Ty Watches "Dave" Season One Finale

Last night my wife and I watched the season one finale of "Dave". This was a show that I was excited for when I first heard about it, and the full season did not disappoint at all. It was very different from what I was expecting, but in a very good and surprising way. Yes, the show had plenty of comedic moments, but there were also very moving, sad, thought provoking and boundary pushing stuff. This is why FX is so far ahead of the curve of other networks. They give people shows, and they let them go off in whatever direction they want.

In one particular episode of "Dave", they talk about weird sexual fetishes, but it was a solid portrayal of people doing for others in a relationship. Dave and his girlfriend Ally worked to find a medium ground together. There was another episode that focused primarily on Dave's hype man GaTa. GaTa was a total unsung hero this first season, probably my favorite character, and to see his back story, involving hospitalization due to bi polar disorder, was moving as hell. There was one episode that solely focused on Els, the producer friend of Dave's, that shows his relationship, his friendship with Dave and his trepidation to move up in the music industry. Basically, FX let Dave Burd and his people do what they wanted, and it worked so god damn well.

The finale was on a whole other level. It started with him rapping about his career, ending up in jail and being forced to do things he didn't want to do. The first five minutes or so were just that. It was essentially a music video. Then they smash cut to his record label people being totally appalled with the song. They didn't like what the song had to say, they didn't want to release it and they were all very offended by everything. Dave didn't care. He kept calling this song his "life's work", and his "triumph"., But everyone around him, except for Benny Blanco, which, bravo to his performance on this show, he was great, did not want him to release the song.They thought it would stop him in his music career before it even really started. There was great stuff with him and his buddy, who is his manager now. They fought and argued, and even though his buddy relented, you could tell he was upset. The scene with him and Els, where Els tells him he is going on tour with another rapper for six months, was telling for both. Els thought Dave would be happy for him, but like he has been all season, Dave was selfish and upset. Even GaTa, who stands by him no matter what, thought it was wack to release the song without telling his label. As I said before, the only person who told him to release it was Blanco, explaining that there would be two outcomes. He said that people would love the song, and the label would have to give him full control, or it would bust, and the label would drop him. He posed it as a win win for Dave. Dave was all set to do it on "The Breakfast Club", a very popular and influential morning hip hop show. He flew to New York with GaTa and his manager and was fully intent on releasing the track. Then the show did what it has done all season and totally stunned me in the best way possible. During the interview Charlamagne the God, one of the hosts of the show, kept pushing him. He kept asking him tough, racial questions. He kept asking him why he was copping other culture. He pushed and pushed. He asked questions Dave had never considered. Even with GaTa's help, Dave was stuck. He didn't know what to do. You can see the wheels turning in his head about whether or not to actually release the track. The head guy from the label showed up as well, thus making it that much more high stakes for him. When the time came to play the track, Dave decides he is simply going to free style. He made the right choice, but now he had to prove that he could actually rap. Charlamagne made sure to tell him, quite persistently, that eight million people were currently listening, and that he was going to mess up. Well, Dave turns the beat on, and just like in the premiere episode, he goes on to spit an incredibly long, intricate and dope song. The way he weaves in and out of words, the way he combines stuff, his voice, his lyrics, Dave Burd is a good rapper. The show makes a joke all season long that he thinks he is the greatest rapper of all time. And while I don't think that he is, he is a very good, very unsuspecting rapper. This last shot proves that tenfold. And when they finally get to the end of the song, he goes on to say something about his real name, kind of like, "and my name is.........", and he pauses. Charlamagne asks him, "what's your name", and the show cuts to end credits with just DAVE in all caps.

I was stunned. I had goosebumps. I was super duper impressed. I said out loud, "GOD DAMN I LOVE THIS SHOW!". I cannot wait for season two. "Dave" was great in every sense of the word. I highly recommend it. It is one of the better shows to come out in 2020. I truly do love this show. 

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 Run the Jewels "Ooh LA LA"

Awhile back Run the Jewels released two new tracks from their upcoming album, "Ooh LA LA" and "Yankee and the Brave". I wrote about how much I loved the songs, and how they both got me very excited for the new record.

Well, two days ago they released a video for "Ooh LA LA", and that just amped up my want for the new record about a thousand times more. The video is dope as hell. It is so cool, so timely and has things in it that only a group like RTJ can pull off. The video opens with some writing, which they proclaim to be an ancient proverb, then the line "I need a bottle of Moet....Garcon", attributed to Killer Mike. We go from this to a big intersection in a big city, I want to say LA, but I am not 100 percent sure. From there on out it gets harder and harder and cooler and cooler. EL-P starts the song off with the chorus, then rips into his verse. It is amazing to see visuals added to his verse. The song is, for me, about how greed is crushing us all right now. EL-P explains as much right off the bat. Killer Mike then comes at us extra hard with his verse about expensive food, cameras, everything. By the way, his jackets are rad in this video. I want his colorful Polo jacket. Maybe that is my way of being greedy, and I need to follow the moral of this song instead. Anyway, both have another verse that is dynamite, as I mentioned when I first wrote about the song. But, all the while they are spitting, there are a ton of people just dumping money into a big pile. Just what looks like millions and millions of dollars, and they are setting it all on fire while dancing. It is jarring at first, but when you actually listen to the lyrics, it is perfect.

RTJ has always fought the establishment with their music. They have talked about corporate greed and destruction. My favorite track of theirs, "Kill You Masters/A Message to the Shareholders" is all about that. I look at "Ooh LA LA" as a kind of sequel to that song. And the video only makes my conviction that much firmer. Also, the amount of people they got to do this video is pretty cool. It actually makes me miss hanging out with people that aren't my immediate family. To get all these people together to dump money into piles, burn it and do choreographed dances is pretty rad. Also, Zack de la Rocha is in the video. He doesn't have a verse on the song or anything, he is just there to hang out I guess. I know that they cool with each other, and have worked together in the past, and they were supposed to be touring with Rage Against the Machine right now. But still, the fact that de la Rocha is just in the video to be in it, for me, it proves how much pull RTJ has in the music industry. I also love how goofy and funny both EL-P and Killer Mike are in the video. EL-P is there with his funny grin, holding bottles of champange, and Killer Mike is doing a goofy smile and jumping rope at one point. They clearly had a great time making this video, and it shows. My favorite moment is when they talk about how they don't care what you ordered, they are what you get, and they embrace and smile right into camera. It is awesome. And the ending, with DJ Premiere just spinning, it is awesome. It is a perfect button. He is scratching records, doing the beat of the song, and while he is intently focused, he is throwing money that is blowing on him into the fire as well.

I love this song, and I love the video just as much. I am a big fan of music videos, and I miss seeing them on TV. But, I like that certain groups go out and still do this, and make it viable for fans to watch. I already had made my own opinion about what the song was trying to tell me, and after seeing the video, I am convinced that I was right. If you haven't listened to the song yet, do that first, and then treat yourself to this video. It rules. 

Ty

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

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Guys, "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" Was Not That Great of a Movie

In an attempt to see a ton of movies that I missed while in theaters that I wanted to see, I watched "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" last night.

I do want to say, while I enjoy Quentin Tarantino for the most part, this was one movie that I wasn't rushing out the door to see. In fact, I didn't really even try to see it in the theaters. Then there was all the stuff from Bruce Lee's family, I don't think they like the way he was portrayed, and I'm a big time Bruce Lee guy, so that soured me even more. But, I saw it was on Starz the other night, and since we are all on quarantine, I figured I would record it and watch, and I did.

So, first things first, I think it is a fine movie. It isn't the usual bloody, racial epitaph flying violent movies I have come to associate with Tarantino. It is more of a love story to old time Hollywood. I also think, for the most part, the performances were solid. I loved Leonardo DiCaprio in this role. He was truly incredible, as he always is. His portrayal of an aging Western movie star was spot on. I also liked the look of the movie. It was like a neat flashback. But, outside of that, I wasn't super impressed with the movie overall.

As I said above, it is a love story to old Hollywood, and sorry mom, I know how much you like those stories, it just isn't my thing. I don't watch old westerns. I didn't watch good guys and bad guys cop shows. I am not all that in to stories from the late 60's early 70's. I am not, I don't know of it is a smart thing, or just my taste, but I'm not into movies form back then. They just aren't my thing. I mean, I love "The Godfather" parts one and two. And as you all know I love the original "Bad News Bears". But, take movies like "Easy Rider" or "Apocalypse Now" or "Annie Hall", movies people consider classics, I'm not into them. They are too long, and for me, boring. That is a personal opinion though., I'm taking nothing away from them, and their importance, hell, I get why "Citizen Kane" is so influential but I don't like that movie one bit. They're classics for a different generation I suppose. I feel like that is who Tarantino was aiming to please with "OUATIH". He wanted the boomer crowd, he wanted cinephiles like himself. That was the crowd he was going after. And that is fine, it just isn't for me.

The movie also felt very discombobulated. There was a ton of things going on, and I felt that the ending was unfulfilling. There were too many stories that didn't really connect for me. The whole first half focuses on DiCaprio and Pitt driving from lot to lot to do his crummy sitcom. The whole scene with Al Pacino at the beginning is out of nowhere, and doesn't come back until the movie is more than halfway over. Also, the Bruce Lee scene was, quite frankly, not that good. It was demeaning to Lee, and to see Pitt's character beat him up, Bruce Lee would have easily beat him in a fight. The stuff with Pitt as well, his backstory about killing his wife and getting away with it was barely even touched upon. We got one scene of them on a bat fighting, and he had some kind of weapon and we are meant to believe that is when it happened, but nothing is shown, or revealed. The Kurt Russell character felt tacked on as well. It would have been much better if he were just the narrator, for me. Also, that jump after the first hour, to 6 months later, was very jarring as I was watching. I didn't expect it, and there was a ton, too much I'd say, of information tacked on about Pitt, Pacino and DiCaprio's characters. I get it moved the story, but it could've been done better, or differently. We also saw very, very little of Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate in this movie. I like Robbie, and I thought they could have delved much deeper into her story. She barely had any lines. It was more to just show her life when she moved to LA, and how she dealt with the people around her. She could have been much more fleshed out.

I will say, the one thing I enjoyed, or thought was well done, was the ending. This movie posits a world where Charlie Manson's cronies never made it to Tate's house on the fateful night where she lost her life. Instead they end up at DiCaprio's house, and he, his wife and Pitt take care of them. I thought this was an interesting take, but I also thought they could have gone so much deeper with that as the story. I would have much rather seen the world with Sharon Tate still alive. I wonder what her career would have been like if she had lived. I feel like Tarantino could have done wonders with that story. Or, I would've liked a movie that was just about DiCaprio and Pitt's characters. Take us from their beginning to their ends. That would have been so much more fun.

I think "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" was too overstuffed and a ton of things could've been cut had Tarantino focused on one aspect of the story. But hey, this is all coming from the guy who liked "Star Wars 9", so take my opinion as you will. I just wasn't as wowed with this movie as critics and others were. DiCaprio was amazing, but that was the only true highlight for me. 

Ty

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

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"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" Was Not That Bad.

Another Rise of Skywalker take?

This past Saturday on our quarantine date night my wife and I watched "Star Wars 9". That is what I am going to call it, I know it has an extended title, but from here on out, it will be known as "Star Wars 9" to me.

First off, I enjoyed the movie. Sure it isn't as good as "Star Wars" 4, 5, 7, 8 or "Rouge One". But, I still liked what I saw. There was cool action scenes, I liked the stuff with Kylo Ren and Rey, I liked how they got footage of General Leia in the movie, I enjoyed the relationship with Finn, Poe and Chewbacca. I liked it all pretty much. I am a novice as you all know. I only saw all the movies within the last four years, after my daughter was born. I liked the original three, I have enjoyed these last three and I do not like the prequels. That is my rating. Also, my favorite of any "Star Wars" movie has been "Rogue One". So, take that as you will. I watched these without the fanaticism, without a love for the characters, I knew who to root for and against, but that doesn't mean I didn't like some of the bad guys. I watched all of them because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I wanted to know why this is such a cultural phenomenon. I wanted to get a sense of why people love this as much as I love "The Simpsons". And I feel like "Star Wars 9" was one of the six straight up "Star Wars" movies that was good. Oh, another thing I liked too was the return of Lando. That was dope.

What I really want to talk about today, or ask for the day, why all the hate for "Star Wars 9". I have heard RD explain why he doesn't like this movie. He is a super fan, so the reasons he gives usually go over my head because I am not all in on the whole world of "Star Wars". RD had the toys, he adores Yoda, he has gone to the theaters to see most, if not all of the movies. He is a true fan. So when he gets deep into why he dislikes "SW 9", I am usually at a loss. I also listen to a lot of comedy podcasts that are hosted by self pronounced dorks. They are hosted by people who have openly talked about their love for this series of movies. Some of them even try and defend the prequels which is total nonsense. But while listening to these pods when this movie was out, and hearing RD crush it, I just don't get it honestly. Why is this one so much worse than the first two prequels? I think the third prequel is the worst of the bunch, but defenders will still say that one is better than any of the new three. What is the big deal? Are people mad that Rey, a female, is the strongest person in this made up universe? Are they ticked off because she was revealed to be a Palpatine? Do they not like the cameos and subservient nature to lifelong fans? Do they just want to be insufferable dorks that try and act hip and think that dissing the new "Star Wars" will make them seem popular? I don't really know.

Again, I thought this movie was fun. I liked it. I was intrigued by the story, and how it all unfolded. I was sad when Leia died. I really liked Kylo Ren realizing he was a good dude when he saw a vision of his dad. I thought the fight scene between him, Rey and Palpatine was kick ass. In fact, I really liked the last act of the movie. I thought it was a solid war/action sequence. I have no problem if people don't like the movie. There are plenty of movies the masses like that I am not a fan of. I don't like "Avatar" or either "Frozen" movie. But I also don't go online the very next day and trash the movie, saying things like "this ruined my childhood", or "I will never forgive George Lucas for letting JJ Abrams take over", which are real fan reviews on Flixster. I mean, it is just a movie. A movie that takes place in "a galaxy far far away", and, "a long long time ago". None of this is real. It is science fiction, and for me, it was done very well.

I like "Star Wars 9", and I feel like people going online and saying horrendous things about it are just nerds still living in their parents basements hiding behind screen names. "The Simpsons" said it best when Comic Book Guy trashes "Itchy and Scratchy" when they bring on Poochie, and Bart says to him, "what do they owe you? They have given you hours and hours and hours of free entertainment". Comic Book Guy's only response to Bart, after he is owned, is "worst episode ever". I just want all the people out there trashing this movie to know that when they go on a rant like this, all I see or hear is Comic Book Guy. "Star Wars 9" is good.

Enough said.

For another point of view from someone who only lives in the basement when his wife kicks him out of the bedroom for snoring, check out RD’s views on “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”. 

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 Last Dance Parts 3 and 4

I just finished episodes 3 and 4 of "The Last Dance", and just like the first two, this is amazing. This is exactly what I, and all other sports fans, have been craving. The show is starting to dig deeper and deeper into all the things that went into this last run for the 90's Bulls.

Episode 3 was focused on Dennis Rodman's addition to the team. First off, Rodman is a crazy dude, but man was he an excellent basketball player. I do not agree with his politics, he is crazy as I said, he is still a little loony, but man could that dude defend, be an enforcer and grab rebounds. Hearing him talk about his early days in Detroit was like taking a class on how to judge angles on the floor, and I loved every single second of it. When he talked about taking friends to the gym at 2 and 3 in the morning to shoot and miss shots just so he could watch how it came off the rim was astonishing. Talking about watching film of how big time players would shoot, and the way the ball would rotate, was like the coolest lesson I could have learned as a young player. His tenacity on defense, and his willingness to do the little things, the dirty work, it was amazing. But, he did come with a ton of baggage. He started to lose it late in his Pistons career. He really lost it while he was in San Antonio. And, while he gave in to the greater good of the team while playing for the 90's Bulls, he was for sure going through some mental issues. He had, and still has, some serious issues, but I say again, the dude was such a uniquely gifted player. He was also another one of these super small school guys who made it big in the NBA in the late 80's and early 90's, and it was because he was willing he work his ass off. He seemed to work harder than almost anyone else in the league at that time. It was pretty eye opening. My favorite part was when the director showed Rodman, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson the video of Jordan reacting to Rodman saying he "needed a vacation". That was epic.

Episode 4 picked up with Rodman on his "vacation", and we got a one on one interview with Carmen Electra, Rodman's girlfriend at the time, and again I have to point out the people they are getting for this doc are amazing, and she described Rodman perfectly. She talked about his constant partying and how much fun he liked to have and even spoke on when Phil, Scottie and MJ came to Vegas to pick him up. That was hilarious, and I imagine what must have been going through her head when this happened. We shifted from there to learn more about Phil Jackson. This episode was his episode. They talked about his childhood, his love of Native Americans, how much he wanted the game to be a team game, his work with Tex Winter, his playing days, his drug use and how great of a coach he was. I have said many times that I think Greg Poppovich is the greatest coach in the NBA ever. But I am now wavering because of the way we see how Jackson worked with the greatest ever. How he got him to buy in. How he made him realize that he needed his teammates to help him. MJ may have liked Doug Collins more, but Jackson was the perfect coach for him and that team. Poppovich has the best system, and it will always work. But, Jackson is the best at dealing with major, major personalities. He knows how to handle super duper stars. And while Jackson is the weird hippy guy, he knows the game very well. Well, he and Tex Winter worked together very well. I feel like this episode was kind of an ode to Winter. He is the genius behind the Triangle offense, Jackson was just the face. But, I came away from episode 4 really admiring Phil Jackson. I was also happy because they started to show the real asshole side of MJ in the middle and near the end of the episode. They talked a lot about the rivalry between the Bulls and Pistons back then, and this is when true MJ started to come out. He hated the Pistons, he did what he took to get over that hump, and man oh man does he despise Isaiah Thomas. Again, they showed him a video of Thomas explaining why the Pistons walked off when the Bulls finally beat them, without shaking their hands, and you could see Jordan, who is 57 now, seething with anger. It was another great moment.

"The Last Dance" has been truly wonderful so far, and I fully expect it to continue that way. While this is on, every Monday I am going to write about my thoughts with each viewing. I cannot recommend this doc enough people. It is a wonder. 

Ty

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

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Ty Watches the 2020 NFL Draft: Round 1

Last night was the first round of the NFL draft, and it went fairly well, and fairly chalk.

The top 3 picks were what everyone was saying they were going to be. Luckily for RD and the Bengals fans out there, they, rightfully so, took Burrow number one. They have their QB now. Washington got the best athlete in the draft in Young and Detroit didn't have any trade offers, so they took Okudah. Then the Giants did what the Giants do and took the third or fourth best offensive tackle in Andrew Thomas. He will be a fine player, but if they wanted a tackle why not Wirfs or Jackson or Becton, who knows. We are talking about a team that took Daniel Jones last year. I am kind of stunned they didn't grab Simmons, but again, the Giants do this every year. The Dolphins pulled the trigger on Tua. They needed a QB, and they went for one of the best college QB's ever, but that injury still terrifies me. I hope he has time to sit and watch before they throw him out there. Then Herbert went, but this was another one of the foregone conclusions of the draft, and I think it will take some time before Herbert gets real playing time. The Panthers reached for Derrick Brown, but he will be a fine interior D lineman I suppose. The Cardinals got my favorite player in the draft, Isiah Simmons, and I really, truly believe they are on the come up. The Cardinals will be a solid team for a good long time. The Jags got their Ramsey replacement in CJ Henderson and then two O lineman went off the board, with Jedrick Willis going to Cleveland and Becton going to the Jets. Then the Raiders reached for Ruggs. They went with speed again, as they have always done. They could've had any receiver and they chose Ruggs. I would have gone with Jeudy, but I am not a scout, GM or coach. Wirfs landed in Tampa, and Tom Brady has his blind side protection. The fact that he fell to 13 is wild to me. The 49ers took another interior D lineman in Kinlaw, and this pick surprised me. They already have a great defense, and they need better wide outs. Jeudy ended up in Denver and Drew Lock should be very pleased. They got the best athlete on offense in the draft. The Falcons went with defense, which they needed to do, and got a solid corner in AJ Terrell. The Cowboys added another offensive weapon, and they took CeeDee Lamb. He is good, fast and has solid ball skills, but he won't stop anyone on defense. The Dolphins, with their second first round pick, got a day one starter in Austin Jackson. He is a solid tackle. The Raiders then took a second round talent in the top 20 in Damon Arnette. I know they need help everywhere, but they could've gotten this kid in round 2 or 3. The Jags went defense again and took K'Lavon Chaisson, and he is a solid linebacker that will be a 10 year player. Two more receivers went to Philly and Minnesota next. The Eagles got Jalen Raegor, who I wanted Green Bay to pick. He is good and fast. Minnesota took Justin Jefferson, and RD, this kid is going to be very good. He will easily replace Stefon Diggs. The Chargers took Kenneth Murray next, and while I am not high on him, he is going to a team already loaded on defense. He can sit and learn. One of my Michigan guys was next, when the Saints took Caesar Ruiz. He is a good, modern center, and the video of him tearing up after they showed his father, who has passed, on screen was very moving. The 49ers then took a receiver that, quite frankly, I know nothing about. They took Brandon Aiyuk, and while I think they need help at that position, I don't know why they didn't just go with Jeudy at 13.

Then my team, Green Bay, made the wildest decision of the first round, taking QB Jordan Love. I don't think it is as awful as others do, but I also don't get it. They could've gone receiver as well, maybe traded up for Raegor, or they could've gone linebacker, but they chose a backup, raw QB. At least he will be sitting for awhile, but while I am not as low on this pick, I truly do not get it, especially from the Packers, who usually draft smart. I will say, the last time they picked a QB I didn't like, it was Aaron Rodgers. Maybe they can prove me wrong again.

From there on out, it was pretty chalk. The Seahawks kept their first round pick and took a solid linebacker in Jordyn Brooks. The Ravens shored up their already awesome defense with Patrick Queen from LSU. Tennessee got a protection and hole opening tackle in Isaiah Wilson, which is what they need. Miami, with their third first round pick, which is wild, took a solid corner in Noah Igbinoghene. They are building a solid team there. Brian Flores is going to do good things with this squad. Minnesota took TCU corner Jeff Gladney next, and that pick is as ho hum as they come. And the Chiefs closed out round one with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, running back from LSU, proving further that they just want to get more and more weapons around Mahomes to defend their title.

Like I said, outside a few odd picks, this was a chalk draft. The only true surprises were Andrew Thomas going so early and the Packers trading up to take Jordan Love. Other than that, all solid, understandable picks. If I had to pick a "winner" of the first round I am going to go with Arizona. They got my favorite player, and the player I consider to be the best athlete in the draft in Simmons. He is going to be instantly great. I am also happy that Ruiz went round one, and went earlier than I thought. Now I bet the rest of the draft will be a bit more intriguing, with more trades and more reaches and steals. We shall see. 

Ty

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

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Gronk Will Not Be the Answer in Tampa

I teased it yesterday, and here I am today to talk about the Gronk trade to the Buccaneers.

This was inevitable the moment Tom Brady simply mentioned how nice it would be to play with Gronk again. Once he said that it was a forgone conclusion that the Bucs front office and Bruce Arians were going to do whatever they needed to get Gronk. Never mind the fact that they have a younger tight end they drafted two years ago. I know that OJ Howard hasn't totally lived up to the hype yet, but this upcoming year will only be his third in the NFL. Now he will be traded, or simply let go. That is a shame.

Look, I think most people know how I feel about Gronk. I do not like him. He is a frat boy, a douche, a party animal, a phony and if he was with any other team during his height, and was not a white person, people wouldn't love him the way they do. Say he played for a team like the Dolphins or Jets or Raiders, he is basically a nobody. Change his ethnicity, he would be viewed very differently by major media outlets. I don't like putting that out there, but it is, unfortunately, true. And now he is coming in to take a younger kid's job just because his buddy wants the team to.

Also, I don't think this is going to be as great as other outlets are proclaiming. I have already gone on the site and said that I don't like the fit with Brady in Tampa. I know Arians has done wonders with older QB's, but those QB's had big arms. I think Brady is the best QB to ever play in the NFL, but arm strength has never been his thing. He has always been a quick slant, diagnose the defense quick and make the right, shorter throw. That is how he destroys other teams. The only guy on the current Bucs roster that is fit for that is Gronk. But, Gronk has been away for an entire year, he has had multiple concussions, he may not play an entire year, if the NFL has a full year, and he has lost a ton of weight. He also went on this weird speaking tour where he talked about the dangers of the NFL. But, since his "bro" is in a city like Tampa, I guess he figures why not.

Actually, the more I write about it, I feel like Tampa is a fitting spot for Gronk's personality. But you don't win games with a "fun" personality. I actually think this trade, and the signing of Brady, is going to hurt Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. They are two of the better deep threats in the league, but just look at Brady last season, or even the season before. Last year he was not great. Maybe it was because he already knew he was leaving, maybe it was because the offense wasn't as talented or maybe it was because Brady is 42 years old. He is an old man in NFL terms. And as we have seen over and over and over again, when guys hit 40, they regress. Even the year before, when they beat the Rams in the Super Bowl, it wasn't because of Brady. He had an awful game. It was their defense, and how green that Rams team was. And Todd Gurley was very hurt. With this new addition, I am stunned at how the media is treating this. I don't want to put this out there, but does everyone remember after the Odell Beckham trade last off season how great that was going to make the Browns? Every major media outlet had them as a 10 plus win team, a favorite in the AFC and a lock to make the playoffs. How did that work out? And that team is much younger than this current Bucs team. And they have a better defense, even though they struggled mightily last year.

I don't know, maybe I am just a hater, but I don't think acquiring Gronk pushes the Bucs to the best in the NFC. I don't even think it makes them the best team in their division. I think the Bucs right now are champs on paper, but they will have to go out and play, and it will be tough sledding. This trade is so unimportant to me. 

Ty

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

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Ty's 2020 Not Mock NFL Draft

Seeing as how they are doing a NFL draft tomorrow, via the internet, and it is still blowing my mind that they are doing it this way and not just waiting a month or so, I do want to do my style of a draft guide. I don't like doing a pick by pick thing. Last year I picked 10 players I thought were going to be very good and 5 busts. This year I want to go position by position, putting interior offensive and defensive line as a whole group, as in, I won't go nose guard, tackle, defensive end, or guard, tackle center, I will pick players for the whole interior. I will pick one player I think will hit, and explain, one that will bust, and explain, and a mild to deep sleeper. This seems like a fun way to approach this very odd, very complex draft.

Real quick though, even though I think there will be tons and tons of mess ups, I am stoked that there is going to be a draft. It gives us sports people a fix. And, I will get to the Gronk trade tomorrow. Believe me I have a ton to say about that whole thing. Lets get to the draft now.

Quarterback

I'm going to start where every NFL team starts, and that is with the QB position. I'm not as sold on this class as other writers and people on TV, but I do still have some thoughts. As for my prospect that will, or should hit, I have Joe Burrow, just like everyone else. You don't have a season like he did and then just flame out. He is agile, has arm strength and is wildly accurate. The only downside I see from him is the Bengals. They will need to find a way to protect him. Even still, he will be a solid rookie, and I think he will have, at the very least, a solid NFL career.

As for the bust, I have already written about him, but I just don't trust Tua. The injury scares the hell out of me. The kid is an incredible talent, but that injury ended Bo Jackson's career. And no one has seen him go through a real workout. I hope I am wrong because I like him, but I am just so scared of that injury.

As for my sleeper, I am going with Jalen Hurts. He is the new era QB. He already had the mobility, and last year at Oklahoma proved he can throw. He is going to be, at the very least, a weapon for whatever team takes him in the third or fourth round. He is also a good dude with a great attitude.

Running Back

So running backs are a dying breed, but there are still a few in this draft that could work as later round picks. I wouldn't take one in the first round, but late round two or early third, I would jump at some of these guys. My prospect that will hit is Johnathan Taylor. He is big, fast, durable and destroyed great defenses in college. He is on a long list of Wisconsin running backs that tore up college, but I feel like he will be the first to really, truly succeed.

My bust is Cam Akers. I loved this kid his freshman year at FSU, but it was all downhill from there. He never really got better over the next 2 years. He is also small, fumbles a bit and can easily get hurt. I had high hopes in college, and those weren't met. I don't think he will translate well to the NFL.

My sleeper, and it's not that deep, is JK Dobbins. This kid destroyed the Big Ten for two years, he put up similarly huge numbers like Taylor and he is a ball of strength. He is a bigger, stronger Doug Martin, except he will be better.

Wide Receiver

Shifting to receiver, this class is absolutely loaded. It is as deep as any group in a very, very long time. I had a good amount of trouble finding guys to pick for my prospect that will hit. I finally settled on Jerry Jeudy, but honestly, I could've picked any Alabama receiver. But Jeudy looks to be the biggest, second fastest, runs the best routes and has tremendous hands. I am hoping he falls to Green Bay, but I don't think he lasts outside of the top 10. He has a good mixture of Amari Cooper and Julio Jones. Jeudy is great.

As for my bust, and this hurts so much for me personally, I have Donovan Peoples-Jones. I rooted so hard for this kid for three years, and had such high hopes. He had tons of moments at Michigan, but he was more injured than not. He also was nowhere to be found in big games. He also drops the ball at a Braylon Edwards rate, especially when going over the middle. I hope he proves me wrong, really hope, but he just tailed off too much last season at Michigan.

As for my sleeper, I'm going with Jalen Reagor from TCU. This may not be a sleeper to you, but he played in a run option offense, yet put up stellar numbers. This is a guy that could actually land in Green Bay, and while he isn't Jerry Jeudy, he will do just fine.

Tight End

At tight end, and this is not the same level as wideout, I just don't really know. As for my top prospect, I guess I will go with Hunter Bryant from Washington. He is a big target with good hands and can block some. He will be fine.

For my bust, again I have no idea, I will go with Cole Kmet from Notre Dame because other people seem to love him, and since I am a Michigan fan, I am just going full on hater here.

My sleeper is Thaddeus Moss. He was so crucial in LSU's explosive offense, he is big and he will score TD after TD. Moss isn't his dad, but he will be a solid pro.

Offensive Line

As for the interior O line, my top prospect is Tristan Wirfs frim Iowa. He is huge, he is a roadblock and he can be a cornerstone for 10 plus years. O lineman are boring picks, but also the safest, and Wirfs is top of the list this year.

As for my bust, and again this is hard because O line is so easy to hit, I am going with Meckhi Becton from Louisville. I know people love him, but Louisville was so average, and he played in a very heavy read option offense. I don't see what others do in him.

My sleeper, and I am fanning out here, is Caesar Ruiz. He was the captain of the Michigan O line, he was the most important guy and he was the most improved on a very improved O line last season. I was sad to see him leave early, but I get it. He is going to be a day one starter in the NFL and he will be around for a very long time. He is a prototype modern offensive lineman.

Now lets shift to defense. I fully believe the cliche that defense wins titles, and there are some solid defensive players to load your team around in this draft.

Safety

At safety my prospect that will hit is Grant Delpit from LSU. He reminds me so much of Jamal Adams, except with better ball skills. Adams is a better hitter, but he is also on an awful team, so I don't think he is as respected as he should be. I think Delpit can end up in San Francisco, or Chicago, somewhere with a solid defense, and he will have a similar type career, but be more highly regarded.

As for the bust of this class I have Antoine Winfield Jr. Yes he has tremendous ball skills, he got a ton of interceptions and was the key to Minnesota's defense, but I just don't see it from him. The interceptions means college teams weren't afraid to throw to his side, and he did get beat some too. He has the name recognition, but I'm not sold.

As for my sleeper, I'm going division 1-AA here, and going with Jeremy Chinn from Southern Illinois. I hadn't heard of him until recently, but I saw some of his highlights, and this kid is good. He is going to be a solid special teams guy at the start, and he will be a starter sooner rather than later. He is also very big for a safety as well.

Corner

Switching to corner, how can you not have Jeffrey Okudah as the top guy. He is so arrogant and cocky and seems like a real asshole, but the kid can play. He is as shutdown as they come right now. I have to say, seeing him get torched by Trevor Lawrence was hilarious to me, but that was an outlier. He is really good, and if Detroit passes on him, it will be another in a long line of mistakes for them. I loathe that I have so many University of Ohio State players as top prospects, but they had a loaded team last year.

My bust corner is Kristian Fulton from LSU. Outside Delpit, the LSU defense got torched at times. Also, without Delpit, Fulton wouldn't be as highly regarded. Fulton was helped so very much by being on the same team as a legit top 5 potential pick. He was part of a secondary that let Ole Miss gain a million yards on them.

My sleeper at corner is Jaylon Johnson from Utah. He is 6 feet tall, almost 200 pounds and has some speed. He will be a solid slot corner that turns into a lock down corner within a year or two. Corners that big don't come around often, and I would jump at a chance to take him in the second or third round if he is still available.

Linebacker

Moving on to linebacker, Isiah Simmons is without question the best linebacker, and for me, the best player in the draft. He can do it all. I could have put him at safety or corner too, and he would be number one. He is so good, can do it all and will change the fortunes of whatever team takes him very early on in the draft. Simmons is dream modern prospect on defense.

My bust is Kenneth Murray from Oklahoma. I think he looks like a traditional linebacker, and he can hit, but I just cannot shake how much LSU exposed him in the playoff. They attacked him in the air and on the ground. I have images of him heaving and laying on the ground to try and get off the field. He got dusted by a team filled with NFL talent. I think he will just be okay, not team altering.

My sleeper at linebacker is Troy Dye from Oregon. He is fast, used to playing spread teams and can cover and hit. He will be a solid team dude as well. I could see him being a quieter version of Luke Kuechly. I think he has that in him.

Defensive Line

Chase Young is the guy. He is the best D line prospect since Jadaveon Clowney, and he may be better. To me he is a bigger and stronger Julius Peppers. Young wrecked backfields all year, and I think he will do the same in the NFL. If Washington doesn't take him I would be absolutely stunned.

My bust is Javon Kinlaw. I know he is big and strong, but leaving the Senior Bowl and not doing the combine left a bad taste. I know his spot is secure, but he isn't a QB or skill player, guys who normally do that. I wanted to see his times and other stuff, but he decided not to compete claiming he was injured. I don't know about all that.

My sleeper is Josh Uche. Again, fan boy here, but this kid was great, and he became a sack machine for Michigan over the past two years. He is quick, has good hands and can move. He was constantly in the backfield the past two years. I will forever be thankful to my dad for pointing him out to me early two years ago when we were at a game. He has been a joy to watch, and I think he will be a great NFL pass rusher.

So there you have it, my version of a pre draft ranking of some players. I do want to say, I hope all the kids I considered "busts" prove me wrong. I don't like to judge children that are so much more talented than I have ever been. I want them to all have success. That being said, this draft will be odd, but I stoked it is coming, and I am interested to see how wild this thing gets because I think, especially in the later rounds, it is going to be real wild. We will find out starting tomorrow. Oh, and one last thing, I hope the Bengals do the right thing and take Burrow number one because I don't want to hear RD yell at me about it for years, and this is the most perfect situation that franchise could ever fall in to. They better not screw it up for a ton of people's sake. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Better Late than Never on "Jojo Rabbit"

In my quest to watch as many movies as I can during quarantine that I have wanted to see again, or for the first time, my wife and I sat down on Saturday night, our quarantine date night, and watched "Jojo Rabbit".

Right away, this movie is incredible. It is funny, well shot, perfectly acted, colorful, sad and triumphant. It is a beautiful movie. I loved every single second of it. I am a very big Taika Waititi fan, as you all know, so when I first heard about this movie I wanted to see it strictly because it was being directed by Waititi. I then saw the trailer for it, and that made me want to see it even more. I was supposed to see it in theaters, but when I had the time, and my father had the time, he wanted to see it too, my wife and daughter unfortunately got sick, so I stayed home to care for them. I never got another real shot to see it while in the theaters. I knew that it won an Oscar, that a ton of my friends really liked, and I figured I would see it soon enough.

So while we were picking a movie, it was my turn, I scrolled through the available movies, and as soon as I saw "Jojo Rabbit", my mind was made up. We watched it, and as I said, I loved it. My wife liked it too, but she also spent a good amount of the movie in tears. I cried while watching it too. I am not afraid to admit that. For all the accolades, good reviews and trailers I had watched I was able to avoid all spoilers. All I knew going in was the basic story, and that Waititi was not only directing, but also playing Hitler. I assumed the movie was going to be a goofy, funny and interesting look at how stupid and asinine the Nazis were. That was my idea. And while the movie has all of that in it, there is some heavy, heavy things going in. There is crushing and devastating deaths. There is a harrowing story about the main kids father. There is the Jewish girl that hides out in the attic, who Jojo's mom is helping out. There's all this, and so much more. But, I like that Waititi is doing more stuff like this. That he is willing to make movies that aren't just straight up comedy, which he is a genius at, but that he is expanding his horizons. He made a great super hero movie, so why not try a war dramedy? He did, and he crushed it.

Yes, the movie is sad, there is very tough stuff to see and it made my wife and I cry, but it was also funny. I mean, Waititi plays Hitler! Now, he is Jojo's imaginary friend, and Waititi plays him like the idiot I imagine he was, but still, to see him with that hair, those clothes and that mustache, it was wild. He played him so hilariously inept though, every time he was on screen, I was laughing. The rest of the actors were very good as well. Scarlett Johannson is tremendous in her role. She is Jojo's mom, she is anti Nazi and anti war and she is simply splendid. It's a role like this, a performance like this, that reintroduces me to how great she is. Sam Rockwell and Alfie Allen are very good as well. They play Nazi lovers, but they have hearts of gold. Rockwell is one of those actors that I always enjoy when he is in a movie. Rebel Wilson was perfectly cast as the woman worker in the Nazi office. She was made for a comedic role like this, and she thrived. And even in a small role, Stephen Merchant shows why he is such a coveted character actor in comedies. He was great. But the kids in this movie were the true stars. Jojo was played by a kid named Roman Griffin Davis, and man is he wonderful. He is so good as the fanatic young kid, who thinks he is destined to fight in the German army, but he really is a good kid underneath it all. It just needs to be pried out of him by other people in his life. The scenes between him and Waititi are so god damn funny. But, the stuff between him and Johannson is so moving and beautiful and easy to relate to as a parent myself. He should have gotten an Oscar nomination. The girl that played the Jewish kid hiding out in the attic, Thomasin McKrnzie, was so so so good. She was tough and willing to fight for herself. She also was the one that really helped Jojo realize that he is a good kid. She also was a perfect big sister type character to Jojo. And the scene where they dance together was so pretty, it made me happy cry and I think about it quite often as one of the most heart warming things I have seen in a movie in some time. And then we have Archie Yates, who played Yorki, Jojo's best friend, who was the perfect comedic foil to Jojo. Seeing him in German Army gear was great. Hearing him chastise the German Army later on was hilarious. Him telling Jo Jo that he missed him mom so much because of the war, and that he needed to "go home and get some cuddles", was the best. Yorki was amazing. All these kids were amazing.

This movie was amazing. I cannot recommend it enough. I will say, know going into it that it will make you cry, but it will also make you laugh and you will be happy at the end. I love this movie. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty Watches "The Last Dance" Parts 1 and 2

"The Last Dance" made its much anticipated premiere, two months early, last night and it was everything I hoped for, and so much, much more. Sports fans are craving something, anything, that we can rally around and talk about and be excited about and be in the forefront of the media, and that finally happened for the first time since early March, in a good way.

"The Last Dance" is going to be focusing on the 97-98 Bulls team primarily, but this ten part docu series is clearly going to be touching on so much more. The first two episodes had so much stuff in couple hours that I hadn't heard or seen ever before. I am a rabid NBA fan, especially this particular era they are focusing on, and there was so much new information that I didn't even know I wanted.

The first episode primarily talked about the early Jordan years. We see him becoming the dominant force he was to be when he was at UNC. We heard from guys like James Worthy, Roy Williams and Billy Packer about how there was something special about this kid. They talked about his natural ability but also his almost maniacal work ethic, how he wanted to be better than everyone else, how he practiced longer and harder than anyone. They focused on his want and will to be the best. He told Roy Williams that he wanted to be the best guy at UNC, and Williams told him he had to work. Well, he worked his tail off, and we all know about his dominant career in college. He won a title, a player of the year award and was easily a lottery pick. They then shifted to his rookie year, and that was eye opening for me. He went to a, and I never knew this, what was a moribund Bulls team. They were being outsold by indoor soccer teams and plays in their own arena. Then Jordan comes, blows up, and all of the sudden they are selling out every game. The players on the current team realized pretty soon how good he was. They knew very early on that he was the best player on the team by a very wide margin. Some of the stuff they talked about that I never knew included how much drugs the Bulls players did when he was a rookie. Jordan didn't do this, instead, he lived on his own and just set a laser focus on the game. That was what separated him early on from everyone else.

Outside the Jordan aura, I learned how much the players, especially Jordan, really loathed Jerry Krause. They despised that man, openly picking on him in public. I also learned that Jerry Reinsdorf is a very quiet man, who tries to stay out of a lot. I found out that Rod Thorn truly wanted Hakeem in the draft. I also heard how other players and coaches never, ever thought that Jordan, a 6'6 guard, could lead a team to a title. And they started to show his real attitude near the end of the first episode, when the 97 Bulls traveled to Paris for an exhibition, and Jordan looked like he just wanted to leave, and that all the hubbub there was beneath him. He also showed that he didn't, I don't know if respect is the right word, that he didn't care about guys on the team that weren't Dennis Rodman, or mainly Scottie Pippen.

That is where the second episode takes us. We get to hear all about Pippen. He was a player that, as a kid, I didn't think was actually as good or important as he truly was. Now that I am an adult, and have studied the game a ton, I know I was wrong, and how great and important Pippen was. The whole thing was about how Pippen is the greatest number 2 ever in the NBA. I won't call him Robin because I feel like that is disrespectful to Pippen. I also learned that Pippen was a small college kid, who was so painfully shy, that he signed a ridiculously awful contract way too early in his career. He signed a seven year deal worth 18 million dollars. I mean, can you believe that. Can you fathom a world where Pippen is the sixth highest paid player on the team where he is clearly the second best option. That is nuts. He should have made triple that for what he gave to that team, and what he gave to Jordan. This episode also really dug into the aggressiveness and fight that Jordan had. He would yell and scream at his teammates in practice. He would tell them exactly what he thought of them. He didn't care about feelings, he simply wanted to win. And if he had to hurt your feelings to do that, he would do that. He was ruthless, he was a winner and he expected the best effort out his teammates no matter what. We also got a little look into his childhood in this episode, with some interviews with his brothers, and again, this was totally eye opening. It shined a new light on MJ's competitive edge. It showed how this started so young, and drives him still today.

These first two episodes were like a fix for me. I felt that urge for sports on my TV was given to me. It was amazing. I watched it in real time, which I never do. I am so very, very, very excited for the next eight parts. Sunday cannot come fast enough so I can watch the next two episodes. I love this, I love that ESPN pushed it up so we can watch something we all crave and I love that I get to watch a truly all access look into the life of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball. Watch this docu series. I implore you. 

Ty

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

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College or the G League? More Players Should Follow Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd

I told you all I had some basketball stories this week, and I am coming at you with another one today.

Today is a one of, and I don't like to use important words like this for something that doesn't seem that important, triumph. It's a triumph for high school players. It's a triumph for the NBA and G League. It's a triumph to show how unimportant and ridiculous the NCAA truly is. It is a triumph to show how absurd to the "one and done" culture has become in men's college basketball. I am flat out impressed and hope that stuff like what happened the other day continues to happen. And for those that will call me out for being a hater, one of these kids was supposed to go to Michigan. These type decisions are what I have been advocating for, and I hope this will happen more and more until the NCAA decides that Pay for Play needs to be implemented sooner rather than later. Two days ago the number 3 college basketball recruit in the country, Jalen Green, decided he was bypassing his one season of college basketball to go play in the G League. He was given a 500,000 dollar contract and he is available to any team that wants to draft or sign him ASAP.

I cannot overstate how much I love this, and how great of an idea I think this is. Only a few hours after his choice, the Michigan decommit, Isaiah Todd decided to do the same. No money or contract numbers were announced, but we all know he will get paid to play, will play with pros, or guys that have the skill to be pros and he will be eligible to get drafted the very next season. Both guys will be eligible for next year's draft in fact. Again, I cannot emphasize enough how great of a move this is, and how much I respect these kids and the people around them to push them to make this choice.

Of course there are people out there bad mouthing this decision. They think it could be a death knell to smaller schools, and quite possibly, the NCAA as a whole. They think these kids will be exposed. They don't want them to get hurt playing against grown men who don't care what their mix tape looks like. They think a pro locker room could mess them up. To all of that nonsense, and whatever in the hell else other people are saying, who cares. If these kids are good enough, and pro teams want them, let them play with pro players. Let these teams sign them. Let them go overseas. It happens in hockey and baseball all the time. It happened in the NBA for a minute, before they implemented the dumb ass rule of one year removed from high school. As for the other complaints, small schools will still get other kids. Not every player is a 5 star player that has the talent to do what these kids are doing. And the NCAA will still be around and still be corrupt. I know that the NBA is trying to get rid of the "one and done" rule, and that is a good thing. Until then though, if pro teams want to sign these kids right out of high school, and they want to go, let them.

As I said, there are plenty of other players that will still use college as a stepping stone. The AFL, AAF and XFL were all going to kill NCAA football they said, and NCAA football is as popular as ever. Minor League baseball has never taken away from the great drama that surrounds the College World Series. And March Madness, man did I miss that this year, will still be compelling even without every single 5 star player playing for Duke or Kentucky. I also think this is a good test for these kids to get prepped for the NBA. They are going to be there the following season anyway, so why waste a year playing against inferior competition. The worst thing for Zion was his one year at Duke. AD won a title at Kentucky, but he really didn't have to play college ball. Joel Embiid's injury stuff started when he was at KU. I could go on and on and on. But, the major thing, we never bad mouth foreign prospects for playing professionally as young as 15. We heap praise on guys like Ricky Rubio and Luka Doncic, but bad mouth these kids when they want to try against higher level competition than division 1 college players. I don't get the hypocrisy. These kids are good enough to play in the G League, a bundle of teams want them, so let them go and play. If they get exposed, at least they get to make a little money before being out of the game. That doesn't happen in college, at least on the surface. This ties right into playing grown men trying to get a job by any means necessary. As a kid I was always told to play against people that were bigger and better than me. That it would make me a better player. And it did. So, I think it is an excellent idea for these kids to go play professionally wherever they are wanted. They won't waste a year, and they will learn, just a little bit, what it is like to be a real pro.

Speaking of the whole locker room stuff, that is a non starter for me. If you go and do your job, I don't see why anyone would really care, unless they have some deeper issues. You win, play hard and do what you're told, and stay out of the way to the best of your ability is to their advantage. I think all the hubbub is dumb, unnecessary and pointless. If a kid is good enough, a team wants him enough and they can make money, more power to that player. Go do what you need to do and get some money while you can.

My hat is off to Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd. I hope they succeed and I hope more players, players that are as good as they are, do the same.

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

Bill Laimbeer is a Stupid Head. Jordan is the GOAT.

The other day Bill Laimbeer, who I have never liked, appeared on an ESPN early morning talk show and was spouting off his usual nonsense. He came right out and said, without hesitation, that LeBron James is easily the GOAT of the NBA.

Now, what he said is not untrue, well, the GOAT thing is wrong, but why he thinks LeBron is the GOAT makes a little bit of sense. He said he runs like the wind, is 6'8 and 280 pounds and is unstoppable. That is all true, but everyone knows that about him. In fact, statements like that are why I like to compare LeBron to a player like Magic. They are unicorns. They are different. They are great. They are Hall of Fame players. They are champions. But, Michael Jordan is the GOAT. There is no question.

I have had this conversation with tons of people. RD and I argued this very thing on the podcast awhile ago. I have been lucky enough to watch both guys play in their primes, and I have no doubt in my mind that Jordan is a better basketball player than LeBron. Personally I think LeBron is the third greatest player of all time, behind Jordan and Kareem Abdul Jabaar. LeBron is the prototype player for the new generation. He can play any position. He makes worse players better. He went to a million Finals in a row. He came in with humongous expectations, and has more than lived up to them. LeBron is an all time great. But he is not the greatest. He has lost many more Finals than he has won. I believe he has a 3-6 record in the Finals. Again, it is amazing that he has made nine Finals, but he only has three rings. He is like the modern day Jerry West. Great player, but flubbed when it came to the Finals. He would also have only two titles if Draymond Green wasn't a selfish asshole. He also is a fake, wannabe bad guy. When he blocked Steph in the Finals a few years back and flexed and mean mugged him, that was one of the fakest acts of toughness I have ever witnessed. LeBron can be a great defender, but only when he wants to be. Look at last season for example. At one point in a game Kyle Kuzma had to physically push LeBron to guard his man who was wide open at the top of the key. That guy went on to make an easy bucket.

LeBron is also too nice of a guy to be the true GOAT. He doesn't have that psychotic mentality that true GOATS possess. LeBron wants to be friends with everyone. He also has had to team up with stars, make super teams if you will, to become a champ. He couldn't do it in Cleveland his first go round. That team was awful, but they got easily dispatched by a far superior Spurs team. He had to team up with Dwanye Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. He then had Cleveland force a trade to acquire Kevin Love. And this past off season, he and Rich Paul made it a point to get Anthony Davis to LA. LeBron is never the guy, Jordan was always the guy.

LeBron is an amazing player, he is the GOAT of the 21st century, but he is not the best player ever Bill Laimbeer. That title goes to MJ in a walk. I know that Laimbeer has some ill will towards MJ. He was part of the "Bad Boy" Pistons, and they all hated the Bulls and Jordan. They also used to beat them routinely. The Pistons were the team that Jordan had to figure out before they went on their dyanstic runs. The Pistons were the first team to get away with roughing MJ up. And it worked for two seasons. Then it didn't. MJ found a way to assert his dominance, and the Bulls took over. They beat the Pistons, and the Pistons were so sore about it, they walked off the court without even shaking hands with the Bulls and Jordan. I know Isiah Thomas was blamed for this, and he and Jordan have their own history, but I am sure Bill Laimbeer was a big advocate. He was the biggest punk of a team that was filled with some wild dudes. Laimbeer was a fine player, but on that team, he was like the 7th or 8th most important person. Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Rick Mahorn, Chuck Daly, they were all much more influential and held much more weight than Laimbeer. Laimbeer was a role guy on a very good team. Jordan was the face of the league for decade. Once they figured out the Pistons, it was a wrap for anyone else. And Jordan took that mantle and never let it go. He didn't have to team up with guys in their prime back then. Sure, Scottie Pippen was his teammate, but the Bulls drafted him. Jordan never asked to play with Barkley or Bird or Magic or Olajuwon. He wanted to beat those guys, and he did. He also made guys like Steve Kerr, BJ Armstrong, Luc Longley, Ron Harper and Bill Wennington household names. He also loathed and wanted to beat everyone. He is the prototype psychopath that has one thing on his mind, and it is beating the man in front of him. Be it practice, a game or a title, Jordan would find a way to beat you. And after he beat you, he would humiliate you. When Karl Malone beat him for MVP one year, Jordan went out and lit his ass up in the Finals. When people thought Clyde Drexler may have been better, Jordan destroyed him and the Blazers in the playoffs. He left no question about who was the best.

This is one of the first times I have ever seen a player from the older generation not take Jordan's side. But, coming from someone like Bill Laimbeer, I shouldn't be surprised. He is bitter and angry and just wants to say some dumb shit so people like myself will keep his name out there. This is a dumb take. I almost feel like he is applying to work at The Ringer with stupid ass hot takes like this. Oh well. Jordan is the GOAT, and there is no denying it. 

Ty

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

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A Few Thoughts on Rudy Gobert's NBA Future

Even though there is currently no basketball, and if I'm being honest, I do not think it is coming back this year, I do have a few stories about basketball for you all the next couple of days. The one I want to focus on today is the rumors, which I fully believe, that are flying around right now about the fractured relationship between Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.

So, all of the basketball world, and most of the rest of the world for that matter, can pinpoint the Gobert incident as the starting point of shutting down sports across America. Gobert was infected, he acted nonchalant, he infected his teammate and the NBA was suspended immediately. They actually suspended it right after he was confirmed to have COVID-19 that night. For the rest of time, Gobert's name will be infamous with who was the catalyst for major pro sports leagues to shut everything down. That is a fact. And the way he treated the situation at first was wrong on every single level. To be on the court for warm ups was wrong, to touch all the microphones during his interview was wrong, to toy and mess around with teammates was wrong. The fact that he went out and thought it was okay to conduct himself in the manner he did was foolish, arrogant and, quite frankly, life threatening. With all that being said, he has tried to make up for his mistakes. He has donated a good amount of money to research. He has, I believe, let his blood get tested. He has adhered to all the guidelines since his infection. He has gone on in interviews and apologized for his actions and has said he is trying to reignite his relationship with his teammates, specifically Mitchell. But, if I were Mitchell, I would be very wary of him. I fully understand why he is pissed off, why he doesn't, or is hesitant, to try and repair their relationship. It all makes sense from Mitchell's stand point. Also, he is much more important to the Jazz franchise than Gobert is, full stop.

Which leads me to my point today. With all these rumors swirling, talk of trading Gobert, or Mitchell for that matter, but more so Gobert, have heated up big time. I get it, and it makes sense. The only real problem is the contract stuff. Gobert makes a ton of money, and he isn't a free agent until 2022. So the team that takes him on, if he gets traded, has to pay him a lot, and may not get him back.

With that being said, I have been racking my brain thinking of a team where Gobert would fit. Before I fully get into it, I am not going to match the money or contract or anything like that. I am just going to go off what I think fits, and where I think it would be best for him to repair his reputation. Therein lies another problem with this. Gobert may not be wanted by a good amount of teams. His actions were rough, and players and coaches and GM's everywhere saw that. That will forever be on their minds. So taking all of that in account I thought of two teams that would fit, that can compete and where he would make sense and the Jazz could get a solid return.

The first team is Boston. In Boston they don't care if you murdered multiple people, they will still wear your jersey and say you are innocent if you bring them titles. He could go there, play his suffocating rim protecting defense and help the Celtics become instant title contenders. The only thing they are really missing is a true rim protector. They don't have a guy that can do that at as high a level right now, and they wouldn't have to give up much of their super young, super talented wing guys. Mitchell is already a great wing player, so Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they could stay in Boston. In actuality I feel like the Celtics wouldn't have to give up much. They would have to part with picks for sure, and of they had to send a few players over there, they could send a guy like Semi Ojeleye or Robert Williams, or a return of Gordon Hayward to Utah. That is who actually makes the most sense to me. Boston could give Utah Hayward because the contracts are similar in money and time, and they would have to send picks, which I think they would do quick to get a guy like Gobert. And if he instantly turns them into a contender, the fans and players and coaches in Boston would easily forget about what he did.

As for the other team, the one I think makes almost too much sense, is the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio is quiet, they have their own culture and they protect their players. People didn't blame San Antonio when Kawhi wanted out, they blamed Kawhi's uncle. They have helped a guy like Rudy Gay restore his career. It's not like he had a rough career, he was always looked at as a guy teams were better without. That is not the case now. Nobody ever talks about Tony Parker cheating on his wife while in the league. I fully believe that San Antonio protected him, kept him out of the news and media buildings and made sure he never brought it up. San Antonio is like the New England Patriots of the NBA. If you can't restore yourself there, that means you are done. I feel like Gobert could land there and be totally out of the news, which would be the absolute best thing for him. They would have to trade some young assets, maybe a guy like Bynn Forbes or Dejounte Murray or Lonnie Walker. But I feel like the Spurs would be okay with letting one or 2 of those guys go to clear up playing time for whoever they keep. If they give up Forbes and Walker, that leaves Murray to run point. If they have to give up Murray. Forbes can return to a bench role and Walker can finally get his shine. They would make it work. And before I hear the backlash of having too many big contract guys, LMA, DeMar DeRozan and Gobert, they wouldn't be on the books for too long. LMA has a few years left, but DeRozan is a free agent this off season and Gobert would be off the books the next year. It also works for me because Greg Poppovich is not going to coach much longer. He only has a few seasons left, and getting a front court duo of Gobert and LMA could work. They are both big. LMA can score and rebound with some of the better bigs in the league. Gobert is the rim protector and rim runner that could work with Murray or Walker, whichever one they keep. The team is also filled with vets that could help take the heat off Gobert. It would also put this team back in the playoff picture. They could slow down some other teams that have bigger guys that crush them now.

Time will tell with this, but if I were the Jazz, and I wanted to rid myself of this whole thing, these are the 2 teams I would call first to test the waters. We will see. 

Ty

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

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Ty Watches "The Scheme"

A week or so back HBO had a sports documentary on called "The Scheme". I wanted to watch it, forgotten about it and then remembered that we have On Demand, and that HBO replays stuff all the time. I found it, recorded it and finished it yesterday, and I loved it. Let’s discuss

"The Scheme" follows the embarrassing FBI investigation into Christian Dawkins relationship with high school basketball stars and whether or not he gave coaches money as well as players. I fully believe, and this doc furthers that belief, that Dawkins did not deal with coaches. He was friendly with them, and he talked to assistants, but he did not do anything that most people do, or do not do, when they deal with major head coaches dealing with big time shoe deals. It started with Sonny Vaccaro, and it is still going real, real strong today. In fact, my team Michigan, lost out on two big time recruits last night and today, and after watching "The Scheme", I am curious as to why one kid decided to go play pro overseas, although that actually makes sense because the kid can get paid to play right now, and the other kid chose Arizona State, which I believe is an Adidas school, over Michigan, which is Jordan Brand. I wonder if any of that went into their decisions.

Anyway, I found "The Scheme" to be very well made, but extremely eye opening. I have been on both sides of paying college athletes. When I was younger, thought that a scholarship was more than enough. Then I grew up and realized that was asinine, and that some kids bring in millions to the schools they go to. If a coach can make money hand over fist, and they can pay their assistants a million plus a year, why can't the kids, who bring in the majority of the money, get anything? Why are they treated like indentured servants? Why can't they make choices to further themselves and their families? Why can't they get something more?

As for the show, "The Scheme" introduces us to Christian Dawkins, who's name I didn't know until two years ago, and he seems to have the same questions. He was a player that was okay, good enough to play varsity at a very good high school as a sophomore, but he didn't have the tools to go all the way. He decided then that he was going to be in the business of rated and ranking and getting high school kids into good college basketball programs. He started a blog at first that blew up. He then started to meet people. He got a shoe deal for an AAU team when he was 17 years old. He made moves because of his relationship with other high school players. He knew his crowd, he knew how to market them and he ran with it. He went so far as to join an agency as a "runner". They called him an "agent", but what he did was get high profile players for the agency he worked for to sign with them. He then would find the next kid. He got guys like Malachi Richardson and Elfird Payton, former high first round picks. He then made a mistake, what they called "Uber Gate", and spent way too much of those guys money, he says by mistake, on Uber rides. He was fired from the agency, and that was when he decided to start his own business. This was also when the FBI got involved. There was so much stuff that went into this investigation, this pointless investigation, that it needs to be made into a live action movie. The FBI had two agents pose as money people to try and get Dawkins to get coaches involved. They had another agent type guy, Marty Blazer, working for them as well. They had phones tapped. They had fraud. They used the FBI's money to try and further their case. They tried to film Dawkins doing illicit things with coaches. They tried it all really. And Dawkins is no saint, more on that in a minute. But, the FBI flubbed this thing big time. They kept trying and pushing for Dawkins to get big name coaches involved. Coaches like Sean Miller, Will Wade and Rick Pitino. They wanted to take them all down. But, Dawkins kept insisting that he doesn't deal with head coaches. He dealt with assistants, and more importantly, players. He would tell the FBI informant, or try to explain during phone calls, how absurd it would be to get head coaches involved. He kept telling him it was easier, and quieter to deal with players and assistants. The FBI paid no mind to that, and they tried to take Dawkins down a bit too early. They tried to catch him in the act in Vegas, and while they may have been able to bring up some charges, they didn't do the damage they hoped. I, like a lot of people, thought that this was going to be the death of some major schools, but it really wasn't. Sean Miller is still at Arizona. Kansas was the favorite to win the title. Will Wade still has a job. Creighton was a top 25 team this year. The only person who got hit by this, besides Dawkins, was Rick Pitino, and he is already back in the college game, after one year coaching overseas.

"The Scheme" only made me further despise the NCAA and all their cronies. The fact that they wasted tax payer's money and time is crazy. The fact that they acted all high and mighty, and basically did nothing to the people who should have gotten in trouble, Will Wade and Sean Miller mostly, is ridiculous. The fact that Dawkins had to spend tons of time in court, and a year and a day in jail, is utterly insane. Yes, what he did was immoral and wrong and is against NCAA rules, he did nothing that hundreds and hundreds of people before him have done. Every major school has a guy like Dawkins working for them. I'm 100 percent positive coaches like Coach K and John Calipari and Miller and Wade and Bill Self all have guys like Dawkins, or ties to Dawkins. That is the cost of winning and recruiting at the level they continue to recruit.

I really enjoyed this doc, I highly recommend sports fans watch it and I one hundred percent believe that Dawkins is not the bad guy, and he didn't do anything that a bunch of other people are doing or did. Dawkins said it best when they neared the end when he was asked what he has to say to the NCAA, and he said, "F&*k the NCAA". I couldn't have said it better myself. 

Ty

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

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Let's Talk About the Average "The Tiger King and I"

For those of us that wanted more "Tiger King", we got it yesterday. They had a reunion show, of sorts, and it was interesting. Joel McHale hosted the show from his home, as we are on quarantine right now, and he had, I believe, seven guests. They included Exotic's former workers, Saff, the drunk dude and the guy with two fake legs. There was also Jeff Lowe and his wife, one of Joe's ex husbands, John, Exotic's campaign manager and Rick Kirkham, the "Inside Edition" guy.

The "reunion" was kind of a let down, at least for me. I was expecting something as wild as the show, and maybe that is on me. The show was so wild and bizarre and intriguing and insane, I just naturally assumed the reunion would have some of that flair. It did not. It was really more of a, "lets all shit on Joe Exotic for 40 minutes", and skirt around some of the problems that some of the other guests may have had, or still have. Now, that could be on Netflix. Maybe they wouldn't have been able to get the guests unless they were portrayed as fine people. As for the dumping all over Exotic, well, I should have expected that as well. In fact, the only people that didn't take this time to dunk on him were Saff and his former campaign manager. Now, they didn't really side with him either, but they didn't crush him either. They agreed that what he did was wrong, because it was super wrong, but they also acknowledged that almost everyone was doing something wrong. They knew the bad things that Exotic did to some of the animals, but they also knew that Lowe is a bad dude, and people will feed into anything as long as it is put out the way Netflix did with "Tiger King".

I also want to point out how disappointed I was that McHale didn't really bring up any of Lowe's legal troubles while interviewing him and his wife. He decided to mock his clothing, which was funny, but he really let Lowe destroy Exotic and blame every little thing on everyone else. I felt that McHale could have went in hard on him, but he, or Netflix maybe, kind of handcuffed any real questions that could have, or should have, been asked. I was stunned at how much the former alcoholic guy went in on Exotic. He seems to really hate him, and while he was pretty quiet on the show, until the trial, he let loose in this special. He said good riddance and said he is sure Exotic will die in jail. He also went on some wild rant about how he has never done meth, how he loves Jesus and that his teeth are haggard because he is old and a former alcoholic. It was the weirdest thing in this. The guy with two fake legs seems to just want to live as regular a life as he can. He has a girlfriend, got his teeth fixed and is doing stuff with cars. He wants to move on. The former husband feels the same for me. He has stopped with the drugs, he has a kid, he has dentures and he looks to be on the path of clean living. As for Kirkham, that dude is just full of shit all over the place. I don't get what he is after and what he expects. He lives in Norway now, and man did he dunk all over Exotic whenever he got the chance. It felt like he was saying a whole bunch of stuff so the attention would be off him and on anyone else.

Which brings me to a few final points. One, I don't know who to believe in any of this. I don't know if Exotic is telling the truth, or parts of the truth, or if the people interviewed, minus Lowe, are telling whole truths. They all seem like they are skirting around the main issue. As for Exotic, he is in jail, where he belongs right now, and he will never really know his "fame" at this moment. But, I don't think people should be wishing death on him or anything. He is a dude that dug himself a pretty big hole, and unfortunately for him, it kept getting deeper with no way out. And I also get why he couldn't be on to defend himself. As for Carol Baskin, I knew she wouldn't show up because she is a coward who knows she did something very wrong. She could have tried to defend herself, but her silence spoke volumes to me.

This special was fine, but it could have been much, much better in my opinion. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty Plays NB2K 20

During this quarantine/self isolation period I have done a number of new and old things. I clean more than usual, but I feel like I was on the precipice of doing that anyway. I have wanted to keep a cleaner house for awhile now. I exercise more, but I am doing different things. I'm not just running and playing basketball. I am still running, but I cannot play real basketball because all gyms are closed, as they should be. I am now running, doing HIIT workouts, riding my recumbent bike, going on walks with my kids and dogs everyday and I just recently started to do some yoga, which has been amazing. I'm also still writing, obviously, but I am stretching my ideas. I'm not just simply writing about sports 85 to 90 percent of the time. I love writing about sports, but without them, there is many other things to read, watch and find out. I've also taken on more of the cooking in the house. Once a week I make chicken wings, another day I will make some kind of fajitas, and not that it is warmer out, I have begun to grill again.

One thing that I haven't done in a long time, that i just started to pick back up last week, is playing video games. My kids are older now that I can get them set up on online school projects, or they go to bed at 8 every night, and I have some free time to play video games now, if I am not watching a movie or show with my wife. We have recently played Mario Kart and Party, Animal Crossing is a big deal, so is Minecraft. I have also reverted to playing the last made college football game on my Xbox 1 when I ride the recumbent bike. But, right when this all started, I bought two new games on our Switch.

I bought, and immediately played RBI Baseball, and let me tell you, it is not as easy as the original version for Nintendo was. I still hammer away at it from time to time, but I have to admit, I do get very frustrated at that game. The other game I bought online was NBA2K20. I needed to buy a SIM card so we could download it fully, and that took some time because it was an Amazon purchase, and SIM card are non essential, obviously. So, the card came about a week ago, and we fully downloaded the game.

I was dorking around on it the first night it worked, and it was fun. The next day, which was a Saturday, I really dug into the game. I started a career as a version of myself, and I loved it. There was this ridiculously melo dramatic movie attached to the story where your guy leaves his school right before the tournament because his coach is an asshole, and you have to navigate the draft, and all the stuff that comes with it, with this fake chip on your shoulder. It was hilarious, but also fun. My only gripe with this function, you can only control yourself. You don't get to force playing time, you have to sit and watch, it can be dull, and seem very long winded at times. Then I tried the create a team thing, but that had way too much reliance on other people playing the game online, and I am certain that the majority of those people playing are so much better at the game than I am. I played one game, got destroyed, and quickly abandoned that immediately.

So the other night I decided that I was just going to control my own team, the Grizzlies, let the computer generate rosters and play the, I think, 80 year dynasty that you can do. I have the time, I have the ability to control all my players, and I can play it at any level, I play on rookie for right now, that I want. And I love it. It is so cool. The graphics on the game are so realistic. My wife came out of the shower the other night and thought I was watching a classic game on ESPN. She said it looked so real. NBA2K is such a great, innovative video game, and I would have never even thought to buy it and play it unless something like a pandemic happened. I also love the music on the game. It is quality hip hop for the most part. It is also pretty easy to navigate and control. It also kind of scratches the itch that I am missing right now. I can sit down and get lost in the game for hours. I played it the other night for about 90 minutes, and I won every game I played by 20 plus points. I drafted Coby White with my first round pick, Morant was already off the board, and he is crushing it lately.

I just wanted to sing the praises for NBA2K today. The game is so cool, so fun and, if you are really missing sports like me right now, it helps. I promise. NBA2K is a great video game, that I believe is on any console, and I highly recommend buying it if you have the funds, and are looking for a great sports game. It rules. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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I'm All in for a Professional Game of HORSE

We are now over a month without sports, and I know a good amount of people are trying to figure something out right now. I read that baseball is looking into playing, at least the first part of the season, all their games in Arizona, or at minor league parks. The NFL and college football is hoping they can start practices in July or August, which is a big time hope. And the NBA seems to be doing anything and everything they can to try and at least have some kind of playoff or tournament.

Personally, I think all these leagues should be extra, extra cautious, and only play when it’s 100 percent safe. But, and I want to give Adam Silver and the people that work for him a ton of credit, they’re doing everything they can to keep people interested, reading and trying to watch something. They did that thing a week ago where they had NBA players play each other in NBA2K, and it was fun. Hell, I would’ve watched anything at that point, but it definitely scratched an itch. I saw these guys “competing”. I saw them trash talking. I saw them trying their best to win. I saw the competitive nature that I have been really craving and really missing. And now the NBA has this wonderful idea, that is going to happen, where they’re going to have current players, WNBA players and former players play each other in a tournament version of the game HORSE.

For those that may not know, HORSE is a game where one person makes a shot, and the person after them has to make the shot, or they get a letter. The first person to get HORSE loses the game. The winner is the person with less letters. This is a game that I’ve played ever since I picked up a ball. I’ve done it with friends, during practice, at basketball camps, anywhere there’s a hoop, and we want to get some trick shots up, we played HORSE. So, the fact that former and current professional basketball players are going to do this tournament style, and they’re going to air it, you better believe I’m going to watch it, and I’m going to LOVE it. I’m not sure about all the participants, but I know guys like Trae Young, Chris Paul and Zach Lavine are going to do it. Imagine how insane some of these shots are going to be! It’s going to be crazy. These guys have dedicated their lives to basketball, and practice their craft endlessly. I’ve seen a ton of videos, and live at games, NBA players, not well known players, who make ridiculously hard shots. Shots that would take me hundreds of tries to even get close to making. CP3 is going to do some wild mid range stuff. Trae Young may pull up from 3/4 court regularly. Zach Lavine has turned into a solid shooter, but he’s such a phenomenal leaper, I’d love to see him do some wild 360 layups, or jump from the free throw line and do a reverse layup or something. All the other participants are pros as well, so you know they’re going to bring it. I also think, with the lack of games and competition, that the players involved are going to take it very seriously, and I love it. It was great to watch the All Star game ending because it mattered. I feel like this game of HORSE is going to bring out a similar intensity. I’m not sure how it will be done, if the people involved are quarantined together, or if they’re going to do it from their home gyms or something. But, I have to assume the powers that be have that all figured out, and this is going to kick so much ass.

I never thought in a million years I’d be excited to watch a game of HORSE, but that’s the world we live in for the moment. This is so awesome. Thank you NBA for this. This makes me love this league more than I thought possible. I’m so stoked.

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty Watches "Miracle Workers" Season 2

Yesterday I finished season two of “Miracle Workers”. I really enjoyed the first season, but didn’t know if they’d do another one. I thought it was going to be one season and out. Then it was rumored that they were going to do an anthology type thing, with the same actors playing different characters in different stories. I loved this idea. When I found out they were going to do a dark ages season, I was even more on board. I enjoy reading about that time, and throw in the fact that Simon Rich was going to put his spin on it, this was a home run for me.

This season two experiment did not disappoint. As I said, they brought back all the main people, Daniel Radcliffe, Steve Buscemi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Karan Soni and Lolly Adefope. But this time around they had different roles. Buscemi and Viswanathan were father and daughter, and Jon Bass, who had a smaller role in season one, was the son. Buscemi was a hard working guy who was just happy to be alive and have healthy children. He was great. Bass was a dolt and a dummy, but he was also super nice and really loved his family. Viswanathan was the smartest person in the town, a hard working idealist they wanted bigger and better things. She was so good in this part of the anthology. She was great in season one, but she excelled as the star of season two. She had the funniest moments of the season, she had the most growth, she revealed the most, she crushed it. I was so impressed by her performance. Adefope, who was quietly amazing in season one, was great here as well. She had a bigger role this time around too. I really enjoyed her stuff with the convent, and his into it she got. She was fun, grounded and kept a level head. Radcliffe was great, as usual, as the black sheep prince of his royal family. He was all about love, affection and helping others. His family was filled with murderous tyrants, his dad, the king, played by Peter Serafinowicz expertly, was the most vicious of all. But Radcliffe was just different. He wanted what was best for the town, the people and, mainly, Viswanathan’s character. Their scenes together were so sweet, even when they fought. Karan Soni was solid, like he always is, as the Lord who works for Radcliffe’s family. He was funny, dry and quick witted. The episode where he goes to trial to help out a goat is hilarious. He truly owns that whole episode. He also had a heart of gold, and was rewarded greatly in the season finale. As for the other actors, they did great in their small roles.

What I liked most about this part of the anthology was how they joked about the dark ages. Be it war, religion, money, entertainment, it was all done so well. To open a series with a live execution, and to play it for laughs, I mean, it was perfect. The stuff with school, and how it was so ridiculous, simply hilarious. The “concerts” and live entertainment was downright absurd, and I loved it. The way they represented class was also done so well. I love this series, and I want it to stick around.

I’m a humongous fan of Simon Rich as well. He did some great stuff while writing for “SNL”. I am one of the biggest fans of “Man Seeking Woman”. And now he has “Miracle Workers”. This one seems like it has the most staying power simply because Radcliffe is attached. But everyone else is fantastic that is involved with this show. I cannot recommend it enough. Watch this show so TBS will continue to let them make more and more. It is so good.

Ty

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

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Three Legendary Players Heading to the Basketball Hall of Fame

This year's NBA Hall of Fame class is superb. There are many big time names, both in the men's and women's game, and some all time great coaches and player personnel people. But I want to focus on three guys going in that made a humongous impact on the game, and on me, as I was really getting into the game.

This year we will see Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett inducted. That is some otherworldly basketball talent going in. All three are champions. All three have won MVP awards. All three were always in the all star game. All three were leaders of their teams. All three were lottery picks. Two of them even stayed on the same team their entire career, which is unheard of nowadays. And I bet KG would have stayed in Minnesota, if they were a better run franchise. These three also left an indelible mark on me as a fan. I love KG. He is one of my all time favorite players. Tim Duncan was a quiet super star, who was all about team and fundamentals. And Kobe, he was the guy I loved to hate. The one I rooted against. They all had pivotal roles to me, as I was growing up as a player and a fan.

What else is there that can be said about Kobe Bryant. We lost him much too soon. His death is a true tragedy. He seemed like he was finally happy. And then in a flash, and I still sometimes cannot believe it, he was gone. But as a player, man did I dislike him. There is no denying his skill, his will to win, his killer mentality, his ability to make scrubs important, but I rooted like hell against him. And you need that villain as a fan. And Kobe was more than up to the that task. He embraced his villainy on the court. It drove him. It made him the great, Hall of Fame player he was. He was a scoring machine. He would put up tons and tons of shots, and he would score tons and tons of points. Sure, he excelled when he played with guys like Shaq and Paul Gasol, but he also had teammates like Tyronn Lue, Smush Parker and Kwame Brown, and he pushed those guys with him to conference finals. He is, without a doubt, one of the greatest offensive players to ever play in the NBA. He is imitated and loved by so many modern super star, and non super star, players. He is some younger kids version of Jordan, or Magic or Bird or Russell. He is that dude. He is so polarizing as a player, but one thing you cannot fight, he is a well deserved first ballot Hall of Fame player. He would've been inducted no matter what happened. It is just so tragic that he lost his life before he could see this come to fruition.

As with Duncan, I cannot think of a player that was so, so, so great, yet so unmentioned and barely talked about when greatest players conversations start. Duncan was a modern day Bill Russell. The only thing he didn't do that Russell did was block shots, but he made up for that by being a 20 plus point per game guy his whole career. Duncan also did what was best for the team. When they needed him to score, he scored at will. When they needed him to rebound, he would go grab 20. When they needed him to shut down the other team's big man, he was more than up to the task. I cannot think of a better player-coach duo than Duncan and Greg Poppovich. Those two were meant for each other, and it worked out to perfection. I personally think that Duncan is the best big man of all time. The way he could manipulate with moves reminded me of Olajuwon. The way he could back guys down, it was like if Shaq had a finesse game. The way he hit the mod range jumper, always using the backboard, a shot I have tried to perfect for years, it was like watching a taller Jerry West or Larry Bird. Duncan kind of did it all, and did it at an extremely high level. He was the reason why David Robinson won a title. He helped nurture guys like Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli and Kwahi Leonard. He was the leader of these players, all of which I expect to be in the Hall of Fame. I feel like he gets unfairly compared to a player like Karl Malone because of position. Tim Duncan was so much better as a player, and there is no question that he was a much better clutch player. Duncan walked away with five rings, multiple MVP's, both regular season and playoffs, and I personally think he is the greatest power forward to ever play in the NBA. He was a wonder to watch. He played basketball the right way, and the kids I train now, the big men, I implore them to watch Tim Duncan highlights because he was so fundamentally sound and so incredible.

And then we have my dude, Kevin Garnett. There are only two NBA players I like more than KG, and they are Shawn Kemp, I had never seen an athlete like him before, and Charles Barkley, an under sized big that rebounded and dunked and could shoot. But KG holds a very special place in my heart. He was the first high school to pro player that I wanted to achieve. He was this scrawny kid coming out of South Carolina I believe, and I rooted hard for him. Maybe it was because he had said he was considering Michigan as a college, or maybe it was his story coming out of high school, but I wanted him to succeed. I think taking that year to go to Chicago to play at the legendary Farragaut Academy was one of the best things he had ever done, to prepare for the pros. Then when he came in the league, like I said, he was scrawny, but he had this energy that was so intoxicating as a fan, and I bet his teammates loved it. I bet they fed on it. He needed to hone his game, and during his time in Minnesota, he became this chiseled go getter who never stopped hustling. He out rebounded, out ran, out hustled, out trash talked and just flat out beat dudes that were supposed to be guarding him, or trying to at least. Then when he developed that jumper, it was over for opponents. He was a nearly perfect player. He took the Timberwolves further than they have ever been in the playoffs. When he realized that they wouldn't do much to help him, he knew it was time to get out, and he headed to Boston to play with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, forming the first "super team", and they won the Finals that year, KG's only ring. And he was the unquestioned leader. I'm sure Boston fans will say Pierce was, but that team went as KG went. It was also pretty neat to see the Celtics beat the Lakers in that Finals. KG also did the impossible for me as a fan, making me root for a team from Boston. I didn't like the Celtics, but I LOVED KG. So I rooted for them in that particular NBA Finals. He went on to play for Brooklyn for a few seasons, then helped out big men in Minnesota for awhile, and now has his own TV show, which is awesome. But it was his time in Minnesota and his title in Boston that really solidified his Hall of Fame resume. KG is one of the most intense, fierce competitors that the NBA has ever seen. He could have played in any era and he would have been equally successful.

Kobe, Duncan, and KG, these are three of the greatest players to ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This is what real Hall of Fame talent looks like. This may be the best class, and these three in particular, three of the best players ever inducted. This is an insane amount of talent, and it is very, very well deserved. Kudos to these three on a much deserved nod to the Hall of Fame.

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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Better Late than Never on "Booksmart"

Continuing with movies I wanted to see, and didn't have the time or will to go see them in the theater, my wife and I sat down on Saturday night, our self isolation/quarantine date night now, and we watched "Booksmart".

I had heard a ton, a ton of good things about the movie. People I read, and who's opinions I trust, said glowing things about the movie. And I wanted to go out and see it in the theaters. But, for whatever reason, or reasons, we just couldn't find the time. I had forgotten about the movie, but I just recently finished "Movies (And Other Things)", and there is a tremendous chapter about the greatness of this movie. This reinvigorated my interest. We were then looking for a movie to watch, and I saw it on Hulu.

We watched it, and man, this movie was more than worth the hype. It not only lived up to it, for me, it surpassed it. I know a lot of people have compared it to "Superbad", and that is fair, but "Booksmart" is a movie all on its own. It has its own story and characters and direction and the way everything unfolds. While it shares a similar plot to "Superbad", two high school seniors trying to party before graduation, "Booksmart" stands apart.

First off, the two leads, Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, have an tremendous chemistry. Jonah Hill, who is Feldstein's brother by the way, and Michael Cera had great chemistry, but not like these two. The way they interacted with one another was perfection. My wife and I both loved the scenes where they talked each other up after they got dressed to go to the party. Those two scenes were perfection. The way they went on, and the fact that Olivia Wilde just let them go on, was great. They would constantly compliment one another until it was almost too much. But, it never got to the feeling of too much. It was just right. Also, I truly believed that these two were best friends. I read somewhere that they roomed together for ten weeks or something, and that helped build a bond that totally shows up on screen. All the stuff, the dancing, the stresses to getting to the party, the ridiculous stuff that kids have to deal with in high school, the crushes, even the way they left, it all felt so real. I thought back to when I was in high school, and their relationship reminded me of some I had in high school with some of my closest friends. But, they seemed closer. Feldstein was dynamite in this movie too. She was the overachieving, laser focused, top student in school. But, she was also hilarious, took no shit and held her own. Dever played her best friend who is all about protesting, human rights, equality for all, but is also very, very scared to take any real big chances. For example, she has to be pushed to hit on the girl she has a crush on. She is terrified to do it, and when pushed, she finally does, but it does not go well. But, Feldstein does push a little too much, and when she goes past the limit, they have a humongous fight, and I loved the way this scene was shot. They start to argue, we hear them at first, but then it goes silent. They are still arguing, but Wilde pans the room, and all the kids are watching, with their phones on and recording, and you can tell it is over when Feldstein finally mouths, "F You". It was awesome, and kind of powerful in its own way.

Feldstein and Dever clearly make the movie, but everyone else in it was great. Will Forte and Lisa Kudrow as Dever's folks, they were wonderful. So polite and giving and supportive. Skyler Gisondo, as one of their classmates, was sweet and unassuming and dorky in his own way, but thought he was cool. That kid is about to blow up. Billie Lourd was hilarious, and one of the true standouts of the movie. She just showed up everywhere, gave the girls drugs without their knowledge, seemed to have a screw loose, but was just outstanding. She stole the scenes she was in. The rest of the high school kids were perfectly cast. It all worked. As far as the faculty, they focused on two people, the principal, played by Jason Sudeikis, and a teacher, played by Jessica Williams, and they ruled. Sudeikis clearly hated his job, and had a second job as a Lyft driver, which resulted in a fantastically hilarious scene. Williams was the teacher that the two girls loved, and she totally pulled off the cool teacher vibes. She was great. Even someone like Mike O'Brien, in a very small role, was memorable, especially near the end. But when it comes down to it, Feldstein and Dever totally owned this movie. They were so fantastic. I cannot get over how funny and how real everything they did felt.

This is a movie I should have seen much, much sooner. But, I am glad that I have watched it, and now I can sing its praises. Check out "Booksmart". It is one of the better comedies to come out in a long, long time.

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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