The NBA All Star Weekend Was Kind of a Dud

As I promised yesterday, today I will break down all the other things from the NBA All Star weekend. Friday and Saturday, leading up to the game on Sunday, was kind of a bore, if I am being honest.

I, for some unknown reason, watched the celebrity "all star" game on Friday night. I don't know what possessed me to watch. Maybe it was the fact that my trip to Chicago was cancelled, maybe it was because my mom was injured, maybe it was because that was the only thing that was on at my folks house when we went to visit them that night. I will never be able to pinpoint why, but I watched. As it is with most of these celebrity games, it was a mess. The basketball was mediocre at best. When the pros got in, Tracy McGrady and Paul Pierce, they didn't care enough to even try, which is their right. They have played tons of NBA minutes, so they don't need to go all out in a dumbass game. But, when they were announcing who was on the floor, I didn't know who most of these "celebrities" were. Sure, I new Justin Bieber and Jaime Foxx. Those guys are bona fide stars. I also knew Candace Parker because she is probably the best female player right now. But, some names like Quavo, Katie DeMita, the K-pop singer, the little kid from "Black-ish", and many others, I had no idea. I think it is a mixture of 2 things. One, I am getting older, and I honestly do not know who younger kids look up to anymore. Second, the people involved with the celebrity game have a very loose meaning of the word "celebrity". I know that Winn Butler is in a very popular band, but would I call him a celebrity, absolutely not. That is how I felt with pretty much everyone involved except for Foxx, Bieber, Parker and McGrady and Pierce. Everyone else was non existent in my pop culture lexicon. After the game my only take away was that this Quavo fella can play a little ball. Besides the male and female pros, he was the best player on the court. The dude can play. The celebrity game was a complete waste of time. It was boring, bad and a rough watch.

I figured Saturday night would be better, and while it was, it wasn't that much better. I expected great things from the 3 challenges, and they all kind of ended up very blah. The night started off with the skills competition. I kind of like this game. I like seeing the big men weave through stations and make crisp passes and hit three pointers. It is even better when you see the guards do it. Well, the skills competition this year was very ho hum. I think Spencer Dinwiddie, of the Brooklyn Nets won, beating Lauri Markanen. I was not stoked to see those 2 guys in the finals. I would have rather seen Joel Embiid make it. Or Andre Drummond. Or Jamal Murray. Those guys are more widely known than Dinwiddie and Markanen. It was kind of boring.

The three point competition was better, but not by much. There were some big names this year in the three point contest. Guys like Klay Thompson, Paul George, Bradley Beal and Eric Gordon. Three of those 4 guys were all stars, and Gordon won sixth man of the year last year, and the three point contest last year. There were other guys, guys like Tobias Harris and Devin Booker. But, I was all in for watching the all stars. Paul George laid an egg. Eric Gordon didn't even come close to repeating. Brad Beal was ice cold in the last half of the first round. But, Klay did put up some decent numbers. So did Harris and Booker. The final came down to Thompson and Booker, and this was the best part of the contest. Both guys really showed out in the finals. Booker went first and got 28 points, hitting all of his "money ball" rack, and breaking a record. Thompson had his chance to win, and while he put up a great effort, he only got 25. Both of these guys proved why they are elite shooters and great deep threats in the NBA. This final was the one saving grace of the three point contest.

To end the night they had the slam dunk contest. This is the event I look most forward to every year during the all star break. There were four really good competitors this year. We had Victor Oladipo, Dennis Smith Jr, Larry Nance Jr and Donovan Mitchell. These are four young, hyper athletic guys that could easily be the future of the NBA. And, while 3 of them didn't disappoint, the judging was horrendous. First off, Oladipo tried a nearly impossible dunk in the first round and missed all three attempts. Then in the second round, he put on a Black Panther mask, which was cool as hell. But, he did, for him, a very easy dunk after missing his first attempt. He had 5 chances and only made one dunk. Dennis Smith Jr had an okay first round dunk. His second round dunk should have put him in the finals. He did a reverse 360, put the ball through his legs and dunked with his off hand. It was truly amazing. Donovan Mitchell did a very cool first round dunk, where he bounced a ball off a different backboard than he dunked on. His second round dunk was good too, he paid homage to Eddie Griffith, AKA Dr. Dunkenstein, and put down a solid dunk, but Smith Jr's second dunk was better. Larry Nance Jr paid homage to his dad, even donning his old Suns jersey, and that dunk was incredible. Then, he had his dad come out and throw him a pass and proceeded to windmill the shit out of the dunk. His first 2 dunks were better than anyone else's. He made it to the finals, deservedly, and his opponent was Mitchell. While Mitchell had 2 solid dunks, Smith Jr's were better. He should have made it. Then in the finals, both Nance Jr and Mitchell had solid dunks. Mitchell did another throwback, wearing Vince Carter's Raptors jersey from when he won the contest, but it wasn't as impressive as it could have been. Larry Nance Jr did a double tap off the backboard, which is insanely hard, but he didn't get the win that he deserved. That brings me to the judging. The fact that they felt they needed 3 other judges besides Lisa Leslie and Dr. J was astonishing to me. Those 2 were more than enough to judge dunks. But, to put Chris Rock, who I love but is admittedly not an athlete, Marky Mark, which why is he even relevant anymore, and the worst of the bunch, DJ Khaled, who should never, ever judge anyone doing something athletic, was just wrong. Those three had no idea what they were doing. It was kind of embarrassing. Donovan Mitchell ending up winning, even though I think Nance Jr deserved it. The dunk contest, while being the best part of the night, was very ho hum, much like the rest of the stuff leading to the all star game.

I usually look forward to all the stuff leading up to the all star game, but this year was kind of a dud. Hopefully it gets better next year.

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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Defense, and LeBron, Showed Up in the 2017 NBA All Star Game

Sunday night was the NBA All Star game. This was the first time with the new format, LeBron vs Steph. I'll get to the All Star weekend stuff, i.e., the skills competition, the celebrity game, the three point contest and the dunk contest tomorrow. Today though, I want to just focus on the game itself.

First though, I have to talk about Fergie's "rendition" of the national anthem. It was horrendous. It was a train wreck. It was, possibly, the worst performance I have ever seen. It was so awful. I don't know what she was doing, why she thought this was a good idea, why her people thought this was a good idea and why she thought she nailed it. The national anthem is a hard enough song to sing, but to try and make it a jazzy lounge song, get the hell out of here. The faces of the players was point enough to how bad she did. The people in the crowd, like Chris Rock, Chance the Rapper and Jimmy Kimmel's expressions spoke volumes to how horrible her performance was. It was just horrific, and I hope she gets another chance so she can make up for the travesty that was her performance on Sunday night. God it was bad. Okay, now to the game.

I have said before, and I still feel this way, I had no problem with the lack of defense played in previous all star games. I have always wanted, and still want, to see both teams get 200 plus points. It is an exhibition, these guys don't need to get hurt, and I want highlight reel dunk and shot after highlight reel dunk and shot. It is an all star game after all. But, I will say, a part of me liked seeing these guys at least attempt to play some defense. Sure, James Harden and DeMar DeRozan didn't really give full effort on that end, but they aren't known for their defense. Same with Curry, but he was able to hide himself, just like he does in the regular season and playoffs. But guys like Joel Embiid, Paul George, KD, LeBron, Giannis and Kyle Lowry put forth some defensive effort. It was nice to see some blocked shots, steals and guys bodying up other guys. I have to say, it was a bit of a breath of fresh air.

With that being said though, there were a ton of missed shots. The score could have been higher if some of the players were actually hitting their wide open threes. Westbrook and Bradley Beal must have bricked 3/4 of their three point attempts. Embiid was playing like a 2 guard at times, and while he made half his threes, he took way too many. Same with Towns. He can shoot it, but he was taking too many. I look at a guy like Anthony Davis, who is a solid three point shooter, and I think he only took one three. He was more focused on rebounding and alley oops. Same thing goes for Andre Drummond. He was either rebounding, or trying to tear the rim off. That is what I like to see from big men. Playing with their back to the basket, and maybe occasionally putting up a three pointer or two. So, even with some effort on defense, there was still a ton of missed shots, and some of those shots falling could have changed the entire perception of this game.

Some stuff I really liked, LeBron and KD were going hard. They looked like they were putting real effort into the game. LeBron was sweating like it was a regular season game. KD was shooting his threes, but he was also attacking the rim, just like he does in games that count. Embiid may have taken too many threes, but he was playing some defense. When he made the three pointer at one end, then blocked Westbrook at the other end, I was impressed. Westbrook, who took far too many threes, finally started attacking when his outside shot wasn't falling. He was also passing a lot more, and that was nice to see. Klay Thompson looked legitimately mad at the refs when he wasn't getting calls when he may or may not have been hit on his jumpers. Kyrie was doing his wizardry with the ball and going to the hoop, which he does better than almost anyone else in the NBA. DeRozan, while not playing defense, showed why he belonged. He was hitting jumpers and going to the hoop at will. When Davis finally started to catch passes, he was going up for some big dunks. Even guys who didn't play much, the Goran Dragic's, LMA's and Al Horford's, when they got in, they tried. 

Through all of this, LeBron showed us why he is still the best player in the NBA. As I said earlier, he actually tried. He broke a real sweat. He wanted to win this game. He wanted his teammates to win this game. When he wasn't in the game, he was leading the cheers on the bench. This is the LeBron that I love to watch. He left his ego and his want to be the GM, coach and player at home. He got everyone involved. And, the defense he and KD played on Steph to win the game, that was great. In fact, the last 8 minutes of the game was pretty intense, good basketball and showed why LeBron still owns the league right now. He rightfully was named the MVP of the game. 

While the final score wasn't as high as I might have wanted, the game was pretty okay. Players tried. Players wanted to win. Players wanted to play defense at times. I think this idea of letting the top vote getters pick their teams, then saying that the winning team would get money towards their favorite charities was great. Now, they just need to televise the top vote getters picking their teams, which it sounds like Adam Silver is going to do next year. I felt like the game was a success. It appeased the old generation, and it showed the younger generation that, even in short bursts and exhibition games, defense is an important part to a basketball game. Well done NBA, you guys did a good job with the new format. Now, lets keep making it better and better.

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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Another Look at Who Will Matter in, and Win, March Madness

I know that we are more than halfway through the college basketball season, but I am still going to do a checkup. I guess we will call this one the 3/4 mark checkup. After all, there is still about 4 weeks until selection Sunday. I'm going to quickly go through each conference and pick a new winner. I will also name a few surprise teams, both disappointing and good. Okay, lets go.

I'll start with the SEC. Wow was I way off. I, much like everyone else, thought Kentucky would cruise. Kentucky stinks. They have lost 4 straight. This might be one of Calipari's "worst" teams. A few other teams that I had high hopes for, Missouri and Texas A&M, have been subpar. Part of that is injury, Missouri, and part is a very slow conference start, A&M. Texas A&M has turned it around lately, and Missouri may be getting Michael Porter Jr back, but it might be too little too late. A few teams in the SEC that have really surprised me, in a good way, are Auburn and Tennessee. I don't think i even mentioned either of them, and both are ranked. Auburn is a top 10 team in fact. I'm sure they will be sanctioned soon, Bruce Pearl is their coach, but Auburn is playing great right now. Tennessee has hovered around the top 20, but they have steadily been ranked almost all year. Besides the teams I have mentioned, no none else in the SEC has really stood out. South Carolina won't be making another miracle run, LSU is lousy, Vanderbilt stinks, Georgia is blah and Florida just doesn't seem to have it going right now. So, at this point, i do not see how Auburn doesn't easily win the conference. They will have to probably vacate it soon, but good for them right now.

Next, lets go to the Big 12. KU is still leading, but they have not been the force that they usually are. They have won 12 straight Big 12 titles, and 13 is possible, but it will be harder. Oklahoma and Trae Young looked like a real threat, but they have stumbled lately. They look to be a flash in the pan. West Virginia made it all the way up to number 2 in the country earlier this year, but they have fallen back to earth recently. TCU is better, but not as good as some thought they could be. Baylor is very hit and miss. Same with KSU. And Texas, even with Mo Bamba, isn't that great. No, KU biggest threat is Texas Tech. They have been awesome this year. Kudos to them for the way they have come out and play. This has been a wonderful year for them so far. I'm still going to go with KU, but it wouldn't shock me is Texas Tech finally took the crown from them.

Now lets look at the Pac 12. There is not one team that really stands out to me. Arizona and Arizona State are the 2 best teams, but they have really had up and down years. Arizona lost 3 of their first 7 games, but started to win again, but have faltered lately. ASU, much like WVU started super hot, raised to number 3, but they are barely still in the top 25. The usual powers in the conference, UCLA and Stanford, they are mediocre. Washington is better, but still not good. Washington State stinks. Oregon is really bad, and I thought they might find some sustained success. Oregon State may as well not even have a basketball program. The rest of the conference is blah. I would not be shocked if the Arizona schools are the only ones that make the tournament. For now, I'll go with Arizona to win because they have DeAndre Ayton, and he is amazing.

The ACC is good as usual, but maybe a tad overrated, in my opinion. Duke is great offensively, and Marvin Bagley Jr is incredible, but they are horrendous defensively. Also, if they aren't hitting threes, they struggle. I have also loved watching Grayson Allen play very poorly this year. Coach K has a good squad, but if he doesn't get these kids, the freshman he recruits just like John Calipari, to play defense, they can be bounced early. Virginia plays the best defense in the country, but their offense is bad. They are the opposite of Duke. They can win games with defense, but if they don't hit shots, they are susceptible to lose any given night. UNC, the defending champs, have been very hit or miss this year. Some nights they look great, other night, blah. They have seniors too, which baffles me as to why they are so up and down. Clemson has been awesome this season. They are fun to watch, and I think they can surprise some people. Louisville is somehow near the top, but none of their games matter because they are a bunch of cheaters. Miami is solid, but being a top 10 team earlier this year was a bit of a stretch. Virginia Tech and FSU are okay, and they will fight for a win, but they will be bubble teams the rest of the year. The rest of the conference is a clutter of teams with anywhere from 11-15 wins. The ACC isn't as tough as it usually is. I'm still going to pick Duke, they have the most talent. But, I would love to see Clemson pull it out somehow.

The Big East is a 2 team race. Either Xavier or Villanova is going to win. Creighton is okay, so is Providence, and shouts out to Butler for always playing hard. But, they won't matter in the end. Seton Hall has been a disappointment this year. They were supposed to be better. But, both Xavier and Villanova are top 5 teams and they have earned that ranking. I'm going to go with Xavier just to appease RD, but they better go further than the second round in the NCAA tournament. They are hyper talented this year.

The AAC is like the Big East, a 2 team league. Those 2 teams, Cincinnati and Wichita State. While both have squandered a few games recently, Cincy is better and they could be as high as a 2 seed in the tournament. I know Houston has 20 wins, and 10 in conference, but Cincy and WSU are better. Again, to appease RD, I'll go with the Bearcats, but they better do good in the tournament too.

Finally, as far as major conferences go, the Big Ten. This conference is between 5 teams. The University of Ohio State, MSU, Nebraska(WHAT!), Purdue and Michigan. Everyone else is very ho hum. PSU has 19 wins, and have played really well, but i do not think they are a tourney team. Northwestern has stumbled. Iowa, Wisconsin and Rutgers all stink. Illinois is god awful. The Big Ten, near the bottom, is really down this year. But, those 5 teams at the top are solid. The University of Ohio State is the biggest surprise to me. I expected very little of them, but they have been very good. MSU, while I think they should get the death penalty, still has some very solid players, and they know how to win. They will always be a tough out. Nebraska has been a total surprise to me as well. They have 11 wins in conference. That is awesome. They could easily make the tournament this year. Purdue, and I know they have lost 3 straight, is still very, very good. They have upperclassmen everywhere, and it is good to get the losing out of the way now. They did win 19 straight after all, and that is a sign of a great team. Michigan has 21 wins, and 10 in conference, but they have been wildly inconsistent on offense, which is kind of a shock. They do play solid defense though. Even though MSU beat them recently, I'm going to go with Purdue. They are having a special year.

A few teams outside of major conferences i want to single out are Rhode Island, St Mary's and, of course, Gonzaga. These teams are all very good, they are ranked, and they can make deep tourney runs. Every year a mid major does, and these are the three best suspects to do that this March.

As far as my Final Four, I'll go with Duke, Purdue, Texas Tech(my wild card) and Xavier. The title game will pit Purdue against Xavier, making this a real "Sophie's Choice" for RD. I'll go with Purdue to win the title. Like I said, they are having a magical year, even with their recent "slide". My Player of the Year will be Trae Young. Everyone loves this kid, and he is great. He has struggled as of late, but he will catch fire again, and he has built up a great reputation all year long. I think Matt Painter will win a much deserved Coach of the Year this year as well.

Okay, there is my 3/4 NCAA men's basketball checkup. As far as the women's game, UCONN is on a war path and will obliterate every team in their way. They will be the women's champ easily. Now lets get to some March Madness.

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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Lavar Ball is Nonsense

shut up, shut up, shut up

I read recently, and I had successfully kept this idiot out of my brain until now, that Lavar Ball said that if the Lakers don’t sign his 2 other kids, Lonzo will not re sign with them.

This is insane!

Who in the hell does Lavar Ball think he is? Who is he to demand these outrageous things? Why does he think he can demand these outrageous things? Why haven’t the Lakers done more to quiet this buffoon? I feel like all of these are valid questions.

I won’t go into why Lavar Ball is terrible, I’ve already done that. Instead, I’m going to give the Lakers other options to deal with this nonsense. First off, both the other Ball children will, most likely, not be NBA players. The one that was just at UCLA was, by all accounts, not even a viable pro prospect. Apparently he was slow, didn’t play defense, was a shaky spot up shooter at best and just average. I don’t think he would’ve started if his last name wasn’t Ball. He also screwed himself when he shoplifted in China. He seemed doomed from the start. The youngest brother is 16. Sure, he loves basketball now, and I know he’s playing professionally overseas, but let’s see what happens in a year or 2. By all accounts, the league these 2 brothers are playing in isn’t even the best pro league in Lithuania. Sure, it’s professional, but very low level. Thankfully I don’t know how they’re doing because I decided to stop caring about this family when Lonzo Ball came out slow.

Back to the 16 year old. I think what Lavar did with this kid was horrendous. To “home school” him, to take him away from a good high school basketball program, to basically try and live through him, it left a very bad taste in my mouth. Also, he may never get any better than he is now because his dad always tells him how great he is. He doesn’t coach, he only pops off at the mouth. He’s a malcontent, and a disturbance. So while the youngest brother may be an okay player, I don’t know if he will be an NBA type player. He’s still much too young and way too small.

So, for Lavar to say what he said, just stop. Magic Johnson, Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka need to nip this in the bud. They’ve let Lavar get away with way too much, i.e., calling out Luke Walton, saying his son needs more time, calling out other Lakers and so on and so forth. This recent statement is too far. In fact, if I were the Lakers, with the way they d recently cleared a ton of cap space, I’d trade Lonzo if he is on board with what his dad said. Why would LeBron, Paul George or Kawhi Leonard want to go play for a team that allows a player’s dad to say whatever he wants whenever he wants? Those guys are superstars that have made it on their own. They didn’t need mommy or daddy to speak on their behalf. They don’t need the nonsense. Hell, if I were a mid level free agent, the Lakers with Lonzo would be very far down my list if desired teams. The Lakers should trade him now. Don’t let him finish out this rookie contract. They’ve shown recently that they can win without him. Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma are much better building blocks than Lonzo Ball. I also think free agents, big time ones, would agree with me.

This is what happens when you let an unstable person say whatever is in their feeble brain. I mean, look at the bull shit going on at the White House right now. Lavar Ball bit off more than he can chew with this recent comment. This will come back to haunt him and his family, especially when the 2 younger Ball’s don’t even get an invite or a tryout because they aren’t going to get drafted.

Lavar Ball is a nuisance that needs to be stopped. Please Lakers organization, stop this monster while you still can.

Ty

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

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Ty Does Not Watch the Winter Olympics

I finally sat down and watched some figure skating with my wife the other night. See, I forgot that the Winter Olympics were currently going on. I probably should have mentioned that first. But, that’s my topic for the day. I’m pretty sure that I don’t really care about the Olympics anymore. I can’t really put my finger on why, but I do have some theories.

First one, I don’t know that I ever really cared about either the Summer or Winter Olympics. I do enjoy the racing and basketball in the Summer Olympics, but nothing really in the Winter Games. I have never liked or cared about hockey for personal reasons. I was never rich enough to be a skier or snowboarder, so I put that out of my mind. Figure skating is an art form, but I just don’t care about it. Speed skating is wannabe running events. Also, I can’t ice or roller skate, so that definitely adds to my dislike of anything skating. I do think stuff like luge and bobsled is kind of cool, but that is more of a, “maybe something brutal will happen” type idea, and that is wrong. So with the Winter Olympics, I usually stay away. If the only thing I’m looking forward to is an accident, I shouldn’t be watching.

I also think that the Winter Games is for rich people. As I have said, I’m not a rich person. I never have been, and most likely, I never will be. So the events, which are clearly made for rich people, were things I never did as a child. We would vacation in ski towns in Michigan when I was a kid, but I spent my time in the lodge or hiking and climbing bluffs. I would sled, but no skiing or snowboarding. It is just not my thing.

Another theory I have about my distaste of the Winter Olympics is, I don’t know many other people that are into it. I do know a few people, and shouts out to you few that like the games, but they are far and few between. I’ll talk to friends, family, other people I coach with, and when the Winter Olympics have been brought up recently, every conversation was met with a blank stare or a shrug. It just doesn’t really appeal to us. The kids I coach with are young, so I thought they may be into it, but they like football, basketball or baseball. The Olympics are way down their list. My family has never really been into the Olympics. My dad and I like basketball in the Summer games, I know RD likes the racing, but that is about it. I’ve asked my other brothers if they watch, and they only say they watch it for distraction, or the noise. They never really pay any attention to it. I called RD the other day and he said figure skating was on, but he was playing Zelda or some shit. He wasn’t focused on the Olympics at all. As far as other friends, most people I hang out with on a regular basis aren’t big sports fans. My friends outside of work are big into music and movies. That is why I hang out with them. I can talk about things other than sports with them, which is refreshing, and needed for me personally.

My final theory, and I know that RD has talked about this at length, the coverage when I do watch is horrendous. It ranks right up there with Cris Collinsworth calling football, or ESPN’s coverage of anything. The coverage on NBC is filled with fan boy idiots that have no clue, especially now that Bob Costas is gone. He was the only good thing about their coverage. Now that he’s gone, it is truly awful. When the figure skating was on in my house the other night I was embarrassed for the people announcing it because it was so bad. Maybe they’ll address this problem, but probably not. I think NBC thinks they have good people doing an okay job. Well, I’m sorry to say, they are not very good at what they do.

These are just some theories I wanted to put out there. The Olympics have never really appealed to me, but the Winter Olympics that are currently going on have just hammered home my distaste. It’s boring, poorly covered and not appealing to anyone who is middle class or lower. The Winter Olympics have jumped the shark, in my opinion.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He tried snowboarding one time. He got about ten feet up on the tow rope and gave up on the sport.

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Some Quick Thoughts on a Wild, And Cavalier Changing, NBA Trade Deadline

Yesterday the NBA trade deadline came and went, and boy oh boy was there some movement. Not as much movement as I expected, but movement nonetheless.

I should clarify, I thought big names would be moved. And yes, Blake Griffin was moved, but before the deadline. I fully expected DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams to be on new teams. Well, the Clippers gave Williams to a 3 year extension, and by all accounts, the DeAndre to Cleveland talks stalled. I also expected, and while he may not be a big name to the common NBA fan, Avery Bradley to be on a different team. I heard the Spurs and Thunder were hot on his trail. Well, he is still a Clipper today. Stuff can happen after the "deadline", but if these guys were to be moved they would have been moved yesterday. Even a guy like Tyreke Evans, who is having a career year in Memphis, didn't get moved, and the Grizzlies have purposefully sat him out in preparation for him to be traded. They can, and probably will, buy him out. But, as of today, he is still a Grizzly. There were some other big time names I thought may get moved, guys like Kawhi Leonard, Marc Gasol, even a Julius Randle, but their respective teams kept them on board.

With all of that being said, there was still a ton of movement. I have already written about the Blake Griffin trade. He was the first of a pretty wild week. A few days later the Pelicans traded for Nikola Mirotic, and while that doesn't sound that big, Mirotic has been really good so far this year, and this does give the Pelicans a very potent outside shooter. While he won't come close to putting up any kind of numbers to try and replace Boogie, he can still fill it up from time to time. After the Mirotic trade, it was relatively quiet. The Nets and Bucks made a trade on Feb 5(Bucks got Tyler Zeller and the Nets got Rashad Vaughn and a pick). On Feb 7th, the Knicks traded Willy Hernangomez, who I like, to the Hornets for Johnny O'Bryant and 2 future second round picks.

Then yesterday happened. I'm going to save the Cavs for last because they have totally overhauled their lineup. Lets get to some of the other trades first. Jameer Nelson, who I am shocked that he is still in the league, is now a Piston in a deal that sent Willie Reed to the Grizzlies. Luke Babbitt was reunited with the Heat in a trade that sent the Hawks, who are continuing their epic tank, a guy named Okaro White. The Kings got rid of Malachi Richardson, sending him to the Raptors for Bruno Cabococlo, who the Kings will release. The Wizards offloaded Sheldon Mac to the Hawks for cash. The Blazers got rid of the epic bust that is Noah Vonleh, sending him to the Bulls for the rights to Milocan Rakovic. Dante Cunningham was traded from the Pelicans to the Nets for Rashad Vaughn, his second team of the week. Now, we are finally going to get some recognizable names. The Knicks, Nuggets and Mavericks swung a three way deal that sent Emmanuel Mudiay to New York, Devin Harris and a pick to the Nuggets and Doug McDermott and a pick to the Mavericks. I like this move for Mudiay, because he has not lived up to the hype. Maybe a place like New York will bring it out of him. While Harris is old, he can still shoot, and that will help the Nuggets. And Dougie McBuckets, well, I guess he just won't be that good of a pro. But, at least he will get a shot to play in Dallas. And then Elfrid Payton, another monumental bust, was traded to the Suns for a second round pick. This kid was supposed to be the future for the Magic and he has just flat out stunk. Maybe he will do better in Phoenix, but only getting a second round pick for a lottery player, that is rough.

Now, lets get to the Cavs. The Cavs did a complete overhaul. They have totally changed this roster. And while I agree that they got better in the short run, I do not think they did enough to keep LeBron, or even make the finals again. They are going to have to gel much faster than expected if they want to get back to the Finals. So, I want to name all the players traded, where they went and who they got in return, then I will give a one or two sentence explanation as to why I like or dislike the trade.

Okay, here goes.

First the Cavs traded Dwayne Wade to the Heat for a second round pick. Then, in a three team deal the Cavs acquired Rodney Hood and George Hill, the Jazz got Jae Crowder and Derrick Rose and the Kings got Joe Johnson, Iman Shumpert and a 2020 second round pick. Finally, the Cavs traded Isiash Thomas and Channing Frye, along with their 2018 first round pick to the Lakers for Larry Nance Jr and Jordan Clarkson.

That is a lot to unpack with some big time names. The Cavs first deal was their biggest, trading Thomas and Frye and their pick to the Lakers for Nance Jr and Clarkson. I love this trade for the Cavs. Clarkson is a great shooter, and he will get a ton of open looks from LeBron. Nance Jr is an electric young player and a highlight reel dunker. He will be fun to watch play with LeBron. Thomas has to be thrilled to be out of Cleveland, but I feel bad that he is playing for the Lakers. He has taken a hard fall in less than a year. He was an MVP finalist last year, now he is happy to be a Laker. Yikes. And Channing Frye, blah. But, the Cavs first round pick this year is a big get for the Lakers. They can continue to build for the future. The Cavs definitely won this trade though. The next move was almost as good as the first. They were able to acquire a real point guard, George Hill, and a streaky good and young scorer in Rodney Hood. They also got off some terrible contracts in this trade. They finally rid themselves of Derrick Rose, who will be bought out by the Jazz, oh how the mighty have fallen, and they got rid of the 10 million that Iman Shumpert will make this year. Shumpert is also toast as a legit NBA defender. I love the addition of Hood. He, like Clarkson, is a very good shooter that will get a ton of great looks. George Hill is good, but very injury prone. He is much older than his actual age as a basketball player. That being said, he is better than any other point guard the Cavs had. And, getting off of Jae Crowder, great move. I thought he would be a great fit and a solid defender for the Cavs, but he was not. He couldn't shoot and he neglected to play defense on this team. The only thing left now from the Kyrie Irving trade this past offseason is the Nets pick. That's wild. But, the Cavs won this three team deal as well. Finally, they mercy traded LeBron's buddy Dwayne Wade back to Miami. Wade was doing nothing for the Cavs, there were rumors that he was not a good clubhouse guy and he is just too old to be elite anymore. This needed to be done, and I think he is happy to be going back to Miami. I don't think either team won this trade, but both teams are happy with the outcome.

With all this movement that happened, the Cavs roster will be very different for the last quarter of the year. As I said, they got better in the intermediate. They have shooters now that can space the floor. If Hood can stay healthy, he could thrive. And if Jordan Clarkson thought he got good looks in LA, wait until he plays one game with LeBron. Nance Jr will bring some toughness and rebounding to this team, and he will be fun to watch. Unfortunately for the Cavs, even though they did unload some bad contracts, they still took on some bad contracts. They will not be able to lure free agents, especially if LeBron leaves after this year. But, they also got rid of a bunch of head cases and guys that didn't want to be there. Derrick Rose came and went as he pleased. Isaish Thomas seemed to bad mouth Tyron Lue every night. Iman Shumpert is toast. So is Channing Frye. And D-Wade, as much as I like him, and as much as he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, he is in the twilight of his career. But, the Cavs still have to deal with Tristan Thompson who has been horrendous. They still have Kevin Love, who is injured and LeBron seems to hate him. They still have JR Smith who has been a disaster this year. The Cavs, while making some necessary moves yesterday, still have some problems on their hands. I don't necessarily think that these trades instantly makes them a better defensive team either. But, they will be able to fill it up, if they can gel quickly.

Yesterday was a wild NBA trade deadline, and I had a blast with every update I got from Bleacher Report. I love when the trade deadline is this crazy. It makes for a fun day and I'm excited to see these guys play for their new teams. Also, I'm very curious to see how this all plays out for the Cavs. What they did yesterday was unprecedented, and I want to see how it all eventually unfolds.

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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Josh McDaniels is a Punk Ass Coward

As was expected, both of the Patriots coordinators were announced as head coaches of 2 different teams yesterday. Matt Patricia, their defensive coordinator, took the head job in Detroit. Josh McDaniels, their offensive coordinator, took the head job in Indianapolis. These were foregone conclusions that these guys were leaving.

Matt Patricia left without much fanfare. Some people are now doubting him because of the Super Bowl, but as Tony Kornheiser said on "PTI" yesterday, "if you base a hire on one game, you're crazy". No new details have emerged about who he will try and bring along with him, but I wish him luck. I like chunky dudes with beards, as I am one myself. 

At the opposite end of the hype expressway, the reporting on McDaniels taking the Colts job was extensive. I was watching basketball while all this was going on, and he had already been linked to 2 guys as his coordinators, plus another hire, possibly special teams. He seemed to have his coaching staff almost set in stone. I figured he was ready to take another head coaching job after his first go around with the Broncos. He did not do a good job in Denver. His teams just weren't that good offensively, which is his forte. After he was fired there, he went back to New England. He has since excelled since going back. The Patriots offense has been great, and a lot of that is his play calling. Hell, even in the Super Bowl, he called a 600 yard plus performance. So, as I said, I felt that he was ready to return as a head coach. He left too young, came back where he was comfortable, grew up and taking a head coaching job was definitely the next step.

Well, like a god damn coward, only a few short hours after all the talk of his staff and everything on ESPN, he backed out of the job and said he wanted to return to New England. This is a punk move. The last time I remember something like this happening was when Billy Donovan took the Orlando Magic job, then backed out and retuned to the University of Florida. I felt then like I feel now about McDaniels. Donovan got scared and punked out and the Magic were left trying to find a new coach in a very short amount of time. What makes the McDaniels situation different is that he has already been a head coach in the NFL, he verbally agreed to become the Colts coach and he started to get a staff together. Donovan did none of that. At least he gave the Magic a chance to keep some people from the current leftover staff. McDaniels has left the Colts stumbling. They put all their eggs in the McDaniels basket, and like a little baby, he backed out at the very last minute. He decided he wanted to return to New England and be under Brady and Belichek's thumb for what will probably be the rest of his career.

In my mind, Josh McDaniels has killed any chance to be a head coach anywhere in the NFL, except for New England. No other team should ever pursue him to be their head coach. If I was an owner of a team that needed a coach and someone came to me with McDaniels name, I'd tell them to get the hell out of my office. He can never be trusted by anyone outside of New England. He will forever be a pariah. This isn't a situation where in a year or two he can try and hope  people will just forget about his actions. This was national news yesterday and this morning. When I turned on my computer to write it was the second story on Yahoo's homepage. Everyone knows about his cowardly move to back out and return to the Patriots. I've read a lot of different stories from both sides of the NFL. As far as people like me, the people who think he did something childish and dumb, we all agree. If he does something like this now, he will never be ready to be a head coach. He probably feels like he cannot win without Brady and Belichek. He should be forever a coordinator. The title of head coach is too big for him. He can't handle the pressure of game planning and being the one who has to fall on the sword when things don't go well. Look at the recent Super Bowl for example. No one is dragging his name in the mud. The Patriots loss has been pinned on Patricia and Belichek. People are actually praising McDaniels play calling.

For the people who think he made the right choice, only people in Boston, have come up with ridiculous excuses as to why this is a good move. They have said things like, Robert Kraft will do anything to screw over the Colts for deflategate. They say that McDaniels doesn't think that Andrew Luck is elite. They say that he is just more comfortable with Brady, and McDaniels is the only guy that Brady trusts as much as Belichek. They say that he came back because he will be the Patriots head coach as soon as Belichek retires.

To all of this I say bull shit. First off, screw Robert Kraft and the Patriots front office. You dickheads have been to 8 Super Bowls in the last 18 years. They have won 5 of them. Get over yourselves and stop messing with the Colts. You already bested them on and off the field. You won the war. As far as the Andrew Luck slander, I say again, get over it. He has been hurt. But, when he plays there is no question that he is one of the better starters in the NFL. He does things that a lot of guys cannot do. He plays hard, throws well and can run a little bit. Yes, he cannot stay healthy, but when he plays, he is good. He isn't as good as I thought he was going to be, but he is still pretty good.

Maybe McDaniels has become comfortable with Brady, and Brady trusts him, but Brady will be 41 years old next season. I know he just went for 500 yards in the Super Bowl, but again, he will be 41. Father time will win. I don't care how many avocados he eats or how much water he drinks, Tom Brady has maybe one decent season left. To be honest with you, any time he took a hit in the last 2 Super Bowls I thought he might have to be carted off the field. He does have good arm strength still, can hit the open man and is probably the best QB to ever play, but he is old and he cannot play forever. McDaniels is going to have to deal with that reality sooner rather than later.

Which brings me to the last thing. If he is the Patriots head coach in waiting, how is that a better situation than the Colts right now? Who will be his QB? Who will be his receivers? Who will run the ball for him? Which QB on that current roster is better than Luck? These are all real questions he will get crushed by when Belichek leaves and he is left with a scorched roster of very little NFL talent. Brady's current backup is Brian Hoyer. Brian Hoyer stinks. He is trash and he is old. Will they draft a QB, maybe. But, all the good QB's by the time they pick will be gone. They will have to reach in the later rounds, and they will not get another Tom Brady. That was a once in a lifetime lucky pick. And when Brady is gone, the new QB will have to throw to a brand new crop of receivers. Gronk will be gone soon. Amendola should retire. So should Julian Edelmann. Brandin Cooks took a vicious hit in the Super Bowl that would have me questioning if I wanted to come back. Chris Hogan needs a Tom Brady type QB to make him relevant. The receiving corps will be done. Running backs will be just as rough. Dion Lewis is old. James White is a pass catcher, but again, he won't have Brady throwing him the ball. Rex Burkhead is slow, plodding and a very, very poor man's Danny Woodhead. Mike Gillisilee will be on a new team next year. Look, the entire offense that McDaniels will take over when Belichek leaves will be one of two things, either extremely young and inexperienced, or just flat out bad and old.

Josh McDaniels lost any credibility he had with me and probably any GM outside of New England with this punk ass move. He is a coward. He is a child. He cannot handle being the man in charge. He will forever be looked at as a leech, a hanger on and a baby. This is a very bad look for him, and I fully expect him to regret this decision in the long run. The Colts dodged a bullet, and McDaniels will never, ever be looked at the same again. He is a punk.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty took a job one time he did not want at all. He gave them 4 hours and left on his lunch break to never return. Ty was more loyal than Josh McDaniels.

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Some Quick Thoughts about the Entire Super Bowl 52 Experience

The Eagles won Super Bowl 52.

That was a nice sentence for me to write. Now, I have some thoughts on the game, the halftime show, the commercials, a little bit of everything basically.

First off, for those out there saying this was a "great game", stop it. You are probably the same assholes that loved the Rose Bowl from 2 years ago where USC beat Penn State in a shootout. No defense was played in this game. Save for one strip sack, this was a horrifically played game for both defenses. Neither team could stop the other one. Both offenses did whatever they wanted at any time they wanted. When the team that loses the game goes for 600 plus yards of offense, that is abysmal. That is Big 12 football. These were supposedly two of the top 10 defenses in football, but you wouldn't have noticed it if you watched this game last night. Even the tackling was just awful. This was a poorly played game for the side of the ball that is supposed to win championships. Yes, the strip sack won the game, but that was one play in a game where over 1,100 yards of offense was totaled between both teams. This was a trash game.

Next, the Patriots had a look of entitlement coming into this game. They walked out on that field and just seemed to think that the Eagles were going to roll over. They figured that they were the mighty Patriots and no team with a backup QB is going to beat us. I'm sure they thought that they would surely win because they have Tom Brady, they have Bill Belichek, they have Gronk, they have Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, they are the Patriots. Well, the Eagles didn't buy into any of that bull shit. They came to win. They weren't just happy to be in the game, they wanted to win the game. Props to them for not backing down to "mighty Patriots dynasty". That was pretty cool to see.

Nick Foles was amazing in this game. So was Tom Brady. These 2 QB's looked incredible last night. They each shredded what was supposed to be top defenses. Brady got rid of the ball quick and efficiently, which is what he always does. You don't go for 400 plus yards and however many TD's he had if you aren't on fire. But, Foles was better. He outplayed Brady in this game. Sure, he had one pick, but it was early, it was a poorly thrown pass that tipped off Alshon Jeffery's hand and into a Patriot players arms and it didn't really have any ill effect on the outcome of the game. The trick play worked for him and the Eagles. Both teams tried wide receiver passes to their QB's, and while Brady dropped a gimme, Foles hauled in his for a TD that gave the Eagles a 10 point lead going into halftime. He was also awesome on third down. The Patriots could not get off the field because Foles either bought time and found a receiver, or either got a quick slant out to a wide open player for a first down. He is going to be a starter next year, just not for the Eagles.

Which brings me to another point. Carson Wentz will be starting for the Eagles on opening day next season. Don't get it twisted. What Foles did was great, and he will be rewarded, but this team got where they where because of Wentz. He should have won the MVP, and I think he would have put the Eagles in an even better position to win the game by more last night. Foles was great in the playoffs, but Wentz is the future for the Eagles.

Which brings me to another point. Where do the Patriots go from here? Tom Brady will be 41 next season. Belicheck is ancient. Patricia and McDaniels are moving on. I've heard that some other coaches are going to look elsewhere. This is going to be an entirely different team next season. Last night may have been the last we see of this "Patriots dynasty". I would be shocked if Belicheck retires, but it wouldn't be crazy. Brady is going to be 41 as I said, and father time always wins. They will have to spend big money if they want to stay relevant, and that is not what the Patriots do. I do not think it is too far fetched to think that last night was the end. It has been 18 years, 8 Super Bowl appearances and 5 wins. That is a pretty solid run.

Getting back to the game now. As I stated earlier, the Eagles staff outcoached the Patriots. They had a better offensive game plan and they got the one play on defense when they needed it. They ran the ball more effectively, the passing game was almost a toss up, but Foles performed much better on third down, their trick play worked, they never let Foles get sacked, let alone pressured, it was a straight up win for the Eagles. There was no crazy catch on a helmet, or a miraculous throw and catch on the sideline, or a Patriots receiver missing an easy pass, the Eagles just beat them. They went out there and outscored one of the best QB/coaching duos of all time. I say again, congrats to the Eagles and Doug Pederson. And Doug Pederson, a man that the staff at The Ringer, outside of the few Philadelphians that work there, called "the worst coach in the NFL". I have listened to Mike Lombardi, Tate Frazier and Bill Simmons trash him all season long. I have heard Lombardi say in, or around week 11, "the Eagles have bought up all the confetti and are planning the parade route". Well, I guess you should claim that you were right. They beat your Patriots. They outplayed your Patriots. They outcoached your Patriots. They won the game, and a whole lot of that had to do with Doug Pederson. It is amazing to listen to them today on their podcasts all have to eat crow. It is the best kind of schaudenfraude you could ever imagine. And even with all that, they are still making excuses for the Patriots. Well, there are no excuses. They lost and the Eagles won. It is truly as simple as that. If you really want to listen to something today, and you are not a Patriots fan, or if you dislike them, go check out any Ringer podcast. You won't be disappointed. It is hilarious to hear them have to backtrack all the shit talking they did all football season long. Trust me, it is totally worth your time.

To wrap this up I have a few quick takes I want to throw out there from the Super Bowl. I only cared about and remembered 3 commercials. One was a Lexus commercial because it had "Black Panther" attached and there was a Run the Jewels song in it. The other was a spectrum thing that made me laugh because Death went to cut down a tree and his axe thing broke. The third was the preview for "Solo", and that was amazing. 

Oh, I just remembered a fourth one. I think it was a Chevy commercial that used MLK's speech. Screw you Chevy. How dare you. Who in the hell do you think you are? What a disgrace.

The announcing was horrendous, as I expected with Collinsworth and Michaels. They are so bad at this and I was getting legitimately angry during their play calling. Cris Collinsworth is definitely the worst broadcaster ever, and Al Michaels is old, sexist, probably racist and stupid. They were awful. 

I actually watched the halftime show, because I genuinely like Justin Timberlake, and that was a mess. It was boring, predictable and bad. It all looked pre recorded and it was just hackey. The Prince "tribute" was an abomination and I can't wait to push that memory out of my brain. Besides that, he didn't bring out anyone as a special performer. There was no Janet Jackson, no Britney Spears, not even one single member of N'Sync. It was a rough halftime show.

Twitter was awesome after the game.

I'm stoked that the Eagles won because that means a ton of their guys are going to boycott the dumbass White House visit. I love that LeGarette Blount and Chris Long won back to back Super Bowls on different teams. I was shocked that the refs actually made correct calls and let the teams play. I swear, if they overturned either the Corey Clement or Zak Ertz TD, I was going to lose my mind. But, they did the right thing and called a decent game. I was happy that the one big defensive play came from a former Wolverine. But, all in all, this was a pretty bad Super Bowl and I am glad that the 2017 season is done.

These are some of the things I had running through my mind and I figured I would share them with you today. Now, lets get ready for some March Madness and the NBA playoffs.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The only thing worse than a Patriots Super Bowl win is a Patriots Super Bowl loss. Having to hear pathetic, entitled, fanboys make excuses for Brady and Belichick is pointless and tiring.

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I Will not Fall for this XFL Garbage Again

Just leave the XFL in the trash, where it belongs

To finish up my week of sports stories I missed out on one week ago, today I'm going to talk about the announcement of the return of the XFL in 2020.

I could not care less about this. This is one of the dumbest things to happen in sports, and only dumbass people are excited by this news. Seriously, do you guys remember how stupid and pointless and terrible the football was in the XFL? I was one of those idiots way back in the 2000's that was excited by this idea of football returning to its glory days of rough and tough. I was fully on board with the idea of no fair catches, fighting for the ball for the opening kickoff, the picked names by players on the back of the jerseys, I bought into all that nonsense.

I was a high school student back then. I was a teenager who played football. I don't know, maybe my brain was messed up from high school football, and basketball and baseball, and that was why I thought the XFL was a good idea. You know what else I thought was cool in the early 2000's? JNCO jeans, chain wallets, pagers, sweatpants and frosted tips. You guys remember all that cool shit that is still relevant today? Didn't think so. The same can be said for the XFL.

Hell, I was so excited for the premiere of the XFL, I had my girlfriend at the time come with me to a friend's house so she could watch the first game with us. And, I wasn't the only football player that dragged his girlfriend there. There were 5 of us that wanted to watch, and all of our girlfriends were there. I'm so sorry to any of you ladies if you are reading this now. We all acted like morons. We were hooting and hollering and almost foaming at the mouth for the XFL. When they finished with their pregame stuff, and the opening race and fight for the ball to see who started the game with it was about to begin, we all shut our mouths and were glued to the screen. It was going to be great, or so we thought.

Then, it happened.

The race began and the scrum for the ball happened and one of the guys, I don't remember who, probably He Hate Me, got  the ball and his team started with it. It was kind of a dud to watch. We figured, okay one bad thing, but the game will be so much more violent and fast paced and the hits will be so brutal that it will be worth it.

Wrong again.

The football was bad. There was a reason that these guys were in the XFL and not the NFL or even the CFL. They were bad at football. They just so happened to be in shape I guess, but they were bad. They couldn't execute simple run or pass plays. When they tried to run slants or deep routes it was an exercise in futility for both the offense and the defense. Running the ball should have been easy, but they made it hard. These dudes couldn't find a hole that was as big as a mack truck. It was pathetic.

The game got so bad we tried to find something, anything, that was good and this was when we turned to the names on the back of the jerseys. This was an enormous letdown. As I stated before, the only guy I remember is He Hate Me, and I remember it for how dumb I thought it was. I'm sure the rest were even dumber.

The whole thing was a mess. My friends and I, and our girlfriends, couldn't even finish watching the first game. We dipped out before halftime. I think most of the other people that tuned in to watch that night did the same thing too. I instantly forgot about this league until the 1 Million Dollar Game, their Super Bowl. I saw it advertised on TV and thought, the XFL is still a thing? I was dumbfounded. Also, 1 million dollars? That is a drop in the bucket for real pro athletes.

So, when it was announced last week that the XFL would be returning I thought, why? Who wants this? Were people actually clamoring for this to come back? What guys would go play in this league? How will it last longer than one season again? I had these, and many, many more questions that I don't think will ever be answered.

Also, when that alleged sexual assaulter Vince McMahon announced the league and said the rules that the players would have to abide by, I wanted to smash his stupid face through my TV. Screw him. He is a punk and a coward. He is trying to force players to stand for the anthem people. That is an atrocity and it goes against free speech. He claims that the players will have to be good upstanding Americans. What does that even mean anymore? This is going to be a disaster, just like the first time around.

It is such a joke already that guys like Jared Lorenzan, shouts out to him to for trying to get his life together, are reaching out to try and get a roster spot. How long until Robert Griffin and Johnny Manziel are knocking down the XFL's door? Hopefully for them, sooner rather than later.

I loathe this idea. I loathe the whole thought process and development of the XFL. I loathe the people involved. I feel sorry for the guys that will legitimately try and make a team as a last ditch effort to get to the NFL or CFL. This is gruesome on every single level. This is all coming from a guy that watches the G League too. But, I know that the basketball in the G League isn't good, but it is better than anything the XFL will put out there, and at least some G League guys get NBA deals, shouts out to former Michigan player Trey Burke. I cannot name one player from the XFL that went on to even be signed by a NFL team.

Screw the XFL and everyone involved. And if you are excited for this, please, I implore you, look in the mirror and ask yourself if you really want to watch something so painful that it will make you angry that you wasted any amount of time on it. I hope that it fades away quietly, just like it did the first time around. What a horrendous idea it was to bring this league back. It is a big, big joke.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. How could Ty forget the excitement of watching Tommy Maddox lead his LA Xtreme squad over the upstarts with the San Francisco Demons in the Million Dollar Game. The Head Editor forgot and needed a little help from Wikipedia to get the details right.

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A Few Thoughts on the NBA All Star Draft

I finally have come to a conclusion of the NBA All Star "draft" from last week.

First off, I am one of the very few people that have enjoyed the lack of defense played in the NBA All Star game in recent years. I love the scoring. I love the dunking. I love the highlights. I am all for it. I want both teams to score 200 plus points. I think that would be amazing. I know people that are opposed to the way the game has been played lately, but I am on the total opposite end. It is an exhibition. It is supposed to be a show for the fans. They don't have to go 100 percent. I don't want these star players to get hurt because they went too hard in the All Star game. This is a fun game that needs to be filled with scoring, scoring and then a little more scoring.

With that being said, I do like this "draft" that they did. I think this is a neat idea. It is a lot like playground basketball. I love getting rid of the conference affiliation, because, lets be honest, the West would have crushed the East this year. I'm also fully on board with the winning team players getting 100k towards the charity of their choice. I think all of these ideas were well thought out. I do wish they would have televised LeBron and Steph picking the teams. I wanted to know who went first overall, and who went last. I wanted to see Steph and LeBron's faces while figuring out who they were going to pick after the other guy picked. I wished they could have picked anyone too. I was not a fan of the whole pick the starters that were voted on first, then pick the reserves. It should have just been an all out "draft" if that is what they were going for.

When looking at the teams now, I do think it is kind of clear who was the first overall pick. LeBron had the number one choice due to the fact that he was the highest vote getter, and I think it is pretty clear that he picked Kevin Durant first. He was the clear cut number one overall player. I have heard some people slander LeBron for doing this, but I think it is borderline genius for many reasons. First off, he breaks up the Warriors two best players. Splitting up KD and Steph was the absolute right choice. Also, I'm not sure what the jerseys will say, but if they say "Team LeBron" and "Team Steph", I think it is so hilarious that KD has to wear a jersey with LeBron's name on it. It is almost as if he is saying, I'm still the best player in the league, look at the name on your jersey, and don't forget it. That is also why I love his pick of Kyrie Irving as well. He is rubbing salt in the wound. Kyrie wanted out of LeBron's shadow, and rightfully so, but now, if he has to wear a jersey with "Team LeBron" on it, hilarious. So while some are trashing LeBron for taking a Warrior and picking Kyrie, I think it was, not only a smart, but also a move to prove to these guys who still owns the league.

The rest of LeBron's team is solid. He had Boogie, but he is out now, unfortunately. He also has Anthony Davis, LaMarcus Aldridge, Bradley Beal, Kevin Love, Victor Oladipo, Kristaps Porzingis, John Wall and Russell Westbrook. We have the obvious Boogie injury and John Wall and Kevin Love are out now, but the rest of his team is great. The starters are LeBron, KD, Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. I don't know who is fifth starter will be, it was supposed to be Boogie, so lets just say that it will now be LaMarcus Aldridge. That is a solid starting 5. LeBron is the best player in the world. KD is a top notch scorer who has suddenly started to defend. Anthony Davis is just a nightmare everywhere on the floor for opponents. Kyrie is a wizard with the ball. Oh, he can score too and LMA is just a solid NBA player and guy. The bench is good too. Beal is a lethal shooter, Porzingis is a unicorn, Oladipo is having his best year in the league and Russ is a bulldog who wants to win, no matter the stakes. LeBron had a very good draft.

Steph's team is good, but not as good as LeBron's, in my opinion. Steph has, himself, Giannis Antentekoumpo, DeMar DeRozan, Joel Embiid and James Harden as his starters. His bench has Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Al Horford, Damian Lillard, Kyle Lowry, Klay Thompson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Just comparing the names of the two teams, Team LeBron wins by a mile. Steph does have great scoring in the backcourt in his starting five with himself and Harden. Harden is on fire right now, he is the front runner for MVP and I think he will be out to prove something. Steph is Steph. He can score from anywhere on the floor. The problem, they don't play any defense whatsoever. If defense will be attempted, they will get roasted. DeRozan can shoot threes and fill it up, but again, no defense. Also, will he get the shots he needs to get in rhythm playing with Steph and Harden? Probably not. Joel Embiid is a great young player with a ton of potential, but he is not an All Star starter yet. People need to chill on the Embiid stuff. I love him as much as any young guy in the NBA right now, but he is still not fully healthy, and he may only be allowed to play 10 minutes in the All Star game. The wild card on Team Steph, Giannis. That dude is amazing. He is the best young player in the league, and the best unicorn by a mile. He is just a specimen and he could absolutely explode in this All Star game. He is Team Steph's version of Russell Westbrook. He will go hard and take this game seriously. Steph's bench is pretty ho hum. I love Jimmy Butler, and he has been incredible this season, but he isn't 100 percent. I'd be shocked if he plays double figure minutes. Draymond Green will not care about this game, and he shouldn't. He is too important to the Warriors quest to win back to back titles and the All Star game will be a weekend of rest for him. Is there a more boring All Star than Al Horford? I know he is a great team guy and a very good passer, but come on. He had to have been the last pick. It was either him or Love. Lillard will go hard and score, but he is another guy that eschews defense in the regular season and the playoffs. He will not play any in the All Star game. I love Lowry and Klay Thompson. Lowry is back from injury and I feel like he will go hard. Thompson will want to prove that he can score against the best of the best, especially when he is the only Warrior on the floor. Hell, he might even want to showcase his talents for a future team he may be playing for in the city that the All Star game is in. KAT is a beast down low, can extend people outside and rebound. But, his defense comes and goes. That is the running problem with Team Steph, they don't have any real lock down defenders. If they can catch fire they could win, but they won't be able to stop pretty much anyone on Team LeBron.

When I broke it down, as I have said once already, LeBron won this draft and he won it by a mile. I hope it will be a good game, but I think it will be a slaughter. I do enjoy this new format and I hope it sticks, but I also hope I get to see one of these teams go for 200 points. I am excited for All Star weekend and the game. Lets get to it.

Ty

The Boogie Cousins Injury Sucks

Last weekend Boogie Cousins, a center/power forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, and one of my favorite players, ruptured his Achilles. He didn't just tear it, he ruptured it. This is a brutal, brutal injury for the team and Boogie.

The Pelicans were a middling Western Conference playoff team. I believe they were in the 6th or 7th spot the night he got hurt. They have 2 All Star starters on the team, Boogie being one and Anthony Davis the other. But besides those 2, the cupboard is pretty bare in New Orleans. Jrue Holiday is a very solid point guard. He is the only other player on their roster that can get buckets and create for other guys. The Pelicans are paying him way too much money, but his deal was more to keep Davis happy, and to try and get Boogie to sign this offseason. Outside these three guys, the Pelicans roster is filled with either rookies or unproven veterans. In fact, some of the guys seeing critical minutes and starting games should be in the G League. That is how brutal this roster construct is.

Coach Alvin Gentry is doing an okay job, but he may be better suited as an assistant at this point in his career. His one saving grace, and the reason the Pelicans are clinging to a playoff spot right now, is due to his version of the twin towers. When Boogie and AD played together, the Pelicans would win games, or at least make them interesting. AD had been relatively healthy this year and he is looking like the perennial all star that many pegged him to be when he came into the league. He has extended his range, he is a great rebounder, he is one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, he is one of the best rim runners in the league and he is a matchup nightmare every night.

Boogie has been out of his mind this season. He was putting up double doubles like no one's business. He has had some games of 30 plus points and 15 plus rebounds. That is amazing. He does lack effort on the defensive end, which needs to be fixed, but he has not been the headache that he was while in Sacramento. He was also rebounding at an amazing clip. He is in a contract year, and he is playing like it.

Then, the injury occurred. I was actually watching the game when it happened. When and how it happened makes this even worse. The Pelicans were on their way to a win over the Rockets. He and AD had played very well. They were up about 4 points with about 2 minutes left in the game and Boogie was going to the line to add to their lead. He made the first free throw, but then the second one happened. When he put up the shot it looked to be short, and he tried to chase down the rebound. The shot was very short, it grazed the front rim, and Boogie tore off the free throw line to try and grab it. As he took off from the line, something looked wrong. He came up lame right away. Right after he planted and took off, it looked like he was buckling under pressure from his legs. He then tried to get up and he immediately went right back down to the floor. Something was horribly, horribly wrong. His face showed it, the trainers got him off the floor ASAP, which is never a good sign, and the reports were that he was going back for an MRI right away. None of that is good news.

The early reports would only say that the news was "not good". I assumed that he tore his ACL. That is what it looked like to me. I've watched enough sports and seen enough injuries like this, I knew it was bad. But, I did not know it was worse than a torn ACL. He ruptured that shit. That is horrific. That is a tough injury to come back from. Just ask Wesley Matthews. He was tearing the league apart, ruptured his Achilles, missed a year and now he is on a terrible Mavericks team and he is an average player. Boogie is better than Wes Matthews, but still, he has a long road to recovery ahead of him. It is going to take him months before he can even get back on a court again.

Then, it will take a few more months for him to get back into playing shape. I don't doubt that he can do it, but he may not be the player that he has been his entire career up to this point. I mean, 75 percent of what he was is still an All Star, but he was a force. He was a nightmare. He was someone that teams had to openly prepare for. He is an old school bully of a center/power forward who just happens to have modern skills. His first step is amazing, and he can shoot from outside.

I think what makes this the worst for him though, he was going to get paid this offseason. He is in the final year of his contract, and he was most definitely going to get the max. Be it the Pelicans, or any other team that needed a 4 or 5, he was going to get the 5 year 200 million dollar contract for sure. Now, I don't know. He will still get paid, but maybe more teams will be hesitant to give him the years and the money. If I were a betting man I'd say he will get a 3 year deal worth much less than 200 million dollars. That stinks for him.

I hope he gets better soon, but it will be a long while before we see Boogie on the floor. I love watching Boogie Cousins, so I am very upset by this injury. This stinks and I wish star players in the major professional sports would stop getting such devastating injuries. This is just a real bummer. Get better soon Boogie, the NBA needs you.

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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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. 

We made a twitter for Tina, go follow her @TinaSeedsing.

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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. 

We made a twitter for Tina, go follow her @TinaSeedsing.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

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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