SeedSing Classic: Please Leave Me out of Your Cool Beard Club

Behold hairy magnificence 

SeedSing classic is a look back at our most influential articles. These pieces have been presented in their original form. No Star Warsesque special editions. This article was originally posted on October 1st, 2015. Also, Ty still has a beard. Enjoy

I've been writing about sports, music , TV and movies a lot lately.

Today, I'm going to go way off topic and talk about beards. I have a beard, but I'm not happy with the way I'm treated because I have a beard.

Now, I'm not treated poorly or differently from people without beards but, when I see another person with a beard they always seem to want to talk to me. I don't even know these people, but they feel a connection to me because we both have beards. Minus the facial hair, I'm sure we have nothing in common. These guys who share the same facial hair choice with me seem to be really into grooming their beards. They have them shaved in certain, "fashionable" ways or they have them combed in a specific way, or they have it in almost a hairdo type of way. Me, I have a "I'm too lazy to shave" type of way. I know that it's hip and cool to have a beard now. It's the new fashion trend for men. Much like the skinny jean or the glasses with no lenses, beards are having their day. The problem I have is the hipsters that groom these beards. You see guys out there with their handlebar mustaches that now have an equally groomed beard. This sickens me. Or, guys who have faux hawks and have a beard. How much more of a douchebag can you be. I'm a big Bryce Harper fan, but he looks like the definition of a douchebag frat boy with his hairdo and beard. There's also the guys with the "gruff" beard. This is done purposefully by these people. Just like shaggy hair was a thing in high school, having a "gruff"(I put it in quotes because these guys chose this look, they're doing it on purpose) beard is in. I believe the term thrown around is a "lumberjack beard". Do you know why lumberjack's have beards? It's not a fashion statement, these guys work in the absolute freezing cold, so a beard is just another layer of warmth for them. They don't do it to be fashionable, they do it to stay warm.

Now, I've had a beard for about 4 years straight. I shaved it completely off once because I lost 100 pounds and I wanted to see what my face looked like, but for most of my sons life, he's three and a half, I've had a full beard. I don't know why I started to grow it when I did. I guess it was because I started to lose my hair. I started going bald about eight years ago, but I was fully bald about five years ago. So, I guess I wanted to have hair somewhere on my face, so I chose a beard. When I started to grow it, I had bald patches right by my cheeks, so it took awhile for a full, big beard to grow. I didn't grow it big for fashion reasons, I grew it big so it looked full. It was around this same time that I noticed beards popping up almost everywhere. I'd go to the grocery store or the movies or even the mall, and about fifty percent of men had beards. No one was really doing anything fashionable at this time though. I was also given my first business card from a stranger promoting his beard grooming barber shop. This was when I started to become disillusioned with beards because I knew that something douchey and hipstery was coming.

And boy did it come with a huge explosion. I'd say the number jumped to about seventy five percent of men with beards (numbers are not exact). Still, I wasn't going to shave. Personally, I like having a beard because I feel that my face looks young without it. I like looking older. About nine months ago I had a normal sized beard, not too big, not too small. My wife told me she was pregnant with our second child and after an embrace, lots of hugs and kisses, I told her I wasn't going to shave until the baby was born. We are now six days away from the birth of my daughter. My beard is humongous(see above picture). I'm excited to get it trimmed after the baby is born because it is getting tangled and it's hard to clean thoroughly in the shower, basically it's more a hassle than anything else. Like I said, I'm going to keep my beard, but it doesn't need to be this huge.

The next thing I'm going to tell you almost made me shave my beard off last week. I was at Target with my wife and son and my parents. We were going through the check out aisle and another gentleman, a very nice guy in fact, came up to me with a business card, that's two for those of you counting out there, and it simply read, "Sweet Beard". This was all I saw at first, and even though this guy was very nice, I was angry. I was sick and tired of guys slapping me five or talking to me about grooming beards or casually telling me "nice beard" from a distance. I was fed up and I didn't want this card. I looked at him with a grimace on my face and quietly and angrily said "Thanks". I think he sensed my anger and softly told me, "my shop for beard grooming is on the back if you want to come by and get a trim". As I said, he was very nice and there was no need for me to be so mad. But then I looked at his beard and became even more upset. He had a HUGE beard, perfectly groomed. I wanted to scream at him, "I DIDN'T DO THIS FOR FASHION REASONS, I"M JUST LAZY!" I didn't do that because I'm a human being and I understand that I shouldn't act like a crazed lunatic to someone that's being nice to me (I have the internet as a place to act like a crazed lunatic).

But this brings me to the most important thing in my piece. I just cracked why I choose to have a beard. It was simple and has been staring me in the face for four years now. I'm lazy. I don't like to shave and the clean up afterward is too much. I don't like keeping my trimmers charged and I'm not going to use a straight razor because they burn my face. See, I found multiple reasons why I won't, but someone will read this and think that all that stuff is easy to do. But like I just said, I'm lazy. I'm not fashionable by any means necessary, and I didn't grow this beard to be "cool", I did it because I'm lazy.

It's as simple as that.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. This article may be a little dated, but that beard is still present in it's magnificent glory.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

Why Bryce Harper? Why?

The Bryce Harper saga is finally over. He’s going to the Phillies for the richest contract in the history of sports, I believe. He’s getting 330 million dollars over 13 years, with no opt out clause for the entirety of the contract. That’s insane. All of what I just wrote is nuts. That’s so much money to play a game. That is such a long time, especially nowadays, to stay in one city. And the fact he has no opt out clause, he can only be traded if the Phillies decide they want to trade him. It’s all wild.

On a personal note, I don’t think Harper necessarily deserves this contract. He is a good baseball player. I’d even say he’s a star. But, for a guy that doesn’t watch a ton of baseball, I’d take guys like Mike Trout, Kris Bryant, Giancarlo Stanton and, most pitchers, before I’d give this contract to Harper. Yes, he’s won an MVP, and he has a cannon arm, but what else does he offer? He’s never been out of the first round of the playoffs. He gets injured a ton. He can be a headache. He’s been choked by a teammate. He held a few teams hostage during negotiations. It all seems a bit too much for him.

Then we have the Phillies. Why did they do this? Is he really their ticket back to contention? Is he the answer to all their problems? Is he really going to win over the fans instantly? I really don’t think so. Besides Jake Arrieta and now Harper, I can’t name a single player on their team. Also, isn’t their division about to be owned by Atlanta. I’ve heard they’re super young, and they were in the playoffs last year. I don’t see them going anywhere. I’m sure he will help their lineup a bit, but I don’t even think he’s a career .300 hitter. I know the potential is there, but he hasn’t lived up to it yet, and I’m counting his MVP year. I think the fans are happy now, but the moment he goes into a slump, or gets hurt, both are very likely, they will turn. I mean, the fans have thrown batteries at opposing players, and people dressed like Santa. They’re ruthless. He’s had it fairly easy in D.C. That will not be the same in Philadelphia. This whole thing is very confounding to me.

I feel like Harper had better options from better teams. I’ve read about the other offers, from the Giants, Dodgers and Nationals. All those teams, except the Nationals, have won or have been to the World Series recently. To me, Harper and his agent took this deal strictly based on money. Harper wanted to be the highest paid player. Scott Boras, his agent, wants a cut of that money. This was all about cash. This wasn’t going to a better team choice, it wasn’t about staying in the NL, it had nothing to do with being close to his hometown of Las Vegas. This was strictly due to money. And that’s fine. But, I don’t want Harper to say in his press conference that he’s there to win titles. He’s not.

To close this out, by the time his contract is up, my son will be 20 and in college. My daughter will be 16 and driving, and my wife and I will be one year away from being 50. This is bizarre and nuts in every possible way. It’s great he got all this money, I just don’t think it’s worth it for him or the Phillies. Especially in years 6-13. This is wild.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is holding SeedSing up on contract negotiations because he is waiting for more years from another blog. Do you hear that Michigan Football blogs, Ty is listening.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

SeedSing Classic: Please Leave Me out of Your Cool Beard Club

Behold hairy magnificence 

SeedSing classic is a look back at our most influential articles. These pieces have been presented in their original form. No Star Warsesque special editions. Enjoy

I've been writing about sports, music , TV and movies a lot lately.

Today, I'm going to go way off topic and talk about beards. I have a beard, but I'm not happy with the way I'm treated because I have a beard.

Now, I'm not treated poorly or differently from people without beards but, when I see another person with a beard they always seem to want to talk to me. I don't even know these people, but they feel a connection to me because we both have beards. Minus the facial hair, I'm sure we have nothing in common. These guys who share the same facial hair choice with me seem to be really into grooming their beards. They have them shaved in certain, "fashionable" ways or they have them combed in a specific way, or they have it in almost a hairdo type of way. Me, I have a "I'm too lazy to shave" type of way. I know that it's hip and cool to have a beard now. It's the new fashion trend for men. Much like the skinny jean or the glasses with no lenses, beards are having their day. The problem I have is the hipsters that groom these beards. You see guys out there with their handlebar mustaches that now have an equally groomed beard. This sickens me. Or, guys who have faux hawks and have a beard. How much more of a douchebag can you be. I'm a big Bryce Harper fan, but he looks like the definition of a douchebag frat boy with his hairdo and beard. There's also the guys with the "gruff" beard. This is done purposefully by these people. Just like shaggy hair was a thing in high school, having a "gruff"(I put it in quotes because these guys chose this look, they're doing it on purpose) beard is in. I believe the term thrown around is a "lumberjack beard". Do you know why lumberjack's have beards? It's not a fashion statement, these guys work in the absolute freezing cold, so a beard is just another layer of warmth for them. They don't do it to be fashionable, they do it to stay warm.

Now, I've had a beard for about 4 years straight. I shaved it completely off once because I lost 100 pounds and I wanted to see what my face looked like, but for most of my sons life, he's three and a half, I've had a full beard. I don't know why I started to grow it when I did. I guess it was because I started to lose my hair. I started going bald about eight years ago, but I was fully bald about five years ago. So, I guess I wanted to have hair somewhere on my face, so I chose a beard. When I started to grow it, I had bald patches right by my cheeks, so it took awhile for a full, big beard to grow. I didn't grow it big for fashion reasons, I grew it big so it looked full. It was around this same time that I noticed beards popping up almost everywhere. I'd go to the grocery store or the movies or even the mall, and about fifty percent of men had beards. No one was really doing anything fashionable at this time though. I was also given my first business card from a stranger promoting his beard grooming barber shop. This was when I started to become disillusioned with beards because I knew that something douchey and hipstery was coming.

And boy did it come with a huge explosion. I'd say the number jumped to about seventy five percent of men with beards (numbers are not exact). Still, I wasn't going to shave. Personally, I like having a beard because I feel that my face looks young without it. I like looking older. About nine months ago I had a normal sized beard, not too big, not too small. My wife told me she was pregnant with our second child and after an embrace, lots of hugs and kisses, I told her I wasn't going to shave until the baby was born. We are now six days away from the birth of my daughter. My beard is humongous(see above picture). I'm excited to get it trimmed after the baby is born because it is getting tangled and it's hard to clean thoroughly in the shower, basically it's more a hassle than anything else. Like I said, I'm going to keep my beard, but it doesn't need to be this huge.

The next thing I'm going to tell you almost made me shave my beard off last week. I was at Target with my wife and son and my parents. We were going through the check out aisle and another gentleman, a very nice guy in fact, came up to me with a business card, that's two for those of you counting out there, and it simply read, "Sweet Beard". This was all I saw at first, and even though this guy was very nice, I was angry. I was sick and tired of guys slapping me five or talking to me about grooming beards or casually telling me "nice beard" from a distance. I was fed up and I didn't want this card. I looked at him with a grimace on my face and quietly and angrily said "Thanks". I think he sensed my anger and softly told me, "my shop for beard grooming is on the back if you want to come by and get a trim". As I said, he was very nice and there was no need for me to be so mad. But then I looked at his beard and became even more upset. He had a HUGE beard, perfectly groomed. I wanted to scream at him, "I DIDN'T DO THIS FOR FASHION REASONS, I"M JUST LAZY!" I didn't do that because I'm a human being and I understand that I shouldn't act like a crazed lunatic to someone that's being nice to me (I have the internet as a place to act like a crazed lunatic).

But this brings me to the most important thing in my piece. I just cracked why I choose to have a beard. It was simple and has been staring me in the face for four years now. I'm lazy. I don't like to shave and the clean up afterward is too much. I don't like keeping my trimmers charged and I'm not going to use a straight razor because they burn my face. See, I found multiple reasons why I won't, but someone will read this and think that all that stuff is easy to do. But like I just said, I'm lazy. I'm not fashionable by any means necessary, and I didn't grow this beard to be "cool", I did it because I'm lazy.

It's as simple as that.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. This article may be a little dated, but that beard is still present in it's magnificent glory.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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

Get All of Your Winners in Ty's Second Annual MLB Playoff Preview

Check out Ty's MLB season preview and judge for yourself how well he did.

In what I'm sure will become a yearly tradition with SeedSing, I will do my own MLB playoff prediction to go up against RD's playoff picks. Last year I was way off, I think I had the Blue Jays winning it all, and David Price being the MVP. So hopefully this year, I do better. Now, right off the bat, I do not know as much about baseball as RD does. I know a whole lot, but RD puts more time and effort than anyone I know that watches baseball. I'd much rather be playing baseball than watching it. The games are too long and boring. The playoffs up the ante, but I don't find myself that excited until the World Series. This is also the first time the Cardinals have not been in the postseason since 2010, so I may be even more checked out. But, I want to make my picks anyway.

Lets get started.

First off, we have the 2 wild card games. In the NL, we have the San Francisco Giants going up against the New York Mets. I did not think that these would be the 2 wild card teams from the NL. It's an even year, so I figured the Giants would coast to a division and World Series title, but they have struggled mightily since the All Star break. The Mets were in the World Series last year, and they had everyone back. They looked prime to be, at the very least, a near lock for the NLCS. But, injuries and players not playing up to the task put them in the position they sit in now. I think this game will be a great pitchers duel. That is the main thing that both of these teams have going for them. I'm sure San Francisco will throw Madison Bumgarner and the Mets will put Noah Syndergaard on the mound. This will be a very good match up, and whichever pitcher makes one mistake, I say Syndergaard, the other team will capitalize. I have the Giants winning the NL wild card game in a very close and low scoring affair.

In the AL wild card game we have the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles. I was very big on the Blue Jays this year. I thought they had the best lineup in baseball, and they'd cruise to a division title. But, they proved that pitching is important, and that you can't just outscore everyone. The Orioles kind of surprised me. I thought that they would be, at best, a .500 team, but they put together a pretty good year. They have a pretty good lineup, and decent pitching. They have one of the best closers in the game as well. This match up is a total toss up for me. I could see either team winning. I do know that it will be higher scoring than the NL wild card game, and I'm going to go with the Orioles. I think that guys like Manny Machado and Chris Davis will carry this team to a victory, with the score being something very high like 8-6 or 9-7.

With the Giants and Orioles advancing, now we get to the real playoffs. I will do the AL first and finish off with the NL. After Baltimore beats Toronto, that means they will face the number one team in the AL in the Texas Rangers. Now, if you go back and listen to the midseason mini X Millennial Man podcast that RD and I did, I said I loved all the moves the Rangers made at the trade deadline, and thought that Prince Fielder going down was a blessing in disguise. I legitimately think that they are the team to beat in the AL. They already have guys like Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz. Then, they added Carlos Beltran and Johnathan Lucroy to that lineup. They also have Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish in their starting rotation. I love the Rangers, and Baltimore won't be able to hang with them. I see the Rangers sweeping them out in 3 non competitive games.

In the other matchup we have Cleveland and Boston. Oh, how I love the fact that Terry Francona gets to face the Red Sox. I also think the Red Sox, and their fans, are a little too cocky going into this series. I have loved what David Ortiz has done in his final season, and they have a very good lineup, but Cleveland is no slouch. They play excellent small ball baseball, and they have a very good rotation. Boston is good at scoring a lot of runs, but keep them in close games, and they aren't so great. I think that will doom them in this series against Cleveland. Cleveland is very comfortable with close games and Boston is not. I also love the fact that Terry Francona will have a chance to beat Boston, the team that cast him off. I have Cleveland winning in 5.

That means we will have a Cleveland-Texas ALCS. Strength against strength. Great pitching versus great hitting. This series will be good, but Texas is so loaded. They have a lethal lineup, and their pitching staff is just as good, if not better, than Cleveland's. As I said, I really like the Rangers right now, and I think they will beat the Indians in 6 games to advance to the World Series.

In the NL, the Giants "prize" for beating the Mets will be a showdown with the Cubs. The Cubs are far and away the best team in baseball. They are loaded absolutely everywhere. I know that some people have gotten on me for being hard on the Cubs, but you can go back and read anything I have written about baseball this year and see that I have picked the Cubs to be the champs. The same can be said for listening to any baseball related podcast. I may despise the Cubs, but they are so very talented. The Giants may make this series closer than it should be, but the Cubs should win it in 4 games. They have great, dependable and reliable hitters 1 through 8, and their pitching staff is amazing. This is the year where the Giants winning the World Series in even numbered years will end.

The other NL matchup pits the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Washington Nationals. The Dodgers have a good, but very old lineup. They also have a good pitching staff, led by Clayton Kershaw, but he does not show up in the playoffs. The Nationals, on the other hand, they have a loaded lineup, third only to the Cubs and the Rangers, and a great pitching staff. The Nationals may blow a game or 2, but not even Dusty Baker will blow this first round matchup. I have the Nationals winning in 4, and I think this is where Bryce Harper will bust out of his slump, in a big way.

That leaves us with the Cubs and Nationals in the NLCS. This is a great matchup, but I just don't see how the Cubs don't win, and win convincingly. Their lineup is better. Their coach is better. Their pitching staff 1-5 is better. They have a better home field advantage. Everything is in the Cubs favor. I don't even think this series will go 6 games, even though it should be a 7 game series easily. Dusty Baker chokes in the playoffs, and the Cubs are just too good this year. I have the Cubs winning in 5, because Max Scherzer will get one win for the Nationals.

So, that means the 2016 World Series, in my opinion, will be Texas and Chicago. This is the best matchup that we could have. They were both the top seed in their league. They both had the best record in their league. They both have good coaches that know what they are doing. They both have home run hitters and on base guys. They both have very good pitching staffs. It's a great matchup. This series should, and probably will, go 7 games. The one advantage the Cubs have over the Rangers is the depth with their pitching staff, and that will be the difference. I, and this is very hard to write, see the Cubs breaking the curse and winning the World Series in 7 games. They are just too good, and they should be the odds on favorites. They were the best team in the regular season, and I don't see that stopping now. Cubs fans cannot use the "we're cursed, so I don't want to get my hopes up", or the "just wait and see, I don't to get my hopes up" excuses anymore. This team was bought to win right now. Not next year, or the year after, but right now. The Chicago Cubs are out of excuses. They have the best team, far and away, in baseball, and I think they finally break through and win this year. And, as much as I'd like to see someone like Jason Heyward or  Dexter Fowler or Ben Zobrist win the World Series MVP, it will inevitably be either Kris Bryant or Anthony Rizzo because the MLB likes lily white rich boys to be the face of their game.

But anyway, as much as it stinks to say, the Cubs will win, and I will not watch "Sportscenter", if they begin to talk about the Cubs, for the next year. It will be so insane and fanboyish, I will have to turn it off.

It is going to be terrible.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He needs to take a rest because the last two paragraphs were the hardest things he has ever written. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

The Shoe Wars are Over and Nike is the Winner

Do not forget the champion athletes that wear this brand

My topic today is a bit off the beaten path. I'm going to talk about the supposed "shoe war" going on between Under Armor and Nike. Under Armor seems to think that they have put a stranglehold on the top names in sports over other companies like Nike, Adidas and other companies that sell sporting apparel. Under Armor does have some big name clients, but my whole idea that I'm going to pose today is, much like how players wearing Under Armor, these guys are finishing second to the athletes wearing other companies products, mainly Nike.

First off, the three biggest names that Under Armor has on their payroll right now are Cam Newton, Steph Curry and Bryce Harper. These three guys are world class athletes. They are some of the, if not the, best players in their particular sport. Cam Newton has changed what the idea of a quarterback in the NFL can do athletically these days. Bryce Harper may be the most feared hitter since Barry Bonds. And Steph Curry, he has a title, he is the first unanimous MVP, he is the best shooter I have ever seen and he has transcending what people think about shooters in the NBA all time. I'm sure Under Armor has other decent athletes that wear their stuff, but these three are, by far, the most noticeable and most impressive. But, the recent problem with the guys that Under Armor pays millions upon millions of dollars, they are finishing second to players that wear either Nike or Adidas. Even in the college game, Nike is still winning.

Let's look at the pro guys first. Cam Newton was the first Under Armor guy that caught my eye. Like I said, he plays quarterback like no one else I have ever watched, and he has a ton of fun doing it. He is big, fast and has a rocket arm. He took a very under manned team all the way to the Super Bowl this past season. The Panthers were even favored and Cam Newton's fancy Under Armor cleats were all over my TV screen prior to the Super Bowl. Then, the game happened, and an Adidas man made Cam Newton's life brutal for 60 minutes. Von Miller, who is an Adidas client, pressured, hit and caused Cam Newton to rush throws and make mistakes all game. He was clearly the superior player. His cleats even looked like he was taking a shot at Cam Newton's very loud and brash type cleats. Von Miller was awesome and he made Adidas look cool for one night. That night just happened to be the Super Bowl. The Broncos, and their middle linebacker, with his Adidas cleats, completely shut down Cam Newton and his Under Armor shoes that night. That was a big blow to Under Armor.

Then, they recently signed Bryce Harper to a massive deal. He is getting tons of money from that company to shill their products. Well, Harper is a tremendous talent that has already won an MVP, but what exactly has his team, the Washington Nationals, accomplished of any significance on the baseball field. Yeah, they had a 90 plus win season a few years back, but the Cardinals beat them in the early round of the MLB playoffs. Last year, with all the expectations in the world, they fell flat on their face. And now, yeah they are in first place in their division, but I still don't trust them. I trust the Mets so much more than I do the Nationals. And, while Harper may be the best player currently in baseball, guys like Andrew McCutchen, Mike Trout and Harper's teammate, Max Scherzer, all wear Nike. Those guys are very, very good baseball players, and in McCutchen has had much more recent postseason success than Bryce Harper has had. Once again, Under Armor finishes second, or maybe even third, because some big time guys, guys like Miguel Cabrera and Robinson Cano, sport New Balance gear.

Then, there is Steph Curry. Curry is a once in a lifetime NBA player. He is the best shooter, maybe ever. He is a two time MVP. He has a title. Curry is awesome. I'm a very big Steph Curry fan. But, he got destroyed in the most recent playoffs by all Nike guys. In the western conference finals, two Nike guys, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, went at Curry with no regard. Westbrook wanted to destroy him every night, and he did in a couple of those games. Durant was never flustered or bummed when he had Curry on defense or when Curry had him on defense. Both Durant and Westbrook constantly attacked him. The Thunder were so very close to beating him too. Then, in the finals, two Nike guys completely out shadowed Curry and Under Armor. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving looked so, so much better in these finals than Curry did. They were better, stronger, faster and made more shots. Under Armor got completely demoralized by Nike in the finals. After watching game 7, young kids that are logo obsessed would much rather get the new LeBron's or Kyrie Irving's shoes. No one wants those new Steph Curry, white, old man shoes. Nike crushed Under Armor in the NBA all throughout the playoffs.

Even in college, Nike is king. The only halfway decent team that I know of that wears Under Armor is Auburn, and they haven't been good in about 5 seasons. The last two championship games have had 4 Nike schools. Two years ago, in the first college football playoff, both Ohio State and Oregon wear Nike. Nike's headquarters is in Oregon in fact. Last season, both Alabama and Clemson wear Nike. I'm sure someone out there will say that I forgot Notre Dame, they signed a big contract with Under Armor, but I didn't, they are exactly what I expect out of an Under Armor client. They are decent enough to lose big time games. Hell, even after a horrid 7 year Adidas experience, Michigan is back on the Nike team, and I'm thrilled about it. Even in college basketball, all the big time teams are Nike teams. Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Villanova, Georgetown, Michigan State, among many other "blue bloods", they are all Nike.

Nike is a far superior product. They made sleeker, cooler and just flat out better products than any other sporting apparel. Under Armor and Adidas may have some big time names, but Nike has winners. I'll take winners over names anytime. Long live Nike.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He likes to write under a "Just Do It" banner with "I Believe I Can Fly" playing in the background. That is how dedicated he is. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The SeedSing 2016 Major League Baseball Preview

We will see you back at home in October. (or is it November now?)

Baseball season has finally begun. Our long cold winter has given way to the start of a still cold baseball season. We are talking baseball, competitive baseball. What will the season hold? Will the Kansas City Royals repeat as World Series Champions (no)? Can the Mets get back to the Fall Classic and close the deal this time (not likely)? How will the 2016 Major League Baseball season play out? Here at SeedSing we have all the answers to your specific questions, and a few predictions. Get your bets ready.

Are the Yankees and Red Sox ready to return to dominance in the AL East?

Short answer, no. Longer answer, hell no.

Let's start with the Bronx Bombers. In the off season the Yankees acquired 100+ mile per hour throwing Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds. Chapman is the real deal and near unhittable. He is added to a bullpen that was already very good. Any team playing the Yankees can expect to score zero runs after the seventh inning.

The problem is the first six innings. The Yankees have subpar starting pitching, and that will be problematic. Most teams will be able to easily hitting the New York starters, and the defense behind the starters is old and not very good. The Yankees lineup is filled with old aging stars and is a few years away from reloading with the young talent of other teams. The only bright spot in New York, outside of a killer bullpen, is going to be watching sullen cheater Alex Rodriguez chasing down Barry Bonds (75 homers away). Enjoy that New Yorkers.

Up the coast is the Yankees hated rival the Boston Red Sox. 2015 was a disaster for Boston, nothing seemed to work. The Red Sox addressed some of those issues by getting the biggest free agent prize of the off season, starting pitcher David Price. That acquisition made a big splash, and many of the sports media (almost all east coast based) are high on the Red Sox, but Price will not be enough. There is just not enough pitching or hitting depth in Boston. This team is at least one more year away from being in the World Series conversation. The Red Sox will make some noise, but their record will hover around .500 all season.

The ESPN love for the Yankees and the Red Sox will be no match for the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays. Tampa always defies the odds with great young talent. Baltimore has one of the best managers in baseball in Buck Showalter and a seasoned team. Toronto has built a dominant roster coming off a very disappointing loss in last years ALCS. The Blue Jays will dominant the AL East and leave the Yankees and Red Sox scrambling for next year.

It is an even number year so the San Francisco Giants will win the NL West and the World Series?

Not this year.

The Giants, like the Yankees and Red Sox, added a big time pitcher this off season with the free agent signing of Johnny Cueto. With a team mostly intact from their 2014 World Series Championship, Cueto is a big addition. The former Cy Young runner up comes after superstar Madison Bumgarner in the rotation. The problem is that after Cueto and Bumgarner the quality of pitching goes from great to mediocre. Jeff Samardzidja has shown flashes of brilliance, but has not proven to be consistently great. After the top three the Giants have an old Jake Peavy and Matt Cain. The Giants just do not have the pitching to make another even year World Series run.

The other problem for the Giants in the NL West is that the competition has gotten a lot better. The LA Dodgers have the money, star power, and Clayton Kershaw. The Arizona Diamondbacks have made some big moves, like acquiring superstar pitcher Zack Greinke, and have one of the best hitters in baseball in Paul Goldschmidt. Both of these teams will be a challenge for the Giants, and we will see the Arizona Diamondbacks beat back the others for the NL West Crown.

Is the AL West the most worthless, and over hyped, division in all of Major League Baseball?

Yes

Every year we hear about how the LA Angels, of wherever in southern California they want to be from, will once again claim the championship. If it is not the Angels, we hear about Billy Beane and the up and coming Oakland A's. The last few years we also keep hearing about the rise of the Seattle Mariners. In the last few years these three teams have faltered to the likes of the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. The Angels, A's, and Mariners get the headlines, but the two Texas teams are producing winners. 

The Rangers and Astros will once again battle for the AL West crown. The Rangers are old but tested and the Astros are young and uber talented. The Astros will edge out the team from Arlington and make a return trip to the MLB playoffs.

Does the NL East have the worst teams in baseball?

Close, but not quite.

The NL East is going to be ugly. The Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, and Florida Marlins are not very good. The Mets are coming off a World Series appearance, but they are not quite a championship caliber team. The Washington Nationals are loaded, but have been perennial underachievers. The NL East is filled with teams that are rebuilding or are in "one year away" mode. The quality of play out east will be barely above AAA caliber baseball. Almost everyone of these teams will struggle all year.

All should struggle except for the Nationals. The team in DC is loaded, and has the best player in baseball in reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper. The Mets heavily benefited from a dysfunctional DC team last year. That will not happen again. With Dusty Baker at the helm in our nations capitol, the Nationals will easily win the NL east.

Is the best baseball being played in the central part of the country?

Absolutely. The NL central and AL central are the deepest divisions in baseball. Both wild card teams from each league will come from the central division.

In the NL central you have the defending champs, and 100 game winners, St. Louis Cardinals. The birds on the bat have the best front office, a great farm system, and a culture of winning. Catching up to the Cardinals is another well built team in the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs have been climbing the ladder every year and are looking to make the playoffs for a third consecutive year. Coming off of an NLCS appearance in 2015, the Chicago Cubs are as loaded with talent as any team in MLB. The NL central will be a showcase for awesome baseball.

The AL central is as equally loaded as their NL brothers. First there is the defending World Series Champion Kansas City Royals. Even with a few off season losses, the Royals still have a solid championship core in place. The Detroit Tigers are rich with talent and experience. Cleveland has maybe the best manager in baseball with Terry Francona and a mix of veterans and younger players ready to emerge. The Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox are teams on the rise, and will not be pushovers for anyone else. 

With all the talent in both the NL and AL central divisions, someone has to win. The NL central is for the Cubs to lose with the Pirates and Cardinals taking the wild cards. The AL Central will be close with the Indians beating the Royals and Tigers for the division with the runners up going to the playoffs.

We answered your questions, now for a few predictions.

Once again, here are your 2016 MLB Playoff teams.

Division winners: AL East - Toronto Blue Jays                 NL East - Washington Nationals

                             AL Central - Cleveland Indians             NL Central - Chicago Cubs

                             AL West - Houston Astros                    NL West - Arizona Diamondbacks

                             AL Wild Cards - Kansas City Royals     NL Wild Cards - Pittsburgh Pirates

                                                        Detroit Tigers                                        St. Louis Cardinals

The Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals will win over 100 games each.

The Cubs and Nationals have the talent and the management to have very special seasons. Forget about what you have read, but Joe Maddon is one of the greatest MLB managers. In addition to Maddon, Theo Epstein has built a powerhouse on the northside of the windy city. Players like reigning Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, reigning rookie of the year Kris Bryant, off season pickup Jason Heyward, and superstar Anthony Rizzo the Cubs are a dream team. Although they have to compete with St. Louis and Pittsburgh, the Cubs also have the dreadful Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers (the two worst teams in MLB) in their division. Getting to 100 wins will not be that difficult for this dream team.

The Washington Nationals are in a similar situation as the Cubs. Their lineup, led by Bryce Harper, is formidable. Their pitching is filled with potential. New manager Dusty Baker is a wizard at getting players to achieve their potential. In addition to their manager and roster, the Nationals will benefit from a weak division. The NL east will have some of the worst teams in baseball, and the Nationals will feast on this inferior competition. The nations capitol may see a team with over 110 wins in 2016.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will win the 2016 World Series. 

The Cubs and the Nationals will win tons of games, but they will not even play in the 2016 World Series. Each of these power teams have one huge weakness that will keep them away from the top of the baseball mountain.

In the case of the Washington Nationals their Achilles heel is manager Dusty Baker. Baker has taken many teams to the playoffs (Giants, Cubs, and Reds), but has never won a championship. The issue is that Baker is great at getting players to play above their ability, but cannot game manage well. Talent will win a lot of three game series, but when the playoff starts and series are five to seven games, Dusty Baker's lack of game strategy becomes a problem. It will be a problem for Washington in 2016.

The reason the Cubs will not make the World Series is mainly about experience. Players like Arrita, Rizzo, and Bryant are insanely talented and extremely young. There is not a strong veteran presence in Chicago that can guide these phenoms. It will be wait till next year for the Cubbies once again. Plus we have to take into account the goat and a variety of curses. Sorry Cubs.

So how are the Pirates going to get through these super teams and win the World Series? Pittsburgh is built a lot like the Kansas City Royals. Homegrown talent and nice off season veteran acquisitions. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen is one of the top five players in the MLB and a certified clubhouse leader. Francisco Liriano has found a second life in the Steel City. Manager Clint Hurdle has been guiding this team out of the darkness and has them believing in themselves. When the MLB season is getting to the trade deadline, a second place team like the Pirates will be more willing to trade for veteran talent than a young team like the Cubs or the Nationals. The mixture of a great manager, a superstar player who is also a leader, and a front office willing to take a chance, will lead to the Pittsburgh Pirates beating the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2016 World Series.

Let's say the series goes 7 games. That would be exciting.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head editor for SeedSing and one of the other hosts on the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is sentimentally picking the Pirates in remembrance of a hat he once briefly owned. Do you love baseball, come write for us. 

Please Leave Me out of Your Cool Beard Club

Behold hairy magnificence 

I've been writing about sports, music , TV and movies a lot lately.

Today, I'm going to go way off topic and talk about beards. I have a beard, but I'm not happy with the way I'm treated because I have a beard.

Now, I'm not treated poorly or differently from people without beards but, when I see another person with a beard they always seem to want to talk to me. I don't even know these people, but they feel a connection to me because we both have beards. Minus the facial hair, I'm sure we have nothing in common. These guys who share the same facial hair choice with me seem to be really into grooming their beards. They have them shaved in certain, "fashionable" ways or they have them combed in a specific way, or they have it in almost a hairdo type of way. Me, I have a "I'm too lazy to shave" type of way. I know that it's hip and cool to have a beard now. It's the new fashion trend for men. Much like the skinny jean or the glasses with no lenses, beards are having their day. The problem I have is the hipsters that groom these beards. You see guys out there with their handlebar mustaches that now have an equally groomed beard. This sickens me. Or, guys who have faux hawks and have a beard. How much more of a douchebag can you be. I'm a big Bryce Harper fan, but he looks like the definition of a douchebag frat boy with his hairdo and beard. There's also the guys with the "gruff" beard. This is done purposefully by these people. Just like shaggy hair was a thing in high school, having a "gruff"(I put it in quotes because these guys chose this look, they're doing it on purpose) beard is in. I believe the term thrown around is a "lumberjack beard". Do you know why lumberjack's have beards? It's not a fashion statement, these guys work in the absolute freezing cold, so a beard is just another layer of warmth for them. They don't do it to be fashionable, they do it to stay warm.

Now, I've had a beard for about 4 years straight. I shaved it completely off once because I lost 100 pounds and I wanted to see what my face looked like, but for most of my sons life, he's three and a half, I've had a full beard. I don't know why I started to grow it when I did. I guess it was because I started to lose my hair. I started going bald about eight years ago, but I was fully bald about five years ago. So, I guess I wanted to have hair somewhere on my face, so I chose a beard. When I started to grow it, I had bald patches right by my cheeks, so it took awhile for a full, big beard to grow. I didn't grow it big for fashion reasons, I grew it big so it looked full. It was around this same time that I noticed beards popping up almost everywhere. I'd go to the grocery store or the movies or even the mall, and about fifty percent of men had beards. No one was really doing anything fashionable at this time though. I was also given my first business card from a stranger promoting his beard grooming barber shop. This was when I started to become disillusioned with beards because I knew that something douchey and hipstery was coming.

And boy did it come with a huge explosion. I'd say the number jumped to about seventy five percent of men with beards (numbers are not exact). Still, I wasn't going to shave. Personally, I like having a beard because I feel that my face looks young without it. I like looking older. About nine months ago I had a normal sized beard, not too big, not too small. My wife told me she was pregnant with our second child and after an embrace, lots of hugs and kisses, I told her I wasn't going to shave until the baby was born. We are now six days away from the birth of my daughter. My beard is humongous(see above picture). I'm excited to get it trimmed after the baby is born because it is getting tangled and it's hard to clean thoroughly in the shower, basically it's more a hassle than anything else. Like I said, I'm going to keep my beard, but it doesn't need to be this huge.

The next thing I'm going to tell you almost made me shave my beard off last week. I was at Target with my wife and son and my parents. We were going through the check out aisle and another gentleman, a very nice guy in fact, came up to me with a business card, that's two for those of you counting out there, and it simply read, "Sweet Beard". This was all I saw at first, and even though this guy was very nice, I was angry. I was sick and tired of guys slapping me five or talking to me about grooming beards or casually telling me "nice beard" from a distance. I was fed up and I didn't want this card. I looked at him with a grimace on my face and quietly and angrily said "Thanks". I think he sensed my anger and softly told me, "my shop for beard grooming is on the back if you want to come by and get a trim". As I said, he was very nice and there was no need for me to be so mad. But then I looked at his beard and became even more upset. He had a HUGE beard, perfectly groomed. I wanted to scream at him, "I DIDN'T DO THIS FOR FASHION REASONS, I"M JUST LAZY!" I didn't do that because I'm a human being and I understand that I shouldn't act like a crazed lunatic to someone that's being nice to me (I have the internet as a place to act like a crazed lunatic).

But this brings me to the most important thing in my piece. I just cracked why I choose to have a beard. It was simple and has been staring me in the face for four years now. I'm lazy. I don't like to shave and the clean up afterward is too much. I don't like keeping my trimmers charged and I'm not going to use a straight razor because they burn my face. See, I found multiple reasons why I won't, but someone will read this and think that all that stuff is easy to do. But like I just said, I'm lazy. I'm not fashionable by any means necessary, and I didn't grow this beard to be "cool", I did it because I'm lazy.

It's as simple as that.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His beard is the reason we hear Ty and do not see him. Wish him good luck with the new kid by following Ty on twitter @tykulik.