My Adventure on Mackinac Island

The last part of our summer vacation found us in Mackinac Island. I want to spend the next two days talking about my time there. I had never been there before. I have been to the UP of Michigan a bunch, that was where we vacationed when I was a kid, but I had never been to the Mackinac side before. I was curious to see what it was like. In all seriousness, it looks like the rest of the UP. There are little shops, some motels, pasty shops and gas stations as far as the eye can see. But Mackinac is different. This is a fully different spot to visit.

To get to Mackinac you have to take a ferry to get there. I've only ever been on a ferry one other time in my life and it was to go to a restaurant in Illinois. It was a five minute ride across a tiny lake. Not much to write home about. This ferry ride though, this was where it was at. The ferry boat was humongous. It had two levels. There was an open spot on the top and an indoor area on the lower deck. It was rad. The day we got there it was raining and cold, so we sat in the lower deck. It was pretty cool. They kept a window open so you could feel the breeze from the lake. Also, the lake was enormous. The ferry ride was about 15-20 minutes long and it was very relaxing. I was sitting there looking out my window and just watched the ferry cruise along the lake. It was great. My daughter also had a very good time checking it out. She loved it more than any of us I think.

When you get to Mackinac it could be a total mess of people. But they know how to handle crowds and people getting on and off ferry boats left and right. I was impressed by how they managed the crowd. We were told where to go, where our resort was and how to get there, either by foot or by carriage. That is another thing about Mackinac, there are no cars on the island. They are not allowed. To get around you have to walk, take a carriage, run or ride bikes. Bikes seem to be the most popular mode of transportation on the island. More on that tomorrow.

When you finally settle and get out, Mackinac is like a tourist dream. There are kitchy shops as far as the eye can see. There are way, way too many fudge shops, but that is just maybe in my head since I don't like fudge. Also, Mackinac is kind of known for their fudge. I will say that my wife and kids have loved every bit of fudge they have had since we got home. There are also Adirondack chairs everywhere on the island. Each morning we would have breakfast sitting on an Adirondack chair and looking at the lake. Again, it was relaxing. I loved having my iced coffee and sitting on the lake with my fam. It was exactly what I like to do when I am on vacation. The restaurants were solid, and you could sit outside at any of the spots. It was also perfect weather every single day. The temperature never got above 75, there was hardly any humidity, and when the sun went down it was cool enough to wear sleeves. It was the best. The resorts were also very cool and comfortable. I have zero complaints about where we stayed other than everything is made for people under six feet tall, but that is just fine. I just had to duck down, which I do a lot already.

Mackinac Island is a very cool, very touristy and very fun place to visit. I'm so glad that I finally went. I will definitely go into more detail about the stuff I did tomorrow, but I just wanted to lay a baseline for how cool Mackinac is when you arrive. It was a blast. I cannot wait to go back.

Ty

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

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Adventures in Ann Arbor

After leaving Indianapolis we made our way to Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is no secret that I am a big time Wolverines fan. That is my squad. That is the only non-family thing that I actually love. So going to Ann Arbor is a pilgrimage for me if you will. I went a few years back, pre COVID, for a football game. That ruled. We also took my son there in 2019 during his Spring Break for a day trip while in Holland, Michigan. Ann Arbor is a great place to visit. It is a cool college town with like minded people. We all cheer for the Wolverines. The mood is more liberal there too, which is perfect for me.

One of the best things to do while in Ann Arbor is going to Zingermann's Deli. It is my favorite sandwich shop in the country. There is no better spot for a sandwich that I have found, anywhere in the country. The sandwiches are big, they are flavorful, they are worth the cost and they are simply perfect. I had their traditional Rueben. It comes with pastrami, cole slaw, swiss cheese and is on rye bread. It is as straightforward as they come and it is so, so delicious. I inhaled my lunch that day. I couldn't get enough of it. My wife had a Georgia Rueben, which had the same ingredients but they substitute the pastrami with turkey. She let me try some and it was very, very good. I enjoyed it quite a bit. My son had a sandwich that had roasted chicken and bbq sauce on it and that was great. Hell, my daughter's grilled cheese on rye was tasty. The whole place is simply the best. My wife and I each got a pickle, one that stated it had "extra garlic" in it. It was phenomenal. I couldn't get enough of it. I loved each bite. My daughter had real applesauce that even had a light red hue to it. It was fresh and delicious. I liked it quite a bit. Zingermann's Deli is a must stop when going to Ann Arbor.

After lunch we did some sightseeing. I took my son to the M Den to do some shopping. He was amazed at the amount of basketball jerseys they had. He was in heaven. He searched and searched and finally settled on an old school Juwan Howard jersey. It was dope. My daughter got some pom poms. My dad got a sticker and I settled on a lanyard. It is so awesome to walk into a store that is filled with the gear of your favorite team. It makes shopping fun. We had a good time at the M Den.

We walked downtown for a bit, but my wife, son, daughter and mom were getting tired so they headed back to the hotel. My dad and I had other intentions. We made our trip to the football stadium. I cannot go to Ann Arbor without going to Michigan Stadium, or The Big House. It is my church, if I believed in that stuff. It is my main reason, and thing I want to do when visiting Ann Arbor. My dad and I drove around the whole stadium and snapped a ton of pictures, or as my wife and mom said, too many. I love seeing the humongous block M everywhere. There is awesome Michigan artwork everywhere outside the stadium. The Crisler Center, where the Wolverines play basketball, is attached to Michigan Stadium. The player development center is right there too. But there is nothing like going to the very front of the stadium. You get to see the biggest block M. The entrance to the stadium is immaculate. The big screen in front has flashing images of all the different sports. You can read the fight song on one of the pillars inside the stadium. It is the absolute best. This was where I felt the most like a tourist and it was incredible. I simply cannot recommend The Big House enough.

Ann Arbor is pretty cool town. It is a must visit spot. It is one of the greatest places in the country without a doubt.

Ty

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

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The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is a Must Visit

Hello all. I'm back from my vacation. It was great. It was relaxing and fun and I saw a ton of cool stuff and I'm going to spend the next four days going over some of the cool stuff I saw while I was gone.

I want to start with the first stop of the trip, Indianapolis. We spent a day and a half there. I had never spent any extended time in Indy. I always drove through or stopped for one night in a hotel. I never did any sightseeing or touristy stuff. This time we did. The Indianapolis Children's Museum was recommended to us by many people, including RD himself. I knew nothing of this spot. I did some research the night before we went and everything online made it sound like a perfect spot, especially for my kids. My son is ten, obsessed with sports and is very, very smart. My daughter is six, just as smart and loves pretty much any kind of toy that she can get her hands on. The Indianapolis Children's Museum was a perfect fit.

This place is four stories high full of all kinds of different activities that we all could partake in. Along with me, my wife and kids, my mom and dad came with us. We split up into two groups, boys and girls. Miles wanted to go with me and his papa, and Audrey wanted to have, in her words, "a ladies day". It was perfect. Miles, myself and my dad instantly made our way to the outside sports area. This was dope as hell. When you walk outside there are about a dozen different basketball hoops, ranging from five feet to ten feet. It was awesome. You could shoot, dunk and they even had shot clocks so you could get a quick one on one game in no time. Miles and I spent a good amount of time here. My dad also got some shots up. It was great. Right next to the hoops they had a football area. You could throw passes, kick field goals and run a "gauntlet". It was excellent. Not to be outdone there was a soccer field, a baseball diamond, a mini hockey rink, the biggest treehouse I have ever seen, a go kart racetrack and two mini golf courses. It was amazing. We were at the museum for about five hours and my three man crew spent about three and a half hours outside. It was truly wonderful.

My wife, daughter and mom all had a blast really checking out the exhibits at the museum. They went to an area that had a whole entire Greece exhibit. They made olive oil, rode a fake plane and saw some snacks. They went to the American Pop and Barbie exhibit. They were filled with so many toys I think my daughter's head was spinning. She got to make her own Barbie too. They saw a ton of artwork. They got to do some math and science experiments.

We all went to the dinosaur exhibit and that was truly amazing. I am a dinosaur fan so this was a big deal for me. They had some of the coolest rebuilt dinos. They had them in real life situations. They had a fossil digging spot. They had real fossils mixed in with the fake ones. They had dinos all the way from the floor to the wall. It was so dope. I didn't want to leave this spot, but my son kept begging to go outside and my daughter wanted to spend more time with her mimi.

We went back to go to the outdoor sports area, but we stopped to check out the stuff inside before going back out. There were a ton of cool paintings of athletes in motion. They had a pitching machine where you could pitch virtually. They had Lego Nascar's. They even had a TV where you could make your own sports segment on the news. Both my kids loved this. It was also hilarious. My son had a green t-shirt on, and since there was a green screen behind him, all you could see was his head and arms. It ruled.

Hell, even the food court had solid food. This place was so worth the price. I simply cannot recommend it enough. We had some rain during the day, but that did not stop us at all. We went and hooped in the rain. I raced my son on the go-kart in the rain. We mini golfed in the rain. And it didn't slow us down one bit. The Indianapolis Children's Museum is a must stop for anyone going to Indy. It was wonderful.

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 Current State of "Star Wars"

I am a big “Star Wars” fan. I am the right age to have experienced the original trilogy as a kid, the prequel trilogy as a cynical young adult, and the sequel trilogy as a father approaching middle age. I have seen all nine movies during their original theatrical runs, and I have watched every Disney + shows related to all things a galaxy far, far away. I guess what I’m saying is that I am a self proclaimed expert on “Star Wars” and I want to talk about my concerns of my favorite pop culture property.

The pre Disney days of Star Wars is filled with home runs and strikeouts. The originally trilogy, even Jedi, are all timeless classics. The Holiday Special is a special kind of crap that is a must see to believe. The Ewok adventure movies are unwatchable. The re-releases of the original movies are better than they are bad. Once the prequel trilogy came out, Star Wars was already a cultural juggernaut. I will address the prequels in another post, but the short story is that I do not hate them. The prequel era did lead to incredible Star Wars content with great video games and the “Clone Wars” and “Rebels” cartoon shows. I am going to forget about the “Clone Wars” movie as we should all forget that piece of Star Wars.

When Disney purchased Star Wars and announced plans for a sequel trilogy, I was very excited. My favorite pop culture property was in a good spot. I will discuss my thoughts on the sequel trilogy another time, spoiler - I hated The Rise of Skywalker. Along with the sequel trilogy we were give “Rogue One”, great, and “Solo”, better than it’s reputation. Many moviegoers seemed to be getting less and less excited for Star Wars in their movie theaters. Disney’s new cash cow looked to be drying up.

The launch of Disney + brought the first live action Star Wars show with “The Mandalorian” For over a year the public knew very little about this new Star Wars project. Once “The Mandalorian” premiered, and we all were introduced to Baby Yoda, Star Wars was back on top. Everyone loved “The Mandalorian”. The second season further cemented the new age of Star Wars. What seemed to not be working in the theaters, Disney had found a winning Star Wars formula on the small screen.

“The Mandalorian” was followed on Disney + with the last season of “The Clone Wars”, my favorite Star Wars thing ever, “The Bad Batch”, also awesome, “Visions”, go watch it now, and other small one off specials. We started to hear of new Star Wars movies being cancelled or delayed, and new Star Wars shows were being greenlit daily.

Speaking of the new shows, this year we have already seen two, “The Book of Boba Fett” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi”. This is where I am starting to ask questions about the future of Star Wars. Both shows I enjoyed, but I felt like they were both not really part of a larger Star Wars universe. I saw a meme when “Book of Boba Fett” was out that showed two kids playing with their Star Wars toys and it said “Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau writing the next Star Wars show”. It was cool, but also very true. “Book of Boba Fett” started with a story of redemption and then midway through it took a sharp turn into The Mandalorian and Baby Yoda are back show. It did end with Fett riding a Rancor so that was cool, but cool is not always good. “Obi-Wan Kenobi” seemed to go no where meaningful until the last two episodes. That last fight is awesome, but what were the five hours leading up to it for?

I know that I am being the typical comic book guy and complaining about something that has given me joy for years, but I am a big fan and want to see that fandom continue. I love G.I. Joe and am very sad that my son’s generation doesn’t even know what it is. Right now G.I. Joe only exists as a form of nostalgia, Star Wars looks to be going down that same path. The sequel movies leaned heavily on feeding that nostalgia, and shows like “The Mandalorian”, “Book of Boba Fett”, and “Obi-Wan Kenobi” are just continuing to add to our “remember this” buffet. If you only try to appeal to your aging fans, you will miss out on the next generation.

I do see a new hope on the horizon. “The Clone Wars” invented new exciting characters like Ahsoka Tano, and gave individual personalities to the clone troopers. “The Bad Batch” is telling stories away from the Luke, Reys, and Darth Vaders of the galaxy far, far, away. “Rogue One” took a minor plot point and created iconic characters and moments never seen in a Star Wars. I am thankful for the Dave Filonis and Jon Favreaus of the Star Wars world, but I am also hopeful that the Deborah Chows Taika Waititis get to put their unique marks on Star Wars. I will be there to watch it all, I just hope the next generation is on the couch with me and enjoying it as I have.

RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ranking the Opening of Every Original "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" Cartoon

I have said this before and I am going to say it again, “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero” was a big part of my childhood. The episodes aired on weekday afternoons in suburban St. Louis. I would rush home from school to watch my favorite toy line have adventures on my television. The next day my friends and I would talk about G.I.Joe, play with our G.I. Joe toys, and talk about what new G.I. Joe toys we wanted. I was more obsessed with G.I. Joe than I was even with Star Wars. I am still obsessed and even ranked all 95 episodes of the original Sunbow series. Today I’m going to rank the opening credits/song of the first Sunbow run.

Let’s get to it.

#5 The M.A.S.S. Device miniseries

First things first, all of these openings are great. The biggest thing that hurts the first miniseries is that it is the first. The creative geniuses working on the GI Joe cartoon would always find ways to improve the opening, and they did.

With that being said, this opening is still great. It introduces you the concept, the characters and even clearly tells you the enemy is “Destro and Cobra". truly a classic.

#4 Arise Serpentor Arise - Season 2

The dawn of a new era in GI Joe, the reign of Serpentor.

This opening, like it’s predecessors, is heavy on the action and the characters. Actually, there may be a pit too many characters. Still great and when you saw this opening you knew exactly what era of Joe you were getting.

#3 The Revenge of Cobra

The Revenge of Cobra was the second miniseries and saw the introduction of classic characters like Shipwreck, Flint, Lady Jaye, Zartan, Strom Shadow, and many others. All these new characters get great action moments throughout the intro. What places this opening ahead of the others is the great flamethrower morphing into the series title. Greatness all around.

#2 First Season

Yes the first season of GI Joe was after the third miniseries, that is not a typo.

What an opening. The line of Joe vehicles, the massive Cobra airship, all the punching, this is probably the greatest opening to a 1980’s cartoon, or any other cartoon, ever.

Nothing beats this intro, except…

#1 The Movie

The end of the Sunbow era brought the greatest cartoon intro ever made. The song slaps, the action kicks, the patriotism punches you in the gut. I just wish the movie that followed was as great as this opening.

Yo Joe.

RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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The People Want Legal Abortion

I am writing to politely ask, no I mean I am loudly pleading that we all take one step back before we throw the whole country off a cliff. For the last few days, I have been monitoring the public dialogue and the public sentiment when it comes to access to abortion. It seems to me that a small, very loud, part of our society is losing their minds and in the process are driving our country to a place we should not go. Please, come back from the cliff of anti-abortion zealotry.

You may ask am I pro-abortion. I do not think that my opinion matters. I am a middle-aged white man and therefore should not be the sole decider for over half of the country’s population. I am not here to discuss my personal beliefs; I am here to ask the pro-life movement to take a moment and have a discussion with this country and to not just arbitrarily decide what you think is right and what you think is wrong. Going down that path is a losing proposition for your group and a losing proposition for any political party.

Following the Supreme Court Dobbs decision many of the leaders on the right-hand side of our political spectrum were saying that the Supreme Court did not ban abortion, it just pushed the decision back to the states, to the voters. In the weeks since this historic decision, my home state of Ohio has led the country in trying to pass draconian laws aimed at punishing anything and anyone connected to abortion. No compassion, just punishment. Many of these laws are being put forward without any common sense attached to them. One proposal would ban invitro fertilization. Why would we do that? Is it the intent for the right to lifers to add to the trauma of a couple desperately trying to have a baby? Some of our state leaders have used the Dobbs decision to float the idea of banning the use of contraceptives. Again, why invade the privacy of others and add to their anguish. It has gotten so bad that the life of the mother is not even takin in into consideration to feed the right to life’s desire to not consider anyone’s pain.

The wrongheadedness of these anti-abortion absolutists came to a head recently with the news that a ten-year-old rape victim had to travel to another state to get a procedure that was going to save her life. How did the zealots on the right respond? Many questioned the story itself putting the onus on a ten-year-old to prove her trauma and relive her nightmare. A ten-year-old had to fight against grown men who have political power. Once these men were proven wrong, they immediately went to the predictable playbook of playing the victim. I will say again, these men did not feel bad about retraumatizing a ten-year-old so they could prove their “pro-life” credentials. It is madness.

The fact is that a large majority of the country does not agree with the pro-life absolutists. The ten-year-old girl story further illustrates how out of touch these people are. The Supreme Court said let the states decide. So, I ask these leaders to do just that. Let the people decide. Being elected to office does not make you a king, you represent the people. We are currently in the midsts of an election that will decide leadership at every level of government. I know that if the pro-life zealots continue to push their non compassionate out of touch agenda, they will see the losses at the ballot box and they will once again be pushed off to the side and be labeled again as the fringe.

Let the people decide. Back away from the cliff. Be compassionate and solve the true problems facing the people. You are on the wrong side of this issue.

 RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Why am I Still Playing "Cyberpunk 2077"?

I’m a big fan of the open world video game. I have written on this site about the early innovation of the genre with the original Legend of Zelda, the serene pleasure of Skyrim, and unlike Ty I think the latest Zelda game is the greatest video game ever made. Just the other day I finished Grand Theft Auto V for my third different console. Add in games like Minecraft and No Mans Sky and we are sitting in the golden age of open world games.  

In late 2020, after many delays, Cyberpunk 2077 was released into the world. The game had a lot of hype. It was supposed to be the evolution of games like GTA V. The game has Keanu freaking Reeves in it. Also as a teenager my friends and I played the Cyberpunk role playing game. This game seemed destined for my Xbox. I purchased it almost immediately after it was released.  

If you know about the early days of Cyberpunk 2077, you know the next part of the story. For those of you that don’t know what happened I can sum the saga of the game with one word, broken. Cyberpunk 2077 was broken when it came out. I am not saying it was less than the hype like No Man’s Sky when it was released. Cyberpunk 2077 did not work. Sure you could start the game, customize your character and start the story, but it would not be long before the game locked up. It happened to me when I first went to the ripper doc, and when I would try again it would lock up again. I did what the internet told me to to fix the game, but then I had a lame game that looked terrible. After a few months I gave up on Cyberpunk 2077 and went back to causing havoc in GTA V.  Recently I upgraded to an Xbox X and decided to give Cyberpunk 2077 another try. I heard that there was an update for the newer generation of consoles and that the game actually worked as it was supposed to. I downloaded the very large update and started the game once again.  

The good news is that I got past the ripper doc without the game locking up. Also, the game looks great and runs smoothly. Even the part when you get to play as Keanu’s character was pretty cool. The bad part, Cyberpunk 2077 is a boring game. I have put about ten hours in and I can count on one hand the number of fights I have been in. The story is pretty bland compared to other games in the genre. The gun fight mechanics are good once you know how to do them, but the learning curve is quite steep, and I have yet to figure out an easy way to know what weapons are better than others. The game is needlessly complicated.  It is quite frustrating.

Yet I am still playing Cyberpunk 2077. Part of it is that I want to believe the game is good. The potential is there. Another part of my compulsion to complete the game is because I want to experience the open world of Night City with the strongest character and the best weapons. I know it sounds stupid, but that’s what these games give us, a reason to be stupid.  

Would I recommend Cyberpunk 2077 to anyone. That’s hard to say, I have not finished the game. Maybe it gets way better the next ten hours. I have been with No Mans Sky since the beginning and that game is fulfilling its early promise these many years later on. Maybe Cyberpunk 2077 will develop the same way. I just hope this broken first fix later does not become the norm. If it does I will just go back to play good working games. Hyrule and Los Santos are always fine places to spend a few gaming hours.

RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Let's Make Movie Soundtracks Great Again

Over the last few years I have taken an interest in collecting physical media. It started with vinyl records, moved into Blu-Rays and 4K DVDs and now includes comic books. I have a running list at a local comic shop and a local record store for things I am looking for. The comics are easy, it is mostly stuff I read as a kid in the 1980s. The DVDs I collect are a mix of new and classic movies. The vinyl records, my most prized collection, are made mostly up of movie soundtracks, and I am finding that almost all of my wants come from films prior to 1990s.

What happened to the movie soundtrack? Now I know some of you are out there are saying, '“All movies have soundtrack, they have an Oscar for film score.” Yes, I know, but I am not talking about score, I’m talking about songs. The only current director I can see doing a proper playlist for his movies is James Gunn. Both “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies and “The Suicide Squad” have killer soundtracks that help tell the story of those movies. I also own all three of those records. All the other modern movies, and I am using the word modern to represent the entirety of the 21st century, have a score and one song that usually plays over the end credits. We can do better than that.

Back in the 1980s every movie had a soundtrack with songs, and many of these songs became instant classics. Try to imagine “Rocky III” without “Eye of the Tiger”. I bet you are humming the beat right now. There is no “Top Gun” without Loggins explaining a highway that leads to the “Danger Zone”. “The Karate Kid” is not only one of the greatest love stories ever, but it also reminds you that “You’re the Best” around and ain’t nobody gonna take you down. We learned in the mid eighties that “The Power of Love” is our key to getting “Back to the Future”. Before Optimus Prime fell in battle, he had “The Touch”. Not all of these movies are great, actually yes they are all great, but these songs are timeless bangers.

The movie soundtracks were not always populated with original music. The aforementioned “Harold and Maude” used music that was already popular. “The Lost Boys” used music from The Doors. “Vacation” used a Lindsey Buckingham B-side. Weird Al leant “Dare to Be Stupid” to a particularly stupid part of “Transformers: The Movie”. Even today, James Gunn uses classic songs from a bygone era to back his superhero spectacles much like the iconic soundtrack to “Dirty Dancing” and “The Big Chill. All these movies owe part of their legacy to the music supervisors who crafted these iconic albums.

Many of the movie soundtracks from the past are as important, if not more important, than the films they back. “Purple Rain” the album is “Purple Rain” the movie. The collection of Cat Stevens songs that accompany “Harold and Maude” bring an extra melancholy and quirkiness to another one of our greatest love stories. The Blondiesqu and rockabilly in “Streets of Fire” is one of the few redeeming spots in a mess of a movie. Many of these movies may have been lost to time if it was not for their epic soundtracks.

We need to bring back the classic movie soundtrack. Scores are great, but remembering my favorite movie scenes through songs with lyrics is a piece of heaven. Let me know if I’m just an old man yelling at a cloud, or let me know what other classic movie soundtracks need to be remembered. As Stan Bush tells Daniel and Hot Rod, we need to “Dare” to champion the reemergence of the movie soundtrack.

RD

RD is the founder and Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

I'm going on vacation next week. This will be my first real vacation in about two years. I did go to Gulf Shores last year, but that was frightening. I understand that COVID is still fully out there too. I got my second booster and I still wear a mask at most indoor places. I'm not going to go full on and act like the pandemic is over, but I am overly excited about this vacation because it feels like a real one.

This feels like the first real vacation I have had since my wife and I went to Mexico for our tenth anniversary three years ago. Sure, my kids are coming with us this year, but they are older and more self reliant now. They can entertain themselves. They know when to let me be. They understand that my wife and I need time just the two of us. They get it.

I am stoked. I am pumped. We are going to Indianapolis for two days, Ann Arbor for a day, then we meet my oldest brother and his wife and daughters for a day in Traverse City and two days on Mackinac Island. I have gone to Michigan forever, but these are spots I've only been to a handful of times, and as for Traverse City and Mackinac, I've never been. It is going to be cool to see a different side of Michigan than what I am used to.

I'm interested to see how much changes from the UP. We have always gone to Bessemer and Wakefield. Hell, we spend time in Hurley, Wisconsin. But those are off the beaten path hidden gems. Seriously guys, if you haven't gone up that way, it rules. It's got some dope bluffs to climb, Lake Superior is right there, the groceries are cheap and the cabins at the chalets are divine. But this time our destination seems more touristy and I'm fully in for all that entails.

I haven't done the tourist thing since Mexico. I can't wait to go to Zingerman's and Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor. I will also be taking both of my kids to the M Den and going to The Big House to take too many pictures. In Traverse City my brother has rented a canoe for us to use the day we are there. I haven't been on a canoe since I was 19. I feel like I'm going to love it. We are staying in a fancy log cabin there as well. I'm sure it is going to be rad and we will be roasting marshmallows at nighttime. And then we have Mackinac. All I know is, we have to take a ferry to where we are staying, there are no cars allowed, you have to walk and bike everywhere and that we are staying in a dope spot on the island. My son learned how to ride a two wheel bike for this trip. My daughter is more than capable on a bike with training wheels. My wife and I will get to go on night walks after the kids are in bed. I plan on taking her on a date if I can get my nieces to watch my kids for a few hours. It is going to be great, and I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about when I get back.

I just wanted to leave you all with my excitement of what I believe to be my first real trip since 2019. I'm taking next week off from writing, since I will be traveling. But like I said, I plan on having plenty to say when I return. I will see you all in a little over a week. Enjoy your week off and I'll enjoy my vacation. See you soon. 

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

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Thoughts on Donovan Mitchell and the Knicks

I have been reading since yesterday that the Knicks are putting together a potential trade package for Donovan Mitchell.

At first I got pumped. I am not a Knicks fan, but RD is, and the NBA is better when the Knicks are relevant. Even when they are not contenders, when the Knicks are in the playoff picture the league is in a good spot. Just look at two years ago when they made the playoffs as a 4 seed. Sure the Hawks beat them fairly easily, but the Garden was packed, the pre game shows were more lively and it felt like the good old days. The Knicks relevancy makes the game better, plain and simple. I do not think anyone can argue with me on this one. So this Donovan Mitchell news should be good news. It should have their fans riled up. They should be putting together a strong package to trade for him. This will make them an immediate playoff contender, especially in the East.

Since I am staying in and resting up to be 100% for my trip I have had time to really dive into if the Knicks can, and will, pull this off. Every year we have heard about the Knicks getting a big name in free agency or in a trade. The first time KD was a free agent he was going to go to the Knicks. He didn't even take a meeting with them. When Giannis was a potential free agent he was definitely going to meet with New York. He decided to take zero meetings and he re-signed with the Bucks. When Chris Paul was on the market he was going to be their veteran star that helped the younger generation. He signed with Phoenix instead. I went on the pod, and on the site, and said I thought that Damian Lillard was a near lock to join the Knicks. Welp, he just signed a two year extension, which means he has 5 years on his deal now, to remain in Portland. Every big name has gone elsewhere or stayed with their original team. I think Carmelo Anthony was the last real super star they signed, and he only gave them a few good seasons. All of this has made me hesitant about the whole Donovan Mitchell thing. It would be great if they were able to swing a package, keep the majority of the team intact and become a solid playoff team.

Looking at the East, if the Knicks are able to add Mitchell, they would have a shot to be a top 6 seed immediately. The only teams I can think of off the top of my head that would be ahead of them at the moment are the Bucks, Celtics, 76ers and Heat. If the Knicks were to keep their core and add Mitchell, I think that makes them instantly better than the Bulls, Raptors, Nets, Hawks and Cavs, all were playoff or play in teams last season. But here is the hard part. Here is where it gets difficult for the Knicks to pull this off. It is the whole keeping the core together thing I keep mentioning. The Knicks could trade the most draft assets, and that is what the Jazz want right now. That is where the deal starts.

We need to ask why would the Knicks give up their future to be, at best, a 3 or 4 seed in the East? Mitchell makes them an immediate playoff team, as I keep saying, but they are not a title contender just by adding Mitchell to the starting five. This is not like AD going to the Lakers. They were one piece away. The Knicks are not. And the Knicks would have to give up a hefty amount of those picks. I just don't like mortgaging the future of your franchise unless a title appearance is all but a guarantee, and unfortunately for Knicks fans, Mitchell doesn't vault them to title contention. Then you have this core group of guys. There is Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Immaunel Quickley, Obi Toppin and Derrick Rose. They also just gave Jalen Brunson a big free agent deal. They seem to have a group that kind of, sort of, fits on paper. Adding Mitchell, if the Jazz decide they want more than picks, will mean breaking apart that group. If I were the Jazz I'd ask for some of the picks and RJ Barrett. Or even Quickley. Maybe have them package Quickley and Toppin. Or put RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson in the deal. I don't know what the Jazz want, or how deep of a rebuild they are going to go through, but they are in the catbird seat. They have the power in these negotiations. Just like the Nets are doing with Kyrie and KD, I'd ask for more than I think I could get. And if the Jazz walk away, fine. The Knicks can save and go after yet another big name free agent next offseason.

I fully understand that the Knicks took a step back last season, and their fans want to be in title contention, but Donovan Mitchell, who is a great, great basketball player, one that I truly enjoy watching play the game, does not make them a title favorite. He makes them a playoff team, but not even a top 3 seed. I don't think I'd mortgage the future of the franchise if I were them. Also, this just seems like another big name for the Knicks that they won't get in the long run. Time will tell, but I am not holding my breath.

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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An Ode to the Greatness of "Napoleon Dynamite"

Once again I am under the weather. It is not COVID, I've tested multiple times, but I just feel very blah. I am bummed out that I have gotten sick twice in the past three weeks. I think it is definitely due to the fact that I did not get sick at all for two years and now, when I do get a virus, it hits me hard. I'm still moving around and doing daily house stuff, but when I have down time, instead of running, which I really, really, really want to be doing right now, I have been watching movies the past two days.

This morning I felt very blah, so I wanted comfort food from my movie. I wanted comedy and something I knew that, if I fell asleep, it would not be a big deal. I searched the streaming services and found "Napoleon Dynamite".

This is an all time favorite for me. I have spoken about this movie a ton on the pod. I saw this movie in the theaters six times. It is a classic. So I put it on and proceeded to watch the whole thing. I laid on my couch and figured I would doze off a bit. But this movie is so good, so well made and so well acted that I was as intrigued today as I was the first three or four times I watched it.

This movie works on every single level for me. It is perfection. It is like the perfect indie comedy. It is quiet, shot in a weird location, has cool music and was made for cheap. But I think what made this watch different was something I haven't noticed ever in my watches. I think what makes "Napoleon Dynamite" so good, why it worked so well and why it has and will stand the test of time is how well they handle the mundaneness of everyday life, especially in high school. Watching today, I just happened to really notice how mundane real life can be. There is not a ton of dialogue at the top, but Napoleon does sigh an awful lot. I know we all did that in our high school years. When we would get frustrated it wasn't using our words, we would walk around and moan and groan hoping someone would notice us. There is also all the little nonsense that people do not like to do that we all complain about as well. Napoleon has to feed Tina, and that frustrates him. He gets mad, he groans, he yells, but in the end he feeds her. He also gets into little fights with Kip throughout the movie. I grew up with three brothers and we would fight over nonsense all the time, and it was seemingly the littlest stuff that would be the most frustrating. Napoleon wants his chapstick, Kip won't bring it to him. Napoleon wants chips, Kip tells him he needs them to become a cage fighter. They argue about the computer. There's fights over Uncle Rico's videotape. It is all real and all ridiculous. The stuff with Pedro and Napoleon, becoming friends and hitting on classmates, felt so real and so true to life. I was brought back to my high school days talking to my close friends. And there is that scene when Napoleon and Pedro test out his bike on a ramp. It is the funniest thing in the movie in my opinion and it rings true. Napoleon fights with his grandma and uncle. He tells Uncle Rico he has to leave because he is "eating all the steak and ruining everyone's lives". I swear I have said similar words to my uncle's before.

There is so much more. I was kind of floored watching from that point of view this morning. It made me appreciate the movie even more because of how real it all felt. "Napoleon Dynamite" is so great for a million reasons. And capturing the mundane is another feather in its cap.

Ty

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

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RIP Gary Moeller

Gary Moeller passed away at 81 yesterday. For the people who may not know who that is, he was a football coach. To be even more specific, he took over for Michigan after Bo Schembechler retired.

Moeller was the first Michigan coach I truly remember. Schembechler stepped down in 1989 and Moeller took over from 90-94. I think he would have lasted longer, but he got a DUI and Michigan has low tolerance for that type of thing. He was let go, replaced by Lloyd Carr, and the rest is history.

Gary Moeller was a very, very good coach. He accomplished quite a bit in his five seasons as the head man, and he climbed the ranks when he was an assistant under Schembechler. He vacillated between defensive and offensive coordinator from 1973-1989. In between that time he was a QB coach and helmed one of the better offenses in the Big 10 in the mid to late 80's. He also modernized Michigan's offense as much as he could when he was the OC. Then when Bo resigned, Moeller was the heir apparent. He stepped in and had immediate success. He won the Big 10 three times. He was coach of the conference twice. He won at least eight games every year. His lowest finish in the conference was tied for 4th. Michigan won four of the five bowl games they played in under Moeller. They won one of two Rose Bowls they played in. Moeller's record at Michigan was 44-13-3. He was 30-8-2 in the Big 10. He averaged nine wins a year. Moeller recruited and coached guys like Desmond Howard and Erick Anderson. Howard won the Heisman while Moeller was the head coach. Elvis Grback got a pro career based on Moeller's coaching acumen.

Even after the DUI it wasn't long before Moeller got another job. He was hired by the Bengals as their tight end coach in 1995. In 97 he took a job with the Detroit Lions that eventually turned out to be a head coaching job after Bobby Ross suddenly resigned. But he did not last too long when the new regime came along. He returned for a bit with the Jaguars as defensive coordinator but left after one year. He then coached the linebackers for the Bears before fully retiring in 2003.

All in all Moeller left the biggest impression at Michigan. He had a .758 winning percentage. He coached a Heisman winner. He kept the train rolling at Michigan. They didn't miss a step. He left the team in good hands when Carr took over. I feel like the whole DUI thing would have been brushed under a rug nowadays. It would have been dealt with internally and he would have stuck around longer. That being said, Moeller was a solid head coach. He wasn't brash or loud or annoying or a TV personality. He was a coach through and through. He stuck around the game so long because he knew the game so well. People respected him and he returned the favor by doing good to great things on a football field.

I was kind of stunned when RD texted me yesterday to tell me of Moeller’s passing. I had not forgotten, but had not thought about Gary Moeller in quite some time. It is kind of crazy when you think about my fandom for Michigan football. Gary Moeller will be missed. He meant a lot to the game and a whole lot more to Michigan. Rest In Peace Gary Moeller. You will be missed.

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 Boys" Season Three Finale

I really want to talk about the season three finale of "The Boys", so I'm going to. That being said, this will be as spoiler free as possible for those of you that have not watched it yet.

"The Boys" is fast becoming one of my favorite TV shows. It is so well written, well acted, precisely directed and uses superhero culture the way I like to see it done. I'm a fan of when they show how violent these powers can be when they are used. That is why I love a movie like "Logan", and why I adore this show. It is the most violent and NSFW TV show I think I have seen. But, when it is done right, like "The Boys" does, it works.

This past season has been the most disturbing one for me to watch though. They take on the new world of politics we live in, they just add these wild, company created superheroes. The "heroes" represent two factions of politics we have in our country now. But since this show is "fantasy", they can take far more chances. They did that tenfold this past season. Homelander is the alt right conservative and Starlight represents the left. Both actors nail it too. But the fact that I grew to hate Homelander even more this season means that the actor is nailing his role. I despise him. I loathe his every move. I want them to kill him off, but he is the star of the show. I find it hilarious that real alt right conservatives were stunned when they found out that Homelander is the bad guy of the show. I cannot fathom how god damn dumb those mouth breathing alt right conservatives are that they had no idea that Homelander was the bad guy, and that they got all up in arms when it was revealed by the creators that Homelander is the bad guy. But the thing that threw me the most in this finale, and for the whole season for that matter, was how realistic it all felt. Homelander would say things that felt like they were lifted from alt right rallies. The stuff they did at these rallies looked horrifying because it felt so real. When Starlight's supporters came out, they were marginalized and looked at as less than by the right. They called them names and talked about how "weak" her supporters are. They would try to start actual fist fights. They would use violence as opposed to words or simply acting like an adult.

In the finale, especially in the final thing we saw this past season, I swear I got some kind of crazy PTSD. I was scared by what I saw because it wouldn't shock me if something similar happens in real life. The way Homelander's supporters responded to what he did had me horrified. I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. I told my wife we had to watch something more upbeat before going to bed because I just couldn't seem to shake what we had just witnessed. She agreed. We had to cleanse our palette if you will. We were both shaken. It was terrifying to see what we saw and think about if something like this actually happened. It literally shook me to my core. I still cannot shake the image three days later. I have spoken at length with my wife and dad, he watches the show too, and we all feel the same way.

"The Boys" is a wonderful show that I really think most people would love and should watch. And the direction they went this season, the stories they told, were done so well. But it is almost too close to real life. And that is what scares me the most. Oof, I am still kind of messed up from this. Boy oh boy.

Ty

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

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Ice Cream Belongs in a Damn Sugar Cone

I took my kids out for ice cream last night and my son and I got into a debate. I have also gotten into this exact same debate with my wife a few times. I ordered my cookies and cream scoop in a sugar cone. My son said that sugar cones were good, but waffle cones and cake cones are better.

I agree that waffle cones are better, but those are more of a treat. It also means I'm going to eat far too much ice cream if I'm getting a waffle cone. But a cake cone, come on man. I'm not here to say that cake cones are not good, but a sugar cone is far, far better. Cake cones are like eating styrofoam. They get all weird and cold and taste even harder when you get further down on the cone. The ice cream gets trapped in those little rectangles that are at the bottom and makes the cone frozen. The ice cream is packed all tight in there and it is like eating ice. Also, the cake cone doesn't stand up to the ice cream like a sugar cone. I'm forever worried that the ice cream is going to topple out of a cake cone whenever I order one. And it is not like I'm some doofus who doesn't know how to properly eat ice cream from a cone.

The sugar cone, it is perfect. It is nice and pointy at the bottom and easily holds the ice cream within its triangle. The taste is so much better than the cake cone. It tastes like a waffle cone, only a bit sweeter. It is also nice and crisp. It doesn't over freeze or trap the ice cream. It stands up nice and tall. The ice cream stands firm in the cone. It is the better of the two I've mentioned today, vessel for ice cream. I am also a big time fan of sugar cookies, so a sugar cone is almost the same. It is harder, but it still has the sweetness and feel of a nice sugar cookie. It is also cooler, like if ice cream cones could have a personality. Cake cones are the squares of the group. They are the soc's. Sugar cones are the greasers. They may be rough around the edges, but they are cool. They know how to fight and dance and talk to the people you like. They have cool hairdos and wear dope clothes and leather jackets. Cake cones are dorks that sit online and complain about "Star Wars" movies. Cake cones still live in their parents' basements. Cake cones live online and never have anything good to say.

That is how I truly feel if I give these inanimate objects personality. But I am curious what you all think. When it comes to cones for ice cream, which do you prefer, cake or sugar? I also don't want a ton of waffle cone or cup answers. Those are off the table. I want to know between the 2 which you prefer and why. Please let me know. But I do need you all to know in the long run that sugar is, and always will be, the best cone for ice cream.

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 Bear”

Last night I started the show "The Bear". I had heard a ton of good things about it, some people I follow on social media were singing its praises.

I like what FX does in the world of TV and I am a sucker for cooking shows. In our house we watch a ton of cooking shows in fact. We like them all. Be it Ina Garten or some kind of competition show, we will usually watch. Hell, I even really enjoy a show like "Carnival Eats". That may be one of my favorites.

The problem with those shows, for the most part, is they are very nice. Even the reality competition ones. Sure they have their "villain", and there have been plenty of contestants I don't like, and my goodness do they take themselves far too seriously, but in the end it is all happiness and fun and games. "The Bear" is not like that, and I think that has been what has drawn me in so much.

Over the past day and a half I have watched the first four episodes. It was all I was thinking about watching this morning when I was out running errands. It stayed with me. To me that is a sign that this show works. This is what I am looking for in a show about food. The cast is amazing. It is an ensemble, but that ensemble is led by Carmy, played by Jeremy Allen White. He is so good. He is a once in a generation chef, but he is back home working in a sandwich shop. We find out more and more about him as the series is going on, and I cannot wait to see where they take him. His "cousin", to whom there is much discontent, is skillfully played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. He is so good at being the hot headed "know it all" who doesn't want any change to his "system". Ayo Edebiri is so good as the new up and coming chef who wants to learn from Carmy. She is awesome in this role. She really gets to stretch and try some new things. She should get way more work after people watch her in this. The rest of the crew is great. Lionel Boyce is Marcus and he wants to be a pastry chef so bad. Liza Colon-Zayas is Tina and she has no time for nonsense and has been at the shop since day one. Edwin Lee Gibson is the old soul that likes having stuff to do. And the rest of the crew is there to crack a few jokes every now and then. We also get a nice turn from Abby Elliot as Carmy's sister. It is pretty cool to see her do drama. Oliver Platt has been in a few episodes and he does a low leverage gangster pretty well. And Joel McHale is there being a total dick, which he thrives at doing.

This show has me hooked. Outside the cast, the food looks amazing. They do long, slow motion shots of people cooking and the finished product, and I get hungry just watching. I love Italian Beef sandwiches, and the way they make them look on this show makes me want to travel to Chicago right now. They also have some of the best shots of donuts I have ever seen. They look better on this show than they do on some Food Network or Cooking Channel shows. The sandwich shop is old and dingy and perfect for what they do. The kitchen looks and feels real. The alleys are grimy. Some of the neighborhoods look sketchy. It all works.

This is the best cooking show on TV. It is also one of the better comedy/drama shows that are out there right now. It is also unique and new. It is not a reboot or a retread. It is a new idea that they are nailing. Go watch "The Bear". It is really for anyone that likes cooking shows and great TV. 

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 Northman"

My wife is out of town for work and when she leaves I tend to watch movies that she is not interested in when we do date night. I've seen some solid and not so solid movies during these work trips. I've also seen "Titane", and I'm still confused by it. Last night I watched "The Northman".

I've wanted to see this for quite some time. My dad is really into viking culture lately, the preview looked badass, I like Alexander Skarsgard and I have enjoyed every Robert Eggers directed movie I have seen, especially "The Lighthouse". I had high hopes going into this movie.

“The Northman” did not disappoint. Sure it was a bit too long and some stuff could have been cut out, but for the most part, this movie was very, very well made. I am not as into the viking stuff as my dad, but I do like the stories I have been told. I am also kind of enamored with their lifestyle back in the early 1000's. It is all intriguing to me. This movie, from what I've read and watched, has to be one of the more accurate portrayals of life back then. It was brutal. It looked old. It looked archaic. Eggers and the writers did not sugarcoat the awfulness that some vikings lived with. There was pillaging and murdering and assaults happening left and right. I appreciate the fact that they put it out there bare bones. I do not like when other movie makers glorify and deify these people. They were not the best. There is one battle scene in particular, right in the first 45 minutes, that is one of the best and most brutal things I have ever watched. This group of vikings pillages a town during the day. At one point a person throws a spear at Skarsgard's character, he catches it and throws it back, impaling someone else in the process. After that, Skarsgard proceeds to murder three or four people, and when he gets to the last person, he bites into their neck, as if he is a dog feeding on his prey. That was another thing. There are so many dog references in this movie. From start to finish, dogs are involved and it is gruesome. But I liked what I was seeing.

I liked how they made this movie. I was fully in on Skarsgard. I'm relatively new to him. My wife watched "True Blood", but I did not. And I loved when he was on the most recent season of "Atlanta". But this was a juicy leading role for him and he nailed it. He was magnetic. He put in a ton of work on his body and it showed. He played his character to perfection. He was the only viking I rooted for, but there were times when he was just as bad as the rest. As for the rest of the cast, they were up to the task. Anya Taylor Joy was great. She looked and acted like a viking queen. She was a total badass as well. I loved her in this. Ethan Hawke was dope. He is having a bit of a renaissance. Nicole Kidman was ruthless and evil and totally nailed it. Claes Bang was a bad, bad dude, but I kind of sided with him a little bit in the end. Willem Dafoe was as creepy as ever and it was so fitting for this movie. Bjork had a bit part and it was exactly what she thrives at doing, being weird and using her cool voice. It was just a perfect cast in a very good movie.

I mentioned that one fight scene at the top, but this movie was filled with some of the best, and most real, fight scenes I've watched in a movie. There was one where they were playing some kind of old game, and when Skarsgard goes to protect a child, oh my was that nuts. There was another one where he takes on multiple fighters and beats them, until he is contained and proceeds to get repeatedly punched in the face. When he was tied up it was the most real looking torture thing I have seen since "Zero Dark Thirty". When he gets Taylor Joy to feed the guards hallucinogenic mushrooms, and what happens next, it was wild. My favorite was when Skarsgard returned to the site of his capture and freed the people at night time. That was rad. And brutal. And gory. And kind of sad. But it was so well done. And the final battle scene, no spoilers, was totally worth the anticipation and build up. It ended on a perfect crescendo. I sat on my couch and just kind of stewed in what I had just watched. I really thought about it all. And I came away thinking this was one of the better movies I have watched in some time. It is beautiful to look at, well acted and directed, very well written and super interesting.

I definitely recommend the movie under the caveat that it is slow in certain parts and that the movie is very heavy with viking and Icelandic language. But Skarsgard, Taylor Joy and those battle scenes are totally worth it in the end. "The Northman" lived up to my personal hype.

Ty

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Thoughts on the Latest KD Drama

Okay I guess I will talk about Kevin Durant.

I am not shocked by him asking out, and maybe that is part of the problem for me as a basketball fan. This was almost inevitable to me after seeing the Warriors win the title this season. And now I do not think the chips he won with them are moot. He was great for them. He won the MVP twice in the finals for a reason. He was an added weapon that made that iteration of the Warriors unbeatable, until they all got hurt except Steph.

I'm not a hater of KD's at all. That being said, the way he handles himself via social media or on TV is kind of wack. He is sensitive, and that is fine. I'm sensitive too. And I'm sure if millions of people lashed out at me on Twitter and what not I'd lose it from time to time. He loses it all the time. It is like he is on social media whenever he is not on a basketball court. I've been called out here and there, but I avoid it because I'm not glued to my phone. I think KD is glued to his. It has to be hard for him to go out and live a normal life because of his fame so I guess the phone and tv are his only real outlets. So I would imagine seeing all the people saying that this is Steph's first real ring or that they did it the hard way or that they don't need a stacked team that might have gotten to KD. And that is fine. If it makes him angry, that is totally normal.

KD is an incredible basketball player. Guys his size shouldn't be able to do what he does on a nightly basis. He is an all time great. But the Nets were swept in round one. Kyrie Irving is a nut job. James Harden looks like the smartest guy in the room now for wanting out. Steve Nash is not a very good coach. The supporting parts in Brooklyn just aren't championship quality. But I will say, this was all that KD and Kyrie wanted. They decided to go to the Nets together. They wanted Nash as the head coach. They wanted Deandre Jordan to play over Jarrett Allen. They were more than willing to let Caris Levert go. They urged the front office to sign guys like Blake Griffin. This was their design. This was their hand picked team. They chose and the front office gave them their every want. Then COVID happened. The Nets were going to be average in KD's first year since he wasn't going to play. Then he came back and was great again. And so was Kyrie. And they got Harden. All looked perfect. But then Kyrie wouldn't get vaxxed because he is a moron. That meant he couldn't play any home games. He was non-existent. Harden asked out because he knew he couldn't handle the load anymore. KD got hurt again. It was all just a mess.

This was a team that I picked to win the title this year, and I thought they would do it with ease. Instead they got swept pretty easily by Boston, another team that is built from within for the most part. And then KD had to watch the Warriors win it all. He saw them play Dallas in the West Finals, a team built within. He watched Boston beat Milwaukee in round 2. Milwaukee, minus Jrue Holiday, is a draft and process team. Boston beat Miami in the East Finals, and Jimmy Butler was a free agent signing, but that whole team is a culture. KD had to see all this and be extremely frustrated that his plan didn't work. He is uber talented, but when the guys you sign up to play with don't play, you get swept in round one. And now he wants out.

I don't know where he is going to end up, or if he gets traded at all. He signed a four year deal with no player option. He is in year two of the deal. Whatever team trades for him is on the books for three years at a big, big number. And I get the allure of trading for a guy like KD, I just don't know if it will be worth mortgaging the future of your team. The teams he wants to go to, like Miami, will not give up what Brooklyn will/should want. KD said he would go there only if Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo were still on the team. What does that leave Brooklyn with? Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and filler? No thank you. Philly is on his list. Who are they going to give up that will make Brooklyn stoked? They are not getting Joel Embiid or Harden. So that leaves parts like Matisse Thybulle, who isn't fully vaccinated, Tobias Harris who is past his prime and Tyrese Maxey. I like Maxey, but I do not know that he is ready to be the number one dude on a playoff team. Phoenix has been mentioned. I do like getting Deandre Ayton, Mikaail Bridges, Jae Crowder and picks, but why would Phoenix do that? Who does that leave them with? KD, Chris Paul and Devin Booker are a great Big 3, but the rest of that roster would be decimated.

I do want what is best for KD because I do really like him as a basketball player. He is amazing. He is an absolute joy to watch play the most beautiful game. But I just do not know what team is going to facilitate exactly what he wants and get a fair return. It just doesn't seem possible, especially after seeing what the Timberwolves gave up for Rudy Gobert, and KD is a far, far better player. Time will tell, but this is a messed up situation and the resolution seems way further off than us normal fans can even fathom. This is going to take some time and may not be solved until the season has started. 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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Thoughts on the New Big 10

The college football landscape is changing yet again. I figured after Texas and Oklahoma decided to join the SEC last season that this was going to quiet down a bit. Quite the opposite has happened. I was checking out the sports news, mainly to see where NBA free agents were signing, and saw that the Big Ten was going to vote later in the day on adding USC and UCLA to the conference.

This news shocked me. I was, for real, stunned. I am an old school fan when it comes to college football. I like the conferences. I like how they align with bowl games. The conferences, for the most part, make geographical sense. Even when Missouri joined the SEC, or when Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big 10, that made some kind of sense. Those teams have pull in the South and Midwest and East. It also made recruiting sense. Hell, even Oklahoma and Texas make sense on paper in the SEC. Most of their fans have southern roots, or still live in the South. But USC and UCLA joining the Big 10 is just wild. It makes no sense. It is so far out of the way from the rest of the Big 10 teams. The time zones don't work. The recruiting is totally different. The game times are completely different. The style of play is not the same. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.

This is the way college football is going. There is, eventually, going to be two, maybe three mega conferences, and it will probably happen before 2030. It is what is going to happen. There is no sense in me being surprised by this news anymore. The fact that the conference I watch the most, with my favorite sports team of all time, is going to stay relevant should make me happy. The Big 10 is more than secure with USC and UCLA joining. I cannot think that Notre Dame, Washington and Oregon are going to be far behind joining. I can see Arizona and Arizona State leaving for the SEC soon.

This is the death knell for the Pac 12. They are all but done as a conference come 2024. They have one full season left, and that is going to be that. The money is just too much for these schools to pass up. That is the main reason this is all happening. The Pac 12 is a big deal, but they are the lowest of the power five conferences. Their games are on too late, no one really watches them after the primetime night game, usually featuring a Big 10 or SEC matchup and the Pac 12 network is the bottom of the barrell. The amount of money, some people are saying upwards of 100 million a season, that USC and UCLA are going to make in 2024 is too good. It is too much of a lure. It is too hard to pass up. The matchups are also way, way better and more TV friendly. USC-Michigan is going to become an instant rivalry. As will the university of Ohio State-USC. Penn State-Washington is a dope old school matchup. Michigan-Washington was a great Rose Bowl matchup. Wisconsin-UCLA is going to be modern 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Oregon-the university of Ohio State has given us great out of conference games, now imagine that in conference. This benefits the Big 10, and helps the teams at the top get an even better hold on the CFP. Michigan, Michigan State, the university of Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue will all benefit from the addition of USC and UCLA, with Washington and Oregon soon to follow. But those former Pac 12 schools will benefit even more. They get better matchups, better competition, better game time slots, better TV times and millions upon millions of more dollars coming into their programs.

The old fan in me despises this. But the fan I am now, more logical and older, understands why this is happening. This is the new world of college sports. We all have to get used to it. 

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 World's Greatest Mixtape"

Last night I watched the 30 for 30 documentary "The World's Greatest Mixtape". This is a short movie about the sensation that was the And 1 Mixtape tour.

The And 1 Mixtape tour came around at the perfect time for me as a basketball fan. In my late teens I had become kind of disillusioned with basketball. I still played but barely watched. The early 2000's were not great as far as the NBA goes. There were great players, but I just wasn't into it at all. But then one day, while scrolling some channels, I happened upon the "And 1 Mixtape" on ESPN. I was instantly in love. This was the coolest. This was the most balletic basketball I had ever seen, and the trash talk was absolutely amazing. I was all in right away. I watched the 30 minute episodes every single day they were on. I followed the players. I bought And 1 clothes. I tried to do the stuff these guys did. I talked about it all with my friends that watched. It was the best. So I was primed for this documentary.

Tis doc was solid. I thought it was a good representation of the time. I loved how they told the story. It was fascinating to hear the backstory of how it started. I loved seeing the older players talk about how they came to be an And 1 athlete. I thought it was so cool how they got the music for the mixtapes. I liked hearing these guys find out that they were on the tapes and then finding a way to get paid. I loved hearing about Rafer Alston, the first real streetball legend. Then to see all the guys I watched regularly, to hear some of their stories, to hear about their time on the And 1 tour, it blew me away. It was so cool. I thought that whole part of the show was perfectly done. I also loved seeing NBA players talk about the And 1 players and mixtapes. It was cool to get their input. I liked hearing someone like Kemba Walker, a former all star, talk about the influence And 1 had on him. It was also dope to see guys like Iman Shumpert and Lou Williams talk about And 1. They may not be stars, but they were guys that stuck around in the league for a long time, did some nice things and even win a ring.

My absolute favorite part with the NBA guys was hearing them fervently state that And 1 players could not make it in the league. There is a reason that only one, Alston, stuck around. There is a famous And 1 guy, Hot Sauce, and the NBA guys clowned him in this doc. Shumpert said that he came into some tryouts as "Hot Sauce", and left being called "Ketchup". That line killed me. And it is so true. While the And 1 guys are incredible basketball players, and do things I can only dream of doing with a basketball, they are not NBA talents. They just do not have that in them. But they sure did try. And I respect that they found a way to get paid to play basketball the way they loved to play the game. That takes a whole lot to do.

I think my only criticism with this movie is that it is far too short. It is only about 45 minutes long. I could watch two hours of this easily. I want to know every single thing about this league, from formation to dissolution. I want the fully in depth story of everything And 1. That would be dope. But this movie will do for now. Maybe they will make more volumes a la the And 1 mixtapes. One can only hope. But for those of you that watched this back in the early 2000's, check out this movie. It is a great trip down memory lane.

Ty

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

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Thoughts on the 2022 NBA Draft

I know it has been almost a week since the draft, but with the country taking a tremendous step backward, and seeing two very good movies, today is the day I am going to talk about my NBA draft thoughts. It may seem out of date, but I have had a very good amount of time to sit and think about the draft. I'm not just going off the cuff. This isn't a rapid reaction. This isn't a grade the day following. And I have thought about this draft a good amount. I use the draft to forget about the horribleness that is our country right now.

With all that being said, the Pistons came out as big time winners from draft night. They got the guy they wanted at five in Jaden Ivey. He fits like a glove with this squad. He can be inserted at the two, next to Cade Cunnigham, from day one. He is a good slashing guard, will fix his shot and can play defense. He is also happy to be there. He was crying tears of joy. It was the best fit of the night. They also traded for the rights to Jalen Duren. He is an extremely athletic center. He will eventually stretch the court. He is a rebound machine. He can block shots. I love his addition to this young core. They got a stash project in Gabriele Procida. They can bring him along super slow and he is the prototype 6-7 wing forward combo the NBA covets right now. They also just traded for Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel. Those guys may not stay, but if they do, that is two extra vets to help out this young team. The Pistons are going to be a fun team to watch next season, and then they should, if they can coexist, become a playoff threat in the next two to three years. They nailed draft night.

I also love what the Houston Rockets did. They got Jabari Smith Jr at three. He was the consensus number one guy on everyone else's mock drafts, but he "fell" into the Rockets lap at three. They can play him right away at the five. He can shoot, defend, rebound and create shots. He and Jalen Green make for a great young duo. They also have Kevin Porter Jr and Alpernun Sengun. This is a young team loaded with potential and talent. They also got TyTy Washington in the late first to be a backup point guard, which is perfect for him to learn. They also got Tari Eason from LSU in the late teens. He is big and switchy and has a bit more experience coming in. Houston is building a team with so much talent, it just has to find a way to come together and coalesce. They have a few years ahead of them before they are true competitors, but they are going to be fun as hell to watch.

Another draft I liked was the Spurs. They got some good pieces. They got Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley in the late first round. These guys were considered lottery talent and they fell into the Spurs lap. They will get the best out of those two guys. They also had a lottery pick and took Jeremy Sochan at nine. I love this pick. He is such a Spurs guy. He is going to be one of the better players in this draft, and going to San Antonio is like a dream destination for NBA players. The Spurs made sure their "rebuild" won't take as long as other teams.

Finally, for a team I liked, the Magic got the best overall guy at number one. Paolo Banchero is a 20 ppg guy from day one. He is so gifted offensively. And adding him to a roster with Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs is wonderful. They went out and took the best guy on the board. They also got potential in round two with Caleb Houstan. The kid can shoot, he just needs to grow up a bit. He is also barely 19. He is a young dude.

There were only a few teams that puzzled me. First off, the Knicks did some wild stuff during the draft. They traded picks for future picks. They cleared cap space. I get that they want a big name free agent, but Jalen Brunson, as much as I like him as a player, is not the "big name" guy they want to reel in. They have also traded away good vets to clear more space. Maybe that will work next season, but for this year, I don't know. I like when the Knicks are good because it is good for the NBA. But draft night was a real head scratcher.

And then we have the Kings. I mean, this just seems like this is what they do. They had two picks. They took Keegan Murray at four. He is an okay enough shooter, but I think he is what he will be. He is also a bigger guard now on a team filled with guards. This pick does absolutely nothing to move the needle for me. The Kings are just kind of stuck in the mud. They also had a decent pick in round two with Jaden Hardy, but then they traded him to Dallas. I don't even know what they got in return. It was baffling. Hardy could have helped the Kings but now he will help the Mavs. The Kings are going to Kings things on draft night I guess. I will say,

I am excited to watch these kids play next season. I watched a good amount of them play in college or in the G League and I am stoked to see how they adjust to the pros. The NBA has the best draft night coverage and this year was no different. Now we just need to get to the season.

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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