2019 NFL Quick Hits: Week 4

You all already know what it is on Tuesday, so let’s get to my week 4 NFL quick takes.

The Thursday night game was a frustrating one for me. Green Bay found an offensive rhythm, but the defense had an off game. The Eagles are good, but the Packers should have won. They were at home, have been playing stout D and had a chance at the end, but they blew it. Props to the Eagles though. They scored a good amount of points against a good defense, and won a critical road game. Still don’t get why the Packers didn’t run on the goal line though.

The Sunday afternoon slate was solid, highlighted by Chiefs-Lions. Look, we all know the Chiefs are good, but, right now, so are the Lions. They got screwed, twice, and still hung in there. They were toe to toe with the Chiefs and Mahomes, and that’s a god sign. But, the Chiefs did all the little things, and pulled out a victory.

Washington is an absolute tire fire. That team might be worse than the Dolphins, and the Dolphins are trying to be awful. The Giants won again, but don’t give all the credit to Daniel Jones. He played a sloppy game, and Washington is horrendous.

The Titans dismantled the Falcons. The Falcons are in a bad spot. They made Mariota look like a pro bowler, and their offense is stagnant. They have real problems.

The Browns won a game I was almost certain they’d lose. But they went to Baltimore, scored 40 and looked good. Was it a flash in the pan, or a sign of things to come? Time will tell. And Baltimore’s defense was atrocious. Nick Chubb owner them.

The Raiders beat the Colts, and Vontaze Burfict got himself suspended for the year. That is all I really recall from that game.

The Patriots were terrible on offense, but they still beat Buffalo in Buffalo. As bad as Tom Brady was, Josh Allen was worse, and that was the difference. But that Bills D is legit. New England is just better.

The Panthers got a hard fought, much needed win in Houston. Their defense was solid, and Christian McCaffery carried that offense. Also, Houston needs to protect Deshaun Watson much better. Oof.

In the late afternoon, there were some solid games and some duds. The Chargers easily disposed of the Dolphins. I feel like for the rest of the season I can write that same sentence, and just insert whatever team is playing Miami.

I almost feel like I could do the same with Arizona. The Seahawks were sloppy and still beat them by 3 scores. I do want to point out Jadaveon Clowney’s pick six. That was a hell of a play.

The Bears owned the Vikings. Sure, the final was 16-6, but it felt like a 50 point win for Chicago. Also, I think the Bears looked better with Chase Daniel at QB. As for the Vikings, Kirk Cousins has been a disaster. He is so bad when playing good teams. I would bet that most fans are dreading that contract, and the fact that he is still going to be there the rest of this season, and all of next season.

The Jags and Broncos played a semi exciting game without exciting players. I do not buy the Gardner Minshew hype, and Joe Flacco is beyond washed. And even though they finally got some sacks, the Broncos not only lost the game, they also lost one of their star D lineman for the year. The Broncos are in bad shape.

The most exciting afternoon game was the Rams and Bucs. The Bucs scored 55, and won. I think this says a lot about both teams. Maybe Bruce Arians is a good coach. I might have been too hard on him last week. Also, maybe the Rams aren’t as good as last year. Jared Goff is struggling right now, and they aren’t using Todd Gurley enough. It might be load management, but sooner or later, they’re going to have to let him loose. And 55 points to the Bucs is troubling for that D. They need to figure some stuff out.

The Sunday and Monday night games were duds. Don’t get me wrong, I loved seeing the Saints, and Teddy Bridgewater, beat the Cowboys. But, there was only one TD scored in that game, and it was sloppily played by both teams. Dak Prescott has his first bad game of the year, and the Saints D was up to the task.

I didn’t even watch the Monday night game, but I saw all the AJ Green reaction videos to that Bengals offense, and that spoke volumes. The Steelers got their first win, but who cares. The Bengals, sorry for going in hard on your 2 teams, are so, so, so bad. They have no direction or good coaching at all. This whole Zac Taylor hiring is starting to look like a real mess, and they should have moved on from Andy Dalton a few years ago. The Bengals are right there with Washington and Miami. They’re so bad.

There you have it, quick takes from week 4. Come back next week for week 5 takes.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The head editor has no idea why Ty apologizes for bashing Kirk Cousins, the Vikings, and the Bengals? They all suck. We could write that same sentence each week.

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The SeedSing 2019 MLB Playoff Preview

I think since SeedSing became a website I write 2 baseball pieces a year, give or take, and today, I have one of my usual baseball pieces.

The playoffs start soon, I think tomorrow, so I am going to give my predictions, and pick a World Series winner, and MVP. I'm going to start with the AL, and I am pretty sure that I picked Cleveland to be in the World Series, and they aren't even in the playoffs. (editor’s note: Ty picked the Yankees) Shockingly, especially to me because I just found out yesterday when preparing for this blog, the Rays and Athletics made the playoffs, and I cannot name single player on each team. But, if history has taught us anything about the A's in the playoffs, it is that they always blow it. Also, I think the Rays have solid pitching, so I am going to go with them to win the AL wild card game, and advance to getting their brains beat out by the Astros.

The Rays "gift" for beating the A's will be a sweep at the hands of Astros. The Astros, who have been quietly amazing for the past three years, including a World Series win, are a house of fire. They are so good at every position, on their pitching staff and their coaches. They may be the best team in baseball, and it may not be as close as some think. Yet no one really talks them up that much. That is because in the other division series in the AL we have the Yankees facing the Twins. The Twins aren't usually a team a lot of people talk about lately, but they lead the league in homeruns this year, and they won a shit ton of games. They are really good, and they are very well coached. But, they have a history like the A's in the playoffs, and usually, that history is against the Yankees. I so want to pick the Twins to win this series, and they can score with this Yankees team, but I just don't see it happening. Especially with the injury bug that hit the Yankees this year, and yet they still won over 100 games. They have mashers all over their lineup, and while their staff is questionable, if their starters can give them 5 or 6 quality innings, their bullpen can take over. I will be rooting, not watching though, for the Twins, but I think the Yankees will win the series in the end.

That gives us the Yankees and Astros in the ALCS. The separation is not much between these 2 teams, but the Astros pitching staff is light years ahead of the Yankees. The Yankees may not find it so easy to mash homers when they have to face 4 really, really good starting pitchers. And for that one reason, I am going with the Astros to win in 7 games. They are so good, and I think the Yankees lack of starting pitching will come to bite them in this series. so, I have the Astros representing the AL in the World Series.

The NL was a bit harder for me to figure out. The wild card game might be the best game of the whole MLB playoffs. The Brewers are currently on fire, all without Christian Yelich, but they have to go up against Max Scherzer, and a Nationals team that is putting Strasburg and their other starter in the bullpen for this game. It may be hard for them to come by hits. The Nationals starting pitching is really good. Their bullpen though, is really bad. I think that is why they have their other starters going to the bullpen for this game. Milwaukee's best shot, and I picked them to win the World Series before the year started by the way, is to find a way to get runs early. I feel like they have the lineup to do it, but it will be tough against Scherzer. I think this will be low scoring, but I think the Brewers can find a way to score 2 or 3 runs in the first 3 or 4 innings, and that will be enough. The Brewers will win, and they will then get to face the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have kind of quietly been a great team all year. They won over 100 games, they can pitch and they can hit. They have it all. But, they also seem to blow it in big time games, especially Clayton Kershaw. He has exercised some past playoff demons, but he isn't the dominate playoff pitcher that he is in the regular season. And, the Brewers are on fire, as I said earlier. I just think they have that "it" factor right now, and they can beat the Dodgers, in a hard fought 7 games, and advance to the NLCS.

The other divisional matchup features a super young, yet super talented Braves team facing off against my Cardinals. The Cardinals have been pretty good since the All Star break, but I don't like the fact that they needed until the last day to clinch the division. I'm also not a huge fan of their pitching staff. But, they have a good lineup, they have experience, and I look at the Braves like I do the Thunder when they have KD. Russ and Harden. They are good, and will be great, but not ready yet. But watch out for this Acuna kid. He is awesome. But I think the Cardinals will win the series, probably in 6 games, and advance to the NLCS.

That gives us a divisional matchup in the championship series. And while I have been doting on how hot the Brewers have been lately, there is one stat that I saw that has just stayed in my mind. When the Brewers were super duper hot, standing at 12-2 since the Yelich injury, the person who released the stat mentioned that the 2 were both against the Cardinals. And, my dad, who is the biggest Brewers fan I know, says that all the Cardinals need to do to get on a run is to play the Brewers. I think for these 2 reasons, the Cardinals will beat the Brewers, in 6 games, and advance to the World Series. They will represent the NL.

The 2019 World Series will be a blood bath like when the Red Sox destroyed the Cardinals in a 4 game sweep way back in the early 2000's. The Astros are better in every area of the game. They have a better lineup, better pitching staff and better coaching staff. They are a far better team where we sit today. I have the Astros winning the World Series in a clean and easy sweep. As for the MVP, I think it will be a pitcher because it always seems to be one, and I will go with Justin Verlander. He is the best pitcher on their team, and one of the best in the majors.

There you have it, my 2019 MLB playoff preview. Take this with a humongous grain of salt, but this is how I see it all playing out.

RD’s thoughts

First off, what was I wrong about in my 2019 season preview?

The Red Sox were not as great as last year.

Cleveland did not win the AL Central. It was never even close. Minnesota was ready this year.

The A’s proved me wrong again.

The Nationals were better without Bryce Harper.

The Reds were below average once again.

The Dodgers were way better than I gave them credit for and the Rockies were way worse.

Now, where was I right?

Tampa did make the playoffs, along with New York and Houston (three out of six right)

I did get five of the six NL playoff teams correct. Only miss was picking Colorado.

So, what does it all mean, who is going to win the 2019 World Series? I actually completely agree with Ty on all the series. Milwaukee will get hot, the Astros and Yankees are on a collision course, the Dodgers will choke, and St. Louis will emerge to take on Houston in the World Series.

And it will be a four game Astro’s sweep. Just like I predicted at the beginning of the season.

Ty & RD

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

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2019 NFL Quick Hits: Week 3

It’s Tuesday, and that means NFL week 3 quick takes.

The Thursday night game was sloppy and boring and poorly played, but what else would you expect from the Jags and Titans? The Jags won, Gardner Minshew had an okay game, Leonard Fournette busted a big run late and Marcus Mariota has a rough one. Again, a typical Jags-Titans Thursday matchup.

The early games on Sunday were alright. The Packers improved to 3-0 behind their great defense up to this point. The offense needs to get better, but they are winning with their D. And the Broncos are in trouble. They are still very solid on defense, but that offense is dreadful.

Both the Cowboys and Patriots dispatched their lowly opponents with no problem. Dak Prescott is on fire right now, and they trounced Miami. And the Patriots looked like they were in a scrimmage against the Jets. Also, why is Luke Falk in the NFL and starting, yet Colin Kaepernick can’t even get a tryout? That’s ridiculous.

RD’s Vikings cruised over Oakland. I feel like Minnesota will do this to bad teams, beat them soundly, but struggle with better teams all year. That seems like their MO. But a wins a win.

RD’s other team, the Bengals found a way to let Buffalo get to 3-0. The Bengals has that win, and they blew it. Their “wunderkind” coach does not look good. But props to the Bills for pulling out the win. They had no business winning that game, but they did anyway.

The Eagles may not be as good as I thought, and maybe Detroit is better. The Lions has a kick return for a TD, and they moved the ball at will over the Eagles. Philly on the other hand may have more problems than I thought. They haven’t looked very good on either side of the ball, and they need to shore things up quick.

The Colts and Falcons played a game, but I saw none of it. I did know that Julio Jones had a solid game because he’s on my fantasy team. But, I also know it didn’t matter because the Colts won, and they sit at 2-1 without Andrew Luck. I’m a Jacoby Brissett fan, and he’s doing enough, him and Marlon Mack, to keep the Colts as a real playoff threat.

The Ravens and Chiefs game almost turned into a blowout, but Lamar Jackson wouldn’t allow that. He led a solid comeback, they had a cool onside kick and the D stepped up at the end. It wasn’t enough because Pat Mahomes is incredible. But still, that game was fun.

The afternoon slate was kind of blah. The Panthers easily dispatched the Cardinals for their first win. This was also the first game where Kliff Kingsbury looked as bad as I thought he would in the NFL.

The Giants has a nice comeback win over the Bucs, but it all felt very hollow. Sure, Daniel Jones led the comeback, but he’s not the Giants savior, and with Barkley out, the Giants are in trouble. And what in the hell was Bruce Arians doing that whole second half? He looks like he’s lost his mojo as a head coach.

The Saints beat the Seahawks in Seattle with Teddy Bridgewater. Writing that made me very happy. I like Bridgewater, Alvin Kamara was awesome and it’s always funny to see the Seahawks play poorly. That was a fun game.

The Texans came back and beat the Chargers, and I think that game was a great microcosm of how both these teams will finish the year. The Texans look like a playoff team, and the Chargers don’t.

The Steelers dropped to 0-3, and I love seeing a dumbass conservative like Mason Rudolph choke. I’m still bummed for Devin Bush, but he has played great so far this season.

The 49ers are like the Bills too. They have found ways to win games they really shouldn’t, and are 3-0 now.

The Sunday night game was an eye opener. I was never high on the Browns, and I decided I wanted to see the hype. Well, Odell Beckham and Nick Chubb look good, but Baker Mayfield, not so much. And Freddy Kitchens looks like a first year head coach. The Rams didn’t play well, couldn’t run the ball and still found a way to get a huge turnover and stifle Mayfield all game. The Rams are still good, but the Browns May be a bit overhyped.

As for the Monday night game, I didn’t watch a single second of. I saw that the Bears won, and easily, but so what? They were playing Washington.

That’s it for week 3. Come back next Tuesday for week 4 takes.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The head editor’s two teams have a combined 2-4 record, but his fantasy team is 3-0. That is what matters in football today.

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Ryan Clark Shredding Paul Finebaum is a Moment Worth Cheering For

Now that both of my kids are in school, well, my daughter only goes twice a week for a half day, but still, I will find myself watching some TV if I have some free time, and this morning, I happened to have a little free time. So, I turned on ESPN because I like to catch up on any sports news I may have missed over night. I will say, it is more on just for noise, but sometimes the subject they talking about catches my attention. Also, it helps when there are people on that I like, or despise. This morning, whatever show was on, happened to have people fro both categories for me. So, I actually turned my attention to the screen, and what I witnessed was absolutely amazing.

I loathe Paul Finebaum. I have talked about it plenty on the site. He is a low class Skip Bayless. He is a poor man's Colin Cowherd. He is the type of guy that wished he was good enough to play sports, but wasn't, so now, he is taking all that anger out on TV and current players. Paul Finebaum is a wannabe dipshit that lives in a hot take culture. He is a hack, a phony and a poser. Ryan Clark, on the other hand, I think is great on TV. He played professional football, he is smart, he is passionate and he knows what he is talking about. He also had a solid pro career, a great college career and just seems like a solid dude. He has walked the walk, and he can most definitely talk the talk.

So, on ESPN this morning, I think it was Mike Greenberg's show, Greenberg gave the stage to Finebaum to talk about 2 QB's. First he mentioned the Eli Manning benching. He talked about how Eli was handling this with "grace and class", and is "all about the team". He also mentioned how the Giants should have done this sooner, but still, they did it, and Eli was being a "gentleman about it". Then he shifted to Cam Newton, who is hurt mind you, and proceeded to do his hot take bull shit, and tried to shred him. He said that he was "no good" anymore. That he "only cares about Cam Newton". That Newton has "wrecked this franchise". This was his classic hot take nonsense, with no preparation done for the story, that Finebaum has become known for. He just said whatever was in his pee brained little mind, and just vomited his stupid take all over the stage. After his Newton take, the show shifted over to Ryan Clark, and he proceeded to drag the shit out of Finebaum. He went off. It was glorious. He called Finebaum out on the way he covered and talked about the 2 QB's. Clark made it a point to say that he called Manning "classy", while calling Newton "a train wreck". Never mind the fact that Newton, who gives his all out effort every game night, gets illegally hit all the time and is recovering from offseason surgery. But Finebaum thought it was okay to call him "selfish" and "arrogant". Then when mentioning Manning, Clark made it his mission to talk about how poorly he has played the last 4 years, how bad the Giants have been because he has been unable to accept that his time is up. He talked about all the balls he has thrown away with no one near him to hit him. Clark talked about how Manning's play, on the field, has been selfish. How he only cares about his health, and I couldn't agree more with him. He then talked about all the stuff I just said about Cam, and how he is giving up his body for the game, and all Finebaum could do the whole time was just squirm and squeeze out a wry and despicable smile. While Clark was eviscerating Finebaum another host of the show kept egging him on and saying "YEAH!!!!" the whole time. It was awesome. And for this to come from a guy like Clark, it was perfect. As I said, Clark has been there before. He has played the game at the highest of high levels. He has been in the trenches with these dudes. He knows the game inside and out. And that is something Finebaum will never, ever, ever know.

Finebaum is a trash reporter and a trash TV host. He does not know what he is talking about, and when he gets pushed, and owned by a former player, all he can do is act defensive and say "lets just cancel the rest of the day if this is how it's going to be". I love that Clark and the other hosts of the show let Clark go in on Finebaum. Finebaum needs to be called out as the fraud that he truly is, and Clark did that spectacularly this morning. I am so glad that I tuned in to witness this show this morning. This was great, and I hope it knocks him down all the pegs that he so rightly deserves to be knocked down.

Screw you Paul Finebaum, and thank you Ryan Clark for not letting Finebaum and ESPN continue with their usual nonsense. I am now a Ryan Clark fan for life. This totally ruled. It was wonderful TV.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He wanted to use a special word to describe Finebaum’s views on athletes and what ethnic groups they belong to. What rhymes with fascist tiece of spit?

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The Future of NFL Quarterbacking is Looking Really Good

This past weekend in the NFL saw a few injuries to some legacy QB's, and even a benching of a two time Super Bowl winner.

Ben Roesthiliberger, who I still laugh at his injury, and Drew Brees suffered pretty big time injuries. The first real injury problems in their careers. I know Roesthiliberger misses a little time here and there with minor injuries, and Brees had that shoulder thing before he signed in New Orleans, but nothing like what happened this weekend. Roesthilberger is done for the year after undergoing elbow surgery. He threw his two best, former, teammates under the bus, he berates other players and coaches, he never blames himself, so the time had finally come for an injury to derail whatever he may have had left in the tank. Drew Brees will be back this season, but he got surgery on his thumb today. He will miss anywhere from 6-8 weeks, but he will still be back. Unfortunately for him, he is 40 and this type injury could be a career ender. He got the surgery on his throwing hand, he is old and he has been regressing the past year and a half. He still puts up numbers, but not like he used to. The fact that a guy that has played in 15 plus games for the past 15 years is going to miss significant time is unreal to me.

Then we have the benching of Eli Manning.

I mean, the time had come. He has 8 wins in his last 33 games, he has been wildly inaccurate, he throws a ton of interceptions and the team needs to move on. The fact that he is being replaced with Daniel Jones is a whole other story for another day, but still, Eli Manning will not be the Giants starting QB for the first time, well since last year, but that was one game, in a real long time. I know the Giants fans are pumped about this, but I think after one game, they may be opining for a different QB all together.

All of this is to say, I'm actually kind of stoked for the new crop of QB's that the NFL has coming up. Sure, Tom Brady is, somehow, miraculously still starting, and playing at a high level, but after him, for the most part, the old QB's are being pushed aside for a younger, and much more fun, generation of QB's. Besides the injured, and replaced guys, oh and Brady and Phillip Rivers, we have a whole new version of QB in the game, and I'm here for it. I am a big time fan of Patrick Mahomes. He slings the ball better than Brett Favre, and is much more accurate. Also, he puts up video game numbers. I am still on the fence with Josh Allen, but the dude can run the ball. He may not be the future of the position, but the Bills are winning. I am all in on Lamar Jackson. I love that the Ravens have built the offense, and roster, around his talents, and he is showing out so far. I also love how he is proving all of his doubters wrong. Kyler Murray, while starting a bit slow in each game, is like a poor man's Mahomes. He is chucking the ball all over the field, putting up big numbers, and has even led the Cardinals to an early season victory. Jimmy Garroppolo has looked good so far this year. He will most likely get hurt again, but for now, he is doing his thing. Baker Mayfield, even though he talks way, way, way too much, is still a little fun to watch move around in the pocket. I still believe in Sam Darnold, and when he comes back from mono, I think he will be what the Jets need to win, maybe, 5 or 6 games, which would be good for them. He is also super young. If I were the Dolphins, I would whole heartedly go with Josh Rosen. I am probably the only person on Rosen Island, but I say, given the chance, he could put up solid numbers, especially since the Dolphins will be playing from behind all year.

Looking into the future, I am totally here for the college crop of QB's coming up. I cannot wait to see Tua Tagoviola, Trevor Lawrence, Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields, Jake Fromm, Burrow from LSU, Justin Herbert and Kellen Mond in the league next year, or the year after. There is a new generation of QB, and the NFL game is inching ever closer to the college game, which I am pumped for.

Kudos to the old school NFL QB's, as I said, there is a good amount of titles between the guys I mentioned, except for Rivers, but I am so ready for the change, and to see guys like Lamar Jackson shredding NFL defenses with his arm and legs. This is great. Bring it on.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is already looking past the “old” quarterbacks like Carson Wentz and Jared Goff. 25 is the new 40.

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2019 NFL Quick Hits: Week 2

It's Tuesday, so I am back with my NFL quick takes.

The Thursday night game was pretty awful. I figured that the Panthers would roll, but something is clearly wrong with Cam Newton. He is clearly much more hurt than he is leading on, and I think he needs to take some time away to get fully right before he end up like Andrew Luck. That being said, the Buccaneers somehow found a way to win that game, which included a pretty solid stop on the goal line at the end of the game. But don't get it twisted, that game, much like most Thursday night games, was pretty god damn awful. And the Panthers may be in more trouble than we think.

Moving to the early games on Sunday, we had some nice games, and some pretty big time injuries. Lamar Jackson looked pretty awesome once again, and I think this may be the norm for him. He was super efficient as a passer again, and he ran for over 100 yards. He looks, right now, like the guy that won the Heisman. Kyler Murray also played pretty well in that game, and maybe I was a bit too tough on him and the Cardinals. Yes, they are bad, but they may not be that awful after all. I still don't trust Kliff Kingsbury though.

The Chief had an explosive second quarter, Mahomes threw 4 TD's, and they rode that to an easy win over the Raiders. I remember turning the game on early in the first, seeing the Raiders had a 3 point lead, and thinking, maybe the Raiders aren't awful, then they turned awful. Also, the Chiefs are a very, very fun NFL team to watch.

The Lions caught the Chargers napping, as they are want to do, and somehow pulled out a win. Kerryon Johnson was awesome, and Phillip Rivers had one of his classic bad games early in the season. Props to the Lions for getting their first win so early in the year.

The Packers, my team, are turning me into a believer in their defense. They need to fix their offense, but right now, they are playing lights out, when it matters, on defense. They made Kirk Cousins look like, well, Kirk Cousins. Sure, Dalvin Cook had a big game, but the Packers D stepped up when they had to. I could get used to this.

The Colts and Titans played, and had it not been for PTI or ESPN, I would not have been able to tell you a thing about this game. I know that Adam Vinateari missed some kicks, and a Titans o lineman that had cancer, and it is now in remission, scored a TD, and that is cool as hell. But other than that, good for the Colts for getting a W.

The 49ers, after 2 games, look legit. Sure, it was against poor comp, but still, they are blowing these teams out, and they are doing it with solid defense and chunk offense plays. Also, sorry RD, the Bengals are awful. They looked so bad yesterday, especially Andy Dalton.

The Jags and Texans played a surprisingly fun 13-12 game. Gardner Minshew looked solid at the end, but Deshaun Watson did what he had to do to get the win. Bill O'Brien doesn't deserve a talent like Watson, or Deandre Hopkins, because he is such a lousy coach. But he got his first W of the year.

I hate that I have to say this again, but the Cowboys look legit too. Yes, it was against Washington, and they struggled at first, but they pulled away late, and did what they had to do against an inferior opponent. Also, Dak Prescott is going to get paid. And this may very well be Jay Gruden's last year as a head coach, at least in Washington.

The Bills, again dare I say, may be a playoff team. They at least have the look, and the defense. Yes, the Giants are bad, and they have finally moved on from Eli, more on that tomorrow, but still, the Bills won by 2 scores. Their offense leaves a ton to be desired, but that defense, man is it good. And I will say this every week, Saquon Barkley deserves better.

The Patriots did exactly what they were supposed to do, but they should not have played Antonio Brown. That side, again I will speak to that later this week, the Patriots crushed the Dolphins. And the Dolphins, I mean Jesus Christ are they awful. Sure, they are trying to get the number one pick, but good god. They have been outscored 102-10 after 2 games. That is gross. This is worse than what the 76ers did, and that is saying something coming from me. I feel so bad for Dolphins fans.

As for the Bears and Broncos game, the Broncos got screwed. Worst roughing the passer call I have ever seen, and to get the one second put back on the clock, that was absurd. Also, why were they celebrating a game winning field goal, in week 2, over one of the worst teams in the league. The Broncos are bad, but the Bears might not be that good either. The fact that they are wasting such a talented, once in a generation defense, because they want Mitch Trubisky to be their starter, is a slap in the face to every other player on that team. That game was so bad, and the refs screwed Denver.

The Sunday night game was fun, and I was stoked to see Julio Jones get 2 scores. The Eagles might not be as stout up front as I thought as well. Carson Wentz was getting crushed all game. But, the Eagles had no Alshon Jeffrey or Desean Jackson, and that game was still close. Also, Matt Ryan may be on his last leg. He has not looked that good.

I did not watch the Monday night game because I don't like either team, and the Jets had to play their third string QB. But kudos to the Browns for getting a win.

Now to the 2 big time injuries. And again, I have a whole piece about how the older QB's are on their way out coming later this week. First off, I cannot help but laugh that Ben Roesthilberger is out for the year, and is getting elbow surgery. This is karma. He walks around and acts like he has never done anything wrong ever, mind you he has been accused of rape multiple times, he blames everyone but himself, he gets coaches fired and he trashes current and former teammates all the time. So, to see him go down, and this looks like it might be the end, I just can't help but laugh. The Steelers season is shot now. The only downside, Devin Bush is now on a pretty bad Steelers team. And for the Seahawks to still almost blow this game, I do not trust this team at all. Seattle struggled last week with the Bengals, and now they barely beat a Steelers team that was being QB'ed Mason Rudolph.

Finally. we have the NFC title rematch, New Orleans and the Rams. The Saints got screwed, again, by a blown whistle on a fumble recovery for a TD. Not that it would have mattered in the long run, but still, the Saints just keep getting boned. The Rams ended up winning, and pretty comfortably, but they have not looked like the threat they did last year. Jared Goff has not looked the part, the defense, outside of Aaron Donald, hasn't been great yet, and while I like that they are putting Todd Gurley essentially on a pitch count, they will need him later this season. But, the Saints lost Drew Brees. This is kind of unbelievable. He has started 15 games every year for 15 straight years. He is now out for 6-8 weeks. I am still stunned that he got hurt. Luckily for the Saints, they have a great backup in Teddy Bridgewater. But, losing Drew Brees makes me totally rethink my Super Bowl pick. This is a rough one.

Well, those are my takes. the NFL is just heating up.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is like all other football pundits and likes to declare 2-0 teams as “real” and “legit”. Don’t forget the 0-2 teams. The Bengals are just primed for a classic 7-9 run this year.

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Tim Tebow is Still a Jackass

For a long time I was one of the people who thought a college scholarship was more than enough for student athletes. I figured, they get their school paid for, and they are campus legends, at least some of them.

That was when I was a stupid teenager, and didn’t understand, or turned a blind eye to, how universities treat these kids. The athletes, especially the top tier ones, are abundant money makers to the school they go to. I was devastated when Michigan and the Fab Five were sanctioned and had to give up all those wins and Final Four berths. But, with adult eyes, and hearing the Fab Five guys talk about their struggle, I don’t blame them. Michigan, my favorite college for those of you that may have forgotten, sold Chris Webber’s jersey and made millions off him and the rest of those kids. That’s wrong on so many levels. Hell, look at that Duke-UNC basketball game in Durham last year. Former president Barack Obama, god I miss him so much, was front row, tickets were going for upwards of 10,000 dollars it was reported. And while Duke, and Coach K, profited off that, the guy everyone was there to watch, Zion Williamson, got none of it. I’m sure he was taken care of, like Webber, but nothing near what that one game netted both those colleges.

This goes on everywhere. All universities, with big time athletics, takes advantage of the athletes while the coaches and schools rake in millions upon millions of dollars. So when this recent bill in California, to let players profit from their name and image, was brought up, and then passed, I was stoked. I thought, finally these kids will get what they deserve. Yes, a scholarship is nice, but as I said, the athletes make so much more than a scholarship provides.

But, for some unknown reason, I found myself watching “First Take” on ESPN this morning, and I watched Tim Tebow give some dumbass speech about how bad it is to pay student athletes. He went into some diatribe about playing for the “name on the front of the jersey”, and now, “it’s all about me, me, me”.

First of all, he should have profited off all the jersey sales of his Florida jersey, but that’s neither here nor there. This whole speech was the epitome of white privilege and “back in my day” mentality. I’ve made no bones about how I feel about Tebow. I don’t like him, I didn’t think he’d last in the NFL, and even though he made it much further that I thought, I figured the baseball thing was a way to keep his name in the news. But for him to give this speech on national TV, and chastise kids for wanting to profit from their name and image, was just asinine. Like I said, this was white privilege at its best. Tebow didn’t need money or anything when he was in college. I’m sure he came from money, and money has never been a problem for him. He’s seems like a silver spoon kid. Well Mr Tebow, 99 percent of the population isn’t as lucky as you are. Jalen Rose could’ve used some money in college. He had a very rough upbringing. Same for guys like Randy Moss and Jason Williams, the White Chocolate one, not the murderer. I’m sure there’s a good amount of Alabama players that just look at their time in college as an unnecessary stop until they get to the NFL. Why can’t they try and make money when, by NFL rules, they have to go to college? Former Michigan running back Karan Higdon had a daughter while in college. I know how expensive kids are, and I bet if he were able to profit off his jersey sales he would’ve jumped at that chance. I’ve heard countless stories about kids going to college as a way out of their rough neighborhood or upbringing. Why can’t they get some extra money when a school sells a jersey with their number on it?

I found Tim Tebow’s speech vulgar, disgusting and short sided. He’s never had to do anything real or tough. He’s never had a hard day in his life. So why does he think he gets to be the voice on an issue like this, I will never understand. He would’ve been better off working on his hitting than going on a TV show today to trash student athletes trying to profit from schools, and coaches, taking advantage of them.

Tim Tebow disgusts me, and if I hear him speak one more time on this issue, it will be one time too many. Tebow is a poser, I’m sure he voted for the current government and he is the epitome of white privilege. He just needs to go away, and never speak on this issue ever again. What a jackass.

Ty

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

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Should We Worry About Team USA Basketball?

It was bound to happen one way or another, and probably sooner rather than later, and this team felt like the one it would happen to, but Team USA got beat very early this morning by France, and they will not medal in the 2019 FIBA games.

This is the first time in a very long time that USA will not win gold, let alone any medal. I believe I heard that this was their first loss in 58 games. Even when they didn't have that good of a team, well, good but not cohesive, they got bronze. This team though, they won't even come home with that. They will get zero medals of any kind.

This is sad, but not all that surprising. I did think, even though every great American player decided to skip the FIBA games this year, that Team USA had more than enough talent to win out. I mean, Kemba Walker is an All Star. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have the potential to be stars in the league. Myles Turner is one of the better bigs in the modern NBA. Harrison Barnes has played in these games before. He has the experience. Joe Harris can shoot threes. Marcus Smart is one of the best defenders in the NBA. Derrick White had a great playoffs last year, and looks like he can become a viable starter in the league. I mean, the team was filled with NBA players, and they have some talent. But, when they had to go to overtime to beat Turkey, and Australia beat them in a scrimmage and they didn't really hammer teams like other USA squads did, this loss felt almost inevitable.

I thought, if anyone was going to beat them it was going to be Serbia. But, they blew their semifinal game a day earlier. Don't get me wrong, France has some good guys, guys that have legitimate NBA talent, but Team USA should have won. Yes, France has Nic Batum, Frank Nkilitina and Rudy Gobert, but not much else. I thought this game would have been close for a half, then the talent USA has would win out, but it didn't. They got beat, and they got beat pretty soundly. It didn't help that Kemba missed 2 big time free throws, and players were late on switches and France knows each other so much better. But still, USA should have won, and they should have won gold.

Again, I know that this was like the G squad. If this team had just one of LeBron, AD, KD, Kyrie, Damien Lillard, CJ McCollum, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, DeAaron Fox, I could go on and on and on, they would have coasted. But they didn't, and they were scrambling just to keep guys on the final roster that they settled with. This was a poorly constructed team, but a lot of that is due to players dropping out. But you know what, I don't blame the super stars for pulling out. We are talking about FIBA. This isn't the Olympics, and when the 2020 games come around, I would be shocked if Team USA is in a similar bind trying to get guys to stay. LeBron will most likely play, I'd imagine, if healthy, KD would come aboard. I'm sure Kyrie will want to play. Same with James Harden. Team USA in the 2020 Olympics will look so much different, and better. But, this if definitely an upset, and should shock a lot of casual basketball fans.

Bottom line, with the caliber player they had, USA should have won, and should have won easily. But they didn't, and they won't win anything of note at the FIBA games. What a bummer.

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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2019 NFL Quick Hits: Week 1

With week one of the NFL 2019 season officially in the books, I want to do some quick takes on what I saw yesterday and Sunday. Also, I am still pissed off at UVerse for getting rid of the RedZone Channel. What a crock.

Anyway, there were some surprises, but mostly, the first week went pretty much like I thought. We started off Thursday night in Chicago, with the Bears playing my Packers. The game was an ugly slugfest, featuring something like 13 punts, but Green Bay made Mitch Trubisky play QB, and that is how you beat the Bears. Trubisky showed zero signs of growth this offseason, and the revamped Packers defense made him pay. The Bears were also tremendous defensively, as expected, but Aaron Rodgers had one good drive, and that was more than enough for a solid opening night road win.

Then we were barraged with games on Sunday. I want to start with the thing that surprised me most, and that was the Browns getting absolutely crushed, at home. I wasn't as high on them as others are, but I did not expect them to make Marcus Mariota and the Titans look like world beaters. The Browns were undisciplined, 19 penalties I believe, unprepared and seemed to buy into the hype. I know it is only one game, but good god did they look bad, especially Baker Mayfield. He needs to stop talking and work on his game. He was atrocious. And props to Delani Walker for talking his shit. His team crushed the Browns, and he let them know it.

I was happily surprised by what I saw the Ravens do. Lamar Jackson was incredible, and he had the quote of the day saying, "not bad for a running back". For those that may not know, Jackson is a QB, and he had a day. He went for over 300 yards passing, and threw 5 TD's. I know it was against the Dolphins, and they have a whole slew of problems, but still, those are impressive stats. The Ravens had 42 at halftime.

Carolina and the LA Rams had a fun, close game. The Rams looked good, as they should, but so did Carolina. After a slow-ish start, Cam Newton turned it on, and Christian McCaffery is the real deal at running back. I know the Panthers got beat, but after the way they started, I am impressed by how they finished. Also, Todd Gurley might still be a bit banged up.

RD's Vikings put the clamps on the Falcons. I think it helped that their d was up to task, that Dalvin Cook was the focal point of the offense and that Kirk Cousins only had to throw 10 times. They mashed the Falcons, and if the Vikings play like this all year, I would feel very good with my pick for them to win the division. They need to lean on Cook and that defense.

The Chiefs looked as good as they did last year. It took Patrick Mahomes all of three passes before he had his first TD of the year. They were cruising so much that he even tried his no look pass. He missed badly, but who cares when you already have the game in hand. I do feel bad for the Jaguars because they seemingly lost Nick Foles for the year on a beautiful TD pass. He broke his collarbone, and that probably ends any hope of them getting back to the playoffs.

The Eagles started off very sluggish, but they were playing Washington, so it didn't matter. I do want to give props to Vernon Davis for his incredible catch and run for his first TD of the year. But after that, Philly took over. It was nice to see Desean Jackson play so well also. He's always been one of my favorites.

The Bills and Jets played a meaningless, and as boring game as the Packers and Bears did, and Adam Gase did what he does, and blew an opportunity for an easy win. Nice comeback by Buffalo, but it was against the Jets. Who cares.

The late afternoon games weren't much different. The Chargers and Colts had an exciting game, and that Malik Hooker one handed interception was amazing. The way the Colts played in that game makes me think they could still push for the playoff. And the Chargers didn't look like they missed Melvin Gordon all that much.

I was pulling for RD's other team, the Bengals, but they just couldn't eek out that win over the Seahawks. Seattle was also not very good in that game. They still have no run game, and their receiver talent is lacking. Clowney looked good though.

The Cowboys hammered the Giants, and I really hate to say this, look like they could be a real threat if this offense plays like they did on Sunday. Also, Saquon Barkley deserves so much better than being on the Giants. That dude is awesome.

I had forgotten the 49ers and Buccaneers played each other. I think that says all I need to say about that game.

We had our first tie of the season in the Detroit-Arizona game. That game featured 3 hellish quarters for Kyler Murray, and then a spectacular fourth and overtime. He looked great at the end. I also want to apologize to my family members that are Lions fans. You guys shouldn't have to watch a team that is so poorly coached. The Lions should have had this game in the bag, but Matt Patricia and crew really blew it late.

The Sunday night game was a rout, but I expected that. Pittsburgh got worse this offseason. Say what you will about Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell, but they were the best guys the Steelers had, and without them, they showed how rough this year could be. Also, I guess I should revise my Super Bowl pick because the Patriots decimated the Steelers, and they also added Antonio Brown after the Raiders released him. They are the Golden State Warriors of the NFL.

The 2 Monday night games were fine. Well, the Saints and Texans was super fun actually. That game was back and forth, and if the Texans had a real head coach, they would have won. Deshaun Watson and Deandre Hopkins are amazing, and so much fun to watch. But, if you give Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara a sliver of hope, they will take it and crush you.

The final game of the night was Oakland and Denver. Talk about 2 teams going nowhere fast. Sure, the Raiders won, but so what. Denver has an amazing defense that will be wasted by their horrific offense. And the Raiders, congrats on getting a win. Also, Josh Jacobs looked like the real deal. He did that to a legit NFL defense.

Those are my thoughts on week one. We shall see how the season will play out from here, but if I were a betting man, I would put a good deal of money on the Patriots repeating. God that was painful to watch, and realize.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He doesn’t understand Bengals football like the head editor. A one point loss is the highlight of the entire season here in Cincinnati.

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What the Hell Happened to Michigan Football?

I'm going to save my NFL week one takes for tomorrow because we still have 2 Monday night games to be played tonight. I want every team to play before I give some very early, very quick takes.

That being said, just real quick, I do not understand why AT&T UVerse decided to get rid of the NFL Network and the RedZone Channel. I do not like to watch single NFL games, and the RedZone Channel was totally commercial less. This is crazy, and makes me not want to watch any games, except the Packers. This is a dumb move, and this whole streaming wave is taking away good channels from us poor schmucks that still pay for cable. Just needed to say that. It was a very frustrating realization yesterday when I tried to turn on the channel.

Now that that is out of the way, I want to get to my topic for the day.

I am a big time Michigan fan. You all know this. I have lived and died with this football team as long as I can remember. And, as you all know, I was very, very high on this particular team coming into this season. I liked their defense, even though they lost 4 key starters, and I was very hyped for their new offense, and offensive coordinator. And while some people were disappointed in their week one win over Middle Tennessee, I found reasons to be happy. They made a ton of mistakes, but they still scored 40 points, looked faster and won that game going away. In fact, 2 of MTSU's touch downs came on very short fields due to fumbles by the QB and punt returner. It was easy for me to overlook that performance.

This past Saturday felt different though. Now, I am not going to go all doom and gloom like a ton of people I saw doing on Facebook and Twitter after their win, yes they did win. But, I do have some questions and concerns after needing double overtime to beat Army this past Saturday. I watched this game very nervously. I even stated on our football preview pod that this game would show me a lot about this team. Army is a good football team. Don't get that twisted at all. They went 11-2 last year, took Oklahoma to overtime, and crushed pretty much every other team in their way. Just take a look at their bowl game last year. I don't remember who they played, but I believe they scored close to 70 points and absolutely dominated that game. Army is solid and disciplined. I even pointed them out as a non power 5 team to watch this season. So I do not want to take anything away from them. They run the triple option to near perfection, they play sound defense and they play all the way to whistle, and sometimes even after it. They're good. I could see them easily winning double digit games again this season. But, Michigan shouldn't have struggled like they did on Saturday.

First and foremost, and this could become a very, very big problem, they are not securing the football. Patterson waited a little bit longer this week to fumble, but he still fumbled on Michigan's first offensive possession, and that led to Army's first TD of the day. He has been way too loose and uncharacteristically flippant with the ball. He is holding it like a loaf of bread and he is getting striped with ease. He should spend the entire bye week working on ball security. He also seemed a bit off with his throws all afternoon. He was either a little to high, or way too hard with the ball. He looked good on slants, but that was it. He missed open receivers deep and checked it down far too often. I don't think they need to change QB's like a lot of other people are saying, but Patterson needs to be better. He is a senior, they are running an offense that suits his skills and he needs to be the leader that this team has not had since Chad Henne was their QB. I loved Denard Robinson, but Henne was their last real, reliable QB.

I really liked what I saw from freshman back Zach Charbonnet. He had 33 carries, ran for 100 yards and scored 3 TD's. Yes, he did fumble too, but he is a teenager, and he was playing in his first real test of a football game. He was the rock for this team, and they needed him because they were so sloppy. But, the fact that it took him 33 carries to get 100 yards has me rethinking the o line, which I thought was a strength. The o line looked sloppy, missed blocks and never really opened up any big time holes for any of the backs. They need to gel much better. People can point out the Andrew Steuber injury, but he was the only new starter, and the backups should be ready no matter what. The o line has got to get better. Hell, I will heap praise on Charbonnet again because he was the best pass blocker they had on Saturday. Army blitzed a ton, but every time Charbonnet was in their, he picked up his man.

I thought the receivers and tight ends were solid, they just didn't get enough chances. Michigan threw the ball over 20 times, but with the way the pass game was working, it should have been closer to 30 or even 40 times. Their wee big gaps in the zone defense, and when Patterson had time, he was hitting Nico Collins and Nick Eubanks and Ronnie Bell with ease. Bell was great by the way. Next to Charbonnet, he was the best player the Wolverines had on the field Saturday.

When I look at their offensive performance overall, it was sloppy and a poorly called game. They shouldn't have scored anymore than 7 points with the calls they called all afternoon. I know, and I really want to believe, that Harbaugh was not going to be involved with the play calling. I want to believe that Josh Gattis is getting his much deserved shot to run this offense on his own. But Saturday felt a lot like the end of last season, and when John O'Korn, Brandon Peters and Wilton Speight were running the offense. This felt like Jim Harbaugh was overriding some calls, and trying to force the run game. Again, Charbonnet had 33 carries. Not since Mike Hart in 2007 had one running back had so many carries. And some of those run calls on fourth and short, out of shotgun mind you, were baffling. I like what Harbaugh has done in his 4 plus years, but the one thing that irks me is how stubborn he is with his offensive play calling. This just felt like Harbaugh wanted to push the ground game, no matter what they consequence, and how poorly it was, or wasn't, working. The Wolverine offense looked very sloppy, predictable and stubbornly called. It was very frustrating to watch this team, with all the speed and weapons they have, seemingly try to hammer the run game no matter what.

The defense, at least in my opinion, did really well. They held Army to one of its lowest total yards in a good long time. They forced some fumbles. Levert Hill had a critical interception late in the third quarter that really helped Michigan in the long run. They only got gashed on an outside run once, and that resulted in 0 points for Army. The d line did a solid job of making the fullback work. My biggest frustration with the D on Saturday was their inability to put Army in third and fourth and long situations. With the caliber player Michigan recruits, and plays on the field, they should have been able to slow Army down even more than they did. This game was going to be close, but the defense could have given their offense more chances if they were able to play a little more disciplined on some of Army's very long drives. But, I will say that the defense bailed Michigan's offense out. Without their performance, Michigan would have been beaten soundly.

Moving forward from here I have a couple thoughts about the rest of the season. One, Army is good. I have stated that plenty. I also think Michigan, especially being a top 10 team, is not as good as myself, and others, thought they would be. They are not going to be able to be this loose with the ball, or try to force the run game, when they play Wisconsin in 2 weeks, or when they go to Penn State, or when MSU comes to Ann Arbor or when the University of Ohio State comes to Ann Arbor as well. Michigan has a very tough schedule, and it is only going to get tougher and tougher as the season goes on. There are no more gimmes on the schedule, if there were any to start with. This team needs to clean up the messes, and start to play with some urgency and intensity if they want to be taken seriously. And Josh Gattis needs to have full control of this offense, and if he does, he needs to open up the playbook. I haven't seen the whole "speed in space" that was promised in the offseason. Start utilizing the skills of the skill players, pepper in Charbonnet here and there. Give him 16-22 carries a game, not 33. And the o line needs to step it the hell up. Also, the defense needs to tackle better.

Michigan is 2-0, and ranked 10th in the country, but right now, that feels very hollow. They need to clean this up, and they need to clean it up in a hurry. The season is going to get more and more real for them in the coming weeks. Time to see if they are really ready to play modern college football offense, and keep having a top 10 nationally ranked defense. It is clearly put up or shut up time in Ann Arbor.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor is imploring Michigan to get their stuff together. It is early September and Ty does not need this heartburn all season.

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What in the Hell are the Texans Thinking?

This past Labor Day weekend featured one of the more wild trades I have seen go down in the NFL in my lifetime. While it doesn't have the name recognition that the Khalil Mack trade had last year, it was still pretty nuts.

And no, I am not completely talking about the Jadeveon Clowney trade to Seattle. But, I do want to touch on that real quick. This was a very lopsided trade, in favor of the Seahawks. I cannot believe all they had to trade was a few guys that they were going to cut and a third round pick for Clowney. Clowney is a top notch defensive end, and that is such a light return. Clowney is going to make Seattle a solid defense again, and may even make them a possible contender. He doesn't do as much as Mack to the Bears did, but still, the Seahawks got a top tier defensive lineman for next to nothing.

I want to talk about what the Texans did the very next day. This will stick with me for a good while because of how insane a deal they pulled off, in not such a great way. The Texans, one day after trading Clowney for peanuts, gave Miami what seems like a million first round picks for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. The amount of picks the Dolphins got for these 2 guys is akin to what the Thunder got this offseason for all the trades they pulled off. I have zero doubt in my mind who won this trade, and it is the Dolphins by a good long mile. Look, Tunsil and Stills are solid players, but they are not worth that amount of picks.

The Texans essentially mortgaged their future because they think they have a window for a title now. They don't. I think the Texans are good, and I like that they got a solid tackle to help protect Deshaun Watson, and another receiving weapon in Stills. These 2 guys will help the Texans do exactly what they did last year. They will win 10 or 11 games, the AFC South, and most likely, have an early-ish exit from the playoffs. The Texans, even with these moves, are still not on the same level as the AFC's top teams. The Patriots are still better. The Chiefs are much, much, much better. I still think the Colts can contend with the Texans in their own division because they have a good, young defense. I think the Ravens are just as good, if not better, than the Texans. And, if they somehow beat the Patriots or Chiefs, and make the Super Bowl, the NFC has so many teams better than them right now. The Rams, Saints, Bears, Vikings, Seahawks and maybe even the Packers, in my opinion, are all better than the current roster the Texans have. I get that they most likely heard the talk last year about how they could not protect Watson, and that Clowney wanted out and wouldn't sign the franchise tender. But these were some poor decisions made by the front office, and Bill O'Brien. This should prove to anyone who may still think that he is a solid coach and evaluator of talent that maybe, they were wrong. Bill O'Brien has not done anything of note really in the NFL, and yet he is given carte blanche by this franchise to make these horrible decisions. Why? What has he shown to them that they trust him so much with the future of this team? I want them to be good because I really like Watson and Deandre Hopkins. But, a guy like O'Brien is just there to seemingly blow it up.

Like I said, I think the Texans will be fine, but not of note now, or in the near future of the NFL. These trades were odd and kind of dumb, but that is Bill O'Brien for you. Oh well.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty usually thinks that NFL trades are some of the most boring and pointless sports things ever. Except for that one time.

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Carmelo Anthony on the Nets is a Really Bad Idea

Reading the news, and then watching sports last night, I saw that KD and Kyrie want the Nets to sign Carmelo Anthony.

I mean, come on with this nonsense man.

Yes, Carmelo won't be the distraction that Dwight Howard will be in LA, and he can still shoot the ball fairly well , and he is better than a lot of dudes currently in the NBA, but his time is done. While he won't be a distraction, we have seen the past 2 years how he has acted, and played, when he isn't the first option. He was a dud in OKC. He never put it together, and when asked if he would come off the bench, to be instant offense, which is what the Thunder needed at the time, he scoffed and said he "wasn't a bench player". And in Houston last year he was a total disaster. He did not shoot the three well, something he has never really been that good at, he was horrific defensively, even worse than usual for him, and he was released from the team, I think, less than 20 games into the season.

Carmelo would not opt to be a bench guy, or the third, fourth or fifth option on Brooklyn this year, and KD isn't even playing this year. Guys like Kyrie and Caris Levert and Jarrett Allen, and hell, even Joe Harris, I'd want them all to shoot before Carmelo would. And next season, they have KD coming back. He would have to opt for the bench, and if you listen to former players, guys I really respect like Chauncey Billups, Carmelo won't go for that because he has a "I need to get mine" mentality. He would rather score 30 and lose than come off the bench, play 15 minutes, score 10-12 points and win, and possibly even compete for a title. He wants to get buckets first and foremost, and the Nets already have enough established guys, and young up and coming guys, that can do that better than he can right now.

This isn't to say that he can't still shoot though. I have watched so many offseason videos of NBA players playing pickup basketball games, and Carmelo has been heavily featured in said videos. And he is putting the ball in the basket, and even dunking with relative ease. What I don't see him doing much in these very loose games, shooting the three. He has always been a great mid range shooter. Hell, he is one of the better mid range shooters the league has ever had. But that is such a non entity in the modern NBA. Other teams will let him shoot all the mid range jumpers he wants, and then they will come down, find the man he is guarding, give him the ball, and that guy will shoot a pull up three on him, or take him to the basket with ease. What the people watching these offseason work out videos, myself included, don't fully realize is, there is little to no defense being played. Like at all. I play rec basketball, and I play a ton of pickup basketball, and those games are strictly exercise for some, and a chance to shoot a ton of open jumpers for others. There is no real emphasis put into playing defense. Just look at what Devin Booker said when a few guys tried to double team him in one of his pickup games. So Carmelo is facing pretty much zero defense. These videos are ostensibly a highlight reel. They are made to make him look good. When, or if, the Nets sign him, he will have to try and do this stuff against real NBA players, playing real defense. We saw how that went in OKC and Houston.

Finally, he is better, or has been better, than a good amount of players in the NBA right now. If I had to choose, I'd rather have Carmelo over guys like Dwight Howard, Luke Kennard, Reggie Jackson, Kyle Singler, Richaun Holmes, Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, Nik Stauskas(is he still in the league?), JJ Barea or Markelle Fultz, to name a few. But, all those guys are busts, or on their way out. Instead of going after Carmelo, I'd look in the G League or overseas for a younger, and more willing to play a bench role, player.

Carmelo was once great. In Denver, he was awesome, and his first few years as a Knick were solid. But, he totally fell off a cliff, and now, he just isn't what he used to be. Also, the Nets have this great young core, and they just added KD, Kyrie and Deandre Jordan. I don't want them to bring in Carmelo because he is buddies with Kyrie and KD and have him take away valuable playing time from the younger guys that played really well last year, and will continue to get better with more playing time. It's not fair to them. Also, the Nets have a younger, and better defensively, version of Carmelo already in Spencer Dinwiddie.

I hope the Nets don't sign him, and if I really look at it rationally, I don't think they will. If they do, it will be a headache for them. I say one more time, just ask OKC and Houston. I'm sorry Carmelo, you used to be one of my favorite players to watch, but you are washed now. That's the truth.

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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Good for You Andrew Luck

I was watching college football on Saturday night, and during the game I saw the news scrawl that said Andrew Luck had informed the Colts that he was retiring from football.

I was stunned.

My first instinct was that this wasn't a real thing. I assumed that someone had gotten their news and sources wrong. I simply didn't believe it. I legitimately thought it was a mistake. But, I saw that Adam Schefter was the source, and he is the Woj of the NFL for ESPN. He is right pretty much every single time with these things. My wife then entered the living room, I told her, and since she plays fantasy football, she was stunned as well.

This is a big deal. I cannot state that enough. A player of his caliber, with his pedigree, with a possible Super Bowl contending team coming back, to walk away is absolutely stunning. Now, I need to say, this is only a shock to the football world. This is only a shock for on field stuff. This is only surprising because he is so young, and like I said, had a great supporting cast around him. Outside of the football field, I commend what Luck is doing. He has more money than he knows what to do with. He has had a solid career. He went to the playoffs. He came back from injuries to be great last year. He was the QB of one of the most epic playoff comebacks ever. He was a number one overall pick. He had a great college career. Pretty much the only things he didn't do was win an MVP or a Super Bowl. Other than that, he did it all. So he can walk away with his head held high.

That's another thing, Luck leaves with his brain still pretty much fully intact. He might not have to suffer some of the horrible side effects that happen to NFL players after they have stayed in the league too long. He is still all there. He still knows what's up. He gets it. That is incredible. And to walk away so young, with such a good team, I think that is brave as hell. No one would ever condemn any regular person if they were able to retire at 29. They would applaud that person.

The idiots are not applauding Luck, they are booing him during a preseason game, or calling him soft like Doug Gotlieb, or saying anything negative about this decision, you are all wrong. The people calling him soft, I'd love to see them take the beating he did for 9 years and come out okay. They don't stand a chance. Doug Gotlieb is a moron, so anyone that listens to him is a moron too, and he is just out there trying to keep his name in social media. He was a subpar college basketball player, and he is an even worse commentator. He is like a lesser Skip Bayless, and that is not a compliment, at all. And the fans booing him, how classless do you have to be? He didn't have the heart or the will to give it his all anymore. You really want him to risk his life so you can get drunk and yell at him when he throws a pick or gets sacked? I wish I knew who was booing him so I could go straight up to their faces and boo them mercilessly.

All in all I am still a little stunned by the news, but I get it. After thinking about it, and watching his press conference and hearing other players talk about it, he is doing what is best for him and his family, and that is all that matters. Football is a game, and he doesn't have to do it anymore if he doesn't want to. That takes courage and bravery to walk away when your heart isn't fully into it. I will miss watching him play, but at least he has his health, his brain, and he can do whatever in the hell he pleases now.

Good for you Andrew Luck. I will look back at your football career fondly. Enjoy your retirement.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty remembers the hurtful words and tweets directed towards him after he walked away from his professional career. Ty had done all he wanted to as a dental lab tech by 31, there was nothing left to accomplish.

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I So Want to See the Lakers Fail With Dwight Howard

Last week I wrote about Boogie Cousins injury, and how much it upset me.

Well, the Lakers might be doing the unthinkable now, because they are considering bringing back Dwight Howard, and not the Dwight Howard they brought in when they also signed Steve Nash. This is the Dwight Howard that can’t stay healthy, has been on, and then traded from, I think 4 teams since then, has become an even bigger distraction and, by all accounts, wears out his welcome very, very fast. Also, I don't think the dude can really play that well anymore.

He was great once, especially in Orlando, but since he left there, it has been a real shit show for Howard. I will admit that he had moments in Houston, and maybe even a good game or 2 while in Charlotte, but nothing close to what he was when he was a star in the league. He quickly become too much of a headache for the Rockets to deal with, and they offloaded him, the emergence of Clint Capela was a big help too, for next to nothing. He then signed with Charlotte, but like I said, he didn't do too much, and he only spent a season there. He then went to Washington, and I think he played, maybe, 20 games last season. Since then he was dealt to Memphis, again for nothing, and was expected to be released. And now we have this story with his possibility of a reunion with the Lakers.

The hater part of me, the one that loathes the Lakers, wants to see them sign him because it would be a disaster on and off the court. Howard is at a point in his career where he doesn't really offer much of anything in a solid role player. He isn't the defender or rebounder he once was, he can’t shoot from anywhere outside of 3 feet, he gets hurt far too often and he whines and complains when he doesn't get touches. On a team with LeBron, AD and Kyle Kuzma, how many touches would he, or should he, get? Very little I would say. Add on the fact that he is well past his prime, and the Lakers already have too much of that as the roster is currently constructed.

After missing out on Kawhi, the Lakers cobbled together your typical LeBron roster, bringing in vets that used to be good, but now aren't so hot. I like Danny Green, but he is a shell of himself. At times last season, Avery Bradley was one of the worst professional basketball players. Alex Caruso is a scrub, and he is the Lakers new Matthew Dellavedova. Javale McGee has turned into a much better rim runner, but he still can’t shoot, and he gets into foul trouble far too often. Now add Dwight Howard to that mix, and I think it could be catastrophic. LeBron and AD are enough to make a playoff push. I don't think the Lakers are going to win 59 games and be the 2 seed like Bleacher Report says. I don't think they are title contender like The Ringer says. I don't even think they are the best team in their own city. So why would they add Howard? It is mind boggling. LeBron already has 2 big men, one in AD who, when healthy, is a top 3 player in the league. Why do they need to add a guy that will give them absolutely nothing whatsoever? They would be better off, I can't believe I am saying this, using that money on Carmelo Anthony. At least he is still a threat from outside.

If the Lakers were to add Howard I would laugh and laugh and laugh. Everyone seems to think they are instantly a contender because of LeBron and AD, but just think of what Howard would do to them, and that locker room. It would be exactly like his first run with them. Remember, when they barely finished over .500, and got smoked in the playoffs. That was rough, and that was over 5 years ago. Howard is only older, slower and cannot do the things that modern bigs need to do to be helpful in the NBA today.

Please, for my hater side, sign Dwight Howard because that would be hilarious. But, if you wan to be taken seriously, as a real threat in the West, stay far, far away from him. It hasn't worked once, and it surely will not work this time.

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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This Boogie Cousins Injury Sucks, Again

I was out mowing my grass today, and I got the news via my watch that Boogie Cousins had suffered a "leg injury" during a recent workout. I thought nothing of it really, he was coming off a torn ACL and torn quad, so I just assumed it was attached to one of those injuries.

Well, when I got inside, I saw that he actually tore his ACL again. I don't know if it was the same one he tore before, but, it is not good news. I do know that much. Regardless of where the tear is, this is devastating news for one of my favorite NBA players. Sure, I wasn't happy that he signed with the Lakers, but I also wasn't happy that he signed with the Warriors last offseason. He did essentially the same thing this season, a one year prove it deal to hopefully get paid next summer, but now, he is gong to miss another full season in his prime.

This stinks. I really dislike horrible injuries like this to players I am not a big fan of, so when it happens to a guy I actually like, a guy I enjoy watching play, a guy I actively root for, it makes me very unhappy. People are now going to forget how dominate, and good and agile and explosive on and off the court Boogie was a few years back. He is in Isaiah Thomas territory. Thomas came out and exploded while with the Celtics a few years back, and since getting hurt, in the playoffs, of which he shouldn't have been playing, but Danny Ainge used him anyway, and now he has been on 4 teams in three years now, just trying to get back to a fraction of his old self. When he was with the Celtics, he was an excellent scorer and a fourth quarter killer. He was that dude, and he was looking at a big time payday. Then Kyrie Irving came calling, and like I said, Thomas had a nagging hip injury, and he was relegated to being a sidekick on a LeBron Cavs team. The Celtics traded him for Irving, and since then, Thomas has never been the same. He will never get his payday, most likely. He seems destined to be a one year deal kind of guy for the next 5 or 6 years, then, he will end up overseas, or become a coach. I can see it so clearly now. I fear that is what will happen to Boogie.

Now don't get it twisted, Boogie is a much better, and much bigger star than Thomas, but he is coming off three horrid leg injuries, and he is a big man. The cards are stacked against him for a variety of reasons now. For one, the modern NBA is drifting away from a player like Boogie. He is a back to the basket big that likes to play a low post game. Sure, he can shoot threes a bit, but he is not a real threat from deep. The modern NBA doesn't want that. They want bigs like Brook Lopez or Anthony Davis. Both those guys can shoot from deep, and Davis is one of the best defenders in the league. Hell, a guy like Giannis, who isn't a good shooter yet, can still glide his way to the hoop and has some handles. Boogie doesn't have that anymore. Second, he was on this Lakers teams as a backup and a spark off the bench. That is not his game. Boogie needs to be in the flow of the game to get going. He needs to start for his ego. He needs to get touches, as all bigs do. He needs to be included to stay involved. Point blank. If Boogie doesn't get the touches, or the accolades, he loses interest. Look how poor he played in the Finals last year. Again, I love the dude, but he was awful in the Finals. That is because he wasn't looked upon as a real option. The Raptors didn't fear him, and it showed. That was going to be his role on this Lakers team. He wasn't going to start. He wasn't going to get touches in the post. He was not going to be a focal point. And now, he tore his ACL. Third, he has three leg injuries, and that is doom for a big man. Just look at Bill Walton or Yao Ming. Those guys can barely walk now, and when they got hurt, especially leg injuries, they were never the same. They suffered major setbacks. I don't see how that doesn't happen to Boogie now. Finally, he is losing such an important year for his career. I felt like he was really going to pop off this year, and blow up. I genuinely believed he was going to get a good deal from some team at the end of the season. Now, that is not happening. He is not going to get the big deal. He is not going to get even close to max money. He is never going to get the years that he wants. It is not going to happen now, and maybe not ever. It is the brutal truth. The NBA is a business, and Boogie is now getting into damaged goods territory. Signing him to a max deal now would be like if Coca Cola brought back "New Coke". That stuff was awful, and they got rid of it ASAP. I feel like that is how teams will now look at Boogie. He may get a few one year deals here and there, hell, he may even get a 2 year deal if he plays, and plays well in 2020, but that is his best case scenario.

This really bums me out. I want what is best for Boogie, and another torn ACL is very, very far off from anything good at all. This stinks. I wish top guys would stop getting hurt. It hurts the game when All Stars are missing half, or full years. And make no mistake, Boogie is a star. That is though is looking more and more like a was now.

Oof

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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This Tate Martell Miami Situation is a Fiasco

I know that I spent last week talking football, but the story that came out from the University of Miami yesterday is too good not to acknowledge.

For those in the know, Tate Martell left the University of Ohio State after Justin Fields transferred there and decided to go to Miami. He assumed he would start, Miami had recruited him, and he didn't think he would get a chance to play if he stayed in the shit hole that is Columbus. I, like a lot of people, assumed he would start too. He was talking all this shit, went on Twitter to talk about how good he is, and how he should play, fought with the NCAA to get immediate eligibility, even though he transferred simply for playing time, somehow won the appeal and was granted immediate eligibility and started practicing with the team right away.

Yesterday new coach Manny Diaz announced that a freshman who enrolled early was going to be his starting QB. This brought back so many of the stupid things this Martell kid had said on many social media platforms. There was even a text exchange between him and a friend where he was bashing other recruits who have gone on to, at the very least, play some QB in college football. I mean this is a clear case of a kid that cannot back up all the talk. This reminds me so very much of the Tate Forcier era at Michigan, but Forcier at least got to play in some real games. All Martell did last year was play in mop up duty, and with the departure of Dwayne Haskins, I'm sure he figured he was next in line. Then the Justin Fields transfer, who also got immediate eligibility, happened. Then he left and now he is not starting. In fact, it was reported that after the true freshman was named starting QB at Miami, Martell didn't even show up for practice. Again, I go back to Tate Forcier after Denard Robinson was named the starter for Michigan. Robinson came in, ran the offense to perfection, and at the time, was clearly the top QB for the Wolverines. So Forcier transferred, expected playing time at a big school, didn't get it, and now, I couldn't tell you where he is. I do know where Denard Robinson is though, because he stuck it out until it was his turn. That is the problem I have with Martell, That, and the non stop talking and gassing himself up via Twitter. He flat out got beat. Diaz has had these kids in camp for a bit now, and it was clear to him that the freshman was better than Martell. And for him to reportedly skip practice the very next day, that is some sour grapes. I mean, in all likely hood he was going to be the backup, and the cliché thing is, "the backup QB is one snap away from being the starter". Also, what if this other kid struggles a bit? Then I'm sure Diaz wouldn't hesitate to put Martell in. But nope, it seems as if he is going to try and leave another big time program, and catch on somewhere else, because he doesn't feel like he should earn his spot, he thinks it should be handed to him. Sure, he was probably great in high school, but he has done zero in college football, and now he is getting beat by a true freshman.

I don't know what will happen to Martell from here, but if he does decide to transfer again, this would be his third time, if I were a coach of a major program, I would steer clear of him. It is clear to me that he doesn't want competition, that he doesn't think he needs to practice, that he thinks he is the best no matter who else is already established, or what big time recruits have been brought in. The funny thing to me, that I saw all over sports websites yesterday, was people saying he was going to end up on season 5 of "Last Chance U". That would be hilarious. This kid has proven that he isn't ready, not yet at least, for big time college football. All he has shown is that he can run his mouth, and then get beat out by other QB's on the roster.

This is one of the reasons why I have a problem with the NCAA, and their transfer portal. Anytime it gets tough for one of these 4 or 5 star kids in high school, they leave. They don't even wait to see what will happen, or if they will get a chance. They just up and leave, and end up playing at a small school, and the NFL forgets about them. It is kind of ridiculous how much this goes on. I have no problem with a kid leaving if the coaching situation changes, or if they get hurt and have been told they won't get to play much when they get back. But, to transfer because someone is better than you, that is laughable to me.

Well, we will have to wait and see what will happen next in this crazy story. But, I feel like he is going to be Miami's version of Tate Forcier. Hell, maybe we will see him on "Last Chance U" next year. Time will tell.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty is not ready for a repeat of the Tate Forcier era. No Michigan fan should have to relive those 7 win seasons.

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Ty Predicts the 2019 College Football Season

Okay, time for the good football, the football I truly enjoy, college football. There is almost nothing I enjoy more than watching college football on a Saturday in the fall. It is the best. It is the one time of year where I do not mind not leaving the house at all, and having the TV on all day. I get lost watching all the different teams play on Saturday's, but I most focused when Michigan plays, obviously. I love the fall because it means college football is back.

Like I have done in the past I will pick each power conference winner, and point out a few teams that may be under the radar. Unlike the past though, I will not dwell too much on all the teams in the power 5 conferences. I will mention some, give sentences on a few and explain why I picked each conference winner. I will conclude everything will my playoff picks, my title game, my title game winner and who I think will win the Heisman. Okay, lets get to it.

I am going to start with my conference, instead of saving it for the end, the Big Ten. This is the conference I pay the most attention to. I watch most of the games even if I don't like the team that is playing. The Big Ten should be pretty competitive, as usual, but if Michigan doesn't finally break through and win, I will be upset and angry. They have one of their better offenses in recent memory returning. They have 8 starters back, including Shea Patterson and almost the entire o line. They have a great trio of receivers. The tight ends are utilized properly. And while young, the depth at running back is insane. The defense did lose some key guys, but they had so many players that played meaningful snaps last year that are back. Sure, Devin Bush, Chase Winovich and Rashan Gary will be tough to replace, but they have recruited guys just for this occasion. They have some tough games, Army really stands out to me in the non conference, and they play Notre Dame again. But, most of their toughest games are at home. They get Notre Dame, Army, Michigan State, The University of Ohio State and Iowa all in Ann Arbor. I expect, and all fans should, this team to be very good. They should win the Big Ten. That being said, The university of Ohio State is always there, and they have owned the conference for a bit. They have a bunch of new players, but still, they don't rebuild, they reload. Michigan State should be better than they were last year. and their defense is grimy, gritty and dirty. Northwestern has a new shiny 5 star QB taking over, and they are always an annoying out. Minnesota has gotten better every year under PJ Fleck. Iowa is always tough, can run and now they can pass the ball too. Penn State has to break in a new QB, but they have a solid defense, can run and they play tough at home. Nebraska should be much better, but they need to shore up a porous defense. Wisconsin has a Heisman hopeful in Johnathan Taylor, and they get their toughest games at home. Purdue is better, and that Moore kid they have is a stud. Indiana and Maryland are fine. And Illinois and Rutgers will suffer some more growing pains. Michigan should win the conference this year.

Next I will go to the Big 12. This conference really comes down to Texas and Oklahoma, and I think Oklahoma is better in every facet. No one plays defense in the Big 12, but Oklahoma is better than Texas. All teams air the ball out, or can run like gangbusters, and Oklahoma is better at that. West Virginia is going to regress. Kansas has Les Miles, but that will not amount to many more wins in year one. Baylor should have gotten the death penalty. Iowa State is tough, but they always find a way to blow games. Oklahoma State's run as a contender is well past, and Mike Gundy is a dickhead. Texas Tech has 5-7 written all over them. TCU could be better, but they really fell on their faces last season. I think Oklahoma will win because I think the kid from Alabama is a better QB than the one Texas has.

The Pac 12 has really become a lost conference. They haven't been relevant in the past couple years. That being said, Oregon has a legit top NFL prospect playing QB for them in Justin Herbert. They are super explosive too. Washington has a good transfer QB coming in to take over, and they actually play defense, and play it well. Utah is always tough. They are a better version of Northwestern. USC is in dead man walking territory, especially with former players opining for a new head coach. Washington State is fun, but they play less defense than a Big 12 team, and they always seem to lose steam late in the season. Stanford is tough, but they haven't been able to put together a full season in awhile. I'm done letting them make me look stupid. Colorado had a moment, but they are back to being a 7-5 team at best. And the rest of the conference is very blah. I'm going with Oregon because this is Herbert's last run. I think he could blow up this season.

Now to the SEC. I still think the SEC is very overrated, but Alabama is still in the conference, and they are still awesome. They have so many good players, led by Tua Tigaviola. He's awesome. He is a Heisman front runner, and he will lead that very explosive offense. Alabama's main threats will be LSU and Georgia. Both those teams have great returning QB's and good run games. They also play very solid defense. Georgia is a better team, but LSU plays up to opponents, and they could make some noise. Outside of those three teams it is really jumbled in the middle. Missouri got one of the best transfers in the country in Kelly Bryant, and he alone will make this team an 8 or 9 win team. Missouri fans will soon forget about Drew Lock. Bryant is a much better QB. Auburn will be really good or really bad. No in between. Florida is coming off a huge bowl win over Michigan, and they have a ton of talent back. But, their success depends on Felipe Franks, and he has not been great so far in college. Texas A&M will be very good very soon, but they are still a year or 2 away from really competing. Mississippi State is solid, but no better than an 8 win team. And from there on out, the rest of the conference has too many question marks. It will once again come down to Georgia and Alabama, and, as usual Alabama will prove their dominance. I'm getting sick of picking them.

Speaking of teams that are so easy too predict, does anyone have a shot to beat Clemson in the ACC? I don't think so. In fact, I know so. Clemson is coming off an absolute dismantling of Alabama in the title game last year, and pretty much everyone from that offense, mainly Trevor Lawrence, is back. They could easily average 50 points a game this year. They can walk through their schedule. They are so good on offense, and even with the departures on defense, they will be just fine. Clemson is now in Alabama territory. They are approaching unbeatable status. Sure, teams like Miami should be decent, and Florida State should rebound. Syracuse is becoming good again. And Georgia Tech runs that funky triple option. But I mean come on, Clemson will trounce their way to a division title. They are legit.

Outside of the power 5 teams, Army is a very good, very disciplined football team. They will be tough. Notre Dame has a good QB coming back and they will always be a threat. UCF, while not having Mackenzie Milton and his backup, got Brandon Wimbush, and he is a perfect fit to run their offense. Outside of those teams, no one really jumps off the page. We don't have a UCF from a few years back, or a Western Michigan from even more years back. The power 5 teams are the best of the best this season.

Picking the four team playoff has been tough for me. I have Clemson and Alabama as locks. The next 2 teams I have struggled with. I've waffled between so many variations, but I think I finally have my other 2 teams. I'm not going with a Pac 12 team either because I'm sick of getting burned by that conference. I'm going with Michigan and Georgia. I think Oklahoma will blow some games, that Texas is a little overrated, and I already stated why I will not pick Oregon. My order from 1-4 would be Clemson, Alabama, Michigan and Georgia. That would give us Clemson-Georgia and Alabama-Michigan. And, for what seems like the tenth time in a row, I have Clemson and Alabama in the title game. And, I think it will be a repeat of last year. Clemson is a better football team right now, and Dabo Swinneyis a better coach. There, I said it.

As far as the Heisman, I do not see how Trevor Lawrence from Clemson doesn't win it this year. He would have to fall off the face of the Earth to not win it. He was great last year, and now he has the full reins of that offense.

Okay, there it is, my 2019 college football preview. We only have three more weeks until real games are going to be played. I cannot wait. It is going to rule.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. It seems like the last few years Ty has been hyping a Missouri Quarterback. Come on Ty, stop giving me hope for an 8 win season. Seven wins is where the Tigers have made their home.

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Ty Picks the 2019 NFL Winners

Wrapping up my 2019 NFL preview, today I am going to pick division winners, AFC and NFC title matchup and Super Bowl matchup, and winner. I will also pick the big awards like, coach of the year, offensive and defensive MVP, overall MVP and offensive and defensive rookies of the year. Unlike the past, I will not do a deep dive into each division because that seems pointless. I did just count down all 32 teams, and gave reasons for why I have them where I have them. So, lets get to it.

As always, I will start in the AFC, and that means the AFC East is up first. This is the, I think, 4th year that I have done this, and once again, I am going with New England. They are the best team in the division, and they have zero competition from the other three teams. This may be their last hurrah, but the Patriots are as close to a shoe in as you get in the modern NFL. The AFC West is a teensy bit better, they at least have 2 teams that I think will be in the mix all year, but I am going with the Chiefs. I had them as my number 1 overall team for a reason. The Chargers will fight, and may even lead the division for a hot second, but the Chiefs are so god damn explosive on offense, and their defense improved this offseason. The bottom of that division, Denver and Oakland, is going to be horrendously bad too. Chiefs all the way though. They are great. In the AFC North I have the Baltimore Ravens. This may cause people to yell at me, think I'm stupid or crazy, but I love what the Ravens are doing, and I think the rest of the division is not that good yet. Pittsburgh will take a step back, I don't buy the Cleveland hype and the Bengals are going to be awful. I do however love me some John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson and Earl Thomas and the fact that the Ravens want to run the ball a billion times and win with defense. I think it will be ugly, and it may only take 10 wins, but I have the Ravens winning the North. And in the AFC South, I'm going with the Colts. This will be the toughest division to win in the AFC, but I feel like the Colts are back to being a perennial playoff team, and division winner. The Texans will be their biggest threat, and don't sleep on the Titans. But, I just think with Luck back, and Frank Reich leading the way, and that young defense already being so good, they will take the division.

So that leaves me with Indy, Kansas City, New England and Baltimore as playoff locks. My two wild cards are Houston and the Chargers. In the AFC title game, I think it will be the Chiefs and Patriots, and this time, the Chiefs won't get hosed by the refs, and they will be able to stop some big pass plays. The Chiefs will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Now to the NFC. Lets start in the East here. I'm going with Philadelphia. Like I said in my preview, on paper, they may have the best team, and they have the best team by far in this division. The Cowboys will step back with or without Ezekial Elliot, Washington is awful and the Giants are worse. Philadelphia has about as easy a route as the Patriots in this division. The NFC West is a complete joke of a division, and the Rams will use that to coast to another title. The Cardinals are breaking in an overrated, and not deserving new head coach, and Kyler Murray is a rookie. The 49ers are more overrated than the Browns and the Seahawks have no one besides Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner. The Rams can sleepwalk their way to another division title. The NFC North will be very, very tough, except for the Lions. I feel like Green Bay, Minnesota and Chicago will all have winning records. In the end, I like to go with defense, but that doesn't mean I am picking the Bears. I'm actually going to go with the Vikings, as much as RD might disagree with me. This is a put up or shut up year for them, and I think they will respond, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But Green Bay and Chicago will be right there all year. In the NFC South, it is all about the Saints. They have almost as much talent on offense as the Chiefs do, and they can put up points. They do need to be better defensively, and I think they will be. The Panthers will be a big challenge to them I think. The Falcons window has closed, and Tampa Bay is a joke of an NFL team. The Saints should, fairly easily I might add, win this division, and be primed for a big run in the playoffs.

So, that leaves me with the Saints, Vikings, Rams and Eagles as locks for the playoffs. The wild card is a bit harder for me in the NFC, but I will go Chicago, sorry Green Bay, I just don't like the Matt LaFleur hire, and I'll go with the Panthers to get back in the playoffs this year. As far as the NFC title game goes, I think we will see Rams-Saints part 2, but this time the Saints will get some revenge, and it won't come down to a blown non call by the refs. I feel like the Saints will smash them.

That means I have the Saints and the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. I hope this happens because that game would be exciting as hell. And, I'm going to go with the Saints to win, and my shocker pick of the year, I think Drew Brees will retire after the game if they do win. I just don't trust Andy Reid, and Sean Payton is a hell of a coach, especially in big time games. Patrick Mahomes will get his eventually, but every super star has to go through bumps before they get their championship. This will, most likely, be his last bump before that.

Okay, on to the awards. Coach of the Year I'm going to go with Mike Zimmer. I think the Vikings will be much better, and it will be because he gets that defense to play at a championship level again. Offensive MVP, I'm going with Mahomes. I told you all yesterday that I think 5,000 yards and 50 TD's will be his new norm. He will continue to put up "video game" numbers for awhile. Defensive MVP will be Aaron Donald. The guy is simply amazing, and he alone will do what Khalil Mack did last year for the Bears. Aaron Donald is awesome. Offensive Rookie of the Year will be Kyler Murray, and I think he will win it on the strength of his first 3 or 4 games. He is going to put up ridiculous numbers because of that gimmick offense, but teams will figure it out. But, if he already has 12 TD passes, and something like 1,200 yards after week 4, he will be a lock. Defensive rookie of the Year is going to go to my favorite player in the draft last year, the good Josh Allen. He is going to fly all over the field for the Jaguars, and he will bring back a little bit of that "Sacksonville" feel from 2 years ago. Finally, overall MVP. I'm going to double dip here, and go with Mahomes to win it again. He is on a whole other level, and his numbers are going to be insane. He is the new generation of QB in the NFL.

Okay, there it is, my entire 2019 NFL preview and predictions Come back tomorrow when I deep dive into college football, my favorite sport to watch.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Every year Ty seems to pick the Vikings to edge out the Packers, and every year some other overachiever takes the NFC North crown. Is this the year of the Lions? Is it ever the year of the Lions?

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Ty Ranks the 2019 NFL Teams: Perfect Pepperoni Pizza Division

Today is the final day of my 2019 NFL countdown. I'm not done with the NFL after today though. I will come back tomorrow with my division winners, Super Bowl matchup, champ and award winners, and on Friday I will be writing one of my favorite pieces, my 2019 college football preview. But, today I will give you my final four NFL teams going into the 2019 season.

Coming in at number 4 I have the defending champs, the New England Patriots. Part of me was kind of shocked that I didn't have them as my number one overall team. I mean, they seem to be in the hunt every year, or at least since 2001, when Tom Brady took over as the QB. The Patriots, as much as I dislike them, are the biggest, flashiest and best dynasty of the 21st century. In any professional sport. I don't think anyone could argue that. In an era of cap space, player movement and coaching changes, they remain the one constant. But, they are getting older, and at some point, old age wins out. This team will not be this great for much longer, possibly only one or 2 more years. I know they just gave Brady an extension, but he will be 44 when that contract is up. I genuinely feel that this is it for him as the best QB in the game. I truly believe that he is the greatest QB that has ever played, but every great before him slowed down when they turned 40. Joe Montana, while still solid as a Chief, wasn't as great. Dan Marino aged poorly. We are watching guys like Eli Manning regress right now. Brett Favre was never the same, even with that one year in Minnesota, as he was with the Packers. The Broncos won a Super Bowl in spite of Peyton Manning. These things happen, and it will happen to Brady very soon. It will also happen with Julian Edelman, who is not a hall of fame player no matter what the Boston media tells you. Sony Michel is a good back, but how good will he be without Brady. Rob Gronkowski retired, but who really cares? They have an okay o line. They will still be good this year, but they have holes. Their defense is a true bend, but don't break defense. They will give up a ton of yards, but they will make it tough for you to score in the red zone. Just ask the LA Rams about that. I do like that they signed Michael Bennett, but I was wrong about him last year. And they took Chase Winovich in the third round, and while I think he will be a fine rush end, I don't see him becoming a star. I do like that they are giving N'Keal Harry a shot. He has the look and feel of a solid wide out. The Patriots are going to be good this year. Hell, they may even make another Super Bowl. But, they are older and that means key guys could miss time. Still, they will win their trash division with ease, and probably win 12 games during the regular season.

At number 3 I have a team that I seriously flirted with putting number one, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints are a very, very good team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Drew Brees is another one of these older QB's, but he gets rid of the ball so fast, and he is deadly accurate, that he doesn't take too many hits. He has one of the better receivers in the game locked up now in Michael Thomas. This offense is so perfect for him, and he is the man at wide out for the Saints. Alvin Kamara is fast becoming one of my favorite NFL players, and he is the prototype modern NFL back. While guys like Ezekial Elliot and Melvin Gordon are holding out or asking for trades, Kamara is surpassing them in every category, and he is the one dude I would want if I were starting a NFL team today. He can run, catch passes and is blazing fast. Their o line can protect when needed. And Sean Payton is an offensive guru. Maybe the best in the league. Their defense is why I have them at 3, and not 1. They got so much better last season, but they still have lapses. They still have moments that make you shake your head. And you cannot always rely on your offense to bail you out. Sometimes that defense will have to make plays. I think they can get better, but I am still a little wary of how good they can be. The Saints also play in a tough division, and it won't be as easy as last year was for them. I still think they will win the division, probably win 13 games, and be a real threat to be in the Super Bowl, but it all depends on how much that defense can improve from last year.

At number 2 I have the Philadelphia Eagles. This current construct of the roster reminds me so much of their Super Bowl winning team. I know that Carson Wentz hasn't been entirely healthy during his career, and Nick Foles kept this team afloat last year and won a Super Bowl for them, but Wentz is a better, and younger QB than Foles. If he can stay healthy, he will have a humongous year. It helps that he has abut 5 guys that can run the ball, a great group of receivers that know what to do and very, very, very good o line protecting him. The Eagles also have one of the most sound and devastating defenses in football. They can stop any team in the run and pass game. They can rush the passer. The linebackers can cover and hit. The secondary is lock down. The Eagles are a very good football team with solid depth and big name players. They also have a very good coaching staff, no matter what the people over at The Ringer say. The Eagles will coast in their division, and I wouldn't be shocked if they went 14-2 or 15-1. They are that good. They are a legit Super Bowl contender.

The final team on my countdown, coming in at number 1, coached by Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs have the best offense in football. By about a thousand miles. Patrick Mahomes is the next generation of QB. He is the modern NFL QB. He can run, and he can fling it. I would not be shocked, at all, if 5,000 yards passing and 50 TD's is his new norm. He is so fluid and calm and collected in the pocket. And when he has to scramble, he does crazy shit like no look passes, and he hits receivers in stride. He is an amazing QB. I'm not a Chiefs fan, but I am a big time fan of watching Mahomes play QB. He has great protection from, maybe, the best o line in the NFL. He has awesome, and fast, wide outs. Travis Kelce is a much more fun version of Gronk. He is also about a thousand times more likable. They have guys that can run the ball, although it is very disturbing to me that the NFL is letting Tyreek Hill suit up this year. Their defense was the problem last year, but they went out and signed guys that will help, mainly Tyrann Mathieu. He was such a great addition for this team. They will now be able to get after the passer, but also be able to cover when they do have to go man. The Chiefs seem to have it all right now. The only question, how will an Andy Reid coached team perform with this high of expectations? Andy Reid is a good head coach, in the regular season. That is why I could see the Chiefs winning 14 or 15 games, and easily winning the division. But in the playoffs, he has had some horrid moments. Will that happen this year? Maybe. But, I think Mahomes is good enough to erase any of Reid's past antics and guide this team to a big time season. They are the team to beat in my opinion.

Okay, that is my 2019 NFL countdown. I'm sure some people are mad at me, think I was too soft on some teams and probably think I am crazy for thinking that the 49ers or Browns are still going to be not that good. We will see. Come back tomorrow for picks.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Every year sports guys like Ty keep waiting for Brady and Brees to get older, and every year those two guys keep proving us wrong. Makes you think.

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Ty Ranks the 2019 NFL Teams: Sausage and Green Pepper Pizza Division

Day 7 of my NFL countdown kicks off with my number 8 team, the Indianapolis Colts.

I want to start off right away and tell all the Colts fans to chill out about Andrew Luck's health right now. Last year, right around this same time, he couldn't throw anything except a Nerf football. Then when the season started, he went on to have a great year, and the Colts were back in the playoffs. I'm sure whatever this calf injury is right now will be fine. Also, remember how good the Colts were last year? It was supposed to be a down year. They were supposed to be bad again. They had Josh McDaniels flake on them, then had to hurry to hire Frank Reich. And all of that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Luck came back, and as I said, was great. They found a platoon run game that worked for them. They got shifty and reliable receivers. The offense was all about crossing routes and check downs and grinding clock. The o line coalesced when it needed to. And their defense became very formidable. They could cover and stop the run. They looked like a real football team by about week 4, and then a playoff contender halfway through the year. Well, it is all pretty much the same this year. Luck is back. They have a stable of backs. They added Devin Funchess, while not great, still good, to a good group of receivers and the defense is pretty much intact. I kind of look at the Colts like the NFL's version of the Portland Trailblazers. They tend to get overlooked, and then they are 8-2 before anyone takes notice. I feel like they struck gold in having to settle for Frank Reich as their head coach. He is a QB's coach, and he installed a perfect offense for this phase of Luck's career. As I said, I think Luck will be fine, and with the core of this team back, I do not see how they don't win their division, and even get a first round bye in the AFC. The Colts are an easy double digit win team for me, probably 11, and as long as Luck is their QB, they will continue to be a playoff threat. Good for you Indy. You got 2 transformational QB's to run your team when you needed it most.

At number 7 I have probably my second least favorite team in the NFL, the Chicago Bears. Look, they won the lottery when they traded for Khalil Mack. That guy is the best defensive player in football, and when he was added to an already good defense, that put the Bears above the top for me. They had it all on that defense, except a pass rushing, run stopping wrecking ball of a linebacker. Then they got Mack. He was astounding last year. Again, I despise that team, but seeing Mack play football is pure joy. It is like watching the Spurs play basketball. It is perfection. Yes, Adrian Amos left in free agency this summer, but he is all they have to replace on one of the best defenses in football. The Bears defense is worthy of making them a title contender. Where I find fault, and why I don't have them in my top three, lies within their QB. Mitch Trubisk, right now, is not a very good NFL QB. Sure, he made a few plays here and there last year, but the Bears won because of their defense and run game. I should know, I had Tarik Cohen on my fantasy team. The offense was good in spite of Trubisky. They won games because they could grind out the clock, and let the defense come in and close things out. The biggest question, and what could make or break this team this year, is if Trubisky can make the leap. I don't think he can. I don't think he is very good. Being a Packer fan, the fact that Trubisky is their starting QB gives me hope that the Packers can stay in it every year he is behind center. Matt Nagy proved to be a capable coach, and he has pretty much everything you need to be a contender, except at QB. The fact that Trubisky is still such an unknown really makes me think twice before I put the Bears in the conversation as a Super Bowl contender. They will still win 10 plus games, and be in the playoffs, but Trubisky is what is holding them back from being a 12 to 13 win team, and a lock for the division.

At number 6 I have the LA Chargers. The Chargers are a team in flux at the running back position, Melvin Gordon just asked to be traded, but I don't think that matters. The Chargers are just like the Colts to me, except with a better defense. Sure, Phillip Rivers is a billion years old, but he has Keenan Allen to throw to. He also has Antonio Gates for another year. The Chargers also played fine without Gordon last year, when Austin Ekeler took his place. They also have a very solid o line. And that defense will get after you. They can rush the passer with the best of them. They can also cover, and they have a heavy hitting secondary. They can outscore you, or win in a slug fest. But, what I always, always, always go back on with this team, is their tendency to sleepwalk through a good portion of the year. They are not consistent with their level of play. Also, when they do have the goods, they have blown it in the past. That is why I do not think they will win, or even be in the Super Bowl for the foreseeable future. I also think Rivers is starting to trend, just a little bit, into Eli Manning territory, and they don't really have a replacement for him yet. But, the Chargers will win 11 or 12 games, and easily be in the playoffs this year.

My final team for the day, coming in at number 5, is the Super Bowl runner up, the LA Rams. The Rams are a very, very good offensive team. They play fast and loose and can run and pass. They are a much better run team because they have Todd Gurley. I know he was injured during the playoffs last year, but even in his few snaps, you could tell that opposing defenses were worried. He has had a full offseason to heal, and I feel like he can go to a whole other level, which is scary. I don't think Jared Goff is a Hall of Famer, but I do think he is a solid game manager, and Sean McVay's offense suits him perfectly. He is like Alex Smith was in KC before Pat Maholmes took over. He can dink and dunk the ball all over the filed, and when he needs to go deep, Brandin Cooks can get that separation. The o line is also great. The defense is the problem, but it isn't much of a problem because they have Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald is amazing. He is the best d lineman I have seen since I watched Reggie Smith when he joined the Packers. Aaron Donald can do it all. He can rush, stop the passer, and I bet he can even guard backs out of the backfield. After Aaron Donald, it gets a bit thin. They have solid guys, like Dante Fowler, Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters, but they did get burned a bunch last season. They played in a lot of high scoring games, due to their inability to get off the field. And while Wade Phillips has done a solid job, let that dude he retire. He is so old. Like fragile old. But, the Rams are in a crummy division, with Seattle being their "toughest" opponent, and that means they can sleepwalk their way to 11 or 12 wins, and be back in the hunt to play in a second straight Super Bowl. Time will tell.

That's it for today, come back tomorrow for the final four teams in my countdown.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty misses the days the Rams were in St. Louis and the coach was Jeff Fisher. Nothing says excitement like 7-9 season after 7-9 season.

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