Ty's 2022-2023 NBA Season Preview: Rockets, Pacers, Magic

Welcome to day two of my 2022-23 NBA countdown. We are still on some teams that will be in the lottery, but some of them should be a ton of fun to watch this season.

At 27 I have the Houston Rockets. The Rockets were bad last year. They are going to be bad this year. But they are going to be a blast to watch. I love Jalen Green. I have been a fan of his since he joined the G League over going to college. That was a baller ass move. He is also a wildly talented offensive player. He was putting up big numbers last season, so imagine what he will do in season two. Green has star quality, now it's time to show that ability. Kevin Porter Jr seems to have found a place that works for him. He gets to start, he gets to handle the ball and he runs the offense. He is young and has all the talent in the world. He just needs to stay on the floor. I thought Jabari Smith Jr was going to go first overall, but the Rockets snatched him up with the second pick. I love this pick for the Rockets. Jabari Smith Jr reminds me of a young KD. If he can be 50 percent of Durant he is going to be a star. Alperen Sengun is very raw but very good. He is a great passer, a decent low post scorer and can rebound. Tari Eason is a solid pick. Eric Gordon can still light it up from three. Tyty Washington needs time, but in the future, he can be a decent guard in the league. Usman Garuba is extremely raw, but I like watching him play. Willie Cauley Stein is the "veteran" presence, and he can still throw it down. This team is very talented on offense, but they will get scorched on defense. That will be their undoing. But I will enjoy watching them play this year.

At 26 I have the Indiana Pacers. They need to bite the bullet and go into full rebuild. I feel like they are still trying to act like a playoff contender, but they are not on that level. They did trade Malcolm Brogdon, and that was a good start. Now they need to offload Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. I like both those guys a lot. Hield is a great shooter, but he needs to be on a team that has a real shot at the playoffs. Turner is a great modern big, a very good rim protector and a solid three point shooter. But he is being wasted in Indy. He needs to be on a team with a real chance at the playoffs as well. What they need to do is lean fully into letting Tyrese Haliburton run the show. He is great. He is young but plays maturely. He has the look of a true number one on a high playoff seed, they just need to build a little more. I think Benedict Mathurin can be a very poor man's Kawhi Leonard. He can shoot a bit, and with some work, can be a lockdown defender. Chris Duarte can shoot, but that may be it. We will get a very good look at Jalen Smith this year. He could be Robert Williams or Anthony Bennett. This season should let us know. Aaron Nesmith had moments in Boston. In Indiana he will get a shot to make all those moments a nightly thing. Andrew Nembhard was good in college, but he may be a bit too much like Doug McDermott. Time will tell. James Johnson will provide toughness, but who knows how long he will stick around. When the Pacers finally relent and go full rebuild we will get to see Haliburton come on the scene, and this team will be bad for a season or two before they are back to being a .500 team.

The final team for the day, at number 25 I have the Orlando Magic. The Magic will be very bad, but they may be the most entertaining team to watch. I love this core. They are young and raw, but man oh man are they athletic. Paolo Banchero is looking very much the part of a number one overall pick. He has been everywhere this summer and preseason and he is already stirring it up. He is also a walking bucket. Franz Wagner can shoot, defend and seems like a blast to play basketball with. He was great at Michigan and I am glad it seems to be translating to the NBA. Mo Bamba is a very good rim protector and rebounder. He is also very skinny and very green on offense. The word out of camp is that Bol Bol is healthy and ready to contribute. I cannot wait to see him on the court. Jalen Suggs did not shoot it well last season, and he is coming off an injury, but he is a very good defender already. Markelle Fultz is finally free to just play basketball. Cole Anthony is cool as hell and I love watching him play. Chuma Okeke is one of the better players nobody knows about. Gary Harris Jr can still play. Mo Wagner is sticking around. Wendell Carter Jr looks legit. Again, this team is going to be bad this year, but they are building something that could be special in three or four years. They won't win just yet, but it should come soon if they stick together.

That's it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next three teams.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

Ty's 2022-2023 NBA Season Preview - Thunder, Spurs, Jazz

The NBA season is just over a week away, and you know what that means. It is time for my preseason NBA countdown. I remember how wrong I was last year when I picked the Nets to win it all. I will try to not make that mistake again. As always I will go from 30-1, pick the playoffs, award winners and do a men's NCAA basketball preview in a few weeks. Without further ado, let's get to the countdown.

At 30 I have the OKC Thunder. This team is in full rebuild mode. They have made that quite clear with the moves they have made the past few seasons. It also helps the tank job they will do that Chet Holmgren is already done for the season. This foot injury is one of the many reasons why I was so down on Holmgren coming into the draft last year. He is too skinny for his frame. He is going to get bullied by all of the vets that play center. He needs to get thicker and get tougher. But we won't even know what kind of player he is until next season. I adore Shai Gilgeous Alexander. He is awesome. That was a tremendous trade pickup by the Thunder. SGA could be an all star this season, as long as he plays a good amount of games. Lu Dort got paid, he is a good defender and he is getting better at his jumper. He is going to be very good for a long while. Then the roster just kind of falls off. Josh Giddey is fine, but he feels like a role player at best to me. I'm sick of hearing about Aleksej Pokusesvki. He has "been on the cusp" for too long now. He is what he is. Aaron Wiggins is a deep bench guy. Jaylin Williams could be solid, but he is a rookie. Darius Bazley is long and athletic, but hasn't put it together yet. Derrick Favors needs a trade. Kenrich Williams is good, but I want him to play for a good squad. And this has to be Trey Burke and Marquese Chriss' last shot to stay in the league. The Thunder are bad. But, they are bad on purpose. SGA and Dort will be fun to watch, but this team is not going to win more than 25 games this season.

At 29 I have the San Antonio Spurs. I adore Greg Poppovich. I think he is the best coach to ever coach the game of basketball. He is a genius. And the fact that he told people to not bet on the Spurs this season makes me appreciate him that much more. They are going to do everything they can to get the 7'4 French kid. I do like the Jeremy Sochan pick. He is a modern Dennis Rodman who can shoot the ball. But he is very, very young. Keldon Johnson is a solid player, but he is not the guy you want to be your top guy. Jakob Poeltl is slow and plodding and an okay rim protector. I would not be shocked if he gets traded during the season. Joshua Primo is very talented, but again, he is so young. Tre Jones is very average. Josh Richardson is washed. Devin Vassell is a fine player, but he should be coming off the bench. Romeo Langford has not lived up to the hype he had coming out of high school. Doug McDermott is just a shooter, nothing more. Malaki Branham was a homerun pick in my opinion, but he needs time to develop. Zach Collins cannot stay healthy. The true fact is, this team is not trying to win. They want the French kid, and with this roster, that may very well happen.

The final team for the day, at 28 I have the Utah Jazz. The moment they got beat by the Mavs in the first round you knew this team was going to rebuild. Quin Snyder bounced. They traded Rudy Gobert as quickly as they could. They got a great deal for Donovan Mitchell. Bogan Bogdanovic is now in Detroit. Mike Conley will soon be traded. As will Jordan Clarkson. That leaves this team with lots of unproven young guys, or guys trying to revitalize their careers. Colin Sexton will get a shot to lead a team. I really like Sexton, but he has to really show up this year. He got paid and he will be a first option. This is exactly what he wanted. Walker Kesseler is a rookie who will get abused in the post. Malik Beasely is a fine scorer, but he will be asked to do too much on this team. Rudy Gay should get traded relatively soon to a contender. Udoka Azubuike will probably start, and that should be fascinating to watch. Nickeil Alexander Walker should get a real chance to prove he can play in the league. Jared Vanderbilt and Jared Butler will be fun to watch shoot a ton. Lauri Markkanen is definitely washed. Talen Horton Tucker is probably relishing the fact that he will be the second option. And the jury is out on rookie Ochai Agbaji. I loved his game in college, let's see if it translates. The Jazz are going to be very, very bad this year. They know that and are going to run out a bunch of dudes who will be trying to prove things. Anything more than 25 wins would shock me.

That is it for today. Come back tomorrow for the next three teams.

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.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

The SeedSing 2022 MLB Playoff Preview

The 2022 MLB season has come to an end. For myself here in Cincinnati Ohio it was a disastrous season. The Reds were bad, very, very bad. Thankfully I grew up in St. Louis, so I had something to cheer about with the Cardinals. The regular season is gone, and now it is time for the new six teams per league playoff tournament. Let’s do some predicting.

I want to start with where Ty and I were right in our preseason predictions and where we were oh so wrong. Both of us picked most of the playoff teams. We both did not see the Cleveland Guardians winning the AL Central, and I reached big time on Detroit, but most of the teams we hit on. We both overestimated the Milwaukee Brewers. I think Craig Counsel is done and Milwaukee may go into rebuild mode. I also want to give a shoutout to Albert Pujols and Aaron Judge. If not for their homerun chases, this season would have been fairly predictable and boring. I am very happy that both players reached their goals.

Now on with the playoff predictions.

The excitement kicks off with the Tampa Bay Rays going up against the slept on Cleveland Guardians. Tampa seems to always have a formula to make deep playoff runs, but Cleveland has Terry Francona. I’m going with the manager and taking the Guardians in three.

The other AL series has the young studs of the Toronto Blue Jays going against the other young studs of the Seattle Mariners. These two teams should be battling in the playoffs for the next decade, and this first meeting is a preview of the awesomeness to come. I think Seattle has the pitching advantage and come out on top in three great games.

The first NL series pits the “seemingly underachieving” San Diego Padres against the “choked the division away” New York Mets. Both teams have talent and great managers. The Mets have better pitching, that is why New York wins in two.

The last wild card series pits the old men of the St. Louis Cardinals against the big bats of the Philadelphia Phillies. This will be an easy two games and out series for St. Louis because the Phillies just do not have the talent or experience to match a Cardinals team chasing destiny.

That will set up a Cleveland Guardians vs New York Yankees Division series. I may be crazy here, but I think Cleveland wins in four. New York is the better team, but again Cleveland has the better manager. I also think the Yankees are tired from the Aaron Judge spotlight and manager Aaron Boone will not live up to the moment. He will be fired within hours of blowing this series.

The other AL Division series pits the Seattle Mariners against the Houston Astros. I really, really want Seattle to shock the world, but Houston is just way more talented. Also the cheating scandal has seemingly been forgotten by fans, or the boos just don’t bother the Astro players. Houston will win in a three game sweep.

In the NL the Mets face off against destructive force known as the LA Dodgers. This is a tough series to predict. The Mets have two great starting pitchers and a lights out closer. The Dodgers have a lineup filled with All Stars. I think after five beautiful games of baseball, the Mets will advance.

The last division series will be a throwback to the late 1990s when the St. Louis Cardinals take on the defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves. I know the Braves won it all last year, but St. Louis has way more postseason experience. Add all that experience with a a lineup that can match the Braves hit for hit, I think the Cardinals win in four.

The ALCS will have the scrappy Cleveland Guardians up against the villainous Houston Astros. The Cinderella story ends here for Cleveland and Houston will win in five.

The NLCS will be a rematch of the epic 2006 series between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright, and Yadier Molina all played in that series. Just like in 2006, the Cardinals will break the Mets hearts in seven games.

That means the 2022 World Series will be another postseason rematch between the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals. The last time these two teams met, Houston was in the National League and the Astros bounced the Cardinals out of the playoffs. Pujols remembers that series, as do Wainwright and Molina. Houston won the last game at Old Busch stadium and sent the old place off with a Cardinals loss. The three old men in St. Louis will not let Houston send them off to retirement with a loss. In six games the St. Louis Cardinals will win the 2022 World Series.

There it is, my 2022 MLB Post Season predictions. At the beginning of the year I picked the Cardinals to be a team of destiny and to win it all and I’m sticking with that prediction. Enjoy the postseason and let’s play ball.

RD

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

Come and support us and the podcast on Patreon.

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

SeedSing Classic: The Definitive Top 10 Little Debbie's Snacks

This article originally premiered on June 7th 2019

Growing up in the 1980’s and 90’s meant that your house probable had a few different boxes of Little Debbie treats. We would get one after playing outside, have a box handy when we played games with our friends, and definitely had one in our school lunches as our nutritionally mandated dessert. My lunches always consisted of a sandwich with mustard and one piece of Carl Budding ham, a baggie of chips, some form of fruit, a Mendota Springs, and a Little Debbie. That overtly sweet snack cake was the highlight of my entire school day.

Today I am feeling a bit nostalgic and thought it was high time we gave a definitive ranking of what are the ten best Little Debbie treats from my youth. I know there are some new treats in the collection of Little Debbies, but I did not have those in my lunches. If it came out after 1993, I did not eat it. Also there will be no “rolled” cakes on here. The rolled cakes suck, as do the Banana Twins and any marshmallow pie. Take my advice and skip those boxes.

Remember this is the definitive list. We have performed super science to get the correct rankings. Don’t agree? Come at us.

10. Pecan Pie

The mini pecan pie in the tiny aluminum tin is hard to find these days, but it does still exist. Many people hate this extremely sweet and sticky creation. Those people are wrong. The pecan pie has it’s problems (the sticky and sweet parts) but it was always a treat to gulp down a whole round pie in two or three bites. Just make sure you have some Mendota Springs to wash all that sweetness down.

9. PB Crunch

The PB Crunch was like a lower grade peanut butter Twix. Cookie, peanut butter and chocolate, plus the Twix like shape could confuse anyone’s eyes. While the peanut butter Twix is super deliciousness, the PB Crunch had a little blandness. Yet, peanut butter and chocolate can never be a total disaster.

8. Caramel Cookie Bar

Another Twix clone but switch the peanut butter for caramel. Also the shape was flat and not long and slender like the PB Crunch. The caramel was mildly gooey, and could mess up your nice Izod shirt with the popped collar, but was still a decent end to a balanced meal.

7. Cosmic Brownies

Many people are more familiar with the Walnut version of Little Debbie brownies, but if you got the candy sprinkled top of the cosmic variation, you were in luck. The brownie itself is another love it or hate concoction. It was more of a fudge like consistency and a fairly mild chocolate taste. Add the thick frosting (usually half the damn thing) and the colorful candies, the Cosmic Brownie was a faux chocolate delight.

6. Fudge Rounds

Here is where you start getting into some of all time great Little Debbie treats. The Fudge Round had a great cake top and bottom, and an awesome low grade chocolate mousse in the middle. All parts of the Fudge Round tasted amazing, it just usually suffered from not enough of the middle part. Many times that filling only covered half the cake sandwich. Little Debbie needs to do better.

5. Zebra Cakes

The two square cakes that come in the plastic package have many different versions. There are fancy, chocolate, and a variety of seasonal offerings. The OG Zebra Cake has them all beat. You can actually taste the chocolate and vanilla together. When you sit and peel the cake apart, outstanding. Pulling pieces of frosting off and unwrapping the cake was like a zen ritual to get you through the rest of the school day.

4. Oatmeal Creme Pie

I am not that big of a fan of oatmeal as my cereal or my cookie, yet the Oatmeal Creme Pie is all kinds of awesome. The grittiness of the top and bottom cookie combined with the ample amount of creme in the center is a tactile and taste sensation your tongue will thank you for.

3. Cherry Cordial

For some reason the Cheery Cordial seems to be a seasonal offering (Valentines Day I think?). That is not right because this is hands down a culinary masterpiece. You have another cake sandwich with a creme like filling. This time it is a cherry filling, vanilla type cake, and the entire thing is encased in a chocolate shell. The edges always have a little more crunch than the center, and it is glorious. This needs to be a year round thing.

2. Nutty Buddy

Peanut butter and chocolate are almost perfect. Add a couple layers of wafer cookies, and Little Debbie achieved near perfection. The Nutty Buddy is better than most candy bars, that is how good this thing is. It is another one of Little Debbie’s offerings that ask you to take the treat apart. Peeling layer after layer of cookie, peanut butter, and chocolate is the near perfect end to any meal. There is almost no equal to this delight.

1. Star Crunch

The Star Crunch not only equals the Nutty Buddy, it surpasses it. The caramel is not overly gooey, the cookie is the perfect balance of crunchy and chewy, the crisp rice adds an extra pop to every bite, and the chocolate brings the whole package together in one of mankind’s finest creations. The Star Crunch is a perfect dessert for any occasion. There is no snack cake/treat equal to the Star Crunch. It is quite simply the greatest Little Debbie ever made.

There it is, the definitive rankings of the ten best Little Debbie treats of my school days. You can not go wrong with any of these ten delights. One’s day is made all the better when devouring these creations. Now it is time for us all to go out and revisit some of the sweetness of our youth. I may just go and house an entire box of Star Crunch’s when I’m done writing here.

RD

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

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

RIP Jim Redmond, Great Sports Dad

Jim Redmond passed away today at the age of 81. Outside of learning that Jim was a West Indian immigrant to the United Kingdom, I know exactly one thing about his life and that is I why I am memorializing Jim Redmond today.

During the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games, the British track team had some hope in the 400 meter race. Runner Derek Redmond had one a few medals in international competition and had posted the fastest time in his 400 meter heat. In the semifinal heat Derek came around the last turn and pulled up with a leg injury. Derek had torn his hamstring. Medical officials started to make their way to assist Derek off the track, but the runner wanted to finish. In agonizing pain, Derek hobbled his way to the finish line. It did not look like he was going to make it. Through the crowd on the track came Derek’s father Jim. He put his arm around his son and helped him finish his first, and last, Olympic race. Take a look for yourself.

Jim Redmond was not trying to be a hero, he was being a dad. He was there for his son all of his life encouraging and coaching. He was there at the beginning, and he made sure in worst sports moment of his son’s life, Jim was going to be there to pick him up. By being a dad, Jim Redmond gave us a moment of pure awe.

Recently my father in law passed away. He was my wife’s dad and my son’s grandfather. Over the last few weeks I have thought about how he supported his daughter, encouraged my son, and accepted me as an equal. My father in law, like Jim Redmond, was not an extraordinary man, he was one of the greatest men to ever live. In front of the public eye, or away from it, these men were great because they embodied the idea of being a dad. That is why I celebrate them today.

Rest in piece Jim Redmond. You set the bar for what it means to be a dad. Thank you.

RD

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

Come and support us and the podcast on Patreon.

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

I'm Here to Praise Coca Cola Dreamworld

I leave for vacation tomorrow, but before taking the rest of the week off I wanted to leave you all with something.

I do the grocery shopping in my home. I’m the at home parent so the chores fall on me. I like doing chores, and I especially like grocery shopping. I’ve got it down to a science too. I’m efficient, I know where everything is, I know the deals and I know when I can meander a bit. Last Monday I had time to browse, so I did. When I got to the soda section I wanted to try something different. We drink Diet Coke in our home. I know it’s bad for you, but I enjoy an ice cold one with dinner. But I do, very seldom, buy a different diet or zero sugar soda. Last week I got the zero sugar variety of Coke Dreamworld.

What struck me first was the box. It is extremely colorful. There’s lots of light blue and red. There’s also the black that’s synonymous with Coca Cola. The mini cans, 7.5 ounces, were on sale. A ten pack was less than four dollars. That’s a bargain. And I figured if I didn’t like them, the cans are small enough that I could take them down anyway. I had one last week for lunch and I didn’t notice much of a difference. Then I had one the next day and liked it a little more.

I didn’t look up what the flavor was at that point so it was hard to pick certain flavors I was tasting. My wife had one but wasn’t a fan. She said it was too sweet. She asked me what it was supposed to taste like so I googled it. The Coca Cola website said it “explores the realms of the surreal, the imaginary and the otherworldly”. That sounds like a description of an A24 movie that I’d be super in to. But this is a drink. With a little more digging I found out it’s citrus and fruit. No particular citrus or fruit, just notes of those flavors. I guess it’s the flavors you think of when hearing citrus and fruit. So it is kind of imaginary I suppose. But when I found out that was the flavor profile, I liked it even more. I had another the next day and found myself craving one last evening. With each small can, I enjoy this Dreamworld flavor more and more. I’m a big fan of citrus. I used to squeeze a lime into Diet Coke sometimes. With this new flavor I guess I won’t have to do that all the time. It says it’s a limited release, but I wouldn’t be bummed if it sticks around for a bit. It’s better than some of the other drinks that other companies try, like chocolate cake Dr Pepper.

I definitely think people who drink diet sodas should give this one a go. I think it’s great.

Ty

Should I Care Anymore About Blake Griffin the NBA Player

Earlier today, and I will be doing a full NBA preview soon, I saw that Blake Griffin signed a one year deal with the Celtics. The news kind of came and went for me. It had no real pull at all. I thought, good for him, but how does he help Boston? Then I got kind of sad for Blake Griffin. Let’s discuss.

There was once a time when Griffen was a real MVP candidate. He was one of the top 20 players, easily, in the NBA. He was on ESPN every night. The Clippers became relevant when he and Chris Paul were there. He was always on the All Star team, he was a perennial all NBA player, he was winning dunk contests and he was an all time heel for non Clippers fans. I could not stand him. I actively rooted against him. I do not dislike the Clippers, but I disliked the Lob City Clippers. But I also respected his game. He did the things that I liked. He dunked hard. He had amazing hops. He was a rebounder. He started to make his jumper. He reminded me of my all time favorite player, Shawn Kemp. He was the newer, and as much as this hurts to write, better, Shawn Kemp.

Then stuff kind of went haywire. The Clippers gave him a max deal, but then traded him in year two of that deal. And it is not like they traded him to a contender or even a nice city. They offloaded him to Detroit. When he went there I thought it might work, and I thought it was rad that Detroit was getting a star player via trade. None of it worked. He moped around. He never went too hard. He lost a step. He didn't try as hard on both ends of the floor. The Pistons never did much with Griffin. It was at this time when I started to forget about him. He was still in the league, but he was way off of my radar. I'd hear his name come up and kind of shrug. And this is only a few years after getting a max deal and being the force that he was in LA. Griffin was actually becoming more of a comedic voice than a basketball player in my eyes. He was showing up at Improv shows and on podcasts and I kind of forgot that he was this incredible basketball player at one point. Then last season he left Detroit as a free agent and signed with Brooklyn. The move was met with a whimper on my end. I did not even care that he was joining forces with Kyrie and KD. I could have cared less. I figured he would be a bench player, and he was. He lost all his hops. He lost every step. His jumper was erratic at best. He wasn't the heel anymore. No one was afraid of him. He was not the problem. It got bad enough for him that he was played out of playoff series at times. He could not be counted on anymore. And that made me sad. Again, I have never been a fan of his, but I respect his game, especially when he was young.

The news of him going to Boston feels very blah to me. But the more I have thought about it today, maybe he is going to do what Vince Carter did. Carter was a very similar player to Griffin. But Carter bought into being a bench player. He played his role. His jumper became very good. He tried on defense. He became a fan favorite all over again. Carter handled the back half of his career perfectly. Maybe that is what Griffin is going to do. Or maybe I hope that is what Griffin is going to do now in Boston. Hopefully he is ready to be a bench guy. Hopefully he is ready to be a full time role player. He is not the number one guy anymore. Hell, he isn't even a starter anymore. I hope that is the way he goes. I don't know, and I am not very hopeful. But hopefully he does more of a Vince Carter thing. That would be best. We will see.

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.

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

RIP Coolio

Coolio passed away at the age of 59 last night. I was picking my son up from football practice and RD texted me to let me know. I did not believe him at first. I texted him a few times back asking too many questions. While my kid was eating his dinner I did a little internet research, and sure enough, RD was right. I found myself stunned. This is happening far too much lately. Ever since 2020 it seems like people I like, or liked as a kid, are passing away. Biz Markie, Sharon Jones, Phife Dawg, too many to name. And now we have Coolio.

I am a big time hip hop fan. It is my favorite genre of music. I have been listening to hip hop since I was a pre teen. My brothers would have me listen to A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, Kurtis Blow, Erik B and Rakim, a whole slew of legends. When I started to branch out on my own I found a bunch of other rappers I liked. Timbaland and Magoo were big for me. I loved Mase and Puff Daddy. The Notorious BIG is the greatest rapper of all time in my opinion. But when I reached back in the recess of my brain, Coolio was one of the first rappers that really grabbed my full attention. First off he had that wild hair. It was braided, but the braids stayed airborne and he would even fit them through hats when he wore them. But, like most other people, it was the song "Gangsta's Paradise" that really pulled me in. This song was amazing. First off, the beat is a Stevie Wonder song, "Pastime Paradise". My folks listened to a good amount of Stevie Wonder, so I was able to recognize the beat pretty quickly. But it was Coolio's voice that really pulled me in. He was rough, but not DMX, another rapper we lost too soon, rough. He was smooth, but not Biggie smooth. Coolio had his own voice. It was different and unique and cool. I was instantly in. I went out and bought the single. I saw the movie "Dangerous Minds" simply because "Gangsta's Paradise" was the main song in every trailer. I learned every word so as not to mess it up when I would sing it.

I was all in on Coolio after this song's release. I even got mad at Weird Al when Coolio got inexplicably mad at him for doing "Amish Paradise". But they squashed whatever fake beef they had, so it was cool for me to listen to Weird Al again. But it wasn't just "Gangsta's Paradise". Take a song like "Fantastic Voyage". He samples the song with the same name from 1981, but Coolio made it hip. He made it fun. It was a hit. There is the song "1,2,3,4 (Sumpin New)". This song is dope and he has what I perceive to be a Michigan football jersey on in the videos. That makes it so easy for me to be a fan. "C U When U Get There" came out when all rappers were doing ballads, but Coolio did it the best. He had a way about him. He was like a good Biz Markie. And that isn't to say that Biz Markie was bad, he was kind of corny. Coolio could do goofy raps but get away with it because he was wildly talented. I understand that these are his biggest hits, and it sounds cheesy to remark on them, but they were hits for a reason, especially considering my age at the time of their release. He also did the theme song for "Kenan and Kel", which was required viewing for me.

Coolio also acted. He was in "Batman and Robin", which is too perfect. He appeared as himself in "Leprechaun in the Hood". Again, perfect. He did spoof movies. He did "Daredevil", so superhero movies as well. He was in cheesy sci-fi movies. It seems like he knew what he was good at, what would sell tickets, so he went with it. He also did TV. He was in "Martin", "Kenan and Kel", "The Nanny", "Fear Factor", "Futurama" and "Black Jesus". He also had his own cooking show. Again, he knew what he was the best at, so he went for it. Coolio also won a Grammy, American Music Award and three MTV VMA's. The guy had a long and successful career. It is a shame that he has passed away.

This one hurts. Coolio was a big part of my growing love for hip hop. He was one of the first artists that really pulled me in and it stuck. Coolio will be severely missed. Rest In Peace.

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 "Reboot"

Monday night my wife and I started the show "Reboot" on Hulu. I was listening to "Comedy Bang! Bang!" and Rachel Bloom was the main guest. I did not know she was on the podcast, but I do enjoy her comedy and she mentioned that she was on this show. I had heard about it because I am a Keegan Michael Key fan, but I never really registered watching the show. But after seeing some of Key's press stuff, and then hearing Bloom on "CBB" only further pushed my interest in the show. It also helps that Steve Levitan, who created "Modern Family", created this show as well. So we decided it was time and we tuned in.

We watched the first two episodes and I was hooked. My wife told me yesterday that she was thinking about the show at work all day, so we went ahead and watched the next two episodes that were available. We got caught up on all four eps last night. This show is great. It is funny and insightful and smart and witty and well acted and just fantastic. I was telling my wife on Monday night how well casted this show is too. Keegan Michael Key is perfect for the male lead. He plays his character so well. He thinks he is a better actor than he actually is. I love the scene from the first episode when they show him auditioning for the role of a gangster. It is incredible. Key plays this type of character so well. Judy Greer is equally as wonderful as the female lead. Greer is in seemingly everything, but now she has a chance to shine in a starring role, and she is nailing it. I enjoy every minute she is on screen. Johnny Knoxville is almost too perfectly cast as the former drug addict turned comedian turned actor twice over. Knoxville is my favorite person on the show. He is so funny. He is out of his element in the real world. He is even better on the show. I adore Knoxville in this show. Calum Worthy plays the former kid actor turned adult. He is a total fish out of water. He still acts like a little kid. He still brings his mom, more on her in a minute, to set everyday. He is very fun. Rachel Bloom plays the creator of the show. She is so good. I totally buy everything about her in the show. She just brings it and she is crushing right now. Paul Reiser is the original creator of the show, and Bloom's dad. Reiser is amazing here. He is having something of a career resurgence. Reiser has always been a good actor but it feels like he is bringing it even harder as of late. The rest of the cast is solid as well. Everyone they got to play bit parts is totally nailing it. They are crushing it. The writing is top notch as well. While not on the level of "30 Rock", this show has a ton of jokes in each episode. They also get some drama in there as well. There are some notable heartfelt moments here. I also like the look and feel of the show. It is very reminiscent of early "Modern Family", when that show was at its best.

I definitely recommend this show. It is so good on so many levels. Check it out.

Ty

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

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Ty Listens to "The Mars Volta"

Today I decided that I was going to listen to the new Mars Volta record. I had been putting it off for a bit. I really like Mars Volta. I enjoy their music. I have seen them live before and it was a great show. But their older music used to meander a lot. They would put out an album that would be over an hour long but only have eight songs. I liked parts of each song but there would be other parts that felt superfluous. I would find myself skipping to the parts I liked and going over the stuff that felt unnecessary. So I had reservations about the new album. I also decided to not read much about it because I knew I would listen to it one day. And as I said, that day was today. It was this morning in fact, when I was bringing my kids to school.

I am here to say that this new record is my favorite. It is very, very good. The very first thing I noticed was the song length. No song goes over four minutes. The record has fourteen tracks and it clocks in forty-four minutes and some seconds. I feel like the time off really let them hone their craft. The band sounds awesome. Cedric Bixlar-Zavala's voice is as great as it has ever been. He has a very unique, very distinct sound. He may be an acquired taste, but I like the band's music and I especially like Bixlar-Zavala's voice. He sounds great. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is back and better than ever. He is one of the greatest guitar players that has ever walked the Earth. He is wildly underrated too. No one ever talks about him when they talk about the best current guitar players. He sounds incredible on this new record too. I feel like he does a bunch of extra stuff here too. He is multi-talented. He is like Johnny Greenwood. I started listening to this band because of him. He is awesome. The rest of the band is up to the task. The bass sounds phenomenal. The drums are the perfect prog rock sound. The keys and horns are pretty dope. It all works to perfection. They compliment Bixlar-Zavala and Rodriguez-Lopez masterfully.

Back to the song length. As I stated before, they really tighten it all up on this new album, which is called "The Mars Volta". I turned it on and was waiting to see how long the first song was going to be. When it was less than three minutes I thought, oh, one short song and the rest will be six plus minutes long. But then the next song was a shade over three minutes long. Then another three minute long song. Then a two minute long song. Needless to say, the longest song on the record is four minutes and thirteen seconds long. That is perfect. I like my music to be nice and short. Four minutes long is right at that edge, and The Mars Volta ride the line to perfection here. It is such a great revelation for me as a fan. Now they just do all the great stuff without the unnecessary jamming. It is the way it should be.

If you are a fan, as I am, I definitely suggest checking out this new record. It is tremendous. It is quite an accomplishment.

Ty

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

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Good Riddance to the Pro Bowl

I was reading some sports news yesterday and came across the news that the NFL was getting rid of the pro bowl.

I was inexplicably excited upon reading the headline. I have never liked the pro bowl. I am not a fan of all star games in general. They are glorified scrimmages. No one really wants to be there, they have to because they've been voted in. Sure, they may get a nice bonus and a trip to a nice location, but it feels like a waste of time. I watch the NBA all star game every year and I am usually disappointed. I do like the new Elam ending they changed to, and it makes the final quarter exciting. The players actually look like they are trying. They are going hard. But for three plus quarters prior to that, it is not great. I have not watched the MLB all star game in years. I used to like it because every single team has to send a player. But the game is boring, like most baseball games. I do not watch hockey, so I have no idea what the all star game is like. And then we have the pro bowl. The pro bowl might be the worst of them all.

My son has gotten into football the last year plus and was adamant about watching the pro bowl this year. I tried to talk him out of it, laying forth everything I just told all of you. But he was determined. So we watched, and he convinced me to watch with him. And we were both so very disappointed. He kept asking me why they weren't tackling people, why everyone was falling down or going out of bounds, why they were not going after punts and field goal blocks. He was just totally confused. I tried to tell him that none of these guys wanted to get hurt. That they were saving themselves for next season. He also wanted to know why no one from the Rams or Bengals were playing. I had to explain that they were playing in the Super Bowl in the following week, so the pro bowl was not even a thought for them. That only further angered him. It sucked.

Now the NFL has decided to strip the whole game. They are going to do some skills competition and a flag football game. This is the perfect idea. Flag football is fun. It is fast paced, hard to grab flags and very high scoring. I love it. My son played flag football for two years before starting tackle this year and it was awesome. I am also a big time fan of skills competitions. I adore the skills stuff during the NBA all star weekend. It is the best. It has replaced the dunk contest as the most exciting part of the whole weekend. I hope that it will be the same thing for the NFL pro bowl weekend. I am curious to see how many balls a wideout can catch in a minute. I want to see these exceptional athletes do obstacle courses. I want to know how far these NFL QBs can throw the ball. I would love to see defensive players tackle a dummy and have a way to determine how hard they are tackling it. I want to see kickers kick 60 yard field goals. I crave skills competitions. They are way more fun than watching professional athletes go 25 percent and do live interviews on the field during a pointless all star game.

I would love it if every professional sports leagues did away with all star games and just made it a weekend of skills competitions. That would be best. I have a lot of faith in the NFL doing this. Hopefully this starts a trend. Time will tell.

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 "House of the Dragon"

The other night my wife and I started "House of the Dragon". We watched "Game of Thrones", my dad was talking up this new show and it is a prequel, so we were pretty easily on board. It did not take much convincing for us. But we did put it off for a bit due to life. My son plays football everyday, my daughter plays soccer and my wife works all the time. For those, and so many other reasons, we could not start the show until Monday.

That being said, we have already watched three of the five episodes available on HBO Max. The show is good. There has been some dope dragon action so far. The characters are pretty well written. The actors are doing a great job to this point. I am fully in on the parts of the story that I understand. I like the easter eggs they have placed here and there. It is cool to hear some names from "GOT" taking place in this world almost 200 years before. It is crazy and violent and gory and nuts. I like it a lot.

The show is also very confusing. I do have a hard time following other story plot points. That is my fault too. There is so much going on that it can be hard for me to keep track. I'm also not nuts about all the politicking that is going on. I wasn't a fan of all the meetings in "GOT", and in "HOTD" they do about the same amount. There is a good amount of time spent talking about who is king, who will be the heir to the throne, people going behind other people's backs,just a lot of shadiness. I understand the importance of it all, but it can be a bit much at times. The violence can also go a bit overboard as well. I have seen a ton of heads caved in, half of other people's body's cut up, eyes gouged out and sword cuts. I think as I get older my stomach gets queasy easier. I can't handle some of the stuff I could when I was younger. But all in all this show is very well done.

The story, the one I understand, is interesting. The time jump in episode three didn't affect me as much as I thought it was going to. I read there is another time jump, involving 10 years with new actors taking over, but so what. That is how these shows should work. I have loved all the dragon stuff too. I think that might have been my favorite thing about "GOT", and in this show, that is the story of the main family. I also like seeing some actors I recognize from comedies doing more serious stuff. The main guy, the king, is in most of the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost movies. I've seen him play any number of comedic roles. But seeing him in "HOTD" has been cool. Rhys Ifans, who was in "The Replacements" and a "Spiderman" movie, is the hand to the king. He is his top assistant basically, and he is devious as hell. It is very cool to see him do this kind of role. The girl who plays the young princess is awesome. She is badass and powerful and under control. She is like a less crazy Danerys. I also really enjoy the cast not being filled with white people. It is pretty dope to see a melting pot of characters in this world. I also think it is hilarious that people are mad about this, even though this show is in no way real at all.

I'm excited to see where this show goes from here. I can only imagine it will get more and more crazy, and I like that. I also have to think there is going to be so much more dragon content, and that is what I'm here for. "House of the Dragon" is very good and has potential to be great. Check it out if you haven't yet.

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 "Atlanta" Season Four Premiere

Last week the fourth and final season of "Atlanta" premiered. I just watched it this past Monday. I am going to take this final season slowly. I want it to marinade in my mind. I want to really take my time. I want to watch each episode two or three times. I have watched the first two episodes twice to date. I need multiple views to understand at least half of it.

"Atlanta" is also the best show on TV right now, full stop. Donald Glover is doing magical things. He is hitting home runs left and right. I've talked at length about how awesome and innovative he is on every platform I can. Glover is the best. As is "Atlanta". The final season two episode premiere only further hammered that home.

The first episode has them back in Atlanta. They were overseas last season, but now they have all returned home. But it isn't like it was before they left. Something is different. Something is off. Darius has a crazy lady chasing him all over the place. He is just trying to return an air fryer, but this lady won't quit. Paper Boi is going on some wild scavenger hunt involving the death of one of his favorite rappers. And Earn and Vanessa are in some kind of weird time loop at an outside shopping mall. This episode was nuts. The whole thing with Earn and Van was crazy. They kept running into exes who were seemingly braindead. I was floored. I didn't get what was going on until the second viewing. The whole thing with Darius started off wild enough when he was returning the air fryer. He is oblivious to the store getting robbed with all the alarms going off. He is so focused on what he is doing. But then we have this crazy lady chasing him in her scooter with a knife. I'm still a little confused by this. And Paper Boi goes on one of the coolest, and most fun looking scavenger hunts I've ever watched. I want to do that. And that had the best payoff. And when the episode ended, all I could think of was how in I was on what they were doing.

The second episode is up there as one of my favorites of all time. This one is primarily focused on Earn and his therapy sessions. There is a minor second story involving some lady who is getting a book deal. All throughout we see Earn going to therapy. He seems to be really getting something out of it. He appears to be growing as a person. It is a nice little insight to him maturing. His therapist is great. His friends make fun of him, but he pays it no mind. There are three sessions we see, and with each one the story gets bigger and bigger. They kept cutting to this lady who is getting a book deal, and her life seems sad, but on the come up. Near the end Earn tells his therapist that he wants to try some of the techniques he has learned on his own. He tells him he is going to take a break. The therapist is totally fine with this. After that we see the lady going to do a reading of her new book. It is a disaster. The kids are bored. They all stand up and leave, except for one, who fell asleep. We then cut to Earn at a bar and we see a video of the lady crashing and burning. It turns out that Earn has paid all of these people to ruin her life because she was racist to him, Van and their daughter at the airport. He is out to destroy her. When Paper Boi and Darius show up he is all hype to tell them what he did. He does and they tell him he is crazy. As they walk off and Earn is by himself, he sits back and says that maybe he should continue with his therapy. It was an incredible moment.

This show is the best absurd comedy on TV. They are doing things that I have never seen before. They are so, so, so good at what they do. I highly recommend everyone watch this show. Go back and start at the beginning and then be amazed at how far they have come. "Atlanta" is a true classic of a show.

Ty

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

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The "Comedy Bang! Bang!" A-Team Cannot Be Beat

I was listening to the most recent episode of "Comedy Bang! Bang!" and I came to a comedy realization. When Scott Aukerman invites Jason Mantzoukas, Andy Daly and Paul F Tompkins on the pod, it is some of the best improv comedy in the game. These four work so well off of one another. All they need is a little bit of a premise and they are off.

On the newest "CBB" it was about as simple as it gets. Mantzoukas was there as himself. He is one of the unofficial guest hosts of the show. Then Andy Daly was Byron Denninson, the royal watcher, and PFT was on as The Grizz. These are some tried and true characters. They have been on a few times, and with each appearance the story gets bigger and better. This time around Mantzoukas and Aukerman were just talking about stuff that was going on in the world and they happened to mention some people dying. This was when Daly came in as Dennison. He told them about Queen Elizabeth and Daly was as funny as ever. He is so good at this character. This is a keeper. I very much enjoy listening whenever Dennison is on. Then PFT came in as The Grizz and totally blew up all of the stuff Dennison was talking to them about. He took off the covers to Dennison's whole story. It was great. I loved every second of it. Then both of them turned into Australian versions of their characters. It was wonderful. While they were doing the Aussie version of their characters was when I realized how awesome all of this was. I was listening to four great improvisers doing their thing at the top of their games. It ruled. Mantzoukas and Aukerman took a backseat, and that was the right thing to do. PFT and Daly were riffing off of one another. One would tell a joke and the other would just go with it. They would do multiple minutes on so many different topics and it all worked. I was cracking up. The stuff with the Grizz and Dennison was great. But the stuff with the Aussie versions was even better. When Daly realized he had to change his accent, that was gold. It was so real and so funny. And PFT didn't make fun of him, he just went with it. It was incredible. At times Mantzoukas would chime in with a joke and it was excellent. Aukerman was there to keep it all moving and he is so good at this task because he is a top notch podcast host.

I was in awe of all the things they were doing. I was sitting in my car cracking up, but also appreciating the greatness I was listening to. I was hearing some of the best people in the game do their thing. I saw that these four were on the episode and I immediately got hyped up. I knew it was going to be great. But when I listened it was even better. It exceeded my very high expectations. I appreciate when professionals all get together and perform so well. It can be magical.

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 "Brian and Charles"

Over the weekend I watched the movie "Brian and Charles". This was the date night pick in fact. It was my turn, I remembered seeing a trailer for this movie and it was on sale to rent on VOD. That was all I needed to be sold on it. It also helps that the movie is 90 minutes long, it is a comedy and it is small.

For those that may not know, and I imagine there are a lot of you, the plot of this movie is very straight forward. We have a lonely inventor living in Wales who goes out scavenging one day. He finds a mannequin head and decides to build a robot. He succeeds and then some stuff happens. Again, very easy to follow and very straight forward. But in watching this movie I found it to be so much more.

I am a big "Napoleon Dynamite" fan. It is one of my all time favorite movies. It is comfort food for me. I got a lot of the same feelings from "Brian and Charles". Both movies are small. Both movies have tiny casts. Both movies take place in what many would consider to be boring places. Both movies focus on an outcast who makes friends their own way. And both movies have some of the best friendships I have ever seen. "Brian and Charles" is one of the best friendship movies I have ever watched. I read a review afterward that called it the "bromance movie of 2022". I couldn't agree more. That is what this movie is about deep down for me. Brian is lonely. He has no one in his life. He is seemingly on his own. He has no siblings. His parents are not around anymore. He only interacts with a few of the townspeople. He is just by himself. But then he makes Charles. At first you do not think he works, but after the storm something clicked in Brian and he was fully functioning.

The first fifteen minutes of the movie are Brian being interviewed and then building Charles. After Charles comes to life the movie picks up. The scenes between Brian and Charles are magical. We get to see Charles essentially grow up. He has childlike tendencies at first. He reads a dictionary to learn the language, but he still acts like a little kid. He gets upset when Brian leaves. He gets incredibly excited like a puppy when he returns. Charles asks questions constantly. He learns to dance, to sleep, to eat and to interact. As the days pass Charles gets older. When he is a "teenager", he starts to act up. He wants to go out and experience things. When Brian relents things go a bit haywire. Sure Brian gets a crush to go out on walks with him, but he and Charles are constantly at each other's throats. At one point the town bully comes and steals Charles after initially meeting him. Charles is treated awfully there, and Brian and his new girlfriend hatch a plan to save him, Spoiler alert, it works. How it works, I will not spoil that, it is funny and great. I loved that scene. The way the movie ends is perfect for this movie as well.

While watching I never lost the smile on my face. Even when things got a bit more serious they always undercut the drama with a joke or two. The actors all fully committed and it shows. They went for it and they hit a homerun. This is a unique movie even while it is a common movie trope. I loved this movie. I have already recommended it to a few people who share similar opinions on movies. "Brian and Charles" is a true hidden gem. I definitely recommend seeking it out and watching it. It is so worth your time.

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 "Operation Flagrant Foul"

Yesterday I watched "Operation Flagrant Foul". This is one of the new Untold documentaries on Netflix. I am a big fan of the Untold series on Netflix. They do cool, interesting sports stories that I may not have been aware of, or even heard of before. That being said, I am well aware of the Tim Donaghy fiasco.

For people who may not know, Donaghy was arrested and sentenced to prison for gambling on professional basketball. To make matters worse, he was a professional referee. To make matters even more worse, he bet on games he was personally reffing. It was all bad when you really think about it.

What I enjoyed about this doc was the backstory we got. Donaghy has a very interesting past, one that I was unaware of when this story first popped. He was married, had kids, had good friends, was a highly rated ref, he lived a relatively normal life as a pro ref. He made some questionable calls as a ref, but he did pretty much everything by the book. He even called stuff on Michael Jordan when that was very much frowned upon. There is a great part in the doc when Donaghy recalls calling traveling on MJ. He called it, and after calling it, while walking down the court Phil Jackson approached him. He yelled at Donaghy and Donaghy told him that he got the same memo that everyone got. Jackson said he gets it, but pointed to Jordan and said, "you don't call it on that guy". That was a fascinating look into the NBA at that time. The NBA has always favored stars, and this was when it seemed to be at its highest. From there Donaghy went about his job. Then a few of his childhood friends, who considered themselves professional gamblers, contacted Donaghy about certain NBA games.

From there on out it got nuts. Donaghy would call other refs to see when they were working. He would look at the schedules and check out the crews for each game. He would contact ref friends and try to get info on certain games they were calling. He started out with his childhood friends, but from there it grew. He was making big money. He was able to buy things for his wife and kids that he was never able to do before. He was living life being rich. He was getting a taste of the supposed good life, and he liked it. He gambled on 47 games and won 37 times. That is too close of a coincidence. It is too fishy. I knew he gambled on games but I did not know it went this deep. It was getting bad enough that he started to get scared. He was afraid that he was going to get caught. But he didn’t stop. Then one of his buddy's said the FBI contacted him. The FBI had contacted him a few times actually. This was when Donaghy knew he was in trouble. He decided he had to confess. When he did he got majorly screwed over by some people, maybe some people named David Stern, RIP. The whole Stern situation was revealing. I did not realize how much of a boss he actually was when he was the commissioner of the league. It was as close to the mob as anything I have seen in a movie. I also found it pretty eye opening that the three main guys of this movie seem to still be lying constantly. They cannot stop themselves. They just vomit words out of their mouths until they believe what they are saying. It is crazy.

All in all this was a solid doc. I knew some of the stuff, but some other stuff was news to me. I like when I can learn something new about a story I thought I knew everything about. I recommend this to fans of basketball, especially fans my age. It was pretty cool.

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 Cheer on Pujols Chase for 700

I have said it many times before and will say it many more times, but I am not the baseball expert here at Seedsing. That is RD's domain. He knows the game better than anyone I know personally. He loves the MLB and I do not. But I live in Saint Louis. It is hard to not notice the Cardinals, especially when they are playing well.

The Cardinals are having a good year. They sit at 84-59 right now. They are eight games ahead of the Brewers with thirteen games left in the year. They are going to be in the playoffs. It is almost assured. The only teams with a better record in the NL are the Dodgers, Mets and Braves. That's it. This also happens to be the last season for Yadier Molina, who I believe is the greatest catcher to ever step on a baseball field. I believe Adam Wainwright is going to retire too. He has been a wonderful pitcher who has won big, big games and multiple World Series rings. And then we brought Albert Pujols back for one last ride. I wasn't thrilled when they signed him, but it seemed like a cool idea. Why not bring a former MVP superstar back. Sure he is in his 40's, but he can still swing that bat. And it was cool to see him teamed up with Waino and Yadi. It is like a blast from the past.

The thing that has made this season so special, why I am kind of paying attention at this current moment, is that Pujols has 697 career home runs, just past Alex Rodriguez and is only three away from 700, a holy grail number in the MLB. Pujols has also kind of been on a tear lately. He is not an everyday player anymore, but it seems like every other game he is hitting a homer. He may get in to pinch hit, and bam, he hits a homer. Or he will get the start at first, and in his second or third at bat he will hit another bomb. When he got to 695 I got involved because he was close to passing A-Rod, who I am not a fan of at all. I cannot stand him. I wanted Albert Pujols to pass him. I feel like he had tied him up immediately. It may have been the very next game after 695. I was pumped. He was tied, and I was certain that he was going to pass A-Rod. It took a few games, but when he did it, I loved every second of it. I soaked it all in. It was great. I was coaching my son's ball team that night, but we were all following the news on our phones. Then Pujols hit 697. Even more distance between him and Rodriguez. Awesome.

Now I am at the point where I almost need him to get to 700. I just do not know how anyone could walk away from the game when they are that close to history. I remember being a kid and being angry that Emmit Smith stayed in the NFL so long just to break the rushing record. Now I get it. He was always going to be a Hall of Famer, but breaking the rush record means he is always going to be mentioned as an all timer. That would rule. Now if athletes maybe stick around too long, I do not blame them. When they are this close to history I want them to go for it. If I were an MLB pitcher I would groove Pujols fastballs. There are thirteen games left, as mentioned above, and I would be playing Pujols as much as he wanted. If he asked to get in the game, you better believe I would put him in. It is not like the Cardinals need to win X amount of games for positioning. They are pretty much set where they are going to be set. And, the way Pujols has been swinging the bat lately, he would only help the team.

I do not watch the MLB anymore. It is too boring. But with Pujols chasing 700, you better believe I will be watching and rooting for Albert Pujols to get 700. That would be amazing, but also fitting if he were to do it with the Cardinals. I'm here rooting for you Albert. Let's get to 700. Good luck.

Ty

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

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A Nice Run Helps Chase the Blues Away

Yesterday was an exhausting and annoying day. I had a good amount of stuff to do. Some of it was fun. Other stuff, not so much.

I started the day by getting coffee with my dad, which was great. I got to see him and my mom. I spent the whole morning over there. That was nice. When I got home I got some stuff done. I went for a run. I had a good lunch. I got the laundry folded and put away. I did accomplish some things. But the rest of the day was just frustrating. I was late to pick up my daughter at school. My son got out of his fancy school later than normal. I ate a snack that I shouldn't have. I had to pick up my son and his buddy early from football practice for a baseball game. The baseball game was where it all boiled over. I lost it. I had to remove myself at one point because I thought I was going to holler at a bunch of 10 year olds. But I didn't. I just went home annoyed and went to bed angry.

I woke up this morning and I still felt kind of off. But then I went for a trail run. Wednesday is my day for a longer run during the week. I went to one of my favorite trails here in the STL, DeClue out in Wildwood. This is a good trail with technical areas, nice hills, lots of flats and it is flat out beautiful. I got there a little after 9am and got started on my run. I was going slow at first, to work out the sleep kinks. As I got about a mile in, my mind wandered to what I was currently doing. All the frustration from yesterday disappeared. I was out in the woods by myself. I only saw three other people and they were all riding bikes. I basically had the trail to myself.

As I got further along in the run, it is just short of eight miles, I found that I had forgotten all about yesterday. I was happy. I was doing something that I love. I was taking it all in. It was glorious. As I was driving home I caught myself thinking about how much better I felt. I let all the nonsense wash away. I realized it wasn't all that important. There is no reason to get so upset at useless things. I have been walking on a cloud since finishing my run.

That was when it all hit me, running is my sanctuary. I feel so much better when I go for a run. I get angry when I haven't gone on a run for awhile, but when I get that run in I'm instantly better. The trail is even better. I can really escape when I am in the woods. Sometimes I bring headphones, and other times I am alone with my thoughts. Both are great. When I have headphones I can listen to music or a podcast. It depends on the mood. Podcasts are good for keeping pace. Music is good if I want to go a bit faster. When I go without headphones I get to listen to nature. I love hearing all the animals. I saw a ton of deer eating and running this morning. I also like to hear the ground below me. I also like being out there in nature. It is the best distraction. I see a therapist, and he is great. But the woods are almost, almost as good. Running can be great to clear my head. I can let it all out and I instantly feel better. That was how it was this morning.

Running is the best. I love the way it makes me feel. It is wonderful for health, both physical and mental. I have been amazed at what I have been able to accomplish since I started running about 8 years ago. I am also amazed at the community that I have become a part of. I also like seeing people I know accomplish new goals. Running is the best. It has changed my life and I wanted to give it a shout out today. It all came to a head this morning and I was stunned at how much it changed my attitude. Running rules. It is the best.

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 "Better Call Saul" - Final Season

I finished "Better Call Saul" this past Sunday. I had been putting off watching because I did not want it to end. This show has been pretty special. I did not know what to think about a prequel to what is one of the best shows of all time, "Breaking Bad", but they pulled it off. I think taking a character like Saul Goodman, who was a bit more comic relief, was the best way to do it. It was not a rehash of what we all saw with "Breaking Bad". Hell, they didn't bring too many people back from the show. There were cameos here and there, but outside of Mike and Gus, nothing too crazy.

This show worked so well because they told Saul's story from the start of his lawyer career. I liked going back and watching him become Saul. He started as Jimmy McGill, but he ended as Saul. Sure, minor spoiler alert, he wanted to be called Jimmy again at the end, but he was still known as Saul by some criminals.

This last season has been anxiety riddled, non stop action, dramatic and as satisfying as one could have wanted. He became Saul, albeit slowly. He ended relationships. He screwed over people close to him with no regard. He became a criminal. He did devious things. He got involved more with Gus and Mike. There was the minor storyline involving Saul and Walter White being stuck together. We got to see Walter and Jesse Pinkman again. There was a wonderful moment between Jesse and Kim. Kim Wexler, played by Rhea Seehorn, was incredible. She was the best part of this final season, maybe even the whole series. She had a moment in the penultimate episode, when she breaks down, that was acting at its finest. I felt so very bad for her and where she was in her life. Carol Burnett showed up for the final four episodes and she was amazing. She was not doing comedy at all. The story with her and her grandson was pretty perfect. It showed how Saul cannot leave his old life behind. He was still miserable and took advantage of people. Even when he tried to do good, when he tried to be better, he would be pulled back in by the allure of money. Saul Goodman was, and always will be a scumbag. Yet I could not help myself rooting for him. I wanted him to be with Kim. I hoped he was going to find a way out of his troubles. I thought he may even become a lawyer again. I figured he could find his way back in the game.

In the long run I felt that the ending was perfect. It was the best way to wrap up this show. They gave everyone the ending that I felt was deserved. We are talking about people who were, or did, criminal things. Even the minor characters, Saul's assistant, some people he helped out as Saul, the film students who helped him mess with people, they all did criminal things and felt the consequences. Again, even when I wanted to feel bad for them, I would remember all the stuff they did to get money and the bad feelings went away. In the end Saul Goodman and Jimmy McGill got what was coming. He literally got his comeuppance. We knew it was coming and we knew it was going to be brutal. But that was the only fitting end to this show.

"Better Call Saul" is now in the pantheon of all time great shows. It nailed the story, the writing was impeccable and the directing was top notch. Vince Gilligan knows what he is doing, especially with these characters. I love this show and will probably visit it again at some point. "Better Call Saul" was awesome.

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 "Thor: Love and Thunder"

For date night this week my wife and I watched "Thor: Love and Thunder". We both wanted to see the movie. We liked "Ragnarok" a lot, and with the whole crew back we figured this one would be great too. While not great, I thought this movie was okay. It could have been better, but there are little critiques I have here and there.

What made "Ragnarok" so great was the way they used comedy and seriousness all within the superhero world. "Love and Thunder" was almost too goofy. They leaned way too far into the humor aspect. I like a good comedy, but with the whole superhero thing, you have to juggle those two things. We are talking about a world in which superheroes and villains exist. There are bound to be some serious things going on. There was another break in the whole vibe of the movie every time Christian Bale was on screen. He played the villain. He was Gorr the God Butcher, and he did a pretty good job. But whenever he was on screen he was overacting. He was too serious. Even when he was trying to be funny/menacing at the same time it came off as too serious. It was creepy. He was creepy. And I assume that is what they wanted in this role. But whenever Bale wasn't on screen, or when they just focused on Thor, it was joke after joke. There was too much. Even when they tried to make him more serious it was done in a light tone. And I appreciate Chris Hemsworth and his acting ability and the fact that he can be funny. But in this movie it was just too much.

The movie also moved kind of slowly. It was definitely slower than most MCU movies, especially after the more recent MCU movies. It kind of took awhile for it to get to the point. And it felt like it took awhile. Scenes went on for a little too long. It was too much at times. The stuff with Russell Crowe was a bit over the top. So was some of the Christian Bale stuff as well. They meandered a bit longer than they did in "Ragnarok". They went away from what made "Ragnarok" so great.

Even with these critiques, this movie still worked. It was more fun than some of the other MCU stuff. I liked that there wasn't all this backstory. I appreciated that there weren't a ton of new superheroes or villains I needed to learn about. I liked that they kept the cameos to an extreme minimum. I appreciated that scenes with all the gods featured gods from Greek mythology. These are gods we all know or have heard of before. Hemsworth was solid. Tessa Thompson rules. She is such a badass. Taika Waititi does great as Korg. Natalie Portman's return was great and much deserved. Bale was chewing the scenery, but he was still fun and creepy. I liked the look of New Asgaard. The music, even with it being Guns N Roses, was fitting.

All in all, "Love and Thunder" was uneven. There were parts I liked and parts I didn't like so much. I'm glad I watched it at home and not at the theater. I had fun but it felt slow. I do not get the mass criticism from some MCU fans, but they are an unreasonable bunch. "Love and Thunder" is a fine movie. Watch it at home if you have Disney +. That is the best way to consume the 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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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.