The What If of Ben Simmons

It's beginning to look like Ben Simmons is going to retire from the NBA. He was offered a deal from the Knicks, rejected it and then his agent let him go as a client. I am kind of stunned he didn't take the deal, but maybe this has been the plan all offseason.

Simmons has had an odd career. He was a number 1 overall pick and looked like he was going to be a big deal for a long time in the NBA. He did struggle during his lone season at LSU, and maybe we should have read more into his poor shooting, but he did so many other things really well that the 76ers were more than willing to overlook the other stuff. He was rookie of the year, I believe, in his first season. Then was an all star and an all NBA caliber player. He was the point guard of a very good 76ers team and he and Joel Embiid had the look to be a dominant force in the East. Then he passed up a wide open dunk in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and his career took a hard turn.

Simmons was able to do all the things that the 76ers envisioned him doing when they took him first overall. He was bigger than other point guards so passing was a cinch for him. He could bully smaller guys guarding him. He and Embiid ran a solid pick and roll game. Simmons was a good defender. He was a jack of all trades type of player. But the pass with a wide open dunk and the aftermath must have shook him to his core.

After he took a good portion of the blame for how that series ended, the Hawks won in 7, he demanded a trade. That didn't happen, so he acted out until the 76ers hand was forced. They eventually traded him, after it was shown that he was talking on his phone at practice, not being engaged, not caring about what was going on, for James Harden. The Nets seemed happy to let Harden go after the Kyrie, KD and Harden experience didn't work for myriad reasons. I think the Nets also thought that they had a point guard for the future and that he may be more inclined to shoot and play harder not being in such a bright spotlight. Harden kind of forced his way to Philly too, stating that he wanted to play with Embiid, and not have to deal with an anti-vaxxer and an oft injured superstar. Both sides seemed happy to oblige. But it didn't work great for either team. Philly got the full Harden experience. He would have great regular seasons and flounder in the playoffs. The Nets acquired a player in Simmons who was getting injured more often, and becoming even more afraid to shoot the ball. He would post videos every summer of him working out and shooting threes, but that never translated to on court success. He seemed to become so afraid to shoot that he would pass up layups and attack the rim simply because he didn't want to be fouled and have to shoot free throws. He would occasionally shoot free throws, and if he made them, he would have the audacity to shush the crowd. That is child's play my dude. He regressed so much that he became a punchline. And people started to comment more on his clothes than his game. He would wear some wild stuff while not playing due to injury. He then signed with the Clippers last offseason, and many people, myself included, thought he could be a solid fit. That never worked either because of his fear of shooting. He sparsely played and was eventually let go. And now he has no team, and is rejecting offers from teams that could possibly get him back to some kind of relevancy.

Ben Simmons NBA "legacy" is a weird one to me. He came out like a house on fire. He was so different and unique. And he was an awesome defensive player. But he seemed to lack that killer instinct and the want and will to be an all around basketball player. Maybe he never really loved the game, and if that is the case, enjoy retirement Ben Simmons. You came in like a flash, but seem to be leaving the game with a whimper. He and Joel Embiid could have been great. Oh well, we will never know that now. 

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.

The Kawhi Leonard Thing is No Big Deal

I was biding my time before giving my thoughts on the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard situation. Here we go.

For those that may not know, it has been reported that Kawhi Leonard signed an endorsement deal with a company called Aspiration. This deal was for 28 million dollars over four years. I guess Aspiration was a company that "planted trees". The whole saga started when it was reported that Kawhi Leonard never did a second of work for this company and that the Clippers may have used it as a front to circumnavigate the NBA salary cap.

This all sounds very salacious and very intriguing. When the news was first reported I thought it was going to possibly end any threat of the Clippers winning a title for decades. I figured they would wind up in a similar purgatory as the Magic or current Bulls. Then I kind of sat on this news and listened to a few other podcasts and thought a little harder about it.

I will say, while listening to "The Flagrant Ones" earlier today, I fully agree with Sean Clements comparing this Clippers situation to Deflategate. When I first heard of Deflategate I figured that would be the end of Bill Belichek, Tom Brady and the Patriots. None of that happened, and in the long run, Deflategate was no big deal at all. Tom Brady likes his footballs to be a bit under inflated, the Patriots won a few more Super Bowls and Bill Belichek is the current head coach at UNC. Nothing truly awful ended up happening, and after a long, drawn out judicial hearing, it was found that it was truly no big deal how over or under inflated footballs can be. The size of a football truly had nothing to do with the Patriots, Brady and Belichek being a dominant team. I then thought of Michigan and the whole sign stealing thing that was just wrapped up with a rather minimal punishment. Again, Michigan started doing what almost every other NCAA football team already does, they found someone who was exceptional at deciphering signals and they ran with it. By no means do I think it truly affected any outcomes of any games. Michigan had an unreal roster, a coaching staff that is currently thriving in the NFL and they won every game fair and square.

Now, with this whole Kawhi and the Clippers thing, I don't think anything major will happen, nor does anything need to happen. Sure, they may get stripped of a second round pick, but I do not think they deserve any punishment until we know the full story, which we may never know. Did Kawhi Leonard sign a lucrative deal with a phony company? Sure. Did it affect the outcome of any Clippers games? Nope. Did the Clippers try to circumnavigate the NBA salary cap? Probably. Do I care? Absolutely not. I have to imagine pro teams do this on every single level. I bet this happens in pro soccer all the time. They give out tons of money to stars routinely. I would not doubt it at all that the big time guys the Lakers have signed over the years have had side deals. I'm sure my favorite NFL team, the Packers, have done some side deals to land the stars they've gotten over the years. Basically, this whole Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration thing is really no big deal. I have zero concerns over what he did. I would bet that his Uncle, Dennis, look him up if you don't know who he is, was the driving force behind this deal. That would mean the Clippers are totally free from any punishment since he is in no way involved with the Clippers.

To me this is no big deal that is only out in the open so major sports networks and websites can get clicks. We live in a fantastical society that craves salacious stories to make ourselves feel better. That is exactly what this whole thing is to me. 

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.

Better Late Than Never on "An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn"

I've been in a movie watching phase as of late, as my blog would let you all know. So, after watching yet another movie yesterday, I want to talk about this one. The movie is called "An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn".

I remember hearing about this movie ages ago, and then kind of forgot about it. Then, while channel surfing last Saturday, I stumbled upon it on premium cable. I had a little time before college football started, so I watched about 40 minutes of it. That wasn't enough, especially after talking to my buddy Kirk about the movie. He said he liked it, and that I should watch it to get the full jist of the movie. So, with my free time yesterday, I settled in and turned the movie on.

I'm here to say, I really liked what I saw in this movie. This is one of the strangest, wildest and funniest movies I've seen. The quick story of this movie is this mysterious musician, Beverly Luff Linn, is doing a one night show in some podunk town. In this town we meet the locals, who are an odd bunch of eclectic strangers. Beverly Luff Linn is played by Craig Robinson. He only communicates in grunts and facial expressions. Matt Berry plays Rodney Von Donkensteiger, Luff Linn's partner and somewhat of a personal assistant. He's possessive, but he also genuinely cares about Beverly. Emile Hirsch and Aubrey Plaza play a married couple, the Danger's, but there is definitely dissonance between them, and when Jermaine Clement, Colin, shows up to rob them, this is where the movie kicks into high gear. Aubrey Plaza, Lulu, runs off with Colin and they go to the hotel where Bevelry and his crew were staying. They pretend to be a married couple, and this only makes Beverly more upset. Apparently Beverly and Lulu have a past that is unresolved. Colin begins to fall in love with Lulu, but she does not reciprocate this feeling. Emile Hirsch, Shane, is clearly upset and he gets his employees, Zach Cherry and Sky Elobar to help him get her back. All while this is going some of the strangest and funniest stuff happens throughout the movie. People enter the scene and just yell at one another over nothing. Beverly goes swimming at one point and this entrances Lulu. During this swim session, Beverly lets out some wild guttural screams. It shocked me at first, but then I found myself chuckling. The hotel manager yells at people. The owner of the hotel has a wild haircut and weird way of talking to people. Shane has stolen from Lulu's brother, and he is constantly going into the coffee shop and yelling at Shane. Every scene between Colin and Lulu was so cringeworthy and made me laugh very hard. The way Colin yells at himself was great. Shane stands like a gremlin the whole movie. He is always hunched over, and that choice by Hirsch made me laugh. And the fight scene at the end was so sloppy, on purpose, and I loved every second of it.

This movie won't be for everyone. But if you like absurd and loud humor, it is perfect. I thought it was great. I laughed the whole time. Hell, it even had heartfelt moments sprinkled in there. What I liked best though, was the nostalgia of weird indie movies in the mid 2010's. These types of movies used to be put out more often than not and they have always held a special place in my heart. I wish we had more of them now. I definitely recommend checking out "An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn", especially if you're into absurdist comedy. 

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.

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

Better Never Than Late on "Infinity Pool"

I have been in a movie watching mood as of late, and I have wanted to watch weird movies. While looking at the many streaming services, I came across the movie "Infinity Pool". I vaguely remember seeing ads for this movie and they intrigued me. I liked the dark look of the trailer and I do tend to enjoy most movies with a Sarsgaard in them. I also find Mia Goth oddly enticing, and she happened to be the other person on the poster. I had free time yesterday afternoon, so I decided to check it out.

I truly did not know what I was getting myself into. I saw that it was directed by Cronenberg, but it wasn't David. I guess this is his son, so I figured it would be weird. And this movie was all kinds of weird. The long and short of the plot goes like this, rich couple goes to a weird resort, makes some friends, gets drunk, accidentally kills a person on a walk, goes to jail, finds out they can get clones of themselves to pay the consequence and Sarsgard becomes addicted to this lifestyle. All along the way, some crazy stuff happens. First off, the excursion to the woods takes a weird, sexual and disturbing turn. Skarsgard goes to the bathroom, gets accosted by Goth, she pleases him and he acts weird the rest of the trip. Then he accidentally hits the walker. He and his wife, Cleopatra Coleman are terrified, but Goth and her friend tell them to act like nothing happened and they will take care of this. This is where the clones and prison come into play. Now, the whole idea of having a clone of yourself deal with your consequences was intriguing to me, but the way the rest of the movie played out frustrated me to no end. When Sarsgaard first gets into the clone making machine, the movie becomes like a 70's psychedelic music video. It's all flashing colors, swirly, tie dyed like symbols and odd music. We see things during his trip in the goo, but can't make anything out. After his wife realizes he is obsessed with this cloning business, she leaves and the movie gets even wilder. Goth, Skarsgard and their buddies start to commit crimes and each time, they have their clones take the fall. They go harder and harder until Skarsgard has to fight a "dog" version of himself. This whole climatic scene is one of the oddest and strangest things I've ever watched. Oh, and the prolonged orgy scene a few moments earlier was not at all fun. It was upsetting and strange.

While I was watching this movie I grew more and more frustrated with each passing minute. The story never came together the way I wanted it to. I kept watching and saying to myself, "this must be what rich white people do when they run out of ideas". I grew frustrated at the direction and acting. Again, I like Skarsgard and Goth, but their performances seemed weird for the sake of weird. They weren't telling a story. They weren't interested in exploring the complications of this whole idea of letting a clone take the fall for you. The movie really started to lose steam for me near the end, the first time they catch Skarsgard on a tour bus.

I wanted to like this movie. It had stuff that I thought I was really going to enjoy. I like the actors. I figured with a name like Cronenberg that it would be gory, but also tell a good story. None of that happened for me. I found the movie to be a rich white person fantasy and I have no interest in watching a movie like that. The only saving grace, I did watch the whole thing because I wanted to see an unsatisfying conclusion I suppose. But, in the end, I'd pass on recommending "Infinity Pool". 
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.

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

Relax People, Michigan Football Will Be OK

Michigan football got beat this weekend, and they didn't look very good throughout the whole game, save for a few plays. Let’s discuss.

The Wolverines looked a little bit like they did last season offensively, which if you all remember, they were horrendous on offense last season. The defense did keep the team in the game for as long as it could, but it was for naught. Oklahoma was the better team and Michigan got outplayed and outcoached by them. That was how I felt after the game. I did also think that this is what a team led by an 18 year old freshman QB would look on offense. And this is what a team being coached by a second year head coach in his 15th official game as the head coach. Are these excuses? Maybe. But, I'm a lifelong Michigan Wolverines fanatic and this is how I saw the game.

My biggest mistake/regret after this game was looking at the internet though. I loathe this whole "quick thoughts" or " instant reaction" culture we have. Last week, after FSU beat Alabama, it was the end for Kalen DeBoer. He was finished. Alabama was back to being irrelevant. There was also the talk of the SEC being finished as the best power conference. This was all due to the instant take culture. This week it was like that for Michigan. And Florida for that matter. Michigan got outplayed, so that meant that Bryce Underwood was not the answer at QB. Or, that he was being put in jail by the game plan from the coaching staff. The o line wasn't immune to the hate. Nor was the wideout corps. According to the internet geniuses, they had all the answers to fix these supposed problems. Sherrone Moore was taken to task as well. He was called everything from an idiot to unprepared. Again, the internet coaches had all the answers, mainly that Moore isn't ready to be the head coach at Michigan. Billy Napier suffered the same fate, but he may actually get let go by Florida. This whole idea though, these people online who think they know more than the actual players and coaches, the people in the building, is making me so frustrated as a fan.

I love Michigan. I have a Wolverine tattooed on my back. I used to let the outcome of games affect my mood. But, I never went online and griped about it the way others do. I may have written a blog or two, but it was after much thought and consideration of the previous game. I have also grown up and matured. I fully understand that these are 18-22 year old kids. I saw a thing that said "now is the time for my mood to be affected by 18-22 year old kids", and it fully rang true to me. I had a moment watching this game, when I knew it wasn't going to be good for Michigan, where I simply moved on. I didn't get upset. I didn't go online and air grievances. I texted my dad, who is the biggest Michigan fan I know. And then went to sleep. I didn't let it upset me or ruin my day. I didn't do some crazy nonsense for the world to see. I didn't go and do an instant reaction blog or podcast. I watched the game and turned it off when it was over.

That didn't stop the online trolls. They were so bad Saturday night that I had to actually unfollow some fan pages. I couldn't deal with the hate and vitriol that was coming from supposed fans. I despise the fact that these trolls seem to think they know better. In reality, they have probably never played the game, or if they did, they never made it out of high school, and they most likely rode the bench. These people don't understand the nuance and preparation that goes into football. They don't appreciate the hard work that these kids are putting in at practice and during their bye weeks. But in the long run, they don't appreciate this team. They may call themselves fans, but they are trolls. That is as simple as it gets. After unfollowing these fan pages I have felt loads better. I don't have to see that nonsense when I do decide to go online and it has been great.

To these trolls, if they are reading this, take it easy. Have a Xanax or whatever you need to calm down and grow the hell up. Be an adult and a good influence on the younger generation of fans and stay off the internet. And, always and forever, Go Blue. 

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.

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

Ty Watches "King of the Hill"

I was kind of unaware that they were going to do another season of "King of the Hill" until one of my brothers mentioned it to me at coffee a month or so back. Then it dawned on me that they did announce an updated season. We were going to see what the Hill family and friends were up to since they were last on tv.

I loved "King of the Hill" during its initial run. It was funny, made great observations and had some poignant and moving episodes. I always sided with Bobby because he was the kid in the family and he was, for me, the funniest. I often think about the episode where he gets gout to this day and it still makes me laugh out loud. Hank and Peggy Hill were great too, but Bobby was my guy. The rest of the cast held a place for me too. The Supennewsinpons, I'm sure I misspelled that, always fought with the Hills and it was always pretty funny. Dale, Boomhower and Bill were great side characters as Hank's buddies. John Redcorn and Dale's wife's relationship had tons of jokes that made me crack up. Joseph, Dale's kid, although it is clear that John Redcorn is his real father, was a nice mix of his folks. And everyone else did a great job. I will say with this new season, it was kind of a bummer that Brittany Murphy tragically died so young because that meant no Luanne. And it was pretty obvious that they were going to address Hank's dad passing, but they did do it in a very funny way, and then heartfelt way, throughout this new season.

Going into this season I really didn't know what to expect. I also had my guard up because I really do not like all the remakes or retelling or bringing back old shows for a new season. Right from the jump though, I enjoyed what I saw. It had the same cozy feeling of the original "King of the Hill". The way they explained the reason for taking a break was that Hank and Peggy moved to Saudi Arabia for Hank's job. This led to some funny stuff throughout the season. The way Peggy announced Saudi Arabia was great. Hank found out that he loved soccer. There were times when they missed the life they had overseas. I thought they explained that really well. They did great with Bobby, making him a chef that co-owns a restaurant. He does Japanese/German fusion food, and that is so perfect for his character. He also has the same voice from the original, and it was wild to hear that voice come from a 21 year old Bobby. And I loved it. Hank's buddies are back, although Dale is now voiced by Toby Huss, who I thought did a serviceable job. The stuff with Bill and COVID was great. Dale is as wacky as ever and Boomhower is just living his best life. The task rabbit episode featuring Boomhower does a great job of explaining his whole vibe I felt. And having Joseph and Connie back, and hanging with Bobby, it was just great.

This season did a very good job of coming back because they did a good job of sticking to what made the original series so wonderful. They update some jokes and talk about all that has been going on in the world, but in the end this is a show about a typical family in Texas. And is it clear that Hank Hill is still the main character. This show revolves around him and I'm here for it. And the way it ended definitely lends itself to more episodes, which I hope they do.

If you liked the original "King of the Hill", check out this new season. It is well worth your time. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram.

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

Ty Watches "Imported"

Yesterday I was scrolling through streaming services trying to find something to watch. I started to search sports docs because I enjoy watching those types of movies. They're informative and I find them relaxing. I wound up watching a sports doc on Hulu called "Imported".

“Imported” is a movie about overseas professional basketball players. I'm a sucker for any sports doc that focuses on basketball. Basketball is my first love when it comes to sports. I was intrigued by this one because I have always been interested in the life of an overseas professional athlete. It helped that the movie was less than 90 minutes long. So, I clicked on it and sat back and watched.

Now, is this a great sports doc, not really. A great sports doc is a movie like "Hoop Dreams". That is the blue ribbon of sports docs. I also enjoy stuff like "Last Chance U" and "The Battered Bastards of Baseball". "Imported" is not on that level. But it was pretty damn watchable as a movie. I found myself interested in hearing directly from the athletes themselves. And some of the stories they told were wild. One guy talked about warming up for a game and all of the sudden his shorts were on fire. Apparently the fans were throwing flares in the crowd. A few of the pros talked about playing in Greece and how they never got paid their full salary. They would go and ask the owners of each team and there was always some kind of excuse or workaround. That would have driven me nuts. A few of the female professionals would talk about people in other countries that would just stare at them when they walked down the streets. Some said it was because their team was in the playoffs, but others said it was their size and the way they looked. It was shocking to hear all of this. What really got to me was the fact that some of these players said they preferred to play overseas. Some of these players are stars in the country they currently play for. Others, namely the women players, said that they make so much more money overseas.

"Imported" was very interesting with some of the facts they put out there. The doc did focus on one guy who helps players find teams and sets them up overseas. And while I appreciate what he is doing and how hard he works, I could have used less of him and more of the players. The players' stories interested me the most. So while "Imported" may not be the best sports doc that has ever been made, it kept my interest and had some good information. I was intrigued by what I watched. I would recommend it to anyone that is a basketball junkie such as myself. This is not for the casual fan, you need to be hyper interested in basketball to watch "Imported". 

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.

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

Ty Watches "Twisted Metal" Season 2

I finished season 2 of "Twisted Metal" last week and boy oh boy did I love it. I thought the first season was solid, but you could kind of tell that it was made on a razor thin budget, and we were still dealing with COVID to a degree. That being said, they did a very good job with what they had. I thought the story of season 1 was great and when it ended I was fully interested in where they could go from there, especially after what they did to Thomas Haden Church's character, which was much deserved in the world of the show.

Well, with season 2 they clearly got money and a runway to kind of go full steam ahead. And they most certainly did this time around. Season 2 was bigger, grosser, funnier and a total blast. I don't usually go back and rewatch seasons of shows this new, but I will most definitely be doing that with "Twisted Metal". We have some people from season 1 back, and they were much needed. Quiet, Stephanie Beatriz, and John Doe, Anthony Mackie, are back and they get back together pretty quickly in this new season. Stu, Mike Mitchell, is back and even funnier and the writers kind of go the distance with his character. Sweet Tooth, played by Joe Senoa and voiced by Will Arnett, is just as violent as he was in season 1, but he is also way funnier this time around. But it was the inflection of a bunch of new characters that really made season 2 sing. Patty Guggenheim plays Raven, who is one of the many people that run New San Francisco. She had a rough time in the past, which has made me the hardass she is in the world of this show. She is badass and willing to fight anyone in her way. Tiana Okoye plays Dollface. She is the leader of a movement of women that want to make things fair in this world. They have an odd way of going out and showing that they are brutal, but she does have good things in mind to make the current world a fairer place. Saylor Bell Curda plays Mayhem. She is younger and has only lived in the world of the show, so she is incredibly green. But she is also feisty and crafty and is somewhat of a fast learner. Richard De Clerk plays Mr Grimm. This dude is pure evil and he and Sweet Tooth have a past. When he shows up on screen this season, things get serious. Tahj Vaughans returns as Stu's best buddy Mike. But he has a new friend, former cannibal Dave played by Johno Wilson. These three are the comedic relief for the most part and they are both hilarious. Lisa Gilroy plays Vermin. She was unrecognizable, gross and brutal. Michael James Shaw plays Axel, my favorite character from this season. He is totally badass, and the episode when he has an intervention was very funny. But the best addition this season was Anthony Carrigan as Calypso. He is so eerie and so evil and fits this horrendous world so perfectly. He creeped me out everytime he was on screen, but I have to assume that was his job in this role. If so, he absolutely nailed it. Having all these new people show up could have been a problem, but the writers and actors knew exactly what to do and they nailed it.

I really liked season 1 of “Twisted Metal”, but season 2 went above and beyond and they totally nailed it. I really hope they get a third season. This show can do so many more things in the world of "Twisted Metal". And I really want to see how they take the ending of season 2 and make a whole new season out of that story. I fully recommend this show. I have thought about getting the video game just to see how the two compare. Until then, I'm going to go back and rewatch this kickass tv show. 

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.

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

I'm a Fan of Michigan Football, Not a Fan of Dave Portnoy

College football hit us all with a bang this past weekend. I know that there is a "week 0", but that is like the calm before the storm. Week one is when all the action really starts to pop off. Let’s discuss.

Week one is also when the pregame shows really give it their all. I have pretty much stopped watching any pregame stuff. I find it to be long, boring and pointless. It features former players or guys who never played but think they know the game popping off at the mouth and making picks that mean nothing to the actual game. It has gotten so bad that broadcasters are starting to openly pick who wins based on friendship. Go look at some highlights from the TCU-UNC game last night on the ESPN pregame show if you don't believe me. One such station that likes to boast about their pregame show is Fox. Again, I don't watch, but it seems like lots of people do. The only time I see even a minute of this show is during the university of Ohio State-Michigan game. And that's usually the tail end of the show.

This year Fox made some news when they hired Dave Portnoy to be part of the pregame team. This caused a whole stir because Portnoy is a big time Michigan fan and the first game that Fox was going to do a pregame show this season was in Columbus. It got so heated that rumors were flying around on the internet that Portnoy was being banned from the stadium due to his allegiance to Michigan. I always thought this was overblown, and sure enough he was there this past Saturday.

Try as I might, I did see a very little bit of his performance and it kind of drove me nuts. Look, you all know my love for Michigan and Wolverines football. They have been my true love in the sports world for a very long time now, as long as I can remember watching football games in fact. So, for Dave Portnoy now to be considered the ultimate Michigan fan, that makes me sick to my stomach. Sure, Portnoy does seem to be a genuine fan and he does seem to love this football team. But, he is a blowhard and a douchebag. Barstool Sports is the broiest and doucheiest sports website on the internet. It is just The Chive for sports. I despise Barstool, all of its offshoots and its most loyal fans. It is a site that can be as toxic as any on the internet and everyone is as mean as they can be because they can hide behind a screen name. Portnoy himself is an idiot and a loudmouth. His pizza reviews are dumb as hell. I hate how he acts like he is an actual part of the Michigan football program. He is probably a donor, but he is a low level donor at best. He did nothing to secure Bryce Underwood's commitment or had a single thing to do with the 2023 national champion team. He has been on the internet trashing "Sinners" lately. How devoid of taste and knowledge does he have to be to think "Sinners" is not a masterpiece.

What makes me angriest is he is now the face of Michigan fandom. People who don't know the sport all that well, or even really seem to care, when they see Dave Portnoy now they are going to think that is how all Michigan fans behave. We don't. I'm not on the internet every minute of everyday saying some wild stuff about other teams or other players. I'm not making internet videos that make me out to be a martyr because I may or may not have been banned from a stadium. I don't go online and actively troll fans of other teams. I like to sit down with my dad, who is a lifelong Michigan fan, and simply watch the game and commiserate with him. When we do go to a game in person, we do meet a few Dave Portnoy types, but we tend to meet more people like us that just simply love this team and don't feel the need to constantly talk about it on the internet. Portnoy is giving Michigan fans and Michigan fandom a bad name and I do not like it. It bums me out that, simply because he has money, Portnoy has become what others think all us Michigan fans act like on a regular basis. I'm here to say that we don't. Portnoy is a small, loudmouth idiot that thinks he knows everything. He does not and I despise him and his "enterprise".

I just needed to say this after seeing his performance this past weekend. I do not stand with Portnoy. And Go Blue forever. 

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.

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

Thoughts on the Micah Parsons Trade

The Packers got a whole lot better yesterday. Let’s discuss.

While I was out picking my daughter up from school, a big, big trade was announced. When I walked into my home, my son had told me that Micah Parsons had been traded. I hadn't heard about it yet. I was too busy playing games on my phone waiting in the parent parking line. So, when he said Parsons was traded, I immediately asked to which team. I had mentioned on our football preview podcast that some rumors were floated about that the Packers may be one of the teams to watch. When my son said it was the Packers, I did a little jump for joy in my head.

This was such a good, and needed move from the NFL team that I root for. The defense has always been good, not great in Green Bay, or at least since I have become a big time fan. Pairing Micah Parsons with Rashan Gary is an absolute homerun for me. I did think that maybe they had to trade Gary to get Parsons, but that was fortunately not the case. All the Packers had to give up for one of the best edge rushers in the game was two first round picks and Kenny Clark. While I'm a little sad to see Kenny Clark go, the first round picks mean nothing to me. The Packers are so young that building through the draft isn't a necessity at this current moment. And if Kenny Clark is the only interior d lineman out the door, and the trade off is Micah Parsons, sign me up all day, everyday.

This is amazing. It reminds me, not to invoke and compare current players to legends, when the Packers got Reggie White. It was so unexpected and transforming for the team. This is giving me the exact same feeling. It is also wild because Green Bay has never really been a team to go out big name hunting. But, when they have done it in the past it has worked out very well. Reggie White helped shore up the defense and he eventually got a Super Bowl ring. They went out and lured Charles Woodson away from Oakland, and he won Defensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl. Last year they traded for Josh Jacobs and he was one of the top rushers in the league last year. Big names have usually given them very good results. I kind of expect that with this Parsons deal. Parsons is so good, he commands double teams and he will open up gaps for linebackers and other d lineman to shoot and clean up any messes he has helped to create. He will free up Gary to get more pressure and hopefully stay healthy longer since he won't have to fully carry the d line. The secondary should benefit from hurried throws and QBs having to create out of the pocket. This is a tremendous win for Green Bay.

And dare I say, Green Bay definitely fleeced Dallas. The return was not that much when you think about it. And this all happened because Jerry Jones' racist ass didn't want to pay one of the better edge rushers in the league. I will take that everytime. If that senile old man is too dumb to get more out of a talent like Parsons, please send him to Green Bay and make them a true threat.

This puts the Packers in a contending category for me now. I have higher expectations than I did even two days ago for this season in Green Bay. Right now though, I'm going to bask in the glow of the Packers getting Reggie White 2.0. This made me a very, very happy fan yesterday. 

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.

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

Ty Listens to Idles

A couple days ago I wrote about my newfound love for new wave music. I mentioned in that blog that I was going back and listening to older music to see what I missed. I am still doing that, but I will say, all thanks to my brother, I have found a new band, new to me, that I have started listening to for a little over a week now, and I have been a big fan of what I have been hearing.

A couple weeks back my brother, myself, my dad and a buddy of mine were all out for coffee. During these coffee runs we talk about a ton of stuff, but the conversation usually ends up with some discussion about music. We all like music, like everyone else, and we all have our personal tastes. I do go to my brother a lot with music recommendations, and he has delivered time and again. During this particular talk the topic found itself on punk music. Kirk is a big fan, my brother seems to like some and my dad and I have never listened to punk all that much. This particular day my brother Seth told us about a band he liked called Idles. I had never heard of them before. I don't think Kirk had either. We talked about them, Seth told us what he liked about them and we all left for home.

To be honest, I had kind of forgotten about them until I saw a headline on the internet that said, "Watch the Sweatiest Tiny Desk Concert", and it was featuring Idles. I watched a little bit of the tiny desk show and I found myself intrigued. Idles was crushing this particular tiny desk show. They were amped up, playing kick ass songs and they seemed to be having a hell of a time. And sure enough, the lead singer was dripping with sweat a few songs in.

After a bit of this show I watched I went and streamed some of their music. The first couple songs I heard were classic punk rock, but the lead singer had a voice that I could not get out of my head. It was raspy and he could do slower songs, but he excelled when doing punk music. This led me to checking out some of their records. I listened to a few tracks off "Brutalism" first. The stuff I heard I really liked. It was fast and heavy. They were actually singing about real life issues and their feelings. It was different from most punk rock for me. Next was a track or two off of "Joy as an Act of Resistance". Again, they were singing about real life things, but they went even heavier on this one. The tracks I heard reminded me of what I consider real punk rock. But the singer's voice was standing out above everything else. Listening to a few tracks off these records, and then getting into a run of LCD Soundsystem, led me to their most recent record, "Tangk". LCD Soundsystem is featured on a song with them on this record, so I went and checked that one out first. It was a cool blend of punk rock and LCD Soundsystem's version of electronic. I then just let that record play in my car this morning and it is rad. It isn't just punk rock either. They do a bunch of different stuff on this album and I have been enjoying the hell out of it. This record has slower songs. It has ambient songs. It has straight up rock songs. And it has punk songs. And I like all of them.

Idles are great. I see why they're having a moment right now. These dudes are talented and they look like they're having a good time when they're playing. If you're looking for new music, and want something a little heavier, check out Idles. And if I could do it all over again, I'd start right back where I did, with their tiny desk performance. That is the best jumping off point for this kick ass band. 

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.

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

Ty Watches "The Naked Gun"

My wife and I went out to see the new "Naked Gun" movie a week or so back. Let’s discuss.

I was hesitant to see this movie. I love the original. It was one of the first times I saw a movie that made me literally laugh out loud. Prior to the original "Naked Gun", I truly do not know if I knew movies could be that funny. I had seen comedies prior to it, but "Naked Gun" was on a whole other level. It also opened my eyes to spoof movies, which I enjoy most of them to this day. The sequels weren't great in my opinion, but that first one is a stone cold classic. So, with this new one, I had my guard up. But my wife really wanted to see it, and her enthusiasm kind of helped to get me amped up. I was also a bit more on board with the new one when I heard that Akiva Schaffer, from The Lonely Island, was tapped to direct. I adore his work, "Hot Rod" is one of my all time favorite movies, and the stuff he, Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone did on "SNL" was legendary. We did wait a few weeks to see the movie, full disclosure, because we were interested in the critical response. The movie got very, very good reviews and that was pretty much all I needed to finally go see the movie in the theater.

I'm here to tell you all that this version of "The Naked Gun" is incredibly funny. The jokes start from the jump and they never let up, much to my delight. I wasn't totally on board with Liam Neeson taking over the role of Frank Drebin, he plays Leslie Nielsen's son, which is hilarious to me. But he did a very, very good job. He was up for anything the writing team and Schaffer asked of him. What I liked most about his performance was how straight he played it. Neeson is more of an action guy, but he was so good at making the jokes land in this movie, doing so with a straight face the whole time. There are no winks at the camera, unless they were scripted. Pamela Anderson was incredible. She is the female lead, taking over for Priscilla Presley, and she takes this role to a different level. Anderson was all in. Even more so than Neeson. There's a scene where she does scat singing at a jazz club and it was one of the funniest parts in the entire movie. She gives it her all and it made me laugh very, very hard. There is another scene where she and Neeson are in a dream sequence with a snowman that was riotous. It may be one of the funnier things I've seen in a movie in a long, long time. Paul Walter Hauser does a fine job as Neeson's partner. He gets to do some funny bits and he is along for the ride with Neeson. And Danny Huston was tremendous as the villain. He gets to do some very funny stuff that I didn't realize he had in him. There is a fight scene between him and Neeson where Huston made me audibly crack up. He also has another scene where he is explaining his plan to some people, and the disdain he feels for those in the room with him was hilarious.

This version of "The Naked Gun" really worked for me. Schaffer and his crew did it the right way. They paid tribute but also made it their own movie. Neeson was a fine enough successor to Nielsen. Pamela Anderson was amazing and Danny Huston may be my favorite "Naked Gun" villain to date. I recommend this movie for sure. And I'd say try to see it in a theater with others. The jokes land so much harder with an audience. I enjoyed the hell out of it. 

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.

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

A New Fan of New Wave Music

The older I get the more I have found myself going back to music I used to listen to, or flat out trying music that I never gave a chance in the past. During the pandemic I finally started listening to Talking Heads and now they're one of my favorite bands. I have recently gone back to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I forgot how much I love their album "Howl". I have listened to more Prince lately. I found that, since I like The Beatles, why not give The Zombies and The Kinks a shot, and they both rule.

With this newfound trait to give different music a try, I have found that I have been leaning a bit more on New Wave music. I almost always passed New Wave up because it seemed akin to disco to me, a genre that I'm not all that into. I would see my brothers listening to Depeche Mode and Joy Division and just pass it off as "their" music. I was too busy listening to bad hip hop at that time of my life. But, after seeing that some Talking Heads songs are considered, hell they must be, new wave, I decided to jump in. And I have loved what I have been hearing.

I went online and found a new wave playlist and streamed it. I am really digging the sound. I have heard songs from Blondie, Talking Heads, The Smiths and Depeche Mode. These are songs I already knew, but never really gave a real listen to before. I have really enjoyed what I have heard from these artists. I love the music in the background of "Heart Of Glass". It sounds like a precursor to a ton of music I listen to now. It has a cool blend of pop and hip hop. I adore the song "Just Can't Get Enough". It is groovy and fun to dance and sing along to in the car. The Smiths can be a little preachy, but I do like the guitar in most of their stuff. I have also been introduced to some bands that I had heard of before, but never listened to. I'm glad I'm giving these bands a real chance. I heard The Cars today. I had no idea they sang "Just What I Needed". That song rules and is fun as hell. I also finally listened to XTC today and they are rad. I love their sound. It is a great blend of rock and synth music. The The is another band I was introduced to today and they are cool as hell. They have more of that new wave feel, and I'm here for it. And The Psychedelic Furs seems like the members may be pretentious, but damn do they make some good music.

As I was sitting back and thinking about new wave music today, it dawned on me why I like it so much. New wave is just rock music, maybe a little pop, and then the bands added a synth player. And the synth does some fine work in the songs. It adds a whole new layer to the music. It makes it funkier and easier to dance to while bopping along in my car. I fully understand that new wave may be more of the look of the bands and their lifelong fans, but for me it is all about that synth. It is so cool and it is one of my newfound favorite instruments.

I'm going to go full bore into the world of new wave at this point, so if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know who to listen to. I greatly appreciate it. 

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.

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

A Revisit to "Clerks" is Well Worth It

Over the weekend I made another trip to the Arkadin to see another classic movie, "Clerks". This was no theme night or Strange Brew or anything like that, this was just a showing of "Clerks".

I have been a fan of this movie since the first moment I saw it over 25 years ago. When I first saw it it was unlike anything else I had seen to that point. This movie, again I was 17 years old, was so poignant and profound to me. I would end up watching a bunch between the ages of 17 and 25 or so. It was a movie I would show to friends, I had family members watch it over and over again and I would watch it on my own a ton. Then it kind of slipped through the cracks for me and I moved on to other Kevin Smith movies.

Recently I went back and watched "Mallrats". I had heard someone talk about it on a podcast and that made me want to revisit. While not a great movie by any means, it still held up for me. I was able to look past some problematic language in the movie and I was able to go back to being younger and let myself get very involved in "Mallrats". "Clerks" is such a better movie, in my opinion, though. I was so happy on this rewatch, again, almost 20 years from the last time I saw it, that it still held up. I was laughing harder than I did before. I had never seen it with a true movie theater crowd, and that added a whole other layer for me. I was around other people that like this content as much as I do. We all laughed at all the funny parts. We knew what was coming but it didn't matter. It still hit us all the same. And the writing, I was kind of shocked that it still held up so well. I have seen this movie at different points in my life and this time, with 42 year old eyes and ears, I had a different take. I found Dante to be whiny and egotistical. Brian O'Halloran played this role to perfection. When I was younger I used to side with him. I felt he was just unlucky in love and wanted something better. This time around, I was all about Randal, played perfectly by Jeff Anderson. He knew his lot in life and accepted it. He held no grudges against anyone but the customers. He told Dante off when he needed and sided with him when needed. He was always there for him, but he would give him the business too. And I understand that there are other actors in this movie, but this is all about Dante and Randal. It is their journey through an insane day at work. And Kevin Smith and his writing staff absolutely nailed it.

I couldn't like this movie more than I do now. I feel like I understand it so much better now. And I highly recommend that you rewatch it if you haven't seen it in a long time or if you've never seen it and want to know what all the fuss is about. It is so well written and acted by, at the time, non actors. And if you are between the ages of 18-50, this movie will ring true for you. "Clerks", for me, is a true classic. 

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.

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

Better Late Than Never on "The House"

I was looking for a movie to watch the other day since I had some free time while my kids were in school. I went to a few different streaming services and ended up going with HBO Max. There I saw a movie called "The House" which featured Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell. I vaguely remember hearing about this movie other than it got bad reviews. But, I enjoy Poehler and Ferrell, and the 95 or so minute runtime was perfect, so I decided to watch.

Now, right off the bat, this is not a very good movie. The story is thin, the young actors don't get much to do and for its short runtime, certain moments felt like they went on forever. That being said, this movie did make me laugh, and isn't that the whole point of a comedy? For those that may not know, "The House" is about a family that needs to make money to get their only child into college. They team up with a neighbor and open a casino in his basement. Pretty simple outline. Here's the problem, here's the solution and some wacky stuff will happen along the way. But Ferrell and Poehler made for a dynamite comedy duo, and I found myself laughing more times than not. Those two know how to sell a joke, they know how far to take it and they both seemed to be having a good time while making the movie. Jason Mantzoukas, who I adore, was the neighbor and it was nice to see him play a bigger role in a movie. He always seems to be a side character that comes into a show or movie and steals every scene he is in. He also seems to always play someone gross. Here he does do some gross stuff, but he is the comic relief for the most part. Poehler and Ferrell are still hilarious, but Mantzoukas was right there with them with the comedy the whole way through the movie. I also appreciated that the casting director cast funny people to play bit parts in this movie. Andrea Savage and Lennon Parham play neighbors that hate one another and they are both hilarious. Their fight scene was pretty great. Rory Scovel plays a yokel that just wants to have fun. Nick Kroll and Allison Tolman play scummy local political people, and they had a ton of unexpected laughs from me. Rob Heubel plays a bumbling police officer. Cedric Yarbrough plays a dad in town who doesn't pay back all his loans. Kyle Kinane is a local drunk. Michela Watkins plays Mantzoukas' ex, and she has some of the best line deliveries in the whole movie. Steve Zissis and Jeremy Renner play local thugs who want to take down the casino. And actors like Sam Richardson, Andy Buckley, Wayne Federman, Ian Roberts and Jessica St Clair are peppered throughout the cast and they all do some funny stuff while on screen.

Again, this is by no means a good movie. It does have slow parts and some jokes don't land. But I was never bored when watching. I laughed quite a bit. I found the movie to be a perfect background for if I am writing or doing some housework. Do I recommend it? If you like the people I mentioned, yeah. But if you are looking for something to move you or see epic cinema, skip it. My final thoughts, this movie had funny parts, is not a great story and it kept my attention for most of it. I guess it is a soft recommend from me, but only if you know and like the people involved. 

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.

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

"No Rain No Flowers" Shows that The Black Keys are Losing Their Style

I've been a Black Keys fan since 2002. I saw them way back then on MTV2 doing a live performance for new and upcoming bands people liked and wanted the viewer to know about. I instantly fell in love. They had a unique sound to me and I wanted to know more. They played blues rock, but it was grimy and gritty. The amps sounded dirty and distorted. I was all in from that moment.

After that performance I went out and bought every album I could. "The Big Come Up" was amazing to me. The sound they were able to achieve with just two guys blew me away. Auerbach's guitar and singing, and Carney's drumming were incredible. I then went out and found their record "Thickfreakness". To this day that album ranks among my favorites. It is some of the best distorted dirty blues you will ever hear in your life. I go back to that album multiple times a year just to be amazed at the sound. I was on a roll with these first two albums, but I wanted more. And The Black Keys did not disappoint. "Rubber Factory" is one of the better records I've ever listened to. The sound they achieved on that album blew away anything The White Stripes have ever made. "Chulahoma" is a wonderful tribute to Junior Kimborough and introduced to that whole world of blues. "Magic Potion" is an underrated gem, and those songs sounded so much better live. "Attack and Release" was a deviation from their usual sound, but in a great way. This was also the record they made with Danger Mouse, who is awesome. "Brothers" was their "pop" record, and they won awards with it. It achieved its goal. "El Camino" was a return to old school form with more band members. And "Turn Blue" was their psychedelic album, which is pretty cool. Then it gets a little stale for me personally, even though I do like some of the newer stuff. "Let's Rock" is okay on its own, but it felt like a rushed rock record. I figured The Black Keys could do better. I think "Delta Kream" is incredible and it brings them back to their blues roots. "Dropout Boogie" is a decent funk rock record. And "Ohio Players" is an okay pop album.

That brings us to their newest album, "No Rain No Flowers". This was very unexpected for me as a fan. They usually take a good amount of time off between records, but this one was less than a year wait. I also didn't listen to any singles because I wanted to go in fresh. I understood they had to cancel and replan their stadium tour due to lower than expected ticket sales, and with the free time I'm sure they wanted to make some new music. I will say, my expectations were not high going into my first listen of "No Rain No Flowers". I don't know what it is for me, but the shine and allure that they had for me in 2002 is all but gone. And that's totally on me as a fan. I neglected their more recent stuff too long. So, I feel like it is okay for me to say that I am not a fan of "No Rain No Flowers".

It is the first Black Keys album that I don't really enjoy listening to. It feels rushed, overproduced and almost like they are trying to tell fans that they can make pop music. That's not what I want when I'm listening to The Black Keys. I want the griminess that made me first fall in love. I want the lo fi sound that they had on earlier records. I want it to be just Dan and Patrick. This album feels like they have a big band backing them. The vocals don't sound like Auerbach on most of the songs. It is hard to hear Carney's drumming sometimes. I'm sure having to cancel a tour messes with your mind, but to put out an album like this, from these two stars, that really bums me out. I don't get what they're going for on this record. Maybe they want more Grammy's or something, but if that's the case, that bums me out too. I am all for artists doing whatever they want to do, especially when they've reached the heights that The Black Keys have. But this album is such a departure from what they do best and it just doesn't work for me.

I've listened to it all the way through twice now and I just cannot find things I like about it. It's unfortunate for me, but not all albums can be winners in my book, and "No Rain No Flowers" is a big, big miss for me. I want them to go back to what made them best. They need to tamp down the band members and the producers. I'd love for their next record to be just Dan and Patrick. Time will tell, but I hope the next album is better than this one. 

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.

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

Better Late Than Never on "Freaky Tales"

Another movie I was able to watch the past two weeks was "Freaky Tales". I only vaguely knew of this movie due to the fact that Pedro Pascal was cast in it. I did see one trailer near the release of the movie that got me more hyped, but I never went to see it in the theaters. Then I kind of forgot about it, until I read some people saying it was one of the better movies to come out last year. The publications were ones I like and take their recommendations. So, it was my turn to pick on date night and "Freaky Tales" was the choice.

This movie takes place in Oakland over a couple days in 1987. Right off the bat, the look of this movie was so cool. It had that retro feel to it. It reminded me of watching movies on VHS back when I was a kid. It was a little grainy and I really was into the vibe they were putting out there. There are four different stories that all coincide with each other. Each story is told in its own chapter, and it all culminates and comes together during the finale. The first story focuses on some punk rock kids that have to fight nazis to keep them out of their club. We meet a few of the punker kids, and I was immediately on their side. The nazis, like all of them, were horrific people and they deserved to be beaten. We do get a background on one of the young kids, the punkers who go to the club every night, the owners of the club and their inner meetings. The lead up to the fight scene was great. This was when the movie used montages to perfection. And the fight scene itself was gory and violent and awesome. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a nazi get punched in the throat with a studded bracelet. As soon as this story started, I was fully in.

By the end, I wanted even more. Luckily for me, the second chapter was right up my alley. This time we saw a rap group, Danger Zone, trying to catch a break. Danger Zone was two ladies and they were still working at an ice cream shop, but just needed a break. Lucky for them, a local promoter saw them perform and invited them to rap battle Too Short, who also happens to be the narrator throughout the whole movie. Meanwhile, we see the members of Danger Zone get annoyed and hit on by a police officer, we see one of the members freaking out prior to their performance and then we see them, dare I say, beat Too Short in said battle. It was cool to watch a musical performance in this movie, and props to Normani for giving one hell of a performance during this chapter.

The third chapter focuses on Pedro Pascal's character. He is a criminal fixer doing one last job. We do also find out some info on what happened to him the day before. There is a scene in this chapter, where Pascal is going to a movie rental store and has a great conversation about underdog movies. The conversation he is having is with Tom Hanks, who plays the rental store clerk. He and Pascal going back and forth was a sight to behold. I truly enjoyed Hanks' work in this scene, and Pascal does some damn good stuff too. The part where he is talking to another criminal in a diner was so electric.

The final chapter, which also happened to be my favorite chapter, tells us a story about former NBA player Sleepy Floyd. He was a great NBA player, and he had a historic playoff game during his career, but "Freaky Tales" tells us something new and fascinating. The tale we get is, during Floyd's epic playoff game, his girlfriend, mom and another friend get accosted and attacked by some thieves. To get his revenge, Floyd takes matters into his own hands, by doing kung fu, of which he is excellent at doing. When we get to the scene with the kung fu, it was akin to the punk rocker scene, but it was amped up by a million percent. It was wild and fun and I wanted to watch more and more of it. I'm not sure who played Sleepy Floyd, but he was incredible and did the best job in the movie in my opinion.

What really made this movie go over the top for me, while it is a fictional tale, some of the people involved are real. Gilman Street is a real place. Danger Zone was a real group who did battle Too Short. And Sleepy Floyd was a great player who did, as mentioned before, have a historical playoff game and a solid run in the NBA. The writers just heightened these stories.

I loved this movie. It was different and cool and a total blast to watch. Check out "Freaky Tales" ASAP. You will not regret it. 

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.

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

Ty Watches "Weapons"

Now that I have finished my preseason football stuff, I have some movie and album write ups I want to get to. The first movie I want to talk about is "Weapons".

I wrote a blog a while back about the trailer and how much it made me want to see the movie. And I found a way to see it on opening weekend, going to see it solo on the Sunday it opened. And I absolutely loved this movie. I will be as spoiler free as possible moving forward by the way.

The story of the movie is as follows, 17 kids from one single classroom all leave their houses at 2:17am and "never come back". The movie then tells the story of the aftermath from different perspectives. Julia Garner plays the teacher of the classroom and we get her story first. It's clear she has some deep seeded issues, but in the end she is a person who cares about her kids. She wants what is best for them, she just doesn't really know how to go about it the right way. Garner does some great stuff in this movie, and after seeing her in "Fantastic Four: First Steps", which she is also very good in, she is amazing here. I was very impressed with her work. Alden Ehrenreich plays a local cop who isn't on the job about the missing kids, but he has insight because he works in the police office. Ehrenreich does some solid work too. He is always anxious and nervous about everything around him. He has an overbearing girlfriend.His girlfriend's dad happens to be the chief of police in this town and he may or may not have issues with alcohol. He is also a friend of Garner's, and they may or may not have a personal past. Ehrenreich was fun to watch. He also brings a little humor in an otherwise very scary movie. Josh Brolin plays a parent of one of the kids who left their house. Brolin is about as reliable as they come in Hollywood. He portrays the ache and anger of a parent whose kid is gone. He wants answers and he will stop at nothing to figure it all out. He is also involved in what I found to be the scariest part of the whole movie. There's a long scene with him that made me jump in my seat in the theater. Benedict Wong plays the principal of the school and he is incredible in the movie. He has to do a bunch of different things in his ten minutes on screen and boy oh boy does he nail it. He is probably my favorite part of the whole movie. I also appreciate how he handled the whole scenario as the principal for the school where the kids left. Austin Abrams plays a local junkie who is the catalyst for uncovering the mystery of the movie. But, since he is constantly high, no one will listen to him. It doesn't really end well for him. And then we have Amy Madigan, who gives a performance of a lifetime. She is top notch in this movie and I hope she gets some kind of awards consideration. I was absolutely blown away by the work she did.

"Weapons" worked on a ton of levels for me. I thought about how I would handle this situation if it happened to me. I thought the kid actors did good work. Zach Cregger knows how to make a scary and mysterious movie that always has me on the edge of my seat. "Weapons" is definitely scary, but it also has moments of humor and levity. I appreciate that it isn't entirely shot at night. They created a universe that I'm interested in seeing much more of.

Overall, I'm stoked I was able to see this movie on a big screen and I cannot recommend it enough. "Weapons" is amazing. 

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.

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

2025 College Football Preview

I know I promised a college football preview last Friday, but I had to talk about the Michigan case and its resolution. So, to make up for that, I'm going to do my college football preview today. I'll do what I normally do each year. I'll go over the four big conferences and name a few group of 5 teams that intrigue me. I'll then finish it off by picking my 12 playoff teams, my national champion and who I think will win the Heisman. Let's get to it.

I'll start with the ACC. We are in an era of college football that is super conference heavy. The ACC has 17 teams. Notre Dame is, for some weird reason, considered an ACC team. They made the national title game last season. They do need a new QB and to replace some important defensive starters. Marcus Freeman is a good coach and I don't think they'll fall off too much. But, I do think they will have a bit of a fall off. Clemson has one of the better QBs in all of college football back. Cade Klubnik is solid. Their defense seems to be back to its normal levels. Clemson should probably win this conference. Louisville has gotten better each season since they hired a new coach and they look to be trending up yet again. Bill Belichek has taken over UNC and it should be very interesting to see how he deals with the college game. Florida State took a major step back last season, and I feel like Mike Norvel is coaching for his job this season. Syracuse had a nice year last year, and they recently got a big win on the recruiting trail. But they have to replace a ton of productivity from last season. Cal's stud QB transferred, as did Boston College's. Pittsburgh seems stuck in mediocrity and maybe SMU is finally getting out of the mud. And then we have Miami. They are constantly hyped in the preseason, but then they come out and stumble. They played better last season, but that was due to Cam Ward being their QB. They need to figure out who is going to be their guy going forward before I truly take them as a serious threat. Mario Cristobal has got to be consistent as the head coach. I'm going to stick with Clemson to win the ACC, but Dabo Swinney could always find a way to screw it up.

Onto the Big 12, which has 16 teams. The Big 12 used to have classic teams, but now Houston, UCF and Utah are considered to be Big 12 teams. Whatever. Arizona had a good year two years back, but they struggled last season. They do have a good QB, and if he stays healthy, they could make some noise. Arizona State has some studs at wideout and they had a few nice playoff moments last season. They do need to find a running back to replace their star from last season, but ASU should still be a playoff threat. Baylor has issues, mainly on defense. BYU seems to fluctuate between seasons, and last year was a good one. Colorado has to replace their starting QB and Heisman winner Travis Hunter. They will most likely fall back to Earth this year. Cinci, Houston and Kansas all have potential, but have yet to reach it. Iowa State is the Miami of the Big 12. Oklahoma State and TCU have assholes as head coaches. And West Virginia can't get out of its own way. I'm going to stick with Arizona State to win the Big 12. They have a good amount of returning players and, even though they need to find a new running back, they should be able to make a possible return to the playoffs.

Now the SEC. It's a new world in the SEC. Alabama is not the power of old. Kalen DeBoer is a good head coach, but he has work to do. Lucky for him he has Ryan Smith to make an easy push on offense. Georgia should be right back in the thick of things this year. And their defense is going to be nasty. Tennessee has to find a new QB, but if they find anyone that can throw a football, that dude is going to put up numbers. They also, finally, have some solid dudes on defense. Texas A&M exceeded my expectations in Mike Elko's first season, and I think they should do even better this season. Texas is the preseason number 1 team, and they look like they could be lethal on both sides of the ball. Oklahoma got the best QB in the portal last year, and if the defense can catch up, the Sooners could be back as a threat. LSU has an electric offense, but the defense is suspect. South Carolina has Lanoris Sellers, who may be the best QB in college football, and he will help them win more games than expected. Ole Miss should be electric on offense. Missouri got some solid dudes in the portal to help with a new image for this team. Florida seems to be making a bounce back to relevance. And Auburn and Kentucky are always good for some upsets that no one sees coming. This is the first year in a while that the SEC is hard for me to predict. I'm going to go with Georgia, but Texas is probably the better option.

Finally, for the big conferences, we have the Big 10, which now has 18 teams. Yeesh. The Big 10 has won the last two national titles and does not look to be slowing down. Illinois has their highest preseason ranking in a long time. They have a ton of returning talent and this looks like their best roster in a decade. Iowa still has a stingy defense, and they may have found a QB that can throw a forward pass. Minnesota is mediocre, but PJ Fleck seems to squeeze every ounce of talent out of each of his players. Michigan State enters year two of their new head coach, and that usually means an upgrade. And they have a pretty solid QB coming back. Indiana is coming off an improbable playoff run, and they got one of the best portal QBs to hopefully help to keep the good times rolling. Northwestern needs time, but they play most teams tougher than expected. Nebraska enters a critical year under Matt Rhule, and lucky for him, he has Dylan Railoa entering his second full year as a starter. Penn State is absolutely stacked with talent everywhere on the field. Oregon is in replace, not rebuild at this point. USC is looking to right the ship this season under Lincoln Riley, and they looked poised to bounce back. Washington is in a transition period, but they have a good QB that can run and throw very well. UCLA still needs time and Purdue has a new head coach. Then we have the university of Ohio State and Michigan. The University of Ohio State enters this season as the reigning champs. They have a ton to replace, but this team recruits with the best of them, so they have no lack of talent. Jeremiah Smith is also the best player, offensively, in all of college football. Michigan has a bunch of new starters on both sides of the ball. And they seem to have found a QB that will make their offense multi faceted. I'm stoked for the Bryce Young experience, whenever that may be. I'd start him from day one. They have an excellent backfield duo in Jordan Marshall and Justice Haynes. They have a solid O line that improved every week last season. And even though they have to replace some first round talent on defense, they have guys that are ready. Michigan should be back to being for real this season. As for the winner of the Big 10, I'm going with Penn State. They have the best overall roster in college football. The only thing that would worry me is their coaching staff.

As for some "sleeper" teams, I like Boise State looks back to being a threat. They do have to replace Ashton Jeanty, and while that will be very tough, they have a bunch of other studs all over the field. Tulane should have an explosive offense and they can outscore teams this year. UNLV should continue to roll even after their coach left. And Memphis will field a fun team to watch, especially if you like offense. That's how these "sleeper" teams win, they all seem to have very fast, very fun and very efficient offenses. Will any of these teams make the playoffs, probably just one. But they will be in the conversation all season long.

Speaking of the playoffs, time for my predictions on that. I'm going to go from 1 to 12 in order. Starting off, give me Texas as the number 1 overall seed in this season's playoffs. The next three teams, the first round bye teams, will be Penn State, the University of Ohio State and Clemson. Then from 5 to 12 I have Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, Oregon, South Carolina, Michigan, Arizona State and Tulane rounding out the 12 team playoff. So, Texas, Penn State, the university of Ohio State and Clemson will all have first round byes. The 5-12 game will feature Georgia and Tulane. Georgia will win with ease. The 6-11 game has LSU playing Arizona State. ASU will make it fun for a half, but then LSU will lock in and finish them off early in the fourth quarter. The 7-10 game will be a throwback, Notre Dame and Michigan. Give me my Wolverines to get a hard fought W due to their run game and D line. And the 8-9 game will be Oregon and South Carolina. I'll go with South Carolina, with Lanoris Sellers doing something amazing to pull out a win. So, Texas would face South Carolina here. Texas will have familiarity with the Gamecocks, and they should beat them pretty handily. Penn State will face Michigan, and Penn State will be too much for Michigan to handle in the end, and I'll be crushed if this happens. The University of Ohio State will play LSU and they will most likely smack LSU due to their better, but not even close to great defense. Finally we will see Georgia playing Clemson. Give me Georgia because they have the athletes that can slow down Cade Klubnik. So, our final four games will be Texas-Georgia and the University of Ohio Sate facing Penn State. Texas and Penn State are on a collision course. Both games will be very hard fought and exciting, but these two teams are the two best teams in college football this season. And Texas will prevail in the end. This is where Penn State's coaching staff will fumble all the talent they have. And Texas is also nearly as loaded, and Arch Manning is probably a better QB than Drew Allar. Texas will be 2025-26 College Football champs.

As for the Heisman, I'm going to go with Lanoris Sellers from South Carolina. He is so awesome, so electric and so fun to watch play football. He will have more than his fair share of "Heisman moments" on the way to hoisting the trophy in December.

There you have it, my 2025 college football preview and predictions. Enjoy the season everyone. Football will be here before we know it. 

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.

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

Thoughts on Michigan Football's "Punishment"

The penalties for this dumbass sign stealing investigation were levied this morning by the NCAA. Michigan has to pay a hefty fine, they have a few recruiting restrictions, Connor Stalions and Jim Harbaugh got massive show cause fines and Sherrone Moore is going to serve a three game suspension, opposed to the two game suspension that Michigan already levied on him. It was what I thought would happen.

I do find it hilarious that the NCAA is giving Harbaugh a 10 year show cause because that dude is never coming back to coach college football. This is akin to expelling a student from high school after they've already graduated. All in all I'm happy this is all done and settled. No one can question the national title from 2023. I'm sure some fanbases will still say stupid things about it being "tainted", but that means absolutely nothing. Those same fanbases are the ones that insisted on this investigation and their beloved NCAA came to the conclusion that no titles would be taken away and no wins would be vacated. I'm so ready to put this to bed and focus on football.

I was as done with this two years ago as I was with the whole Johnny Manziel stuff. I don't care that he took money from Texas A&M and never showed up to class. I applaud Cam Newton's family for getting as much as they could from Auburn while he was there. The whole tattoo and memorabilia thing at the university of Ohio State was as dumb as sign stealing. I could care less that John Mateer is gambling on games that have nothing to do with his team. I wish SMU never got the death penalty for paying Eric Dickerson among others. All these so-called "scandals" have nothing to do with what happens on the field. Every team steals signs, Michigan just had the best guy at doing that job. Johnny Manziel was only at TAMU to play football, so get paid and skip class, who cares. Cam Newton won a title and sold Auburn merchandise hand over foot and made millions for that school based on his name. I hate that players at the university of Ohio State had to resort to selling memorabilia just to get tattoos. They should have gotten free tattoos everywhere they went. As long as John Mateer doesn't affect the outcome of games he plays, gamble away kid. And SMU was just doing NIL before everyone else. You cannot come out holier than thou when every school has players, coaches, administration and alumni that find anyway they can to bend the rules to help their team.

College football is the wild wild west now and anyone that claims they're playing by the letter of the law is lying. There is something that anyone can find when reading the rule book of a rule being broken that is so miniscule and unimportant. No school is playing by the letter. So stop with all the "death penalty" and "worst scandal is sports history" stuff. It's over and done. This should never be brought up again. No one, outside of East Lansing and Columbus, seem to care about this anymore. There was an investigation and it came to a conclusion. That's it. It's done. I feel like this has been talked about so much that people seem to forget what happened at Penn State under Joe Paterno and what happened at Michigan State with their training staff. These are the real issues. We are talking about sexual abuse, not tattoos or signs. Those issues should be what the main sports media is talking about, but it is a way bigger bummer than some signs and attacking Jim Harbaugh, who the main sports media seems to hate. All the stuff I mentioned before, sign stealing, tattoos, "illegally" paying players and gambling, these all pale in comparison to sexual assault and abuse. Maybe the time has come to focus on the real issues at universities and not some trivial nonsense. And, as far as sign stealing and Michigan getting the "hammer", that is done.

Time to move on. 

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.

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