The Big Ten is Screwed

I was going to write about the season five premiere of "The Eric Andre Show" today, but it will have to wait another day due to some sports news I saw this afternoon.

The Big Ten, after one week of games being played, already have to cancel a game. I read at the beginning of the week that the Wisconsin freshman QB, who looked dynamite against Illinois last Friday, tested positive twice for COVID. The backup QB did too. Then today Wisconsin confirmed that twelve people within the program, including the head coach, have tested positive. They now have to pause all activities for at least seven days, and the players who tested positive may have to sit upwards of twenty-one days.

The Big Ten was very stringent in the protocols to follow if/when positive tests came out, and the players are hit hardest by this. The rule was stated at the beginning that, if a player tests positive more than once, they have to sit out three weeks. It makes sense to me, it seems like that was a big deal in the restart of the season and we all knew it would come to this, just maybe not this early. But, with the Big Ten waiting so long to start its fall season, this leaves no room for making the game up. The Big Ten has a strict eight week conference only schedule, with the ninth week having the top two teams from each division playing for the Big Ten title, and the rest of the teams playing an extra game for bowl positioning. The caveat, for the time being, Wisconsin and Nebraska will only play eight games, at the most. The rest of the conference, if there are no more outbreaks, I doubt it, will all play one extra game.

Nebraska didn't really have a shot at the CFP, but Wisconsin might have. Nebraska got crushed last week, and they were more than likely going to get beat this Saturday after seeing what Wisconsin did to Illinois, whose defense is much better than Nebraska's. They were staring down an 0-2 start. But I do feel a little bad for Nebraska because they were one of the first schools in the conference to push back against the original cancellation of the season. They were so primed to play that they took a case to court, and they had ideas to play as an independent for this season. Now they have to miss a game because Wisconsin has an outbreak. That seems unfair to them. But this is what the Big Ten will look like all year. The more outbreaks amongst the conference, the more cancellations. They have a set date to finish the year, December 12th, and they are sticking to it. That may mean that some teams will play 7, 8 or 9 games. Or, at this rate, some teams may only play 5 or 6 games.

As for Wisconsin, this stinks on so many levels for them, as a football team. This freshman QB looks like the real deal. He only had one incompletion. He and Justin Fields, who is a legit Heisman contender, had almost identical stats. Now he has COVID, as does his backup and upwards of ten or eleven more players. That is brutal. First of all, this virus has proven it is rough, add on the missed games and practices, and it is like a lost season for these kids. As for the team, this is even more brutal because, as I said, Wisconsin had some real playoff aspirations. They looked like they had opened the offense. The defense shut down Illinois. They pretty much had this Nebraska game in the bag, and more than likely they would have been heading to Ann Arbor in two weeks 3-0, and probably favored in that game. Now they have to miss a full game. The players who have COVID will have to miss, at least, two games. The coaches are going to miss a full week, at the very least, of practice during the season.

This is a blow to the program for this very odd season. But, and I say this again and again and again, how did the players and coaches get COVID, and were they not following safety protocols? I know the University of Wisconsin has seen a surge in positive COVID cases due to parties on campus. Were these players at said parties? Were they not wearing masks? Were they not social distancing? No one knows except the people involved. But more likely than not, if I were a betting man, I'd say that they were going to parties because they are young college athletes who are always the big men on campus. Wisconsin loves their football, and the players are treated like royalty. So the dumb actions of a few are screwing this team and their chances at playing in a big bowl game, or even the CFP.

I fear that this is just the start. I know some universities have already had outbreaks. The university of Ohio State, Rutgers, Michigan State and Penn State all had to pause football activities once already due to outbreaks. Iowa did as well, and they have the whole racial injustice issue going on. The University of Michigan currently has its dormitory residents on stay at home orders. It just feels like things will get much worse before they get better. I would hope that this will be a wake up call for the other members of the Big Ten because any stoppage screws these teams from any major bowl games or the playoff. I wish that were the case, but time will tell. Again, these are young kids that are treated better, and they get invited to everything. If there were ever a season or a year to skip those parties, and just hang out at home, this is the year and the season.

The Big Ten better wake up and take this seriously, or else they will be shut out of any important postseason play. 

Ty

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

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How Should I Feel About Michigan Football Being Back

I watched the entirety of my first college football game this past Saturday night. I haven't been watching much because of the pandemic, the use of these kids as pawns for the universities, the fact that the NCAA is corrupt, that there are no fans and it is eerie and because the Big Ten had not started.

Well that changed on Saturday. The Big Ten kicked off their shortened season. I am surprised that I only watched one full game, and the end of another, waiting for the Michigan game. I figured I would tune in to the other Big Ten games, but I really didn't. I did other things. I hung out with my family in the morning. I ran to the store to get some essentials. I went for a run by myself. I did what I have been doing all fall pretty much. But I knew that Michigan was going to kick off at 6:30pm my time, and I knew I would watch. I also knew that my mom and dad would come over, they have been a part of our little bubble this whole pandemic, and that my dad and I cannot resist watching Michigan. So, we tuned in to the end of the PSU-Indiana game, which was, given the circumstances, a pretty exciting game, and waited for Michigan to start. Before the game I did not have the usual feelings I have had every year since I became obsessed with the Wolverines. I wasn't waiting all day, I found things to do. My mind wasn't focused on who was going to play, and what the team may look like. I didn't have that usual pit in my stomach right before kickoff. I was relaxed enough to eat eight big chicken wings and a full size salad we ordered from a local pizza joint. That never really happened before for me. And I should be happy about that. I should feel like there has been some kind of growth and maturity that has come with age. But really, it was the fact that this season is, and will continue to be, so very weird.

The pregame ramp up seemed familiar, and when I saw the Wolverines warming up, it looked normal enough. There is hardly anyone in the stadium an hour prior to most games, so it didn't seem different at first. But then the game started. This was when it felt odd. There were less than 600 fans in attendance. This is a good thing too. I'm not complaining, or comparing it to a Marlins game. The Big Ten has strict fan attendance rules, and they are only allowing certain people to watch the games live. But this meant you could hear everything that was being said on the field. I could hear QB's make checks, players talk to one another and the hits were crisp. It was surreal. Usually the crowd drowns that out, but not on Saturday night. I will say, the fans in attendance were fully masked, and seemed to be following the proper safety protocols. The coaches were as well. There were only a few times I said aloud, "why isn't that coach wearing his mask?". Both head coaches were masked the whole game, only flipping it off to bark out instructions, which I thought was good. As for the game on the field, both teams were missing starters, Minnesota was missing more, but it was not what I expected. I thought this was going to be a hard nosed, low scoring defensive affair. It was not. Minnesota blocked a punt and scored in under 3 minutes. Michigan answered with a 70 yard TD run on the very next play. Then Michigan got a strip sack for a score right after that. From there on out, it was an offensive battle. Michigan had 35 points at half, which was wild. Joe Milton looked solid and in control, the run game was good and very, very deep, the young receivers and skill players did well and it was clear that Minnesota missed their starters much more than Michigan did.

When it was all said and done, Michigan won 49-24. They got a solid road win against a ranked opponent when a lot of people picked against Michigan. It was nice to see them play again too. I had resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to see them play until next fall, and this was a nice surprise. And I did have times where I cheered long runs and defensive stops and was happy that they won going away. But it was weird. I felt icky at times watching the game. I am worried for the kids and I hope they continue to follow proper protocols. I will continue to watch because I love Michigan, but this is going to be as weird a season as I have ever witnessed. I'm glad they won, and I hope they get to play with few, possibly no, postponements, but time will tell. Either way, glad they won, but it was a very bizarre experience. This is like nothing I have seen, or even my dad for that matter.

This will be an odd year for sure.

Ty

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

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Ty's 2020 Big Ten Football Preview

The Big Ten starts, I believe, their fall football season tonight.

I am pretty conflicted about this. I haven't watched much college football, even less NFL, and with COVID cases surging in the Midwest right now, I don't think it is the safest thing to do. But they are barreling ahead and getting it started. They are doing an eight game abbreviated season, with the possibility of a ninth game. This affords them the chance to make the playoff, if they have little to no problems finishing the season. I think they will run into problems, every conference playing currently has had stops and cancellations and postponements, and the NFL has been even worse. But, I will watch, at the very least, Michigan. I am an addict, I love their football team and, while it is easy for me to skip a Clemson or Alabama game, I just can't do that with the Wolverines. And to be fully transparent, I will watch other Big Ten games. This is the conference I have grown up with, and I watch it more than any other. I will miss the freedom I have found myself having on Saturday's now, at least for the next eight Saturday's, but I know I will tune in when Michigan is on. That is who I am.

With all this being said, I am going to do a 2020 version of my preseason preview of the Big Ten. I will not go through each team, and give them sentences and where I think they will fall. I will give you all a general view of how I see the Big Ten season unfolding, and end it with some predictions, including the conference champ. Let's get to it. Right off the bat, I do think the Big Ten will run into issues with postponements. Some of the teams, if not all, will have some kind of outbreak, and they will have to shut it down for a week or two. We have seen it at small programs, and much bigger ones, namely Notre Dame and Florida. It is definitely going to happen in the Big Ten. That is how this has worked all college football season so far, and the Big Ten is not immune.

The university of Ohio State should roll. They have the easiest schedule in the conference. I'm not joking. They do not play anyone tough, at all. You can throw out Penn State or Michigan at me, and I'd counter with, PSU is missing their top running back and best defender, and Michigan has almost an entire new offense, and secondary. If the university of Ohio State doesn't go undefeated, it would be a major, major letdown from them. They have the best players in the league, and they were given as cupcake a schedule as a team can get in this weird season.

I think Michigan will be mediocre, but I do love that they are starting Joe Milton at QB. My dad has been high on him since day one, and I have become a fan over the past year. He is going to be good, but he will have some not so good moments. They also have an entire new receiving corps, save for Ronnie Bell. They also have four new offensive line starters. They also have an entire new secondary. The players are good, they just haven't played much, and Michigan has one of the harder schedules in the conference. I think, at best they are a 5-3 team, but they look more like 4-4 to me. I also think this is the time that Michigan fans should get really worried that Harbaugh might jump back to the NFL. I hope he doesn't, but you never really know what he is going to do. He is a great coach, he has made the Wolverines so much better than they were prior to him, and I'd hope he would stay because he is the king in Ann Arbor, but I just have this odd feeling he will seriously consider jumping.

Wisconsin and Penn State will be solid six or seven win teams, but they will not compete for the playoff. PSU doesn't have their top back, best defensive player, and they really kind of tumbled near the end of last season. I don't trust their pass game, and I think the odd season we have will hamper their offense. Wisconsin will plug in some other running back that will go for 1200 to 1500 yards, and their O line will be solid, but their passing game is super suspect, and I think they lost a good chunk of their defense.

Minnesota will be solid. They lost a ton, but they have their QB and one of their best receivers back. I am curious to see if last year was an anomaly, or a sign of things to come. There is always a team that explodes for one season, then crashes back to Earth. I think Minnesota is good enough to be an upper tier Big Ten team, but I want to see it first. They should have an explosive offense though.

Iowa has so many problems within the program that I don't see how that doesn't affect them on the field. Former players are calling for Kirk Ferentz to be fired. That has got to weigh on them. By the way, if all the stories coming out of Iowa are true, he has to be fired immediately. That is some heinous stuff.

Outside those teams, it is all kind of blended. Purdue was helped with Rondale Moore opting back in, but who else do they have? Northwestern has more stories about kids opting out than playing. What is going on in Lincoln? Is Scott Frost a good coach? Are they going to figure it out defensively? Who knows. Michigan State has a new coach and a whole new system, and they have problems within their program as well. Indiana will always be a tough out because that is the nature of their team. And the rest, Illinois, Maryland and Rutgers, they all have holes, but also some good guys and will play some fun games, but probably not win too many of them.

I think it goes without saying that I have the university of Ohio State winning the conference again, and they should do it going away. I also think Justin Fields will be the Big Ten player of the season. They should dominate. Outside of that, I am excited to see Joe Milton, Minnesota will be pretty good and PSU and Wisconsin will be better than average. Let's get to it, I guess. 

Ty

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

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Is Le'Veon Bell Still Worth the Attention

Yesterday, a few days after being released by the Jets, Le’Veon Bell signed with the Chiefs.

On paper this is a solid signing. He is a decent enough back still, doesn't have as many miles on him as he maybe should, and he wanted out of a bad situation and ended up in a great situation. This also adds, in theory, a ton more firepower to an already loaded offense. I don't exactly know how Bell will fit in, and the rookie they have, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, has been really solid so far, but if you can get Bell on a deal like the Chiefs did, why not take a half a year chance on him. So kudos to the Chiefs for taking a chance on a guy that can make them even more lethal than they already are. But, has anyone in a long time had further of a fall than Bell did after sitting out a whole year due to contract stuff?

For those that may not know, Bell sat out an entire year because he felt he was underpaid and overused. In both cases he was right, at the time. And, I agreed with his decision. He was making the best decision for himself, the team was essentially abusing him and running backs' shelf lives in the NFL are so short now, why not get paid the most you can when you can? Bell made the correct financial decision. But, was it the right career move? That is a loaded question. Bell did get paid, eventually. He also sat out a whole year of his prime. This was good and bad. It was good because it helped him preserve his body and possibly prolong his career. It hurt because he was one of the best, if not the best overall back in the league at the time, and he took off a full season. He just sat there and waited. Pittsburgh was never going to trade him or pay him that year, and they found a suitable player to take over, James Connor. The Steelers called his bluff, and unfortunately for Bell, he did not win. They eventually traded him to the Jets, and the Jets paid him. They gave him pretty much what he wanted, and it all seemed rosy at first. I remember people praising the deal, and people saying this was going to put them over the top, and that they could contend soon. I even liked the move at the time.

Then the Jets hired Adam Gase as head coach, and it all went down from there. The two of them did not get along. They constantly butted heads and aired stuff publicly. Gase told the media that everyone except Sam Darnold was available for trades last year, and this rubbed Bell the wrong way. And then Bell's play on the field suffered. He did nothing, at all, for the Jets. I don't know if it was play calling, if he lost a step, if he didn't try because he disliked the coach and already got paid, but the Jets version of Le’Veon Bell was so far removed from the Pittsburgh version. He was a forgettable player. I honestly forgot he was still playing until the Jets released him. I did see that they were trying to trade him, but they couldn't even get a 7th round pick for him. Then he had a list of teams that he would play for, but some, including the 49ers, said stuff like, "we are good with our guys". Bell wasn't even wanted now. And whenever a player puts out a list of teams they will play for, that is a sign to me that they are grasping at straws, trying to stay relevant. When Bell whittled his "list" to three teams, some reporter noted it was the Jets next three opponents. That is such a childish move in my book. And now that he has signed with the Chiefs, I just kind of shrug my shoulders.

I know it looks good on paper, but what really is he going to bring them? He isn't the runner he used to be, he is not as good a pass catcher, and the Chiefs already have better, younger talent at the position. This kind of feels like late Lesean McCoy. McCoy was supposed to be the "guy" for Buffalo, but he just kind of faded. The Bills went with the younger players, and they were better, and stayed healthy. I kind of see that happening with Bell. I think he will come in this season, not do much, Edwards-Helaire will cement his spot as the number one back and Bell will be gone as soon as the season is over, looking for another new team.

I feel for Bell because I fully supported and understood why he sat out a year. But his bluff was called, and more than answered, and now he is a nomadic, has been running back. He had those early good years, but now, he just seems like a guy that will take one year deals, until he is out of the league in the next two to three years. At least he got his though. That cannot be taken away from him. 

Ty

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

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Tom Herman is the Problem at Texas

I know it may seem trite and gripey and me just flat out complaining, and also pointless given where we are as a country, a complete and utter mess, but why are no people in the sports media right now thrashing Tom Herman for underachieving at Texas?

Ever since Herman took over for Charlie Strong, who is a fine coach and never got a fair shot there, everyone expected him to bring Texas football back. He was supposed to be the savior. He was a successful coordinator at the University of Ohio State, he did a wonderful job at, I believe it was Houston, and he parlayed that into becoming the head coach at a major, historic football university. But every year since he has been there he has, for all intents and purposes, not done any better than Charlie Strong did. Texas always seems to show up in the preseason top 10 since Herman took over, and they always seem to be totally out of the top 25, or in the mid 20's after four weeks. I fully understand that this year is way, way different than any other college football season in over 100 years, and there are many excuses to go around, but this happened last year at Texas. It also happened the year before that. And Herman's first year, they struggled to make a bowl, and barely beat Missouri. Herman has not been the savior.

I get that these things take time too. He has to recruit his players, install his system and get players and boosters to buy in. But that all seemed to happen, at least behind the scenes. But every year Texas loses early on to a team that has no real business being on the same field with them. The past two seasons it was Maryland. Maryland is a middling Big Ten team, but they put it on Texas two years in a row, one of the games being in Texas. Texas also got beat by LSU, also in Texas, last season. Now, LSU did go on to win the title, and Joe Burrow won the Heisman, but this was before we knew what LSU was to become last year. Then this year they have struggled mightily in their last three games. They needed overtime to beat a not very good Texas Tech school. They also gave up 56 points to Tech. Tech only scored 17 last week at Iowa State. Then TCU beat them. TCU is okay, but they aren't the world beaters they were a few years back. And last weekend they needed a miracle comeback, aided by refs miscues, just to get to overtime with a 1-2 Oklahoma team, and they still got beat in the 4th overtime, again surrendering over 50 points. Texas now sits at 2-2 and out of the rankings yet again. But when I check sports news, which is the only way I am currently keeping my sanity, no one is calling for Herman to be fired, calling him a bad coach, saying he isn't fit for the job. It seems like most people are making excuses for him still, in year four.

Now, I am a tried and true Michigan fan and the media has been trashing Jim Harbaugh from day one. Maybe I notice this more because I read mostly Big Ten sites and news, but even on a ESPN or Bleacher Report of Sports Illustrated, Harbaugh is always dragged through the mud when the Wolverines play like Texas does. So why does a guy like Herman get a pass, but Harbaugh gets roasted constantly? Herman isn't quiet. He is quite loud and quite the trash talker. But the big media outlets call him "fiery" for this. Harbaugh does the same thing, and he is labeled "crazy". I don't get it. Also, Harbaugh took over a much worse off Michigan team, and has turned them into an okay team. They have won 10 games three times, 8 another and 9 last year. Texas was better off than Michigan when Herman took over. Charlie Strong may not have won enough games to keep his job and make the boosters happy, but he could recruit. And they were still going to bowl games. Herman had a team, he just had to mold it. Harbaugh had a defense, but he had to totally retool an offense that had zero identity. But when the Wolverines and Harbaugh needed overtime to beat Army last year, the media dragged him and Shea Patterson. Texas needed overtime to beat a much worse Tech team this year, and the media called it "gutsy". Michigan hasn't beaten the University of Ohio State in a decade, and the media never lets me or the rest of the Michigan fanbase forget that. But how many times has Texas beat Oklahoma in that time? Three times, only once under Herman, and all three were considered "upsets". But because Oklahoma doesn't blow them out, the media seems to give Herman a pass. All the while, people like Paul Finebaum and Lee Corso go on TV and roast the hell out of Harbaugh every year. I know this sounds whiny and I'm being a huge fan boy right now, but the media, especially the big time companies, are supposed to be unbiased and rip everyone equally. The fact that Herman gets a pass, but Harbaugh gets dragged is so far beyond me. I would much, much rather have Jim Harbaugh as my team's head coach, and I wasn't fully on board when they hired him. But at least he has made Michigan semi relevant, if not a title contender.

Texas is, quite possibly, the most overrated college football team in the country, and I think a lot of that has to do with the media's unrequited love for Tom Herman. I don't know, it just seems a little ridiculous that Herman gets a pass and Harbaugh doesn't. That's my opinion. 

Ty

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

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Congrats to the Lakers and the NBA

The NBA proved they could finish the season during a global pandemic, and they did it perfectly.

The Lakers wrapped up their 17th title, although some of those came when they were in Minneapolis, but whatever, with a dominant game six win last night. From the second quarter on, the Lakers left no doubt that they were the best team in the NBA this year. I will fully eat crow and admit I was completely wrong about them. When I did my preseason ratings, which seems like decades ago, I had them as the number seven seed in the West. Then during the restart, I picked them to make the West Finals, but I had the Clippers winning. I wasn't high on their bench, I thought that Anthony Davis wouldn't stay healthy all season, I thought Frank Vogel was a lame duck hire and I thought, very stupidly, that LeBron had lost a step. Now, he is still not, nor will he ever be as great as Michael Jordan, but he is firmly the second greatest player of all time. I have Jordan ahead of him because he never left or formed any "super team". The guys he played with were better because of Jordan, and grew with Jordan. Dennis Rodman isn't Anthony Davis or even Kevin Love. Scottie Pippen isn't as great as Davis, and Dwyane Wade was a better offensive player. Jordan did it himself. He wanted to beat the best, not play with the best. But I was very wrong on LeBron being a step slow this season. He came out on fire, played committed defense most of the year and really handled the duties of a point guard perfectly. He orchestrated their offense great. And AD, he is a truly athletic unicorn. He is as smooth as KD, blocks shots like Hakeem and cuts to the rim like Barkley. AD is awesome. He is James best teammate ever, full stop. He was great in this series too. Some people were griping about his lack of scoring, but he more than made up for it on defense. He got into the Heat's heads, and he made these guys take extremely hard shots. He was amazing. The bench, mainly Rajon Rondo, showed up when they needed to. Rondo was outstanding everywhere. He did all the things in the playoffs that make him a great player, dare I say a hall of fame player. Alex Caruso was doing the little things. He plays solid defense and he cuts when he needs to. Danny Green may have missed a big shot in game five, and wasn't shooting good at all during the playoffs, played good defense and made solid plays when he passed the ball. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played D and hit threes. Even Dwight Howard did all the little things asked of him to help this team win. And while I know that Erik Spoelstra is a far better coach, Frank Vogel did a solid job of letting his stars do their thing. He stayed out of the way, and that is exactly what he needed to do. He was a figurehead, and that is it. The Lakers won, and they deserved to win. They were the best team this year, they proved it time and time again, and they are the rightful champs.

As for the NBA, and the "bubble", this literally couldn't have gone any better. They had 22 teams show up right in the midst of a global pandemic in a hotspot in Florida. They had some teams there for a month, others for two and the final four teams spent four months there. They provided entertainment, they provided food, they had dedicated staff, doctors, trainers and hotel employees, they had COVID testers, they had a solid set of rules, and it all worked. There were zero positive COVID tests the whole time the teams and players and staff were there. That is truly amazing. Look at what the MLB, and now college football and NFL are going through. They can't go a week without a positive test. The NBA lasted over three months without one. It worked and it paid off. The basketball didn't suffer at all. The games were competitive, they were fast paced, the scores were high, it was way better than I thought. If you didn't know, you would have no idea that these guys were in limbo for almost three months, not knowing if they were going to play again or not.

Then we had the police brutality issue, where a white police officer shot another unarmed black man who was doing nothing wrong. I will say it forever, defund the police. The shooting of Jacob Blake almost stopped all of the playoffs. There was a league wide strike. Some teams, including the Lakers, were ready to go home that night. But Adam Silver listened to the players, met their demands and made a plan, and they were able to continue. They were able to finish. I loved in the bubble that the players were able to speak their minds, and talk about social and political things. I adore that players used their platforms to talk about such things, and not focus on solely basketball. That was so awesome and so great and prolific. That was, outside of the games, my favorite thing about the bubble. I love that players spoke their minds, urged people to vote, told people in their team's hometown to make changes. Hopefully this continues the movement in our country that I feel is happening now. We are fed up, and the NBA players in the bubble echoed that sentiment. I have always loved the NBA, and I always will. But what they did in Orlando, how they pulled it off and how they used the platform, it has made me even more of a fan. I am so happy to call myself an NBA fan. I am so happy they achieved their goal. I am happy that they let their voices be heard. I'm happy no one got COVID. And I am happy that the best team, in the end, won the title.

Congrats to the Lakers, to LeBron, to AD, to Adam Silver and to the NBA. This was a historic finish to a very odd and long 2019-20 NBA season. You guys did it, and you did it the best. I am more proud to be an NBA fan than I am to be an American., The NBA is a much better place than our country, and the bubble proved that. Congrats to all involved. You guys did it. 

Ty

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

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Ty's Favorite Michigan Football Games: October 27th, 2019

It’s Friday, so that means yet another classic Michigan Wolverines football fave from me. I’ve skewed with some “older” games lately. I will go back to that when I get closer to the end of the college football season, whenever that may be this year. But today I’m going back to last year.

Last season Michigan was supposed to be great. They were supposed to be a playoff contender. They were supposed to be the team to beat in the Big Ten. They had everyone back and they hired Josh Gattis to get the offense to play fast and loose. Well, that didn’t happen, at least until this game. Michigan started slow. They trailed in their first game against Middle Tennessee, before pulling away late. They needed trick plays and overtime to beat Army. They got crushed when they went up to Madison to play Wisconsin, and before making it a game late, Penn State dominated most of that game on their way to a 7 point win. Michigan struggled coming into this game.

The date was October 27th, it was last year and their opponent was Notre Dame. Notre Dame was higher ranked, their one loss was to a very good Georgia team, they had a more explosive offense, and they had all the momentum. Michigan, as I mentioned before, was struggling. They definitely showed signs of life late in the PSU game, and I hoped it was a sign of things to come. But still, they hadn’t looked right on offense, the defense was on the field too much and Shea Patterson was not playing well. Notre Dame was even favored in this game, and it was in Ann Arbor. Pretty much every show and publication and website picked Notre Dame to win. I remember vividly the guys on CBS laughing at the thought that Michigan could win this game. And right as the game was going to start, a night game mind you, rain started to pour down. This made me even more nervous than normal. This meant Michigan was going to have to run, and not fumble chances away, which was a problem. It also meant that any of the confidence Patterson gained at the end of the PSU game throwing the ball was all but gone. The rain was so heavy that I’m sure the ball felt like a greased pig. I was left to myself to watch the game as well. My wife doesn’t like watching Michigan games with me, and my dad was on a plane flying home from California with my mom. So it was just me.

I sat down for kickoff, and what I watched was so surprising, but in a good way. Michigan came out like a house on fire on offense, and it was all the run game. The O line was making humongous holes, and Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins were gouging Notre Dame’s defense with long runs. The score was only 3-0 going into the second quarter, but Michigan seemed so damn determined to prove everyone wrong. They scored two TD’s in the second quarter, both on the ground. The run game couldn’t be stopped. As for Michigan’s defense, they came to play as well. They were forcing so many three and outs. They pressured the QB all half. They would not let them run the ball. It was glorious. But, I was still a little leery because it was such a dominant half, but they only led by 17. Notre Dame was then gifted a TD when it appeared the QB was intercepted, but the refs called a phantom pass interference to overturn the pick. This was the only time I was really worried. Notre Dame cut the lead to 10, the rain was letting up, and to this point, Michigan had trouble keeping leads. I was also yelling at the TV loud enough that my wife has to tell me to calm down. That all went away pretty quick. Michigan got the ball back and went right down the field to push the lead back to 17. The defense and run game totally took over from here. Notre Dame did score one more useless TD, but not before Michigan scored 21 more points. Michigan totally took over. Hassan Haskins ripped his way through the Notre Dame defense for 149 yards on 20 carries, 7 yards a carry. Charbonnet had 74 yards on 15 carries and 2 TD’s. Tru Wilson went for 40 plus rush yards and a TD. Even Christian Turner got some run in, gaining 31 yards on 4 carries. All told, Michigan gained 303 yards on 53 carries. That’s exactly what I want in a game with weather like they had. They controlled the ball and ran for a ton of yards. Michigan did throw two TD’s, but they only attempted fourteen total passes. As a team they were 8 of 14 for 134 passing yards. Not great, but needed in bad weather. On the other side, Michigan’s defense dominated. Notre Dame attempted 29 passes, completing 11 of them for 133 yards. One less than Michigan on more than double the attempts. On the ground, Notre Dame ran for 47 net yards on 31 attempts. Michigan ran for nearly 8 times as many yards. But the most important thing, and crucial thing in bad weather games, Notre Dame lost 2 fumbles, where Michigan had 0 turnovers. They protected the ball all night in heavy rain and wind. That was nice.

At the end of the night, after Michigan won 45-14, it was great for me to see all these “experts” have to eat crow. Michigan dominated this game and proved that Notre Dame was not a top 10 team, and not the playoff contender many thought they were. This was a great watch for me because Michigan won, won big and beat a big time rival. It was one of those cleansing games I’ve mentioned before. This was a nice recent memory of a great, and big, Michigan win for me. This one was nice for many reasons, but mainly because it reminded me that Michigan, and Jim Harbaugh, can win big games from time to time, and they can do it in an old school way if the weather makes it necessary. This was a good one.

Ty

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

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The Texans Finally Did the Right Thing

The Texans finally did it. All it took was a plethora of terrible trades, mostly bad draft decisions, star players turning on him and an 0-4 start, but they finally fired Bill O’Brien. In fact they relived him of all duties he held, effective immediately. When they fired him, they made sure it was well known that it was then and there. No waiting until the end of the year, no third or fourth chance, nothing. He, as of last night, is unemployed.

Now, as far as O’Brien’s on field coaching, he’s not good, but he’s not terrible. The Texans did make the playoffs pretty regularly, and they even won a game in the playoffs once in awhile. Yes, the division is not good, the Colts had to deal with Andrew Luck suddenly retiring and Jacksonville’s epic collapse after an AFC title appearance. O’Brien also had a hand in drafting Deshaun Watson. Yes, he mortgaged the future by trading many, many picks, but still, they got Watson. As far as the on field play, it wasn’t too bad. Watson masked a lot of the problems, but still, they had an okay enough offense to win nine games a season. But everything kind of came to a head this off-season. They traded Deandre Hopkins for peanuts. Apparently Hopkins and O’Brien didn’t get along, and since he had GM responsibilities, O’Brien chose himself and his priority over what was best for his team. He offloaded his young star QB’s best weapon because they didn’t like one another. There’s been so many of these stories in the past, star player doesn’t like coach, but it usually solves itself, or the coach goes. It’s almost never coach over player. But most coaches don’t have GM authority, or if they do, it doesn’t work. O’Brien was clearly in the latter. Beside the Hopkins trade, O’Brien had many mishaps. He did get Watson, but mortgaged the future of the team. He never drafted or developed O line to help the franchise QB. They took on too many “project” players. They never really added to the defense. They let Jadaveon Clowney leave in free agency.

This is all on O’Brien. He can be blamed for this. Back to the Hopkins trade. As I said, they got peanuts. They got some late round picks and David Johnson. No disrespect to Johnson, but he was a one season wonder, and then his leg exploded the following season. He’s not the guy he was that one year, and he will never be again. Hopkins on the other hand is young and awesome. He is currently crushing it in Arizona. The Cardinals may not be the best team, but they’re better than the Texans currently. But with all the turnover, the fights and the mishandling in the front office, it just felt like a matter of when, not if, O’Brien would be fired.

Then the Texans started the year the way they’ve started it. They’ve looked anemic on offense. They can’t protect Watson, the receivers get zero separation and the run game is non existent. The defense, it’s below average. JJ Watt is overrated and always hurt. Whitney Mercilus is hurt. They haven’t replaced Clowney. Their secondary is shotty. And again, this can all be placed on O’Brien. He took on all these extra roles, and when you take on too much, it’s hard to do any of them adequately. He made bad decisions as a GM, and the on field play was starting to really suffer from his poor play calling. He also let his feelings get involved, and that cannot happen in the NFL.

O’Brien has struck me as a guy that has failed up. He was on a good staff in New England when he got the Penn State job. He was fine there, but they were never a true threat. He then got this Texans job, and soon enough he became the GM, as well as the head coach and was given full authority for the most part. He didn’t do that good enough, and now he’s out of all of those jobs. I don’t know where he goes from here. I mean, he had all this power, so what will he look for in a new job if he’s offered one? I don’t think an NFL team will hire him, at least not as a head coach. He could get a coordinator job, but not a head coaching job. He should not get a front office or GM job ever again. This was where he messed up the most. As far as college, will he go back? Will he take less money? Will he go to a lower tier school? I don’t know. I don’t think a big time program will hire him. He wasn’t hyper competitive at PSU. He didn’t win any titles wasn’t in contention. I don’t know how many big schools will have an opening either. This is tricky because of the pandemic, and how rough this last image of him is going to be. If I had to guess, I’d say he takes a coordinator job. I don’t think he’ll want to go back to college, but I don’t think an NFL team will give him the top job.

Hey, at least Texans fans don’t have to deal with O’Brien’s idiocy anymore. That’s their silver lining.

Ty

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

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Is Philly the Right Spot for Doc Rivers?

Doc Rivers wasn't unemployed very long. Last week he took the head coach opening in Philly, and will try and right the ship for the 76ers.

I am kind of on the fence about this hire. Rivers is an okay coach, a great person, and has won with a super star team. But, he couldn't get the job done in Orlando, he struggled in Boston until they acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and we all saw both meltdowns in LA while he was coaching the Clippers. He does have the one ring, and I fully agree with his political and emotional statements he has made recently, but he is, for the most part, when it comes to strictly basketball, an underachieving head coach. Orlando was not going to work for him. They never had guys that were going to lead that team any further than the first round of the playoffs. Boston was a mess until they got two stars. They were the first of the new era "super teams", and they only won one Finals, while going to two. Then he just could not get the Clippers over the edge. He has had some very talented rosters, except Orlando, but he only has one championship. Guys like Phil Jackson have had more star power, at least at the top, but never the bench players that Rivers had, and Jackson won two handfuls of rings. Greg Poppovich has built a culture in San Antonio, had stars, had role players and has coached them to five titles, while appearing in, I think, seven Finals. Erik Spoelstra is proving right now that he is a top tier head coach. He had the super team, with Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh, and went to four Finals and won two. Now he has a team led by Jimmy Butler and a cast of dudes, old and young, and they have a chance to make this Finals a real series on Tuesday. Mike Brown was coach of the Cavs, and yes he had LeBron, but the rest of that team was very blah, and he led them to a Finals. Ty Lue had a super team, not as well rounded as what Rivers had in Boston, but he has as many rings as Rivers. Rivers is a solid manager of stars, and he will get you to the playoffs, and even make the team seem like a threat, but nothing more. His teams have, more often than not, stumbled in the playoffs.

Now Rivers is going to take over a 76ers team that has a load of talent at the top, but they have flamed out of the playoffs, especially being swept out of the first round this year. They also have two stars that, if you listen to reputable NBA journalists, don't like one another. They also have a great, great big man, who has modernized his game, but doesn't always seem to give one hundred percent. And their other star gets hurt far too often, and is terrified to shoot jumpers. I'm curious to see how Rivers handles these two guys, Embiid and Simmons, and how he deals with the rest of the roster. He has, alongside Embiid and Simmons, Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Jason Richardson, Al Horford and some other dudes. So, Rivers does have stars, but not the level star that Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were, and are currently. He also has guys that should be good defenders, at least on paper. They are big and long and mean and stingy. But, will he get them to buy in? Will Embiid be the Kawhi or KG type that gets these guys to buy into playing defense? I don't know, and I don't know if Embiid truly wants to be a top tier defender, and I love Embiid. He just doesn't always give it his all. And as far as going East, it seems good, but that was until I watched the playoffs this year. The East isn't nearly as tough as the West, but the top is solid. If Milwaukee keeps Giannis, they will still be the top team. Boston has shown that they are up and coming and just about there. I think Toronto has one more year in them with this group, and I do think that Pascal Siakim can be the next star to lead a team. Miami is currently in the Finals, and outside Butler, that team is young and in sync. The East is getting better, and Philly looks a bit slow compared to the other teams.

I knew Rivers would get a job, and I assumed it would be during the off season. I am a little surprised he took the 76ers job, but maybe they gave him the best offer. I know Chicago already filled their vacancy, but I would have liked to see him there instead of Billy Donovan. I also think he could have fit in well in Houston. They have the offense, and he would have brought the defensive mentality that the team needs to get to the next level. Even New Orleans seemed like a better fit to me because he could have molded that roster in his image. But, in Philly all he has to do is coach. No front office stuff to deal with, no draft to deal with, just coach. But, he has to get this team to do some things their young stars have been reluctant to do, or have just decided they won't do it. I hope Rivers does well because I truly like him, but I feel like the 76ers were the toughest roster for him to work with. We will see it come next season. 

Ty

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

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Ty's Favorite Michigan Football Games: October 11th, 2003

I forgot to write about a personal classic Michigan football game last week, and realized way too late. To remedy that, I am going to write about one of my personal, all time favorite games that I saw live.

So far I have not written about a game that I was at in person. I go to one game a year usually. My dad and I have gone ever since I was in high school. We will not be doing that for obvious reasons this year. So this game is extra special for me. Not only did my dad and I go, but two of my uncles and my cousin that I am closest with came as well. And this game is also a historic one. This game involves the biggest comeback to date in Michigan football history. This is one of the older games I am going to talk about too.

The game in question took place on October 11th in 2003. I was only two years removed from high school. I was really starting to get into college football. I already had the love, but it was pushing its way to the front big time right around the date of this game. So, me, my dad and mom made a trip up to Minnesota to visit family, and we went for the game as well. The visit was the main reason, and the game was just an added bonus. Me, my dad, uncles and cousin climbed into my uncle's van and headed down to the Metrodome. That is how old this game is, the Metrodome was still up and running and still housing baseball and college football games. The University of Minnesota held their home games there. We got solid seats, and even though both teams were ranked, I remember the dome not being that full, maybe 75 percent capacity. That stuff never mattered to me, as long as I got to watch Michigan play. After we got to our seats, I noticed that one of my uncle's was putting on headphones. I was confused. I was sitting by my dad and I asked him what he was doing. I was informed that he was going to listen to the game on his headphones via a radio broadcast. I had never seen anything like this before, and it stunned me honestly. I thought, he was at the game, why would he have to listen to it, but this is what he did I was told. It makes more sense now, I see it much more. But to 20 year old me, this was wild.

After the whole headphone thing, the game was ready to kickoff. And this game started pretty awful for my Wolverines. Minnesota seemed out for blood from the get go. Michigan could not stop the run to save their lives. Marion Barber ran for nearly 200 yards total in the game, clocking in at 197. But he wasn't the only Golden Gopher to go off on the ground. Laurence Maroney, a Saint Louisian, only ran it 9 times, but he gained 81 yards. That is 9 yards a carry. Almost a first down every run. Their QB, Asad Abdul-Khaliq, went for 106 on 9 carries. Michigan was torched on the ground. Minnesota jumped out to a 14-0 lead, scoring a TD on long drives in the first 2 quarters. Michigan couldn't do much either. They couldn't run, and they sure as hell couldn't throw. They looked like they were going through the motions. They looked defeated. And that continued tenfold in the third quarter. Michigan looked like they may put up a fight at the start of the third. John Navarre connected with Steve Breaston for a 36 yard TD to cut the lead in half. I was stoked. Then Minnesota proceeded to score the next two TDS. Maroney had a 38 yard run and Thomas Tapeh followed with a 2 yard run after a long drive. Any momentum Michigan had at the start of the quarter was gone. They were down three touchdowns going into the fourth quarter. I was as defeated as my Wolverines looked the whole game, minus one long throw.

When the fourth quarter started, my cousin came and sat by me because she knew I was upset. We have always had a brother sister type relationship, and I think, even though she is 11 years younger than me, she wanted to help me feel better, to forget the game. Then stuff started to happen. Chris Perry, Michigan's running back, and one of my all time favorite Wolverines, caught a 10 yard pass for a TD 30 seconds into the fourth. I was happy, but Michigan was still down 14 points, and they hadn't looked ready to play all night. But, with the score, I told my cousin that she was going to sit next to me the rest of the game. I told her she was my good luck charm. Minnesota got the ball back and started their drive with about 14 minutes left. I assumed they would just run the ball. It worked all game for them, and their QB was more of a threat to run than pass. He only threw the ball 12 times, completing 8 for 71 yards. But, for some odd reason, he ran a play action pass, and it looked like he had an open receiver. Well, that was not the case. Michigan defensive back Jacob Stewart picked off the pass and returned it 34 yards for a TD. I was now pumped. Michigan was only down 7, they had all the momentum and they finally had Minnesota right where they wanted them. It looked like Minnesota was starting to over think the game. That all went away on the very next drive when Abdul-Khaliq did what he was best at and ran a designed QB run for 52 yards all the way to the house. I slumped down in my seat. My cousin told me it was going to be okay, that it was just a game. But I was bummed the hell out. Michigan, at least at the time I thought, had put all they had in the game, and now they would be too gassed to do anything else. Also, John Navarre wasn't playing all that well, and Michigan was going to have to throw to get back in this game. There were only 10 and a half minutes left, and they needed at least two scores to tie the game. But they actually mustered up enough energy to score quick on the very next drive. They went down the field in about a minute, capped off by a 52 yard TD pass from Navarre to Braylon Edwards. Michigan had life. They were only down 7, they had scored 21 points in the quarter and they had a decent amount of time left, if only they could stop Minnesota's run game. The defense finally started to do just that. Minnesota was going three and out regularly. But so was Michigan. With about seven minutes left Michigan trailed by 7. They got the ball, and this felt like their last best chance to score. They were able to put together a solid drive, and Chris Perry ran the ball in from 10 yards out to tie the game with 5 minutes left. They came all the way back. But Minnesota still had a few good shots left. Michigan's D kept making stops when they needed. But Minnesota was stopping Michigan too. A fourth quarter filled with scores looked like it was going to head to overtime. Michigan wouldn't have that though. They got the ball with about two and a half minutes left and started to drive. They chewed clock, they made throws when needed, they got first downs, and they were able to set up a go ahead field goal with 50 seconds left in the game. Garret Rivas came out and drilled a 33 yard field goal. Minnesota got the ball, but Michigan was able to stop them and complete the improbable comeback.

Me, my dad and uncles were stoked. My cousin was happy we were happy. Michigan scored 31 points in the fourth quarter and overcame two 14 point deficits and a 21 point deficit. The offense finally came alive in the fourth quarter. I remember telling my dad that if they played like that all game they would have scored 70 points easy. All told, this was not a defensive struggle. Minnesota had all those rush yards, a total of 424. Michigan only had 94 rush yards. But, Michigan had 389 passing yards to Minnesota's 71. Minnesota also had 2 turnovers, one of which Michigan scored a TD on. This was one of those games where I went through all the emotions, but the end emotion was pure joy. They won the game. They won it on the road. They scored 31 points in a quarter. They made their largest comeback ever. They made plays when they needed to. It was so memorable for so many reasons.

I still have the ticket, and my dad and I still talk about this game to this day. This was a classic, possibly the best game I have ever seen in person. 

Ty

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

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Ty's MLB Playoff Preview

Much to my surprise, and I think a few other people, I was made aware that the MLB playoffs start today. I was looking at a sports story on my phone, and I saw an ad that exclaimed, "WE HAVE PLAYOFF BASEBALL ON ALL DAY!".

I was taken aback. I was, as I said, surprised. I was even more surprised that the Cardinals made it in this postseason. I see they have 16 teams total playing,  but I didn't even think the Cardinals would be able to play the whole 60 games, and here they are, in the playoffs again. After doing some research, I see this playoff is totally different, and they are going about it different, but it starts today, and I just feel like I should do a prediction style blog. I always say that RD is the baseball guy on this site, so take my picks with a grain of salt. I didn't know that Tampa is the best AL team. I cannot name one player on their team. I also see that the NL Central not only has the Cardinals in, but the Cubs, Reds and Brewers are in as well. That is every team except Pittsburgh. This is wild, but I will do my best. I will go bracket style, and I will start with the AL. The first round is a best of three, then they go five, then seven. This is crazy, but I do have to admit, it is kind of neat too.

In the AL the 1-8 matchup features the Rays and Blue Jays. Again, I know no one on the Rays, and I only know of Vlad Guerrero Jr on the Blue Jays. And if the Rays are good enough to leapfrog the Yankees for the top spot in their league and division, I believe they will beat the Blue Jays in two games. The 2-7 matchup is the A's and White Sox. Again, two teams where I cannot name a single guy off the top of my head. I will go with the White Sox to pull off the "upset", based only on the fact that the A's always, always choke in the playoffs. That is their 21st century calling card. The 3-6 features the Twins and Astros. I know that I spoke highly of the Twins in my season preview, and I despise what the Astros did, and I feel like they need to be stripped of any title they have won. With that being said, the Twins will win this round because they are better in every phase of the game, and they don't have to cheat to be better. The 4-5 gives us the Indians and Yankees. I have put my faith in the Indians far too many times to be burned by them again. The Yankees will outhit them and out score them. That is that.

This would put us in the next round with matchups of Tampa and the Yankees and the Twins and White Sox. I think the Yankees will beat the Rays because they have the bats. They can win games 10-7, and not worry about it. Maybe the Rays have some solid pitchers, but I am going with a classic here. I think the Twins will destroy the White Sox. They seem to be stacked everywhere, and they can hit, even better than the Yankees. Which means I am also going with the Twins to win the AL. They are a better all around team, they are healthy and, in this weird season, why not the Twins. This is what I would rather see too, if I watched MLB.

Now to the NL. The 1-8 is Milwaukee and the Dodgers. Milwaukee used to be a threat to teams like the Dodgers, but the Dodgers are stacked and they are angry. They have been screwed out of a few titles, and they will be out for blood. The Dodgers are going to smoke the Brewers. The 2-7 features the Braves and Reds. RD said the Reds would be a decent team, and he was right. They were right around .500, and now they got a spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately for them they have to face a very good, and very talented Braves team. RD was right about them too. He was on their bandwagon before anyone else. And because they have playoff experience, I believe they will beat the Reds with relative ease. The 3-6 gives us Cubs and the Marlins. How on Earth are the Marlins here? Are they good? Is it because of the shortened season? A bit of both? I'm serious. Did the Marlins just become good all of the sudden like they seem to do every decade since their existence? Anyway, the Cubs are a better team, and they should win. They won the division, and they seem to be like the team back when they made, and won, the World Series. The Cubs will win this round. And the 4-5 is the Cardinals and Padres. Sorry to all my STL friends and fans, and myself, but I want, hope and think the Padres will win this round. They are young and fun and they are one of the very few teams that I will actually watch play a game. They have a good time out there, they hit dingers and they just play a fun brand of baseball. I'm going Padres here. The Cardinals are too old, had to deal with a COVID outbreak and are probably tired from all of the double headers they had to play to catch up.

That leaves us, in the second round, with the Dodgers and Padres, and the Cubs and Braves. Again, I love what the Padres are doing, but they are going up against a juggernaut. The Dodgers want nothing more than to steamroll teams on their way to a World Series, and I just do not think the Padres have enough to keep up. They will make it fun, maybe even a tiny bit interesting, but the Dodgers will win with relative ease. The Cubs and Braves should be a solid series. These two teams, at least on paper, seem kind of similar. They both have solid pitching, they have big hitters and guys who hit for average, and they are both well coached. From what I have gathered though, the Braves bullpen is far superior, and that always makes a difference in playoff baseball. That gives the edge to the Braves. So that leaves us with the Braves and Dodgers. How many more times do I have to say that the Dodgers are legit, they are mad and they want revenge? They are going to cruise here too. They are too loaded not to.

That means that I have the Twins and Dodgers playing in this weird and wild World Series, and I believe the Dodgers will sweep their way to a title, and they deserve it. I shouldn't even like a team like the Dodgers. They have every advantage, they are stacked, they can pay gobs of money to the best players and lure them away in their prime, but they have been cheated the past couple years, and I feel like they will finally get the title they should have gotten a few years back. This is their year to win, and I wouldn't be shocked if they cruise, possibly undefeated, throughout the playoffs.

The Dodgers will be your 2020 World Series champs. 

RD’s Prediction

The LA Dodgers will win the World Series. That is all.

Ty

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

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Ty's NBA Finals Preview

It wasn't the NBA Finals I expected.

I also don't think a good amount of other people had this match up. I am sure a good amount of people picked the Lakers, although the Clippers were the heavy favorite when the season started, and then restarted, but they had yet another epic collapse. But I do not think many people had the Heat in the Finals. I know I didn't. I know big time websites and companies like ESPN, Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report didn't. In fact, the only person/people who I have heard on a recording say the Heat would be in the title are the ladies that host the podcast "Dunktown", which is a great pod by the way. Most everyone else had Milwaukee or Boston or even Toronto. But the Heat have dominated almost, almost as much as the Lakers have on their way to the Finals. Let’s talk about this match-up.

The Lakers got to the Finals with relative ease, and with a few exceptions, they have steam rolled in every game. LeBron has been keyed in defensively, and it looks like he has now found his offensive groove, which is frightening. He also has the refs in his pocket after griping about lack of foul shooting. In the past two games, he alone has twenty-two free throw attempts. The Nuggets had forty-nine total in those games, as a team. LeBron had almost half that himself. It was a smart move from him to get in the refs head. Guys like him can do that, and he knows it, and he is using it. While it bogs the game down, makes it slow and there is nothing but glaring and complaining at officials, it has worked. LeBron and the Lakers own the refs.

The Heat have also done almost exactly the same thing, and they haven't needed to get in the refs heads. They cruised in the first round over Indiana, locking down Victor Oladipo and TJ Warren. Then they completely obliterated the Bucks. Even in the one win Milwaukee had, it wasn't because of anything they did spectacularly, Miami just had an off game. The fact that they made Giannis a non factor is testament enough to how well they communicate and play team defense. And while the Celtics series was closer, Miami won when it mattered. They closed them out in resounding fashion, and while I am sure most people wanted the "sexy" LA-Boston classic match up, Miami could have cared less about that. Boston is coming, but Miami is just a better team right now.

In all honesty, I think, of the four teams that made it to the conference finals, these are the two best, and these are the two most deserving teams, and I think they will give us the best series, at least I hope. I feel like they match up evenly almost everywhere, and this could be a very good, very close series. LeBron is currently the best player in the league. He isn't MJ, but he is close. Real quick, this is also his tenth finals appearance. That is monumental. He has been to the finals more than twenty-seven other franchises in their team history have. That is crazy. Also, on the Heat side, Andre Iguodala has now been to six straight NBA Finals. I know it has to do with the teams he has been on, but hey, six straight Finals appearances is nothing to sniff at. He may not be LeBron, but Iguodala is going to the Finals at a clip close to him. I just wanted to throw that out there for everyone. Anyway, LeBron is great, and seems to be finding his groove. Anthony Davis has been really, really good in the playoffs too. He does look like he may be wearing down a bit, he is playing a TON of minutes, but he is still one of the best, most versatile bigs in the league. And the rest of the Lakers are doing their jobs. Rondo is being playoff Rondo, and that is the best Rondo. Danny Green finally knocked down some jumpers and is playing passable defense. Dwight Howard has totally changed his game, and he has been a beast on the boards and a jump off the bench. The whole Alex Caruso cult isn't as loud, but that guy has LeBron's trust because he is closing out games. And Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is hitting threes and hustling on defense.

Yet Miami has guys capable of matching up, doing what the Lakers are doing, and they are much, much younger. I have many differing opinions on Jimmy Butler, but when the guy is locked in, he is one of my favorite players to watch. He is a star, but he doesn't have to be the scoring star or the defense guy or the locker room guy. Butler is a do it all type star. If he isn't scoring, he makes up for it on defense. If he is tired on defense, he is making shots or getting to the line. When he likes his teammates, and feels like he can trust them, which he totally has this season, he is the best dude to have on your team. And I feel like he can guard LeBron, or at least harass him enough to make him shoot jumpers. He will make LeBron work. Bam Adebayo has had a total breakout year. He is a star. He is one of the best all around bigs. He shut down Giannis. He is a beast in the low post. He had one of the best blocks I have ever seen when he stopped Jayson Tatum's dunk in game one of the conference finals to seal the win. And he is a big that is a dependable shooter. Then we have Iguodala. He isn't the guy he was a few years back, but he brings veteran leadership and a willingness to sacrifice numbers to play defense, and play it well. Goran Dragic may not be the best defender, but he has been the one player on the Heat, besides Adebayo, that has been consistent on offense in these playoffs. And Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro are nearly automatic from deep. The Heat can match up. I am so stoked to watch Butler play LeBron and Adebayo to play Davis. I feel like Butler-LeBron will be a wash, those guys will cancel one another out. But Adebayo-Davis can make or break this series. Adebayo will try his best to bully Davis, and that has proven to be the best way to slow him down. He doesn't want to bang bodies that much. He'd much rather play finesse. But, if Davis can hit jumpers, make some threes, he could become lethal. He might not have to worry about being bullied in the post because he could drag Adebayo out of the lane. This is the player match up I am most excited to watch. It will be the deciding factor. As I said, LeBron and Butler will play equal, and the rest is a mishmash. I'm sure Herro and Robinson will have a solid game, but so will Danny Green and Rondo and Kyle Kuzma. The determining factor, what will decide this series, at least for me, is who wins out in the Adebayo-Davis match up.

I will be rooting for the Heat because of Adebayo, and because I like this version of Jimmy Butler, just full disclosure. But, I do think the Lakers will win in seven games. This will be a good, hard fought series. Sometimes it will look like a slog, the games will be slow, and there will be plenty of free throws. But I just think LeBron knows this is probably his last best chance, especially with Davis, to win another, possibly final, NBA title. The NBA will be so much more competitive and different next season, and LeBron has put in the work to get this team where they are now. I want the Heat to win, but I am pretty sure the Lakers will find a way. Let's get to it. 

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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The College Football Season is Starting to Look Like a Disaster

I swear I am going to stop bashing football in the next few days. I love the sport, I am still hopeful the Big Ten season happens, I am following my fantasy team marginally and I have a pretty solid Fred Willard piece I have been marinating in my brain for the past couple days. But, there was yet another cancellation of a college game this weekend, but this time it is a big time, storied college football team. Yesterday I talked about how injuries, due to lack of proper training, was a subset of why the football season was going to be hard to finish fully, and that COVID is still very much a threat. Well, Notre Dame had to cancel their game this Saturday against Wake Forest due to seven players/staff testing positive for COVID this week.

This is just going to continue to happen. And while it has happened already to a good number of D-1 teams, most notably Memphis and Baylor recently, this is Notre Dame. This is not only a historic school, but a school that has money and can afford to do things to prevent this better than other D-1 schools. They have some of the best facilities in America. I am sure they have alumni that would be willing, or know, or are, doctors that can provide and help with testing and following proper protocols. They do not have many students on campus, I think, so social distancing shouldn't be a problem. This, according to the people who were really pushing for college football, was not what they wanted to happen, especially the week before the SEC starts.

This is also a rough look, at least in my eyes, for the Big Ten. A lot of the reasoning, at least from what I read, was, fans of the Big Ten, alumni, people at the schools, players and coaches all saw that Notre Dame was playing, who's campus is located in the Midwest, in the heart of Big Ten country, and were angered that they couldn't be out there. It was assumed that if Notre Dame could play, why couldn't the University of Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue and Indiana or Michigan play? If they didn't have any positives, and could field a competent team, why couldn't they? Well now they have positives, and enough positives to postpone a game.

This is no good. This is what I feared would halt the college football year more than anything else. I saw what the MLB did, didn't like their plan, and have seen it blow up in their face a few times already. Games have been postponed. Not all teams have played the same amount of games. The Cardinals missed nearly a month because of an outbreak within the team, and they are playing double headers all the time just to catch up, and not make the playoffs I might add. I think the same thing is going to happen, at the very least, to college football. I am sure the NFL will run into this problem soon, but it is happening weekly in college football now. And what will pollsters and voters and players do if a school like Notre Dame only ends up playing six games? Or say the Big Ten starts, they picked late October because that kept them in the conversation for the playoff, but they have to postpone and stop a few times. How many games will all fourteen Big Ten teams actually play? Eight if we are lucky, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends at five or six games. The SEC is COVID central right now, and they are just getting started. Who is to say they get their full ten games in. Again, I don't think they will. I would be stunned if they got eight full games in from all their teams. As I said up top, it is not a humongous deal, no disrespect, when Memphis, or even Baylor misses a game. No one is bummed out that Air Force only has two games scheduled. Who honestly cares, outside of former players and alumni, that Houston hasn't started their season yet? But when this happens to Notre Dame, it is a big deal. The fact that they have to push a game already, that is a problem. People aren't happy already. How are people, players, fans and coaches and AD's alike, going to react when this happens to Clemson? Or Alabama? Or the University of Ohio State and Michigan? The really big time, prominent, important programs, like Notre Dame.

This is the last thing the NCAA and the college football community wanted. Other, smaller schools postponing was fine, but when it is a school like Notre Dame, that is scary. And unfortunately this is just the start, in my opinion. It won't be too long before Clemson and Alabama have to postpone as well due to COVID outbreaks. This is going to be a weird, stunted college football season. Be prepared fans. That is all I am saying. 

Ty

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

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The NFL Season is Already a Disaster

Look, I get that the world is on fire. We are deep in this pandemic with no end in sight, Ruth Bader Ginsburg just died, the people that call themselves "Republicans" at the moment are corrupt, racist, homophobic, misogynistic and any other thing you can think to call them. Kids are still learning remotely, sports are being canceled or postponed on the daily. It's a real mess.

With that being said, I have found solace in basketball and reading sports stories. Also music and movies and TV shows have been a great way to escape for a while. Believe me, I am doing all that I can to get people to vote, to make sure my kids and wife are safe, to defund the police, signing all the petitions I believe in, anything remotely I can do to make change, I am trying. But, sports are my safe place. The NBA has been awesome, and I am sure I will write a piece on the conference finals at some point this week. And while I haven't watched much football, I'm sure that will change if/when Michigan plays, I have been keeping up with scores and stories due to fantasy football. I saw that Kirk Cousins was awful yesterday, that the Packers won, that the Rams may not be as bad as I thought and that the Cowboys needed a miracle comeback to beat the Falcons, which if I were a Cowboys fan, that would make me even more nervous for their season.

The one big thing that I noticed, and seemingly all the other players and writers, there were a rash of injuries, sidelining some really good, young talent the NFL has right now. The 49ers apparently lost a good chunk of their core. I saw that Jimmy Garroppolo is out now for a month or so. I am not a fan of his, I think he is overrated, but he is their starter at QB. They were in the Super Bowl last year. Maybe he is like Rex Grossman, but still, he is the starter, and that hurts most teams when the number one guy goes down. I don't know who their backup is, but I am sure he isn't that good if he is backing up Garroppolo. They also lost two D line starters, one of the idiotic Bosa brothers and Solomon Thomas. The Bosa kid, who is a dipshit, right wing conservative nutjob who constantly puts his foot in his mouth, tore his ACL. Honestly I think it is hilarious, and it has nothing to do with my Michigan fandom. It is just karmic to see someone who is a privileged white kid, that happens to be hyper conservative, like scary conservative, get some comeuppance. I know that may be mean, but he has said and done so much worse, so I could care less. Soloman Thomas was finally starting to come on strong last year, I actually like him, so it is a bummer that he most likely tore his ACL. He's had to put in work to get to where he is, and this is crummy for him. Then I saw that Christian McCaffery hurt himself. I think he is out a month or so with a leg thing. That's a bummer for Carolina because the offense is totally ran through him. Teddy Bridgewater is a good QB, but he doesn't have any other weapons now. The full tank may be on. Then I heard about Saquon Barkley. It was confirmed that he fully tore his ACL this morning. This stinks. I was not a fan of his in college because he used to abuse Michigan, but I have grown to like him in the NFL. He seems to work hard, he seems nice and he seems like a great teammate. He is also an explosive athlete. But a torn ACL for a young running back, that usually spells doom. This stinks. He was literally all the Giants had going for them. Then Davante Adams exited the Lions-Packers game early yesterday, Tyrod Taylor left his game early, Breshad Perriman hurt his ankle, Malik Hooker left with an Achilles thing and Drew Lock and Courtland Sutton both exited the Denver game early. It seemed to be a rough day.

This, along with COVID, was another reason why I felt this NFL season was going to be a problem. These guys had little to no time to train. They had no real practice. They didn't really hit one another. They didn't have a good amount of time to get prepared like they would in a "normal" year. These guys are world class athletes, but they are going up against other world class athletes. The lack of proper training for the sport they play was going to be a problem that we knew, the NFL knew and players knew would rear its ugly head. And while some of these guys aren't "super stars", a few are. As much as I dislike Bosa, he was ROY. Solomon Thomas was becoming a pro bowler. CMC is a true MVP candidate. And Saquon Barkley was the perfect modern day running back. He is a literal do it all back. He can run, catch and block. He can also return kicks. This is, unfortunately one of the things, outside of COVID outbreaks, that will most certainly still happen, that made me stop and think about the season going ahead without acting like there was a pandemic going on. The NFL acted like this would all go away, and while it was going on, these players would train normally. COVID didn't go away, and these players had about two weeks to get ready for full on football games. This stinks for the product on and off the field.

Fact is, this is going to be a rough football year, at every level. And not just because of COVID. I think there is going to be many more injuries to prominent players, and that is why we will end up with one or two not so great teams in the Super Bowl. 

Ty

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

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Ty's Favorite Michigan Football Games: October 30th, 2004

Did you all think that I was going to stop talking about my favorite Michigan football games just because the Big Ten reinstated their season? No way. I am still pessimistic about the return, I am still conflicted, and there is still over a full month until the Big Ten is even supposed to start their "fall season". I am going to continue using my Friday's to write about games from the past that I still vividly remember to this day.

I have done this twice already, two recent games, one against Rutgers and the other against MSU. I'm going to talk about another MSU-Michigan game, but this game happened sixteen years ago. This is one of the older games I will write about, but this game has left an indelible impression on me for so many reasons. There are players in this game that I grew to love. There are players in this game that were in their freshman year, and they left Michigan with records. And this was a game that made me so euphoric when it ended, I almost fainted, legitimately.

The game was in October, on the 30th in 2004. An unseasonably warm day in Ann Arbor for a later kickoff, the 2:30pm in my timezone game, and it lasted until about 7pm that night. It was a very long game with many ups and downs, and my emotions ran the gamut. I went through every stage imaginable as a football fan. I am a Michigan fanatic after all. Michigan should not have won this game. They had no reason winning this game. They got torched on the ground. MSU ran for well over 300 yards, 368 in fact. MSU didn't throw for many yards, but they didn't have to. Michigan was pretty quiet in the first half and most of the third quarter. They didn't do much, they couldn't do much, and they looked like they were going to blow a home game against an inferior rival. MSU was 4-3 going into this game, and Michigan was 7-1 and the 12th ranked team in the nation. MSU played like the better team for the majority of this game.

Then the fourth quarter happened.

Now, let me set the personal tone for you all reading this. I was still living at home with my folks. I was yet to meet my wife. I was dating a girl I didn't like much. And I spent the majority of my day making sandwiches at a crummy sandwich shop, then coming home to watch movies or football in my basement room. This afternoon I told my then girlfriend that I was staying in because I didn't feel well, when I just wanted to stay home and watch Michigan play. So I hunkered down in my room and watched. The first half was awful. My dad would usually join me at the start of these games and watch from the chair I had in my room, but he had yard work to do. He missed the first half, and most of the third quarter. He came into my room near the end of the third, asked me how the game was going, and I told him, not great, Michigan looks bad. I also should say, he must have really wanted to watch this game because he didn't bother to shower after his yard work. He sat down all sweated up in my chair. But I didn't care because my team was getting their butts kicked. He was there to commiserate with me, which we still do to this day, and finish up what we thought was going to be a downer of a fourth quarter. Michigan trailed by 17, and they only had one true threat on offense at the time, Braylon Edwards. Unfortunately for my dad and I, we thought at the time that the freshman QB they had, Chad Henne, wouldn't be able to throw them back in the game. And they couldn't continue to ride Mike Hart, who is one of my all time favorite Wolverines, because they needed points, and fast. Hart was great to grind games out, but he wasn't a burner. So we were ready to watch the end of this game and deal with the heat from other people. But things started to happen in that fourth quarter. Chad Henne just started chucking the ball, and much to my and my dad's delight, Braylon Edwards was grabbing anything and everything thrown his way. I mentioned they couldn't lean on Hart anymore because he is a grinder, but I do have to say, he did his part in this game. He ran the ball 33 times for 224 yards and 1 TD. He did more than you expect from a running back. But the fourth, and the three overtimes, were all Henne and Edwards. Chad Henne went off in this game in the fourth and overtime. He threw the ball 35 times, completing 24 of them for 310 yards. He also had 4 TD passes and no picks. That is great for a vet. Henne was a true freshman, in a rivalry game, against a team that was playing the best they had all season. This was when I bought in on Henne. I grew to tolerate him, the best I can do for a Michigan QB, for the next four years. But this game belonged to Braylon. Of Henne's 24 completions, 11 went to Edwards. He also had 3 TD grabs. Jason Avant had 5 catches and the other TD, Hart had 5 catches as well, and Steve Breaston had 2 grabs. But this was Edwards' game. As I said, Henne would loft passes in the air, and Edwards seemed to come down with every single one of them. He would adjust perfectly, snag the ball out of mid air, get perfect position and do incredible things with the ball after he grabbed it. He was a man on fire. This was the game that won him the Biletnikoff award in 2004.  He earned the number 1 jersey, a number of honor in Michigan football history when given to a receiver. He was so amazing that night. Henne lofted a ball early in the fourth to Edwards that resulted in a TD to cut the lead to 10. Then the defense finally got a stop. They scored almost immediately after that. Then they recovered an onside kick, one of the few I have seen in my entire life, and Henne found Edwards on a deep pass to set up the game tying field goal. All 17 points came near the end of the fourth, and all of them, for the most part, had to do with Henne getting the ball to Edwards. Then we had our first overtime. Both teams scored quickly, and I was a little scared. Then each team had mini drives to tie it again in the second overtime. We then got to the third overtime, and in college football, that is when you have to go for 2. I was still worried, because I always am, and always will be. But, I was growing a bit more confident. MSU was starting to get frustrated. You could see the coach bumbling and trying to find an answer for Henne and Edwards. And the offense didn't look as comfortable as they had in the first half and third quarter. Then in the third overtime, Henne dropped back, I think it was the second or third play, and rifled a pss over the middle. Edwards was running a slant pattern, but I didn't notice that. I saw a few MSU defenders converging on the pass and I was sure it was going to get picked. But, like the magician he was that afternoon, Edwards snagged it and ran, untouched, into the endzone for a go ahead TD. Michigan then got the 2 point conversion. MSU came on the field and ran four plays, lost a bunch of yards and Michigan won. I jumped off my bed super excited. My dad high fived me. We couldn't believe what we just witnessed. We saw two freshmen, Henne and Hart, play great games personally, which made me optimistic for the near future. But, we saw a guy who dedicated his body and time to this team, Braylon Edwards, play like the star he was that year. He was simply amazing, and I will never, ever forget this game. This is a personal one because it is against MSU, who I loathe. But it was also a thrilling, high scoring, nail biting game.

I love this game, and it will always be the turning point for me in believing in Henne, falling more in love with Mike Hart and being as big a fan of Braylon Edwards as anyone in the country. This was a great, unexpected win. 

Ty

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

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What the Hell Happened to the Clippers?

Now that I have gotten the Big Ten restart feelings off my chest, I am ready to talk about the Clippers blowing a 3-1 conference semifinals lead again.

This was stunning. I assumed they were front runners for the title. Steve Ballmer jeopardized the future of the team to bring in Kawhi and trade for Paul George. Kawhi was the prize free agent last year. He was just coming off a Finals MVP and helping Toronto win a title and he wanted to be in LA all along. I wasn't so sure if it was with the Lakers or Clippers, but I knew it was LA. He wanted to go there before he was traded to Toronto from San Antonio. To no one's real surprise he picked the Clippers, and everyone, myself included, lauded the choice, the Clippers for pulling it off and Kawhi for not choosing the Lakers. Then they added Paul George, and my head exploded. I did not see that one coming. He signed an extension with the Thunder a year before, and then in an instant he was gone. So due to the fact that the Clippers acquired Kawhi and PG, and did not really lose too much of importance, they seemed like the team to beat going into this season.

And they did just fine. Sure they looked disinterested at times, they nursed injuries longer than they might have needed to, they played to the level of their opponent, but still, they seemed like they could turn it on when needed. I kept saying that. I kept telling anyone that said they may not be a title contender that they were crazy. They have Kawhi, who is one of, if not, the best overall player currently in the NBA. They've got PG, who was fully healthy, is a scorer and can defend on the perimeter with the best of them. And they had the important guys from their core the year before returning. They looked primed to finally make the West Finals and Finals and win it all. Even when the season stopped, and then restarted, I was still fully in on them. Even when the media decided to only focus on Luka and the Mavs in round one, I kept saying that the Clippers were going to roll in games 5 and 6 to close it out. And when they got up 3-1, I was sure Denver was toast. The Clippers looked like they had finally flipped that switch and were going to roll.

Then the Clippers blew a 16 point second half lead in game 5. I thought, okay it was one game, basketball is a finicky sport filled with crazy runs and Denver will never play any better than they did in the second half of that game. Then it happened again. I watched all of game 6. I figured when they built their lead to almost 20 that they were going to close it out. They had the new guys they needed and they looked prime to win. Then they started to foul and foul Denver, giving them free points and slowing the game to a grind. Denver trimmed the lead to 2 to start the fourth quarter and the momentum they had gained from there pushed them to another improbable comeback to force a game 7.

This was when I thought they were in trouble, but hey, I wrote on Tuesday that I thought they were going to win, and win handily. I assumed that Kawhi would do what he did last year, and what he did with San Antonio in their championship runs. I figured he wouldn't let this team blow it. He is too dominant a player to let that happen. And through the first half, and the first 3 minutes of the third, it looked that way. The Clippers had a 7 point lead, Denver couldn't hit a shot and they had to call a timeout. It didn't matter that Lou Williams wasn't making shots, and that Kawhi and PG were bricking everything and that Morris couldn't hit the ocean, they looked like they were locked in and ready to take the game over. Then Denver went on an 8-0 run to regain the lead. All the things I thought the Clippers were going to do, they did the opposite. There were missed defensive assignments everywhere. PG was getting beat by guys like Gary Harris and Torrey Craig. Nikola Jokic was making precise passes to wide open cutters. Jamal Murray exploded, at one point in the fourth quarter throwing a prayer at the rim and getting all net. I mean, it was amazing to see the Nuggets just take the will out of the Clippers. When Murray hit that improbable three, the deficit was 13 with about 6 minutes left. Teams can come back from that, it isn't that big a lead, especially in the modern NBA. But that three put the Nuggets up 16, and the Clippers quit, plain and simple. PG was throwing bricks left and right. One of his threes, uncontested mind you, hit the side of the backboard. Kawhi looked tired and sluggish and slow. Lou Williams was missing layups. Hell, the only guy who came to play was Montrezl Harrell, and as much as I enjoy his passion and play, when he is your leading scorer, on a team with Lou Will and Kawhi and PG, that is a problem. The Nuggets didn't just win, they took the Clippers lunch money. They played free and loose, without a care in the world, and it showed. And it showed that the Clippers played tight, with everything to lose and they got taken to the woodshed in the process.

This was baffling. After the game, NBA Twitter was filled with bomb after bomb after bomb. I highly recommend going to see what CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard were tweeting about during the game. It is pretty amazing. Analysts and beat writers and TV personalities were foaming at the mouth. Nuggets fans were cool about it, and I expected that. But the worst of anyone were Lakers fans. Some of the stuff they were putting was downright nasty. I am a Michigan football fan through and through, and I see stuff like this every year when they inevitably get beaten by the University of Ohio State. But, that usually comes from former players and lifelong fans. These Lakers fans were going nuts, calling the Clippers out and doing some wild stuff, even for the internet. It was crazy. But, when you blow a 3-1 lead, and you have a player in Patrick Beverly, who I would love him if he were on the Grizzlies, talking all his trash, and PG playing like he did, and seems to do every playoffs now since dubbing himself "Playoff P", and then to have all the finger pointing and excuses afterward, maybe some of the talk and slander is deserved.

I don't know where this leaves the team going into the future. I know PG said something along the lines of "this wasn't a title or bust year for us". That is wrong. They should, at least, be in the conference finals. But, I do know that he and Harrell don't necessarily get along. They are obviously going to pick PG, so where does that leave Harrell? Is he going to take less money to compete, or will he opt for a big deal that he most definitely will get offered by some other team this offseason? Where does this leave Lou Will? He is the instant offense off the bench for them, but he never meshed with PG and Kawhi. What do they do with Zubac? He plays his role, but could they get someone a little older, and maybe better equipped to play with PG and Kawhi? I have seen the name Marc Gasol kicked around already. And what about their staff? Doc Rivers is back, and even though his playoff record is less than stellar, he has won a title, and I think he is good with super stars. He should stick around. But I am sure Ty Lue is going to be a head coach very soon. Sam Casell will get some interest. They are going to lose some important assistant coaches who definitely deserve their chance to be a head coach. This was a pretty awful outcome for this team as assembled right now, and they will be dealing with a good amount of changes both in staff and personnel. And the way they have acted since the end of game 7 has made this that much worse.

This was a mess, this was not the way it was supposed to end, but here we are. Now I am curious to see how they handle this offseason, and what they look like next year. Maybe I was wrong, and the "Clipper Curse" is real. They shouldn't have blown this series as badly as they did. Definitely not with this current roster. 

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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Some Cautious Optimism on the Potential Return of Big Ten Football

The Clippers collapse will have to wait until tomorrow. Something more personal, in the realm of sports, happened to me this morning, but it seems to have been in the works for some time now. And right before I really get into this, the "president" had nothing, I repeat loudly, NOTHING, to do with the Big Ten reinstating football for the fall of 2020. That dip shit in the White House may think he made this happen, and his dumbass, mouth breathing, racist, Nazi cult followers may think so too, but he had ZERO to do with this. The chancellors, presidents and the commissioner talked with doctors and scientists, and from what I read about it this morning, that was who helped them make a vote to unanimously restart. It was science and fact based, something the "president" either doesn't believe in, or understand, or both.

Me on the other hand, I am conflicted about this news. I even said last week that I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be seeing Michigan football this calendar year. I had made my peace with it. That still may be true too. Who knows what is going to happen with this virus. Who knows how it will react with the upcoming flu season. Who knows what will happen when/if all kids start going back to school in the near future. All of this is still very fluid and there are still very possible situations that can halt the season before it even starts. I think the Big Ten is being smart, for the first time during this whole ordeal, in waiting until late October to start. I also think it is the right move to play eight or nine games all within an eight or nine week span. Try to cram it all in because that seems like the only way it could possibly work, outside of a bubble. But still I find myself questioning the revote. I am stoked that I, hopefully, get to see Michigan football in one month. I haven't watched very much college or NFL since the new season started. It feels wrong to watch. But maybe with Michigan back it will feel more "normal" to me. I was happy to talk to my dad about what players we may or may not see when I chatted with him this morning. This is something we do every season, and it was nice to have a normal football conversation with him. It will make the season, if completed, feel a little more legit with the Big Ten involved because they have a few teams that are serious contenders. And it will be nice to watch the conference that I have watched my entire college football viewing life.

Yet, there are so, so many question marks, at least for me. I have seen in the news that a good amount of games have already been postponed. Arkansas State had to push a game this weekend to next month because they had an entire position group whittled down to one guy due to COVID and injuries. Baylor and TCU had their opening game postponed due to outbreaks within the team. Memphis played a game, won, and now they have had to postpone one, and possibly a second game, because some of the players went on a party bus, and 20 kids tested positive for COVID, and another 20 are in quarantine for contact tracing. And even within the conference, Penn State has had a pretty big positive case number on campus, Iowa had to stop practicing for a few weeks, Maryland had to stop, Michigan State has moved to fully virtual, it is a mess basically. And that is all over the country at colleges right now too. In the SEC alone, Ed Orgeron, LSU's head coach, went on record and said that he assumes almost every player on his team has already "caught CoronaVirus". That is an awful statement, thought and he shouldn't have said that out loud. This is a college season that is very fragile. It has already been filled with stops and starts. There are tons of games being rescheduled already. But, the Big Ten gave me a moment, albeit fleeting this morning, because they are back. I have been vacillating between joy and fear. It is a very weird feeling, and very much how all of 2020 has been. I am still pessimistic about all of this. I will believe that the Big Ten is back when I see the Wolverines, and the rest of the conference for that matter, actually take the field. I know it can happen because I have watched snippets of real college games last weekend, but I am still a little leery of the Big Ten truly pulling it off. I hope they do. I hope I get to see these kids that I have grown to know and watch. But I am also scared for them. I do not know what the long term repercussions could be. None of us do.

I guess I am just going to have this weird feeling for the rest of the year, and who knows how long after. But, maybe it will be a little different, a little better, when/if I do see Michigan playing in The Big House, even if it is only family there to watch the game in person. What a weird morning, and a weird saga the Big Ten has been on this year. Time to see if they can pull it off now. 

Ty

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

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The NBA Restart Has Given US Two Must Watch Games Tonight

Tonight we have two pretty big NBA games. Let’s talk about them.

The Heat and Celtics will kick off the Eastern Conference Finals. I did not expect this, I believe I picked Milwaukee and Toronto, but I am not surprised Miami made it. I am surprised at how easily they have made it, but not surprised they are here. They are a good team. They play team basketball. They have good to great defenders. Jimmy Butler is proving that he is totally worth the headache when he is happy. They have a great young, and modern big, in Bam Adebayo. And they have shooting all over the floor. They are really good, and have looked really good getting here. Will they be rusty or tired? Maybe. But, I expect Butler, and Erik Spoelstra, to erase that quick and get back to playing like they were a week ago.

The Celtics had a tough, well played and well fought series win over Toronto. Toronto gave them all they could handle. They played them hard, played them dirty, played them like you expect a champion to play, even after losing their best guy, but the Celtics still won. I thought they were a year away. I thought they were still too young. But the young dudes stepped up, and Kemba Walker looks like himself. The knee injury and whatever else was bothering him seems to be gone. But I want to talk about their young guys. Jayson Tatum is a star. I have been lukewarm on him since college, but that dude is a player. He was absolutely great in the Toronto series. He was a scoring machine. He was making open jumpers and getting to the basket. He is becoming what many others saw coming out of Duke. He is a legit guy who could be the face of the league in a few years. Jaylen Brown might be the new Kawhi, except I think he is more athletic, and a better shooter at a younger age. Kawhi is great, more on him in a few, but so is Jaylen Brown. Brown is hyper athletic. He is a dunking machine. He is making open shots. And he is one of the premiere defenders in the league. He is becoming one of those lock down guys, a Kawhi Leonard type. And he leaves it all on the floor. I do not like the Celtics, not at all, but I love watching Jaylen Brown play basketball. He is one of my favorite young players. They also gave a rookie from Tennessee, I cannot for the life of me remember his name, who was playing super important, late minutes in a crucial game seven, and he was great. He played very solid defense.

The Celtics and Heat series is going to be good. I think that the Heat will finally have a series go a bit longer, but I do think the they will win. I think they will win in six, but seven wouldn't shock me either.

The other game tonight is one that I did not see coming at all. The Nuggets have made it to another game seven, for seemingly the tenth time in a row. And they are doing this making humongous comebacks against the Clippers, my and almost everyone else's preseason and restart pick for Finals winner. The Clippers are supposed to be this dominant defensive force with guys that can score more than enough points to win most games. They have held big leads, close to 20 point leads, in the second half of the last two games, close out games, and they have been beaten in both of them. Does this mean the "Clippers Curse" is real? Is Paul George not a marquee guy? Does Kawhi have enough in the tank? Are Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams overrated? I don't think any of this is true. The "Clippers Curse" is bogus. They are a moribund franchise and they, just this season, I will never be a buyer of the "Lob City" Clippers as a real contender, got two real good guys. George is looking a little iffy, but he is still very good. And Kawhi may be the second best overall player in the league, behind only Giannis. I think Paul George is good, and he has rebounded just fine from his rough series against the Mavs. I think Harrell is still getting in "quality" shape, he didn't play in any seeding games, and he barely played in the Mavs series. He is also only 6'7, which is small for his position. And Lou Williams has been everything the Clippers have asked him to be. What is happening, at least to me is, the Nuggets are playing with house money, and they have guys hitting shots in crucial moments. Michael Porter Jr, while he says dumb things, has been solid on offense. Gary Harris has been out forever, but he is looking better. Morris is a great bench scorer. Nikola Jokic is having fun and getting every Clipper that guards him in foul trouble. And Jamal Murray is finding that rhythm he had in the Utah series. He is looking like that scoring machine that made me want to watch him play. This series has turned fun, and I don't think I have been this excited to watch a game seven that doesn't involve teams that I am a fan of. I could care less about these two teams, but I am definitely tuning in to watch tonight. I do think the Clippers will win, and I think they will win convincingly. But, the Nuggets have made it fun, they have made it a series, and if they pull off another 3-1 comeback, they may be one of those teams that is just destined to make a run this year.

I am pumped to watch some basketball tonight.

Ty

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

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Ty's Favorite Michigan Football Games: October 8th, 2016

We have reached Friday, and I am here to talk about Michigan football once again. I read that there may be a re-vote this weekend, that the University of Ohio State's head coach has sent a letter to the Big Ten, that a few schools have had to stop practicing due to outbreaks, that Michigan's president won't talk to Jim Harbuagh or Warde Manuel, basically the Big Ten is a total mess right now. I have no faith in there even being a vote, and I am completely resigned to there being no Michigan football this fall, or even this year. So, I am going to continue with some of my personal favorite games.

Last week I talked about when they housed MSU in East Lansing two years ago. That was a cleansing, emotional watch. That was the return of Michigan football to me. The game today is clearly vanity, and it was a game that I knew, well before it started, that Michigan was going to win. They strolled into New Jersey the night of October 8th in 2016 to play Rutgers. Michigan was the 4th ranked team in the country, Jabrill Peppers was a Heisman candidate and the offense was rolling. The defense was even better. They were shutting everyone down, and making life miserable for their opponents. Rutgers was 2-4, still hadn't won a Big Ten game in some time and were in the midst of being the punching bag they have become the past five years. This was a no brainer.

What makes this game so special, why I remember it so well, is something my dad said to me before the game kicked off. The game was at night, and October 8th just happens to be my father's birthday. So we were in the midst of celebrating his birthday, and my daughter had just turned one the day before. We actually had her birthday party on the 8th. We had it at our house with all of our friends and family over. I miss those days. The game was a night game, so we had all day to celebrate both my daughter and dad. It was a very fun day. My daughter's party was great, and then my wife took the kids home, and I was able to go watch the game at my folks house with my dad and oldest brother. He isn't as big a fan, he is more a Missouri fan, but he still likes to watch games with us. So the three of us gathered around the TV at the house, and that was when my dad said what makes this game so memorable to me. I was talking to him, we were talking about the day, and I said, "so was today a good birthday? Was it fun? What could make it better?". He responded, "it was great, but it would be even better if Michigan scored 70 points and shut out Rutgers". We both kind of laughed, Michigan never really blows teams out like that, and proceeded to watch the game.

What happened for the next three hours was an absolute massacre. Michigan blew the goddamn doors off Rutgers. It was an absolute clobbering. Michigan dominated every phase of the game from start to finish. It was so easy for Michigan that night. In the middle of the third quarter they were running simple dive plays that turned into 60 and 70 yard TD runs. Jabrill Peppers was goofing around on punt returns, which almost ended up as TD's. The defense was impenetrable. Michigan only threw the ball fifteen total times, two of which ended up as TD's. They rushed for nine TD's. Let me repeat that, NINE TD's!. That is insane. And if you are quick at math, not only did Michigan score the 70 my dad was asking for, they actually scored 78. As for shutting Rutgers out, boy did they ever. Like I said, this was the most dominant performance I have ever witnessed as a Michigan fan. When I looked back at the final stats this morning, I did a double take. I mean, I remember it being a blowout, but not the massacre on the stat sheet that I saw. Michigan had exactly 600 total offensive yards. Rutgers totaled 39. Michigan was 6-11 on third downs. Rutgers was 0-17. Michigan only threw for 119 yards. Rutgers, well, they totaled 5 passing yards. Five, singular, total passing yards. Michigan had two guys go for 100 plus rush yards, Chris Evans and Karan Higdon, and Ty Issac was close with 99. Michigan totaled 481 rush yards, which is insane. Rutgers got 34. Michigan averaged almost 9 yards a carry, and Rutgers was averaging 0.9 a carry. Not even a full yard. Of the nine total rushing TD's Michigan had that night, they spread the wealth. Higdon had two, so did Issac, as did Jabrill Peppers, getting some offensive snaps this game. A guy I don't even remember, his last name is Stevenson, you have to be very low on the depth chart for me to not know who you are, had a rushing TD. And Khalid Hill, the tight end turned goal line fullback under Harbaugh, had the other two rush TD's on two carries for two yards. Hill also had a receiving TD, as did Saint Louis' own Jehu Chesson. This was one of the rare games where I didn't bite my nails or sit on the edge of my seat or be ever the pessimist when watching Michigan football. This was as dominant as I have ever seen, and even though it was Rutgers, they are still a D-1 team with guys who were star players at their high school. This isn't like when they beat UMass a long time back 84-7. UMass was, at the time, a D-1AA school, and not a good one. Rutgers may not have been good, they may be going through a down time, but they are still a D-1 Big Ten team, and the game was at their home stadium. But, Michigan won in wonderous, and dominant fashion.

I will always remember this game because of my dad's comment beforehand. He didn't expect the outcome that night, and neither did I. We expected a win, even a big win. But for my dad to say he wanted them to score 70 and shut them out, and then to watch them score 78 and shut them out, that is why this game will always have a special place in my heart. It is a great memory of a near perfect performance from Michigan football. 

Ty

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

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Ty's 2020 NFL Preview

I have gotten some messages from various people online asking me about my NCAA and NFL previews for the upcoming year.

I stated last week that I was not going to do an NCAA football preview because this season is the most asterisk worthy season of all. There are two power 5 conferences, among many other D-1 conferences, that are postponing until winter or fall. There are a ton of major players, first round talent, that have opted out. Oklahoma's coach Lincoln Riley just stated yesterday that he will not divulge any more positive CoronaVirus cases within the team because it "poses a competitive disadvantage", which is wrong on so many levels. Two major programs, TCU and Baylor had games recently canceled for this Saturday due to positive COVID tests. This NCAA season is going to be a mess, and even though I am sure I will tune in from time to time, I will not feel good about it, and the product on the field is going to be messy. I am also certain there is going to be stops and starts, just like MLB, and as the season wears on, more guys, prominent guys, will opt out when they start seeing teammates getting sick. The NCAA is a mess, and this upcoming college football year is proof positive they have no control, and they don't care about the kids. That is my NCAA football preview. Whoever wins is not a real champion, there, I said it.

The NFL is just as bad, if not worse. They have done little to nothing to be prepared for the inevitability that is CoronaVirus wreaking havoc on this season. The NFL, and the higher ups in the NFL have just acted like they are immune to this pandemic. I'm sure they figured that things would be under some kind of control right now. Things are worse, the owners had no plan and now they are just steamrolling ahead with the season, starting this Sunday. There have been notable guys, like JJ Watt and Aaron Donald, who have said that they will not wear a mask while on the field. I checked into "Hard Knocks" on HBO the other night, and hardly anyone was wearing a mask. Well, players were not really wearing masks. Coaches had them on, but for the players it seemed like a suggestion not a rule. And there have been positive cases. As of yesterday there were five positives that were relayed to the media. Who knows how many positives there actually are, but the five they put out there were guys of no consequence. If it happens to a big name guy, things might be different right now. But, it hasn't happened to a "star" yet, so the NFL may think they are doing okay. Also, Roger Goodell was quoted yesterday saying that he wouldn't be surprised if they don't get a full 16 game season in. The NFL, like I said, had no plan, and now they are starting to hedge their bets, a few days before the season starts.

I also have very mixed feelings about the season. Sure it will be nice to see Green Bay play, but how long will they actually play? Which important player will get CoronaVirus first? How soon until half the team is on the COVID list, or they just opt out. You could insert any team into this spot too. I just picked Green Bay because they are my team. Look at the Patriots. They have something like nine guys that opted out way early on. One of the Chiefs starting O lineman opted out to go work on the frontlines in his hometown. They also had their star from the Super Bowl last year, running back Damien Williams opt out to be with his sick mother. More and more of that, I feel, is going to happen as the season wears on. How soon until someone like Patrick Maholmes or Aaron Rodgers or Lamar Jackson see guys around them getting the virus and just decide to sit? I don't think it will be that long. I think they want to play beyond just this season. We still know so little about this virus, and I feel like going out, banging and sweating and spitting and bleeding and yelling at one another on a football field is the easiest way to spread it, and start a massive second wave.

To make everything even crazier, some stadiums are thinking of allowing fans?! Are you kidding me?! That is so dumb. Anyone that goes to see a football game live this year should have to sign a waiver, spend gobs of money on the seats and be willing to deal with the repercussions. I love football. College football is my favorite sport to watch. I love doing fantasy football, I even did a draft which felt so weird and so unfulfilling compared to other years. I enjoy wasting fall weekends watching football. But this year is different. We have much bigger problems facing the country. We need new people in office. We need to find a way to quell this pandemic. We need to try and get out of this pandemic. We need to stop systemic racism. We need to defund the police. Watching football is about the one millionth most important thing right now. It needs to be way, way down the list.

If I had to guess, if someone said, tell me what will happen with the NFL this year, I would say it is going to be messy, perhaps messier than MLB. They will try and play, they have made that clear. But I feel by week four they will have to shut down for a while due to a rise in cases. Then they will come back in two weeks, play for two weeks, then have to shut down again. I think, at most, they will get all 32 teams to play twelve games at best. I think the playoffs will be weird, and not great. I think too many guys will opt out, get sick, get injured or say they are injured because this year is as risky as it gets. If I had to pick a Super Bowl, I really don't know. I would guess Kansas City from the AFC because they have the most talent and returning guys. From the NFC, hmmm, I guess I will go with, I don't know, how about the Saints. They have some solid guys, Drew Brees is still a sell out punk though.

I have zero faith in these picks at all people. It could very well be Miami and Carolina, or Washington and Denver, or even Detroit and Cincinnati in the Super Bowl simply based on how many players get sick or opt out. This season is going to be filled with problems, it will stop and start, guys will leave midway and it will just be sloppy. I hope I am proven wrong. I would love to come on this site and eat crow. But I would be terrified if I were an NFL player, especially a young guy, because this offseason has proven that the owners, GM's and the commissioner do not have a plan, nor do they truly care to have one. This is all messy, it stinks and I wish they would wait until there is some kind of slowing down before just running these guys out there.

That is my 2020 NFL preview. 

Ty

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

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