Ty Watches "Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage"

Last night I watched the new HBO documentary "Woodstock 99: Peace, Love and Rage". I have some thoughts.

I watched a few of the trailers before it was released and was interested in watching based on those. Then I saw some of the people being interviewed and was even more inclined to watch. But then I saw Bill Simmons and his company The Ringer were the producers and that kind of threw me off. I do not like Bill Simmons, I think The Ringer is a toxic workplace and it hires toxic men to work there. I am not a fan. In spite of all that, I still watched the movie.

I was 17 when this festival happened, I remembered it being a trainwreck and I have always wanted to watch a documentary that talked about how bad it truly was for everyone involved. And the movie starts out fine. It is your typical doc, but they had some neat little music cues and I even learned some things I did not know about the original Woodstock. I was interested for sure. And when they got into the actual festival, doing stuff like showing the bands perform, showing the destruction early on, showing the heat and the lack of food and water, it all kept my attention. It was as bad as I remembered hearing. To see the stuff some of these people did in the first two days was disgusting. The amount of nudity was gratuitous. I'm no prude, but this was too much. The majority of the bands were trash. We are talking Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Moby, bands and artists like that that I never listened to. And when they got to some good bands, or even bands I listened to back then, they barely showed them. There was one clip of Wyclef Jean, who I used to love. I barely heard any of Rage perform. Jewel didn't even get her singing voice in the movie. Tragically Hip was just shown performing. It was a drag. This was where my taste for the movie started to wane. Between the crazy amount of male and female nudity and the bad music, I was kind of bored.

Then they started to show and talk about how the attendees started to trash the place. This made my stomach turn. Seeing all the trash littered everywhere was vile. When they talked about the septic tanks not working and the people trashing the porta potties, I literally got sick to my stomach. I was eating some ice cream at the time and I had to put it down when the festival goers started to slide and play in the sewage. It was awful. From there the movie just dove into a milquetoast retelling of Woodstock 99. They showed the rioting, talked about the massive amounts of unreported sexual assaults, talked about some of the attendees that died, showed the promoters being total assholes, but none of it felt resolved while I was watching. It was talked about and then moved on from. It felt kind of unfinished. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know why these white privileged dickheads did the horrific things that they did. Why did they feel fine doing this stuff? Why were they not afraid? One of the festival goers said that had this been a hip hop festival he thinks the police would have treated them differently. They could have talked about that for so much longer. They didn't even touch on it except for the one quote. I guess I just wanted them to dig a bit deeper into the real seediness of this whole ordeal.

All in all the documentary was okay but not without its flaws. I think my generation probably wanted to see a bit more, but maybe younger people, the Coachella and Lollapalooza crowds nowadays will see this movie differently. The movie was just fine. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. I will not watch it again, but I do not feel like I wasted my time watching it now. It was a strong C movie 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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Time For Another Idiotic, Semi-Racist, Take from Bill Simmons

Since I am in a crummy mood this week I do want to thank RD for telling me to check out Twitter the other night. He told me this after the Big 10 canceled their fall sports, and said to search for Bill Simmons. Oh boy.

It is no secret that I am not a fan of Simmons. I was, but then I grew up, realized he is a mediocre, front running writer and now I have come to realize that he is too, albeit not on the surface to some, a racist. This isn't a new development either. Noam Scheiber of New York Times wrote a great piece awhile back detailing not only his racism at ESPN, Grantland and now The Ringer, but he also pointed out his sexism and his want to be famous and how that makes him treat others as if they are beneath him. I know he read this, and the replies, even though he claims he never does because since that piece, all of the sudden, The Ringer podcasting network had shows that featured writers that are not white that are on staff. It was way, way too heavy handed the way he did this too. I listen, or used to listen, to a good amount of the shows on The Ringer, and all of the sudden guys like Tyler Tines and Van Lathan and Larry Wilmore just started "randomly" popping up as guests, or with their own shows. It was a bit much.

Yet, as he is want to do, Simmons was talking on his pod, again I don't listen anymore, and I guess he had made a statement with another white guy that works there, Ryen Rusillo, comparing Luka Doncic's assists to James Harden's. RD told me this, and I didn't think it would be much. I was reeling, upset about college football, just kind of mopey. But I went on Twitter, just to see what the hubbub was all about, and man oh man was this a very, very underhanded racist comment made by Simmons. He said, "Luka's assists are like Bird's- they're not cheap assists... like the James Harden type of assists".

Let that sink in for a minute. He is saying that a white point guard, who he is comparing to another white player, has better assists than a black man that has revolutionized the way offense is played in the NBA. Also, how is any assist cheap I ask? They all do the same thing. They all lead to a bucket. It doesn't have to be fancy or whipped around the perimeter or anything. An assist is an assist is an assist. Harden, Doncic, LeBron, KD, Russ, all of their assists are the same, at least to me. It's not like these guys are hunting assists. I am not a Harden guy too. He is a great, great offensive player, I just find his brand of basketball boring. But his assists are just as important or special as anyone else's in the league. His lobs are also very useful because he gets teams to collapse on him, leaving the dunker wide open. He is such a threat from the outside, that when he up fakes from three, he usually has two or more guys open, leaving them with wide open looks. If anything, Harden's assists are the opposite of cheap. He is getting guys the cleanest looks they will ever find in the NBA. And Doncic is a great player too, but he is not on Harden's level yet. Doncic is a fine young player, one of the better players in the league, but guys like Bill Simmons, and the majority of the staff at The Ringer are so horny for a white savior in the NBA.

Simmons has made the Ringer in his racist image. The majority of his hires are writers who have, at one time, worked for him already or for the Celtics. That's why they all loved the Gordon Hayward signing when it happened, loved the Brad Stevens hire, but bristle when Marcus Smart calls someone out, or when Jaylen Brown goes on TV and talks eloquently about systemic racism. People like Simmons don't want to see that because he grew up watching a player whose nickname was "The Hick from French Lick". And Larry Bird was great, one of the best. I'm not calling him out, I'm calling out Boston fans that opine for the days when he was the star of the team. For Simmons to say this, and to take the side of Doncic, to call Harden's assists "cheap", it is lazy and hackey and he is trying so hard to be cool. Simmons is no better than anyone that works at Barstool Sports, a horrendously awful website, he just has the ESPN recognition to his name. I have to assume there has always been an underlying racism within Simmons, and now that he is older, it is starting to rear its head. He is trying to be a hip guy, but he comes off as a wannabe and a dork. He makes these grand declarations, and then tries to backtrack immediately.

Simmons is a phony, a hack, the type of guy that reminisces of his high school days, and now, a blatant racist. Since I read this quote and did some more research, I have unsubscribed from anything and everything involving his company. I don't want anything to do with him, or the myriad of white men he tends to hire time and time again. I'm not sure my unsubscribing will do much, but hey, if half the people who read this do the same, maybe we can make Bill Simmons admit he is a racist, misogynistic dickhead one day, and he will get his comeuppance. Here's hoping.

Ty

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

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Bad Take Generator Kevin O'Connor Is At It Again

Where O’Connor’s takes belong

I don't like to talk about the same person in 2 consecutive weeks, and this comes off as big time trolling, but The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor was at it again on "The Ringer NBA Show" this past Tuesday. Also, I don't care trolling someone when they are as stupid and contradictory as O'Connor has proven himself to be time and time again.

This most recent episode had me giving in and saying that I am only going to give the pod one more listen because O'Connor's takes have gotten worse and worse and he has gotten so high and mighty that it is insufferable. On the most recent episode there were 2 instances where he made himself look like a total asshole and idiot.

The first was his pure love for Luka Doncic and his recent tear, wherein he is averaging near a triple double. O'Connor praised Doncic. He has been on the bandwagon since before last year's draft, I will give him that. He then went on to talk about how he is a top ten player currently, I personally have him just outside the top ten, and an MVP candidate right now, of which I agree with. I like Doncic as much as the next NBA fan. I just don't love him as much as O'Connor does. And, when Chris Vernon, who is the only saving grace of this pod and website right now, pushed him on how he dogged Russell Westbrook for averaging a triple double 2 years ago, O'Connor's response was so god damn stupid that I continued to call him an idiot to my phone multiple times.

O'Connor went into some nonsense about how he wished that Westbrook was a better shooter, and how he wished he didn't hunt stats and how he thought Westbrook's two triple double seasons were empty. He then praised Doncic's passing. He said he loves that he shoots threes, even though he isn't a great shooter yet. He also talked about how important he is to the Mavericks and to the league. This is all ridiculous and further proves that The Ringer hates Westbrook and loves Doncic. They're so protective of their pet projects and guys they like, and when they don't like someone, they go in so hard to prove how "bad" they are. But, here is the truth. Westbrook is a better player than Doncic. He isn't the shooter, and he isn't as young, but he has done so much more, for a longer period of time, including deep playoff runs, than Doncic can dream of doing right now. Westbrook one hundred percent deserved his MVP when he won it, and him averaging a triple double was astounding.

The fact that shit writers like O'Connor, and his boss Bill Simmons, keep putting down Westbrook is so pitiful. Westbrook is a once in a generation talent, and they are taking him for granted because they don't like the way he plays basketball. To praise Doncic, who is totally stat hunting as well, and trash Westbrook is just in poor taste and proves how hacky the takes are from O'Connor.

Then, when I didn't think he could be more stupid, he comes out and says that the Spurs need to trade one or both of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge and embrace the youth movement. While I don't think that the Spurs embracing youth is bad, O'Connor's reasoning was what made me scoff. He said that if they keep both guys, they will be a 6, 7 or 8 seed and get beat in the playoffs, and who wants that he asked. I'd say the majority of Spurs fans would want that. The fans in San Antonio have become so used to being in the playoffs, so I don't think they'd care if they are a lower seed, as long as they are still in the playoffs. I wonder if he would say the same thing about Tom Brady right now, and the Patriots. Yes, the Patriots are better, but Brady has looked pretty washed this season. So, since he is all about youth, why not move on from Brady? Is it because he is a winner, and you trust him to figure it out? Wow. Maybe that is how the Spurs fans feel about Greg Poppovich and his staff. They always seem to figure something out, and they are always competitive. Just because this younger group of writers like O'Connor are so obsessed with drafting based on potential doesn't mean that people who have been winning for multiple decades now have to do what they want them to do. It is 15 games into an 82 game season. They have so much time, and seeds 5-8 are still very much wide open. Then, when Vernon said he wouldn't trade DeRozan because he is good, O'Connor went into nonsense about how he doesn't shoot enough threes and they need to trade him to get younger guys willing to shoot the three. That is so god damn stupid. Also, he kept talking about how the youth on the Spurs barely plays together, and I say again, it is 15 god damn games into the year. I'm sure Poppovich will fix some stuff and make some adjustments. Hearing takes like this every week from a dude that I can guarantee didn't even play high school basketball is so absurd. I'm sure front offices also have people that listen to these pods and think, I'm glad that moron doesn't work for us.

Kevin O'Connor has seemed to do something that makes me dislike, and lose respect for him, every week on the podcast. I already stopped reading his writing because it is poor, and now I am one step away from ending listening to him on pods because his takes are worse than ever. It is sad that he is so porous at what he does, yet he is one of the bigger names at this ridiculous company. Every week I lose respect for him, and continue to ask myself, why do I listen to anyone besides Zach Lowe and Jackie MacMullen talk basketball. They are good. O'Connor is not.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He had an uncomfortable experience with a lie detector test. It was quite uncomfortable, know what I mean?

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The Ringer's Kevin O'Conner is a Bad Take Generator

Home to Kevin O’Conner takes

I am very tough on the website The Ringer. I feel like it is filled with hot take millennial BS that is pointless. All the majority of the hosts of the podcasts, and their writers, it is all about the quickest and hottest take out there. I don't feel like they do a ton of research, and they just want to put out stuff to get clicks on the site. Also, Bill Simmons is one of the biggest has beens in the sports writing business. He is such a non factor in the NBA world now. I do not trust a word he says anymore, and while he was once a solid writer, he has only shown since starting The Ringer, is that he wants so badly to still be in his 20's, even though he is approaching his 50's. It is sad. That much is true. Also, his interviews with Malcolm Gladwell have been horrendous and awful, in so many different ways.

While I do not read the website anymore, it feels like a total waste of time, I do subscribe to 2 of their podcasts. I listen to their NFL show, and I listen to their NBA show hosted by Chris Vernon and Kevin O'Connor. I do like Chris Vernon. I have talked about that before. He has some of the better takes on the pod, he seems to understand the NBA pretty well, and he isn't a yes man, of which this company is filled with. I also enjoy his passion for the game, and his love for his hometown team, the Memphis Grizzlies. Yes, he can be obnoxious from time to time, he can be a little loud, but again, he seems like the smartest person that is involved with the whole Ringer crew.

Then we have Kevin O'Connor. Boy oh boy do I not like him. He has one, maybe 2 good takes per episode, but everything else is so absurd and contradictory and asinine and flat out stupid. He takes credit for the few things he gets right, and when he is very wrong, which is a lot, he almost always deflects the blame. He is never wrong, it was something out of his control that caused his shit take to be off.

For example, I was listening to their most recent episode, and twice he said some shit that was so off that it made me audibly gasp and call him an idiot to my iPhone. First, Chris Vernon called him out on his "bright future Suns" comment, and when he was pushed by Vernon, he kind of just blahed his way through his speech. Vernon pointed out that when he called them the "bright future Suns", they had so many other players. In fact, the only player that is still on the team when O'Connor coined them that is Devin Booker. Every other player is gone. But O'Connor, in his infinite stupidity, tried to claim that Booker was the only reason he called them "the bright future Suns". That is false. You can go back and listen to him say he still liked Dragan Bender, gone, or any other number of players that the Suns have since traded or let go in free agency. The team is incredibly different from who O'Connor dubbed "the bright future Suns".

And then, the comment that really irked me, he said that the Knicks need to lose. I hate, hate, hate that this whole new tanking thing is what the younger generation of basketball writers are so enamored with right now. Why would any fan of any team ever want their team to lose purposely? The 76ers did it for half a decade, and when you talk to their fans, they talk about some dark thoughts during that time. I am a lifelong Michigan fan, and the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke eras where unbearable. I'm sure Houston Astros fans are happy now, but when they were regularly losing 100 games, that couldn't have been fun. I am now rooting for the Memphis Grizzlies, and while Ja Morant has been a blast to watch so far, it stinks that they get beat pretty much every night. I think it is easy for someone like Kevin O'Connor, who is a Boston guy, to talk about how these teams should actively tank because in his whole sports fandom life, the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox have all been really good, or even won titles. The teams he roots for haven't had to tank, yet. So when he said that the Knicks should continue to tank, I was flabbergasted. He kept saying that this would help them get young talent, and lure free agents. I need to say, how did that work for them this past offseason? They didn't sign anyone of note, they ended up taking RJ Barrett, more on him and another O'Connor comment in a moment, and they have no real shot anymore at getting the number one pick in the upcoming draft. They did this exact same thing last year, losing because they were certain they were going to get Zion Williamson, and sign one, or both, of KD and Kyrie Irving. Well, none of that happened Mr. O'Connor. So what makes you think it will happen this offseason, or next or next? Hell, KD even said no one wants to go sign with the Knicks because they haven't been relevant since the late 90's.

As for that RJ Barrett comment, he said that the Knicks are playing him too much. What in the actual hell?! I mean, if the kid wants to play, and the team wants him to play and the coach wants him to play, let him play. Who cares? You can throw all the too many minutes thing, and the rookie wall at me, but if Barrett feels good, and they took him third overall and they want to build around him, let him play. O'Connor is obsessed with coddling the young generation coming into the NBA, especially Duke players. That is ridiculous. Also, if David Fizdale was only playing him 20 minutes a night, O'Connor would be the first one to say that the Knicks need a new coach who would let Barrett play.

Kevin O'Conner is an unreliable, porous and crappy sports writer. He is the definition of a hot take writer who thinks they are never wrong. He seems lost and confused every time Chris Vernon calls him out, and his response is to act like a child who is being wrongly scolded. I hope O'Connor reads this because I really, really want him to know how I feel about him and his crap takes. Of all the crummy writers and podcasters they have at The Ringer, O'Connor is the second worse, behind only his boss, Bill Simmons.

Ty

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

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Bad Basketball Bloggers and their Bad Russell Westbrook Takes

I written a good amount about Russell Westbrook recently. After the Paul George trade I talked about how, if he wanted out of OKC, they should let him go. Then, I wrote about the stunning trade to Houston the following Monday, and how much I disagreed with it, and how I do not think it will work out. I still do not think it will work, both Westbrook and Harden are so ball dominant, but I am sick and tired of the slander that is always thrown Westbrook's way.

This all comes about because I was listening to "The Mismatch" on The Ringer Podcast today. This is one of my favorite pods because I enjoy Chris Vernon. He is fun, has a good time, is right around my age and I usually agree with his takes. But, it is getting harder and harder for me to continue to listen to because of the other host, Kevin O'Connor. O'Connor is the prototypical "blog boy" for the modern NBA. All he cares about is analytics and drafting based on projected talent. He said on the show that I listened to today that Brandon Clarke slipped in the draft because he was "old". Clarke is 22 years old. That whole draft for projection thing is so stupid, and so is tanking, but that seems to be, when it comes to the draft, all that O'Connor cares about. And he did go on to say that he thought that Clarke was the steal of the draft, but I cannot get over him calling Clarke old. That is asinine.

When they got off the Summer League stuff, Vernon transitioned into the Westbrook trade. Vernon is a big time believer in Westbrook just like I am. He defends Westbrook and gives him all the accolades he has earned. But, whenever O'Connor talked about him, all he would say is "he is the worst elite point guard", and "he has easily fixable mistakes, if he would just put in the time to fix them".

First of all, I have never seen Kevin O'Connor play basketball. But, if I had to guess, the dude is a scrub. You can watch, and write and read all you want about the game, it does not make you a player. So, for a blogger to call out Westbrook's game, get the hell out of here. Westbrook is so much better than any single player that is on his beloved Boston Celtics team. I feel like he would kill to have a player as good as Westbrook in Boston right now. But, what makes his takes even worse, his takes that put him on a Skip Bayless, Colin Cowherd level, is how hard he goes to bat for Harden. James Harden is an elite, elite scorer. He is one of the best. No doubt about that. But, if you want to talk about easy to fix mistakes, Harden is a horrendous defender, he is a ball stopper and he is usually out of shape. Just because he scores 40 points on 30 shots, that doesn't make him the best player in the league. But the way O'Connor talks about him, you'd think he was the greatest ever. And what was so hilarious to me today, Vernon pulled up their playoff stats, because O'Connor inevitably went there with Westbrook, and they are nearly identical between the 2 guys. They both have nearly the same shooting percentage. They both have similar assists numbers. Westbrook is a far superior rebounder. And, they both have went exactly the same distance in the playoffs. They have both reached the Finals, when they were on OKC. Since Harden was traded, each have been to a conference finals. Last year, Houston lasted one more round than OKC. But if you only heard O'Connor talk, you would assume that Harden has been to the Finals multiple times, and was a champion and MVP.

Here is the truth on James Harden, and Vernon also brought this up, Harden is a known choker. He choked away a series to the Kawhi less Spurs, in Houston. He choked away game 7 of the West Finals last year, leading the charge in the 27 straight missed three point attempts. And this past season, after KD went down, Harden and Paul both choked away their best chance at a Finals appearance. So, don't give me the whole, all of OKC's problems are because of the way Westbrook plays Kevin O'Connor. And, he was insistent on Westbrook changing the way he plays to fit in with Harden. I wonder if he remembers that Harden was the sixth man on that OKC team that went to the Finals, and his job was to be the third option behind KD and Westbrook. I know things have changed since then, but I do not want to hear O'Connor talk about how "bad" of a player Westbrook is when O'Connor couldn't carry my jock on a basketball court.

This dude is just here to make shitty takes on a website that is the sports equivalent of Buzzfeed. The dude is a good writer, but I'm going to start referring to Kevin O'Connor as the "worst basketball blogger that gets paid to do it". That seems fair since he is always shit talking Russell Westbrook. His takes are god awful, and it makes it hard for me to listen to him and not yell at my phone. I feel for him for what he is going through with his dad, I too have a parent that had cancer, she is fine and clear now, and that sucks. But that cannot excuse his horrendous takes on professional basketball players.

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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The Love for James Harden and the Hate for Russell Westbrook Makes No Damn Sense

Two years ago I felt like I was one of the people driving the Russell Westbrook for MVP debate.

What he did that season, with the roster that was put around him, was astounding. The fact that, a season after losing KD mind you, he averaged a triple double, with his best teammate being Steven Adams, was one of the most MVP worthy things I have ever seen. He was must watch TV that year. I watched more Thunder games than usual that year just to see what Westbrook would do. I have said, to people that will listen to me, I would not enjoy playing with him, but I LOVE watching him play. He is a whirling dervish of athleticism. It's like the most insane ballet that you could ever watch. And while he's not the greatest shooter, he is really bad in fact, the way he created shots for himself and others was awesome. To see a 6 foot guard rebound like that, again, amazing.

So when major journalists, some I like, some I dislike, were saying that he wasn't deserving of the MVP I was floored. I couldn't believe it. I didn't know what else he had to do to prove that he was the MVP. A lot of these journalists actually pushed for James Harden that year. LeBron was mentioned a ton as well, but he always is. When I listened to them, or read why they felt this way, it made me even angrier. They called Westbrook a "stat hunter". They said he was bad. They called him selfish. They said he wasn't deserving because he only led the Thunder to a 6 seed and something like 45 wins that year. They said the first round series proved that he wasn't the MVP.

Well, one Mr. James Harden is currently putting up absolutely ridiculous numbers, with his 2 best teammates out injured right now, and these same journalists are praising him. They are talking abut him "carrying" his team. They are saying what he is doing is something they haven't seen since Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. They are calling him the MVP. And while I don't refute that, I do think he has surpassed Giannis as the MVP, why does he get so much love doing almost exactly what Westbrook did 2 years ago, when they were all shaming him?

Here are the facts. James Harden is one of the most boring NBA players to watch. If Westbrook is a "stat hunter", Harden is a "foul hunter". That guy gets so many calls in his favor, calls that are absolutely and utterly insane, that is drives me up the wall. The other night he shot 27 free throws. Not the Rockets, Harden himself took 27 free throws. How is that more fun, or any better than what Westbrook was doing?

Also, lets compare the rosters were they currently are right now with the Rockets to the Thunder from 2 years ago. As I said, Westbrook's best teammate was Adams. He then had guys like Victor Oladipo, before he was a star, Domantas Sabonis, when he was a rookie, Kyle Singler, Nick Collison, Dion Waiters and Terrance Ferguson, among others. Meanwhile, Harden has players like PJ Tucker, Austin Rivers, Eric Gordon and Gerald Green. Oh, and Chris Paul will be back soon, and Clint Capela will miss a couple more weeks before he is back. I'd take that Rockets roster any day.

While Harden is putting up okay assist numbers, he is as selfish a player as there is in the NBA. I saw a stat the other day that said on his last 150 points, he has been assisted on 0 of them. You may read that and say, well no one is passing him the ball, false, he is dribbling the clock down and jacking up threes that somehow are going in. He is a ball stopper and he is a ball hog. The records also, at this same time 2 years ago when Westbrook was the MVP, are almost exactly the same. But where Harden gets credit, Westbrook got blasted. That is so unfair.

The biggest shit talkers are every single basketball writer and podcaster at The Ringer, especially their owner, Bill Simmons. Look, I get it, you guys very much dislike Westbrook. But you have got to stop making excuses for Harden because you like him. These guys and girls have trashed Westbrook since he won the MVP, but when Harden plays the exact same way, they love it. It is clear this company hates the Thunder. I mean, Simmons won't shut up about the Harden trade, which seems like a million years ago. He has KD on his podcast so much, that was one of the reasons I stopped listening to it. Simmons is a star chaser, except when it comes to Westbrook. Other writers at The Ringer always bring up how great Harden has been this past month, then I think they feel like they need to trash Westbrook just because they can.

The biggest indictment of this whole Harden Westbrook debate is something that Simmons and his buddy Joe House kept saying 2 years ago. They said anyone that voted for Westbrook as MVP was "basketball pervert". Well, if you guys thought we who rode the bus for Westbrook are "basketball perverts". what does that make you guys this year with Harden? I think that makes you, in your own words, "basketball perverts". Oh, and I cannot forget that Simmons said on "The Lowe Post" that he is more impressed by guys that average 27 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds. I believe he called it "The LeBron". Well dip shit, Westbrook, and for that matter, your boy Harden, are averaging more in all three categories. How dumb are you? How out of touch do you have to be? What happened to you as a credible writer? I'd much rather have the guys that average a triple double, or 40 points per game.

While I think Harden, where we stand right now, is the MVP, I also think these journalists need to lay the hell off of Westbrook. It was 2 years ago. Harden won his MVP. And what Westbrook did hadn't been done since Oscar Robertson was in the league. Journalists are supposed to be unbiased, and a lot of you are being exposed now. Get over it. Westbrook deserved his MVP, and if Harden keeps this up, he will deserve it too. I just want you shills to admit that he is a pain to watch, that he is selfish and that he is a better scoring, but worse passing and rebounding version of Russell Westbrook.

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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The Final Days of ESPN

ESPN headquarters circa 2020

I think I need to take a moment today to talk about the mass exodus that is happening at ESPN right now.

I've been known to bash on ESPN on this site, but that's because they are an incompetent network that hires stupid people. They also act like they are the biggest and best thing since sliced bread. That was true about 25 years ago, but times have changed and ESPN refuses to keep up with that. They have barely changed anything about themselves since the internet has basically taken over the world. The only big difference that I have noticed, yes I still watch, but it's an anger watch, is the new set. They also have people hosting their own versions of "SportsCenter", but it's still pretty much the same. The higher ups at the company are either oblivious, or they just don't care, about the changing culture.

Nowadays, almost everything is done on the internet. I wouldn't be able to write if it weren't for the internet. In fact, a lot of people wouldn't have made it without the internet. But, ESPN doesn't seem to care. I wonder if they think it is a fad, or something that will just disappear. Sorry to break the news, but being the millennial writer and podcaster on this site, the internet is no fad and it will only continue to get bigger and bigger. I can't even fathom what it will be like when my kids are my age.

That's another thing, ESPN refuses to get with the times, what with live streaming now. Hell, if I want to watch a Michigan football, basketball or even a baseball game, I can see it in real time on the BTN2Go app. ESPN claims to have a live stream, but you have to pay for the stream, or they just have the "live" stream that is just some random person writing down what happens on each play, waiting what seems like an hour to write it, and the game is so far behind when they finally give you the info. For example, after my daughter was born, I had to watch a Michigan-Northwestern football game on my phone and I started with the ESPN "live stream". It was incredibly bad. I was getting zero updates. I couldn't find out which team had the ball or what they were doing. My dad asked me how the game was going and I could not give him a proper answer. After dealing with this nonsense for almost a half an hour, my older brother told me to go to the BTN2Go app. I downloaded it, searched the game, found it immediately, and was even able to watch it on my iPhone in a hospital room. Side note, Michigan thumped Northwestern that day. When I finally got to see the game, the first quarter was just about over and they were up 21-0. So, why does a channel, BTN, that has only been around for about 15 years have a better app and better internet capabilities that a company, ESPN, that's been around for 35 plus years? That is absolutely insane.

I think the "talent" at ESPN is starting to realize that the company will not get with the times and they have no chance of advancing any further than they already have. Sure, they fired Bill Simmons after he deservedly crushed Roger Goodell, but I guarantee that, had HBO came in and made an offer before he was let go, he would have left in a heart beat. Simmons outgrew that place, so instead of letting him leave on his own terms, they decided they would save face and fire him. That completely backfired on ESPN. Simmons has throngs of fans, me included, that will follow him to whatever network he goes to. They also decided, after letting Simmons go, it was time to shut down Grantland. Another huge mistake from ESPN. They lost a ton of great writers after doing this. Most of those writers are back with Simmons now. Grantland was huge for ESPN, but they wanted to rid themselves of everything Bill Simmons, and that was idiotic. Simmons and his staff write for the younger generation and, as I've said, we will follow him and his writers anywhere. I'm pumped for his show on HBO, I'm an avid listener of his podcast and I have subscribed to and follow The Ringer, his new site, on Twitter. 

Then, there was the news that Mike Tirico was leaving to go to NBC. This is a huge problem for ESPN. While Mike Tirico may not be the nicest, most pleasant person to be around, he was a crucial member of their staff. He was the co anchor on "Monday Night Football". He called big time college football games. He called NBA games. He was huge in college basketball. I mean, the guy is a jack of all trades. And the people at ESPN just lost him. I was legitimately shocked when I read that he was leaving. I don't know who they will replace him with, but I will bet it will someone who is incredibly under qualified.

Hell, they are even losing "journalist" that are not even mediocre, they are terrible. Last year they lost the racist piece of human garbage, Colin Cowherd. And now, the most moronic, nonsensical, I think I'm right because I'm the loudest, idiot Skip Bayless is leaving to join Cowherd at Fox Sports. This gives me a newfound hatred for Fox Sports, but damn, they can't even keep terrible people over at ESPN. Skip Bayless is a flat out dummy. The guy says some of the dumbest things I've ever heard on TV. Some, wait, everything he says is filled with stupidity and an arrogance that he should never, ever have. He is so dumb and so out of his mind. This is a guy that has said that Tim Tebow is an all time great QB, if you need a reference at how truly moronic he is. But, he too is leaving ESPN. I cannot believe they couldn't keep him on board. I wouldn't be shocked if the equally stupid and equally loud Stephen A Smith is the next to go. Yeah, they let Lou Holtz go, but he is about a million years old, so not a very big deal. Sure, they let Mark May go a year ago, but he is so much better off where he is now. They let Robert Smith go, but he was pretty good on TV and I'm sure he will find a job soon. And, after repeated racial slurs and racially insensitive things he put on the internet, they finally let Curt Schilling go.

Therein lies a huge problem for ESPN. If you bad mouth the NFL, a la Bill Simmons calling out Goodell, you get fired immediately. But, it took Schilling being incredibly racist, homophobic and mysoginistic many times before they actually fired him. Bill Simmons says one bad thing about the NFL, boom, he's gone. But, it's not until Schilling takes the side of the backwards ass people in North Carolina, he agreed with them that transgender people shouldn't be able to use the bathroom with the gender they now identify with, to fire him. Schilling is a horrible excuse for a human being. It's a travesty that it took ESPN that long to fire him. And what a crock from people that claim to be forward thinking.

It's just a matter of time now before everyone leaves ESPN, or they just shut down because they refuse to keep up with the change in the world. ESPN is an inept network and that ineptness will soon catch up to them.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He does not remember the early days of ESPN, but he sure remembers the last days. The network ended in 2006 if he recalls correctly. Ty is on the internet, follow him on twitter @tykulik.