Ty Watches "The World's Greatest Mixtape"

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

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

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

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

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

Ty

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

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Ty Watches "Long Gone Summer"

Yesterday I watched the most recent 30 for 30 "Long Gone Summer". The doc was about the summer of 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chased the home run record set by Roger Maris.

I lived through this moment in time, and I vividly remember the chase because I live in Saint Louis, and I am a Cardinals fan. That was one of my main motivations for watching this movie. I also wanted to see how much they talked about steroids in this era, and how much of a part it played in both guys, and eventually Barry Bonds, breaking such a hallowed record. And yes, records in baseball, for some reason, are held in higher regards than in other pro sports. So the fact that three guys in four years broke the record, people had lots of questions. But I will touch on that in a moment.

As for the movie, it was just fine. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad, it was just fine. This is unfair to the movie, but I am now going to be comparing the every 30 for 30 to "The Last Dance". That was epic, perfect and one of the best movies I will ever see. So I know comparing this movie to it is not fair. But it just didn't fully live up to the hype for me. A lot of the footage, I remember seeing. I was 16 when this happened, loved baseball, played baseball, so it had my full attention. Baseball also needed something to get back in people's good graces after the 1994 lockout, and this home run race was the remedy. I remember McGwire starting off hot. I remember Ken Griffey Jr being right in it. I remember Sammy Sosa coming on super strong in June. They covered all this, but they didn't really add anything new. I don't think they put in anything that your average baseball fan doesn't remember from that era. They talked about Kerry Wood, but he was the hot phenom at the time. They mentioned Harry Caray's death, and everyone knew about that. They mentioned Sosa's unexpected explosion in June, but that is what got the world's attention. They talked about how hard it was on both guys, but anyone that watched could see it in their faces, especially McGwire's. Sosa loved the limelight, and he shined in it. McGwire just wanted to hit baseballs. I also remember not being a fan of either guy, even though I was, and still am, a Cardinals fan. I was always a Griffey Jr guy.

What I am trying to say is, I already knew all the stuff they were getting into with this movie. I watch 30 for 30's because they give me new info, or tell me about someone I never heard of before. This was almost a paint by numbers doc. It was softball question after softball question. They did not really dig deep into what I was hoping they would, steroids. And that is on me I guess. I was going into this movie thinking it was going to be a salacious take down of both guys, and both guys would come clean about their steroid use. And, I mean, I guess they did, but it was kind of half hearted admittance. McGwire said he used steroids, but only for injuries, which is B.S. Sosa said, "everyone was doing it", which isn't really an admission, but also kind of is. But they did all that in the last ten minutes of the movie. They spent an hour and a half praising these guys, showing legions of fans cheering for them and how they overcame adversity, only to switch at the end to say, "they may have used steroids". There is no may, they did. This could have been like the Lance Armstrong doc. They could have delved so much deeper into the seedy world of steroid use in baseball in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's. They chose to go in a different direction, which is fine, it just wasn't what I wanted or expected. Sosa and McGwire almost come off as good guys, and they both are not, at least in baseball terms. They both took PEDs. They both cheated the game. They both fell off after this one magical season. They both were called into congress to talk about PED use. And "Long Gone Summer" just kind of glossed over all of that in favor for watching a baseball fly over a wall.

It was nice to go back in time and see a ton of cool stuff that I watched as a teenager, but this movie could have been better, at least for me. I wanted more steroid talk, more salacious stuff. "Long Gone Summer" went for sympathy, and that is their prerogative. Now I know to watch "The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience" if I want what I deem to be the truer story, and I'm totally cool with that. I'm glad I watched, but I don't see myself revisiting it like I do with so many other 30 for 30's.

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 30 for 30's "Vick"

One of the few things I think ESPN still does well is their "30 For 30" docs. Be it television movies or podcasts, this is a property they still seem to nail. I think it is because they aren't being star gazers, or trying not to hurt anyone's feelings. The "30 For 30" series is about as raw as they get on ESPN, and I feel like that is why it is still solid. And their most recent one on Mike Vick's story is a good representation of why this still works.

I am an unabashed Vick fan. I loved him in college, he made me root for the Falcons when he was first in the league, and while I adore dogs, and am a dog owner myself, I was one of the people who thought that his punishment was way, way out of line. This "30 For 30" covers all of that. The movie is right around four hours long, it was broken into two separate two hour parts, and I feel that every minute is totally worth your time. I also feel like this is a movie that will have a wide appeal. You don't have to be a sports fan to find something that will leave you asking questions or shaking your head at this movie. I would even venture to say that people who don't like Vick, who think his crime was heinous, would find something they like about this movie.

As for the movie, like I said, it covers his life leading up to today. There were things that I never really knew about Vick either until I saw this movie. I knew he grew up in poverty, and that he lived in the projects, but I didn't realize the type of sports talent that his hometown, Newport News, Virginia, produced so many great athletes. You could just name Vick and Allen Iverson, and that would be more than enough. This seemed like a place where you had no other options besides playing sports, and Vick was a super athlete. I knew he was a coveted recruit, but I also didn't know that he was going to go to either Syracuse or Virginia Tech. I didn't realize Syracuse was very close to getting him, and that was due to Donovan McNabb, who played a very big part in Vick's life. To see his journey in college, he was so god damn electric, to the number one overall pick in the draft was great as well. It brought me back to that time in my life when I was obsessed with where players I liked were going to be playing professionally.

When Vick made it to Atlanta, and got his 100 million dollar plus contract, this is when it seemed to kind of go sideways for him. He said in interviews that he was never going to turn any friends or family away, but when he got that money, it became clear to him that not everyone had good intentions, but he still kept them on his personal payroll. This is where the whole dogfighting thing comes into play. Now, I want to say before I go on, I love dogs. I have a dog. I can never, ever see me putting hands on him for anything. I am a clichéd dog lover. And what Vick did, with his involvement, he never personally fought the dogs, is very, very wrong. I needed to say that. But, to see that his involvement was minimal, that he was never charged with fighting, that he seemingly only provided the house and the area for these dogs to fight, it is insane the way he was treated by the majority of the world. He was looked at like a real criminal. He did something wrong, but he was not a murderer, a robber, an abuser, a steroid user. He didn't do anything close to what a ton of modern NFL players do, and constantly get away with now, yet he had to serve real time for some dog fighting. That drove me nuts. There was even parts in the movie where idiots like Tucker Carlson and Rob Thomas, the lead singer of Matchbox 20, said he deserved to be executed. That is a humongous overreaction, and I wonder if these people would have said the same thing if the person involved in this were Peyton Manning. Hell, Ben Roesthisberger has been accused of rape twice, and the people of Pittsburgh love him. Manning had a report come out that he was harassing female trainers in college, and that was swept under the rug. But Mike Vick is a part of some dog fighting, and he goes to prison for almost two years? Don't tell me this wasn't racially driven. It was one hundred percent that, and because he was a multi millionaire. Also, the people of PETA can sit on it. They are so holier than thou, and I am sick and tired of all their "missions" that they claim to be passionate about. I cannot stand PETA. But, to see Vick come out on the other side, make it back to the NFL, pay off his debts, get two more big time contracts, be a premiere player and help to stop dog fighting and help all animals was a great pleasure. He truly did turn his life around, and what he did was pennies compared to what the NFL lets guys get away with now.

Also, Roger Goodell is still a monster, and every time he was on screen, I felt like giving him the finger.

This "30 For 30" was great though because the story is a positive one. It has a message. It shows someone overcoming tough situations and being the better for it. I really enjoyed this movie and it made me like Mike Vick more than I already do. I highly recommend this movie. It is wonderful.

Ty

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

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Cloves and Fedoras: Ramona Shelburne Tells a Tale Worthy of Hollywood with "The Sterling Affairs" Podcast

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture. Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

Zach Lowe finally returned from his annual summer vacation the other day, and released the latest "Lowe Post" podcast. I'm a big time fan of that show, I usually listen to it before I listen to anything else, and I like it so much that even when he has Brian Windhorst on, who I cannot stand, I still listen because Lowe is such a great basketball writer.

Yesterday I was thrilled when I saw that Ramona Shelburne was the guest. She is right up there with Lowe, for me, as far as the best writers in basketball today. I have a very short list, Lowe, Shelburne, Jackie McMullan, hell, that might be it. So, whenever Shelburne is on the pod, it becomes even more of a must listen to for me. She was on to promote her new "30 For 30" podcast called "The Sterling Affairs". Pretty much every, if not all, NBA fans know the story of him being forced to sell the Clippers. Sterling is a total scumbag, racist asshole who deserves all the horrible things in life to happen to him. And that is very straight forward on this 5 part podcast series. But what Shelburne does with this, how deep she dives into his past and present, is truly wonderful. Also, not only do we see how awful Sterling is, but we see that his wife Shelly is not much better. And how V Stiviano was the only person who was willing to put him on blast, but how it had to be an absolute last ditch effort type thing. We also get to hear from lawyers, former players and coaches, announcers and TV personalities. It is so cool, and kind of sad and creepy.

I am three and a half episodes in, I had to clean my house while my kids were at school, the perfect time for me to binge podcasts, and I am totally invested and riveted and disgusted and blown away at what I am hearing. I cannot recommend this enough. Only 3 episodes in, and I find myself yelling at my phone and gasping and being completely shocked, but not surprised at all the goings on from Sterling's early life to when the tapes that Stiviano was recording for almost 2 years released. Sterling has always, and will always, be a racist asshole who only surrounds himself with yes men and women. He is a womanizer as well, a curmudgeon and a cheap skate. Hearing from former players, guys like Olden Poliyence, Ryan Hollins and Blake Griffin, at how uncomfortable and how he treated his players like property is appalling and revealing. The stories of the infamous "white parties" that the Sterling's would throw before the season sound so awful and uncomfortable and sad. Hearing Doc Rivers, who played and coached under Sterling, talk about how awful he was behind the scenes was eye opening. Listening to his wife, who is still with him, makes me angry at her and feel zero sympathy. She tries to come off as all innocent and clueless, but she is complicit in everything he did, does and will do. She is just as bad. Like I said earlier, Stiviano was the one who really brought his horrible behavior to light, but she is not a great person either. She was a star chaser and would be with anyone if they had money. Listening to Matt Barnes talk about her was hilarious because he truly hates her. Apparently she really tried to insert herself into the players lives, and they weren't having it.

What I think I like most about it though is how this story has everything that a big time Hollywood movie would want. It has many bad guys that take advantage of people, guys who were too afraid to tell the main villain to stop, intrigue, disgusting affairs and the main bad guy, finally, getting what he deserves. I cannot wait to finish the last episode and a half. I'm going to workout later, and I will most definitely finish it then.

This is a real homerun. I know that I am super hard on ESPN, but every once in awhile, they do something like this, and it totally works. Check this 5 part podcast series out. It is very well done, and it is a great, yet horrifying story. Know going into it that there is some truly awful language, and some horrible, horrible things are said. But man is this so, so good. I cannot wait to finish listening. Check it out.

Ty

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty never thought much about the Clippers until this whole Sterling thing blew up. Now the team cleaned up their ownership nicely, yet they make Ty take notice of the team a but more.

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Cloves and Fedoras: Michael Rapaport is one of the best, and hardest working, entertainers out there.

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

Today I'm going to give love to another actor/director that seemed to be forgotten, but has now reappeared and is doing some great work. That actor/director I'm speaking of is Michael Rapaport.

This comes about because yesterday, on the Bill Simmons podcast, Rapaport was the guest, for the third time already, and I loved every single second. He is just an angry, yet jovial dude and I love to hear him talk about everything from music to movies to sports, mainly basketball. He is a huge basketball fan and he is extremely knowledgeable on the NBA, especially his beloved Knicks. He knows their history inside and out. He is so passionate about his team. He said on the podcast, that it is nothing but gray skies right now for the Knicks.

That's something I really like about him. He isn't a delusional Knicks fan that thinks, "this is the year we turn it around", every year, he knows that this is a very dark time for his team. They have no picks in the upcoming draft. They will be hard pressed to bring in any big time free agents, unless they trade Carmelo. They are trying to decide between Kurt Rambis and David Blatt as their next head coach. Why is this even a question? Hire Blatt. Rambis is incompetent and has proven that every time he gets a head coaching job. Blatt was in the wrong situation at the wrong time in Cleveland, and he still took that team to the finals last year. Rappaport said the exact same thing. He doesn't see the need for Phil Jackson to interview anyone else if Blatt is available. I couldn't agree more with him, obviously.

This past Tuesday, and the two other times before, he has expounded his vast knowledge of the Knicks and the NBA, and I agree with almost everything he says. I agree that the Knicks are going to be an also ran for the next three, four or even five years. I agree that the NBA is in a golden age, but it will be bad in a couple of years because of the "one and dones", he said this the last time he was on the podcast. I agree that the Knicks of the 90's were incredibly dominant, but also underachievers, because they never won a title with Ewing, Mark Jackson and John Starks. I agree with him when he says he wants the Cavs to lose the finals again because LeBron is kind of becoming whiny since he isn't the top story in the NBA anymore, it's the Warriors. I agree when he says that Russell Westbrook is a lunatic on the floor. I agree that he says there will never be another player like Kevin Durant, a guy that's 7 feet tall and can handle and shoot like a guard. Rapaport is very, very smart when it comes to all things NBA.

Rapaport's hobbies and the things that he likes goes beyond just the NBA. He is a successful podcast host himself. His podcast is very popular and he gets some big time people to appear. He was/is a very decent actor. I personally think that he is a really good actor that can play many different roles and genres. For example, look at his role in "Next Friday", next to "Cop Land". "Next Friday" he had such a throw away part, but he nailed it. He was a mildly racist mailman delivering mail to Craig's uncle's house in the suburbs. Rapaport was surprised to see a young black man answer the door and he acted like a guy that doesn't think he is racist, but there is definitely some racism in him. He was rude and ignorant and funny. And Ice Cube played off of him perfectly. "Next Friday" isn't good or bad, it's just blah, but that one scene with Rapaport and Cube is very funny and worth your time. In "Cop Land", he played a young, out of his league cop. He got to act with Harvey Keitel, who is a wonderful and legendary actor. I feel like Rapaport one hundred percent held his own. He also got to act with Sylvester Stallone in that movie as well. "Cop Land" is star studded and Rapaport does an excellent job among all the big time stars in that movie. But, nothing compares to how awesome he was in the wildly underrated "Beautiful Girls". First of all, that movie is so good and it totally holds up. The list of actors and actresses in that movie is incredible and Rapaport is so damn good in the movie. He gets to act opposite Mira Sorvino and Uma Thurman and he does a wonderful job. If you haven't seen "Beautiful Girls", do yourself a favor and watch it because it is great.

He is also a pretty good actor on the small screen too. He plays a cop a lot, he kind of looks like one, in shows like "Public Morals" and "Justified", and he is very good, but nothing compares to his outstanding, one episode feature he did on the last season of "Louie". He was so god damn good as a down on his luck security guard. He was kind of a downer and a mean guy that punched people and talked over people all the time, but it was because he was a lonely guy. His character was even more lonely than Louis CK. He was such a wannabe and such a meathead, but he was also, to be frank, a loser. Louie always wanted to be left alone, and he could be a jerk about it sometimes, but in this episode with Rapaport, you side with Louie. Louie shouldn't have to hang out with someone always talking over him, punching him and taking him to a basketball game that he doesn't want to go to, no one should have to go through all of that. But, at the end, when he loses his gun and Louie eventually finds it, his cries of agony turn into cries of joy and Rapaport is so awesome in this tiny role. He should have been nominated for an Emmy for that one episode.

Recently, Rapaport has taken his talents to directing with a ton of success. He directed a great "30 For 30" about the Big East at it's height. It is an awesome documentary and one of "30 For 30"'s best efforts. But, nothing will ever compare to the wonderful work he did on the Tribe Called Quest documentary, "Beats, Rhymes and Life, The Trails and Tribulations of A Tribe Called Quest". That doc is a masterpiece about one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time. Rapaport told every side of every story. He gave everyone a voice, even Jarobi and Ali Shaheed Mohammed. That movie is absolutely awesome. It's even more timely and wonderful and sad due to the untimely death of Phife Dawg. That was the last we really ever saw of Phife at his healthiest. It will go down as classic now that Phife has passed away. Rapaport was clearly a fan, but he wasn't afraid to talk about and bring up the bad stuff that happened to everyone in ATCQ. It's his best work by far.

I'm a big, big fan of most of Rapaport's work. I know he may come off as coarse, but if you actually listen to him, I think you will feel the same way as I do. Rapaport is a wonderful actor, director and a great, and very knowledgeable sports fan, especially when it comes to basketball. I'm a fan.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He agrees with almost everything Rapaport says about the Knicks, except for the fact they will be bad for four to five years. They will be bad for decades. Ty is on twitter, go follow him @tykulik.