There is No Upside for Anyone with the Blake Griffin Trade

Blake Griffin is no longer a Clipper. He was traded to the Pistons in what some are calling a "blockbuster" deal. I don't view it that way. As you all know well by now, I think the Clippers and Blake Griffin are extremely overrated. They have never really accomplished anything noteworthy. They never got out of the second round of the playoffs. They never struck fear in any other NBA team. No matter how bad the Lakers were/are, the Clippers were always the second best team in LA. The dunk contest Blake Griffin won was stupid. He punched out employees of the team. He focused more on his "acting" and "stand up comedy" career. He always got hurt. He was one of the main guys to push Chris Paul out of town. He consistently complains to refs. These are all the things that I will remember about Blake Griffin as a Clipper.

In actuality, he had one great season as a Clipper. He was only once a top 5 player in the league. And that year, the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Rockets in the playoffs. Other than that, he would be featured on ESPN due to some highlight dunks or because he got injured again. I don't think he ever truly bought in to being the face of the Clippers franchise. And yesterday, they ended that possibility for good.

Before I fully get into this trade, I don't think either team got better or worse. In fact, I think they will both finish right about where I picked them both in the preseason. The full trade, and I'm sure I'll miss out on some of the involved players, I will just highlight who I consider important, has the Clippers sending Blake Griffin, Brice Johnson and some dude I never heard of to the Pistons for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban and a first and second round pick. At first glance you may see this and think that the Pistons got the better part of the deal. After all, they did get the "superstar". Again, I have never thought he was any kind of star. But, is he really the best player in this trade. Sure, he has had highlight reel dunks, extended his range and is a decent passer, but is he a better defender than Avery Bradley? No way. Is he a better scorer than Tobias Harris? Yes, but he needs the ball in his hands at all times. Harris can spread the floor and find open spots and hit rhythm jumpers. He doesn't need to hold the ball for the entirety of the shot clock before hoisting up a jumper.

The main thing with Griffin though, how long can he stay healthy? I know that Stan Van Gundy is taking a big, big leap, but what does he care? If this trade doesn't work and the Pistons miss the playoffs, he will be fired, but he can go straight to TV and make nearly as much as he does coaching and being the GM. This is a last ditch effort for him to save his job. I loved the combo of big guys in New Orleans(more on Boogie Cousins tomorrow), but this doesn't feel the same. Andre Drummond, while a great rim protector and rebounder, is nowhere near as athletic as Davis or Boogie. Also, Griffin has already played next to almost the exact same guy in LA, DeAndre Jordan, and that was not a success. I also feel like this will stifle Drummond's growth. He has been great this year, but now he will have to be second fiddle to Griffin. That is a bummer.

Also, the rest of the Pistons roster leaves a lot to be desired. Reggie Jackson is average at best, Luke Kennard is an inconsistent rookie, Henry Ellenson stinks, Ish Smith cannot do much anymore and Stanley Johnson hasn't figured it out yet. They just don't have good NBA players.

After reading that, you probably think that I think the Clippers won the trade then, right? Nope. Yes they shed a horrendous contract and opened up cap space, but that is about it. Avery Bradley is not engaged this season. He needs to be on a team with playoff ambitions, and neither the Pistons nor the Clippers will make the playoffs, in my opinion. Tobias Harris is good, and I think he will become a number one or two option on this team, especially if they get rid of Lou Williams and DeAndre Jordan, but would you want Tobias Harris to be your first or second option? Will he lead you to a title? How about the conference finals, or even the playoffs? It didn't happen in Orlando or Detroit, and I don't see that changing now. Boban is more known for his enormous hands than his playing ability. That is all that needs to be said about him. The rest of their roster is just as ho hum as the Pistons, especially if they get rid of Jordan and Williams. That means that guys like Montrez Harrell, Austin Rivers, Juwan Evans and Sam Dekker will be playing crunch time. Ouch. That is brutal. So no, the Clippers didn't win this trade either.

This trade is more substance than circumstance. It looks big on paper, but on the floor, I don't think it matters. I do find it hilarious that the Clippers traded him to Detroit though. That is ruthless, mean, but also hilarious. As I said at the top, he claims to want to be a stand up comedian and an actor. He could do that stuff in LA. Where is he going to do that in Detroit? I heard a story today that said  the people close to him say that he is very sad and frustrated right now. Well, the NBA is a business, so grow the hell up. People said the same thing to Isaish Thomas when the Celtics traded him for Kyrie Irving, and he was way more important to them than Blake Griffin ever was to the Clippers. Stop whining and go play for your new team.

Another thing that has made me laugh about all this is the sudden 180 from guys like Bill Simons and the whole Ringer staff. A year ago they were all saying that Griffin was one of the best young players in the NBA. They said he should be an MVP candidate. They claimed he would thrive without Chris Paul. They said he would win in spite of Doc Rivers. They loved him next to DeAndre Jordan. Today, on all their NBA podcasts, they were all singing a different tune. Now he is too often injured, he doesn't care enough, he needs a change of scenery, he was never going to lead the Clippers to the conference finals, he was too much of a headache to the franchise. They completely flipped on him. The Ringer is becoming a lot like the company they are trying to compete with, ESPN. They are front runners and they will drop you the moment you aren't relevant, or don't live and play in a big market anymore. It is hilarious and stupid all at the same time.

Bottom line, I don't think any team won this trade, I find it hilarious that Griffin is sulking like a baby when he makes millions upon millions of dollars playing a game, I think it is totally contradictory the way Bill Simmons and his yes men and women are treating him now. It is all just ridiculous. I guess my conclusion, or final thought to this trade is, who cares? No one got any better or any worse. Some mediocre guys were traded for other mediocre guys and neither the Pistons nor the Clippers will matter anyway, just like they haven't mattered in over a decade.

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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All the Monsters at Michigan State Need to Go

We have a suggestion of where these monsters should go

A lot of stuff happened late last week and this past weekend in the sports world that I didn't have time to write about last week. This week that all changes. I will be touching on a number of sports related subjects like, the NBA All Star draft, Boogie Cousin's injury, college basketball at the midway point and the dumbass return of the XFL. But, today I have to start with the sports story that was everywhere and was rather damning. Of course I am talking about the Larry Nassar case, and what came out about the Michigan State football and basketball programs in the "Outside the Lines" story.

First off, Larry Nassar is a horrific human being and he deserves all the horrible things that will happen to him in prison. He is a despicable and disgusting human being and what he did is terrifying and awful. I thought it was perfect when the judge told him that she was "signing his death sentence", and then proceeded to drop the pen as if it were a microphone. That was amazing. Also, Aly Raisman is a hero. I try not to use the word hero when talking sports, but what she did in coming forward and being the face of bringing this monster to justice, that makes her a hero. She is so awesome and she is going to do great, great things with the rest of her life. She is someone that I want both my son and daughter to look up to. I want them to know that they can speak up when they feel they are being treated wrong or bad in anyway, just like Raisman did. She is a wonderful person and I wish her nothing but the best.

While doing this Nassar case, and then "OTL" getting involved, more very bad stuff came to light about MSU sports programs and the people involved. First of all, after Nassar was sentenced, the president of the university "retired". I more think she got fired, but they said "retired". Then, only mere days later, the Athletic Director resigned. I was a little stunned by this. I figured something was going to happen with the AD, possibly a suspension or payment being docked, but he resigned. This was a brutal blow to begin with. When an AD resigns it is usually a sign of bad things to come. It usually means that they were involved with some kind of wrong doing. Then, a few hours, I say again, hours, not days or months, hours, a report came out that the AD resigned due to undisclosed and not followed up on sexual assault cases brought to him from the basketball and football programs. Apparently he was having multiple documents redacted to protect players that were essential to the program's success.

Spartans basketball has always been a top 20 team. Ever since Magic was there, and especially when Tom Izzo came aboard. They have been, not only a premiere Big Ten program, but a national program. Under Izzo they have been to 7 Final Fours, and they won the title in 2000. They currently sit at, I believe, number 6 in the country right now. They are one of the many favorites for the title this year. Then the "OTL" report came out. During one of their runs in the early 2000's a female student accused two of their key players, Adrien Payne and Keith Appling, of rape. She went into detail during the "OTL" airing, and it sounded horrifying. And when she went to report them, she was told, in not so many words, that she was going up against a giant, and she would not win. You may ask, what was the punishment for these players? Nothing. They missed 0 games and Payne is currently in the G League. Appling is in jail for a different charge, gun charge I believe, but he denied the report vehemently from his cell. When the female student that accused them was asked how they were disciplined, she said she heard that the program, Izzo included, handled it within. That means these guys probably had to do some running, and maybe got yelled at for a bit. A third player, that we know of, who was a captain on the team in the early 2000's, and then became a coaches assistant after his playing days were over, was accused of gang rape twice. When he was accused, and the police were working the case, was he suspended or fired? Nope. He was allowed to stay on the staff, with no limitations. Again, he has denied all the allegations, but it is beginning to pile up.

When it gets to be 6, 7 and 8 women accusing people of the same thing, that is a pattern. That usually means that what they are being accused of is true. It becomes systemic when more and more women feel like they need to come forward. and everyone who hid this, and didn't make the people accused of these horrific crimes suffer any consequences, that is a problem, and that includes the once Teflon Tom Izzo. He is complicit. He has allowed this to happen under his watch. He did nothing to the accused players because they were too important to his team and to him winning and to him being talked about as one of the great college coaches of all time.

When all this stuff came out and he gave his first press conference, I was disgusted. He tried to seem confused and troubled by the allegations, but he came off as sleazy and almost cocky. He would preface every question about the allegations by saying, "I will not talk about that any further", followed by, "I'm going to get my team ready", then finally, "we will help the survivors". So, he covered his own ass, then talked about his team, then brought up the students that were accusing his former players of rape. My wife watched some of his press conference with me, and all she could say was, "what a creep" over and over again. He said he has no intention of "retiring", but time will tell. We have to wait and see what the Michigan Police Department comes up with, now that they are involved.

"OTL" also brought up the football program during their story. Since their coach, Mark Dantonio, took over in 2007, 16 of his players have been accused of either rape, assault or sexual assault, all against female students. 16 players. In 11 seasons. That is alarming and appalling. Hell, not even Miami in its heyday of the early 90's had 16 players accused of what the MSU football players have been accused of. It was also reported that Dantonio knew of these allegations, and either swept it under the rug, or handled it internally, much like Izzo. He did kick a few players off the team 2 years ago, while MSU was 3-9, but none of those guys were important to the team. MSU football has gotten much, much better since he took over, but to what limits does he value winning over the safety of other students? MSU basketball, according to "OTL", had at least 3 players named. MSU football, 16. That is a big, big time problem. Of course in his press conference after the "OTL:' report, Dantonio called it all "completely false". Again, if it is 1 person, maybe. But 16 that we know of, the accusations are all true. 16 people would not make up a story about being raped or sexually assaulted. That would never, ever happen. Dantonio, much like Izzo, came off as sleazy and cocky and said he would refuse to "retire". Just like with Izzo, he may not have a choice after the MPD does their investigation.

To make matters even worse, Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, knew about all of this stuff as early as 2010 and chose to help the cover up. That is horrendous. He should have already been fired. He is a horrible person and if the NCAA had any kind of backbone, they would have released him of his duties already. This whole story is a very disturbing trend happening in college athletics now. Coaches at major universities, that achieve some form of success, are now going to great lengths to cover up sexual assault allegations to keep important players on the field or court. The fact that this MSU story has led all the way to the president of the NCAA being involved in the cover up is alarming. The NCAA is already corrupt, but now, it is criminal. This is very, very bad.

The only way the NCAA can save face, and right now that may be impossible, is to hammer down MSU, especially their basketball program. They had a chance with the whole Penn State thing a few years back, and what they did to them was akin to a slap on the wrist. They need to come down hard on MSU athletics. I mean, Michigan basketball was crushed for paying players during the Fab Five era, and they have just recently become relevant again. USC was hammered because they gave Reggie Bush's mom a car and a house. SMU football got the death penalty for paying players and they still haven't recovered. The NCAA needs to come down very, very hard on MSU. Izzo has got to go. Same with Dantonio. This is a very disturbing problem, and the men at the top of their 2 best sports programs are involved with all the torrid details.

Don't take this as a lifelong Wolverine fan bashing MSU. That is not the case at all. What has been alleged to have happened at MSU is horrible and tragic and sad and scary. Do the right thing NCAA and fire Mark Emmert, then hammer down MSU athletics. Players and coaches that sexually abuse and assault and cover up the problem do not deserve to be at the university. This is a problem.

Ty

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

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It is Time to Rename Margaret Court Arena

Margaret Smith Court, for those of you who don’t know, is an Australian former tennis player who holds the current record for major singles titles (24, one ahead of Serena Williams).  Although many of these titles occurred prior to the open era, it’s still a very impressive achievement, one that certainly might merit getting a stadium name.  In 2003 the 3rd largest show court at the Australian Open was named for her, after lobbying from, among others, Billie Jean King. That should have been the end of a nice story. 

Unfortunately, Mrs. Court (as I’m sure she’d prefer to be called) is also a hateful, homophobic, trans-basher who is extremely vocal about her views.  Here is a partial list of her idiocies:

Boycotting Qantas for being too gay friendly.

Calling transgender people the work of the devil

Complaining that tennis is full of lesbians, and suggesting that lesbians were trying to convert younger players

Claiming the “gay lobby” is trying to convert children through an Australian anti-bullying program.  Choice quote:  “Everybody knows it’s wrong, but they’re after our young ones.”

Attacking Aussie tennis player Casey Dellacqua after she and her partner welcomed another child.

Advocating conversion therapy through her Pentecostal ministry

No one is denying Court’s right to her opinion and her religious beliefs.  No one is suggesting she should be censored.  But that doesn’t mean we have to celebrate her either.  One of my bucket list items is to attend the Australian Open one day, and I would have a queasy feeling going into Margaret Court Arena.  I can’t imagine being a gay player and having to perform at my peak there.  Sounds pretty unwelcoming.

There are those who say that after 24 majors, one’s legacy should be “safe.”  Should it?  We didn’t consider Joe Paterno’s legacy safe once Jerry Sandusky’s abuse came to light.  Pete Rose’s standing in the public eye has been rightfully tarnished by his behavior, and I say this from my perch in Cincinnati.  What are we going to name after Tiger Woods?  Likewise, many athletes’ legacies reach beyond their results (Roberto Clemente and Muhammad Ali come to mind).

These people are still humans, and when we’re deciding, as a public, which athletes to admire, it has to be about more than stats and championships.  I don’t think that’s a controversial statement.  Even in tennis, the USTA’s National Tennis Center in New York is named for Billie Jean King.  Its premier stadium is named for Arthur Ashe.  If the idea were just to honor the most successful retired American players, they would be named for Chris Evert and Pete Sampras.  But the USTA recognized that King and Ashe have legacies that resonate beyond sports. 

So, here’s a suggestion to Tennis Australia, the Australian Open’s governing body:  rename the arena for Evonne Goolagong.  Goolagong was a major Aussie talent in her own right, with a 7 majors in singles and 7 in doubles.  In addition, Goolagong is from an Aboriginal family and weathered discrimination both in her childhood and her career.  (In a truly vomit-worthy move, in 1972, the South African government named her an “honorary white” so that she could play there.)  After retirement, she continues to work for opportunities for Aboriginal children. 

I can’t imagine anyone feeling uncomfortable or unwelcome at Evonne Goolagong Arena.  Your move, Tennis Australia.

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest on the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

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A Brief Thought On ESPN and Tennys Sandgren

I don’t want to talk about alt-right mediocrity Tennys Sandgren.  I’m hoping his 15 minutes are over and within the year he’ll be back to anonymity on the challenger circuit and I won’t see him again.  Unfortunately, I certainly WILL see Chris Fowler again, and his defense of Sandgren (toward the end of his loss to Chung) was truly revolting.  If Fowler defends Sandgren because ESPN is desperate for another American star, well… I’ll just say if Sandgren is just breaking the top 100 at age TWENTY-SIX, then it’s unlikely he’ll ever set the world on fire.  If Chris Fowler is actually sympathetic to Sandgren’s views, he can get the hell off my TV right now. And for that matter, Patrick McEnroe, your mush mouthed objections are lame.  Do better.  ESPN can bite me.

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest on the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

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Rob Gronkowski is the Most Overrated Player in the NFL

I watched the NFC and AFC championship games yesterday, and they were both pretty dull. I fell asleep during the Patriots-Jags game for one. I know it was a close game, but when the Patriots only get called for one penalty, it is pretty obvious who is going to win. The Eagles-Vikings game, sorry RD (ed note: ARGHHH), was done by the middle of the second quarter. The game was on, but I was not even paying it half attention. We ended up getting both number one seeds, and I think the Super Bowl will be a pretty competitive game.

I'm not going to touch on the game today. I have already picked the Patriots to win multiple times, and nothing I saw yesterday changed my mind. What I want to talk about is a very hot take that I came upon yesterday during the Patriots-Jags game. In the middle of the second quarter Tom Brady threw a pass over the middle to Gronk. Gronk got lit up, maybe it was an illegal hit, I just thought it was a football hit, and he was sent to concussion protocol and didn't return to the game. After the hit, Patriots Twitter was all a flutter. The tweets ranged from "what a cheap shot!" to "we are done without him". The announcers too, the highly overrated Tony Romo and the god awful Jim Nantz said that this could, "doom the Patriots the rest of the game". Everyone was terrified. I'm sure the fact that the score was 14-3 at the time added to the nervousness. And, I'm sure the fact that Brady threw 4 straight passes to him prior to him getting hurt added even more stress. But, after the injury the Patriots went right down the field and scored. The Jags ended up adding a few field goals, but the Patriots did what they do and won the game late in the fourth quarter. They scored all but 3 of their points after the Gronk injury.  

I then started to think about the past Patriots playoff and Super Bowl runs since Gronk has been on the team. Everyone assumes he is the best tight end in the league, and while I think he is a very good tight end, maybe he isn't as crucial to the Patriots offense as some want us to believe. That is my hot take. I think Gronk might be the most overrated player in the NFL. Yes, I just said I think he is good, but I do not think he is the best tight end in the league, and he definitely isn't the best tight end to ever play in the NFL. I'm sure Patriots fans will read this and call me names and tell me how stupid I am. I'm sure football people will read this and think I'm an idiot too. But, if you take away his gaudy regular season numbers and break down his playoff numbers, it is pretty telling that this team thrives not because of him, but maybe despite him. Also, we can even look at the regular season if you want to too because he is constantly injured. So, while I think he is good, I also think he is just another in a long line of Patriots that have benefited due to Tom Brady and the system they run.

Lets look at the regular season stuff real quick first. He does put up very solid numbers. When he is on the filed, he is a great red zone threat. When he is on the field he can rack up 10 catches some games. When he is on the field he commands double teams opening up spots for other Patriot receivers and tight ends. But, he is not always on the field. He is, at least to me, the NFL's version of Joel Embiid. He is a marvel to watch when he plays, but he doesn't play all that much. Yes, he has played more than Embiid, but he is also older than Embiid. And, as far as regular season tight end stats go, Antonio Gates has consistently put up the same numbers as Gronk for a decade plus, and he stays relatively healthy. Travis Kelce has started to become more reliable than him. Vance McDonald emerged big time this year for the Steelers. Kyle Rudolph, Tyler Eifert and Greg Olsen do the same things for their teams that Gronk does for the Patriots. Hell, even his backups, take Martellus Bennett last year, step in, and it feels like Gronk isn't missed at all. So while he puts up gaudy numbers, no, I do not think he is the best tight end in the NFL. I'll take Antonio Gates over him any day or any year. 

Now, for the postseason stuff. First off, again, he is not usually healthy come playoff time. He always has some lingering issue, and everyone freaks out. Well, the Patriots are 5-2 in the Super Bowl's they've played in, with a chance to win a sixth, and Gronk may not play in the game. But lets just look at his career postseason numbers. He has played in 12 total playoff games, tallying 96 total catches and 10 total TD's. Not bad, but, we need to look at the important games. We need to look at conference title games and Super Bowls. He puts up his big numbers in the divisional and wild card games. His best games, save for 2, have all come in the divisional or wild card rounds. While important games, that is not when they need him most. It's great that he had 10 catches for 145 yards and 3 TD's in the divisional game against the Broncos in 2012, but do you know how he performed in the next two games?  Against Baltimore in the AFC championship he had 5 catches for 87 yards and 0 TD's in a win, and against the Giants in the Super Bowl that year, 2 catches for 26 yards and 0 TD's in a loss. That was the year the Patriots finished 18-1. The very next season he only played in one playoff game, against the Texans and he had 0 catches for 0 yards and 0 TD's. In 2015 he had a better postseason, but not best tight end in football type numbers. In the divisional round he put up 7 catches for 108 yards and a TD, good numbers. In the AFC title game he went for 3 catches 28 yards and a TD. And in the Super Bowl, the one the Seahawks blew by not handing the ball off to Marshawn Lynch on the one yard line he had 6 catches for 68 yards and a TD. Those are solid numbers, and he won a ring, but that Super Bowl was more about Malcom Butler's interception and Julian Edelmann catching everything that came his way all the while being concussed. I don't think anyone looks back at that game and says, " thank goodness the Patriots had Gronk". His best game since then came in the 2016 AFC title game against the Broncos. He had 8 catches, 144 yards and a TD. But, the Patriots lost that game, so who cares about his numbers. Last year he didn't play at all, and the Patriots came back from down 25 to beat the Falcons. Martellus Bennett did just fine in his stead, even though whoever covered the Super Bowl last year kept cutting to Gronk in the owners box. This postseason has been very ho hum for Gronk. In the divisional game against the Titans he 6 catches for 81 yards and a garbage TD, and yesterday, before he got leveled, he had 1 catch for 21 yards.

I guess I just do not think he is as important as others want us to believe. I watch a ton of football, both college and pros. The only reason I think people want us to think Gronk is so great is because he is a big lovable doofus. He does stupid shit like throw parties on yachts and chug beers, and everyone is supposed to like him. To me, he is an asshole frat boy, and I could care less about the dumb shit he does off the field. If he played for any other team, with any other QB, no one, and I mean absolutely NO ONE would praise him like they do now. He is part of a system that works and he is reaping the benefits. But, put a guy like Antonio Gates or Travis Kelce on the Patriots, and they are the same as they are with Gronk, if not better. Hell, last year they proved they could win with Martellus Bennett.

I'm over the Patriots hype machine, and I am definitely over everyone in major sports media telling how important Rob Gronkowski is to the Patriots. He is no more important than Wes Welker, Deion Branch, Corey Dillon or Randy Moss was to that team. He is just another cog in their machine. And no, I do not think he will be missed if he doesn't play in Super Bowl 52. I think the Patriots will be just fine with our without him. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was thinking about talking about how overrated Case Keenum is to the Vikings. Thankfully the real Keenum showed up on Sunday to stop any rating going overboard. God damn Vikings.

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Midseason NBA Checkup and Redo

We are at the midway point of the NBA season and it is time for me to checkup on some preseason predictions, and make some corrections and new predictions based on my previous thoughts. Unlike my NBA preseason preview, today I will not break down all 32 teams. Instead, I will talk about the teams I got right, wrong, make new awards predictions and pick the Finals. Spoiler alert, my Finals will be exactly the same as it has been for the past 3 years.

To start, lets look at the Eastern Conference first. I love that the "experts" are saying that the East is just as competitive as the West. That is hilarious to me. The East is very top heavy. The top 4 teams are the only teams that might be able to get a game from the team that will come out of the West. Looking at the standings now, the top 4 teams, in order, are the Celtics, Raptors, Cavs and Heat. The rest of the playoffs, if they started today, would be, going 5-8, Wizards, Pacers, Bucks and Pistons. Teams just on the outside looking in right now include the 76ers, shockingly, the Knicks and maybe the Hornets. The rest of the East is already toast. While the Nets aren't the tire fire they have been, that team plays really hard, they just don't have the horses yet. The Magic, after starting strong, are back to being horrible and shopping their best players. The Bulls are bad, but not as bad as I thought. Who knew that Nikola Mirotic was this good. Also, props to Lauri Markanen. I thought he was going to be an absolute bust, but he has played very well so far. And the Hawks, just yikes. They are so, so bad. I know they are losing on purpose, but man are they bad.

Looking at the bottom half of the playoff teams in the East, there could be some movement at the very bottom. I like the Pistons. I like Stan Van Gundy. Andre Drummond is awesome. But, they don't have much else. Drummond can carry them to the playoffs, but I wouldn't be surprised if the 76ers or even the Knicks claim that 8th spot from them. The Bucks should be better than 7th. I had high hopes for that team this year. Giannis Antentekoumpo has been great, but he isn't really getting much help. Khris Middleton isn't scoring. Jabari Parker cannot stay on the floor. Eric Bledsoe has been a good addition, but he is still learning the playbook. Antentekoumpo needs more help. Also, maybe Jason Kidd isn't that great of a head coach. The Pacers have been much, much better than I expected. I thought they'd be tanking, but they look halfway decent. Victor Oladipo has been great. He better damn well be an All Star this year. They have wildly exceeded my expectations, and I am very curious to see if they can keep it up and stay in the playoff picture. The Wizards are wildly underachieving. John Wall needs help. He cannot do it all himself. Bradley Beal has been better, but they need more from him. They need way more from Otto Porter. Marcin Gortat is a ghost. Kelly Oubre isn't living up to the preseason hype. But, when all is said and done, I think Scotty Brooks is the one who should take most of the blame. Wizards fans should now understand why Thunder fans were fed up with him. He is a mediocre coach. The Wizards should be much, much better. Maybe they will go out and get Boogie Cousins. We will see.

The upper half of the East is the cream of the crop. The Heat are finally figuring it out. Their role players are perfectly playing their roles, and even without Dion Waiters, they are winning games. Erik Spoelstra is the opposite of Scotty Brooks. Spoelstra is proving to be a great NBA coach. The Cavs are third, and I know there are rumblings about "discontent", but they still have LeBron. They will be fine. Their defense is horrid, but I say again, they have LeBron. They will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time. The Raptors are playing awesome right now. They are embracing this new style of run and gun basketball, and shooting more threes. DeMar DeRozan has been fantastic this year. Even without Kyle Lowry for a few games, they were wining games. The only reason I pause with them, I hope they aren't peaking too soon, much like the Indians did in the MLB this past season. But for right now, the Raptors are fun. The Celtics lead the East, and they are a very good team. Kyrie Irving has been great. Jaylen Brown is proving to be a player to watch. Jayson Tatum is having a great rookie year. Al Horford is the glue that keeps that team together. And Brad Stevens is great. I will fully eat crow with him. He is a great NBA coach. He is one of the best. Losing Hayward 5 minutes into the first game could have been a death knell, but he has kept it together, and the Celtics are playing excellent basketball.

With that being said, I still believe that the Cavs will win the East, and win it fairly easily. They don't care about seeding or home court advantage or any of that garbage. LeBron can turn it on anytime he wants, impose his will and lead this team to a fourth straight Finals, and his eighth straight. I'm sticking with the Cavs to win the East.

Now, lets go to the much better conference, the West. As far as the top 4 in the West right now, we have, of course, the Warriors, Rockets, Spurs and Timberwolves. The bottom half of the West includes the Thunder, Pelicans, Trailblazers and Nuggets, all separated by one single game. Teams just on the outside include the Clippers and the Jazz. The rest of the West is tanking or old or just not good. The Suns are incredibly young, sometimes fun to watch, sometimes a pain and Devin Booker is legit. This team could be pretty good in 3 or 4 years. The Lakers are trash, and now they have the Ball family to deal with. They too are young, but they are proving to be very dysfunctional. This team should be building around Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram, but Lonzo Ball is being stuffed down their throats, and that will be a problem if it continues. Also, if I were LeBron I would stay far, far away from this team. He doesn't need this dysfunction this late in his career. The Mavericks are still relying on Dirk, JJ Barea and Devin Harris. They should be focusing all their time on developing and letting Dennis Smith Jr take over this team. But, Rick Carlisle is still giving time to guys that shouldn't see more than 10 minutes a night, and I'm sorry Dirk, I love you, but that includes you. This team needs to embrace the youth movement. They have good, young players and they need to let them play. The Grizzlies are riddled with injuries to star players, namely Mike Conley, and the other guys they have just aren't that good. Conley and Marc Gasol are all they have. Tyreke Evans is fine, but not an All Star. Ben McLemore, who I thought would do good with a change of scenery, has not been good. JayMychal Green is not developing. Dillon Brooks is seeing crucial minutes, and he isn't ready for that yet. As much as they don't want to, the Grizzlies need to tear it down. The Kings are dreadful. They are going nowhere fast. They have too many of the same style player. DeAron Fox deserves better than this. So do Zach Randolph and Vince Carter. The Kings are a mess.

Looking at the playoff teams, I like the Nuggets. They are young, they hustle and they make you work. They are lacking a true point guard, and that could be the difference in them and a team like the Clippers or Jazz grabbing that eighth spot. No real point guard may doom them. The Trailblazers are all about CJ McCollum and Damien Lillard. They are who they have decided to build around. I know that they are trying to push Jusuf Nurkic as their third guy, and while he is good, he often gets hurt or doesn't go hard all the time. When relying on 2 guards to be the guys, you will win enough regular season games to be a bottom playoff teams, but the lack of defense and a real big man, they won't go past the first round. They are fun to watch though. The Pelicans have 2 of the top 10 players in the league, and nothing more. Jrue Holiday is good, but not 5 years 125 million dollars good. That is what they paid him this offseason. The Pelicans will need Boogie and Anthony Davis to continue to each put up 20 points and 10 rebounds every single night. That is doable, but AD has to stay healthy, which he has never done in the NBA, and Boogie needs to stay calm. That is asking a lot of the both if them. The Thunder should be so much better than the 5 seed. Adding Paul George and Carmelo Anthony should have this team as a top 3 seed, not fighting for the 5th seed. They really need to figure it out sooner rather than later. The Thunder are the team that I am most disappointed in. I had so much higher expectations for them coming into this year. They have not lived up to the hype.

The top half of the West is legit. The Timberwolves are playing this year like many thought they would last year. Adding Jimmy Butler was a big time help. So was the additions of Taj Gibson. Jeff Teague and Jamal Crawford. Andrew Wiggins is in his rightful place as the third option on offense, and he is playing better defense. And after a horrid start on the defensive end, Karl Anthony Towns has been better, and he is putting up double double's every night. The only problem with the T'Wolves, Tom Thibeodeau needs to start staggering minutes. He is playing his top guys way too much, and that will kill them come playoff time. The Spurs are still the Spurs, even without Kawhi Leonard. The fact that they are still a top 3 seed in the West proves that Greg Poppovich is the greatest NBA coach ever. He is winning with guys like LaMarcus Aldridge, who wanted out before the year, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli, who are all about a million years old, Patty Mils, Dejonte Murray, just no real big name players,  but players that have bought into the system. I will never bet against the Spurs as long a Poppovich is coaching there. The Rockets have exceeded my preseason expectations. I thought they'd be good, but not this good. They are making a record number of threes, and they are actually playing solid defense. I know James Harden as been out for awhile, but the Rockets are still winning for the most part. It doesn't hurt that Chris Paul is back from injury to help until Harden gets back. Eric Gordon has been great. Clint Capela is developing nicely. Ryan Anderson is still hitting threes. The Rockets are great right now, but the playoffs will be the real barometer of how much better they truly got this offseason. And then we have the Warriors. It is no secret to anyone that watches basketball that the Warriors are, far and away, the best team in the NBA. It's not even close. They can be without KD for a week and still win. Same for Steph. Same for Draymond. This team is amazing and will continue to be for some time. Obviously the Warriors are my pick to come out of the West. They will, and should, skate through the playoffs. I wouldn't be shocked if they go undefeated in the playoffs this year.

That means I have the Warriors sweeping the Cavs in the 2018 Finals. I have very little doubt that this exact thing will happen. As far as awards go, lets start with Rookie of the Year. Ben Simmons will win this by a mile. I picked Dennis Smith Jr in the preseason,  but Ben Simmons has been far and away the best rookie. Don't count out Donovan Mitchell yet, but Ben Simmons is the big time front runner right now. For Sixth Man of the Year I stupidly picked Tristan Thompson. He has been a train wreck. Now, I'm going to go with Eric Gordon to repeat. He is so explosive off the bench for the Rockets. Coach of the Year should be Greg Poppovich, but Brad Stevens is going to win it. The people that vote want him to win, and picking Pop has become boring, even when it is blatantly true. As for the MVP, had I written this a few weeks ago, it would have been Harden with a bullet. Then he got hurt. Now, I'm going to go with LeBron James. I know the Cavs aren't as good as normal, but LeBron has been amazing this year, even more so than he normally is. He is that awesome. 

There you have it, my midseason checkup on the NBA. Lets hope I get some stuff right this time around.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He believes the only way Golden State will lose a playoff game this year is if the team is forced to take a test by student acting as a teacher Kelly Kapowski. How could she do that to poor Slater?

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It Was an Almost Perfect Weekend of NFL Playoff Football

This past weekend of the NFL playoffs was pretty wild. Well, 3 of the 4 games were wild. Lets get the boring one out of the way first.

The Patriots throttled the Titans. I had a slight glimmer of hope that the Titans would make it a game when they went up 7-0 late in the first quarter. But, the Patriots, and almost more importantly, the refs, made that null and void pretty quick. Mariota regressed pretty quick after the first quarter. The Titans defense could not stop the Patriots offense. Making the Titans play from behind is how you beat them handily. And, as I said, the refs were atrocious. It seemed like anytime that the Titans would get a stop, a first down or even grab some momentum, the refs stepped in and gave it all back to the Patriots. When the score was 7-7 and the Titans were driving again, Eric Decker got called for an absolutely terrible offensive interference to kill the drive. Then, after stopping the Patriots deep in their territory, and forcing them to punt, a phantom offside call was made when it was clear that the Patriots jumped first. This resulted in another Patriots TD. Finally, on a fourth and one play, the Patriots tackled Derrick Henry by his facemask, but nothing was called. No flags, nothing. It was horrendous.

The other three games on Saturday and Sunday would not let the horrific mismatch and terrible reffing spoil some great games. Truth be told, I did not watch a second of Eagles-Falcons, I was at the movies watching the new "Star Wars" with my son. But, I caught up on the highlights, and that was some tremendous defense played by the Eagles. With that being said, Steve Sarkisian proved to be a terrible play caller, especially when they had four chances from the 9 yard line to win the game. But, the Eagles suffocated and stifled the Falcons offense all game. They did not give Tevin Coleman or Devonta Freeman any space to run the ball. The Falcons defense played good too, but they let Nick Foles do just enough to get the win. Matt Ryan also reverted to his poor decision making late in crucial moments. I fully thought that the Falcons were going to win, especially after how they manhandled the Rams, but the Eagles would not let it happen. While they didn't do much on offense, they did enough. And their defense was awesome. They deserved to win, and they earned it too.

The most surprising game for me was Pittsburgh-Jacksonville. I did not see any of the first half of this game, I was at a birthday party. But I would periodically check my phone to see the score. Every time I checked it, it seemed that the Jags scored another TD. When I first checked it was 14-0 early in the second quarter. About 15 minutes passed, I checked again, and it was 21-7. Then we left the party and I saw it was 28-14 at the half. I assumed that when we returned home and I turned on the game that the Steelers would have tied it or taken the lead. Well, they cut it to 7 in the third, but they never grabbed the lead. When it was 28-21, I figured this was where the Steelers would wake up and grab a stranglehold on the game. Well, the Jags immediately took the ball all the way down the field and Leonard Fournette ran in his third TD of the game. This was when I started to think that maybe the Jags were going to win this game. But, not to be denied, the Steelers had another miracle TD on a fourth and three play. Roethsliberger heaved the ball in the air and a very injured Antonio Brown made a great, great catch for a TD. They cut it to 7 again. I started to go back around to thinking that the Steelers were going to win. But again, the Jags got the ball, god help me, Blake Bortles made some plays, and they scored on an easy pass to a wide open fullback to get a 14 point lead again. I was amazed at how well the Jags looked on offense, but also how poorly the Steelers were playing defense. The Steelers still wouldn't go away, getting back to within 7.  But, to attempt an onside kick with 2 timeouts and 2 minutes and 18 seconds left in the game at home, was simply stupid. That was a horrific choice by all the coaches involved on the Steelers. This gave the Jags great field position and set them up for the easy 2 score lead again. The Steelers blew this game, they were definitely looking ahead to the Patriots, but props to the Jags for going into Pittsburgh twice this season and winning both times.

The game of the weekend, the playoffs and maybe in the past 5 or 6 years, was the Saints-Vikings game. This was, to use a cliché, a tale of 2 halves. The Vikings owned the first 2 quarters. They stopped everything the Saints wanted to do, and they moved the ball at will. They looked like they were going to win with ease, especially when they had a 17-0 lead at halftime. But, credit to the Saints for making adjustments and turning this into a game. Drew Brees was making some great, great throws in the second half. His pass to Alvin Kamara was amazing. Kamara was also amazing in the second half. He is going to be a star. Michael Thomas started to get much more involved. He now is in that conversation of second best wide out in the league, behind only Antonio Brown. The Saints defense also started to make plays. When they took the lead at 21-20, I thought the Vikings were in for another heartbreak in the postseason. But, to their credit they kept plugging away. They got the ball back, marched into field goal range and kicked the go ahead field goal with just over 2 minutes left. That was more than enough time for Brees to lead the Saints down into field goal range to kick and take the lead very late in the game. The Vikings got the ball back with about 40 seconds left, and one timeout, but I figured they were toast. I mean, one timeout, Case Keenum, Vikings postseason history, no real deep threats, everything was stacked against them. And that was how this final drive started. They had one chunk play, but they had to burn their last timeout, and they were so far out of field goal range and hail mary range, I didn't think it mattered. And the next 2 plays made me feel this even stronger. Keenum was throwing ducks and getting pressured. Everything pointed to another blown playoff game. Then third down happened. With less than 10 seconds left the Vikings snapped the ball, and a sports miracle happened. Keenum bought just enough time in the pocket and just chucked the ball in the air. Out of nowhere Stefon Diggs, who it looked like jumped about 20 feet in the air, snagged the ball and turned up field. The Saints safety, poor, poor Marcus Williams, went in for the hit, but he completely missed Diggs. This was the worst attempted tackle I have seen at any level. Williams, who had a great rookie year, and had played very well in the game up until this point, just completely whiffed. His head was down and I think he just assumed that he was going to run into Diggs. That didn't happen, and now there are about a thousand GIF's and meme's "commemorating" this missed tackled. After Diggs realized he wasn't going to get hit, he turned up the field and ran. I kept yelling, the Vikings bench too, "GET OUT OF BOUNDS!", thinking that the Saints had another safety deep. But, much to mine, and everyone else's surprise, there was no one there. Diggs could have waltzed into the end zone if he wanted. It was a truly amazing sports moments. It is one of the best endings to a game that I have ever seen. I could not believe that the Vikings won a game in this fashion. It was such an amazing ending. I'm still kind of in shock how that game ended.

This was, at least 3/4 of it was, a very great football weekend. It was fun to see the NFL be fun at least one time this year. I don't think it matters in the long run though. I still think we will get Patriots-Vikings in the Super Bowl, and I still think the Patriots will win. But, this past weekend made it fun to be an NFL fan for a couple days. Hopefully the conference championships will be half as good as this past weekend was. We will have to wait and see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is used to seeing Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers pull out last second miracle wins. This year's Rodgers is Case Keenum and the Packers have become the Vikings. 

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Keith Jackson Taught this Millennial to Love Football

About one year ago we lost Craig Sager. I know that there is some crazy stuff going on with his will right now, but that doesn't discount the fact that he was one of the best basketball analysts and reporters that we have ever seen. I still miss his sideline interviews. This weekend we lost another great sports broadcaster. Keith Jackson passed away on Saturday at the age of 89.

Keith Jackson, in every way, was more important to me as a broadcaster than anyone ever, including Sager. The reason, Jackson is the first announcer that I can vividly remember hearing and enjoying. He always seemed to call the Rose Bowl, and most importantly for me, pretty much all of Michigan's football games that were televised on ABC. As I child I can remember hearing him say his patented, "Whoa Nellie!" during many Michigan games. He is one of my first memories watching Michigan football with my dad. He is right up there with Bo Schembechler. Not in terms of importance, but significance.

As I said, he was always calling Michigan games and the Rose Bowl, and when he was announcing, Michigan seemed to be a regular in the Rose Bowl. I used to get the pleasure of hearing him call anywhere from 3-6 Michigan football games a year, and he was great. I mentioned the "Whoa Nellie!", but he wasn't just a catch phrase guy, he knew the game and knew it well. He helped me to understand football. He, not as much as my father, but still, helped me understand how important Michigan football was/is.

It wasn't just Michigan, Jackson knew every team, and knew them well. He could tell so many stories about so many different teams. He was very well versed in college football. The man was a genius broadcaster if you ask me. He could break down film before it was en vogue to do that. He could rattle off the names of former greats at specific schools without needing to take notes. He remembered important dates in college football better than anyone else. But above all, he was a joy to listen to.

I wish we had more announcers like Keith Jackson nowadays. I know this sounds weird coming from the millennial, but Jackson is the best football broadcaster ever, at least for me. He was soft spoken yet brilliant. He did have the catch phrase, but like I said, he was so much more. He understood the game better than his colleagues. He was most certainly more respected than his colleagues. He was one of the few people that Schembechler would actually talk to. That's a huge deal for a guy like Schembechler. I'm sure the same can be said for Woody Hayes, John Robinson and any other coach from the Big Ten, and back when he was calling games, the Pac 10. He was the guy that these coaches wanted to talk to. When he would call the games I can remember my father pointing Jackson out specifically as the only announcer he liked. I am now the same way. When I watch games now, I either complain about who is calling it, or mute the game and listen to music while I watch. I never, ever did anything like that with Keith Jackson. He was must listen when he was on a game. I prefer Jackson to a guy like John Madden. While I kind of enjoyed Madden, and even Summerall to a certain extent, they were nowhere near the talent that Jackson was.

To prove how great Jackson was, he made me tolerate Dan Fouts. Watching the NFL playoffs yesterday, with Fouts calling a game, I was enraged at his total lack of knowledge. Then I remembered that he used to be the color guy with Jackson, and I was amazed that he used to not bother me like he did yesterday. That is strictly due to the brilliance of Keith Jackson. Even after he retired about a decade or so ago, I still watched old games on ESPN Classic that he would call just to hear his voice. The fact that he is gone now makes the people currently calling games that much worse. They will never live up to the excellence that Jackson brought to the game.

The closet we have to a Keith Jackson is probably Kirk Herbstreit, and he is way, way, way behind Jackson's greatness, and will never achieve the respect or accolades that Jackson did. The NFL announcers are even worse. Morons like Cris Collinsworth, Al Michaels and Tony Romo wish they were 1/100th the announcer that Jackson was. I am really going to miss Keith Jackson. He gave me so much joy. He was the last great college football announcer. We will never have another person as awesome as he was at calling games. I hope wherever he is now he is chatting it up with Pat Summerall and Howard Cossell. That would be ideal.

Rest In Peace Keith Jackson. You will be greatly missed.

Ty

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

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This Jon Gruden Raiders Thing Will Not Be What Everyone Thinks it Will Be

Some new/old feet on the Raiders Sideline

Tomorrow Jon Gruden will be returning to the NFL as a head coach. The Oakland, soon to be Las Vegas, Raiders are giving him a 10 year, 100 million dollar contract.

Sigh

I think that all of this is nuts, and that it will blow up in the Raiders face. It needs to be said too, I like the Raiders. I think the NFL is better when blue blood teams like the Raiders are competitive. When you get that whole "Black Hole" fan base thing going on, it is a good. But, all this Gruden stuff, I am not buying any of it at all.

I know that he was successful his first go round in the NFL. He had a pretty decent team when he first coached the Raiders, and he won a Super Bowl when he moved on to Tampa. Granted, he inherited one of the greatest defenses in football when he took over the Tampa job, but still, he won a ring. Then he just up and left. After winning his ring, he stuck around for a few more 9-7 seasons and after hearing the chants die down, he bolted for the broadcast booth.

People thought he was great at this. I did not. He offered nothing of importance to me as a viewer. In fact, I found him grating and annoying. I loathed his whole "Gruden's QB Camp" bull shit show he had on ESPN. It was a half an hour to an hour long episode of him yelling and grilling soon to be rookie QB's. That show, or special, or whatever the hell it was supposed to be was dreadful. I also thought he was a terrible in game announcer. If he was calling a game with someone coaching that he knew, or even worse, a family member, it was horrible. He always sided with the coach, especially if it was his brother Jay. It was never the coaches fault, always the players. He was so, so, so bad at this. It got to the point with me that I had to mute the games when he called them. He wasn't as awful as Cris Collinsworth, no one is, but he is a solid second choice as worst sports announcer out there.

Then, nearing this playoff season, his name started to pop up for head coaching gigs. I heard his name attached to Tampa, but that ended pretty quick when it was announced that the Buccaneers were sticking with Dirk Koetter for one more year. The University of Tennessee stuff was a pipe dream that I never bought in to. And then I did not hear his name attached to any other openings, or possible openings. Then, after the disaster that was their 6-10 season, and the way they ended the year, the Raiders, one year after giving Jack Del Rio an extension, fired him. I thought this was nuts, and then Gruden's name started to come up again. All the broadcasters and writers were frothing at the mouth at the possible return of Gruden to Oakland. I just kept thinking to myself, hasn't the game passed him by? Isn't he happy with the money he is making now, and doesn't he enjoy being terrible on "Monday Night Football"? Isn't this a better overall life than becoming a NFL coach again?

Well, I guess not. He hasn't formally accepted the job yet, that comes tomorrow, but he has signed the contract. That is the only thing I can think of as to why he would come back. Ten million dollars a year for 10 years! He'd be crazy to not take that kind of money. ESPN can't offer him that. I also believe he now owns a stake in the team. This contract has everything that Gruden could have ever wanted.

I want to try and answer the questions I just asked. First off, why leave the booth. I guess, because he is horrible at that job. He is a joke. He's a gimmick. He is a worse version of Dick Vitale. His takes are garbage, and he just fat out doesn't know how to do it. Maybe coaching is better for him, or maybe not. As far as the game passing him by, I say YES to this. He has not coached in a decade. The players now, especially the QB's, are entitled. They make more than anyone else, and they are coddled more than anyone else. He won't be able to, try as he might, break Derek Carr down and force him to be the type of player he wants him to be. Carr won't take to that kind of coaching. I think Derek Carr is who he is, which is an average QB. Gruden won't take that lightly, and he will probably run him out of town. That would be horrible. How is he going to deal with a player like Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper or Marshawn Lynch? All these guys are crucial to this team, but Gruden will come in thinking he is the end all be all, and that isn't the case anymore. Players in the NFL are more important than coaches. I'd even go so far as to say that Tom Brady is more important to the Patriots than Bill Belichek is. Derek Carr is no Tom Brady, and Gruden is nowhere near the coach that Belichek is. Returning now is going to be a big time kick in the ass for Gruden. Just wait until he gets roasted on Twitter or Facebook by die hard Raiders fans. He is going to HATE it, and there is nothing he can do about it. As far as life being better, maybe he likes the misery of being a coach. Coaches don't get sleep. Coaches are always the ones to get blame. Head coaches have to game plan every aspect of the game. Is Gruden really ready to jump head first into all that right away? No way.

Enjoy the honeymoon period while it lasts Raiders fans, because this is going to blow up like a bomb in your faces. While Gruden is a big name, I just do not think he is going to be that successful in the modern NFL. He is an old school coach, and the NFL is becoming a young man's game. I'd much rather have Sean McVay than Jon Gruden as my head coach right now. That is just the way I see it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is looking forward to the day when Gruden is run out of town for a one hundred year old Jon Madden. That would be newsworthy. 

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The SeedSing NFL Playoff Preview

I've had an entire week now to pour over the upcoming NFL playoffs. First off, this "bombshell" story that ESPN dropped this morning about the Patriots, while very juicy and filled with schadenfraud for me, has no effect on how I think they will play in the playoffs. Apparently this stuff has been going on all year and they still finished 13-3. Also, why is it so crazy to now know that Tom Brady is nuts? I thought this was widely known stuff around the league. The dude has been crazy since he was playing QB at Michigan. This story was not as eye opening as was promised yesterday. It is a big no deal. Nothing new was revealed. I think anyone that has watched football for the past decade could see that something like this was coming. There are far too many egos at every important position in that organization. Nice try ESPN, but this story is tired and boring and pointless. Okay, got that out of the way, now lets get to my playoff preview.

I'll start with the AFC because every team in the playoffs not named the Steelers or Patriots are going nowhere. The AFC is as easy to predict as the NBA Finals. Lets start with the Wild Card games.

In the 4-5 matchup we have Tennessee and Kansas City. Tennessee stinks. How they made the playoffs I will never know, and I picked them at the start of the season. What is even worse for them, DeMarco Murray has been ruled out. Derrick Henry is good, but not as good as Murray. Marcus Mariota has struggled with consistency and injuries all year. The receivers are mediocre at best. Their defense is okay, but not good enough to carry this team. Mike Mularkey is a wildly average coach. Kansas City looked like early season darlings. Then they faltered, and now they seem to have righted the ship. They are giving Kareem Hunt the ball more, which is good, and Alex Smith has looked better as of late. They do have the X Factor, and that is tight end Travis Kelce. He is one of the better tight ends in the league. They have some okay wideouts too. Their defense, while not great since Eric Berry went down week one, has played much better as of late. If the Chiefs don't blow this Titans team out I would be shocked. The Chiefs will win with ease.

The other Wild Card matchup features Buffalo and Jacksonville. Buffalo unexpectedly and amazingly made the playoffs for the first time since 1999. That is great for them. Now they have to play the game, and possibly without LeSean McCoy. If McCoy doesn't play this team has zero shot. He is, by far, their only option on offense. Tyrod Taylor is an okay QB, but he won't win playoff games. They have no real outside threat. Their defense is okay, but not there yet. Jacksonville has a very mediocre offense, especially with an injury to Leonard Fournette, and Blake Bortles at QB. They have okay receivers, but again, Bortles is throwing them the ball. What Jacksonville does have is an awesome defense. They are legit top 3 in the league. They will harass Taylor all day, and if Fournette plays, it will be tough sledding. This game will be ugly, but I have Jacksonville pulling away in the third to advance to the second round.

So that would pit New England against Kansas City, a week one rematch and Pittsburgh versus Jacksonville, another rematch. New England is the best team in the playoffs, and I think they want blood for week one. The game is in Foxborough too, which will prove to be far too much for KC to overcome. While I will be rooting for the Chiefs, the Patriots will most likely blow the doors off of them. Pittsburgh-Jacksonville is a bit of a better matchup. I still like the Steelers, depending on the health of Antonio Brown. The Jags have the 2 best cover corners in the league, but the Steelers have 3 really solid receivers. They also have LeVeon Bell. They also have a defense that can get stops. It will be closer than some think, but I have the Steelers winning by a TD.

That gives us the inevitable Patriots-Steelers matchup in the AFC title game. Pittsburgh got screwed out of a win earlier this year against the Patriots, but this is a new game, and it is in Foxborough. Again, people will be talking about "distractions" from the ESPN story, and Pittsburgh can score a ton against this Patriots defense, but I just think the Patriots will end up winning. They own the Steelers. So that means the Patriots will be returning to the Super Bowl.

Now, the NFC. This conference is so much more up in the air. The teams are better, there are key injuries and it is going to be an absolute bloodbath to get through. We will start with the Wild Card matchups again.

In the 2 Wild Card games we have Atlanta-Los Angeles Rams and Carolina-New Orleans. Atlanta is back in the playoffs, but barely. They have been incredibly inconsistent all year. One week they look great, the next, terrible. Los Angeles is extremely explosive on offense, but they haven't been to the playoffs in a long time. This team is very young too. But, with that being said, I like the youth and inexperience in this game. They won't know what to expect, but that can be an advantage sometimes. They will come out and pour it on if they can. The game is in LA too, which is a big time benefit for this team. Their defense will shut down Atlanta's offense as well. The Rams will move on.

We have an inter divisional game in the other Wild Card game. Which Carolina team will show up? Will it be the competent one, where Cam Newton looks like a former MVP, or will it be the one we saw last week score 10 points in Atlanta? Therein lies the problem with Carolina. New Orleans gets to play this game at home, and they look to be fully healthy. This is also a totally different Saints teams from the past. They control clock and play solid defense. The Saint should, and probably will, win this game with relative ease.

That puts the second round matchups at Philadelphia-LA and Minnesota-New Orleans. The Eagles would have been an easy pick here, but not Carson Wentz is out, and Nick Foles has look dreadful in his place. They have great running backs that can keep the Rams offense off the filed, but it will be tough against that Rams front 7. It will be very cold in Philadelphia, which benefits the Eagles. But, Nick Foles is so bad at QB, and that will be their undoing. I think the Rams will do just enough to push their way to the NFC title game. Todd Gurley is going to be very big in this game.

Minnesota should, and will, win because this game is outdoors, and it will be violently cold. Also, their defense will shut down Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, and Drew Brees has always struggled in cold weather games. The Vikings will win with defense and ball control. It will be a snooze of a game, but that is how the Vikings win. 

That gives us a Minnesota-LA NFC title game. This is way, way off from my preseason pick. The Vikings will dominate the Rams once again. They controlled the game they played earlier in the year, and I see it happening again. The extreme cold will play a factor, and the Vikings defense will come up big.  You are welcome RD, or maybe I should say, you better hope I'm right because my predictions haven't been so great this year. But, I see the Vikings representing the NFC in the Super Bowl, that just happens to be in Minnesota this year.

While the game is in Minnesota, and as painful as it will be to root for the Vikings, I think the stinking Patriots will repeat as NFL champs. They are used to the cold. They are better coached. They have an offense that can move the ball on the Vikings defense. They will find a way to win again.

So there you have it. I have the Patriots beating the Vikings in the Super Bowl. I think the final score will be close, something like 20-14, but the Patriots will find a way. Alright, I am now ready for the NFL playoffs. Bring it on.

Ty

Editor's picks - Let me say that I think the Buffalo/Jacksonville game is the best story of the NFL season. Both of these teams have been terrible for a very long time, no one thought they would be playoff teams, and now they are pitted against each other. One of those teams will win a playoff game. That is awesome.

Who will win the game. Jacksonville will, they are a better team. The other AFC game should be Kansas City, it should be, but Andy Reid is known to blow playoff games. I am going to very reluctantly pick the Chiefs to overcome their head coach and beat the Titans.

The NFC wild card games are more up in the air. Atlanta was in the Super Bowl a year ago, and I know they have been inconsistent this year, but they will beat LA. The Rams are too young in my opinion. Flip a coin on Carolina and New Orleans. I think New Orleans will win a close game.

The Divisional round will have Pittsburgh hosting Kansas City and Jacksonville going to New England. The host teams will win both games.

The NFC will have Atlanta going to Minnesota to play in the Viking's indoor stadium (sorry Ty, their new stadium is indoors, the outdoor University of Minnesota stadium hosted the Vikings last playoff game.) I hate this matchup so much. Matt Ryan is a former MVP, Case Keenum is a game manager. Julio Jones plays for the Falcons, Minnesota does not have the corners to stop him. Atlanta will win this game, and I will be pissed. The other game pits a resurgent Saints team against a Philadelphia team who lost their best player a few weeks ago. The Eagles have not recovered from Wentz injury, the Saints will win.

The championship games will have predictable Steelers v Patriots in the AFC. The Patriots will easily win this home game. The NFC has the surprising Falcons v surprising Saints in New Orleans. That will be a great game, and the Saints will come away with the victory.

The Super Bowl will feature the heavily favored New England Patriots against the no one gives them a chance Saints. Drew Brees will have an incredible game, the Saints will win the game, Brees and Tom Brady both retire. Drew goes to the broadcast booth, Tom goes to write for Goop. The End.

RD

Ty and RD are internet masterminds. They also have a soon to be award winning podcast called The X Millennial Man.

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Rich Rod was a College Football Innovator. Today He is an Unemployed Creep.

Again, my other topics for the week are getting pushed back due to another sports story that broke last night.

I was watching a show with my wife and my phone buzzed with a Bleacher Report notice. I opened the notice and saw that the University of Arizona had fired their head football coach Rich Rodriguez for "the football program and the university going in different directions". I saw this, assumed it was due to his subpar record as a head coach there and kind of left it at that.

My phone kept buzzing with more and more news coming out as to why Arizona really fired him. Like I said, he had a subpar record, but it is Arizona football. Arizona is a basketball school, so I just assumed that 8-5 and 7-6 seasons were considered successful. Arizona also has a legit Heisman candidate at QB with Khalil Tate. I assumed they'd give him one more shot simply because of Tate. But, as I said, more and more stories started to pop up. I am now always interested in Rich Rodriguez stories because he is the guy that destroyed Michigan football for 3 years. When his name is mentioned I cringe, but I also read the story to see what the writer is talking about. I do the same thing with Brady Hoke. Basically anyone that was attached to Michigan football, I read stories written about them.

Well, the Rich Rod stories were quite terrifying. More and more people were saying he was being let go because of harassment allegations. More specifically, sexual harassment allegations. I do not know who brought up the allegations, but this is some serious stuff. Women are becoming more open, which is awesome, and they aren't taking this stuff from gross guys anymore. According to the few reports I read, Rich Rod had "multiple" reports of harassment since he took the head coaching job at Arizona. He, of course, vehemently denies all of this. But, I tend to believe the women now. There are too many instances of men in power thinking they can take advantage of them, and women have had enough. They are fed up. They are sticking up for themselves, and I love it.

I will say though, these allegations made me think, did he do this while at West Virginia or Michigan, his 2 previous stops as head coach? He was big time while at West Virginia. He had that team constantly in the top 15, playing in major bowl games and was considered an innovator with his spread offense. Since he was so popular at WVU, was he harassing women, but the university kept it quiet because the team was successful? If so, that is a big time shame. That is appalling. That is scary. That is some Penn State type shit. Then, after leaving WVU for the Michigan job, was he doing the same stuff there? Was he harassing women there? His teams were trash, so he didn't have the success to be his "excuse". Michigan has also been extremely compliant with the NCAA to a fault. Their football program is one of the cleaner programs in all of D-1. That is not just fan boy me saying this either. It has been proven that they have run a clean program since Bo Schembechler took over in 1969. But, was he being this disgusting while at Michigan? I don't know. I'm sure with these new allegations that more women will come forward, so we will see.

This also brings me to my final point of the day. Has there been a coach that has had this hard a fall from grace over the past decade? This ranks right up there with the Bobby Petrino stuff. This is just as bad as everything that Rick Pitino was doing at Kentucky and Louisville. This is some Hugh Freeze level stuff. Sexual harassment is no joke, and if this is proven true, Rich Rodriguez will never ever coach again, and he shouldn't be able to. This is all very odd, but surprisingly unsurprising to me. He always has had an air of superiority, and I would not be shocked at all if he did everything that was reported yesterday. This is a true fall from grace to a guy that was considered a "offensive genius" and an "innovator" at one point in his career.

Rich Rod is a creep, and stuff like this needs to stop right now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has recovered from his late 2017 illness. Unfortunately, Michigan Football made Ty start 2018 by throwing up all over the place. 

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The Outback Bowl Showed Us Who Michigan Was this Year. It was Not Good

I have some stuff I want to write about this week, but it all takes a backseat to the abysmal performance I watched from my beloved Wolverines yesterday. Now, before I go on, I'm going to shit on them, but not for the whole piece. You'll see what I'm talking about when I get there. But, I will be shitting on them, their coaching staff, their execution and their overall play this past season for the brunt of my piece.

Here we go.

The Wolverines were matched up against South Carolina in the Outback Bowl yesterday. I went on our podcast, I told my friends and family, basically anyone that would let me talk about the game, how much better Michigan was at every single level compared to South Carolina. They have better players, better athletes, better coaches. This game should have been a cinch. I figured, as far as the Big Ten was concerned at least, this was their lone homerun. They had the Outback Bowl in the bag before the game was played. 

For 2 and a half quarters, that looked to be the case. Now, do not get me wrong, Michigan looked absolutely horrendous on offense all game long. They couldn't block. When they did block, the running backs were missing holes and getting taken down by the first tackler. The receivers got ZERO separation. But, the biggest problem, and this plagued Michigan all year long, was the horrendous play out of the quarterback. I like Brandon Peters, but he was AWFUL yesterday. The week leading up to this game, all the talk from people at Michigan was that Peters was super confident going into the game. Everyone asked him about the Shea Patterson transfer, and he said things like, "I don't care", "This is my job", "I feel like people don't even think I have a chance to start next year", all the typical stuff you'd expect a 19-20 year old QB to say.

Well, if yesterday was an open audition for him to grab hold of the job for next season, he failed miserably. He was not on target at all throughout the entirety of the game. He missed open receivers consistently. He stared down the guy he wanted to throw to repeatedly. He took far too many sacks. He held onto the ball way, way too long. He even struggled with the exchange to the running backs. It was as bad as you could play when you are basically playing for your job. He completed 20 of 44 passes for under 200 yards, 2 crucial interceptions and 0 touchdowns. That is a rough stat line. I know Harbaugh and his offensive coaching staff took the brunt of the blame, but there has to be a point where the player is held accountable. Yes, Harbaugh and Tim Drevno came up with a predictable, and awful game plan. But, Peters still needs to take the blame for those missed guys and dumb sacks he took. I mean, even John O'Korn took the blame after his atrocious play in the final regular season game. I haven't read much, I'm still very frustrated, but from what I've read, Peters just keeps saying he is looking forward to next year.

What really makes me angriest about the game, as I stated earlier, Michigan was in full control of this game midway through the third quarter. They had a 19-3 lead and were driving to go ahead by, at the very least, 19 points. I'm pretty sure that would have buried South Carolina. But Karan Higdon fumbled on the five yard line going in for a score. Everything changed after that, and the defense began to crumble. They had not really crumbled all year, save for the Penn State game. They were the unit that I could count on. They came up big almost all the time. After the Higdon fumble I thought, okay, the defense will stop them, get the ball back and just grind it out. Well, USC scored 3 touchdowns in their next 7 plays. Not drives, PLAYS. The defense was missing assignments all over the secondary. South Carolina started to look like one of the top offenses in the country all of the sudden. Michigan's defense had zero containment to the outside. They kept blitzing, which I love, but the players that were supposed to be outside, they were not there. They were lost. They missed assignments. They made the mistakes. It was a nightmare to watch.

Seeing those three scores in 7 plays was a microcosm of this team this year. They could never, ever put anyone away. They struggled with teams like Cincinnati, Air Force and, for a quarter at least, Rutgers. They never stepped on a team's throat when they had a lead. They had that chance yesterday, and they blew it. Sure, there were the 4 turnovers in the second half, but they should have still won that game easily.

While I have heaped a good amount of blame on the players, the coaches deserve it too. I already slammed Drevno's offensive strategy going into the game. He was so god damn predictable all year, so I don't know why I thought that would change yesterday. It was always a run up the middle or a 4 yard out pattern to a receiver. I love Don Brown's attacking style, but his lack of adjustment after South Carolina scored that first TD was appalling to me. He is usually so good at telling his guys what to do, but not yesterday. And Jim Harbaugh. This was as bad as I have seen him coach a game. I honestly don't think he took South Carolina seriously. I think it is fine for a fan like me to think that, but he is the head coach and he should never look beyond an opponent. Hell, he preaches that very mantra. The fact that he is coveted by so many pro teams is truly baffling to me after watching his porous decision making in the game. His disregard for adjustments, the players he chose to put out there, the players he stuck with, the fourth down stuff, the lack of having his players ready, the dumb penalties, that all falls on him. Harbaugh and his staff got outcoached by Will Muschamp yesterday. Let that sink in.

Now, with all this being said, I still am optimistic about next year. I heard that a reporter asked Harbaugh after the game if he had coached his last game at Michigan, and he said "No" immediately. Hopefully this stops all the dumbass talk of him to the NFL. He now has his kids in this program. He has his players. He has a very, very good, and very fast defense, where he only loses 2, maybe 3 starters. He has the makings of a good offense next year, if Patterson is as good as people say he is. QB is what this team lacks, and maybe this Patterson kid is the answer. Maybe Dylan McCaffery will shine in spring ball. Hell, maybe even Brandon Peters will get his shit together and figure it out, he is only 20 after all. Also, this team was incredibly young this year, and they gained a ton of very quality in game experience. Their defensive line is going to be ferocious next year. They have some solid linebackers. Keep your eyes out for Khaleke Hudson. He is so good. On offense, if they get a QB, guys like Nico Collins, Donovan Peoples Jones, Zack Gentry and Tarik Black are all back next year with a season under their belts, save for Black(injury). They have a stable of running backs too. Karan Higdon, Chris Evans, maybe Kareem Walker, some recruits that they snagged, they have a good amount of guys that can carry the ball. The offensive line should be much improved too. They damn well better be.

So, while I was/still am very pissed off about this team and this past season, yesterday was a perfect shit end to a perfect shit year. But, it was everything that plagued them all year. Hopefully they got it out of their system is what I'm trying to say. I do have faith that the players that come back and Harbaugh and his staff will be so pissed off about all the noise and nonsense that they hear this entire offseason that they will want to come out and prove that this past season was an aberration. I hope they come out with their heads on fire ready to destroy anyone in their way. They have a great opportunity to re announce themselves to the college football world when they open at Notre Dame September 1st. 2018 will be the deciding year for Harbaugh at Michigan. This will be the make or break season for him. If this team underachieves, then he deserves all the criticism he will undoubtedly get. I don't think he wants to deal with that crap, and I think he wants his alma mater to matter again in football. Lets hope the latter is what happens next year.

While I'm frustrated now, I still have hope because this is my team and I believe that Jim Harbaugh has too much pride to let this team go 8-5 again. Now I have to wait until September to see how this team comes out. They damn well better come out strong and fired up. That is what I expect.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has recovered from his late 2017 illness. Unfortunately, Michigan Football made Ty start 2018 by throwing up all over the place. 

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The Best of Everything in 2017

Welcome to the final day of 2017. The year has featured a lot of good stuff, and a whole lot of stuff we want to forget, COUGH Trump COUGH. In order to celebrate we are going to focus mostly on the good stuff. Check out all of our best of the year articles, and enjoy the X Millennial Man 2017 Year in Review podcast. 

Oh, and have a Happy New Year.

The Best Films

The Best Television

The Best Music

The Best Podcasts

The Best Sports Moments

The X Millennial Man Year in Review

The Staff at SeedSing

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The Fanboy Crybabies Need to Get Over Giancarlo Stanton Joining the Yankees

Every time Boston does not get their way, a small violein plays while Bill Simmons whines

I know that I am a little behind with today's topic, but it is the holiday season, and life has been crazy. But, as you all know by now, Giancarlo Stanton is now a member of the New York Yankees. Derek Jeter and the crew that bought the Marlins have been gutting the roster, which they said they were going to do. So far they have traded 3 big time players, with Stanton being the biggest. From the moment that the new owners took over it was very evident that Stanton was going to be moved. I was excited for awhile because the Cardinals, my team, were heavily in the mix all the way to the end. But in the end, the Yankees got him because that is what the Yankees do. They have always been able to pull off the big move ever since I was a kid. As soon as the Yankees came to the forefront, it was a foregone conclusion to me that he would join the team. And when it happened, I was not shocked.

What irks me about this is the same thing that irked me about KD joining the Warriors last offseason. People say that the Yankees have had a few "down" years, yet they were one game away from making the World Series this past season. They also have a roster filled with young, very good players. I mean, just Aaron Judge alone, who I do not think is as good as everyone else does, won rookie of the year. They have great hitters all over their roster. Their pitching leaves a bit to be desired, but it is serviceable. Now with Stanton, they have to be the odds on favorites to make the World Series next year. I'd love to see them go down, but they just look way too good on paper to be beaten by anyone in the AL next year.

The trade is not the point of my piece today. I am an avid listener of "The Bill Simmons" podcast. Lately it has become more of a hate listen because Simmons is becoming more cocky and insufferable with every episode. He seems to think the sun rises and sets based on his opinions. But, I do like the guests, especially when they do basketball stuff. And with basketball stuff, since he and KD have become buddies lately, he has been fully on board with KD joining the Warriors. He always says that he wants the best players to play together because he loves the game in its purest form. He praises KD non stop for leaving OKC, all the while trashing Russell Westbrook any chance he gets. He has never, ever said one bad thing about KD joining a team that didn't need him, and that beat him head to head. Like I said, he praises KD's decision. In fact, he has made it his personal mission to defend KD. If anyone comes on his show and bad mouths it, he roasts them, and then tries to ham fist a Thunder jab in there somehow. He has become what he claims to have hated about ESPN, a star lover. He has made friends with one of the biggest NBA stars, and he doesn't want to rock the boat.

On a podcast recently, Simmons had one of his old college buddies on who happens to be a lifelong Yankees fan. This person, whos name escapes me right now, has been on from time to time. He isn't on as much as Joe House, who I really like, but he is on enough that I kind of know who he is. He had this buddy on after the Stanton trade was completed, and he trashed the MLB for allowing this to happen. First off, if you do not know by now, Simmons is a big time Red Sox fan, and he is from Boston. So, anything that doesn't go his way for his city, he is a big time crybaby about. This Stanton trade fits into that category. He acted like such a baby about this. He made stupid, hackney jokes about the Yankees front office. Like I said above, he trashed the MLB because Stanton used his no trade clause, which he got in his contract, to veto trades to the Cardinals and Giants. It was basically just an hour long whine fest while Simmons buddy laughed at him the whole time.

What I don't get about his whining though, how is Stanton joining the Yankees any different from KD joining the Warriors? This is exactly what he advocated for with the KD move, with one exception. The Yankees didn't beat the Marlins in a big time playoff series. Stanton didn't go to a team that was in 2 straight world champion series. Stanton didn't join a team that was an odds on favorite to not only win the title, but coast to it. As I talked about earlier, Stanton joined a team that some "experts" considered "down". So in actuality, what Stanton did wasn't nearly as weak as what KD did. KD was/is a title chaser. He couldn't beat the Warriors, so he joined them. The only similarity between the 2 players is that they won MVP's on different teams from their current team. So for Simmons to attack Stanton and the MLB and his buddy is off putting and makes him look like an idiot and a front runner himself. He only likes big time moves when it benefits him.

Look, I am not on board with either of these moves, but I have made no mistake about that. I hated when KD joined the Warriors, and I do not like that Stanton joined the Yankees. It waters down the game. It takes the drama out of sports. It makes it way easier to make predictions. That is where Simmons and I differ. I can separate myself from players and teams and be non biased. Maybe it is easier for me because I don't have a personal relationship with these guys and the people around them, but Simmons is a professional. His job as a journalist is to be non biased. But, he may be the most biased sports writer in the industry. I'm not going to stop listening to his show, but the more I do listen, the less respect I have for him and his opinions.

Get over yourself Bill Simmons. Boston sports are doing just fine. So what if the Yankees will be better than the Red Sox for awhile. You still have the Patriots and Celtics. But stop contradicting yourself based on friendships. It makes you look like a real asshole.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is still sore about the almost trade of AJ McCarron going to the Cleveland Browns. That would have been the making of a one or two win super team.

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The Best Sports Moments of 2017

Day 4 of my best of 2017 countdown finds us with my favorite topic, sports. There were a lot of big sports moments in 2017. I have to say, Clemson’s win in the NCAA football playoff last season is not on the list. I know it technically happened in 2017, but it feels too much like 2016. Same thing goes with the Patriots coming back from 25 points down in the third quarter to beat the Falcons in the Super Bowl. Again, it happened in 2017, but everyday we edge closer to the playoffs, and it doesn’t feel relevant enough to me. I’m sure I’ll leave out other things that happened in early 2017, but the 5 topics I picked hold the most weight with me. Let’s get into it.

At number 5 I have the UConn women’s basketball team getting beat in the NCAA tournament. This was a HUGE deal. The UConn women’s team was riding a 100 plus game win streak. They looked like the most unbeatable team in all of team sports. They didn’t just beat teams, they destroyed them. They always seemed to win by at least 20 points. But, you could see some “cracks”. This was an almost entirely new team from the previous 4 national champs. And, Mississippi State happened to play the perfect game and catch them at the exact right time. They slowed the game down to a trudge. They worked the shot clock. They made UConn work the shot clock. They muddied the game up. Even when it looked like UConn was going to pull away, MSU would find a way to stay in it. I turned the game on when it went to overtime. I knew this was a big deal when my wife joined me to watch. We were literally watching sports history. And when that final horn sounded and MSU had the win, I was in awe. The best college team ever, men or women, had just been beaten. It was amazing and so unbelievable. This is why sports is so great. No one saw this coming, and it happened. It was incredible.

At number 4 I have the crazy NBA offseason. Never in my life have I seen so much player movement. And not just players, star players. It all kind of kicked off when Gordon Hayward left Utah for Boston. This was a forgone conclusion, but still a shock to read. Then, players just started to switch teams. Derrick Rose left the Knicks for the Cavs. Dwayne Wade was bought out and joined the Cavs. Chris Paul was traded to the Rockets, and that was truly surprising. Rudy Gay joined the Spurs. George Hill, Vince Carter and Zach Randolph all left their teams and joined the Kings. Paul George got traded to the Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Damontas Sabonis. Carmelo Anthony also got traded to the Thunder. But, all of these moves, and the many I didn’t mention, pale to the Kyrie Irving trade. He demanded a trade, stating he wanted to be the star of a team, and the Cavs gave him his wish. They traded him to the Celtics for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and the Nets pick in 2018. This trade had it all. A star going to a contender. A player that a town had fallen in love with, Thomas and Boston, being shipped without a second thought and a good role player and prized pick headed to LeBron James’ team. This trade surprised me as much as KD signing with Golden State last year. It was a true shocker. All the movement was nuts, but it has made the NBA that much more fun to watch this year. It’s been a blast.

At number 3, and for the rest of my list it will be sports with a political lean, I have the Warriors and UNC’s men’s basketball teams refusing to go to the White House after winning the title. I loved this so very much. These players, coaches, AD’s, GM’s and owners decided it was better to not go to what is a total disaster now in DC. They don’t want to give that narcissist that presides there currently the time of day. You know that has to really grate at him, and I love it. The fact that he tried to “rescind the invite” is so hilarious to me. They decided pretty much immediately that they weren’t going to go. They said as much before a formal invite was even given. Athletes are starting to use their platforms to speak out against the evil we have in our “government” right now. I love that Steph, KD, Klay, Draymond, Kerr and Roy Williams outright said they wouldn’t go on the visit. Kids listen to these players and coaches, and their refusal to go to the White House speaks volumes to them. They now know they can stand up to bullies.

This leads me to my number 2, which were the massive protests among the professional leagues, mainly the NFL, after the “president” called them “sons of bitches”, and demanded they get fired for protesting the anthem. Pro athletes are not property, they are people, and their freedom of speech led to massive anthem protests. I loved that the Steelers wouldn’t even come out on the field for the anthem. I loved all the players kneeling, locking arms or just sitting down for a stupid song. It was amazing to see players decide they were going to stand up and fight our fascist “government”. I don’t buy any of the owners lame attempts to connect with the players. These protests were started by the players, and they were for the players. Again, little kids look up to these athletes, and now they know they can speak their minds and fight for what is right. They can fight social injustice.

And for my number one sports moment, I actually just have a person. A person who didn’t play any sport in 2017, but he was a great big part of the sports world in 2017. My number one sports moment/person is Colin Kaepernick. He has started a revolution. I’m not hot taking that statement either, he started a movement. He was the first to protest the anthem due to corrupt police. His choice to kneel has become the face of all the players protesting the anthem now. He is the one that every player points to that gave them the courage to stand up and fight. Kaepernick not only protested, but he also put his money where his mouth is. He has given suits to people outside of court rooms that can’t afford one. He has donated tons of funny to many charities. He has won multiple man of the year awards. He has stayed away from interviews, which makes me respect him even more. He never did this for the attention. He saw something he felt was wrong and protested in his own, non violent way. During this he was called names, chastised and lost his job. Instead of moaning and groaning he kept at it. He never stopped his protests or the help that he gives. He one hundred percent deserves to be on an NFL team, but he has let people like me say that stuff. The fact that he’s trying to buy a stake in the Panthers now makes me so happy. If it works out, Roger Goodell and his cronies cannot collude against him to keep him out of the league. Colin Kaepernick will go down as a visionary and a trend setter many years from now. When my kids are older and ask me about sports in 2017, the first name out of my mouth will be Kaepernick’s. I respect that man so much and I salute him in his quest for justice. Thank you for all you’ve done Mr Kaepernick. You’re a true American hero.

That’s it for today. Come back tomorrow for my last top 5 list of 2017, podcasts.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He almost put the University of Michigan OT victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on his list, because he was there live. But then he remembered that it was Michigan against Indiana, it was more of an embaressment. 

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December 13th, 1997. Best Birthday Ever

Today is my birthday. I am now 35 years old. I want to do something a little bit different for my piece today. I was thinking about all the birthday party's that I have had, and I want to single out one specific birthday party that I feel like was the cream of the crop when I was a pre teen and a teenager. There were a lot of tough choices that needed to be made. I remember being a pre teen and having a party at the bowling alley and getting a real bowling pin and the VHS copy of "Wayne's World". That birthday was great, but not as great as the one I am going to focus on today. I also had to get rid of a good amount of the sleepover party's that were always fun as a kid. There have been concerts and comedy shows that I have seen on my birthday that have been great that had to be pushed out. Hell, I saw "The Disaster Artist" this past Saturday for my birthday, and while that date ruled, it gets a very close second place.

For me, the pinnacle birthday that I had was when I turned 15 in 1997. First off, I was one year away from getting my drivers license. That was great because I knew that I only had one more year until I could drive anywhere that I wanted. I was a freshman in high school too, so this was one of the first birthday party's that I had where it was just me and my friends. I love sports, and basketball is in full swing, both college and the NBA, in mid December. Also, the Heisman Trophy is always given out right around my birthday every year.

So, you might be asking, why is this birthday your "best birthday"? Many, many reasons everyone. As I mentioned, I was in high school, so I invited a few of my closest friends over and we all went to Old Country Buffet. Now imagine the delight that a bunch of football and basketball players, in their early teens, going to an all you can eat buffet. My folks drove us there, but they stayed because my mom and dad rule, and my friends have always gotten along really well with my parents. My friends and I absolutely threw down. I ate so much mac and cheese, pizza, wings, roast beef, ice cream and cake. It was awesome. I literally ate all that I could eat. So did my friends. We then proceeded to head to my parents house because I wanted to watch the Heisman ceremony and Michigan basketball was facing the number one ranked Duke Blue Devils that night.

The basketball game was on first, so we all sat down and watched, while my father joined us. This was right before Michigan got hammered by sanctions, and they had a pretty decent team. They weren't ranked, but they could play. Guys like Louis Bullock and Robert "Tractor" Traylor were their stars. I did not think Michigan would win, but I thought they would give them a game. Well, the game unfolded and Traylor could not be stopped. He was so god damn dominant. Watching him that night was a revelation for me. I've always been a little chubby, but I consider myself a decent basketball player. Charles Barkley was my first role model, but "Tractor" Traylor was the first rotund big guy that made me think that I could be a real player. He just could not be stopped that evening. Michigan ended up winning the game. They controlled the tempo from start to finish and they knocked off the number one Duke Blue Devils.

My birthday could not get any better as far as sports went, or so I thought. Still off the high that Michigan beat Duke in basketball, my friends, my father and I then watched the Heisman ceremony because Charles Woodson was a finalist. Again, I was happy that a Michigan guy was there, but I was certain that either Peyton Manning or Randy Moss would take home the trophy that night. How about those three guys as Heisman finalists? That is a hell of a lineup. Manning and Moss were the glamour guys that year, that is why I figured one of them would win. But, again, a Michigan win shocked me, Charles Woodson, my all time favorite football player ever, took home the Heisman. He is still the only primarily defensive player to win the award. I know that Manti Teo and Jabrill Peppers have gone to New York for the ceremony, but Woodson won the award. I was beside myself.

Michigan had 2 great wins that night. When I didn't think it could get any better, coming off the basketball win, Woodson took home the biggest award in college football that night. Michigan would go on to win the National Title that year too.(I do not agree with the people who gave them a split with Nebraska. Michigan played a much tougher schedule, won every game, and didn't need help from refs, look up Nebraska-Missouri that year, to win the Rose Bowl. They are the outright champs) After the Heisman ceremony my dad retired to bed, and my friends had to listen to me talk about Michigan sports the rest of the night. They were all good sports.

For all the reasons that I laid out above, my 15th birthday just stands out as the one I remember most. It was a great night all around. The food, the friends, my parents and all the Michigan stuff made for a perfect birthday. This is the best birthday party that I have had. I will always remember that day until I am no longer on Earth. It was truly an amazing night.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. It is his birthday today. Even at 35, he is still the baby brother of the Head Editor. Happy birthday bro.

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Some Conflicted Feelings about Quarterback Shea Patterson Transferring to Michigan

Yesterday Michigan football got a pretty big name transfer to commit to their school. Shea Patterson, after a very short courtship, announced his decision to finish his college football career with the Wolverines.

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about this decision. I did not know anything about this kid until this past weekend. I don't pay attention to college recruiting stuff, and this kid was at Ole Miss, and since I do not watch the SEC, I never thought to pay any attention to him. After all the sanctions that were handed down on Ole Miss, due to their former coach Hugh Freeze, a bunch of players have decided to transfer. Much to my surprise, the big time college football pundits that I read and listen to were talking not only about this Patterson kid, but some other Ole Miss players that were coming to visit Ann Arbor. I'm all for having the best players competing for playing time at my favorite school. This makes everyone better. Why do you think Alabama and Clemson are always good? It is because they have just as good players on their bench as they do that see the field as starters.

So from a competition stand point, I couldn't be happier about this kid coming to Michigan. He is going to push Dylan McCaffery, Brandon Peters and any freshman coming to the school this season. But, I'm conflicted because I kind of liked what I saw from Peters at the end of this season. He went 3-1 as a starter. I legitimately believe that had he started the University of Ohio State game, the Wolverines would have won. I know his three wins came against Rutgers, Minnesota and Maryland, but he won those games. He also looked pretty good at Wisconsin until he got his head driven into the ground by a Wisconsin linebacker. I was kind of excited to see how he progressed during the bowl practices, and over the summer. I also read recently that Peters was given a scholarship offer over Patterson in 2016. The Michigan staff must have seen something in him that they liked a bit more over Patterson.

Which leads me to my next conflicted feeling. I know that Peters got the offer, but this Patterson kid, from what I have read, was the top QB prospect in 2016. He, according to all the recruiting websites, was the number one pro style QB. He played his high school football in Louisiana and Florida, but he was born in Toledo, and grew up a Michigan fan. Even with all that, they didn't offer him, but teams like Notre Dame, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, basically every other major program was on this kid. He chose Ole Miss, I'm sure because Freeze promised his family something crazy, and proceeded to play pretty well. I read that as a freshman he went for 2,200 plus yards and 17 TD's to 9 picks. In his sophomore season, prior to getting hurt very early on, he still threw for around 800 yards and 7 TD's. He is also very mobile, which Michigan hasn't had since Denard Robinson, and that was his best trait by far. This kid seems like a mobile guy, but he can also throw the ball all over the field. Maybe the hype is legit.

But yet again, another conflicting feeling. I'm not super stoked about all the transfer QB's that Harbaugh has brought in so far. I was not happy about Jake Rudock but he turned out okay. He was a very good game manager, and when he needed to throw for a ton of yards, he did. I was very high on John O'Korn, but man was I wrong on him. I never thought in my life that I would opine for Wilton Speight, but that is what O'Korn did to me. With 2 already established Michigan QB's on the roster, I don't know that they necessarily need Patterson. He has played in big time games, and played well, but so has Brandon Peters. Also, Dylan McCaffery was a big time recruit. Hopefully they all push each other to play the best they can.

Another odd feeling that comes to mind. This kid may not be able to play this coming season. He has to get a hardship waiver, which he has applied for, and while it seems like he will be granted it, what if he doesn't get it? How will all the bandwagon fans react to that news? Will it be another, "we have to wait until next season?" again scenario. I don't necessarily think so. I think Peters or McCaffery will be just fine. What Michigan needs to do is lean on that run game and get some better play from the offensive line. They already have a very good defense, and if the offense can average right near 28 points a game next year, they should be just fine.

But this all leads me to another conflicting feeling. What if this Patterson kid is as good as advertised, and they plug him in at QB and he thrives. I would love to have, not only a stout defense, but a very exciting offense. There were too many games this past season where Michigan let teams stick around way too long. If this Patterson kid is as good as advertised, and can play right away, it would be nice to see them score 28 in a half, and have the game well in hand by the middle of the third quarter. That would be awesome.

I don't know how all this is going to play out. If you listen to the pundits, they love it. They say this will solve all of Michigan's offensive woes. Hell, even Paul Finebaum said that this transfer turns Michigan into an immediate title contender. But, I was looking forward to a roster filled with Harbaugh recruits. I wanted to see how the kids he personally picked for his offense performed. We will have to wait and see, but I just don't know how to totally feel about this news yet. I bounce between good and bad every other day. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens next year, and this, in no way, tampers my expectations for next season. Michigan should be much better, no matter who starts at QB for them in 2018.  

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is willing to play QB at Michigan if need be. The Wolverinbes could make hostory by starting a 35 year old freshman next season. Sounds like a good movie to us.

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If Willie Taggart Wants to Be a Great Coach, He Needs to Learn to Stay at a Job for Awhile

Around a year ago I wrote about how much I liked Oregon hiring Willie Taggart as their head coach. He succeeded at Western Kentucky. He turned South Florida into a viable football program. So, I thought this was more than enough for him to earn a big time job like the head football coach at Oregon. Don’t get it twisted either. I know Oregon only won 7 games this year, and only 4 the year before, but under Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich, Oregon had become a power football school. They are also located in Eugene, which happens to be where Phil Knight, Mr Nike, presides. They had anything and everything Nike had to offer at their disposal. That’s why Oregon had a million different uniforms and could pull in all kinds of recruits from all over the country. How cool stuff looks now is a big deal with recruits. I know it sounds vain and stupid, but it’s the truth. These kids want to wear cool stuff, and for awhile, Oregon had the coolest stuff.

In a shock to me, other writers, and players on the Oregon football team, Taggart bolted for the vacant Florida State job. First off, I get why he did it, but I don’t agree with how he did it. I’ll touch on why I think he did it first. It’s easier to get to the playoff in the ACC. Clemson is the big dog in that conference, but now that the committee has no problem taking 2 teams from a conference, who’s to say that FSU won’t rejoin Clemson as a perennial power. The Pac 12 is tougher. USC, Washington, Stanford and to a lesser extent, UCLA and Washington State are always competitive. Oregon has a tougher road to the playoff. Taggart will also get great recruits right in his backyard. He’s familiar with Florida, and convincing kids to go to FSU will be easier than what he had to do at USF. He is also making a great amount of money now. FSU is also a historical program. Oregon has recent success, but FSU has been great since the early 90’s. For these reasons I get why he took the job.

The things Taggart said before taking the job, and how he handled his exit was just terrible. It was the absolute wrong way to leave a school. He said, only a day or 2 before bolting, that he wasn’t going anywhere. He told the media and his players as much. He went into recruits homes and told the players and their parents that he was going to be the coach at Oregon next season. These players have taken to social media to say as much. You cannot, in this day and age of coddled players and recruits, tell them lies. They will go to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and crush you with their words. The whole world is a platform, and these kids know this. They are not dumb.

It seems like now the truth about Willie Taggart is coming out. There is no denying that he is a great coach. He has won pretty big everywhere he has coached. I think, had he stayed at Oregon, they could’ve returned to the top 15 next season and been a real threat in the Pac 12. But, he bolted for what many deemed a “better” job. This seems to be his move. He is like Jim Harbaugh. People rail on Harbaugh for leaving every place he has coached after 3 or 4 years. In Taggart‘s case, he seems to only give you 2 seasons at most before he takes off. An even better comparison, and I’m totally taking this from Tony Kornheiser, how is he any different from Lane Kiffin? Isn’t this Kiffin’s move? He coached the Raiders for a year, realized he was in over his head and left for the vacant University of Tennessee job. Then, when the USC job opened up the very next year, he left for that. After he failed there he took a job as a coordinator at Alabama. Then, when things got tough with Saban, he took off for the Florida Atlantic job. And now, he’s looking for a bigger head coaching gig.

Basically, and I wrote about this a week or so ago, these big time places have no continuity with their coaching staffs. I hope Taggart succeeds because I like him. He’s a no nonsense coach that doesn’t coddle his players, no matter how many stars they had in high school. But, this trend of his to bolt is definitely a stain that he is going to have to live with. Recruits are going to look at him different now too. They may not give him their full trust. We will see what happens, and FSU is not the type of place a coach just leaves after a year or 2, but in the case of Willie Taggart, you never know. I still hold him in high regard, but, after what has happened this week, I might not think of him as highly as I once did. Here’s wishing him luck, but also, he needs to learn how to handle these transitions better when the next one comes.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is looking forward to the day that Oregon and Nike have a new uniform for every quarter of the game. Hell , why not every play?

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A Few Thoughts on the Winners, and Whiners, of the College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff is set. From 1 to 4 the teams are Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama.

Now, before I get into my predictions, let us first talk about Alabama getting in over the University of Ohio State and USC. I'll touch on USC first. USC made a late season push. They proved that they are the best team in the Pac 12 by winning the title game, and closing the season pretty strong. Sam Darnold looks the part that many hoped he would when the season started, they have a tremendous run game and their defense has been pretty solid. But, early season losses to Washington State, and a blowout loss to Notre Dame doomed them. They also struggled with Texas earlier this year, in California. But, they smashed Stanford early on, and then beat them again in the Pac 12 title game. They also beat UCLA, albeit in a close game, and smashed a bunch of teams people thought would give them a game. But, in the end, the damage early in the year was too much to overcome. They had a great season, and they play in a pretty good bowl game, but they just couldn't sneak into the playoff.

As for the University of Ohio State debate. Before I get into this, I'm not going to trash them because I'm a Michigan fan. I'm going to trash them because of their ignorance and complaining. Last season the University of Ohio State got into the playoff, even though they lost at Penn State on a blocked field goal return for a TD. They did not play in the Big Ten title game, but they claimed that a conference championship game didn't matter. They finished the year 11-1. and they felt they had a better resume than Penn State, who beat them and won the conference title game. I HATE Penn State as well, so I am not making excuses for them. But, when the University of Ohio State plays in a conference title game this year, win it, but don't make the playoff and complain, you should see why I have a problem with their whining. They are hypocrites. They only want stuff good to happen for them when it benefits them. Look, they got crushed, at home, early in the season against Oklahoma, a playoff team. Oklahoma went to Columbus and trashed them. Then, later on in the year they went to Iowa and lost by 31 points. They gave up 55 points to that "dynamic" Iowa offense. This is exactly what happened to Penn State last year. They lost an early season game at Pitt, and then got smashed the very next week at Michigan. The committee has stated that big losses, no matter when they occur, matter in the end. I've read all the social media heat. People are pissed that a conference champ from a power 5 conference didn't get in. But, the same exact thing happened last year, and no one batted an eye when the University of Ohio State got in over Penn State. So, for all you University of Ohio State fans, it doesn't feel good to be on the opposite end of some bull shit, does it? But, do not bitch and moan, you guys got in last year on the same merit that Alabama got in on this year.

Alabama getting in over Ohio State and USC, I'd have no problem with it, but Nick Saban went on ESPN Saturday night and cried and whined his way into the playoff. Based on their last 2 games, they are not a playoff team. Now, give me a neutral site, and have Alabama play either school, I'd probably pick Alabama. But, it is not as clear cut as it was earlier in the season. Also, Alabama's best win is probably over LSU, but they are not the LSU of old. I know that the FSU game on the opening weekend was a big time matchup at the time, but it has looked worse and worse every week. And Saban's complaints about injuries and the like, shut up with that nonsense. Every team suffers injuries. Michigan played 3 different QB's this year. Auburn's star running back is currently hurt. Wisconsin lost their best linebacker before the year started. The University of Ohio State had to go to a backup QB in the Michigan game. Stanford dealt with Bryce Love injuries all year. Miami lost their best running back early in the season. FSU lost their star QB in the first game. Every team has to deal with injuries. Injuries are not why Auburn beat Alabama. Auburn was a much better coached and more physical team that day. That is why they beat you.

But, Alabama whined your way into a first round matchup with the clear cut number one team in the nation. Which, is my segue into my playoff predictions. So, the 1-4 matchup is Clemson-Alabama. This is part three of the series. The first 2 matchups have been great, and I think the same thing will happen in this game. Clemson is the best overall team in the country. Their defense is ferocious. They can attack you from so many different angles. Brent Venables may be the best defensive coordinator in the country. Their offense may not be as good as last year, but losing a Deshaun Watson type player would do that to any team. That being said, Kelly Bryant is legit. Clemson has a great running game. They have solid receivers. They have a pretty decent offensive line. They are just an overall solid team. Alabama has a great defense that will get some of those injured players Saban was whining about on ESPN the other night. They have a great defensive line, pretty good linebackers and a solid secondary. Where Alabama gets tripped up is their offense. They are predictable, which is fine when you face FSU or Mercer or Tennessee. But, Clemson will shut them down. Alabama thrives on their run game, but Clemson will stop that and force them to pass. And, as long as Clemson can limit Calvin Ridley, they should win the game. Jalen Hurts has proven he cannot beat you through the air. Clemson is a better team, and they should win by at least a touchdown. I think getting the line backers back at Alabama will make this game closer than it should be, but I have Clemson in a relatively low scoring game.

The other match-up of Oklahoma and Georgia, the 2-3 game, these  teams couldn't be more different. Oklahoma is very mediocre on defense, but they have the best offense, by far, in all of college football. They want to get in a track meet. They can run the ball and they can sure as hell throw the ball. Baker Mayfield, much credit to RD here, is going to win the Heisman, and that dude can sling the ball. I may not like him as a person, he is way too arrogant, but that dude is a great college football player. Oklahoma wants the ball and they want to score and score and score as much as possible. Georgia is an old fashioned team. They want to run the ball, kill clock and throw 5 yard outs to their tight ends. They are not an explosive offensive team, but they have the best backfield in all of college football. Sony Michel and Nick Chubb are amazing. They also have some stud freshman that steps in from time to time. Jake Fromm is not an all world QB yet, but he can manage a game. Georgia is stout on defense. They have shut down every team, with the first Auburn game being the lone exception. They are legit. This game is going to go one of two ways. Either Oklahoma gets the track meet they want and blows Georgia away late, or Georgia is able to stop one aspect of the Oklahoma offense and win an ugly, low scoring slugfest. I think it will be the track meet. I think Oklahoma's offense is way too good to stop. And say Georgia does somehow stop the passing offense, Oklahoma can run the ball extremely effectively as well. I say Oklahoma wins this game with a late 4th quarter run by about 2 scores.

That gives us 1 versus 2 in the title game. I am going to take Clemson to repeat. They will stop Oklahoma. Oklahoma will play in this game like they did the second half of the Iowa State game. Clemson is so fast, disciplined and awesome on defense. Kelly Bryant will also catapult himself as the 2018 Heisman front runner in this game because Oklahoma will not be able to stop him. I have Clemson winning this game fairly comfortably. They are the better, more seasoned team and their coaching staff has been here before. It is going to be a repeat and get used to Clemson being in the playoff. Maybe they are the new Alabama.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. No talk of UCF Ty? He is not interested in seeing another overrated feel good college football story get beat by 40 points by a real team. The truth hurts.

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Jimbo Fisher Going to Texas A&M is a Real Head-Scratcher

I was going to write about a movie today, but more pressing news has surfaced, and no, I'm not talking about Flynn pleading guilty, I'll let RD handle that. The news that I speak of is about another coaching move. I know that I have been talking about sports and coaches a lot lately, but this is a big, big deal. And no, I'm not going to write about the possibility of Mike Leach to Tennessee. I'll save that for next week, or whenever it happens. The news that I speak of was just reported by multiple sports sites, and that is that Jimbo Fisher has resigned from Florida State and is expected to take the head coaching job at Texas A&M.

I have a bunch of mixed feelings about this move. First, and foremost, I think that A&M did Kevin Sumlin dirty. That dude took this team to places that they haven't been since the 1960's and 70's. He was 26 games over .500 as a head coach there. He had a winning record in the SEC. He coached a Heisman winner. He won bowl games. Kevin Sumlin should have never been fired in the first place. But, they let him go, and seemingly, they got their man. They are going to give him an enormous deal, something like 8 or 9 million a year over 9 or 10 seasons. That is a TON of money. I get him leaving FSU for the money, and there is no state tax in Texas. But, the money shouldn't have been the major selling point for Fisher. Fisher has plenty of money already. The dude got paid the moment he took over for Bobby Bowden. He didn't need the money. So no, the money wasn't why he left FSU, at least not in my opinion.

There could have been many other reasons why he chose to leave now. This season has been a disaster since week one. I picked FSU to win the title, then Alabama crushed them and their star QB. They went on to lose 5 of their next 9 games. Where we sit today they are 5-6, needing to win their last game, which is a make up due to the hurricanes, just to make a very low level bowl. Maybe how rough this year has been was a reason for him to want to leave. Maybe he doesn't see it getting any better than this. Maybe FSU is going to be a 7-5 or 8-4 team for the next couple of years, and Fisher probably didn't want to deal with that.

But, Texas A&M is no world beater. Sumlin didn't deserve to get fired because that team won 8 games this year. A&M is considered decent with 8-4 records. The SEC is much, much harder than the ACC. Had he stayed at FSU, he could have turned it around and been in the national title picture as soon as next year. Now, he has to face teams like Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State on a regular basis. I do think the SEC is overrated, but I'd much rather be a head coach in the ACC. The best teams in the ACC, outside of FSU, are Miami and Clemson. That is it. I do not like him taking this job if he is looking to be a constant title contender. As long as Nick Saban is still coaching Alabama, every single coach in the SEC will be ranked behind him, no matter what. If he thought FSU was tough, just wait until he starts going 4-4 or 5-3 in the SEC. It is going to be brutal.

Fisher is also a guy that doesn't care for fans confronting him. A fan this year yelled at him after an early season loss, and he yelled back. That shit is going to happen weekly at A&M if he doesn't beat teams like LSU and Auburn on a yearly basis.

Maybe he left FSU because he did all that he could there. He won a title. He won multiple BCS bowls. He won a New Year's 6 bowl. He too coached a Heisman winner. Maybe he wants a new challenge. I get that, and I think it may be the best reason why he would leave FSU. Maybe he wants to see a new college town. Maybe he is as obsessed with football as most people are in Texas. Maybe he wants to see how fertile the recruiting grounds are in Texas as compared to Florida. These are all reasonable excuses as to why he wanted to take the A&M job. This is the one reason that I will accept.

The more I think about this move, the more confused I get. I'm not confused from an A&M standpoint. They got exactly what they wanted when they wrongly fired Sumlin. They had one guy in mind, they threw as much money as possible at him and they got him to leave a great situation to come coach their team. The AD and the boosters and whoever else was involved did everything to get the guy they wanted. I am confused by why Fisher would want this job. I'm confused for all the reasons I laid out up top. I'm confused because he seemed to have carte blanche at a college football powerhouse. I'm confused because he was already making a ton of money. I'm confused because he had a good team set in place for next year. I'm confused why he wants to leave a less competitive conference, where the path to the playoff is much easier, to go to a tougher conference.

We will see how this all shakes out as the next couple of years go on. I am sure a bunch of key contributors to A&M this past season will transfer because Fisher is going to bring in a whole new staff and system. I'm also curious to see who FSU goes after now because that is a good job, and that team has some good players, including Deondre Francois and Cam Akers. This is all very bizarre, not Tennessee bizarre, but still bizarre. I just don't get it, but hey, Jimbo Fisher can do whatever the hell he wants to do, whether I agree with it or not.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is still not available to coach at Tennessee, but Florida State? Give him a call and find out.

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