Ty Watches the Incredible "Nathan for You" Finale "Finding Frances"

I think I may have witnessed the greatest 2 hours of television ever last Thursday. The season 4 finale of "Nathan For You" was simply perfect in every possible way.

The episode was entitled "Finding Frances", and Nathan Fielder made it his personal mission to help a guy that impersonates Bill Gates, he was in earlier seasons of "Nathan For You", find his long lost love from 50 years ago. This episode was so well put together. From start to finish I was totally in. The episode played more like a movie than a show. The people involved with putting this all together nailed it. I had heard Fielder, while doing the podcast circuit, say that the finale was going to be 2 hours, and it was very different from what his show is usually about, and I was intrigued. The whole season was great, but "Finding Frances" was stupendous. It almost felt like a series finale, and while that would make me sad, what a way to go out.

As I said, the episode was all about this man, Bill Heath, a Bill Gates "impersonator", trying to track down his high school sweet heart. The episode started with Fielder explaining that Heath had started to come around his office more after he had asked him to do some DVD commentary for the show. All the while, the cameras were rolling, as they always are. What Fielder and crew showed was Heath constantly losing focus and bringing up a former girlfriend names Frances. He became so obsessed, that when they found out where she used to live, Bill convinced Fielder to go back to his home state of Arkansas and track her down. This is where the show changed from TV to a movie. It played out like a missing person mystery, but with Fielder's excellent dry wit sprinkled in.

When they arrived in Arkansas, Fielder pulled out all his tricks to try and track Frances down. They tried to go to the high school and find her, but they were turned away. Not to be outdone, Fielder and Heath pretended that they were filming a sequel to the movie "Mud" that was shot in Dumas, Arkansas. They even made "Mud 2" hats, and had an extra from "Mud" come in and audition for a role. After hearing that they were making a sequel, the people of Dumas were more than willing to let Fielder and Heath go through old stuff in the library and all over the school. They eventually found what they were looking for, a 1957 yearbook with Frances in it. They got the picture, and Fielder flew a man out who has been on his show before that can make a picture of what people will look like when they age. He took the picture of Frances, and did the best he could. Bill Heath seemed to think this was a great. They took the picture and posted it all over Dumas with hopes that someone would call. One kid did, thinking it may be his great grandma, but after meeting her, it was not who they were looking for.

Heath decided after awhile that he was going to stay with his niece. This is when some revelations started to come out. We found out that Bill wasn't always a Bill Gates impersonator. We found out that he may have cheated on Frances. We found out that he tended to over exaggerate things that he may have remembered. We got to hear a bunch of letters that Frances had written to him many years ago, with each one getting worse and worse for Bill's "reputation". It was so awesome.

After finding out that Bill acts differently around women, Fielder decided he was going to set him up with an escort, but only for flirting. When he tells Bill his plan, Bill says, "I don't mean to be crass, but you have to know where you are sticking it". This was disgusting and hilarious. It is also the only time I have ever seen Nathan Fielder crack. He laughed and said, "Jesus Bill". It was so good, my wife and I watched it three times in a row. But, having already paid the escort, Fielder decided to hang out with her himself. From the moment he saw her, he was in love. He may have been faking it for the show, very likely, but he showed real interest in Maci. In fact, he kept hanging out with Maci throughout the entire episode. Every time they met, it got more and more awkward. Fielder just wanted the attention, and Maci kept pushing to try and get more money from him. The scene with them making out was so uncomfortably awkward and perfect. It was only something Nathan Fielder could pull off.

We eventually got back to the plan of finding Frances. They found her on Facebook after an extensive search, which included a Dumas High School 57 year reunion, which had Bill singing and dancing. It was so god damn funny. What they found on Facebook was not great for Bill. Frances was on her second marriage, and she now lived in Michigan. Bill, somehow, convinced Fielder and crew to fly him out there, and they could come along too. Before they left, Fielder wanted Bill to practice what he would say to Frances when he saw her, and how he would react to her husband. They hired the actor from "Mud" as the husband, and Fielder flew in an actress from LA to portray Frances. The scene that followed next was so awesome and weird and uncomfortable and perfect. His interactions with the actress, like hugging, kissing and rubbing her leg, was so far across the line. The stuff with the guy playing the husband was filled with yelling and pushing. Finally Fielder made Bill wear a wig and act as Frances, and this seemed to open his eyes that maybe he shouldn't come on so strong.

Once they got this all figured out, they took off for Michigan. Mind you, they had been gone from LA for over a month now. When they got there, they stayed one night in hotel and headed to Frances' house in the morning. While driving, they barely spoke a word. When they got to Frances' home, Bill got cold feet all of the sudden. He decided that he wanted Fielder and the crew to come along, but Fielder squashed that pretty quick. Bill finally decided he would call her first. They spoke on the phone for about 15 minutes. The first couple were Bill creepily asking Frances if she knew who she was talking to. She did not know, for the record. After Bill revealed himself, they spoke about the past and present. Frances seemed happy, and this upset Bill so much that he decided he did not want to go to her home anymore. They both decided then and there to go back home.

When home, Fielder talked about how lost and upset he felt about the whole thing. He kept speaking about lost love and how he couldn't rekindle a past romance. Bill showed up one day at the office to give Fielder a present, a serving dish. But, we come to find out that he is there to ask Fielder to set him up with the woman that played Frances in their practice session. He did, and they met up. But, the episode ended with Fielder talking about love and everything involved, and we came to find out that he was sending a letter to Maci, the escort. Fielder flew back to Arkansas, this time by himself, to meet up with Maci, They held hands and talked, and a drone shot ended the episode by flying away as the 2 of them spoke.

"Finding Frances" was perfect. It gave us a delusional old man trying to rekindle a failed romance. It gave us the best type of uncomfortable moments that this show thrives on. It gave us the best Fielder moment ever, him breaking and laughing. This was just perfect, perfect TV. I highly recommend everyone watch this episode. It is the best thing that has been on television in quite some time. "Finding Frances" may very well be Nathan Fielder's masterpiece. It is wonderful.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He once went to find the lost love the head editor. All they had to do was look in a mirror, and the person the head editor had always loved was right in front of them.

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I am Done with Gross Creep Louis CK

Enjoy this picture of a puppy before you read. You will need it.

I had some other things I wanted to write about today, but Louis CK is a god damn creep.

I had heard the rumors about what he did backstage about a year ago, but I was such a big fan, I brushed them off. I figured that it was all untrue. He has 2 younger daughters, so why would he do something so repulsive I would tell myself and my friends in conversation. He had big time hit shows, he was creating unique and new material, he was always working, so I just assumed that he had no time to do the stuff that he was being accused of. And for awhile, that seemed true.

Yesterday that all changed. I read early in the day that he was pulling the premiere of his new movie, that was supposed to open that day in New York, due to a "damaging" report that was going to come out. This made me go back and rethink everything I had originally thought about these allegations. Maybe he really did do these horrible, awful and disgusting acts. Why else would he, and the studio, pull his movie. And sure enough, the story came out and 5 women said that he did lewd things in front of them backstage at comedy clubs. I was so angry.

Louis CK is the first person that I have been a big time fan of to be accused of doing something this awful and grotesque. The Kevin Spacey stuff is horrific, but it was not a shock to me. The "president" is a god damn creep, so I believe every single woman that has come out and said that he has done truly awful things to them behind closed doors. All these senators that are perverts, of course I believe that. I read some stuff about Matthew Weiner being accused of harassment. Again, that doesn't surprise me. Same thing for Jeremy Piven and Brett Ratner. Both those dudes are creeps. But, the Louis CK stuff really shook me to my core. As stated, I have defended him for a year. I have gone on the podcast and the site and claimed he is the best standup ever. I have heaped praise on all of the things he puts his name on. I was an undying true super fan of his.

Then this bull shit comes out. I'm so disgusted that I said all these nice things about such an awful and disgusting human being. Anyone that does/did the things he did/does to women are truly awful people. Why would any women ever want any guy to do the disgusting stuff that Louis CK did in front of them? Why is this something that he thought would be okay? Why did he think he could get away with it? How stupid do you have to be? And again, he has 2 youngish daughters. How would he feel if a man did what he did/does to women behind closed doors to his daughters. If anyone did anything close to what CK did in front of my daughter, the police would be contacted immediately, and I would make it my point to ruin that person's life. This is so wrong and so disgusting. It makes me sick because I used to, as little as a few weeks ago, defend him. How could I be so naïve? It is truly upsetting.

Oh, and his response today, to say it is all true, screw you man. That doesn't make it okay that you are owning up to it. You are as creepy as Spacey, the "president", all the senators, Matt Weiner, Brett Ratner, Jeremy Piven, any guy that thinks that they can do whatever they want to do in front of women. You disgust me Louis CK. I will never, ever look at you the same way ever again. There is no coming back from this, at least from my perspective. Any time I see your face or name attached to anything, all I will think of is how gross and mean and disgusting and what a  bully you are. And for the women coming out and sharing their horrifying stories, you deserve a medal. You are putting your life on the line, and you are outing these despicable men that think of you as objects and not people. This disgusts me to no end. The fact that a guy gets some fame and thinks he can do what he wants to grown women is truly disturbing. I don't buy CK's excuse that he "has problems" and that he owned up to it today. None of that matters because you already treated these women as less than you, and you scarred them for life. That is the problem. These women couldn't lead normal lives because of what you did to them. And again, you are a father to 2 young girls. How god damn stupid and depraved do you have to be.

I'm done with Louis CK forever. Once I was his biggest fan, but now, after all of this, I will never respect him. I will not watch his stuff and I will never listen to his standup again. I hope this gives you as much pain as you gave those women that you did these lewd and disturbing things in front of. You are a creep Louis CK, and I will never look at you the same way again.

Ty

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

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Note to all the Podcasting Fanboys, The NBA Season is a Long Way from Being Over

I listen to a ton of podcasts, and most of those podcasts are sports related. I do love comedy podcasts, but other than that, it is either college football or the NFL, NCAA basketball and the NBA. Since the NBA started about 3 weeks ago, I have pretty much exclusively listened to NBA podcasts now. And 3 weeks into this season, these hosts of the podcasts I listen to need to chill the hell out. People are already, only after most teams have played, at most, 11 games, making outrageous claims.

I was listening to the Ringer NBA Show this morning, and one of the co hosts said that he thinks the Knicks will make the playoffs. After 9 god damn games. That is nuts. First off, it is only 9 games. They still have 73 games left to play. They have only won 5 of those 9 games. Yes, Kristaps Porzingis has been great so far, but I say again, it is 9 games. Also, who else do the Knicks have on that roster that can propel them to the playoffs, even in the East? Tim Hardaway Jr? Frank Ntilikina? Jarrett Jack? Enes Kanter? None of those guys, and I like Hardaway Jr and Kanter, are that great. So, no, I do not think the Knicks will push for a playoff spot. They are only 5-4, and I'd be shocked if they win more than 32-35 games this year.

Also, these same guys that are all over the Knicks, they crap all over the Pistons, who are off to a much better start, and more equipped for a playoff run, especially in the East. They say all the things about the Pistons that I say about the Knicks. They say it is just a fast start and that they will level out. They say they don't have any stars. They do not like the coach. They do not like the roster. That is everything I say about the Knicks. But, I like the Pistons much, much more. The Pistons do not have a Porzingis, but they have a pretty decent roster construct. I am a big Andre Drummond fan. He is a classic throwback big, and he is actually making free throws now. I don't like Reggie Jackson, but he is playing some good basketball right now. Avery Bradley has been an exceptional addition to the team. I do think they will be right around .500 when the year ends, but they are so much better than the Knicks, yet they do not get the same love.

Orlando is another team that people are saying can push for the playoffs. What? How? Who do they have? Frank Vogel is a good coach, but this team is not even close to playoff ready. Aaron Gordon is a blast to watch dunk, but isn't he just a poor man's Blake Griffin, without the jump shot? Elfrid Payton has not lived up to the expectations. He has been very subpar as a pro. Johnathan Issac is long and athletic, but he is still a rookie, and we will have to wait and see if his rail thin body can hold up for 82 games. The best thing about the Magic though, Johnathan Simmons. He has been a revelation since signing there this offseason. But he is not enough to make the Magic a playoff team.

These podcast hosts are already trashing the Cavs because of their "slow start". The Cavs are 5-6 right now, and they do look bad on defense. But, they have LeBron, and they will be just fine when it matters. In fact, if you look at the wins they have, they are good wins. Sure, losing to the Pelicans and Hawks isn't great. But, they have wins over the Celtics, Wizards and Bucks, all playoff teams. The Cavs roster is very poorly put together, but they have LeBron, and he is the best player in the game right now. He can turn it on when needed, and I am done being one of the people saying that this is the year that the Cavs take a slide. Hell, they only won 51 games last year and still made the Finals.

Same can be said for the Warriors. The Rockets beat them on opening night, and then they lost 2 more games after that. Since then, I believe they have won every single game that they have played. The Warriors are so god damn good that when they get beat it is jarring, but they will be just fine.

The Thunder are off to a "slow" start, sitting at 4-6. But, I said in my preseason preview that it would take a month or 2 for Carmelo, Paul George and Russell Westbrook to figure out how to play together. They are going to be just fine. In fact, I am pleasantly surprised at how much Russell Westbrook has been passing the ball. George and Carmelo are cold right now, but they will start to make shots, and this team will start to put together stretches of 5 wins in 7 games or 9 wins in 11 games. They are going to be a 50 plus win team by season's end.

The Spurs have started okay, but Kawhi Leonard has yet to see the floor. Same thing for Tony Parker. LaMarcus Aldridge has been playing very well, but he needs Kawhi and Parker. And when those guys come back, the Spurs will 50 plus games again.

I've heard a ton about this rookie class so far on these podcasts too. And while I think this class will go down as one of the greatest, people again need to chill the hell out. Markelle Fultz is hurt. People are already calling him a bust, but he is hurt. Something is wrong with his shoulder. Also, isn't this the way of the 76ers? Don't they always sit their top draft picks for, at least, one year? I think Fultz will be just fine. I believe he is going to be a decent NBA player with a 10 plus year career. Lonzo Ball seems to be on TV every night, and from what I have seen, the dude can pass, but he cannot shoot, dribble or play defense. He also looks very disengaged during games, especially when someone puts pressure on him when he has the ball. He can learn how to dribble and play defense, but that shot is trash. His form is straight garbage. He needs to work on that. He will be a quality player, but he is no franchise savior, and the ESPN's of the world need to stop putting the Lakers on TV all the time. They are not a good team. There are some other rookies that have been playing well so far, but time will tell. Donovan Mitchell seems to be putting it together. Lauri Markannen has completely surprised me with his scoring. DeAron Fox is so fast and such a good distributor. Dennis Smith Jr seems to have a highlight play every night. These guys are good, but lets give it a bit more time before we put these guys in the Hall of Fame, with the exception being Ben Simmons. He has been absolutely amazing. He is as advertised, and if he ever gets a jump shot, he will be great.

My final thought of the first 3 weeks in the NBA, Bill Simmons needs to chill the hell out on the Celtics. Yes, they are 10-2. Yes, Kyrie Irving looks very good. Yes, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have been very, very good. Yes, Brad Stevens can coach. And yes, they have recovered quite nicely from Gordon Hayward's horrific injury on opening night. But, it is 12 games. They lost their first 2 games, and they have won every game since. But, what decent teams have they beaten? I know for a fact that they struggled a bit with the Lakers last night, before finally pulling away late. But again, it is 12 games. If you look at Bill Simmons Twitter feed, you'd think that they are getting ready to hang a banner already. They have the best record after 12 games, but I scream, IT IS ONLY 12 GAMES! They need to do it all year long before I buy in. This is the first time Jaylen Brown has been a priority player since high school. Jayson Tatum is a rookie who missed a ton of time his lone season in college. I don't trust Aron Baynes as far as I could throw him, and that isn't that far. The Morris twin is fine, but he is losing minutes to younger guys. And Kyrie, while he is distributing now, will he do that in critical games? I don't know. I watched him jack up an awful three in game 3 of the Finals last year, when he could have pushed for a 2 for 1 opportunity, or get the ball to an open shooter. Kyrie wants to be the guy to shoot the ball at the end of the game, for better or worse. Calm down Bill Simmons, and the entire Ringer staff for that matter, pertaining to the Celtics hot start. It is only 3 weeks into the year, and if I were asked who would win a 7 game series right now between Boston and Cleveland, I'd take Cleveland in 5 or 6 games. Just remember, the Lakers started 10-10 last year, and people thought they might push for the playoffs, and I think they won something like 15 games the rest of the year.

So while some of these teams are hot, and some are starting slow, it is an 82 game season, and nothing is decided after 3 weeks. Nothing at all. Chill out everyone, the NBA is a long, long season, and the Warriors will still be the champions at the end of the year.  

Ty

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

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RIP Roy Halladay

Yesterday Roy Halladay died in a plane crash.

I was shocked when I heard the news. I thought he was still playing professionally to be quite honest, when in fact, he retired 4 years ago. I do not know much, if anything, about him personally. He seemed to be the kind of guy that kept his personal life a secret. After yesterday, to see what former teammates and opponents said about him though, he sounded like a good guy.

What I will remember most about Roy Halladay is how great of a power pitcher he was when he was in the majors. He used to mow batters down. He was dominant. There aren’t too many pitchers like him out there anymore. When Halladay played, that was when I still kind of watched baseball. And he was a must watch when he was in the zone. He spent the first 12 years of his career in Toronto, and he was one of, if not the, best pitcher in the AL. He won a Cy Young. He regularly won 20 games. He seemed to always strike out 200 plus batters every year. He was great. He was the ace in Toronto. He was feared by some of the best hitters in baseball at the time. He was awesome.

Halladay left Toronto and joined the Phillies in the NL. He only got more dominate after joining the Phillies. He seemed to get stronger, throw harder and added some more pitches to his arsenal. He won another Cy Young, this time in the NL. I vividly remember watching him pitch against Chris Carpenter in the playoffs, both at their peaks, and Halladay coming out on top. I was upset, I’m a Cardinals fan, but I respected the hell out of his performance. I also remember him throwing a no hitter in the playoffs. That is amazing. These were the best of the best players at the time, and he no hit a team in the brightest possible spotlight. Incredible.

So that’s what I choose to remember about him, his dominance. As I said, I can’t think of a modern pitcher that was as good or as hard throwing as Halladay was. He was tremendous. The fact that he is now gone, at 40, is tragic. The fact that it was a plane crash, of which he was piloting, is even worse. Roy Halladay will be greatly missed. He leaves behind a wife and 2 children I believe. That is upsetting. He will assuredly be a Hall of Famer, it will just be so sad that he won’t be there at his induction. RIP Roy Halladay.

Ty

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

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There is Some Good, and Some Bad, in the Eric Bledsoe Trade

Eric Bledsoe seems to be getting his wish. It was reported earlier today that a trade was being finalized that would send him to the Bucks for Greg Monroe and a first round pick. This trade is both good and bad in my opinion.

Let’s go with the good first. The Bucks are floundering a bit now. It’s only 8 or 9 games, but they are currently below .500. I’m sure they’ll put it all together, I mean, they have Giannis, and he is amazing. What they are lacking though is a true point guard. That is Eric Bledsoe. This dude gets after it when he has something to play for. He is a bull dog on defense. He’s great at setting teammates up, and if you need him to score, he’ll go out and get you 20. He is easily the best point guard they have now. They’ve tried Matthew Dellavedova. He stinks. I’ve never been a fan of his, and since leaving Cleveland, he’s done nothing. They tried Michael Carter Williams, and he’s not even on the team anymore. They’ve tried Malcolm Brogdon, and he is so much better at the 2. Hell, they’ve even put Giannis at point guard, but that led to overuse. Bledsoe comes in and there is no question as to who the point is now. I also think he stabilizes this team. Giannis won’t have to do so much. He’ll be able to get to his spots now, and Bledsoe can set him up. This also opens things up for Brogdon. He can be the true spot up shooter and ball hawk defender. When Jabari Parker gets back from injury, he will be able to get multiple open looks. I can see Thon Maker being a great pick and roll guy with Bledsoe. Overall, this really helps out a Bucks team that needs it. Bledsoe will come in determined to prove Phoenix wrong, and that could help the Bucks push to a 4, possibly even 3, seed in the East. I think this trade puts the Bucks up there with the Wizards and Raptors in the East.

Now, the bad. I do think Bledsoe will be motivated, but what if the Bucks swoon continues? Will he want out, just like he did in Phoenix? Will he tweet, “I don’t want to be here anymore”, and claim it’s from a salon in Milwaukee? He’s done this before on a bad team. Who’s to say he won’t do it again. Bledsoe also needs to know going in that this is Giannis’ team. Guys like Brogdon, Maker and Parker have bought in. Bledsoe was “the guy” in Phoenix until all the complaining. Will he accept his second banana role? Time will tell. I think he will though. He also needs to learn the plays. This is an easy thing to do, but it takes time. The Bucks might not start winning right away, but eventually, they should right the ship. While the East isn’t filled with great teams, there are some great point guards that Bledsoe will have to face. He’ll match up with Kyrie, John Wall, Kyle Lowry and even guys like Ben Simmons, who looks incredible right now. That’s a tall order.

But my final “bad” news thing, I wish he had gone to the Nuggets. I love what the Nuggets are doing, but they need a true point guard to be any kind of threat. I would have loved to see him paired up with Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic, Paul Milsap and Jamal Murray. That would’ve been a hyper athletic, smooth passing and well run machine of an offense. He would have fit in so perfectly in Denver. I suppose the Bucks offer was better, but man it would have been fun to see him in a Nuggets uniform.

All in all though, this was a good trade. The Suns dumped an extremely unhappy guy to a playoff ready team with the best young player in the league. And they got a decent big, Greg Monroe, to group with their young talent, and a first round pick. The Bucks got a true point guard that can defend, and is out to prove another organization wrong. I’m excited to see him play his first game with the Bucks. I’ve always been a fan of a fully engaged Eric Bledsoe.

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 NFL has Some Pleasant Surprise Teams, and Some Unpleasant Quarterback Play

Yesterday was the first Sunday I have had off from coaching in awhile. So, I chose to watch the NFL all day. I usually only get to see the late afternoon games, which I watch, but yesterday, it was all day. Starting at noon until 7pm, I did not turn off the "Red Zone Network". I would get up and do things here and there, but it was NFL all day. There were some big things that I noticed while watching.

First off, the Rams and the Jaguars are good. I said it, and I do not feel weird about it. The Rams hammered the Giants. They put up 51 points. Their offense is very good. Their defense is just as good too. I'm shocked at how much better they are after firing Jeff Fisher. Good on you Sean McVay. While the Jaguars aren't as good as the Rams, their defense is amazing. They get after it. They were all over the Bengals yesterday. I know the Bengals aren't very good, but the Jaguars completely shut them down, especially after AJ Green let his frustrations boil over and started a fight with Jalen Ramsey. They could both win their divisions.

As much as I hate to admit it, the Cowboys looked very good too. They ran and passed and totally shut down the Chiefs. I do not know when Elliot is going to get suspended, if at all, but with him in there, they are dangerous. Also, Dak Prescott has proven that he is not a one year fluke. He has complete control of that offense and is a perfect fit. Their defense is playing way above their potential too. The only team better than them is in their division, the Eagles. They looked awesome yesterday. Carson Wentz is a legit MVP front runner. With Ajayi now, and Blount and Smallwood and Clement, they have probably the best backfield in the league. Alshon Jeffrey has been great all year. And their defense, they can shut a team down.

The Saints also looked very solid. Drew Brees had his typical 250 plus pass yards and a few TD's. But, he now has a running game. Mark Ingram has really settled into his role. Alvin Kamara is so good. That is frightening. This run game, added to Brees' ability to run that offense, they will be a tough out in the playoffs.

As far as some teams that did not impress me, first off, the Bengals. I already mentioned them in regards to the Jaguars. Andy Dalton is horrid. They cannot run the ball. And even without Leonard Fournette, the Bengals couldn't even stop Blake Bortles. This has to be the end of Dalton and Marvin Lewis.

The Giants stink. Eli Manning is toast. They have no receivers except for Evan Ingram. They do not have a run game. Their defense stinks. Their coach is a lame duck, and he is bad.

The Buccaneers are done as well. They looked so bad against the Saints. They could not do anything except start fights. They are so bad on both sides of the ball, and I'm embarrassed that I let them pull me in. I thought they were going to be decent this year.

The Ravens are really bad, especially Joe Flacco. I mean, he looks totally disengaged. It seems like he could care less what happens on Sundays. They can't really do much of anything on offense. Their defense is still kind of solid, but the offense seems to go three and out way too often.

I think a lot of people, myself included, may have overrated the Chiefs. They looked lost against the Cowboys yesterday. Save for that ridiculous check down hail mary that resulted in a score for Tyreek Hill, they couldn't muster much of any offense. They have dropped their last 3 of 4, and when they have to play good teams, they seem to get shut down pretty easily.

I know the Cardinals won, but I did not think they looked very good. Everyone was jumping on the Adrian Peterson bandwagon, and he went for 90 some odd yards, but it was tough for him against a very bad 49ers team. They have no one, outside of Larry Fitzgerald, that is any threat on offense. And I know Drew Stanton threw 2 TD's yesterday, but he is not very good, at all.

My main take away from yesterday was how horrible the overall QB play is. You all know that I am a big time fan of Colin Kaepernick. He belongs in the NFL. More importantly, he belongs on the Texans. After Deshaun Watson went down, I thought they'd sign him for sure. He has the same skill set, and he has been to the playoffs multiple times, and has been to a Super Bowl. But no, they went back to Tom freaking Savage. He went a "blistering" 16 of 35 for under 200 yards and one TD. Their defense scored their other TD. Oh, did I forget to mention the Texans opponent? It was the Indianapolis Colts. You know that juggernaut, right? I mean, that is embarrassing. Tom Savage is horrific. So is TJ Yates. If they bring in Kaepernick, this team still has a shot at the playoffs. If they stick with Savage, or any other QB currently on their roster, good luck winning 7 games. They looked so bad on offense yesterday. Like, really bad. Like, Browns bad.

All day long, for the most part, the QB's that are currently starting for some teams is a joke. There are exceptions. Dak Prescott, Alex Smith, Jared Goff, Drew Brees, hell even Blake Bortles and Jacoby Brissett, had good days. But, I also had to watch guys like CJ Beathard, Andy Dalton, Jay Cutler, Brock Osweiler, Drew Stanton, Eli Manning and Joe Flacco. All of these guys are really, really bad. Some of it is youth, some of it is age, but they do not belong on any team as a starting QB. The most glaring 2 though, Manning and Flacco. I already ran down the problems with Flacco. The Ravens need to move on from him. He is only hurting that team. But Eli Manning, what happened? He was never great, at least in my opinion. He was never the reason the Giants won 2 Super Bowls, he just happened to be the QB. He has always been a very inconsistent QB. But yesterday, and this whole season for that matter, he has looked atrocious. The Giants clearly need to blow it up. They are 1-7. They have no run game. Odell Beckham is out. Their defense is awful. But, the biggest problem, outside their coaching staff, is Eli Manning. He is done. He doesn't have it anymore. He looks worse than his brother did in his last year. He cannot hack it anymore. The Rams exposed every single flaw that he has. He needs to be benched, or even better, cut, and let the Giants start all over. He is so bad.

That was my biggest takeaway from a day filled with watching the NFL. Eli is done, so is Flacco, and if the Texans want any chance to make the playoffs, they need to go out and sign Colin Kaepernick.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The last time he saw quarterback play that was this bad is when he and the head editor last played NCAA Football on the X-Box. The head editor was picked off 8 times.

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Bad Pizza Maker Papa John also Happens to be a Bad Person

This pizza does not look good, and we would still eat it before anything from Papa John's

Papa John is an idiot.

I have never liked his pizza for one. It is gross and just kind of sad. Any other big time chain, the Dominoes, Pizza Huts, Little Caesar's, all the chain places, they are much, much better than Papa John's pizza. Awhile back I also found out some personal things about Papa John, and that made me dislike him even more. He is an ultra conservative. He donated money to this current "administration". He is cruel to his employees. He only cares about his pockets and his shareholders pockets. Basically, he is a garbage human being. Also, his commercials are stupid. The people in them try way, way too hard. I am one of the few people who do not care for Peyton Manning, the actor. I didn't care for him as a football player either, and he is also a garbage person supposedly. But, I do not find him funny or charming or anything that he does behind or on camera. He is boring. He's not as boring as Eli, but he is boring. I also do not think JJ Watt is much of an actor. He needs to stick to football and raising money for hurricane relief. These are the 2 guys I saw most in Papa John's commercials.

Papa John is also totally in bed with the NFL owners. There are many pictures of him sidling up to douchebags like Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft. And these monsters even look a bit uncomfortable taking pictures with him. Papa John is a guy that got lucky and made mass produced pizza that some people like.

But, people haven't been buying his pizza much lately. I know that we stopped buying Papa John's over a year ago. I won't eat it due to his politics, and my wife doesn't really like the taste. Even my kids, who have no discernible taste buds at all, think the pizza there is not very good. When we get massed produced pizza, we go for Dominoes. Also, we have places here in Saint Louis like Imo's and Cecil Whittakers. They make the best Saint Louis style pizza.

In an attempt to make himself an even worse human being, Papa John said that his pizza sales are down due to the NFL protests. What an asshole. How dare he claim that guys protesting a social injustice is the cause of his shitty pizza not selling. He claims that people aren't watching the NFL because of the protests, and that has affected sales of pizza on Sunday's.

Time for some real talk. The NFL ratings have been steadily dropping for about 3 years now. With the invention of the "Red Zone Network", people do not have to watch only one game. There is also multiple NFL packages that people can buy where they can watch the only team/teams they want to watch. And some people would rather just be out doing things on a Sunday afternoon now.

Also, who orders pizza for lunch on a Sunday from Papa John's? Not anyone that I want to associate with, I'll tell you that much. That is way too heavy a lunch. And as I keep saying, the pizza is horrible. Also, if I am watching the Sunday night game, I do not want pizza. My wife likes to make a big meal for the whole family, so that is what we eat on Sunday nights. I'm sure there are a lot of other families that do the exact same thing. So no, the protests have nothing to do with your sales tanking Papa John. You make a bad product. People have found cheaper, better, and sometimes, healthier options than your trash pizza. Like I said before, if we go massive chain, noting is better than Dominoes in my house. Sales of frozen pizzas have probably spiked too. I know I buy a few each week so we have them in our house.

This claim by Papa John was just a way to keep his garbage name in the news. He just wants the attention. He is a puppet for the GOP. He thinks his words hold more weight than they actually do. Nobody cares what you say Papa John. I loved all the backlash your punk ass got after making this asinine comment. Even Digornio Pizza owned you on Twitter. Little Caesar's crushed you. Pizza Hut came out and said their sales are just fine. Dominoes didn't even bother with a response.

Face the facts Papa John, no one likes you or your pizza. You are a heartless, soulless puppet. You are a shill. You are no better than a used car salesman. You are loathsome. I hope your sales continue to drop and that you continue to lose more and more money because you did not come by it honestly. Shut your mouth and try and make a better product. Don't blame pro athletes that have a conscience.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He knows the Papa John has a last name. We think it rymes with shit-head, we refused to even look it up. 

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An Adult Person Should Stay Far Away from Hostess Fried Pies

This pie here, it is good for all ages

I was driving home from one of my rec league basketball games the other night and I needed to stop for gas. After my games I am usually pretty hungry, even if I have already had dinner. So, when I have an opportunity to get a snack at a gas station, I take it. I do not indulge myself so much since I lost a good amount of weight about 3 and a half years ago, and have been able to keep most of it off. So, when I have an opportunity to eat something that is trash for me, I take it. I had just played a game, and I was running around all day, I figured I had earned something disgustingly unhealthy.

As I roamed the aisles after filling up my car, I came across Hostess fried pies. I used to love these things. I ate them all the time as a kid, and when I got a bit older, I would eat 3 or 4 a month. I only liked 2 flavors, chocolate and lemon. These were the best because they had no real fruit in them. Hostess made other flavors of these fried pies, but they were fruit flavored pies with, what one might assume, actual fruit. The apple pie had apples in it, the cherry had cherries, and so on and so forth. I do not like real pies with fruit in them, so naturally, I went for the fried ones that had zero fruit in them.

The first time I had a Hostess fried pie I had the lemon. It was amazing. It was so sugary and sweet, and that crust, man did I love it. The crust was soft, but it was also covered in a sugar glaze. I could not wait to eat the end pieces. I saved those for last because they were my favorite. After having this lemon fried pie I did not think there was a better snack out there. I used to devour them. I'd get them at the store, buy them at school, and anytime I was at a 7-11, I'd opt for the pie over a Slurpee. There was so much sugar and so many additives and so much fake stuff in this snack. That was what made it so god damn delicious. I remember my mouth puckering when I'd eat it, and after I finished it, I remember all the grit from all that sugar. That was all the Hostess lemon fried pie was. It was essentially 1 pound of straight sugar.

Then, one magical day, I saw that they had a chocolate fried pie. I was over the moon. Just when I didn't think they could outdo themselves, Hostess replaced the lemon filling with chocolate. It was a miracle. And when I had my first chocolate fried pie, it was like eating a gourmet meal. This was even better than the lemon because it wasn't as tart. This was like eating a jelly filled donut except the crust was better, and instead of jelly, it was chocolate pudding. It was the absolute best. I ate the chocolate pies much more than the lemon pies. It got to the point where I was bummed out if my only option was lemon.

Getting back to the other night, I saw these magical pies once again. At first glance all I saw was apple and cherry. But, as I dug a little deeper, there it was, a Hostess chocolate fried pie. I grabbed it and might as well have ran up to the counter to pay for it. I was so excited about eating it I started to unwrap it before I even got back to my car.

As I took the first bite all the great memories I just laid out for everyone started to flood back. It was so good. Nothing had changed. But, as I ate more of the fried chocolate pie, I started to feel sick. I couldn't even finish half of it. It was way, way too sweet. The chocolate filling coated my entire mouth, but not in a good way. The crust was ridiculously sweet. It actually made my skin tingle and I swear my hands were shaking. I had to stop eating this thing immediately for fear that I may be getting diabetes. I did not remember this treat being so sweet, but damn, was it ever sweet. I was pretty upset. How could something I loved so much as a kid, and even a teenager, be so bad now?

Then, once I actually thought about it for awhile, I remembered that I am an adult man. Grown people aren't supposed to eat this garbage. This is a snack no one should eat, except for maybe young kids with incredible metabolism. Young kids can burn this off in a few hours. People my age, it takes days, possibly, a full week. I felt sick the rest of the night. I never came close to throwing up, I just felt off all night. I hoped a good night's sleep would cure what ailed me, but that wasn't the case. I kept getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and I just couldn't sleep solidly. And the next day, I still felt off. I felt sluggish, tired and just flat out lazy. I didn't want to eat any other food either. It was so upsetting.

The moral of the story, now I know that Hostess fried pies aren't for me. Maybe my son or daughter will like them. They are only 5 and 2, so they are still young enough that it shouldn't make them sick. But I urge anyone who is in their mid 30's, stay far, far away from the fried pies. They will only make you regret your decision to try them again. I know because I just went through that pain.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He does not realize that the McDonald's in Hawaii still serves fried apple pies. Those are great fro any age.

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The NFL Trade Deadline was Actually Interesting This Year

The NFL trade deadline came and went yesterday, and boy did we have some big time names change teams. I was kind of shocked at the trades that kept scrolling on my phone yesterday. The contenders got better, and the not contenders got some picks. I want to break down the big trades and how I see this shaping up for the second half of the season today.

First off, we have the Jimmy Garropolo trade to the 49ers for a second round pick. This was surprising to me. I wasn't shocked that the Patriots moved Garropolo, I was confused by what they got in return. I thought that they would get a pick, but I also thought they would try and get a defensive player to help them out. All the 49ers had to give up was an early second round pick. Now, the Patriots could still make some offseason moves with this pick, but to get no defensive help, that was baffling. They could have gotten someone from the 49ers unit to help them out. They should have asked for a linebacker to replace Donta Hightower, or a D lineman to add depth, or a corner that can actually cover. They got none of those. And today, since they had no backup QB, they went and signed Brian Hoyer. Why not Kaepernick?! Why in the hell do teams keep giving Brian Hoyer a god damn job?! He is dreadful. Looking at this trade from the 49ers side, they finally have a solid QB. The 2 games that Garropolo started last year, he looked pretty competent. We will see how he does away from the Patriots, but Kyle Shanahan has proven to be a very good QB coach, and I think he has someone that can become an upper tier QB. But, for this season, I do not see Garropolo leading this team to anymore than 2, maybe 3 wins. They really have no threats running or catching the ball. Also, I do not know how the O line will hold up. This is a good start in rebuilding a team, but it will be of no consequence for the second half of this season. I also like this deal because it totally screws over the highly overrated Kirk Cousins. But that is a personal thing for me.

I was absolutely stunned when I saw that Jay Ajayi was traded. I was even more stunned by what the Dolphins got in return, only a 4th round pick. I know that Ajayi was unhappy with his lack of touches, and he was becoming a problem in the locker room, and he may or may not have knee issues, but only a fourth rounder in return? Wow. Ajayi is now joining a very solid running team, with a very good O line. He will bring speed and explosion to the Eagles. Legarette Blount is the big bruiser, and I think he will be fine sharing carries. Wendell Smallwood has been a surprise, and he is pretty solid, but I'd rather have Ajayi if pressed. He, if healthy, brings an entire new dimension to a team that sits atop the NFL right now. While they may not be highly explosive passing the ball, even though Alshon Jeffrey has been great, having this three headed monster in the backfield will be a headache for opposing defenses. Also, they will be able to chew up the clock. I love this move for the Eagles. I do not know what in the hell the Dolphins are doing. But hey, this was the team that went out and signed Jay Cutler this offseason. They cannot be trusted to make good decisions anymore. This feels like a throw in the towel move by them.

The Seahawks went out and finally tried to shore up one side of their offensive line and traded Jeremy Lane for Duane Brown. Duane Brown is a very, very solid left tackle. He can block, and when engaged, he can be great. He has only played one game this season, he was holding out for a contract, so that may slow him down a bit. But, once he gets going, he will be the one and only O lineman that will protect Russell Wilson. That is the down side for the Seahawks in this deal. Duane Brown is only one guy. The offensive line is composed of 5 guys. I still do not trust the other four, but the left tackle spot is on lock now. The Texans got a pretty good safety in return. Jeremy Lane is probably the only guy in the Seahawks secondary that they didn't mind parting ways with. With that being said, he is pretty solid. He can cover and he can hit. He will bring the Texans a toughness that they are lacking in their secondary. This is a very good trade for both teams. I do think it moves the needle a bit more for the Seahawks, but the this could help the Texans push for the title in their god awful division, or a wild card spot. Their offense is set, and adding Lane will help their defense.

When I thought all the madness was done, the Panthers astonished me by trading Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills for a 3rd and 7th round pick. I was floored by this. Benjamin seemed to be finally figuring it out. He was becoming the big time red zone threat that most thought he would be when he came into the league. He is 6'6, his destiny is to be a serious red zone target. Now, the Panthers let that go for 2 picks, none of which are a first, or even a second rounder. That is ridiculous. I think Benjamin will help out the Bills, and more importantly, Tyrod Taylor, a ton. Taylor doesn't have any big time pass catcher, and now, I think he does. The Bills already have a great run game and solid defense, but now they have a big time target at receiver. They are 5-2, and already a tough out for all their opponents. Now, with Benjamin, opposing coaches have to game plan not only for their run game, but also their pass game. This is a solid, solid move for them. The Panthers, I look at this trade like I do with Ajayi to the Eagles. What in the world are the Panthers doing?! They are still in position to compete for a division title and a playoff spot, and they are going to let one of their top receivers go? That is crazy to me. I know they have Devin Funchess, and some rumors are swirling that this trade will push Christian McCaffery to being a full time wide out, but I'd rather have Funchess and Benjamin than Funchess and McCaffery. At least Benjamin, when healthy, put up solid numbers.

The best, and fairest trade was Brown for Lane. All the other trades, Garropolo, Ajayi and Benjamin, they make no sense to me. I may be wrong on the Garropolo trade because the Patriots will most likely do something with that pick. But, the other 2 trades, the Dolphins and Panthers seem to have no idea what they are doing. The Ajayi trade is another death knell in this season for the Dolphins. And, the Benjamin trade to Buffalo makes the Bills better, and really, really hurts the Panthers. I'm excited to see these guys play for their new squads, and for some, it could change their season drastically. This was one of the most fun NFL trade deadlines that I can ever remember. The NFL needed something like this, because it has been a pretty rough year from many different angles. Now someone just needs to sign Colin Kaepernick.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was going to talk about the AJ McCarron non-trade, but why point out the ineptness of the Bengals and Browns once again.

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"Get Out" and "The Cabin in the Woods" Should be on Your Halloween Movie Watching List

I am not a fan of Halloween as you all know by now. I don't like being scared, I don't like dressing up, I eat too much candy, I grew tired of trick or treating by the time I was 10, I just don't enjoy the day. I also loathe the puns, as I stated on a podcast last year, and still complain about it to this day. Stop with the "spooktacular" bull shit. That's not a word. Every holiday does this, but for some reason, Halloween puns really bug me.

With all this being said, I do love movies and TV shows. Just listen to our recent podcast about great Halloween TV shows. These are fun shows for me, especially when they are of the comedy variety. So, for today, since it is Halloween, and we didn't touch on movies in our recent podcast, I'm going to give you 2 movies that I think are perfect Halloween movies to watch tonight.

The first movie I just saw recently. By recently, I mean a week ago. My wife and I just watched "Get Out", and that movie is incredible. What makes it a great Halloween movie you ask? Well, for one, it is horrifying. It is scary, but not "The Shining" scary. "Get Out" is a slow burn. There are very few shock scares too. You know what shock scares are. It is when something jumps into frame and loud music plays. "Get Out" has one, maybe 2 moments like this. "Get Out" doesn't have to go for cheap scares. The movie's premise is scary enough. I mean, white people taking the brains out of hip, young black people, spoiler alert, that is frightening. But, "Get Out" has comedic moments, it has action, it is very well written, incredibly acted and perfectly directed by Jordan Peele. It isn't just a straight up horror movie. Lil Rel Howery plays the main character's best friend, and the scenes of him figuring out what is going on with his buddy's girlfriend and family, it is very funny. Also, the scene where he shows up at the police station to tell the cops what is going on, and they all laugh at him, just perfect comedy. The final scene, where Daniel Kaluuya escapes the house and fights off the whole family, it has as much action as "Die Hard" does. It is awesome, and exciting. "Get Out" has it all. It is not only a great Halloween movie, it is a great any day, any time movie. I'm mad at myself that I waited so long to see it, but now that I have, I'm so happy. This movie stayed with me for days too. I kept thinking about it over a week after I had watched it. That is the sign of a quality movie.

The other movie is a bit older, not too much, but so awesome and so off the beaten path. Everyone needs to see this movie. The movie is "The Cabin in the Woods". Funny thing about the 2 movies I mentioned today, Bradley Whitford is in both of them. That dude is a good actor. Anyway, "The Cabin in the Woods" is very scary, but it is also hilarious. This movie takes on the trope of 5 friends going on a trip to a creepy cabin. It is in the same vain as an "Evil Dead", if you will. But, "The Cabin in the Woods" had a lot more money put into it than "Evil Dead". I only saw "TCITW" after hearing a ton of people talk about it on podcasts, and in general conversation with friends. I also heard that Chris Hemsworth was in it, and I am a fan of his. I avoided it because I thought it was a straight forward horror movie, but was assured that I would enjoy it, and that it was like nothing I had ever seen. Those people were right. "TCITW" is very different from a classical horror movie. The movie has scares and it very gory, but I would consider this more a comedy with horror elements. I personally think it is funnier than "Evil Dead", or any other horror movie that tries to go full comedy. The kids in the movie are hilarious. The stuff they go through is crazy, wacky, bizarre, but above all else, funny. The way that some of the characters meet their fate is downright laugh out loud funny, especially Hemsworth's character. Then you have the people who put these kids in this situation. I already mentioned Bradley Whitford, but there is also Sigourney Weaver, in one of her most underrated roles, and Richard Jenkins, who is an amazing actor. They are so god damn good, and very funny in this movie. As I said, "TCITW" is unlike anything you will ever see. It is so different and bizarre and scary, but most of all, funny. 

So, while I may not be a fan of actual Halloween, I do enjoy movies and TV shows, and "Get Out" and "The Cabin in the Woods" are 2 incredibly solid choices if you are looking for great movies, that also may up your heart rate a bit. Go check both of these movies out. I think you will really like them, especially during Halloween.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He also recommends watching "Young Sheldon" if you need a good scare. The fact that the show exists is one of the most frightening things ever.

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The "Monster Mash" is a Bright Spot in the Halloween Season

Even the Fremont Troll is in for the "Monster Mash"

Happy Halloween. Please enjoy this post from holidays past. The article was originally posted on October 31st, 2016.

I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween. I think that I've made that pretty clear on this website and podcast. Halloween died for me the day my parents told me, at 13, that I was too old to go trick or treating anymore. I couldn't argue with them, they were right. Who was I fooling by going out there with my football jersey on, that's right, it was my jersey, not some NFL or college players jersey, and trying to get free candy from strangers. It felt weird doing that, as a teenager. I've also never been one for dressing up, be it in costume, for a party, a funeral, a wedding, basically any fancy occasion. I like to wear t shirts and jeans, cargo shorts or athletic shorts. That is what is most comfortable, so that is what I feel like I should wear. So, the idea of putting on a costume or makeup or both, that is unappealing to me. Since 13, I have not been a fan of this "holiday". I also don't like being spooked, I hate scary movies, I don't like haunted houses and the puns made around this time of year are atrocious. Even with 2 small children, I still do not get into the spirit. Call me a curmudgeon, an old man, an angry old man, whatever, I just do not get excited for Halloween. I do go out and trick or treat with my children, I'm not a monster, but I'm always happy when it is over.

But, there is one thing, and probably the only thing, that I do like about Halloween. I like, neigh, I LOVE the song "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett. First off, I love the 50's/60's music sound. I love how genuine and nice and kind of dirty that it can get. I'm a big Buddy Holly fan. I love all the old time blues guys, think Robert Johnson. I'm just a big fan of that older sound of music. "Monster Mash" is the perfect representation of the goofy, yet extremely catchy sound of the 50's/60's rock/pop music.

The song is hilarious first off. The singer sings the song in a very deep, trying to sound scary but not pulling it off, voice that is unforgettable. The song also has background singers doing some of the best background work in spoof music history. The "ooh ah ooh"'s that sprinkle that song and the hushed vocals during the chorus are glorious. The music is trying to be spooky, but it comes off kooky, in the best possible way. The instruments and sounds are great. The bubbling cauldron at the beginning is great. Then, it's your typical 4/4 groove with 3 chords. The "Monster Mash", in its simplicity, is so much better than any Ramones song ever, and I will debate anyone for the length of time why I'm right about this.

Then there are the lyrics, my goodness, what a hilariously ridiculous song. Pickett sets the table beautifully from the start. He paints a very real depiction of a goofy Halloween story. The first line, "I was working in the lab, late one night/when my eyes beheld an eerie sight/for my monster from my slab began to rise/and suddenly to my surprise". Perfect. He is a mad scientist that had a late night, and Frankenstein I'm going to assume, awakes from his slumber. But, instead of attacking this scientist, the chorus lets us know that Frankenstein just wants to do the monster mash. They never tell us how to do the monster mash, but we do know that it is a graveyard smash, so I guess all the monsters at the graveyard can really boogie, but they can only do the monster mash. In the second verse, Pickett talks about how all the ghouls and monsters and vampires and the like come to him to get a jolt so they too can do the monster mash. It is so silly, yet so damn catchy. I'm humming it in my head as I type this. Then, after all the monsters get their jolt, they all proceed, along with Frankenstein, to do the monster mash, and we are led to believe that it is still a graveyard smash. In the third verse, we hear that every monster is there, including, the Wolfman, zombies, Dracula, and even Dracula's son. This dance has turned this graveyard into party central. And now, not only are they dancing the monster mash, they are singing it as well. These monsters are having the time of their lives, thanks to the monster mash. But, in a stunning twist during the fourth verse, Dracula wants to know why no one is doing the Translyvania Twist? Well Dracula, I'd like to know as well, and Pickett explains why in the next verse. The other monsters let him know that this is a strictly monster mash party, and at the next party they have, they will all gladly do the Translyvania Twist. Instead of getting angry and biting necks, Dracula is cool with this arrangement and goes back to the party. The "Monster Mash" ends with it's unforgettable chorus, and the song is over.

I really do truly love this song. I love the goofiness, the music, the vocals, everything. I think this song is great. It is an undeniable classic as well. Everyone spoofs it to. From the "Comedy Bang! Bang!" podcast to "The Simpsons", someone somewhere has a "Monster Mash" spoof that they are waiting to unleash. So, while Halloween may not be for me, at least I'll always have the "Monster Mash" to get me through it. Thanks Bobby Pickett.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is not quite as high on the sequel to "The Monster Mash", the unfortunate "Monster Swim". Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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The Monsters Live on Charlie Brown's Street

Give this as a treat on Halloween and expect it to go through your window as a trick

Happy Halloween. Please enjoy this post from holidays past. The article was originally posted on October 31st, 2015.

Today is Halloween.

I expected that many of you already know this. Ty has talked about what he  likes about Halloween (The Simpsons) and what he generally dislikes (everything else). We even had a great conversation about the good and bad on Halloween (beer good, puns bad). What I think many people can agree with is that the entertainment around the spookiest of holidays is pretty darn good. I may not like haunted houses, but they are very impressive pieces of theater. Cracked.com writer Adam Tod Brown does a much better job describing the experience of haunted houses better than I could (read his latest piece on an intense experience). The best horror and slasher movies tend to be campy, innovative, or just plain scary. It is a genre that covers all of the human emotional spectrum. Television also gets in the Halloween act, and there have been some timeless television mined out of the spirit of All Hallows Eve.

In my humble opinion there is not a better, or more timeless, piece of Halloween entertainment than "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". First airing in 1966, this special has been going strong for almost 50 years now. I always feel like the fall / winter holiday season has started when I see Linus and Lucy Van Pelt come out their front door and the Vince Guaraldi Sextet breaks into the jazz number "Linus and Lucy". That is the sound of the holidays to me, and I hate jazz. The characters set the mood with very little dialogue. In the first five minutes you get Lucy being snobby, Linus being emotional, Snoopy being innovative, and Charlie Brown being put upon. The animation and artwork are magnificent. You can easily see that it is fall in this community. The colors give off a feeling of briskness. During the Snoopy - Red Baron sequences the art work starts to resemble surrealistic paintings. Watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" is like taking a stroll through the best art museums of the world.

The actual story is as timeless as the animation. Linus has an incredible belief that all the other kids ridicule him for. Linus does not waver from his belief, coming back stronger after his eventually disappointment. Sally has a crush and just wants to be with her beloved, but even she demands justice (restitution) when the night was taken away by a crazy belief. Snoopy's imagination is educational (look up all the spots he walks through in France during World War I), and exciting. The kids may be mean to each other, especially Charlie Brown, but they still all do everything together.

The kids are definitely cruel to poor Charles, but the adults in this town are psychopaths. I know the adults never appear as main characters in the Peanuts universe, but the actions attributed the grown ups paints a picture of horrible people. Who in their rational thinking mind would give a kid a rock on Halloween? If that had been me, the rock would have gone through the givers window. What gets me is that Charlie Brown did not just get one rock, he got a bag full of them. The adults all decided to pick on this one, bald, chubby, little kid. Charlie Brown may not be good with scissors, but he still deserves some candy. Give him the Mounds bar or Whoppers, or even candy corn. 

Surprisingly this is not the cruelest thing done by the adults in "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown". The Van Pelt parents not only let their young son go hang out in a pumpkin patch on Halloween night, in Minnesota no less, they leave him there all night. Lucy has her alarm set for 4:00am to get her shivering little brother and put him to bed. Were the Van Pelts too drunk and could not be woken up? Were they still out drinking? Monsters, the whole lot of them.

"It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" is the greatest piece of Halloween entertainment ever created. I hope your holiday festivities include a viewing of this classic. It has everything one wants in Halloween entertainment. The joy of the children, the imagination of the creative, the belief in mystical creature, and the terror of a group of adult monsters. Do not miss or you will have just wait till next year. You and Linus will just be waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head editor for SeedSing. While he was writing this piece his wife used RD's bald head as a model for her pumpkin carving. Good grief. Come tell us what holiday entertainment is the best by writing for SeedSing.

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The SeedSing 2017 NFL Midseason Redo

Just like I did with the mid point of the NCAA football season last week, this week, after tonight we will be at the mid point, I'm going to do a checkup and redo of my preseason NFL picks. I'll do the division winners and wild card teams, the MVP, rookie of the year on offense and defense, coach of the year and my Super Bowl matchup and champs. I've got a TON to change due to injuries and some surprises. Some stuff I got right, but some stuff I got very, very wrong.

Okay, lets start with the AFC. First off, I do not know who is the best team in the AFC. One week I think it is the Patriots, then the Steelers, hell, I have even considered the Bills as one of the best teams in this conference. It is so out of whack. Anyway, the AFC East is all about the Patriots and the Bills. The Dolphins stink. They are 4-3, better than I thought, but none of that has to do with Cutler, who is out with an injury of course, and they just got their asses whooped by the Ravens last Thursday night. I believe the final score was 40-0. The Dolphins are horrendous. The Jets are much, much, much better than I thought they'd be. I was one of the people that considered picking them to go 0-16. This was when I thought Christian Hackenberg was going to be their starting QB, but they went to Josh McCown, and he has been surprisingly decent. The Jets are still pretty awful, but they are 3-5, and surpassed my expectations of their entire win total in 8 games. Todd Bowles has proven to be a very competent, and good, NFL head coach, given the roster he had to work with coming into this year. The Patriots are a very shaky 6-2 team right now. The offense is fine, but they may be losing Chris Hogan, and they already lost Julian Edelman. They do have a stable of running backs, and they will find some fine receivers and they have Tom Brady and a solid O line. The Patriots problem lies within their defense. Their defense is horrid. Yeah, they stopped Matt Ryan, but every QB prior to that was shredding them. They also have a bad run defense. They are bad on that side of the ball. Maybe they will get some new bodies, but right now, they are bad on defense. The Bills are one of my biggest surprises. I did not think they would be good, but they play incredibly sound defense, and they know their limitations on offense. Tyrod Taylor has been great. LeSean McCoy has been great. Their O line is very good. And their defense is stout. If their offense gives them 20 points, they will win. The Bills are 5-2, and I could see them winning 10 or 11 games. But, I am still going to go with the Patriots to win this division, but barely.

The Chiefs will win the AFC West unless they absolutely blow it. They have cooled off since their 5-0 start, but the rest of the division is not that good. Also, the Chiefs are playing better offense and their defense is very good, even without Eric Berry. The Raiders stink. They were my, along with a ton of people, pick to take a big leap. They have not. Derek Carr is playing timid. Amari Cooper is dropping the ball all the time. They have no run game. And their defense stinks. They'll be lucky to win 7 games. The Broncos are atrocious on offense. Trevor Siemian is not a starting QB. Neither is Paxton Lynch and anyone else they may have on their roster. They could go out and sign Colin Kaepernick, which would be an ideal fit, but they won't, unfortunately. The Broncos defense is really good, as always, and Von Miller is so good, but the defense is wasted by their horrid offense. As stated, Siemian stinks. He cannot get the ball to Thomas or Sanders in stride. They can't really run either because everyone is stacking the box and daring them to throw. 8-8 seems like their destiny. The Chargers have played better since beating the Giants, but they are no better than 7-9 to me. Phil Rivers is too old, they have no go to receiver and they do not give Melvin Gordon the ball enough. They have a good, young defense, which I do like. The Chargers need to retool their offense, but their defense is set. The Chiefs should easily win the West.

The AFC North is an absolute joke outside of the Steelers. The Steelers look to be finally figuring it out, and that should scare teams. They have Brown, Smith-Schuster and LeVeon Bell. As long as they lean on those guys, and not Ben Roesthilberger, the Steelers will be just fine. Their defense has been great too. The Ravens are so bad on offense, and I know they just had 2 pick sixes, but their defense is not what it once was. Joe Flacco is going to probably miss some time and Ryan Mallett is their backup. Yikes. The Bengals stink. Andy Dalton is bad. AJ Green is not getting enough targets. Their three running backs are not that good. Their defense is old, but still dirty. Maybe this is the year the front office finally gives up on Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton. And then we have the Browns. The Browns are an absolute mess. That is all that needs to be said. Steelers are the easy pick for this division.

The AFC South is very close, but the teams all have big time flaws. The Jaguars have a very good defense. A top notch defense. They've had 2 games where they have sacked the opposing QB 10 times. That is amazing. Their problem, Blake Bortles. He is awful. They have Fournette, and when he isn't hurt, he carries that offense. But, when they have to rely on Bortles, it is a disaster. The Texans have Deshaun Watson and he is amazing. They also have DeAndre Hopkins and he is amazing. They have a very explosive offense. They lost JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus on defense, but they still have Jadaveon Clowney, but not much more. They also have Bill O'Brien and their horribly racist owner, which is their downfall. The Titans are the most inconsistent team in the NFL. They are not grinding games out like they should, but no one is blowing them out either. They just cannot put together a complete game. That will be their downfall. Then we have the Colts. The Colts stink. The Colts are almost as big a mess as the Browns. They should shelve Luck for the rest of the year and try and get a high draft pick. That is their best case scenario. If I had to pick a division winner right now, I guess I'd take the Jaguars, but I have zero confidence in that pick.

So the AFC playoff teams would be the Patriots, Steelers, Chiefs and Jaguars as the division winners, and my 2 wild card, the Bills and, I guess, the Broncos. I'll take the Patriots and Steelers in the AFC title game, and give me the Steelers to outscore the Patriots and make the Super Bowl.

Now for the NFC. Lets start with the NFC East because they have the best team, record wise, in the NFL right now. The Eagles have a strangle hold on this division. They are 3 games up with 8 left to play. Carson Wentz has looked great. They have a solid run game. Alshon Jeffrey has been a great addition. They have a very solid defense. They should coast to the title. The Cowboys are playing better as of late, but the last 2 wins came at San Francisco, and a depleted Washington team. Ezekial Elliot will probably not serve any of his suspension this season, so that helps them. Dak Prescott has been very solid flowing up a very impressive rookie year. Dez Bryant has been fine as their number one wide out. Jason Witten is showing wear and tear finally. Their O line is still very good. Their defense is suspect to me. They have not really faced a tough opponent, outside of Green Bay when Rodgers was healthy, so I want to see this defense stop a quality team. All 4 of the Cowboys wins have come against teams at or below .500. I do not buy them yet. Washington is very poorly coached. Jay Gruden looks so lost out there. Kirk Cousins hasn't been All Pro caliber this year either. They do not have a run game. Their receivers are very average. And while I love Vernon Davis, he is pretty old now. Their defense is very good, but they spend so much time on the field due to their lackluster offense. That hurts teams. The Giants are so, so, so bad. They are bad on every level. I picked this team to win this division, but I was clearly wrong. Their O line is awful. Eli Manning is terrible. They have no run game. and now that Beckham is done for the year, they have no on to catch the ball. The Giants may not win another game all year. The Eagles will coast.

The NFC West is surprisingly decent. Well, I should say, the Seahawks are very good, but so are the Rams. I do not think anyone saw this coming from the Rams. They play very sound defense, which keeps them in games all the time. But their offense has been a big time surprise. I knew Todd Gurley was good, and he is finally showing that again this year. But, who saw this upgrade from Jared Goff, Sammy Watkins and Cooper Kupp? No one. And if you say you did, you are  a god damn liar. Good for Sean McVay, and maybe this team will push for a playoff spot. The Seahawks are good, as always. Their defense is still top notch. They did get roasted by a rookie yesterday, but other than that game, they have put the clamps on pretty much every opponent. Oh, and Sheldon Richardson is starting to wreak havoc. That's scary. The offense goes as Russell Wilson goes. Their run game and O line might be the worst in the NFL though. But, they have deep threats all over the field, and Jimmy Graham looks pretty good again. The O line and lack of a running game may doom this team though. The 49ers are in full rebuild mode, and after playing very hard the first 5 games, they have been destroyed the last three. This is looking like 2-3 years before this team is even close to being .500 and competent. They need pretty much everything. The Arizona Cardinals, my dark horse, has been bad, and now filled with injuries. David Johnson went out week one. Carson Palmer week 6. They traded for Adrian Peterson, but he is well past his prime. Their defense has not looked good, and I'm just waiting for the inevitable Tyrann Mathieu injury. Larry Fitzgerald deserves better than this. I know he wants to stay with one team his whole career, but now is the time to trade him to a real contender so he has one last shot at winning a ring. The Cardinals need to start thinking about a full rebuild. I have the Seahawks winning this division, but the Rams will fight.

The NFC North is now the Vikings to lose after Aaron Rodgers was lost for the year due to a broken collarbone. I know that the Packers say he could be back, but do not rush him back. Save him for next year. I also know that I picked the Packers to win the Super Bowl this year. Well, that will not happen now. Brett Hundley is not being given a fair shot. McCarthy is way too scared to open up the playbook for him. I still think they should go after Kaepernick too. Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, they are all great, but only with Rodgers at QB. They will not see the kind of passes they usually see until next year. Ty Montgomery has been okay as a full time running back, but he gets hurt way too much. I do really like this Aaron Jones kid though. He has been a revelation. Martellus Bennett hasn't lived up to my expectations, but he is still a quality tight end. The defense is not where I thought it would be right now either. They still give up way too many chunk plays, and they have a hard time getting opposing teams off the field on third down. This is a lost year for Green Bay. The Vikings have one of the best defenses in all of football. That will easily carry them to 10 wins. What has been surprising is how decent their offense has been. They extend drives, they run the ball well, and Case Keenum has looked average, which is good for him, this year. The Vikings are good. The Bears have a really good defense, shockingly, and 2 great running backs. What they don't have is a confident QB and they have no receivers. Trubisky has looked very, very below average since he became the starter. And the receiving corps, I cannot name one guy off the top of my head. I also do not think John Foxx wants to be there. The Bears defense will keep them in games, but they are no more than a 5 or 6 win team. The Lions are exactly what I thought they were going into this year. They have some explosive plays on offense, but they can never seem to finish off drives. They also don't have any real solid running backs. It is not like they like to run anyway. They have okay receivers, but no one that scares any corner like Calvin Johnson did. They will be a tough win for teams, but they look like a 7-9 team. The Vikings will run away with the North.

The NFC South is bad, and I thought it was going to be the best division in the NFL. The Saints are the leaders right now, and I do not think they have looked as great as some others do. They finally have a run though. Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara have been so good for them. Getting rid of Adrian Peterson was also a great move. But, Drew Brees and this group of receivers are not putting up the numbers that I thought they would. Some of that is due to their much improved run game, some due to old age. The Saints also have a very opportunistic defense now, which they have never really had. They are much better than I thought they would be. The rest of the South is a mess. The Panthers look so bad on offense. Cam Newton looks off. They are trying way too hard to get McCaffery the ball. Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess are fine, but not world beaters. Their defense is very average too. Luke Keuchly got another concussion. They can stop the run, but struggle at stopping the pass. What hurts them most though is self inflicted wounds. Just look at their recent game against the Bears. Two pick sixes, and they got beat by a team that threw the ball 7 times. The Panthers are going nowhere fast. The Falcons seem to have major Super Bowl hangover. They are not nearly as explosive on offense as last year. They do not run the ball enough. Matt Ryan is reverting back to being a mid tier QB. Julio Jones cannot get enough touches. They are basic on offense. Their defense is okay, but not elite. They just do not look like the same team I watched last year. And then there is the Buccaneers. I loved this team going into this year. I thought they had the goods on both sides of the ball to take a big leap. Well, their offense is bad. Jameis Winston seems to have regressed, and he is hurt. Doug Martin a middle of the road running back. Mike Evans can't get open. Desean Jackson is not being used correctly. Same with OJ Howard. The defense is incredibly mediocre. They don't do anything that wows anyone or jumps off the page. They are 2-5, and with no bye week, they will be lucky to finish with 6 wins. The Saints will win this division because they are the only team in it that plays competent football.

So my NFC playoff teams are, the Eagles, Seahawks, Vikings and Saints as the division winners, and my 2 wild card teams are the Rams and, I guess the Cowboys. The NFC title game will be the Seahawks and the Eagles, and I am going with the Eagles to go to the Super Bowl.

I cannot tell you how much I would loathe watching the Super Bowl I picked. I despise both the Steelers and the Eagles. My Super Bowl winner will have to be the Steelers. They have the talent and experience. Ugh, I feel gross now.

As far as award winners, my MVP, Carson Wentz. I'd love to go Deshaun Watson, but they won't give it to a rookie. My offensive rookie of the year is Deshaun Watson though. He is also my offensive player of the year. My defensive rookie of the year, I guess TJ Watt because the voters do love the Watt family for some reason. My defensive player of the year, and I am going to go out on a limb here, but anyone from the Jaguars D line. They have 2 games with 10 sacks like is said earlier! That's amazing! Coach of the year will be Doug Pederson because he will get to the Super Bowl in the super watered down NFC.

Okay, there's my midseason NFL redo. Hopefully Carson Wentz doesn't get hurt like David Johnson did. And lets also hope that the second half of the NFL is much better than the first half of the year. And also, can Colin Kaepernick please get signed already. Enough is enough.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He literally vomited in his own mouth when he wrote down the Super Bowl Pick. All Pennsalvania is not what he wanted.

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Let Me Calmly Explain Why Bob McNair is a Terrible Person

Keep on taking a knee

Screw you Bob McNair. Screw you you racist asshole. Screw you you fascist pig. Screw you you pile of human garbage. Screw you.

For those of you that do not know who Bob McNair is, he is the owner of the Houston Texans. Yesterday he said, talking about the flag protests in the NFL, "the inmates are running the prison". Think about that for a minute. A rich, white business man, who I am pretty sure supports the current people in our "government", called the players he has had a part in drafting and signing "inmates". I mean, what the hell! This is flat out insane and incredibly racist and horribly rude and just wrong on so many levels. Anyone, and I mean ANYONE that thinks this is okay, you are the problem in this country.

This is abhorrent.

This is wrong.

This is terrifying.

I mean, it is 2017, and a rich white guy thinks that it is okay to call professional football players "inmates". The majority of NFL players have degrees. They went to 4, sometimes 5 years of college. A ton of them provide community service and visit hospitals, government buildings, police stations, anywhere and everywhere they are asked to go. Young children look up to these guys. A lot of kids emulate these professional football players because they want to be like them when they grow up. But, to someone like Bob McNair, they are "inmates". This is troubling. He said this because he believes this. This is not one of those situations where he misspoke. He said exactly the quote I mentioned. There is no way of saying the media spun this, he said it, and he knows it. Today he made some half assed apology, but I do not buy it, and I'm positive he doesn't either. Bob McNair is a racist, plain and simple.

Bob McNair is like the vast majority of NFL owners. He is right up there with Jerry Jones and the owner of the Carolina Panthers and Robert Kraft. They do not look at the players as people, they look at them as property. This is not the 19th century. These players are people with functioning brains that think for themselves. These owners do not own the players, they own the team. This is just ludicrous. The fact that he thinks guys like Deshaun Watson, Lamar Miller, Whitney Mercilus, DeAndre Hopkins, JJ Watt, Jadaveon Clowney, all of whom have participated in a protest, and basically every player on the team, is an "inmate" is appalling. Look at all the great things that these guys have done for Houston, especially after the hurricane. JJ Watt raised over 37 million dollars for hurricane relief, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Deshaun Watson gave his first game check to employees at the stadium that had their homes effected by the hurricanes, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". DeAndre Hopkins has played his heart out and stuck with this team through thick and thin, never complaining once to the front office, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Lamar Miller came to this team for a second chance, has used the most of it, been a consummate professional, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Whitney Mercilus was an All Big Ten player and for academics, has been an excellent D lineman and plays hard all the time, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". Jadeveon Clowney has fought through harsh criticism from the outside media, fought through injuries, but the last season and a half has been an absolute terror on the field, that has only gotten better every year, but to Bob McNair, he is an "inmate". I mean, I could go on and on and on with this Texans roster that is filled with mostly decent human beings, but Bob McNair thinks they are all "inmates". Absolutely ridiculous.

Also, these players that protest are more American than their cowardly asshole of an owner. I'm sure he was a draft dodger. I'm sure he only cares about himself and his bank account. I'm sure he hates himself. I'm sure he is a total dickhead to be around. I'm sure he is the worst, and his only "friends" are these other racist and fascist owners in the NFL. I just read that DeAndre Hopkins skipped practice today after hearing the quote, and I hope many, many more players follow his lead. These players are people too. I cannot stress that enough.

So for some dickhead owner that knows nothing about football to call the players "inmates", I say one final time, as loudly as I can, SCREW YOU YOU RACIST ASSHOLE! I hope, although I do not think it will happen, that Bob McNair gets reprimanded and black balled from the league for these horrific comments. He should be fined and banned from any and all NFL activities for, at least, the rest of this season. I hope he is forced to sell the team, because if I were a Texans player right now, I would not want anything to do with this stupid and mean and racist owner. Bob McNair is a pig and I hope he gets all the bad things coming his way that he deserves. He is the problem, not his players. The fact that he thought it was okay to say what he said is so troubling and so upsetting. This is a very, very bad look for the Texans and the NFL. Now lets see how Roger Goodell handles it. Hopefully he does the right thing.

Ty

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

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Ty Watches the New "Duck Tales"

In August I came home from basketball one evening and my wife and kids were watching "Duck Tales". I naturally assumed that is was the old version, the one I watched as a kid, but was surprised to find out that this classic show was being rebooted. I was a little hesitant at first. As I already stated, the original was a classic. But then my wife told me who was involved with the new version. I was then on board.

First, it is a Disney XD show, and for the most part, they do good TV shows. Disney XD is not your typical children's show network. They make stuff that parents enjoy watching too. Then my wife told me who was in the cast and I was for sure on board. The voices of Huey, Dewey and Louie are Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz and Bobby Monihan. I love Danny Pudi. He is pretty good in everything he does, and he was phenomenal as Abed on one of my favorite shows, "Community". I love love love Ben Schwartz. Everything he does, I am a fan of. I also love that he loves basketball. Ben Schwartz is amazing. He is great in movies and TV shows, most notably "Parks and Rec" as Jean Ralhpio. That role is second to none, and only someone like Ben Schwartz could have pulled it off. Bobby Monihan was the only reason I held on to watching "SNL" as long as I did. I loved every character he played on that show, especially Drunk Uncle. I also loved his bit parts in movies and other TV shows he was in that I saw. His animated show on FX, "Chozen", has to be one of the most underrated and hilarious shows I have ever watched. This new version of "Duck Tales" nailed it with casting the three main characters. They also nailed it with the rest of the casting. Scrooge is voiced by David Tennant. I do not watch the show "Dr. Who", but I know that it has a rabid fan base, and he played Dr. Who. He is perfectly cast, what with the English accent and all. Launchpad McQuack is voiced by Beck Bennett. He is one of the decent current "SNL" cast members, and he has had funny turns on shows like "Ghosted", and I'm sure he is going to start doing more and more big time things. Kate Micucci, who I adore, is the voice of Webbigail, and she brings the perfect energy to this role. Then as you go down the line of people who have showed up in some of the 8 new episodes names like, Jim Rash, Margo Martindale, Josh Brener, Kimiko Glenn and Marc Evan Jackson, all have done voice work. That is a who's who of improv comedy people and good character actor people. I love that the creators of this new version of the show are using not as well known, more up and coming people to do the voices of these classic characters.

When you get passed the names on the show, the episodes are really well done. The animation is wonderful, the stories are well written and well acted and all the people involved are giving it their best shot. The show can be dark sometimes, which I enjoy too. For example, Josh Brener shows up as a tech wiz who is only fleecing people so he can become a billionaire. He actually gets kidnapped by a super strong, easily annoyed bald eagle during the episode. The darkness come when Huey realizes that Brener's character is a phony and is so upset with himself that he looked up to a creep like him. That is dark for a kids show. Of course they played it for laughs, but I loved that the writers went there. In that same episode, Scrooge and a cousin of his plot against Brener, and that got dark too. There is an earlier episode when Huey, Dewey and Louis go out on a boating trip and leave Webbigail behind. She thinks she is making a new friend when she meets someone by the pier, but this person is just trying to get close to Scrooge to get his money. Again, that is some dark stuff for a show made for kids.

For as hesitant as I was about a reboot I have got to say, I enjoy the hell out of this new version of "Duck Tales". It is funny, dark, witty and made for both adults and kids to enjoy. I don't usually like the shows my kids watch, they don't like when I watch "PTI" either, but "Duck Tales" is a ton of fun. I love the theme song as much as my son does too. When we walk to school we will bust into singing it out of nowhere. I highly recommend anyone with kids that wants to watch a show that would appeal to them as well to check out this new "Duck Tales". A new episode comes out every Friday I believe, but you can also watch it On Demand. That is how we do it. Check this new "Duck Tales" out if you haven't already. I'm pretty sure you'll like it as much as me, my wife and my kids do.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is wondering if these improv comics do these new "Duck Tales" cartoons live. That must be tough on the animators.

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Better Late than Never on "The Big Sick"

I am finally getting caught up on TV shows and movies that I have meant to see, and I finally saw one of the movies that I really wanted to see it the theaters. That movie is "The Big Sick".  

I am a big Kumail Nanjiani fan. I love him as Dinesh on "Silicon Valley", I love his bit roles in some good and not so good movies and I have been a fan of his standup from day one. When I heard about this movie that he and his wife wrote, loosely based on their relationship, I was intrigued. Then, the movie got big time buzz when it was screened at a bunch of different festivals. Everyone was saying that they loved it. The movie sold after the Sundance Film Festival I believe, for somewhere in the 12 million dollar range. That is enormous for a movie that is basically an independent movie. This made me want to see the movie even more. Then the critical buzz came, and it was nothing but shine. Pretty much every critic found something to like about this movie. I do not usually care what critics say, but when a movie gets somewhere in the high 90's percent critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, that makes me think it is a movie worth checking out. I could not see it in the theaters, family and kid stuff got in the way. But, I finally saw it when it was released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

This movie is everything that the critics and the fans said it was. I love this movie so much. It is so touching and funny and sad and just perfect. This is a true star turning role for Kumail Nanjiani. He owns this movie. He is playing himself, but he brings such great emotion, perfect comic timing and just controls everything that this movie is supposed to be. It helps that he co wrote it, but damn it, was he great. Zoe Kazan, playing his now wife Emily, is just as good. She could have come off as a clichéd type love interest, but she is not. She is just as powerful and moving and funny, all the way up to when she is put in a coma. For those of you that don't know, Kumail met his wife Emily at a comedy club, they struck up a romance, broke up due to cultural stuff and then she got sick and was put in a medically induced coma. That is what "The Big Sick" is about. I'll touch more on the plot in a moment. Ray Romano and Holly Hunter are tremendous as Emily's folks. Holly Hunter is the fiery southerner who will do anything to get her daughter healthy. Ray Romano is great as the quieter, but can also be fiery, dad that has a troubled past. They are tremendous actors to begin with, and that shows in this movie. Kumail's family, Anupam Kher plays his dad and Zenobia Shroff plays his mom and Adeel Akhtar play his brother, are all wonderful. Every time that Kumail's mom brings an Indian woman over to meet Kumail, it is funny and awkward. Kumail's dad is a bit softer on him, but he still wants his son to be a faithful Muslim. Kumail's brother is hilarious. Every line he talks is so funny and witty and just perfect. As far as the other standouts from the movie, I love Aidy Bryant, Bo Burnham and Kurt Brauholer. They all play Kumail's friends that perform at stand up clubs in Chicago, in hopes of getting into the Montreal Comedy Festival. They each bring a different character to their roles, and they all nail it. Kurt Brauholer is truly wonderful as the comic that just shouldn't be doing standup.

Getting to the plot, "The Big Sick" is a great, modern love story about family and culture. It is amazing to me that people from Pakistan still believe in arraigned marriage. It was amazing to see Kumail express to his parents how he thinks this is not for him. To watch their disappointment, but then acceptance, is truly wonderful. To see the beginning, middle, break and reuniting of Kumail and Emily is so great, sad, funny and perfect. This movie perfectly captures what a new romance for people in their mid to late 20's is about. The stuff in the hospital, and at Emily and Kumail's apartments, with Kumail and Emily's parents is just awesome. Their distance, then getting close to each other is so great. Watching a boyfriend and the girlfriend's parents going through this horrific event is masterfully done in this movie.

"The Big Sick" is amazing. I really think everyone should see it. It is a movie that could have been ripe with clichés, but Emily Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani and Michael Showalter, the director, wouldn't allow that to happen. They are too talented for that. This movie is really, really good and my only gripe, I wish I had seen it sooner. I hope this brings on bigger and better things for Kumail, I guess it has, he just hosted "SNL", and Emily Gordon, because they deserve it. Watch this movie, it is a must see.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He had some cultural differences when he was dating his wife. She came from a culture where she was good looking, and he came from one where he was ugly. They worked their way through the differences.

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Ty Listens to Beck's New Album "Colors"

Time to take a little break from sports and get back to other pop culture things for awhile. Today I want to review Beck's new album, "Colors". I have been waiting for this record since I saw Beck live over a year ago. He played a few of the songs live, teased the crowd that the record was coming soon, but much to mine and my brother's surprise, nothing came out for weeks. Weeks turned into months. Then Beck finally announced that the record was on hold due to some mixing and song choice stuff. So the wait continued. Finally, Beck announced that his record was going to come out on October 13th. I was still leery because this was a "Friday the 13th" day, but thankfully the record was released. I listened to it immediately, of course.

At first listen I was very happy with what I heard, but a tinge of disappointment hit me for some reason. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I had heard some people say that "Colors" was his funkiest record since "Midnite Vultures", but that was false praise. Maybe it is my unconditional love for "Midnite Vultures", and it will be nearly impossible for any Beck record to reach the love I have for that album, but I definitely do not think "Colors" is anywhere near "Midnite Vultures". So, the record was at an unfair disadvantage right off the bat. But, I kept listening. It is Beck, so I am not going to write it off after one listen. The more I listen to it, the more I begin to really enjoy it.

I think "Colors", while not "Midnite Vultures", is a nice change of pace from his last record, "Morning Phase". This is what Beck does. He changes the style/genre on every other album. He is incredibly versatile as a musician, and that is what I love about him. So, after getting over my comparison to "Midnite Vultures", and just taking "Colors" for what it is, a pop record, I have grown to like it more and more, as I said before. The record is fun. The songs blend seamlessly. Each song is more fun than the next. Beck and his band sound like they had a blast recording this record. With "Morning Phase" he went straight folk, and the songs were pretty sad, but with "Colors", it is all fun.

I love the first track, the title track, "Colors". It opens with a bang. It is a poppy blast of a song. I love to listen to it while I walk home from taking my son to school, or when I work out. In fact, this whole record is great for working out. The next four songs are very solid pop songs. "Seventh Heaven" is fun, with a great chorus. "I'm So Free" is one of the "slower" songs, but still pretty poppy and pretty good. I love the song "Dear Life". I love the piano. It is awesome. It ranks right up there with the all time great piano stuff Beck does. The song is the perfect running song too. "No Distraction" is a good change of pace. It is a bit more up tempo pop song. The next 2 songs are the "hits" from the record that he played live when I saw him. "Dreams" is a whimsical song that is so awesomely produced. The sounds and the instruments and the lyrics are just perfect. "Wow" is a hit. This is classic Beck. This is the funkiest, coolest and most like rap music song on the record. When he says, "jujitsu, coming at girl with a Lamborghini shitzu", I love it every time. We blast this song in my car. My son loves to sing the chorus. My daughter tells me, "it's our song daddy". Even my wife, who is a Beck skeptic, thinks "Wow" is great. This song is awesome. It is the best song on the record. The last 3 songs are a great way to close out a very good album. "Up All Night" is another fun, fast paced pop song. "Square One" is about as straight forward a song as one will ever get from Beck. It is actually kind of nice to hear him do a paint by the numbers pop song. The closer, "Fix Me" is truly wonderful. This song sounds like it could have been on "Morning Phase", but it is such a perfect fit to close out "Colors". Beck sings the song beautifully, and it is just a nice ending to a solid record.

Look, the wait made my anticipation go through the roof. That is unfair to a musician that constantly comes through no matter what. Beck has never put out a record that isn't well thought out and one that he hasn't worked incredibly hard on. You cannot say that about a lot of musicians that have reached his level of stardom. It was also unfair of whatever reviewer called it a modern day "Midnite Vultures". Nothing will ever be as good as that record. But, for what "Colors" is, a pop record, it is one of the better ones out there right now. This record proves how versatile Beck is, and how he still is making great music 20 plus years into an extraordinary career from one of the best/weirdest/most influential musicians of the 20th century. "Colors" only gets better the more you listen to it. That is the sign of a very good album. I highly recommend it to everyone that loves good music.  

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is just part of "silver foxes looking for romance in the chain-smoke Kansas flash dance ass pants."

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Take a Step Back Wolverine Fans / Haters and Chill Out About Jim Harbaugh

Artist depiction of Ty hearing people talk about Michigan football

Saturday night I watched the Penn State-Michigan game because I watch every Michigan game. I'm a lifelong super fan as you all know by now. College football season is my favorite sports time of the year, and it gets no better than watching Michigan football for me. They are not always the best team, but they are my team and I will follow them to the ends of the world.

With that being said, Saturday night was rough. I knew Michigan's offense was bad, but this was, quite possibly, one of the worst performances I have seen from their defense. I was leaning on that defense to keep this game within reach. That didn't happen. They just could not stop anything Penn State did. Penn State ran and passed at will. It was tough, and I was frustrated after the game. John O'Korn played a better than he has since the Purdue game, but it still wasn't good enough. Their run game in the second half was non existent. Their O line could not block. And the defense, as I have already said, got shredded.

With all of this being said, and watching Michigan get trashed, people who claim to be "true" Michigan fans need to chill out with the skepticism of Jim Harbaugh and his coaching staff. I just do not get these people attacking him on a daily basis now. I was one of the very few people that did not want Michigan to go after Harbaugh, for fear that he would leave after 3 or 4 years, which he still may do. But, he has, for the exception of 2 games, has this team ready to compete and play every Saturday. This team is up almost all the time. Harbaugh inherited a team that was so poorly coached by Brady Hoke that I expected them to win maybe 6 games in his first year. He won 10, counting their bowl game. They would have won 11 if not for a muffed punt against Michigan State, who was a playoff team that year. His second year there, still with mostly Hoke recruits, he had them in the playoff conversation all year. Even after they blew that game at Iowa, they still had a shot. Sure, they got screwed at the University of Ohio State, but they still played in a New Years Six bowl, and would have won if Jabrill Peppers had played. Harbaugh and his staff also turned Peppers into a Heisman finalist. They also turned Wilton Speight into a legit Big Ten QB. They made Jake Butt an even better tight end. Jehu Chesson and Amara Darboh both became NFL draft picks after 2 years under Harbaugh and his staff. The defense only got better, even after DJ Durkin left to coach Maryland. I loved the hiring of Don Brown, and even after Saturday's performance, I am still a big Don Brown fan. So the backlash, the hate, the scorn, the questioning from all kinds of places need to stop.

David Pollack was one of the first people to call him out after this year's Michigan State game, saying he was very bad against rivals. This is the same David Pollack that thinks women shouldn't be allowed to be football broadcasters and play by play callers. So whatever he says, I brush it aside because he is a chauvinist pig. Screw him.

Paul Finebaum has been Harbaugh's biggest critic for three years now, but he is a total douchebag moron, so who in the hell cares what he says. He is always making some hot take, or claiming he is going to leave for the pros because he "can't hack it in the college game". I ask Paul Finebaum though, how many college football teams have you coached? Even better, how much football have you played in your life? Also, how is your alma mater, Tennessee, doing at football right now? You happy with Butch Jones? At least Michigan is relevant. How relevant is Tennessee now? So whatever Finebaum says, just brush it aside. He is ESPN's newer version of Skip Bayless, who is a racist moron.

Then I saw an article this morning saying that, over the past 11 games, Butch Jones and Jim Harbaugh have the same record. So the hell what? That has absolutely nothing to do with their coaching abilities. They just happen to have the same record, over 11 games, but I would venture a guess that Michigan has played much, much better teams. Also, Michigan, with 2 exceptions, does not get blown out or make bone headed, late game decisions like a Butch Jones coached team does. Again, that "stat" is nonsense.

To bring it all home though, for these idiots calling out Harbaugh and his staff, do you really want to go back to the days of Rich Rod or Brady Hoke or even, end of his career Lloyd Carr? First, Lloyd Carr was an amazing Michigan coach. He won a national title and was always ranked and always won, at least, 8 games a year. But, near the end, the college game, what with the spread offense and utilizing speed over size, had passed him by. His time was up, and he walked away. But Rich Rod and Hoke turned this program into a very mediocre program. Rich Rod came in, tried to change the whole culture, into a spread option team, and it was a disaster from day one. Big time players transferred and we were left with undersized guys that were ill fit at their positions. Remember Steven Threet and Nick Sheridan? How about Tate Forcier? Those Michigan teams were horrendous. They were disgusting to watch on offense, and they couldn't really stop anyone on defense. In Rich Rod's first year he went 3-9. He followed that up with a 5-7, then a 7-6. Then, he was fired, with just cause. His record in three years was 15-22. He also had a horrific Big Ten record. The team was in the tank, and they went out, after trying very hard to get Harbaugh and Les Miles, who both turned them down, brought back a former D line coach, Brady Hoke. In his first year he seemed like the perfect fit. Michigan went 11-2 and won the Sugar Bowl. Denard Robinson was great. Their defense was much better. Then, in Hoke's second year, Robinson got hurt and they had to turn to Devin Gardner. Gardner was fine, the defense was getting even better, but they stumbled to an 8-5 finish. They couldn't close out games, and the defense spent way too much time on the field. In Hoke's third year Gardner fell apart, got hurt, Hoke left a concussed Shane Morris in a game, the offense was completely stagnant and they limped to a 5-7 finish. I saw their last win that year live, at Northwestern, and that game should have been the last that Hoke coached. That game was atrocious, and they won. Hoke was fired, due to a decline in wins every year, and the Shane Morris incident, and his record after 3 full seasons was 24-14. He had a decent record, but the team was regressing and getting worse every year. He clearly did not have what it takes to be the coach of a big time program. Also, that Shane Morris incident will stay with me forever. That was a horrific thing to watch.

After Hoke was gone, Michigan, with an new AD, went out and did everything they could to get their man, Jim Harbaugh. And, after a few weeks of speculation, Harbaugh took the job. As I said, I was a skeptic, but I was also a bit excited. Hoke did not leave the cupboard bare, especially on defense, and with Harbaugh's reputation as a motivator, I was curious to see how he was going to do with these players. He has also been given carte blanche to basically do whatever he wants, within the NCAA rules. They opened his first year at Utah, and even while taking a loss, I was optimistic that this team could be decent. They ended up finishing the regular season at 9-3, with the only losses being to a very good Utah team, the muffed punt game and getting blown out by a very good University of Ohio State team. They then hammered Florida in their bowl game to finish up at 10-3. That was much more than I expected. Than we had last year. They jumped out to 9-0, blew a very close and ugly game to Iowa, then Speight got hurt, and then they got screwed by the refs at the University of Ohio State. They finished the regular season at 10-2, and made the Sugar Bowl. Speight played that game hurt, Jake Butt tore his ACL in the first quarter and Jabrill Peppers didn't play. They still had a chance to beat FSU, but they couldn't finish them off. They ended that season with an identical record to Harbaugh's first year, 10-3. It was a "frustrating" year, but I was happy to be back to expecting great things from Michigan football.

Coming into this year, losing 17 starters total, I was very interested to see how they would play. They opened by hammering Florida, but they did not look good on offense. They actually had 2 defensive touchdowns in that game. The defense looked great. In fact, the defense has looked really good all the way up until last Saturday. They have shut down everyone, even Michigan State, except for Penn State, who is really good by the way.

But, after getting blown out, people are all up in arms, and they are taking aim at Harbaugh and staff. Where we sit today, they are outside the top 25, as they should be, and they are 5-2. So, through 2 and a half seasons, Harbaugh's record at Michigan right now is 25-8. He has surpassed Hoke midway through his third season. He surpassed Rich Rod's win total midway through his second year. And this year, this team is so very, very young. The critics want to come at Harbaugh because he is a big personality, but why aren't these same people, the Paul Finebaum's or David Pollack's of the world, coming at Jimbo Fisher or Ed Orgeron or Dabo Swinney or even, Butch Jones. FSU was preseason number 3 and they are 2-4 right now. They say, "they are down to their second team QB and they have played a hard schedule". Michigan is on their second string QB, and they too have played a hard schedule, including 4 road games. Ed Orgeron may have turned LSU around lately, but they barely beat Syracuse and got beat at home by Troy. Why aren't these "experts" calling for his head. Dabo Swinney won the title last year, but his team got beat at Syracuse in their last game. They say, "well, he lost his star QB", but so has Michigan. Butch Jones has become a joke, but I never ever hear Paul Finebaum truly bad mouth him the way he attacks Harbaugh. Finebaum is so in the bag for ESPN and the SEC, it is disturbing. What about Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma? His team started out hot, but the same week Harbaugh was getting trashed  for getting beat by MSU in a rain storm, Oklahoma got beat by Iowa State, who was a 30 plus point underdog. The game was in Norman too. Also, Oklahoma hasn't looked great the past 2 weeks against Texas and Kansas State. Where is the Lincoln Riley scorn? How about Tom Hermann at Texas? All these guys give him a pass because it is his first year, but Texas is 3-4 and they are as abysmal as Michigan is on offense. What about USC's head coach. They got beat by more than Michigan did, yet all the talk on ESPN, Bleacher Report, whatever sports program or magazine or website you read has only Michigan getting crushed stories. USC has been just as inconsistent as Michigan has been, but they don't get the hate that Michigan does.

I know that Harbaugh is a big personality, as I have already said, and is a big name, but Michigan fans, and the media, need to chill out. He is doing very good things with this team, and I think, maybe even next year, this team will be back to being contenders, as long as this staff sticks around. And as far as the media goes, all they do now is hot takes. We are talking about people who continue to allow Lavar Ball on TV. These are the same people that suspend Jemel Hill when all she was doing was using free speech. These are the same people that just want clicks on their websites. I'm still fully on board with Harbaugh, and remember, I was one of the very few who did not want Michigan to hire him. The rest of the season is going to be frustrating. Hell, Rutgers is coming to Ann Arbor on a 2 game win streak, Minnesota has a good defense, Illinois always plays them tough, they have to play Wisconsin in Camp Randall and there is always the University of Ohio State to end up the year. But, hang in there. Hopefully Harbaugh sticks around, goes either 7-5 or 8-4 this year, then comes in next year with a team that should be back to winning double digit games.

This is just my long winded way of saying chill out. Things will be just fine in Ann Arbor, and Jim Harbaugh is the right man for the job.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He recently saw the power of Michigan's offense live. It was dreadful.

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The SeedSing 2017 Wild Guesses about Men's College Basketball

Due to my NCAA football mid season redo, and the horror that was the Arby's "venison" sandwich, I forgot to do my men's NCAA basketball preview. I usually like to finish off my NBA countdown and predictions with a quick look at the upcoming NCAA men's basketball season. Other things got in the way, but I am here today to, as I have done the last 2 years a wild shot in the dark at who will be the best in men's college basketball.

Two things real quick before I get into it though. First, UCONN women's team will rebound from that shocking defeat to Mississippi State in last year's final four, and destroy everyone on their way back to being the preeminent women's NCAA basketball program. Second, I still very much dislike the "one and done" culture that has taken over men's college basketball. I have to take wild shots because I do not know the majority of the players that are on the big time teams. Every year, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Arizona, they all have 4 or 5 new guys that I have never heard of, I do not watch high school sports because I am an adult, yet they are all at the top of the rankings. There is also this FBI investigation that is currently going on has put an even bigger wrench in my knowledge of men's college basketball. Had this not been let out to the public, Louisville would be one of the teams I expect to make a deep tournament run. Now, they are going to be trash and not do anything of note this year. Arizona is involved in this case. I'm sure Kansas and any other Adidas school may have to come forth and admit some kind of wrong doing. Also, UNC got very, very, very lucky that they did not get in any trouble for academic fraud. I still do not buy the fact that the investigation found no real wrong doings, but for now, they are out of trouble. Had they gotten in trouble, it would have made my preseason preview that much more difficult. Okay, all the house cleaning is out of the way, lets get to my 2017-18 men's college basketball preseason preview.

I'm not going to go conference by conference, instead I'm going to use the preseason USA Today Top 25 and talk about the teams on their list, and some possible surprises. I will also, as I always do, talk the most about the Big Ten. At the end I will have my final four team, my title game matchup and my national title winner. I will also take a guess at Player of the Year.

At number one, USA Today has Duke. Surprise surprise. I guess they got the number one overall high school player to commit there, and that pushed them to number one overall. I do not know who else they have, with one exception, Grayson Allen. Screw Grayson Allen and any fan of his. The kid is not that good at basketball, and he is a dirty jerk of a player. I'm sure Duke will be very good, they always are, but I will continue to root actively against them.

The rest of the top 10 has Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, Villanova, Florida, Wichita State, UNC and West Virginia. I'll give one or 2 quick observations on each team. Michigan State had a "down" year for them last year going 20-15, but Miles Bridges, one player I do know, is back, and this team looks to be loaded again. Tom Izzo has a very good team this year. Kansas has a slew of great freshman coming in, but they also have a few upperclassmen that will be their most important players, and they will most likely blow a tournament game like they do every year. Kentucky is reloaded with 5 or 6 new freshman that will run this team and they will continue to be a top seed and may make a final four push this year. Arizona has some returning key players and some great incoming freshman. The problem, they are coached by Sean Miller. He will inevitably screw this team up in important games. I know next to nothing about Villanova, with the exception that they won the title 2 years ago. I believe all those guys are gone, but maybe they have some good to great players that have been waiting their turn and they will shine. Florida had a great tourney run last year, won some good games and they return a good amount of those kids. The Gators could be a "threat" to Kentucky in the SEC. Wichita State always has upperclassmen, and they play great team basketball. Their coach is a total dickhead, but he knows how to coach college basketball. UNC is the defending champs, but they lost a good amount of key players, but I am sure they have someone ready to take their spots. They also skated away from further NCAA sanctions, so I am sure they will continue to reload every year. Finishing up the top 10 we have West Virginia. West Virginia plays tremendous defense. They frustrate you with their press and they have some upperclassmen that are crucial. Unfortunately, Bobby Huggins is a known choker, and I do not see that changing this year.

The rest of the poll has, from 11-25, USC, Miami, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Minnesota, Louisville, Xavier, UCLA, Gonzaga, Northwestern, Purdue, Saint Mary's, Seton Hall, Baylor and Alabama. Okay, first off, why is USC so high? Is it because to the coach from that Florida school that had one decent tournament run? Also, they will be getting in major trouble from this FBI investigation. Miami is always competent and always competitive. I get this ranking. Cincinnati has a good coach and they play good, sound defense. They should be in the top 10 in my opinion. Notre Dame has a decent basketball program, but this feels like a year they may be down. They lost some good players last season. Minnesota was a revelation last year. Will they continue to be good, or will they look like the team that Middle Tennessee beat in the first round of the tournament? Time will tell. Why is Louisville ranked? Pitino is gone, Donovan Mitchell is gone, and anyone that wants to be scouted and play deep into March will probably transfer. This team is a mess. Xavier is another team that always plays tough and deserves to be in the top 25. They will be good. UCLA lost pretty much everyone of note from last year, and I think Steve Alford is incredibly overrated as a coach. Gonzaga was in the title game last year, and I know they lost 3 guys that were crucial to their success, but this seems to low for them. They are a legit contender now, and to have them in the low teens is a slap in the face. Please stop with all the Northwestern basketball love. I swear if they become a "Darling" like their football team, I'm going to lose my god damn mind. They played great last year, won a tournament game in their first ever tournament appearance, but that is as good as it will get for them. Northwestern is okay, but not preseason ranked good. Purdue feels like they should be higher than this. They should be ahead of Northwestern and UCLA at least. I know they lost Caleb Swanigan, but this team has been pretty decent under Matt Painter, and I think they will be good again this year. I don't know anything about Saint Mary's except that they play in the same conference as  Gonzaga. I'm sure they are good, but I'm also sure Gonzaga will own them. I had to double check when I saw Seton Hall in the preseason rankings. They haven't had expectations since I was a kid. I know they have some good big guy, but lets see how they do now that people expect them to win. Screw Baylor sports. I hope they lose every game just like their football team. And Alabama? Really? I did not know they had a team that was preseason ranking worthy. Maybe they got some good recruit or something, I don't know.

A few teams I was surprised to not see ranked are Missouri, Wisconsin, Butler, Virginia and Texas A&M. Missouri has a new coach, a monster recruiting class and could be very good. I know they have been bad for a few years, but a change at the top and the kids they have coming in, it wouldn't shock me to see them win 20 plus games this year. Wisconsin is always good. I know that Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes are gone, but, as much as I may dislike this team, do not ever count out the Badgers. Butler isn't the same as they were with Brad Stevens, but they are still a quality team that won a tournament game last year if I'm not mistaken. Virginia has been very solid and a lock top 25 team the past few years. I guess they lost some guys and they bowed out of the tournament quick last year. And Texas A&M, while not great, has a few good guys on that team, and they are big. Also, where the hell is South Carolina? Didn't they make the final four last year? Who cares that Sindarius Thornwell is gone. Kentucky loses guys every year, and every year they are a preseason top 10 team. Maybe South Carolina deserves that attention. I know DJ Wilson went pro and Mark Donnal left, and Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton Jr graduated, but I think Michigan will still be scrappy this year. They got Mo Wagner back. Muhammed Ali Abdur Rahkman is going to be running the show. Duncan Robinson can shoot threes. The grad transfer from Ohio is supposed to be good and Charles Matthews, the transfer from Kentucky, has supposedly been the best player in practice. It may take some time, but I'm done counting out a John Beilein coached team. Also, where is Oregon? Are Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell that big of departures that this team can't regroup and put up a fight in the Pac 12? What about Maryland? They have a good team. Why is everyone so up on the ACC and SEC, but down on the Big Ten? Some of these unranked teams could surprise people this year. If I had to pick one, and you're welcome RD and Ross, I think Missouri has a shot to be really, really good this year.

As far as my final four in the preseason, lets go with, Duke, Kentucky, Wichita State and Michigan State. They all seem to be pretty good. As far as the title game, lets say Duke and Michigan State. And for the champs, I have the Big Ten ending their very long drought, with Michigan State winning it all. They also have my preseason player of the year, Miles Bridges. A bunch of people knocked him for coming back, but I think it will do him a world of good, and he will be a much better basketball player for it.

That's it for my 2017-18 men's college basketball preseason preview. Again, most of this is wild guesses, but I am excited to watch how the season unfolds.

Ty

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

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2017 Midseason College Football Redo

After recovering from the horror that was Arby's "venison" sandwich reveal, I am ready to do my mid season NCAA football checkup. I'll do it just like I did my preseason preview, complete with updated conference winners, my 4 playoff teams and my new Heisman winner. I'll also pick my national title game and winner. Here we go.

I'll start with the ACC. FSU took an enormous blow in week one. First off, they faced Alabama. That was a mistake. Alabama crushed them. Second, they lost their starting QB, and my preseason Heisman winner, Deondre Francois in that game. Their season was doomed from the start. Not only did I predict them to win the ACC, I predicted them to win the title. They are 2-3 today. They are not winning the title. Clemson seemed like the next logical choice, after crushing three seemingly quality opponents already this season, but they just got upended by Syracuse. They can still go to the playoff, they only dropped 5 spots in the AP poll, but a loss to Syracuse is pretty brutal. Also, their offense is not that great. They have a great, great defense, but their offense could be their downfall. I was definitely off on both NC State and Miami. Miami is good. They have a great offense, even after losing their starting running back. They put up tons of yards and points. They also have a quality defense. They look good. NC State has blown me away. They are a very good football team. I thought, especially after going down week one to South Carolina, they would be a 7 or 8 win team, but they have done nothing but win since that first game. They have a good offense and a good defense. They won't be in the playoff, but they are still very good and will play in a very good bowl game. Outside of these teams, the ACC is very meh. Virginia Tech is ranked, but I have not watched one second of them this year. I know they have a pretty good freshman QB, and I'm sure they have a good defense, but they are no real national threat. Louisville has fallen and may not get up. They have no defense whatsoever. They are horrendous on that side of the ball. Lamar Jackson has been pretty good this year, but he cannot win games alone anymore, and Louisville's opponents have figured that out. Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Virginia all have 4 or 5 wins, but they are of no consequence. And UNC is horrendous. The ACC is not nearly as good as last year. I still think Clemson will find a way to win the conference, their defense is that good, but I wouldn't be shocked if Miami takes the crown from them.

The SEC is better than I anticipated, but I still think it is the most overrated conference in college football. ESPN is so up the SEC's butt, it is distracting. Watching teams from the conference reveals nothing more to me than how much more dominate Alabama is than every other team in the SEC. Alabama is clearly the best team in the SEC, and the country. They are so, so good. LSU stumbled out of the gate, but they seemed to have righted the ship a touch. They beat Florida in Gainesville and just knocked off Auburn at home. But, a team with Ed Orgeron as head coach and Danny Etling at QB is not a title contending team. They will finish with 8 or 9 wins, but that is it. Also, where in the world has Derius Guice been all year? He has not put up the numbers I expected. Auburn is fine, but they have no passing game at all. That came back to bite them last week, and when they play quality opponents, the lack of a passing game with kill them. Georgia has looked very, very good. The only caution I have with them, the best team they have beaten all year is Notre Dame. Notre Dame is much better this year than last year, but that is the "best" team Georgia has faced, and they barely beat them. They have been crushing shitty opponents, but their schedule is about to get much tougher. Florida is tough to watch. They look so unprepared for every game. Texas A&M has kind of recovered after blowing the opening game against UCLA, but I do not see them finishing any better than 8-4. I do like their new QB though. Kentucky and Mississippi State are okay, but when they play real teams, they get beat. Vanderbilt looked like they may be good, then Alabama came in town and ruined their season. They have not been the same since that game. Ole Miss stinks. Missouri is horrid. Arkansas is trash. South Carolina is average. And then there is Tennessee. Man do the Volunteers, and more importantly, Butch Jones, stink. This team has never lived up to the hype, and the fact that Jones is still there is laughable. After Alabama crushes them this weekend, I'd be shocked if he is not fired. Alabama is going to coast to the SEC crown again. They are the Golden State Warriors of college football.

The Pac 12's best chance at getting a playoff team ended after last weekend. Washington and Washington State were both top 10 going into last week and they both proceeded to get beaten by mediocre conference opponents. Washington State got hammered by Cal. Cal had come into the game on a 3 game skid and proceeded to crush Washington State by 34 points. It was brutal. Washington could only muster one touchdown, late in the fourth quarter, against one of the worst defenses in all of college football, Arizona State. Washington lost any reputation they may have built up with that egg of a game. I guess USC is still alive for a playoff spot, but they have not lived up to the hype that some were giving them this preseason. They struggled with Western Michigan. They needed overtime to beat Texas. They lost to Washington State. And last week, they were down 14 at halftime to Utah, and they needed a stop on a 2 point conversion for the win. Their game in South Bend this weekend will tell me all I need to know about them. Stanford, my preseason Pac 12 champs, have already lost 2 games. They do not have a shot at the playoff anymore, but they seem to have righted the ship, returning to the top 25 2 weeks ago, and Bryce Love is an amazing running back. People need to seek this kid out. He averages over 10 yards a rush. That is amazing. Outside these 4 teams, every other Pac 12 team is very average. Oregon is great at running the ball, but they lost their starting QB and their defense is atrocious. Arizona puts up points, but they give up almost as many points. Arizona State is really bad on defense. Cal seems to think they are a run and shoot offense, except their QB is very mediocre. They too have a bad defense. Oregon State's coach quit halfway through the season. UCLA has Josh Rosen and nothing else. Utah is okay, but 9 wins seems preordained. Colorado has been very shaky. The Pac 12 is going to miss out on the playoff this year. They just don't have the teams to push for a spot, unless USC finishes the rest of the season undefeated. To the shock of some, I'm sticking with Stanford. I know USC has beaten them once, but I think Stanford redeems themselves in the Pac 12 title game.

The Big 12 may get left out of the playoff too. Their best shot now seems to be TCU. I do not trust TCU. They have won a ton of close games this year, but those wins came against Arkansas and West Virginia. West Virginia isn't terrible, but Arkansas is. I also do not trust Kenny Hill. He throws way too many picks. I also do not think their defense is as good as it has played so far. They are destined to blow a game pretty soon. Oklahoma seemed like a lock, then the Iowa State game happened. After beating the University of Ohio State I thought they'd roll through the rest of the season and be an easy playoff pick. Well, Iowa State beat them in Norman. Then they struggled mightily with Texas. Their defense is filled with holes. They may get tripped up again before the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma State had a golden opportunity this season, but they blew it early on when they lost to TCU. Oklahoma State is still technically alive, but they need to win every game from here on out, and they need to win convincingly. I do not think they have the defense to do that. Texas is not that good. Tom Hermann has not worked his magic in year one. Their offense is very blah and their defense, while better, is still pretty rough. West Virginia has an okay offense, but I just do not buy them as more than a 7 or 8 win team. Iowa State has that one signature win over Oklahoma, but they are not very good either. I believe where we sit today they are 4-3. Texas Tech is the same Texas Tech every year. They got fat on cupcake non conference opponents, got into the top 25, then gave up a million yards and blew a lead against West Virginia last week. Kansas State is very clearly in a transition year. And KU and Baylor may as well fold up shop for the rest of this season. I do love that Baylor is as bad as they are. They deserve to be winless. The Big 12 will come down to TCU and Oklahoma, and I will go ahead and go with Oklahoma since I do not trust TCU one bit.

The Big 10 is murky. This is my conference. This is the conference I pay the most attention to, and, as angry as this makes me, it will come down to the University of Ohio State and Penn State. I do need to say, the fact that Penn State is still allowed to play football, and looked at as a redemption story by networks like ESPN, is appalling. What they covered up for a couple decades under Joe Paterno is absolutely horrifying and disgusting and they should have gotten the death penalty. That being said, they have played much better this year than I thought they would. They have well exceeded my expectations. They have a great offense and a very good defense. The university of Ohio State, after taking that early loss to Oklahoma, has been quietly playing very good football since then. They have been obliterating opponents. I still do not think JT Barrett is a quality QB, but they have 2 great running backs and their defense is legit. My team, the Michigan Wolverines, have been very frustrating to watch all year. They might be the shakiest 5-1 team in the country right now. Their defense is very, very good. It's the fastest Michigan defense I have ever seen in fact. But, their offense is an absolute train wreck. They don't block well. The running backs, with Karan Higdon being the lone exception, have been wildly disappointing. The receivers are dropping passes left and right. And their QB play has been downright awful. John O'Korn has looked terrible and it's not like Wilton Speight was lighting the world on fire when he was out there. This team has a real problem on their hands with how bad this offense is. I expected them to be a double digit win team, but after seeing them in person last week, and looking at their remaining schedule, they look more like a 7 or 8 win team. Their defense is legit, but they spend too much time on the field, and their offense is just atrocious. Michigan State has been surprisingly competent this year. They have a good defense. Their offense leaves a lot to be desired too, but their defense is legit. Their downfall, they play in too many close games. That will come back to bite them soon. Wisconsin is undefeated and doing exactly what you'd expect them to do. They play stout defense, run all over teams and win by double digits almost all the time. Their QB isn't great, but name one Wisconsin QB that was great in college. Purdue has surprised me this year. They aren't great, but they aren't the laughingstock they have been for close to a decade now. They are a solid 7 win team this year. Iowa is very blah, but blah is good for them. They will most assuredly go 7-5, be in tight games all year and even win one or two that they shouldn't. Indiana is better, but they aren't as explosive as they used to be on offense. They have a better defense, but they still have gaping holes, especially on their D line. Minnesota is average. It may take PJ Fleck a year or 2, but right now, they are just average. They have a good defense, but not a very good offense. Northwestern, a ton of people's preseason Big 10 dark horse, has been very inconsistent. One week they look good, the next they look bad. 6-6 or 7-5 is clearly their destination. Maryland, after opening the year with a win at Texas, has lost 2 QB's and they are still pretty bad on defense. They started out 2-0, but have since gone 1-3. DJ Durkin has made them a bit better, but losing 2 QB's has been brutal to this team. Nebraska is bad. They got owned by the University of Ohio State last week. Oregon scored 35 on them in a half. And earlier this year, Northern Illinois got 2 pick sixes and beat them in Lincoln. Maybe Mike Riley isn't the right fit there. And Illinois and Rutgers are dreadful. Rutgers has gotten "better", meaning they finally beat a division one team for the first time in 2 calendar years. That team you ask? The Fighting Illini of Illinois. Illinois has fallen on very hard times. I liked the hiring of Lovie Smith, but he looks like he hates coaching college football, and Illinois is just flat out bad. The Big Ten is all about 2 teams, maybe three with Wisconsin being the clear favorite in the West Division. But, in reality, it is all about Penn State and the University of Ohio State. I'll go with the University of Ohio State. While I hate them, they have been lights out since the Oklahoma game.

As far as teams outside "power 5" conferences, USF and UCF have been great. They are both undefeated and blowing away their opponents. I figured USF would do this, but props to UCF. Two years ago they didn't win a game, now they are a top 25 team, undefeated and crushing everyone they play. Neither will go to the playoff, but they both might go undefeated. Memphis and Navy have been pretty good too. But, they both already have one loss, so a New Years Day bowl is their best bet. No one else outside the "power 5" has really impressed me except these 4 schools.

As far as the playoff goes, I have, in order of 1-4, Alabama, Penn State, Clemson and the University of Ohio State. That's right, I have 2 Big Ten teams. Sorry Wisconsin, but which ever team comes out of the Big Ten East is going to crush you in the Big Ten title game. As far as the title game matchup, I have Alabama facing the University of Ohio State, and I have Alabama absolutely demolishing them. The score will be something like 35-10 or 27-0. Alabama is just too good. And my Heisman winner, I'm going Bryce Love from Stanford. He is doing what Lamar Jackson did last year and putting up ridiculous video game type numbers, and I do not see him slowing down the rest of the year. I could see him rushing for 2,000 plus yards this year.

Okay, there you have my midseason NCAA football check up. I'm excited to see how the rest of the year plays out, and I wish Michigan wasn't so frustrating to watch. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the season.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He did go to beautiful Bloomington Indiana last week to watch his beloved Wolverines pull out an overtime win over the Hoosiers. It was maddening. 

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