thought that Wilde directed the hell out of this movie. It is based on a Spanish movie that came out in 2020, but it felt like a play, and I mean that as a compliment.

I really liked this movie. I kind of wish more people had seen it when it was in the theaters, myself included, but now that it is streaming maybe more and more people will check it out. I liked it a lot and I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't yet and you want to watch it. "The Invite" is very much worth your time. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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R.I.P. Sir Patrick Stewart

Yesterday while doing housework I got a notification on my phone that yet another beloved actor had passed away, Sir Patrick Stewart. Anytime this happens lately I get scared that someone else who I adore is gone. That always seems to be the case. I wish that someone who is in their 80's, who is a terrible person, who is ruining our country would be who the news was reporting on. But nope. It feels like it is one icon after another. It was Dolly Parton and Tim Curry. The actor who voiced Optimus Prime has passed. And now Sir Patrick Stewart.

This stinks. I am a bit of a later fan to Stewart's work. I never watched any version of "Star Trek". I don't know much about his other early work. Much like most of my generation, my first encounter with Stewart is the "X-Men" movies where he plays Charles Xavier. And I didn't even watch those until the late 2000's. His work in those movies is second to none. He is just as much Charles Xavier to me as Hugh Jackman is to Wolverine. Stewart embodied Charles Xavier. We named our dog after his portrayal. He was such a perfect casting for that role. The fact that he was already bald was great. Anytime I hear someone say Charles Xavier, if I'm not talking directly to my dog, I think of Sir Patrick Stewart. And he has done this role in many different "X-Men" movies to great success. The best version of this for me was his performance as Professor X in "Logan". To play this iconic character, this mutant that can read minds, going through dementia was a tour de force. Portraying this incredibly brilliant person suffering a debilitating disease that attacks your brain, Stewart was completely on point. I go back every so often and watch "Logan" simply to find new things I like about Stewart's performance. Putting him and an aging and dying Logan together, so they can both go off this mortal coil, was dynamite, and Stewart did such a fantastic job pulling this all off.

I also remember watching him in David Lynch's "Dune". I watched that movie within the last five years for the first time because I love Villenuve's "Dune" movies. So I figured I better go back and see what Lynch did. I don't care too much for his version of "Dune", but Stewart did some solid work. He was one of the few actors that I trusted in this movie. He wasn't too young like Kyle McLachlan, or a musician like Sting. Stewart was an actor asked to play a pivotal role in a movie based on one of the best science fiction books ever written. Of course he jumped at the opportunity. And in that mess of a movie, Stewart's performance is one of the better ones. RD mentions this on the podcast, but seeing him go to war with the Harkonnens with a pug in his hand is rad. That is one of the few cool scenes in Lynch's "Dune".

I also want to shout out his performance in the highly underrated thriller "Green Room". To this point in his career I had only known Stewart to play heroes, or people who you would walk away from the movie cheering for. He does the total opposite in "Green Room". He plays a Nazi who happens to own a punk rock bar where people steal and try to kill bands that come and play at their venue. Stewart is menacing and mean. He plays a vile human being in this role. There's no redeeming qualities with this person. And when he gets his in this movie it is so satisfying and glorious. I think it felt like such a relief because Stewart was playing this villain so well. You don't actively root for someone in a movie to get theirs unless they are playing someone truly vile and doing a good job at it. That is exactly what Stewart achieved in "Green Room".

I also want to point out a story that my wife told me years ago that she read about Stewart that makes him even more endearing. I guess he was in a hotel a long time ago and was flipping through the channels and came across whatever version of "Star Trek" he was on. When he got on that channel someone knocked on his hotel door and he went to answer. When he answered it is was room service and Stewart invited the person in. I guess he forgot that he had "Star Trek" on the tv and he told the interviewer at the time that this room service person must have thought he was so egotistical because it appeared as if he were watching himself on tv. That is hilarious to me.

In the end I think it is fitting that his last movie with be "Doomsday", where he will be playing Professor X. It only makes sense that he goes out on the role that I first noticed him for, and is probably one of his most career defining roles. I will be waiting for him to show up in that movie now more than before since he just passed away.

This one hurts almost as much as Dolly Parton for me. I like Sir Patrick Stewart. I have enjoyed his acting, and by pretty much all accounts he was a good person while he was here on this planet with all of us. Rest in Peace Sir Patrick Stewart, and just know that I, along with million so others, were big fans and we will sorely miss you. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty's 2026 - 2027 NCAA Men's College Basketball Preview

Wrapping up my preseason basketball previews, today I have my men's NCAA basketball preview and prediction.

I do want to say at the top that college sports have become kind of wild. It is very hard to know who is playing where, there's constant coaching turnover, there is no loyalty anymore and each top team seems to have new players every year. Take Michigan last season, my favorite team. They had four new starters last season, all from the portal. I was stoked to see how well they played and how quickly they meshed, but it still took me a minute to figure out who was who. Even their returning starter, Nimari Burnett, transferred in two years ago. This is modern college sports. I am all for NIL and the like, but there have got to be rules and restrictions in place. Players leave every season. Coaches are becoming more and more frustrated. With all the turnover it is hard to know who to pick before the season starts. Also, with all of the turnover, Michigan, the defending champs, are the preseason. number 16 team. That means the people who vote on the polls have the team that just ran ramshackle through the tournament as the 16th best team in men's college basketball. I am finding it harder and harder each year to find another team to root for when Michigan isn't playing because I have no idea who some of these are on the top teams. So that means my preview is going to be pretty much off the cuff, and short and to the point. I'll do the power 4 conference winners, then a few surprise teams. I'll also pick the Final Four, the title game and the player of the year.

Let's start with the ACC. This is going to be Duke's conference yet again. Sure, Cam Boozer is gone along with some other stud players, but they brought in a top five recruiting class, and they secured one of the best players in the portal, Johnathan Blackwell. The only problem with Duke is they cannot seem to figure it out at the right time. Last year they were probably the best team in the country, but Bradyn Mullins decided to rip out their hearts. Jon Scheyer is a fine enough coach, but he is not Coach K, and that will haunt him until he can win it all. Miami, Louisville and Virginia will challenge, and UNC should be in the mix even though they have a new coaching staff. Louisville also secured a great transfer in Flory Bidunga. Miami put themselves back in the conversation last year and Virginia is always good. But Duke should win the ACC, and it should probably be a pretty easy conference title.

Onto the Big 12. I don't know how I pick anyone but Kansas. They have the projected number one pick coming in in Tyron Stokes. They also got some solid portal players, namely Trey Kaufman-Renn. KU is finally out from Hunter Dickinson and Daryn Peterson's thumb, and I bet they will thrive this season. Texas Tech is still very good and should be a problem. Texas is a very talented team that will be right at the top of the conference all season long. Iowa State needs to replace some dudes, but they have one of the better young coaches in the game and they will produce. BYU will also pose a minor threat, but without Dybansta they will struggle a bit. Also, I cannot forget Houston. They have the best defense in the country, they don't rebuild, they reload and Kelvin Sampson is one of the best to ever coach men's college basketball. Houston will be KU's biggest threat, but I believe that Stokes will put them over the top.

Onto the SEC. The SEC has the preseason number 1 team in Florida. Florida is going to be very, very good this year. I think not lasting as long as they hoped in the tourney last season will have them play with a bit more urgency. They want to get back to the mountaintop like they were two years ago. Kentucky got some really good portal players, but I have to see their coaching staff make it all work. The staff is what is holding that team back, but they have some very talented players this season. Tennessee got Juke Harris, and he will be the scoring machine they need. He will fill up the stat sheet and he will put himself into the lottery conversation this season. LSU and Will Wade will find some way to cheat and win way more games than they should. Vanderbilt may not have Harris anymore, but they still have a solid group of players that will make them competitive. Arkansas has a top recruiting class coming in, as John Calipari always does, and they will be a menace. Missouri has, somehow, a great recruiting class and a wonderful portal haul coming in which will make them very competitive. And Alabama has a very good coach, whom I despise, but his teams are always a threat. I'm going to stick with Florida because they have the championship equity and they have a very good roster with plenty of highend talent.

Now for the Big 10. Michigan is the reigning champs and I believe they will be solid once again. They have one of the best backcourts in the country. They will play suffocating defense and will shoot the three at a high clip. They also have a very good portal class coming in. While they may not win the Big 10 this year, they will still be on the higher end and they will still be very good. Michigan State has probably the best player in the conference on their team and they have the refs on their side. I loathe their coach, but that dude knows how to win college basketball games. They got a bunch of their good players to return this season too. MSU will fight for the Big 10 crown. Illinois may be the best team in all of college basketball. They have an incredibly loaded roster. They will shoot the three better than most. They will play good defense too. Illinois is going to be great this season. UCLA is on the rise and should be better this season. USC is led by Alijah Arenas, who will be a first round pick this season. Purdue is always a contender. The Big 10 is top heavy, but that top part is really exciting and really good at basketball. I'm going to go with Illinois to win the Big 10 this year. They had a nice run to the Final Four last season, and I bet they build on that this year.

As for some other powers not in a power 4 conference, UConn is going to be back with a vengeance. Last season's run to the title game was kind of fluky, and now they're even better. They also have the best coach in all of men's college basketball. St John's is back and powerful. They have a very good portal haul as well. They have to replace some key guys, but they should do that just fine. And Gonzaga will always be in the mix. They are no longer a Cinderella team. They are a power and they will be a threat as usual.

As far as a few surprise teams, I'll go with SLU, Marquette and Nevada. Nevada is the newest version of San Diego State. SLU made a run to round two last season, and they have Robbie Avila back it seems. And Marquette is coached by Shaka Smart, who finds a way to squeeze the best out of his players.

As for the Final Four, I'll go with Duke, Florida, Illinois and UConn. The title game will have Illinois playing Florida and I'm going to go with Illinois to win it all, with Stojakovic's kid winning the MOP. As for player of the year, I'll go with Tyron Stokes. He is going to prove all season long why he is the projected number 1 overall pick in the next NBA draft.

Okay there you have it, all of my preseason basketball previews and predictions. Enjoy the season everyone. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Ty's NBA Preview: Postseason and Awards

Finishing off my NBA preview, today I have some playoff predictions and awards predictions. Tomorrow I will do a men's NCAA basketball preview to wrap up all of my basketball writing for a little bit. For my playoff predictions I will do the four play-in teams from each conference, then finish out the playoffs until I get to each conference winner. Then it will be the awards.

I'll start with the East.

From 7 to 10 in the East I have the Pacers, Hawks, Magic and Wizards. That would mean that the Pacers would face the Wizards in the 7-10 matchup, and the Hawks facing the Magic. The Pacers will make easy work with the Wiz. The Pacers are better, and pretty much whole again. The Hawks and Magic game is a little tougher for me to pick. I'm going to go with the Magic because I believe that they play defense just a bit better, and that will be enough to get them the win here. So that means the Pacers will wrap up the 7 seed, and I'm going to go with the Magic to secure the 8th seed once again.

As for 1-6 in the East, in order I have the Knicks, Celtics, 76ers, Raptors, Cavs and Pistons. That means I don't have the Hornets or the Heat in the playoffs. Those were two tough cuts for me, but here we are. And with the way the Heat have started the season, it looks like it may take a lot longer to work it out with Giannis. As for the 1-8 matchup I have the Knicks playing the Magic. The Magic may take a few games from the Knicks, but in the long run the Knicks have a far superior offense and they will find a way to score, probably at will, when they need to. Knicks win in six. My 2-7 matchup in the East has the Celtics facing the Pacers. I am going to go with the upset here and pick the Pacers to win in seven games. The Pacers have this certain clutch gene, and they seem to activate it when they need to, especially in the playoffs. I also think Tyrese Haliburton will outplay Jayson Tatum, and the unwillingness the Celtics have for attacking the rim will be their undoing. My 3-6 matchup features the 76ers facing the Pistons. The 76ers are more experienced, a better team and have better experience in the playoffs. They also have LeBron James, and he will want to prove that he can win with a new team. It will be close for the first couple of games, but in the long run the 76ers will wear the Pistons down and win the series in six games. Finally, the 4-5 matchup has the Raptors facing the Cavs. This time the Raptors will win. Kawhi will play enough to make a difference, and the leap that Scottie Barnes showed last season will be even bigger this year. He will show himself to be the best player in this series. The Raptors will win in six games.

The second round will see the Knicks facing the Raptors and the Pacers going up against the 76ers. These two series should be pretty exciting and fun to watch. I would love to see the Knicks make another run to the East Finals, but I think they will be too tired and worn out from the season and being the reigning champs will take its toll. We will have another new champ for the ninth straight year. Scottie Barnes will continue his ascent, and the Raptors will beat the Knicks in seven games. As for the Pacers and 76ers, I'm going against my best thoughts and picking the 76ers. I don't know how healthy they may be at this point of the season, but I'm going to imagine most of the important players will be good, probably not Embiid, and they will outlast the Pacers in seven games. LeBron James will remind everyone about his dominance in the Eastern Conference.

That means the East Finals will feature the Raptors and 76ers. I'm going to go with the Raptors. Again, I'm all in on Scottie Barnes, and I think this is the season he announces himself as a top 10 player in the NBA. The Raptors will represent the East in the NBA Finals.

Onto the West.

My 7-10 teams in the West are, in order, Denver, Portland, Phoenix and Dallas. The 7-10 game will be a pretty easy win for the Nuggets. Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving will make it close for a half, but then the Nuggets will take over and not look back. The 8-9 game will be pretty high scoring, but I'm going to go with the Trailblazers because I think Damian Lillard will be so happy to be playing playoff basketball, and he may score at will, especially with the game being played in Portland. The Nuggets will be the 7 seed, and the Trailblazers will eventually secure the 8 seed.

As for the top 6 in the West I have, in order, OKC, San Antonio, Houston, Minnesota, Lakers and the Jazz. The sixth seed was tough for me, but I think the Jazz will surprise some this year. So, the 1-8 matchup will be a walk through for the Thunder. Sure, the Trailblazers may take a game, they took one from the Spurs last season, but the Thunder will have no real trouble with them. SGA will score at will, and the Thunder big men will feast on the Trailblazers smaller guards in pick and roll mismatches. The 2-7 series, between the Spurs and Nuggets, will be yet another coming out party for Wemby. All of the media members who love Nikola Jokic so much will see him get abused on offense by Wemby. And Jokic won't be able to do all the things he used to when the Nuggets have the ball because Wemby will haunt him. Also, the Spurs guards will feast on the horrific defense that the Nuggets backcourt "plays". I'll take the Spurs in five games. The 3-6 series features the Rockets facing the Jazz. The Jazz will have this nice run to the 6 seed, and then the Rockets will dispose of them in an easy four games. This series may be the most lopsided one in all of round one. And in the 4-5 have the Timberwolves playing the Lakers. The Timberwolves backcourt is going to abuse the Lakers backcourt. LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards are going to do whatever they want against Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. And Rudy Gobert will completely neutralize Walker Kessler. I have the T'Wolves winning in five.

So that leaves me with the Thunder playing the Timberwolves and the Spurs facing the Rockets in round 2. I hate to say it, but I do believe we will have another Spurs-Thunder series in the West Finals. The Thunder are going to be able to stop the T'Wolves backcourt, and Gobert is not going to be able to deal with all the bigs the Thunder will throw at them. The Rockets and Spurs should be a pretty good series, but again, Wemby is going to dominate Sengun and the other Rockets big men. VanVleet may be a little too old to keep up with the Spurs backcourt, and while KD can still score at will, he is going to have a tough time matching up with Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell. I think the Rockets will get a few games off the Spurs, but I have the Spurs winning in six.

So we have the aforementioned West Finals rematch. But I think the Thunder will prevail this time. They have a bad taste in their mouth from last season, and in that game seven SGA figured out how to get his points against this defense. I think it will go the full seven again, but this time the Thunder will find a way to win. The Thunder will represent the West in the Finals.

So, that means I have the Raptors facing the Thunder in the 2026-27 NBA Finals. And while this series will be a blast to watch, I think the Thunder will reclaim the throne and win it all in seven games. Scottie Barnes will make this a true series, but I don't think Kawhi will be 100 percent, and while Collin Murray-Boyles is an up and comer, the Thunder big men will be able to neutralize him. And Scottie Barnes can only do so much. SGA will be the Finals MVP again, and the Thunder will be back on top again.

Now onto awards.

I'll start with Rookie of the Year. I'm going to go with Cam Boozer. I have so much faith in him to be awesome right off the bat. I think the Grizzlies will be better than expected, and that will be because of Boozer. Sixth Man of the Year will be Alex Caruso. The Thunder will use him as the first bench guy all season, and Caruso will do all the things he does well enough to get him the award. Defensive Player of the Year will be Wemby. All he has to do is play enough games, and this award is going to go to him. He is a one man wrecking crew on that side of the ball, and he has proven he can guard all five positions. Coach of the Year will be Darko Rajakovic. Toronto is going to be really good this season, Rajakovic proved he could coach last season, and with their big jump incoming, I think the award voters will give him the trophy this season. Finally, MVP is going to be Wemby. This is the season that Wemby continues to prove how dominant he can be on both ends of the floor, and as long as he hits the 65 game threshold, he is going to be taking home a ton of hardware this season.

That's it for my NBA preseason stuff. Come back tomorrow for my men's college basketball preview. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty's NBA Preview: Spurs, Knicks, Thunder

Welcome to the final day of my preseason NBA countdown. This is it, my top three teams going into the season. After some injury news the other night I thought I might make some changes, but after looking into it, this is still the way I see these three teams going into the year. And I know that two of these teams have started slower than most would like, but it is only three games into the year, and I'm almost certain they will figure it all out soon. Let's get to it.

At number 3 I have the San Antonio Spurs. I fully thought they were going to win the Finals last year. After they beat the Thunder it felt like a done deal to me. But my number 2 team proved me wrong. The Spurs have who I believe to be the best current player in the NBA in Victor Webanyama. He can pretty much do it all. I still feel like he drifts out to the three point line a bit too much, but he is still very young and seems to figure out something new to add to his game and become even more dominant. Wemby is a true freak of an athlete, and he is so much fun to watch play basketball. Stephon Castle may be my favorite young player to watch. Sure, he needs to figure the turnover issue out, but he is a beast going to the rim and he plays super hard on both ends of the floor. Devin Vassell got way better last season and has become a very solid offensive player. He also loves to attack the basket, but his jump shot is coming along quite nicely. Dylan Harper is amazing. He seems like a veteran guard, but this is only his second season. There were moments in the Finals that he was the Spurs best and most reliable player. I also love his attitude and his trash talking is up there with some of the best. Keldon Johnson is coming off a sixth man of the year win, and he has become the best bench player in the league. He does it all, and he does it all very well. The guy loves to feast on second units. Luke Kornet is one of the better backup big men in the league. I wish he wouldn't have griped about the Magic City stuff last season, and he was played off the floor during the Finals. But as a regular season backup, he's as solid as they come. Carter Bryant is starting to assert himself more and he is going to have to see the floor more and more. He is becoming too good to keep on the bench. Harrison Barnes is a perfect vet who can still shoot the three ball. Julian Champangie has turned himself into a reliable 3 and d guy. He might have to start as the season continues because they need his shot. De'Aaron Fox may be a trade asset, but while they have him he is a great fast break starter and he can slash and get to the hoop when he isn't running the offense. And the Tarris Reed pick was classic Spurs. They got another big man, who's a bit more old school, who will only get better the longer he is on the team. The Spurs are young and ferocious. They are coming, and if they can keep this core together for the most part, they will be a problem for a long time in the West.

At 2 I have the defending champs, the New York Knicks. I saw that they are doing typical Knicks stuff, what with the rings and starting slow, but this team is way too good to stay down for too long. Jalen Brunson is a top three player in the league. He is a true offensive killer. He runs this offense to perfection. He gets his three off, but can also get into the lane and hit his floater. He is a bit of a ball stopper, but I believe that that is the way this offense wants to run. Brunson rules. Mikail Bridges is one of the better 3 and d guys in the league. He is always on the court too. He is a true ironman. I don't understand the hate he gets either. He is a very, very good NBA player. Karl Anthony-Towns deserves a new contract with this team. He more than proved his worth to them in the playoffs, and the fact that he is a very good defender is icing on the cake. OG Anunoby is probably the second best player on this team. He does it all for the Knicks. He can guard all five positions, he has become a very good and reliable offensive player and he has a motor that never stops. Josh Hart is one of my favorite players. He is the vet that does all the dirty work for this team, and sometimes he goes on these wild heaters where he cannot miss a three pointer. I do think swapping Mitchell Robinson for Andre Drummond is going to be an issue. Drummond used to be a decent big man, but his production has dropped the past few seasons. He isn't the rebounder he used to be either. And having to take a chance on James Wiseman as another backup big is very risky. Jose Alvarado is more than just a viral stealer of the basketball. His shot has come along, he is a key piece to this team and he fits like a glove. Jordan Clarkson's minutes come and go, but when he gets on the floor, he is liable to go off and score tons of points. Mile McBride needs more minutes. He may not be long for this team because he is too good to not play 20 plus minutes a night. The Knicks have a great system, and they are too good to be down for too long. They are also coming off a championship run, so they may be a little tired to start the season, but that won't last too long. The Knicks are the favorites in the East, and they might be the favorites to repeat this year.

Finally, at number 1 I have the Oklahoma City Thunder. I know, Jalen Williams and Cason Walace are out for the year and that stinks. J-Dub is a key cog to this team. They needed him last year and it showed. His injury was horrendous to watch too. Wallace was becoming a great defensive player and he just got paid. His presence off the bench was undeniable. They will miss him. But the Thunder still have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He is a two time MVP and one of the best offensive players in the NBA. He is shifty and crafty. I never bought into the foul baiting stuff. He is a wizard with the ball and may be in line for a third MVP. Chet Holmgren is a solid big man, but he is soft as Charmin and kind of disappears when he has to face Wemby. He can play against everyone else, but Wemby has his number. Alex Caruso is a great defensive player and his three has gotten so much better. Caruso is one of the better bench players in the league. Isaiah Hartenstein has a great floater, he is a nice menacing figure on the team and he plays hard defense when on the floor. The Thunder look like they may have found another gem in the draft in Aday Mara. He has looked very good to start the year and he fits this team to perfection. Jared McCain has found himself with this team. He is such a good bench scorer and he is a great backup to SGA. Jaylin Williams really showed out last season and he seems like a better fit next to Hartenstein for the most part when the Thunder need rebounding and defense. Kenrich Williams can score and he has the look of being the new Lu Dort on this team. Ajay Mitchell is a solid backup guard who will get more and more minutes with the injuries the Thunder are now dealing with for the rest of the year. Not having Wallace or J-Dub will hurt, but the Thunder won without them last year, moreso J-Dub than Wallace, and it happened early enough in the season that they will have time to figure it all out. It is going to be tougher for them to win it all without these guys, but I still think they're the favorites and I may still pick them to win it all this year.

That's it for my countdown. Come back tomorrow for my playoff and awards predictions for the season. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty's NBA Preview: 76ers, Pistons, Celtics

Welcome back to my preseason NBA countdown. We are to my final six. That means today you get three teams, tomorrow the final three and then on Wednesday I will do my predictions. That means Thursday will be my men's NCAA basketball preview and predictions. We are getting to the end of my preseason NBA stuff, and I am stoked that the season has started.

At 6 I have the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers changed their team around quite a bit, but this time I think it is for the better. They added LeBron James. He is one of the best to ever do it. He brings everything to this team that they may need, and maybe even some stuff they don't. Sure, the helicopter and the outside stuff may be annoying for a bit, but what he helps this team with cannot be understated. He is an exceptional passer. He can play multiple positions. He can score if needed. He still has the ability to run and dunk when he needs to. LeBron is awesome, he chose this team and he will only help them be better when he is on the court. They also traded for Jaylen Brown. This is a massive upgrade over Paul George. Brown plays like George, but he is younger and even more violent and plays better defense. Brown is also going to be out to prove how good he is, and that the Celtics were wrong to get rid of him for very little. Joel Embiid is still here. He is far often too hurt nowadays. But when he is on the floor he is a space eater in the best way possible. He also has a great elbow jumper and he has always been a very good defender. He seems to be a little more locked in this season as well. But he has got to stay on the court for this to all work out. Tyrese Maxey is awesome. He is already a top 20 player in the NBA. He can score at will when needed. He is also a capable defender. Maxey should be the focal point of this team, especially on offense. He is the best young guy they have, and this team should go how Maxey goes. VJ Edgecombe is already an awesome slasher and runner. He loves to get up and down the court. He wants to dunk on everyone's head. He is quick and eager and will get the best looks of his life playing for this team. They went out and got Dean Wade to play defense and shoot threes, and they also acquired Anfernee Simons to be the microwave scorer off the bench. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the classic vet that LeBron likes that the team signed to appease him. KCP can also still score a bit. Labaron Philon Jr was a nice draft pick. Adem Bona is going to have to be the backup center now too, with Hukporti getting hurt. The 76ers fully revamped their team. They got LeBron and LeBron is almost always in the playoffs. There's going to be expectations, but if the 76ers can stay healthy-ish, which is a humongous if, this team can make some serious noise in the East this season.

At 5 I have the Detroit Pistons. I don't get the offseason hate with this team. They won 60 games last season, and while they may not win that many games, I fully expect them to be in the mid to low 50's range this season. Cade Cunningham is awesome. He is the new generation's star point guard. He can get to the rim at will, he is an excellent passer, he plays hard on defense and his shot is coming along quite nicely. Cunningham is living up to the hype so far. Jalen Duren finally signed an extension this offseason, and he looked pretty damn good until he got hurt last night. He is already a great rim runner, pick and roll partner and rebounder, and it looks like he has been working on his jump shot this offseason. He needs to perform way better in the playoffs, but he is a regular season stud. Ausar Thompson is a hellacious defender and he is key to this team's success. He is not a very good shooter, but maybe his best asset in the NBA will be his awesome defense. Ron Holland cannot find real minutes. It felt like a reach when they took him fifth overall a few years ago, and maybe they will trade him this year. Daniss Jenkins is a very good backup point guard and he had some really nice moments in the playoffs last year. Kevin Huerter and Duncan Robinson are only here to make threes. Robinson is a slightly better defender, not by much, but their jobs are to hit the three ball. Paul Reed is a decent backup big. I like that they added John Collins and Isaiah Joe this offseason. Collins is a solid rim runner and Joe can shoot and defend. The Pistons are in a good spot, especially since they re upped with Duren. I think they need to be better in the playoffs, but for right now the Pistons are a very good regular season team with a top tier point guard.

The final team for the day, at number 4 I have the Boston Celtics. The Celtics traded away a core piece to their team this offseason in Jaylen Brown, but they have added key players and they get Jayson Tatum back fully healthy this season. I know he had a less than stellar opening night, but he has found his scoring niche the past two games and he looks to be almost all the way back. I want to see him succeed because he is from Saint Louis. He has always been a great shot creator and shooter, and with his knee seemingly one hundred percent, I think he will get back to himself sooner rather than later this season. Paul George is here in place of Jaylen Brown, and that does not excite me much at all. But George has looked decent in the first 3 games, his shot looks okay and he is trying hard on defense. While I think they will sorely miss Brown, George will be fine for a bit in his place. Payton Pritchard is a three point shooting machine. He doesn't do much else, but he is key to how they play and run their offense. Derrick White is still a solid playing, but his shot really fell off last season. He needs that back to be the true three and d guy they traded for a few seasons back. Luka Garza and Neemias Queta form an okay 1-2 punch in the front court, but they both kind of got played off the court in the playoffs last season. So, to cover up this issue, the Celtics went out and signed Mitchell Robinson. Robinson is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, he is a great pick and roll player that can rim run and he plays his butt off when he is on the floor. Mike Conley is a nice vet to have. They wouldn't trade Hugo Gonzalez for Giannis, so I guess they think very highly of him in the front office. And I think they will be happy with their draft pick from this season, Chris Cenac Jr. The Celtics are a very good team that is getting their best overall player back fully healthy this season. They will win a ton of games and be a pain in the playoffs, as per usual.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the top three teams in my opinion in the NBA. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Tys 2026 - 2027 NBA Preview: Timberwolves, Cavaliers, Rockets

Welcome back to my preseason NBA countdown. So far the Thunder look very, very good. The 76ers are finding ways to win games early on this season, I don't know how long that will last. And will the Cavs ever figure it out? Time will tell.

Coming in at 9 I have the Minnesota Timberwolves. Man did Anthony Edwards look very, very good the other night. When he brings that type of energy and killer mentality, he could easily force his way into the MVP conversation this season. He looked every bit the star he can easily become. He was ferocious attacking the rim. He was hitting his jump shots. He was smack talking his opponents. Anthony Edwards is probably my favorite young player in the NBA, and I love it when he plays like he did the other night. Sure, LaMelo Ball traveled on that one shot, but he and Edwards looked really good together. I know it is just one game, but they have a nice camaraderie and if they can do that most nights, this backcourt is going to be tough to defend. The real test for Ball will be when the T'Wolves have to play important games later in the season. Ball has never really played on a team with expectations late in the year. That will change this season. Rudy Gobert still seems to have most of the defense that made him a good NBA player. He has never been a true offensive threat, but he can protect the rim and grab rebounds all day. He has also gotten better at covering switches and staying with some guards on the perimeter. Jaden McDaniels got a one year deal. It feels like a prove it deal. But he proved it last season in the playoffs and he came out of the gates firing this season. He has gotten better each season, he backs up his talk and his offensive game is coming along very nicely. Ayo Dosunmu was a great addition last season, and he got paid this offseason. He brings a great spark off the bench. He loves to get up and down the floor. He wants to run and run and run. He is such a nice, important bench player for this team to have, and he can start on very short notice. Joan Beringer is going to get way more minutes and way more playing time. He needs to prove that he has earned that time. There will be moments of frustration, but if he can show a little something, he will have a definite future with this team. Terrance Shannon Jr is due for a bigger role, and he looked okay at times last season. He struggles defensively, but if he can provide an offensive spark off the bench that would be nice for the Timberwolves. Donte DiVencenzio will most likely not be back this year, and they will miss him. And I wonder if Bones Hyland is simply out of the rotation at this point. The Timberwolves are experimenting with an interesting backcourt this year. I hope it works out for them because I am a big time Anthony Edwards fan. They're also clearly going for it all with the moves they made this offseason. But if they can replicate what happened the other night with some regularity, this team is going to be very, very good this year.

At number 8 I have the Cleveland Cavaliers. I already mentioned them at the top, and the lead they blew, but that is just one game. The Cavs are a proven regular season wins machine. Donovan Mitchell got a big time raise this offseason and the Cavs made it pretty clear that he is their guy. Mitchell is a great offensive player and he is one of the better shot creators in the NBA. He has never been much of a defender, but I think that is because he is this team's offense. Evan Mobley is good, but he is not yet great. He hasn't really gotten much of a jump shot, the playoff lights may be a little too bright for him and he isn't as tough around the rim as one would hope. But he is a highly skilled big man and he, while being a little soft, is still a very good rim protector. James Harden is still very productive. He is like an older version of Luka Doncic. He only cares about one end of the floor and plays a boring brand, for me, of basketball. But he is still productive and still one of the better passers, especially lob passes, in basketball. Jarrett Allen is solid, but the lights are even brighter for him than Mobley in the playoffs. He kind of shrivels when the games start to matter most. That being said, Allen is still a decent enough big man that can still rebound at a high rate. Jaylon Tyson is going to have a much bigger role this season, and he came on strong last year. He proved himself worthy of more playing time. I love that they went out and got Payton Watson. He brings perimeter defense, his shot is better, he is kind of a great fit for this team. He is going to get many more opportunities here than in Denver as well. Same Merrill doesn't move me much. Thomas Bryant is old. Mario Hezjona is a bust. The bench is what scares me most with this team. They have a great starting 5, but that bench is very worrisome. They made it to the East Finals last year, but it was a struggle to get there. That may be the ceiling for this team, but maybe they can make a breakthrough this year.

The final team for the week, at number 7 I have the Houston Rockets. The Rockets got ousted from the playoffs with little fanfare last year, but this team is now whole. I bet that will change their offense too. Fred VanVleet is a very good point guard, and the Rockets missed him very much last year. He facilitates this offense and he is the steady hand this team needs. Kevin Durant is still here, for now, and he is as productive as ever. He can still score at will, create his own shot and find time to fight trolls online. KD is an all time great, but I worry about him possibly wanting to change teams mid season. Tari Eason got himself kicked out of the first game the other night because he shoved a dude to the ground. He is the enforcer that this team needs. He is their James Johnson. Jabari Smith looked very, very good the other night. He was scoring and moving like I have not seen him move before. This may be him entering his prime, and if that is true, this team now has two excellent scoring creators. Amen Thompson got paid, and is one of the best defensive players in all of basketball. He can also handle and distribute pretty well at his size. He cannot shoot a jumper all that well, but he more than makes up for it defensively. Steven Adams is very important to this team's rebounding. When he is on the floor he is an offensive rebounding machine. He is also super strong. Clint Capela still has moments of his excellent rim running ability. And we will have to see if Reed Sheppard was a bust or not this season. Getting VanVleet back is really going to help this team out way more than any of us may think. And KD is still one of the best offensive players ever, who fits in with every team he has played on to this point. The Rockets may be being slept on a bit too much coming into this season. If they can figure out a more coherent offense, which I think they will with VanVleet, the Rockets could push for a top three seed in the West.

That's it for this week. Come back next week for the top six teams and some predictions. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty's 2026 - 2027 NBA Preview: Raptors, Lakers, Nuggets

Welcome back to my preseason NBA countdown. Again, I fully understand the NBA has already started. Almost every team has played one game already, and that is only going to ramp up more and more as October comes and goes. But I still have twelve teams to countdown, and I plan on finishing that. Let's get back to it.

At number 12 I have the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors made a nice push last season, played Cleveland hard in round one and they traded for Kawhi Leonard this offseason. Sure, Leonard comes with baggage, but that is off the court, and to be honest, the whole Aspiration thing means nothing to me. He got some extra money and he paid his fine. In my opinion, Aspiration news is old news to me at this point. Leonard, when he plays, is still one of the better players in the NBA. He is still a top notch defender, he can still create his own shot and he is still as lethal as ever. He fits this team perfectly and is purely additive. I love his fit with the Raptors. Scottie Barnes is emerging as a superstar in the NBA. He took his game to a whole new level in the playoffs last season, and he has only gotten better each year in the league. He is a tenacious defender, can guard multiple positions and is becoming a two level scorer. RJ Barrett may get traded at some point, but while he is still on this roster he has found a nice role. He is a solid outside shooter, he can play a little defense and he is playing in his home country. Collin Murray-Boyles is starting to show the team why he should be a starter. He is a good rim runner, can play defense and he will beat the hell out of you on the glass. Immanuel Quickley has always been able to shoot the ball, but he cannot stay healthy all that long, and if he wants real playing with this team he will have to buy in defensively. Jakob Poeltl is still the starting center, but CMB is coming for that job, and Poeltl feels more like a placeholder until CMB is fully ready to take over. And every team that has Kyle Anderson on their roster finds ways to win multiple games and make deep-ish playoff runs. The Raptors are a good basketball team that was made infinitely better when the Kawhi Leonard trade fully went through. They will be a problem in the East, and it wouldn't shock me if they made a push to the East Finals, and maybe even the NBA Finals.

At 11 I have the Los Angeles Lakers. Look, I despise this team. I always have and I always will. They are the evil empire in the NBA. And I hate that they seemingly pushed LeBron James out the door. He brought this team a title. He is the second best player ever. And the Lakers pushed him away for Luka Doncic. Doncic is a great offensive basketball player. I may hate the way he plays basketball, but he can score and find the open player for easy shots. He also thrives off of people doubting him or talking trash to him. But he is an absolute zero on defense. He doesn't try, he hurts his team's defense and he has zero interest in even learning how to play on that end of the floor. He also whines and moans at the refs so much that it completely takes me out of the game I'm watching. He is a narcissist and plays a dull style of basketball for me. Austin Reaves would be Gordon Hayward if he were on any other team. He wouldn't get the looks he gets now and the media would only talk of him in passing. But since he is on the Lakers people seem to think he is a fringe all star. Again, he is a very good offensive basketball player, but he has no interest or clue on how to buy in defensively. Walker Kessler was their big offseason acquisition, but he has not played one meaningful minute of NBA basketball, and he is coming off of injury. He may be the Lakers best defensive player, but until he does it with some consistency, I don't buy him as some humongous addition to this team. The other additions are interesting to me. Collin Sexton is a microwave off the bench, but he doesn't play defense. Jake LaRavia is a non factor on either end to me. Matisse Thybulle is an interesting pick, who does play defense, but he needs to hit open shots more often. Mamu is going to be taking on too big of a role in my opinion. And Kevon Looney's best days are way, way behind him. But the Lakers have the refs and ESPN in their corner. They also have media members on their side, so they will win enough games to be in the top 6 of the West. As much as I loathe this team, they will win regular season games at a nice rate.

The final team for the day, another team I don't really care for, at 10 I have the Denver Nuggets. Nikola Jokic is another offensive wonder that the media loves, whom I don't care for. Again, much like Doncic, Jokic has zero interest in playing defense. A basketball court has two ends, and Jokic doesn't even care about one end of the floor, which is a shame because his size alone could deter people. But he will make a few fancy passes here and there, and make a few buzzer beater threes, and the media will go nuts over it and call him the best to ever play the game. Jamal Murray is fine, but he has never put together a season like he had when the Nuggets won the title. He is a great pick and roll guy with Jokic, but much like his counterpart, he doesn't care about defense either, and he gets abused on that end of the floor. I think Aaron Gordon is a very good player, and fits very well with this team, but he is almost always hurt, and when he tries to play now, you can tell he is in a good deal of pain. Christian Braun has not lived up to the contract he signed a few years back. His defense has regressed and he is not the shooter he hoped to become. Cam Johnson is a good three point shooter, and he came on strong at the end of last season, but like a lot of the guys on this roster, defense is a nonstarter for him. They signed DeMar DeRpzan this offseason, who i've always been a fan of, and while he will feast on second units, he has never, ever been a defensive minded player. DaRon Holmes III got injured during his rookie year, and never really found much of a place with this team last season. Tyus Jones is an okay backup point guard. And Julian Strawther is going to have to take on a much bigger role now that some of their other key bench guys are gone. The Nuggets will have an explosive and high scoring offense, which will work great against the lower tier NBA teams. But when they have to play real teams, teams that can take advantage of their lack of defense, they will struggle. They will still win enough in the regular season to be a playoff team, but the playoffs will more than likely explore their horrendous defense yet again.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for my next three teams. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty's 2026 - 2027 NBA Preview: Pacers, Heat, Hawks

Welcome back to my preseason NBA countdown. I know the season started last night, and some of the games were fun to watch. The 76ers looked good, the Celtics blew a humongous lead, the Pistons made a nice push to win and the Spurs and Thunder are going to be at each other's throats for a long while now, which makes the NBA even more fun. Anyway, let's get back to the countdown.

At 15 I have the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers are not higher because so much is unknown with this roster. Tyrese Haliburton looked really good in preseason, I just want to see it in the regular season. Haliburton is the straw that stirs this team's offense. He is so good at pushing the ball up and down the floor. He can find the open guy anywhere. He is one of the best clutch  shooters in all of basketball. He's coming back off a really bad injury, and that leaves me with a bit of worry in his case. Ivica Zubac is a very good center. He is big and strong and a solid rim protector. He is good at finishing around the rim and is capable of being a solid rim runner. But he doesn't bring any three point shooting, and that was the best thing Myles Turner gave this offense. Turner could spread the floor. Zubac doesn't, but he does add toughness, which could be nice for this team. I have loved seeing Aaron Nesmith find himself with the Pacers. He is a shooter capable of going off for 30 on any given night. He is also a very good perimeter defender and he plays his tail off. He is wildly inconsistent as a shooter, and that's the problem. He had more responsibility last season, and it did not go great. TJ McConnell has taken a big step back as well. Pascal Siakim may be the second best player on this team. He is very, very good at basketball. He almost made the all star team last season. He showed what he could do with a bigger workload, and he has turned himself into a reliable and productive player. He is great. Obi Toppin is a nice backup big, and he plays so much better when Haliburton is on the floor with him. He struggled last season, but with Haliburton back, I expect Toppin to find his game once again. Jarace Walker hasn't panned out great yet, but he is due for a much bigger role this season, and maybe he finally shows something that gives him more playing time. Jay Huff will provide a decent spark off the bench. Andrew Nembhard gets to return to being a backup, which he is best suited for, and he should be much better than he was last season. And I will never count out a team coached by Rick Carlisle. He is one of the best coaches to ever step foot on a basketball court. The Pacers have the key guys back to make a run, I just want to see them to sustain it for a few months before I fully buy in on this team once again.

At number 14 I have the Miami Heat. I don't get all the clutching of pearls that this team has gotten from other media members. The Heat are coached by the best coach in the game right now, Erik Spoelstra, and he has found multiple ways to win with multiple different players. Also, they have Giannis Antentekoumpo, who is healthy. A healthy Giannis will make all the difference in the world. He is a one man wrecking crew, and he looks energized now that he is playing for a team that has some playoff hopes and expectations. People claiming he may be done are off base in my opinion. Giannis may have a revenge/redemption type season in year one with the Heat. Bam Adebayo is still one of the best defensive players in the league, and he has found a bit of a scoring touch. Adebayo scored 81 in a game last year. He has added a jump shot. He gets to the free throw line. Adebayo may be underrated amongst bigs in the NBA at this point. Davion Mitchell has always been a great perimeter defender, and now he has the semblance of a jump shot. It seems like he just had to get out of Sacramento to find himself in the NBA. They went out and signed Tim Hardaway Jr and Klay Thompson to get some outside shooting on this team. Tim Hardaway Jr was a steal in my opinion, and while Thompson is older, he can still shoot the rock. Simone Fontecchio is a decent backup point guard. Andrew Wiggins has become a totally solid role player and knows what he can and cannot do on the floor. I like that they got Bobby Portis to come along with Giannis. Portis is going to add toughness, and he feels like a prototypical late in career Heat player. I think the Heat are going to be a pretty solid team this season. I think Giannis is feeling better than he has in some time now, and I think he will play a lot this year. If that happens, the Heat will win 50 games and could be a top 6 team in the East.

The final team for the day, at 13 I have the Atlanta Hawks. I think what the Hawks did late last season was no fluke. They kind of found themselves, and I think they will take that into this season and be ready to rock. Jalen Johnson is a star. He has all the tools to be very successful in the NBA. He has all star capabilities, he is a great defender, he just needs to work on his jumper to take the full leap. Dyson Daniels is a great defender and can get to the rim. He has been a revelation since coming over to this team. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a great playoffs, and I think he will only build on that success more this season. It took him a little bit longer than some wanted, but when he figured out how this team played, he started to excel on the court. CJ McCollum is the best veteran guard in the league possibly. He can go on a heater at any moment, he has become a decent passer and even his defense has gotten a tiny bit better. He is so good at keeping this team in games. They brought over Lu Dort, and he will only make this defense that much better. Dort may not be much of a scorer anymore, but the dude can still play high level defense. Dorian Finney-Smith may never be the guy he was with the Mavs, but if he can find a bit of that player from Dallas, he may be a nice bench addition for this team. Onyeka Okongwu has become a decent modern big and he can even stretch the defense a bit. His jumper has gotten better each season. I also really like what they did in the draft with Kingston Flemings and Zuby Ejiofor. Flemings is a bulldog on defense and he showed some nice scoring at Houston last season. Adn Ejiofor has a body built for the NBA and he is older, which means he may be able to step into a bigger role than most other rookies can in their first season. The Hawks found something last season, and stuff like that doesn't just go away. I think they build on that and become a viable threat in the East this season.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next three teams. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty's 2026 -2027 NBA Preview: Suns, Magic, Trailblazers

Welcome back to my NBA preseason countdown. I took a day off to write about one of the better movies I have seen in quite some time yesterday, but with the season officially tipping off in about an hour, let's get back to the countdown. We are at the point in my countdown where the teams from here on out are who I think will be, at the very least, in the play-in tournament. Let's get it started.

At number 18 I have the Phoenix Suns. This team surprised a bunch of people last year, myself included, and I think they may be one of the harder playing teams in the league. They come at you hard and will not stop. They're a pain to play against. Devin Booker is a superstar. He is a legit scoring threat from every level. He has even gotten better defensively. He may be a little upset that the Suns may have made it as far as they can with him as one of the star players, but he did sign a humongous extension last year, so he is with the Suns for the long haul. Like him or hate him, I personally despise him and was stoked when the Grizzlies finally traded him, Dillon Brooks is an important player on this team. He is their best defender, he found some more offensive last season and he continues to talk trash, regardless if anyone is even listening to him anymore. Jalen Green is still explosive, but he may only be that for the rest of his career. He just hasn't seemed to fully figure the NBA out just yet. Sure, he can pop off for 30 on any given night, but he is more apt to struggle shooting the ball and get benched in the playoffs. Collin Gillespie is a fine backup point guard, but some media members seem to think he should start for this team. I don't buy that for one second. He is so much better coming off the bench. They traded for Miles Bridges, which confused me a bit. Sure, he is a solid rim runner, and can still jump out of the gym, but he has off-court stuff to deal with, and his game has regressed a bit the past few years. They just gave Oso Ighodaro a nice extension, but he has to be better on offense. His shot is still a little funky, but I did read that he is working with a shooting coach. They signed Luke Kennard this offseason, and he will bring some added scoring from the outside to a team that needs more of that. I'm excited to see Khaman Malauch in year two. He looks to be a solid modern big man, and I want to see how much he has improved. The Suns are a solid team. Like I said, they play hard every night and they win with their defense. I also truly enjoy watching Devin Booker play basketball as well.

At number 17 I have the Orlando Magic. The Magic are in a kind of limbo right now. They have a very good roster on paper, but they can never stay healthy enough to make any real noise. Defense also used to be their calling card, but they regressed a bit in that area last season. And their offense has never been very good. Paolo Banchero is a good basketball player. He has gotten a little better in every aspect of the game each season, and he has proven his worth in the playoffs. He needs to stay healthy. Franz Wagner can never stay healthy. But when he is on the floor he may be the Magic's best overall player. He is their true jack of all trades. He just cannot ever play more than 50 games a year it seems. Jalen Suggs is one of the best perimeter defensive players in the whole league, but that is all he does. And, like almost everyone else on this team, he can barely play 30 games a year. Anthony Black has been a revelation, but he didn't get a contract extension, and he may not be long for this team. Desmond Bane is the model of consistency, and he stays on the floor. He is a great shooter, plays super hard defensively and you can count on him to be on that court for pretty much every game. Wendell Carter Jr is a very solid center. He won't wow you all that much, but he will produce and provide. Jevon Carter is a hard playing vet. I don't know what Nikola Vucivic will provide, but maybe he will play better since he is back where it all started for him. The Magic have the makings of a top 6 seed, but injuries constantly derail this team. I would have them much higher if I could count on health.

The final team for the day, at number 16 I have the Portland Trailblazers. This team made some changes, but I don't think the outcome will be totally different. Damian Lillard is back and it is so cool to see him in a Blazers uniform again. And he will bring a nice dose of outside shooting to a team desperately in need of that. Ja Morant is now here. This feels like a low risk, high reward trade for them. Morant was unhappy in Memphis, they traded him and he has a new home now. Maybe this will energize him, but he has kind of fallen off since all the gun stuff popped off. Jrue Holiday is probably their best true point guard. He plays that position so well and he is one of their better defenders. Donovan Clingan is coming into his own in the NBA. He has fully bought in on defense and his offensive game is coming along. Denji Avidija is a great offensive player. He will have the ball in his hands a little less, but that may help his shooting percentage from the three, and he will find some great cutting lanes with Holiday, Morant and Lillard passing him the ball. Toumani Camara is a great all around player. I have become a humongous fan of his the past two years. He is really good. Scoot Henderson has gotten just a little better each season. His three is even coming along just a little bit. He may not be a fan of it, but coming off the bench has been great for his progress in the NBA. Robert Williams III is a good backup big who provides some solid offense and really good defense off the bench. And maybe all the Yang Hansen talk from last offseason will show up this season. Portland has a decent enough team to make a push this season. Hell, they even took a game off the Spurs in round one of the playoffs last year. But this team construction is funky. I want to see them play a few games during the season before I fully buy in to them being a playoff team.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next three teams. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty Watches "You Can See Everything"

I'm going to take another break from my preseason NBA countdown because I was fortunate enough to see "You Can See Everything" yesterday and I have some thoughts.

First off, this may be the best movie of the year, and it may have surpassed "Hoop Dreams" as the greatest documentary that has ever been made. I'm going to remain spoiler free since I believe, much like "Digger", that this movie should be seen in the theaters with a group of people. I was able to do that very thing, in a pretty much full theater yesterday, and it made the experience even better for me. There were moments in this documentary that made me and the crowd laugh and gasp, sometimes at the very same time.

"You Can See Everything" is the new Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim documentary that shows the viewer the last 34 days before Holmes goes to prison for fraud, and then the aftermath of while she is in prison. Holmes and her partner, who is an evil, narcissistic and possibly insane, invited Fielder to film them, and eventually live with them, before she goes to serve her sentence. And it is as insane as people have said it was after seeing it. There are moments in this movie where Fielder will question Holmes and her partner, and the way they answer, or better yet, talk around answering, is so wild to me. There's a scene about an hour or so into the movie where Fielder shows them the famous who's on first bit, and their reaction to this, and Fielder's follow up questions had me throwing my hands in the air. I could not believe what I was watching, but even more, what I was hearing from Holmes and her partner.

As the movie continued to move on it became more and more wild. The way those two interact with people is so odd and off putting. The way Billy, Holmes' partner, treats Holmes' parents is so wrong and so ridiculous. Some of the stuff they say, some of the answers they give, some of the way they try to explain themselves, it's kind of scary to be honest with you. They seem to not understand social cues, and the way they talk around answering any real, any truthful question, is psychotic. Holmes at one point claims that she has never once lied in her life. I mean, what the hell?

And to let Fielder do this, to let him be one of the main people documenting this whole thing was certainly an interesting choice. I'm a massive Fielder fan. I have watched pretty much everything he has done to this point, and I truly love it all. But he is also the type of movie and tv maker that knows how to push buttons, and he has no fear in what he asks. He wants answers. He wants to get to the bottom of everything. He wants the person that he is interviewing to be uncomfortable, but also open and honest. That is not Holmes, nor is it the people that she has taken to and kept on her side.

The movie is just a few minutes under 3 hours, but at the 2 hour mark, when Holmes goes to jail, this movie turns into something I have never seen before, and it becomes more and more of a horror movie when Holmes isn't really the main subject anymore. I love how Oppenheim and Fielder kind of changed the way we see documentaries now. This will truly change the way docs are made. I fully believe that and I am excited for where these types of movies are going.

The hype is real. The critics are right. There's a reason this movie is the highest rated movie in the history of Letterboxd. All of it is real and all of it is correct. Go see this movie, and like I said before, see it in a full theater. This movie will blow your mind and I cannot recommend it enough. 

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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