Ty's 2026 - 2027 NBA Preview: Wizards, Jazz, Mavericks

Welcome to day four of my NBA countdown. We are officially in play-in territory. The three teams today, given health and a little bit of luck, could very well see themselves, at the very least, competing for the 7 or 8 seed in their respective conferences.

At 21 I have the Washington Wizards. The Wizards have been moribound as a franchise for some time now. But boy oh boy did they make some moves last season, and they picked the right guy first overall in the most recent draft. I am an AJ Dybansta fan. This kid is going to be good, and it may happen right away. He has all the tools to lead this team for the foreseeable future. He can score, his jump shot looks better, he is going to become a solid defender and he seems to love playing basketball. I was stoked when they took him because he was the right choice. Dybansta has star written all over him. The Wizards did give Trae Young far too much money, and that contract will be tough to move if they end up wanting to move him, but he is still a good point guard. He can get the ball in your hands at the perfect release point on some of his passes. He may fire up too many threes, but when he is on, he can light up the scoreboard. He is a zero on defense, but the guy can score and distribute the ball. I don't know if Anthony Davis is long for this team, but he will have to show the other NBA teams that he is still a viable player, so however long they have him, he needs to play well. He is a former all NBA guy, and while he may not return that form, Davis is still a decent modern big man in the league. Bilal Couliboly is an okay enough player, but his defense has not translated to the NBA just yet. I like Bub Carrington, and he showed a few things last season, but that may have been hollow due to how bad they were last year. Deandre Ayton is here, and he is another big body that they can throw out there. He just doesn't play as big as he is in real life. Tre Johnson is decent, and can score, but again, we don;t know if that was all hollow due to how awful this team was at the end of the season. Khris Middelton is too old now and too hurt. He got his ring with the Bucks, and ever since then he has been either hurt or traded. Alex Sarr is the best defender on this team, he is a good rim runner and he has gotten so much better since his rookie year. I wouldn't be shocked if he takes a big leap this year. The Wizards have an odd roster construct, but if it hits they could find themselves fighting for a playoff spot all season long. I don't believe they're a top six team in the East, far from it, but they have the potential to be in that 8-9 conversation if they click and stay relatively healthy all season.

At 20 I have the Utah Jazz. The time is not for this team to play full games and try to win. They have a roster that makes sense and they have a coach that is too good to keep playing awful lineups in the fourth quarter so they can tank for draft position. I do think Lauri Markanen is a bit overrated, but he is still a good basketball player. I believe he is more of a type of potential on a good team player, but that is neither here nor there. He is the focal point of this team and they will go as he goes offensively. I like the Jaren Jackson Jr trade. He may not be the defender he was a few years ago, and his shot comes and goes, but he is still a good player and he brings more height and rim protection to this team. Ace Bailey had a much better rookie season than I anticipated he would. He's a willing cutter to the rim and his shot is coming along. He should maybe start on this team, but he will feast coming off the bench on second units. Daryn Peterson has all of the potential in the world. He is such a good basketball player. There were real conversations on if he should have been the number one overall pick. But he did look disinterested at times at Kansas last season, and if he starts slow, who is to say that won't happen again. Isaiah Collier is already a proven scorer, but last year he looked like a more willing passer, and that will only help him stick around longer. If you listen to the Zach Lowe's of the world you may think Kyle Filipowski is a viable center, but I think he is wildly overrated by certain media members. Jaxson Hayes is a better backup big man option. Keyonte George is about to take a leap. The Jazz have a good team in place here. They have a good coach. I don't like saying that because I have never liked the Jazz, but this team could be good. They just need to play full games at full strength and see if they can make a real push at not just the play-in, but a top six spot in the West this season.

The final team for the day, at 19 I have the Dallas Mavericks. This team has pretty much fully remade themselves in the two years since the Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis trade. Some familiar faces are still around, but they have new guys and a fully new coaching staff. I think Dusty May was a home run hire. I'm already a fan of his, he returned Michigan basketball to glory, so I will always root for him. He has a great young player in Cooper Flagg. Flagg is one of the faces of the future in the NBA, right along with Wemby and Dylan Harper and SGA. Flagg is a great do it all offensive player. He needs to buy in more defensively, but the offensive bag he already has is pretty impressive. Kyrie Irving is back, coming off a torn ACL, and he has looked like himself in the preseason. I don't know if he will stick around with the Mavs all season, but while he is there, if he can continue at this current pace, he and Flagg are going to be a dynamic duo for this team. Dereck Lively is still hurt, and I fear for him that he has already played his best basketball during his rookie year. The guy simply cannot stay on the floor. I wonder how long PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford will be on this team. Washington can shoot the corner three and is a solid rebounder, but he may want to be playing deeper in the playoffs. Gafford is a solid rim runner, and Irving will be able to feed him the ball, but he has got to stay healthy. They acquired Zaccahrie Risaccher, a former number 1 overall pick, but who knows what he is going to bring to this team. He has never been fully effective since entering the league. I am a humongous morez Johnson Jr guy for obvious reasons. But he knows how Dusty May wants to play and he has a never ending motor. He is also a great rebounder. I think he will see his minutes increase exponentially during the season. Naji Marshall is a solid backup point guard. I think they got a great bench scorer and stretch big in Santi Aldama. The Mavericks have some dudes and they have a lethal duo in Flagg and Irving. I think the Mavericks could have a nice bump in wins, especially if this team plays the way May wants them to earlier than expected. I think the Mavs are coming, and this season will bethem announcing themselves as a future perennial playoff team.

That's it for the week. Come back next week for more of the preseason NBA countdown. 

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.

Ty's 2026 - 2027 NBA Preview: Clippers, Hornets, Warriors

Welcome to day three of my NBA preseason countdown. We are inching closer to the play-in teams, and who knows, maybe these teams today will surprise and make a push to the play-in. We shall see.

Coming in at number 24 I have the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers future is very much in doubt. They are going to have to scrape the bottom of the barrell to fill out their roster, and with no draft picks, that will make it all that much harder on them. But right now they have some dudes that can play, and they will be a frustrating team to play on a night to night basis. This is now Darius Garland's team. He is the engine that runs this offense and he will be asked to do whatever he can to lead this team. Garland is a solid player, but he does not stay on the floor enough to be a franchise leader. He just gets hurt far too often. He is great offensively, but he is also a non factor on defense. Garland will get every opportunity to prove he can lead this team this season. Keaton Wagler was a nice draft pick, but he has a long, long way to go. He has a lot of stuff he needs to figure out before he becomes a viable NBA player. But the dude can shoot the rock. He will score this season. But he will not bring much else to this team during his rookie season. And he is going to get abused on the defensive end of the floor. Then we have the rest of this roster. It is filled with guys that are past their prime, never met their prime or are just a steady presence. Rui Hachimura revived his career with the Lakers, but now he is going to be asked to do that again in a starting role with a roster not near what he had with the Lakers. But the guy can shoot the three. Bradley Beal is way past his prime and he has never been the same since leaving Washington. Derrick Jone Jr was always an explosive player who could kind of shoot the three, but both of those have decreased over the past couple years. Brook Lopez used to be a defensive stopper and clutch three point shooter. Now he misses tons of games and is only getting older and older. Gradey Dick has never figured it out, Brandon Ingram is hurt, so is Max Strus and Cam Christie was just waived. This team has some dudes that can do some things, but the days of being at or above .500 look to be over for a bit with the Clippers. They screwed themselves with the whole Kawhi Leonard situation, and they are a long way off from being formidable again. But Wagler and Garland will be fun to watch, and I have always rooted for Rui Hachimura. The Clippers may not be very good, and that may last for about five or six seasons now.

At number 23 I have the Charlotte Hornets. This team came on like a wave during the second half of last season. They surprised a ton of people last year, but this team has changed a ton since all of that popped off. LaMelo Ball is gone. He was not long for this team anyway, but they kind of traded him out of nowhere. This is a big bet on a few of their young guys. Kon Kneuppel made me look foolish when I named him as a prospect I wasn't high on last year. He can really shoot the three and he plays hard every night. But I feel like he got exposed in the play-in game last year, and with more responsibility I don't see how he replicates what he did during his rookie season. This season will be interesting for Kneuppel. Brandon Miller has all the tools to be an all star. The kid is big and strong, can shoot and has become a solid rebounder. He can also run the break and looks good in transition. His problem, he gets hurt a ton. He is going to be taking on a bigger role now, and they need him on the floor if they want to be successful in the near future. Coby White is a fun player to watch, but he is now the lead guard on this team and he will be running the show. He has never really had to do this in his career, so it will be something to watch as the season goes on. Grayson Allen has come over to this team, but I feel like he is an overrated shooter. He doesn't do anything else to help a team, and his antics on the court are tiresome. Naz Reid is finally going to start, and I think he is going to be great. I do like that he has a shot to start and I think he is going to have a very, very good season. I fully believe that he is the best overall player on this current roster. Liam McNeely spent more time in the G League than in the pros last season. Tidjane Salaun is still very raw. Moussa Diabate has a motor that never stops and is a great rebounder, but he is undersized. Ryan Kalkbrenner barely saw the court when they went on their run last year. Dennis Schroeder is here because I feel like he is going to play for every NBA team at some point. I'm not very high on Hanes Steinbach. I feel like the Hornet struck lightning in a bottle last year, was exposed in the play-in and then decided to go in a totally different direction. They have a ton to figure out before they become a real playoff threat.

The final team for the day, coming in at 22 I have the Golden State Warriors. This is just not the same team that it was four years ago when they last won a title. Steph Curry is still there, he is still the greatest shooter of all time and he will play his heart out anytime he is on the floor. But he is not on the floor as much as you would like if you were a fan of the team. He is only getting older as well. Draymond Green is still on the team and he is still a menace defensively. But people are used to his antics and he doesn't affect the game like he used to. He is also far more concerned with his podcast it seems. Al Horford is 40. Age always wins out in the end. That's a fact. Kristaps Porzingis has not been at camp. Steve Kerr doesn't even know what is going on with him. Jimmy Butler tore his ACL last season. So did Moses Moody. I love Yaxel Lendeborg, but he is going to be asked to do way, way too much during his rookie year. Gary Payton II is a great defender, but he is too often injured. They gave an unproven Brandin Podziemski 110 million dollars, which is wild to me. The Warriors are not the dynasty they used to be. I kind of thought they were going to blow it all up after last season. But it looks like they are going to try for one final run with some of their original guys that started all their recent winning. I don't think it is going to go as well as they hope, but maybe they will prove me wrong, and make a run to the playoffs. We shall see.

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.

Ty's 2026 - 2027 NBA Preview: Nets, Pelicans, Grizzlies

Welcome to day two of my preseason NBA countdown. We are still in the dregs of teams, but one team I will be talking about today looks to have a brighter future than others this low on the list, and I just happen to root for that team. More on them later.

Coming in at number 27 I have the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets can't get out of their own way it seems. They struck gold a few years back when they signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and were able to trade for James Harden. But injuries and the pandemic slowed that team down. They got Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett when they were too old. Vince Carter was too young to bring them a title when he was there. Deron Williams didn't turn out to be the franchise player they hoped. It seems like miss after miss with this team. And now they have a bunch of unproven young guys that are turnover machines. Michael Porter Jr proved he was a solid scorer last season. He can fill it up. But he doesn't play defense and is not a team leader. He is much more suited to be a 3rd or 4th starter on a title team, which he was in Denver. Egor Demin looks to be a very good three point shooter, but he has not been able to stay on the floor in his first two years. Danny Wolf is an intriguing passing big man, but his shot has not come along just yet, and he is a turnover machine. They drafted Mikel Brown Jr, which some writers seem to like, but I am not very high on at the moment. Noah Clowney Jr will be taking over for Nic Claxton, but he is not the rim protector, nor the rim runner that Claxton was for this team. Terance Mann was once deemed untradeable because of his value to the Clippers a few years back, but now he struggles to get real minutes on this team. Day'Ron Sharpe is a solid enough big, albeit undersized. He would be much better in a bench role, but I believe he is a starter on this team. And Julius Randle is here now because why not. The Nets have an odd collection of players. They don't seem to mesh very well looking at this roster on paper. It wouldn't surprise me either if Michael Porter Jr and Julius Ranlde are playing elsewhere by the end of this season. Jordi Fernandez is a good coach, he just needs a better roster. Until that happens, the Nets are going to be running in the mud. They are no more than a turnover machine that would be lucky to win 20 to 25 games this season.

Speaking of an odd roster construction, at number 26 I have the New Orleans Pelicans. I like players on this team. I think they have talented guys. They have some dudes that are highlight reel players. But the team just doesn't make sense. I'm over hearing about how Zion Williamson is in shape and he is going to become the all NBA player we all hoped he would. He played a good amount of games last season, but it all felt hollow to me. He is explosive and can be dominant, but he just doesn't seem to have the desire to be the star he could have been in his career. He can still dunk the hell out of the ball. Dejounte Murray is a good, calming point guard, but he has never been the same since he was with the Spurs, and he is always injured. I love watching him play, but that doesn't happen all that often. Trey Murphy III is the prototypical 3 and D player, but he is not long for this team. Some contending team is going to make an offer for him this season, and I would hope the Pelicans would take it. I've always enjoyed Saadiq Bey, but he is not very capable unless he has the ball in his hands, and that will be tough for him if the starters are healthy this season. Jordan Poole, who I will always root for, is borderline unplayable at this point in his career. They signed Ben Mathurin, but he is another dude that is not worth much unless he is attacking the rim, which will be tough on this team. I am a Derik Queen guy, but even by his own admission he needs to be in better shape and work harder on his game. Jeremiah Fears seems like a capable player, he just needs minutes. Like I said, this team has players that I enjoy, but they don't mesh and work well as a unit. It wouldn't be surprising if, along with Trey Murphy, they move some other guys and start to build this team around Fears and Queen. I think Zion's time with this team is up, and Murray is going to want to play on a winning team. The Pelicans will score in bunches, but they will also give up tons and tons of points defensively.

The final team for the day, the team that I think has a nice future lined up, at number 25 I have the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies finally blew it all up. The time had come. Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr were traded last season. They finally got off of Ja Morant. They let Santi Aldama and John Konchar walk. The team that I started rooting for is pretty much all gone. And I'm stoked for what they are building right now. I love that they were able to draft Cam Boozer. I hoped that was who they would get, he "fell" to them and they wasted no time in picking him. He has the look of a perennial all star and the face of this franchise. They need to build around him now. I am a Zach Edey fan, he just needs to stay on the court. When he is out there this defense is so much better and he is a great rim protector. I just need him to stay on the damn court. I think Cedric Coward is a star in the making. He had a very good rookie year and I see him only getting better from here on out. Ty Jerome was a good signing, and if he can stay on the floor this season, the Grizzlies will have a competent starting point guard. I also like Scotty Pippen Jr as his backup, but he may be in line for more minutes, and I don't know if the Grizzlies can provide him with that right now. GG Jackson is so much fun to watch shoot, but he doesn't do much else and I don't know if he will get any real time with this team. I loved the Karim Lopez pick. He is tailored made to be a defensive stopper, and the fact that he was a pro in New Zealand means he is used to playing against adults. And bringing Isaiah Stewart over made me jump for joy. He is the exact type of veteran I want to have on a team this young. The Grizzlies are going to be a solid playoff team within two years, but I think they actually have a shot to push for the play-in tournament this year. Maybe I'm too high on them, but damn it is hard not to be excited by what they have done this offseason.

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.

Ty's 2026-2027 NBA Preview: Kings, Bucks, Bulls

For the next ten days I will be counting down the NBA teams from last to best, in my personal opinion. I'll tell you why I have each team where I have them, what I expect from them and how I see their season playing out. I'll dive a little deep into each team given that I'm only doing three a day. I love the NBA, the season is right around the corner and I look forward to watching these teams play this season. Let's get to it.

At number 30 I have the Sacramento Kings. The Kings continue to be the Kings. They just cannot seem to get it right. They traded away De'Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton, both of whom have just played in the Finals. They are looking to offload Domantas Sabonis, so that means he will probably play in the Finals this season. Sabonis is a solid enough player, but he is not often injured and his trade value has dropped pretty significantly. I don't know what they could honestly get for him at this point. They may be able to find a bench guy and a late first round pick, but that seems almost too high. Sabonis is still a good passer, and can score, but it feels like he is past his prime. Darius Acuff is going to score and score in bunches. But he is going to be inefficient. He is a rookie, he will hit a wall. But he will also get the keys to the offense and he will get to shoot the ball to his heart's content. Keegan Murray has never reached the heights he did as a rookie. He has playoff experience, he can score the ball, but he is coming off an injury, and his contract looks to be an anchor around the front office's neck. He still has potential, but time is running out. Zach Lavine has decent career stats, but they feel so hollow. I don't know that he has ever played a truly important game in the NBA. And his explosiveness is pretty much gone. Father time has caught up to him unfortunately. He doesn't play much defense either, but no one on the Kings is all that committed to playing defense. They're taking a shot on De'Andre Hunter, and while I thought he was going to be a good pro, his game has not translated to the NBA. He is just a step slow, and his shot has not come along all that well. Precious Achiuwa is still in the league and he is still getting minutes with this team. Ben Simmons is back in the NBA, and he has looked solid in preseason. Will that translate to when the games matter? Who knows. But he is going to get a real shot at proving he still belongs in the NBA. Malik Monk is a scoring machine, but he does not bring anything else to this squad. He would be much better off being a bench guy on a true contender right now. Efird Payton is here, because why not I guess. Payton can do little things, but not enough to make a true impact on the floor. I don't think Alex Karaban is long for the NBA, Maxime Raynaud is hurt and will miss the start of the season and they're going to give Leaky black a chance. The Kings are going to be bad this year. I would be shocked if they win 20 games. The offense is going to look very rough, and the defense will be even worse. The Kings give up on players way too soon and it seems to bite them in the butt. I wish they were as good as they were in the late 90's and early 2000's, but here we are. The Kings are a mess.

At 29 I have the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks pulled the plug on Giannis, which was the right thing to do. He needed some fresh scenery, and the Bucks needed a rebuild. They got some dudes in the trade, but they're a few years away from being a few years away. Thanks for that saying Fran Friscilla. Ke'el Ware was the prize of the trade. The Bucks were very aggressive in asking the Heat for them, and they gave in and included him in the deal. Ware is a very raw player, but he has loads of talent and potential. He can protect the rim and throw it down, he just needs to do the rest now. He will get every opurtunity in Milwaukee. I do not think Tyler Herro will stick around. He is too needy, too risky and not as great as he may think he is at basketball. I love the Brayden Burries pick. He could be a very good, jack of all trades player in the future. But he is a rookie and he needs time and minutes. I am not a Nate Ament guy, but the Bucks traded up to draft him and I think they have expectations for him during his rookie year. He needs to bulk up, but the talent is there. AJ Green had a decent year last season, and I wouldn't be shocked if he continued to get a little better this season with more playing time. Jaime Jacquez Jr is very well suited for a bench role, but he will be starting on this team, and that may be too much of a load for him to take on right now. Caris Levert is now on the team, and while he can score, he is on the back half of his career, and he is not great on defense. Kyle Kuzma is somehow still in the NBA and still getting real minutes on this team. Kevin Porter Jr is a good scorer, but he is also a hothead that cannot produce without the ball in his hands. Kam Jones will get a shot to make the team, and I would be stunned if Myles Turner is still on this team by the all star break. The Bucks had to do something big and they did just that. It will set the team back a few seasons, but they also got some solid young players in the trade and those dudes will get a shot to prove themselves this season.

The final team for the day, at number 28 I have the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls will be kind of fun to watch, but they will not win a ton of games. Caleb Wilson is going to be awesome. He has all the skills to be an all star. He is explosive to the rim, has an okay jumper and can rebound the ball and start the fast break. His three point shot should only get better during his rookie season. I am going to really like watching him play basketball. Josh Giddey is average, and that is just fine. He can't shoot the three, but he can attack the rim. He can guard perimeter guys a bit, but gets crushed by everyone else. He is a solid passer, but not elite. Matas Buzelis needs to pop now. This is year three and the idea of waiting on his potential needs to stop now. He needs to show that he is ready to be a full time starter in the NBA this year. Zach Collins has never found a spot to stick around in the NBA. I felt like he was drafted too high, and now that is showing. He is, at best, a backup big. I'd be shocked if Norm Powell is still on the team past December. I don't know why he signed with the Bulls, but he is there now and he will get every shot he wants. The Cavs moved Isaac Okoro over last season, and that seems like the right move by them. Okoro did play better after the trade, but he has not lived up to his potential as of yet. Patrick Williams hasn't figured it out. Buddy Hield seems like a placeholder. Tre Jones is a good backup point guard. And who knows what Noa Essengue can provide this team. The sheer fact that they have Caleb Wilson makes this team fun. But fun and winning games is not one and the same. The Bulls will struggle, but Caleb Wilson will be a blast to watch.

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.

Ty Watches "Digger"

I'm going to postpone my NBA countdown 1 day because I saw "Digger" on Saturday and I have some thoughts. I wrote about how excited I was to go and see the movie last Friday, and man am I happy that I went to watch it in a theater. This review will be as spoiler free as possible because I truly think that if you have any feelings on seeing this movie, you should know as little as you can going in, and you should go watch it in a theater.

This is a movie that should be seen with a crowd, and then have some conversation with said crowd afterwards, just like my father and I did on Saturday. I loved this movie. I was all in from pretty much the first scene. I love it when Tom Cruise does something different with an established director. Alejandro Innaritu is an Oscar winning director. He has won multiple, for "Birdman" and "The Revenant", both movies which I like. I like "Birdman" more, but both are worth checking out. So having him on board, and getting Cruise to sign on was a home run. It reminds me of Cruise working with Paul Thomas Anderson on "Magnolia". That was something different and unique for Cruise, and he nailed it. I don't like Oliver Stone, but he has made a few decent movies. One such movie is "Born On The Fourth of July". Cruise makes that movie worth watching with one of his best performances. "Eyes Wide Shut" is up and down, but Cruise and Nicole Kidman do some great stuff, and I like to think that some of that is due to Stanley Kubrick's direction. I guess what I'm saying is, I prefer when Cruise isn't doing action movies. I like his acting in something like "Digger". When he takes a chance he usually hits, and this performance was a total knockout for me. I fully think he deserves to be nominated for this role. He is that good. I could not take my eyes off this performance. And when he wasn't on screen, I found myself waiting for him to get back in the scene. He is incredible in this role.

The supporting actors do some great work too. I thought John Goodman was the funniest person in the whole movie. He makes a proclamation halfway through the movie that made me cackle out loud, and it fully locked me in to the movie even more. The stuff between him and his wife is quite funny, and kind of depressing. I thought Riz Ahmed did some really solid work as a scientist. Ahmed is becoming more and more reliable for me as an actor. When he shows up in something I have found that I tend to enjoy the movie and his performance. He is also very funny, and the voice of reason in this movie. Sandra Huller is really solid in a smaller role. She has just got on my radar as of late, but I am becoming even more of a fan with each new performance I see of hers. And Jesse Plemons almost steals the show from Cruise. He may have the smallest "lead" role in the movie, but he owns his screen time. He is such a great actor and I appreciate that he continues to take on weird and wild roles in every movie he is cast in.

"Digger" is going to spark lots of reactions from people. There are going to be people like me that love this movie. I will sing the praises of "Digger" to anyone that will listen. I didn't know how I was going to feel about this movie going in, but going in fully blind and not knowing anything, like I said before, was the way to go. To experience this movie now knowing a thing is the only way you should watch it. But there are going to be people that despise this movie. I know RD may be more on this side. The movie takes swing after swing, and for some viewers those swings will not connect. The twists come out of nowhere. And they really change the trajectory of what you have been watching. I can see why that may turn away some viewers. But for me, I was all in on "Digger". I adored it. I will watch it many more times just to see what I may have missed before.

Go check it out and decide for yourself, just like the new ads are saying. But go see it with people, in a theater. That's the best way to get the full experience. "Digger" rules. 

Ty 

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

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Is "Digger" Bad? I'll See for Myself

I am finally going to see the movie "Digger" tomorrow. I mentioned on the podcast that I will be doing a review on Monday, and today is just about my excitement in going to see this in the theater.

I have not been this excited to see a movie in a long, long time. I mentioned on the pod that this may be the height since I saw "The Simpsons" movie years ago. And it has nothing to do with my familiarity or fandom of the subject material. I'm a rabid "Simpsons" fan. I always have been. That excitement came from seeing it on the big screen and hoping they would do the show justice. And they did. I actually saw that movie two days in a row because of my excitement. The feelings for "Digger" are totally different.

I have successfully missed any spoilers for this movie to this point. I know that they're some twists, but I have no clue what they could be. "Digger" could have some musical elements to it, it could be music free. I know that I love the cast. I am an Innaritu fan. I like when Tom Cruise goes against the grain and plays some kind of wild character. I like when he takes chances. This movie has everything going for me as a fan of going to the theater. But there's also all the negative stuff that has simply fueled my passion for wanting to see this movie.

RD was the first person to stoke the flames for me. He saw it last weekend and he texted me that he thought it was not a good movie. This didn't deter me. He sent some subsequent texts as well, but those kind of made me want to see it more and more. Then I saw some stuff on the internet saying that it could be the biggest flop ever. These quotes and blurbs only made me want to give my money to the movie to try and save it some money. Then I saw how the campaigning for the movie changed. They started to show negative reviews, then Cruise in character saying, "f those people", and then the new trailer telling the viewer to decide for themselves.

Then RD called me the other night and he said something that pushed me even harder to find a time to go watch this movie. He reiterated that he did not like the movie, but he thought that I may love it. I saw some people online who I tend to agree with their movie reviews saying how much they liked the movie. I like weird movies that take big shots. I love "Hot Rod". "Southland Tales" is a movie I still think about on a daily basis. David Lynch's early movies seem to be devisive, and those are my favorite of his. I like the new "Star Wars" movies. "Cloud Atlas" is one of the coolest and most unique movies I've ever watched. I'm not that tough on movies that seem similar, or at least have similar views on the internet, like "Digger". I wanted to see this movie from the very first teaser that simply showed a silhouette of Cruise with a shovel. I got even more on board when I saw it was Innaritu's next movie. Hell, he made "Birdman", so he will always hold a place as one of my favorite directors. I cannot wait to see his take on climate change. I'm sure it will be explained much better than whatever the hell Adam McKay was trying to do with "Don't Look Up", another movie I don’t totally hate like some other people do. But this feeling I currently have in my body, this push of joy and excitement hasn't been around for a movie for me in awhile. I had something close to this with "Friendship", and that movie rules. But there haven't been too many other movies that have given me this feeling. Sure, I wanted to see "Primetime", I am stoked for "You Can See Everything", "Everything Everywhere All At Once" got my juices flowing, and I still have yet to see "the Odyssey", but I still have hopes to see it in a theater soon. But this feeling I have for "Digger" is different.

Like I said at the top, I'll have an actual review on Monday. Today I just wanted to kind of take you through my current thought process and my feelings of excitement knowing that I will be watching it in a theater tomorrow. I cannot wait. 

Ty 

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

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For Me It’s Brewers or Bust

Now that the MLB playoffs are getting to the championship series, I have decided which team I will be rooting for the rest of the way.

The Yankees are out, so there goes my pick in honor of my late uncle. I really picked them simply based on a want, not necessarily because I thought they would win it all. I have always been a fan of the Braves, but they ran into the buzzsaw that is the Dodgers. I used to like the Padres as a kid. I was always a Tony Gwynn fan growing up. But they were knocked out the other night, and I'm not a very big fan of the current Padres team. The White Sox still have a chance, and if they win, like RD said, I will convert to catholicism. But that doesn't mean I am rooting for them. Sure, they have the pope on their side, and that would rule if they won, but I'm still not going to root for them either. The team I'm all in for the rest of the playoffs is the Brewers.

This is another pick for the family, but it is for my dad. I would love to see the Brewers take it all from here on out. They ousted the Padres the other night. They had the best record in all of baseball this season. They're a small market team. They have a great lineup and one of the better pitching staffs in all of baseball. I like the team name. I like that they have a big slide in their stadium. Their old school hats, the royal blue with the yellow Brewers symbol, are iconic. I was always a Robin Yount fan as a kid, and dug Paul Molitor. One of my favorite moments as a baseball fan was when the Brewers acquired CC Sabathia for half a season and he went on to dominate. I believe he was close to winning the NL Cy Young that season, and he only played half the year with the Brewers.

I also like this current lineup. Jackson Churrio is one of the best young hitters in the game. Christian Yelich is the model of consistency. Jacob Misorowski is most likely going to win the NL Cy Young this season. The Brewers are an easy team to root for and it was almost too easy a choice for me to pick them now that the Braves are out.

Sure, like I said, this pick has a little something to do with my dad, but I also want them to just beat the Dodgers. I get it, the Dodgers have the most money and they can buy whoever they want. They get all the players they desire. When Tarik Skubal went on the trade market this season it was a foregone conclusion he would join the Dodgers. They have a lineup filled with dudes who started their careers elsewhere. I am a big time Mookie Betts fan, he started in Boston. Shohei Ohtani is an amazing player who started his career with the other LA team. Freddie Freeman was in Atlanta before joining them. Their entire starting pitching staff all got their starts elsewhere. I think the only player that is from their farm system, who truly helps the team, is Will Smith. And while he is awesome, it's kind of wild that the Dodgers have simply bought the best team in baseball. My son and I were talking about the playoffs this morning, and when he asked me who I thought was going to win it all, I didn't hesitate to pick the Dodgers. When he asked why I got that answer so quickly, I told him the current Dodgers remind me of the Golden State Warriors when they had Kevin Durant. The NBA regular season was pointless because we all knew who was going to win it all. The only thing that stopped that team was a rash of injuries to their star players. The Dodgers haven't had to deal with that. And I fully understand that this is totally within the rules of modern baseball to do what the Dodgers are doing. If I was a fan, I'd be stoked by what they are doing. And the players still have to prove it on the field, which they are doing. But the Dodgers are not underdogs. They are, as they should be, the prohibitive favorites. And if they do win, I fully believe that the strike will happen after this season until a salary cap is introduced.

So for this, and many other reasons, is why I'm rooting for the Brewers. It would be rad to see them win. It was so cool when the Bucks won the title a few years ago. I was stoked when the Blue Jays almost won it all last year. I like when these mid market teams build a contender and the vision of championships comes to light. So I'm all in for the Brewers.

I'm going to tune into playoff games to root for them. I am very hopeful that they can knock off the Dodgers, and then win it all in the Series. From here on out it is all about the Brew Crew when it comes to baseball for me. 

Ty 

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

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I Did Not Like "Starship Troopers" When I First Saw It. I Was Wrong

Every once in a while I will go back and rewatch movies that I have only seen once, a long-ish time ago, and see if my ideas on them have changed over the years. I just did this with "Starship Troopers". Let’s discuss.

I remember seeing it when it came out in 1997 and not really liking it all that much. I thought it was gross, a little too long and I just didn't get the story they were trying to tell. Recently I heard some people on a podcast talking about the movie, they are roughly my age, and they were singing the movies' praises. They seemed to really enjoy the movie now that they were older. This was the kind of push I needed to check the movie out again, to give it one more shot.

I'm here to say, "Starship Troopers" rules. It is one of the rare movies from the late 90's that knew exactly what it was and what it wanted to be. Paul Verhoven directed the movie, and it absolutely showed during this rewatch. I have always been a fan of the original "Robocop", and a lot of that is due to Verhoven's direction. The dude knew how to make a late 90's action movie. He had the eye for it. This is shown tenfold in "Starship Troopers". The war sequences in this movie are brutal and they rule. He wasted no time showing how violent and destructive the bugs could be. Soldiers are getting ripped in half in this movie, and it feels like Verhoven didn't even blink an eye directing these scenes. He wanted the viewer to see how brutal war could be, even in a sci-fi movie like this. The soldiers have no shortage of bullets and weapons either, but it never feels like enough when they're fighting the bugs.

Verhoven and the writers also knew how to write females. The women in this are never really put upon like they were in other movies in the same genre. Sure, Rico gets elevated very quickly, but so does his buddy, and she is also on the futuristic football team, with him at the beginning of the movie. Denise Richards easily climbs to the top of the pilot program she is a part of in her role. When the main characters get shipped to a new unit, the lady they run into takes no crap and instantly punches Busey in the face. She rules. The women in this movie are just as strong and important as anyone in the military, and I think that showed some nice insight from the people involved in making this movie.

There's comedy in this movie in the beginning. They're telling straight up jokes and the jokes land. I don't remember that being the case the first time I watched it, but it was evident during this viewing. Verhoven knows how to lighten the mood when needed, and it was important in this movie.

Also I never questioned why Rico would continue to fight. He joins to be closer to Richards, who is his girlfriend at the beginning. He sticks around even after she breaks up with him, and he gets promoted too. He is involved in a death during a drill, and he thinks about leaving then. But he speaks to his parents, realizes they have been vaporized, and he decides to stay and fight for them. He then hooks up with his friend from the football team, but she gets spiked by one of the bugs and doesn't make it. Everyone he loves or loved keeps getting bumped off, so all he can do is fight to deal with the pain and anger. There is never really a moment when I question his motives.

I couldn't have been more wrong on this movie when I was 15. "Starship Troopers" rules. This is one of the better army movies that have come out in the last 30 years. The movie tells a cool and fun and interesting story. The actors do some solid work. Every character seems to be written as equals. I adore this movie now. I'm glad I gave it a second chance. "Starship Troopers" is indeed a banger of a movie. 

Ty

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

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Ty Watches "The Assessment"

I just watched the movie "The Assessment". I had seen some clips from it on Instagram and it piqued my interest, so I decided to give it a try.

"The Assessment" stars Himesh Patel and Elizabeth Olsen as a married couple in the not so distant future. Earth has been ravaged by something, and survivors started a new world on the outskirts of society. In this new world you cannot have children the usual way. You have to go through what is known as an assessment. This is where the movie gets nuts.

The first fifteen or so minutes show us how Patel and Olsen live their lives. They appear to be scientists and they have made considerable contributions to the new world. Then Alicia Vikander shows up as the assessor. This is when the movie shifts into high gear. I have really grown to like Vikander. She is kind of a perfect actor for sci-fi movies. She is so cold and mean and aggressive as the assessor. Her whole job it seems is to act like a child and put Olsen and Patel through some wild tests. The tests start out normal enough, but then they appear to be sinister and mean spirited. Vikander nails this aspect. Patel is kind of perfect as the put upon husband who thinks he is ready to be a dad, but it may be way more than he bargained for. Olsen is perfect as the expected mom. She shows great signs of frustration and anger and grief. She clearly has had something happen in her past, and she is still struggling to get over it all.

I found this movie to be compelling and fascinating. I didn't think it would get to my emotions at all, but I was wrong. I was very impressed with Olsen and Patel's performance, but it was Vikander who truly stole the show. I thought the visuals and look of the movie was pretty spot on for what a not so distant future could look like. I really liked Patel's "office" that he worked in. He had this whole room with a big black box on the ceiling where he can perform his tests. He appears to be some kind of creator who can make artificial animals that almost feel real. He is struggling to make the fur feel real, but he is continually trying to get it right. He also seems to have issues trying to make his creations feel fully real. Olsen has this entire greenhouse where she grows plants and food. She has one of the last orchids that has ever existed in her greenhouse. She takes incredibly great care to make sure this greenhouse continues to provide for her and her husband. But then when Vikander shows up and does her job, Patel and Olsen's whole world is flipped upside down. She takes this couple through the ringer. It appeared to me that she was maybe taking things a little too far in fact. She acts like one of the brattiest kids I have ever seen. But we eventually come to find out that she has some things to deal with as well.

My only true gripe with the movie is the length. The ending took a little too long for my taste. The movie clocks in at about 1 hour and 50 minutes, but it could have easily been 90 minutes. I understand why they did what they did in the last 20 minutes, but there was some stuff early on I thought they could have left out and the movie would still have been good.

I like when I find little gems like this out in the world. I had never heard of this movie until about a week ago and was glad that I turned it on yesterday. If you like sci-fi movies, check this one out for sure. And if you like your sci-fi with a little bit of family drama, definitely check it out. I'm glad that I did. 

Ty

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

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What is Going on with Michigan Football?

Next week I'm going to do an NBA countdown much like my NFL countdown. So that means this week will be filled with mainly pop culture stuff, except for today. I'm going to talk about sports today because my son and I just returned home from his first live viewing experience of a Michigan Wolverines football game.

I've been to many games in my lifetime. He had only ever been to a University of Missouri college football game before this weekend. Over the years he has become a Michigan Wolverines fan, the timing worked out perfectly and we have family in Minnesota, so it was a win all around. And then we went to the game.

I have issues with what we all watched on Saturday. Look, I'm never optimistic going into Michigan games. I always expect the worst, so if it does happen, I don't feel as disappointed as I would if I were optimistic. I cannot sit still when I watch them play, they frustrate me to no end and it is becoming harder and harder for me to feel like this when the game is on. But I figured it being my son's first live game that they would bring it. Something in me just said, okay, he's here and he is going to see this team show out.

The offense had other ideas I suppose. The defense this season has been very, very good. They have played their hearts out. I know that the Iowa game they had some massive brain farts, but outside of that, this defense is constantly put in terrible situations, and they usually come out of it with little to no repercussions. The defense is playing up to expectations and I have had a blast watching them perform all season long. They're doing their part. But this offense is abysmal. They just don't seem to have it.

In their three wins this year they needed a phantom second added to the game clock, they scored 17 points against an Oklahoma team that is as bad as this Michigan team and they waited until the second half before they trounced UTEP. I thought that maybe they had something figured out last week during the Iowa game. That was the best I have seen Bryce Underwood play in his career. The o line protected him. The run game was as effective as they had been all year. Andrew Marsh and JJ Buchannan were productive. Sure, they had some miscues and screwed some stuff up in the red zone, but the offense looked better than I had seen it look in almost two years. And then we had to watch it all implode this past Saturday. I will give credit to Minnesota's defense. They played a great game. They wanted it way more than Michigan, and they showed up and showed out. But the play calling and execution were horrendous by Michigan's offense.

I liked the Jason Beck hire when it happened in the offseason, but he needs to realize that Michigan is a Big 10 team, not a Big 12 team. The guys they have at running back are downhill runners, not sideline to sideline guys. They like to batter and bruise opponents, not finesse them. Bryce Underwood may be the only offensive player who can run to the outside to gain yardage, but he looks timid and scared back there right now. Beck has got to tailor his offense to his players, not tailor the players to his offense. He needs to adjust until Michigan recruits the type of offensive athletes he wants to coach. Jordan Marshall and Savion Hiter want to hit you, not run away from you. The o line has been dreadful, which is very uncommon for Michigan. They looked confused on protections. They are not fast enough to zone block and outside run block. The play action game takes so long, and these o lineman are struggling to keep up with that protection. Sure, they have some injured guys, but this is Michigan. They have three and four star guys ready to step up and step in. This o line has to improve drastically. I don't really have many qualms about the wideouts and tight ends. I wish they used the tight ends more, but that is neither here nor there. Buchannan and Marsh have been productive. Marsh needs to stop muffing punts, but when he is running routes, he looks great. Buchannan has been a revelation to me. That kid's a star. He and Marsh should be one of the better wideout duos in the country.

And then we have Bryce Underwood. I was all in on this kid. I thought Michigan had finally gotten their star QB. I thought he was going to be Michigan's version of Cam Newton. I couldn't wait to watch this kid put on the winged helmet and dominate. He has not lived up to the hype unfortunately. He was put in an impossible situation last season. Sherrone Moore was too busy trying to hook up with randoms, he had no QB coach and he wasn't going to be held accountable. Michigan was paying him lots of money and he was going to be the starter no matter what. Then all the offseason stuff happened with Moore, and Michigan brought in Kyle Whittingham. He is no nonsense and he was going to make it work with Underwood. He got him a coach. He has made him work. He has been holding him accountable. He and Beck were going to let him use his legs. But it feels like for every step Underwood takes forward, the very next week he takes three steps back. He looks confused and scared on Saturday. Minnesota pressured him all game, and he fell apart. His first interception was thrown into double coverage, but it was on him because he looked at no one other than Buchannan. If he had just looked up, he did have time on this particular play, Andrew Marsh was streaking downfield with no Gopher within 10 yards of him. It would have been an easy touchdown. On his second pick, he was rushed, he never moved in the pocket and his arm was hit, causing the ball to flutter in the air. Michigan still had a chance to win with under a minute in the fourth quarter and two timeouts, and Underwood decided on fourth down to sail a ball over Buchannan's head when he had two guys wide open in the middle of the field for an easy first down. He also kept trying to push the ball to Marsh on the sideline into double and sometimes triple coverage. I get that he is only 19, but this is his second season as the full time starter, and he continues to revert to the mistakes he was making as a freshman. I understand that he was so much better than everyone else in high school, but that quite frankly isn't the case anymore. He needs some massive changes made to his game.

I have been sitting on this feeling ever since we left the stadium Saturday afternoon. I think there need to be some changes. I don't want them to fire anyone or start Tommy Carr just yet. But Underwood needs to be put under a massive microscope. He should start their next game, in two weeks, against Penn State. But if he starts to melt and wither, Michigan shouldn't hesitate to just see what they have in Tommy Carr. I also want to see the backs run a more bruising style. I'm over this finesse nonsense. I am a fan of Jordan Marshall because he runs dudes over. I want to see Savion Hiter get loose and bust some big runs. I want to see this o line play mean and hungry and pissed off. I want to see some fire from Kyle Whittingham. I adored this hire when it happened, but he does look like he has one foot out the door already. He looks like he'd rather be on a beach right now than coaching football. I want to see some angst and energy from Michigan. I want to see passion and I want them to look like they care. This season is on the brink. The playoff is out of the question. Hell, I don't know that they even get to bowl eligibility with this schedule. And if that is the case, some massive stuff will change. But maybe that would be best for all parties. If Underwood doesn't develop further, maybe it is best if they both move on from one another. Maybe Jason Beck needs to be looked at under the same microscope as Underwood. Maybe this o line needs a massive overhaul. Maybe Kyle Whittingham needs to be on the hot seat already. Something has to give.

I'm interested to see how they come out of the bye week this week, into their game in two weeks. That will tell me a lot. But right now it is frustrating to watch such a talented roster give you nothing offensively to get excited about. Time will tell. But, always and forever my fandom will never waver. Go Blue. 

Ty

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

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"Rollerball" and Other Movies Used to Take Their Time. Today's Movies Don't

Recently I watched the original "Rollerball" movie. It's a movie that has been on my list for a while. I like sports movies, I like James Caan's acting and I like sci-fi. It kind of hits every note for me. So I sat down and watched the damn thing.

In the end I think that I liked it. It is definitely one of the weirder movies I have ever watched. It also isn't a "sports" movie. But in the end, after sitting with it for a while, I think I had a good time. I could do a whole review of it today, but I would rather talk about movies from that era.

"Rollerball" was released in 1975. I have been going back and watching movies from that era that many people consider classics. Some may be older, some a little newer. But most of the movies I have been watching were released in the mid 70's, and there's a running theme through all of these that we don't get in modern movies. Movies from the 70's will just let you sit in a scene for what feels like way too long. There were so many scenes in "Rollerball" where nothing was happening. Early on in the movie James Caan goes to the owner of the rollerball team he is on to have a conversation. He is escorted to his office, and this thing is clearly the vision of what the director thought offices would look like in 2018. It is all shiny and white and clear and there are chandeliers everywhere. James Caan even bumps into one, and then cuts his finger on another one. But, as the scene plays out, Caan walks into the room and the owner of the team has his hands over his eyes. And we sat there for a good solid minute with no one conversing. And when the owner finally does speak, he speaks in metaphors that make zero sense. And I walked away from that scene entranced. There is other stuff in "Rollerball" where Caan will turn on his multiple tvs, some classical songs will play and he will say nothing. We sat there and watched Caan watch his tv. Again, this goes on for a full minute. And it is not just "Rollerball" that does this. I recently watched "Rear Window", great movies by the way, and that movie opens with our lead character sitting in a wheelchair just eavesdropping on his neighbors. I understand that this is the point of the movie, because how else would he witness what he witnessed, but Hitchcock lets us live in that moment for a long, long time. "Easy Rider" is another fairly recent watch of mine where we just see dudes riding their motorcycles for endless amounts of time. And it is rad. They also have a full story arc in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, and we get to watch the two main characters and two lady friends go on a drug trip, with little to no dialogue. The director just wanted us to feel like we were on the trip with them I suppose. There's also the whole hippy commune where we watch people swim in a lake. That's it. nothing else really happens for long stretches of time.

I cannot fathom a world where someone would make a movie nowadays where you watch full minute long scenes of nothing really happening. Even directors I really like wouldn't do something like this. Ari Aster has to fill his movies with the wackiest stuff you have ever seen. Also, he is clearly trying to terrify his viewers. Zach Cregger doesn't put things in his movies unless it is going to drive the story along even further. I cannot picture a world where Robert Eggers isn't trying to make you fully pay attention simply due to the dialogue and dialect of his actors. Jordan Peele's movies want to scare you and make you laugh, never "wasting" a second just to show you some cool scenery. The attention span we all have now is so diluted that movie makers simply cannot waste any time on screen. They need to keep everyone's full attention at all times.

It is kind of a bummer to be honest. We all watch videos, myself included, that are Tik Tok or Instagram length now. I will skip some videos if they don't grab my attention within the first 10 seconds. It has become a problem. But sitting back and watching these old classic 60's and 70's movies, I kind of like just staying in a scene for long periods of time. I get a good look at the set and can pick out things I dislike and like within a scene. I get a good look at what the actors are trying to do. I get a better feel for what the director is trying to say. It almost feels like a way for the directors to show off, and I mean that as a compliment.

I will be continuing to check off these classics that I have been watching more frequently now. And I will be looking hard for more of these scenes that just sit and stay for a long period of time. I have grown accustomed to them, and to be frank, I like seeing stuff like this in movies. 

Ty

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

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Thoughts on Joey Porter Jr Going to the Cowboys

Joey Porter Jr was traded to the Cowboys last night. Let’s discuss.

It looked like he was going to be out of Pittsburgh sooner rather than later, and the Steelers bit the bullet and traded him away. He was clearly unhappy with his current contract. He wanted a new one. The Steelers weren't too willing to give him what he wanted, and then he decided he was going to sit out practices and games. The Steelers wouldn't budge, so he all but asked out of there. I thought that the Steelers were going to call his bluff, and wait it out. I figured they would talk to him about how he needed to play to get a new contract, that he would have to show the other teams he still had it and that he would eventually suit up this year.

I also had no idea who they would trade him to, if that was going to be the case. To be honest, I wanted him to go to the Packers,but I want any big time player to go to Green Bay. I thought maybe the Vikings would go after him, but their defense is already really good, and the secondary seems just fine. I figured maybe the Lions would try and trade for him just because they seem all in on this season. But maybe they couldn't afford what the Steelers wanted. Or maybe even the Ravens would try to snag him just to make their defense better where they need to be better. But none of that happened.

Joey Porter Jr is now a Cowboy. The Cowboys currently sit at 1-2, but there's a ton of season left. And they need help defensively. The Cowboys can score. They have proven that in every game so far. But they cannot stop the pass. Like at all. They are kind of abysmal in the secondary. Caleb Downs has all the potential in the world, and he was making plays last week, but he is still a rookie and there is still going to be a learning curve for him. Their d line looks solid, especially after trading for Rashan Gary in the offseason. And they look like they may have found their mike linebacker of the future in third round pick Jaishawn Barham. But that secondary, outside of Downs, is not very good. Joey Porter Jr immediately makes them that much better.

Cornerback is one position that can truly make a massive difference. If you get a player of Porter Jr's caliber, one side of the field is pretty much off limits. We have seen players like this before. Charles Woodson did it in Oakland and Green Bay. Darelle Revis' nickname was "Revis Island". That meant he was putting receivers on an island, and qb's barely ever threw his way. Stephon Gilmore held this role for a few seasons in New England. It is a proven fact that, if you have a lockdown corner, you can win a ton of games and make a deep playoff run. Will Porter Jr do this in Dallas? Time will tell. But he has the potential to make the secondary there go from not so great to pretty damn intimidating. Porter Jr is good in coverage and can tackle guys if they do catch a pass on him. He has all the tools one team could want in a number one cornerback. There is a reason why the holdout from him was covered everywhere in the media. When a player is as good as he is, the media will talk about it endlessly until a deal is done, or the player is traded. And when the trade happened last night, my sports media started to blow up, saying similar stuff to what I'm saying right now.

I do not like the Cowboys. Not at all. But they are clearly trying to go all in and win this season. Maybe they feel like this is the last real chance with Dak at QB. They also have two of the best wideouts in all of football. The o line is okay, but not as good as they used to be. They do need to find a running back that they can rely on. Their run game should be an area of concern. But the defensive secondary is what is holding them back. Their opponents have been able to move the ball through the air on them at will so far this year. Lamar Jackson just carved them the hell up. It was glorious to watch to be honest with you. But now that they are adding Joey Porter Jr to this secondary, that is most likely going to change. The Cowboys defense just got immediately better overnight with the addition of one player. Look, I loathe Jerry Jones, but he made a deal here to make this team better. I don't like to say it, but this move makes the Cowboys are legit playoff threat, and if he shows any of his ability from last season, this Cowboys secondary is going to be infinitely better.

We will see. 

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 "Jackass: Best and Last"

I finally just saw "Jackass: Best and Last". I loved it. I feel like this movie was made for my generation. We grew up on "Jackass".

I remember seeing that show for the first time and being blown away by what they were doing, and showing, on tv. This was the first "prank" show that I watched weekly. In fact, I don't think there would be the amount of prank shows if it wasn't for "Jackass" doing it first. I know that there have been hidden camera shows before this, but "Jackass" did something different. These people were doing some wild stunts, filming it and putting it out there for the world to see. I can remember seeing the warning before the show and thinking that this was the first time I had seen something like that. It kind of blew me away the stuff they were doing on tv. So when they started to make movies out of it, that meant I was going to see this all unedited and full of swear words. That was more than enough for me to go check these movies out. And I have officially seen them all now.

What made this one so great was the flashbacks and them showing some unaired footage from the past. Yes, I was still all in on watching the new pranks and stunts. It was disgusting too. Being the age that they are now, they did a ton of butt stuff in this final movie. There is a scene where they are playing twister and they have all taken laxatives. It was foul and hilarious. Steve O popped a ping pong ball out of his butt. He also got a rectal exam from a robot. See, a lot of butt stuff. They also did some new things. The escape room bit was quite funny. Johnny Knoxville did the bull in a ring thing that he has done in pretty much every movie. And that bull messed him up. They really put Danger Ehren through the ringer. And you'd think it would get old after a while, the way they harass him, but it wasn't at all. I found myself still cracking up at each prank they got him involved in. The play bit was pretty damn good if I do say so.

What made me really enjoy my watch was the old footage. It was so cool to see some of the older pranks. They definitely hit the big ones. They showed the toy car in Ryan Dunn's butt. They showed Knoxville getting hit by a softball from a pro softball pitcher. They had a bunch of the stuff with Bam beating up his dad, which always had me in stitches. They had the paper cut stuff in there, which made me sick to my stomach all over again. I had forgotten how much that grossed me out. As mentioned before, they showed a bunch of old footage with Ryan Dunn, who passed away some years ago. I always liked Dunn. I know he had issues, but he always made me laugh when he was on the show. He had this oddly calm way about him when he was going through all the stuff they were putting him through. He made me laugh. It was cool to see him on screen again. Seeing his stuff reminded me of when I was first watching the show as a teenager. It felt like a nice tribute. It was a proper goodbye for Dunn.

That also kind of sent me back too. Seeing all of these dudes, who are now in their late 40's or early 50's, still out there doing their thing. Sure, they may not have the gusto they had when they were younger, but they're still game for pretty much anything. They still go for it. But it seems like they know their limitations at this point, and that is all well and good. But they also still go harder than most will on screen. It was nice to see Steve O and Knoxville reminisce about the good old days. It was cool to see Danger Ehren and Dave England going hard. Wee Man still looks exactly the same as he did when he was first on the show. The new people they brought on, like Jasper and Poopies, among others, were just as ready to try out some wild things. I feel like this was a fitting ending to this franchise. These guys know what they can and can't do at this point, and I have to imagine they have done all they want at this point. The opening credits were great, but the end credits were just a perfect way to close it all out. And to show older clips sover the end credits was a nice touch as well.

"Jackass: Best and Last" is a fitting and emotional and perfect way to end it. I highly recommend anyone my age that grew up with the show check this out. It is a great nostalgia watch and you will be taken back to when you were younger watching this show for the first time. This was a great movie. 

Ty

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

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R.I.P. Dennis Haskins

It was reported last night that Dennis Haskins had passed away at 76.

For those that may not know who that is, Haskins played Principal Belding in every iteration of "Saved By The Bell". Dennis Haskins portrayal of Principal Belding held an important place in my life growing up. I adored "Saved By The Bell". It was, and still is for that matter, one of my favorite comfort shows. I used to get home from school as a kid and watch every episode when it was in syndication. I grew up with Zack, Kelly, Jesse, Lisa, AC, Screech and Mr Beliding. Hell, I remember watching it when Mrs Bliss taught at the school and the show took place in Indiana. I was all in. And an ever present character in the show was Mr Belding.

Mr Belding was your typical principal in any 90's tv show that took place inside a school. He was kind of a doofus who was way too involved with the main characters of the show. For so many different reasons, each more inexplicable as the last, Mr Belding would find himself caught up in the nonsense that the students had started. He was involved in so many wacky scenarios throughout the running of the series. Some that remember best are the white water rafting incident with his brother. Mr Belding wanted to do a hike, but his brother showed up to substitute, and he was cool and convinced the kids to go white water rafting. After the brother was found to be a lothario, and decided to bail on the kids, Mr Belding was there to still take the kids on the hike. I also recall when his wife had a baby in the elevator, with AC Slater present. There's the episode when the kids drive drunk and Mr Belding has a talk with them before and after they speak with their parents. One could never forget when he tried to wear a toupee, then Slater and Zack got in a massive fight, and the toupee fell off into the punch. He was almost too involved in these kids' lives. Hell, I cannot even remember any of my principals from school, but maybe that has to do with the fact that they didn't do anything nearly as memorable as Mr Belding. There was also his iconic laugh from the show. Anyone who watched knows exactly what I'm talking about. It was fast and loud and left an impression. I would do my version of it all the time growing up. I bet my parents grew to really dislike that laugh because I would do it all the time. I know that Dennis Haskins did some other work, most notably for me was his lone episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". But he is always going to be Mr Belding to me.

With Haskins and Dustin Diamond both passing away during the 2020's, my two favorite characters from the show are now gone. I know Dustin Diamond had his issues, and the way the writers wrote Mr Belding was more than problematic, but those two never failed to make me laugh when I was a kid watching the show. I knew whenever I would tune in that one, or usually both, would make some solid jokes that I would retell later that day, or the next at school.

Mr Belding was most likely the first adult character on a show that made me see that older people needed to be listened to. I have always listened to my folks, but teachers and principals felt like it was optional when I was a kid. But then I started to watch "Saved By the Bell", and seeing how the kids reacted to Mr Belding kind of shifted my thinking. Sure, they would make fun of him, but in the end the kids almost always did what was asked of them by Mr Belding. He was an authority figure, but he also listened to the kids and took their ideas to heart. Mr Belding was also one of the first characters I saw on a kids show that they portrayed as cool when he was younger. The episode with the radio station, where they flashed back to when Mr Belding was the DJ, he was playing dope music, had long hair and some sweet ass facial hair. I saw that and thought, oh man, older people used to be young and cool too. It may sound weird, but Mr Belding was the first tv adult that really showed me some things that I still hold true to this day.

Dennis Haskins is going to be missed. We are lucky that we have many episodes of "Saved By The Bell" to watch and remember his legacy. Rest In Peace Dennis Haskins, aka Mr Belding. I hope you are spinning records and teaching lessons wherever you may be right now. 

Ty

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

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Ty Predicts the 2026 MLB Postseason

The MLB playoffs are set, and I'm here with some predictions. Now, before I get started, take these predictions with a big old grain of salt. I believe that I picked the Mariners to be in the World Series before this season started. I thought the NL Central was going to be a rough and rugged division. I figured the Red Sox were cooked. I didn't even know that the White Sox were going to be this good. I was wrong on a lot of my picks. But with the teams set, and doing a little research, I think I have a solid guess on who is going to win it all this year.

I'll start with the AL.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the 1 seed, who saw that coming, and the Guardians, like clockwork, are the 2 seed. The Astors, with a record of 81-81, are the 3 seed, and they face the 6 seed White Sox in round one. I'm going to pick the White Sox here. They have some kind of mojo working with their team right now, and the Astros might be the worst team in the playoffs. I don't believe in them nearly as much as I do the White Sox. The 4-5 is an inter divisional matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees. I'd love to pick the Red Sox here. They have been on a really good run for a long while now. But the Yankees have the better lineup, and I think they have better pitching at the top of their rotation. The Red Sox may also see their luck run out when they have to face the Yankees playoff lineup. I also want the Yankees to win in honor of my late uncle. So that means I have the White Sox facing the Rays and the Yankees facing the Guardians. I'd love to pick the White Sox to win again, but the Rays are consistent. They have found ways to win tons of games this season, and I feel like that success will follow them to the playoffs. I wish they'd have more fans watching, but that is not the case with this team. But they are damn good up and down the lineup, and their pitching staff is solid. As for the Yankees and Guardians, we have seen this matchup too many times before, and the Yankees always find a way to beat them. The Guardians match up nicely with them, but the Yankees are a better and deeper team. They have a lineup that can hit the Guardians' staff and the Yankees top[ line pitching talent will win out. So that leaves me another inter division matchup featuring the Rays and Yankees in the ALCS. I do think this will go the full 7 games, and it will be hard fought. These teams both know each other very well and know what it takes to win. But in the end I'm rolling with the Yankees. Again, I don't ever root for them, but my uncle was a humongous fan, he passed away, and I want to see them win in his honor. They also have the playoff experience and they have a better lineup. I have the Yankees representing the AL in the World Series.

Onto the NL.

The Brewers, who may be the best regular season baseball team ever, are the 1 seed and the best team money can buy, the Dodgers, are the 2 seed. The 3-6 matchup may be the best first round series, featuring the Braves and Phillies. The Braves have been a nice surprise this year. It looked like they might have had to wait another year to be back in this position due to injuries, but here they are now. They are very good. They can mash and they have a good pitching staff. The Phillies have one of the best lineups in all of baseball. They can kind of do it all when needed. They also have an almost equal pitching staff to the Braves. But it is not quite up to how good the Braves staff is overall. For that one reason I'm going with the Braves here, but it will be a fun and hard fought series. The 4-5 gives us the Padres and Cubs. The Padres have become a perennial playoff team. They can really hit the ball really well. But the Cubs have a legit starting pitching staff, they have the NL MVP and they have a lineup that is just as good on paper as it is at the plate. I think the Cubs can do some really nice things during these playoffs. They might sweep the Padres in this round. So that gives me the Braves facing the Dodgers and the Brewers facing the Cubs in round 2. I would love to see the Brewers win this series. It would be so nice to see their regular season success turn into postseason success. But they seem to always blow it in the playoffs and get beat in magnificent fashion. I believe the Cubs will dispose of them, and they may do it in another sweep. As for the Braves and Dodgers, I mean come on, it is the Dodgers all the way here. Again, they're the best team money can buy. They have everything any MLB team could want. And now they don't even have to pitch Shoehei Ohtani. He can just hit, and the dude has proven time and again that he can mash the ball. I will be rooting for the Braves, hard. But the Dodgers are going to oust them in this round and give us the best matchup in the playoffs. The Cubs and Dodgers may be the de facto World Series. I think they are the two best teams in baseball. But the Dodgers are the better team. Again, they have it all. They are too good to be beaten. The Cubs will take them to the brink, but the Dodgers will pull out another game 7 win. The Dodgers will be, once again, the NL champs.

So that means I have the most boring World Series one could think of, the year before a strike most likely, with the Yankees facing the Dodgers. It makes sense because they're the two best teams in their leagues, so it only makes sense that they're going to face each other in the World Series. But this time I'm not picking the Dodgers. I think we saw that they could be beaten last year, and I think the Yankees actually do it this year. Again, this is most likely due to my uncle, but I'm rolling with the Yankees to win it all this season, and go into the strike with the most recent World Series ring. And Aaron Judge will be the MVP.

There you have it, my MLB postseason preview and predictions. Enjoy the playoffs. 

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 "Primetime"

I have just returned to my home from the movie "Primetime" and I have some thoughts. This is going to be a spoiler free review. It is also going to be shorter than most of my reviews. I wanted to do a quicker, kind of gut reaction type review for you all today.

"Primetime" came to me later than most. I had heard that there was going to be a movie centered around Chris Hansen and his tv show, "To Catch a Predator". But I kind of dismissed it. Then RD kept talking about it. Then I saw the teaser trailer. Then I saw a full trailer last week when I went to see "Resident Evil", and I was all in. I have become a big time Robert Pattison fan over the years, so him starring in yet another A24 movie was more than enough for me. Add in the fact that Lance Oppenheim was directing, and that made it even more enticing. Now, when "To Catch A Predator" was first on tv, I did not watch. I believe my folks had the show on in the house, yes I was still living with my parents back then, back I just saw it in passing. So, this was kind of like a history lesson for me, just a fictionalized version.

"Primetime" is a very well made and extremely well acted movie. I really liked what I saw today. The story was way different from what I was expecting going in, and that is a very good thing. It was nice to go in with fresh eyes in my case. Robert Pattison is as good as everyone is saying he is in this role. He became Chris Hansen, but played him with this quiet and unnerving obsessiveness. He was clearly a person who had a vision and was going to see it through, come hell or high water. Pattison embodied this. Watching him terrified me at times. Other times I'd roll my eyes at how nonsensical his ideas were in this movie. Some compared this performance to what Jake Gyllenhall did in "Nightcrawler", and that feels right to me.  Pattison is great.

Sklyer Gisondo is up to the task as well. He plays naive and easy to manipulate wonderfully in this movie. He let himself fall into Hansen's trance and Gisonso nailed it. I actually felt bad for him, and I think that was the goal.

Merritt Wever is amazing. I felt like her performance should be talked about as much as Pattinson's. She is amazing in this role. She is cold and calculated. When she starts to get forgotten or passed by, I found myself rooting for her to win in the end. I loved the stuff she did when she was talking to Gisondo's character when they first meet. It is a transformative performance from one of the most underrated actors right now. Wever is so, so good in this role.

What made me love this movie was the visuals and the story. The movie looks so cool and feels like classic A24. It may sound weird to say "classic A24", but this had that feel for me. The colors were super cool that they used as well. As for the story, like I said above, it was different from what I expected going in. I liked that the movie kind of faked me out. It made me look at this whole world in a totally different direction than I went in with. I thought they showed the good and the bad very well. This movie does not hold back from anything, and that made it even more watchable. It doesn't take a side either, letting the viewer dictate what they want out of it, which is always good for me.

I recommend this movie. It has some tough to watch scenes, but that comes with the territory. But I say, for Pattison and Wever's performances alone, this movie is definitely worth your time and money. There's some really good stuff to see. 

Ty

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

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Is it Time for Marvin Harrison Jr and JJ McCarthy to Find New Teams?

There have been some rumors about two former top 10 picks in recent NFL drafts that they're both on the trade block. I want to talk just a little bit about this today. I'll give each a few paragraphs and where I think they may end up.

The first player is Marvin Harrison Jr. I was as high on him as I have ever been about any prospect in his draft class. He looked like he had everything a team could ever want in a number 1 wideout. He dominated in college. He is big, fast and strong. He ran great routes and has excellent hands. He was my top overall prospect in his class and I just assumed he would be a top 15 wide receiver in only his second season. That has not happened to this point. Harrison Jr has struggled with drops and getting open. Lately people have been calling him out on a supposed lack of effort. He got hurt here and there as a rookie and all the success he had in college has simply not translated to the pros just yet. Now, I think it is way too early to give up on him. Again, he has loads and loads of talent and potential. I do think he has had the unfortunate job of being on the Arizona Cardinals. No disrespect to the Cardinals. I have always been a slight fan of this team. I like the uniforms, I used to adore Larry Centers and I think they're just a fun team to root for. But they have not had the best of luck at the quarterback position. During Harrison's rookie year he seemed set with Kyler Murray. Murray then, almost immediately, got hurt and missed most of the season. Harrison and Murray simply didn't get the time to mesh and develop a comfort with one another. Jacoby Brissett came in to play QB, and while I like his vibe and how he carries himself, he just isn't the best QB in the world. He can do some things that will make you wonder if he has it all figured out, and then he will do some things that will frustrate the hell out of you. Brissett, for all of his foibles and good things he does, he has been a career backup, for the most part, and it seems like a fitting spot for him. He is a decent gunslinger when he needs to be, but he is not a Super Bowl winning QB. I hope he proves me wrong in the long run, but that is how I see it now. And Harrison has zero comfortability with Brissett. Those two cannot get it right at all. Harrison is either dropping passes or the ball is sailing over his head. His effort does look to be waning. He seems to be all out on the Cardinals. He looks like he wants to be anywhere else but in Arizona.

The other player on this list is JJ McCarthy. You all know that McCarthy has a special place for me. He was the QB of the last Michigan team to win the title. He is an important Wolverine to me, That being said, he was not the main reason that team won the title in 2023. That Michigan team was built on running the ball and defense. Jim Harbaugh never asked, nor needed McCarthy to win games for him. McCarthy would make plays occasionally when called upon, but it was never that often that he was needed to do such things. So, when the Vikings took him ninth overall two seasons ago, I was kind of stunned. But I thought that maybe Kevin O'Connell would work his magic and make him a NFL caliber QB. That has not happened, and it seems like it may never happen. McCarthy just doesn't seem to have it. I could kind of tell from his first game he started last year. He looked timid and not confident. He needed to have a miracle second half, mostly running the ball, just to win that game. And then he just kind of came and went. He would make a few plays here and there, but it seemed like his confidence and his ability seemed to turn off. He would get hurt during last season, and then the Vikings brought in Kyler Murray. Murray would eventually win the starting job during the offseason, and things looked like they may be coming to a close for McCarthy with the Vikings. This was made even more clear to me when the Vikings put him third on the depth chart to start the season. McCarthy was not only passed by Murray, but the Vikings seemed to feel that Carson Wentz was a better backup. JJ McCarthy will always have a place for me as a Wolverine, but the Vikings have clearly moved on.

So, where does this leave Marvin Harrison Jr and JJ McCarthy now? NFL trades don't happen all the time, and in season trades feel more rare than ever nowadays. But these two dudes seem on their way to new teams sooner rather than later. For me it is easier to see where McCarthy will end up. With Jaxson Dart going down with a season ending injury, and Jameis Winston needing a new backup QB, I think the Giants could get McCarthy and get him for cheap. He may only cost them a late round draft pick. They won't need to give up players or picks any higher than the fifth round. I think the Giants would fit him well too. They don't seem to be going anywhere this year, he can play under a great coach in John Harbaugh and he can let it sling if Winston gets hurt. Maybe a change of scenery to New York city would do McCarthy some good.

As for Harrison Jr, this one is a little tougher for me. He is too good a player to languish on a bad team in Arizona. But, maybe this is the best he is ever going to be in the NFL. Maybe he is not a number one wideout. Maybe he can become more of a gadget receiver or a second or third wideout on a contender. Maybe he needs to take a step down to get himself back to the dominant force he was in college. So maybe he could end up with a team that has a solid number 1, but they need another threat. I would love to see him in Green Bay with Christian Watson. Watson has made it clear he is ready to be the Packers top wideout. So, if they were able to bring in Harrison Jr, that could loosen things up for Watson on the other side of the field and Harrison Jr would get more open looks and have a better QB throwing him the ball in Jordan Love. I'm sure the Bears would take a look. If they could find a way to land Harrison Jr, and keep Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III, the Bears could have one of the best, and youngest, wide receiver corps in the NFL. I wonder if the Broncos would try and snatch him up. Jaylen Waddle is proven. He is also shifty and fast. Harrison Jr would be a nice compliment next to Waddle. I would also like to see the Ravens go after him. If they could get him he would instantly love having Lamar Jackson throw him the ball, he could play next to Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers and the Ravens would have a legit wide receiver room for, quite possibly, the first time in Jackson's career. I feel like the options for Harrison Jr are more abundant than McCarthy, but I'd love to see him end up on the Ravens.

Time will tell of either of them gets traded, but if they do, these are the places I'd like to see them end up. 

Ty

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

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The Lonzo Ball Hype is Over. Is His Career Also Over?

It was reported earlier today, and then refuted by the player himself, that Lonzo Ball was possibly retiring. Now, this was a report I saw on Bleacher Report. He then refuted it, also saw this on Bleacher Report, and said he was "just waiting for a call". Either way, I think retirement may be his best option at this point.

Lonzo Ball came into the league seven years ago with loads of potential. He was a top five pick. He was going to stay home with the Lakers. He was going to be part of them climbing out of the hole that Kobe Bryant left after his retirement. He and Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Ivica Zubac, Alex Caruso, they were all in this core that was going to make the Lakers legit again. Ball thrived in Summer League. He was the MVP during his rookie season in fact, at Summer League. But that didn't really translate to much winning for the Lakers during Ball's rookie season. The Lakers just weren't a very good team during his two year tenure. Ball did make second team all rookie, but Kyle Kuzma had surpassed him and was a first team all rookie. His second season wasn't much better, which ended after 50 games due to surgery.

Then LeBron James joined the Lakers and the front office decided they needed to make some changes. Ball, along with some other players and picks, namely Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram, were traded to the Pelicans for Anthony Davis. That worked out really well for the Lakers. They have the 2020 championship banner hanging in their stadium. As for Ball, all the potential he had was starting to feel wasted in New Orleans. He had his moments, again, the dude can ball. But he never really found much of a groove in New Orleans, again getting passed by a teammate, Brandon Ingram. He did have a solid season during the 20-21 year. He was molded into a three and d player, and that seemed to best suit his skills at that point. He was never the best point guard, so taking him off the ball seemed like an easy option. He parlayed that into a deal with the Chicago Bulls.

During his first season he almost immediately got hurt. He would eventually need surgery and be ruled out for that whole season. He then missed the next season getting his previous surgery and some clean up work. He never felt too comfortable when he tried to return that season, which pushed him to get his previous work checked out, and that led to the extra procedures. He would eventually return to the Bulls lineup in 2022, but he never really found any of the success he had with the Lakers or the Pelicans. While with the Bulls he played only 35 total games. He never really looked like himself again. He had to put up videos to prove to some media members that he was trying to get back to playing basketball. That's never a good sign in a player's career. He ended up with the Cavs last year, saw time in about 35 games and was eventually traded to the Jazz, who waived him immediately.

Now we have this announcement and rebuttal and no one really knows what's next for Ball. Ball was a highly sought after recruit who was a one and done player at UCLA., He was good enough to be the second overall pick in his draft class, but that never translated to much success in the pros. Most people will most likely remember his father's rants more than anything Ball did in the NBA. He has been surpassed as a pro by his brother, LaMelo, by a mile. LaMelo is a big time guard who has a shot to finally play some meaningful playoff games in Minnesota. Lonzo never really had that opportunity. He also never gave himself that opportunity. It can most likely be linked to all the injuries, but I also think he never lived up to the hype and potential. Ball had his most success as a three and d player, but that didn't fit the image that he and his father created. Ball wanted to be the focal point of a contending team. But he didn't have that skill set. If he had accepted the role of a fifth starter, who could make open shots and shut down opposing guards, he may still be on an NBA team right now.

I liked watching Ball play as a rookie, but those days are long, long gone now. If he does retire, his career will be one I remember of unfulfilled potential. He had all the gifts in the world to succeed, but he was derailed by hype and injuries. 

Ty

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

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Coffee Brewed With Coke, I'll Try That

As I age I like to be adventurous from time to time. Most of the time those adventures happpen. with food and drink.

About a week ago one of my brothers sent me a coffee video on Instagram. We send reels back and forth all the time. But this video stuck with me. When I drink coffee I like to doctor it up. I have told many people that coffee is my choice for caffeine, and I don't drink it because I necessarily like the taste of black coffee. I like to add sugars, real and fake, and flavors to it. I want it to be palatable for me, and adding stuff helps it in my opinion. So the reels I get from my brother are people doing just that. He has sent me a bunch of stuff with coffee and citrus fruits, one of my favorite combinations. He also sends me other random drinks with additives. But he recently sent me one where a person brewed some coffee with a Vanilla Coke. This person didn't use water, he used a 16 ounce Vanilla Coke. I had no idea that this was something that could be done. I was very intrigued. I spoke with my brother about wanting to try this at some point, and after having coffee with him and my dad last week, they both convinced me to try it out.

Last Wednesday I went for a run and had to stop at the store on my way home. I decided that I was going to try it then. Now, my store didn't have Vanilla Coke, but they did have regular ass Coke Zero. When I drink soda I usually go for Coke Zero, and I figured, from what I saw in the reel, that any type of soda would work, it was just based on preference. So I grabbed the soda and my other stuff and I headed home to try it out.

First I had to grind some beans, which I did, and then I grabbed my soda and proceeded to brew the coffee. I used espresso, placed it in my Chemex and opened the soda. First off, I ground way too many beans, but I was rolling with it. As soon as I poured the soda in the mesh fitting, nothing happened. The grounds kind of bubbled a bit, but nothing was brewing. I waited for a few minutes, and then some coffee started to finally come down the drain. I poured more and more soda, the grounds kept bubbling, getting fiercer with each pour I might say, and I kept it going for a long while. It took some time to get this to all brew. One 16 ounce Coke Zero added to 4 tablespoons of ground espresso took about 20 minutes. I watched it the whole time because it was pretty neat to see how the espresso would bubble and then brew. The grounds kept getting bigger and bigger and wetter and wetter. After pouring the final bit of soda in the mesh drain, I ended up with about 16 ounces of Coke Zero cold brew. When I took the mesh drain off to clean, the beans smelled like Coke Zero with a hint of espresso. It smelled great. I then added some ice to a glass and poured the Coke Zero cold brew into my cup. I tried it without any additions first. I wanted to see what it tasted like raw.

It was really damn good. It had a nice Coke Zero flavor, but it also had a nice espresso flavor. The espresso was definitely coming through in smell and taste. It was damn good. One thing the person on the reel made mention of was how the brewing process made the soda flat. They were right. But that didn't hinder the taste at all.

After a few drinks of the coffee raw, I decided I was going to add a few flavors to finish off the Coke Zero cold brew. I added about a tablespoon of heavy cream and a tablespoon of vanilla extract. I gave it a good stir and finished off the drink. This made it even more delicious to me. It was like a dirty soda mixed with some of the best cold brew I've had in quite some time. The cream and vanilla gave it an extra depth of flavor. The cream made it smoother, and the vanilla gave it the sweetness I was looking for. I drank the rest almost too quickly because of how much I was enjoying it. It was better than I hoped. I really loved the taste.

I have decided that I'm going to try it with some other sodas in the near future. I wanted to do Vanilla Coke now. I want to try Cherry Coke. I think cream soda would be dope. And tomorrow I'm going to try the same thing, but this time I'm going to use zero sugar root beer. I've had cold brew with root beer mixed in, but I have never had it brewed with root beer. I'm hoping it's going to be as good as Coke Zero. Time will tell. If you like to try different things with your coffee, I recommend giving this a go. It's really damn good. 

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 "Resident Evil"

Yesterday I went out and saw "Resident Evil". I am a Zach Cregger fan, so whenever he puts out a new movie, I'm most likely going to see it. I really liked "Barbarian" and I loved "Weapons". So, when it was announced that he was going to do his take on "Resident Evil", I was intrigued.

I should point out that I have never played the video game before. It was never on my radar. I'm not much of a gamer, you know that if you listen to the podcast. I have also never been much of a fan of first player shooter games. They have never appealed to me. So I kind of went into this movie blind, which was great for me. I didn't have any preconceived notions or things I was looking for in this movie. For me it was all about Zach Cregger, and what he was going to do with his new movie. I saw the trailer, and even though I knew that it was based on a video game, to me this was a horror/body horror movie. It also stars Austin Abrams, who was exceptional in "Weapons". Abrams seems to be having a moment right now, and he is capitalizing on it. So, going into the movie, I was as blind as one could be.

I really enjoyed the hell out of this movie. "Resident Evil" was a blast. It was also gory and bloody. There were jokes. I found myself laughing more than I thought. It was also intense, and in a good way, gross. All in all, I found this movie to be fun as hell. I'm also going to go about the rest of this review without any spoilers. I think what I liked most about this movie was the fact that Cregger made Abrams' character a regular dude put in an impossible situation. This all felt like some stuff I would do if I was in the same predicament.

Abrams plays Bryan who is a courier that brings things to hospitals. It is usually body parts for transplants, but he is offered a super secret, very hard job that he cannot pass up on. And when he is driving to the place he's supposed to go, he accidentally hits a person crossing the road. This is when everything starts to go to hell. From the moment he hits this person, it happens about 10 minutes into the movie, everything after takes us on a wild, wild ride. And all the while Bryan is dealing with all of this craziness in real time. There are moments when something totally wild happens and during the aftermath Abrams can be heard cursing under his breath, and complaining about this wackiness he has encountered. He seems to be so frustrated that all he can do is curse under his breath. He also continually tells himself that he is almost to his destination after every horrendous situation he is dumped into. I tell myself that I'm almost done with stuff all the time. I will be on a run and constantly be telling myself that I'm almost there. Abrams played this role as just a regular dude and I loved that. It was nice to see someone who doesn't have any superpowers or is a wiz with guns or anything. He is put into an impossible scenario and he is just reacting like most of us would. I also thought that the graphics and  "bad guys" looked really cool. I thought that Cregger and crew did a very good job making the monsters that Bryan has to fight endlessly. There is one scene with a kid that is very creepy and very well done. There's another with a dog that totally reminded me of "The Thing". It was a nice homage. I think what I liked best though was the sheer fact that I got to see a kickass horror movie with some comedy. I had no want to see anything from a video game that I have never played. I got to see a cool story told in a cool new way.

I liked "Resident Evil" a ton. I highly recommend it to anyone that is a fan of Cregger's previous work. He continues to make really funny and very scary movies. I like where his career is headed and Austin Abrams proves in this role that he is a star that is going to continue to shine. Check out "Resident Evil". It is dope. 

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.