The Advent Calendar of Good, and Bad, Holiday Eats: Day 1 - Chocolate Advent Calendars

The pre-Christmas Day season of Advent is upon us. Here at SeedSing we love the chocolaty goodness of getting a piece of candy once a day until we get to open our presents. As our gift to you we will present a treat associated with the holiday season. Many will be awesome, some will be terrible. Enjoy.

Day 1: Chocolate Advent Calendar

December 1st marks the beginning of the Advent season. There are religious reasons for Advent, but many of us have forgotten and just really do not care. December 1st marks the official countdown to Christmas. Twenty five glorious days until the most wonderful time of the year. Makes a person hungry.

The Advent Calendar is a tradition in many homes. The most famous, and most inexpensive, of these calendars are the paper ones holding chocolate behind numbered windows. Each day brings a new treat for the faithful, and non faithful, alike to enjoy. A piece of chocolate a day makes December a highlight in any home.

The chocolate Advent Calendar can be bought in nearly any store for under two bucks. The twenty five pieces of chocolate is usually two bucks worth of quality. It is not transcendent, but it is still chocolate. There are more expensive and extravagant chocolate Advent Calendars. Many of these have things like fancy liqueurs or other high quality ingredients. Leave those to the William Sonama crowd, the real folks partake in the cheap advent calendars. Good or bad, it is still a piece of chocolate a day, and it cost less than a few bucks.

The chocolate Advent Calendar is a tradition, and one that is well deserved. If you have a couple hundred bucks burning a hole in your pocket, splurge on the good stuff. If you are part of the other 99%, spend your two dollars and enjoy a small adequate piece of chocolate each day until Christmas. It is a reason for the season.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. Start your Advent out with a great holiday song. We recommend the classic "Linus and Lucy" Tell us all about your favorite holiday treat - write for SeedSing.

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Jimbo Fisher Going to Texas A&M is a Real Head-Scratcher

I was going to write about a movie today, but more pressing news has surfaced, and no, I'm not talking about Flynn pleading guilty, I'll let RD handle that. The news that I speak of is about another coaching move. I know that I have been talking about sports and coaches a lot lately, but this is a big, big deal. And no, I'm not going to write about the possibility of Mike Leach to Tennessee. I'll save that for next week, or whenever it happens. The news that I speak of was just reported by multiple sports sites, and that is that Jimbo Fisher has resigned from Florida State and is expected to take the head coaching job at Texas A&M.

I have a bunch of mixed feelings about this move. First, and foremost, I think that A&M did Kevin Sumlin dirty. That dude took this team to places that they haven't been since the 1960's and 70's. He was 26 games over .500 as a head coach there. He had a winning record in the SEC. He coached a Heisman winner. He won bowl games. Kevin Sumlin should have never been fired in the first place. But, they let him go, and seemingly, they got their man. They are going to give him an enormous deal, something like 8 or 9 million a year over 9 or 10 seasons. That is a TON of money. I get him leaving FSU for the money, and there is no state tax in Texas. But, the money shouldn't have been the major selling point for Fisher. Fisher has plenty of money already. The dude got paid the moment he took over for Bobby Bowden. He didn't need the money. So no, the money wasn't why he left FSU, at least not in my opinion.

There could have been many other reasons why he chose to leave now. This season has been a disaster since week one. I picked FSU to win the title, then Alabama crushed them and their star QB. They went on to lose 5 of their next 9 games. Where we sit today they are 5-6, needing to win their last game, which is a make up due to the hurricanes, just to make a very low level bowl. Maybe how rough this year has been was a reason for him to want to leave. Maybe he doesn't see it getting any better than this. Maybe FSU is going to be a 7-5 or 8-4 team for the next couple of years, and Fisher probably didn't want to deal with that.

But, Texas A&M is no world beater. Sumlin didn't deserve to get fired because that team won 8 games this year. A&M is considered decent with 8-4 records. The SEC is much, much harder than the ACC. Had he stayed at FSU, he could have turned it around and been in the national title picture as soon as next year. Now, he has to face teams like Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State on a regular basis. I do think the SEC is overrated, but I'd much rather be a head coach in the ACC. The best teams in the ACC, outside of FSU, are Miami and Clemson. That is it. I do not like him taking this job if he is looking to be a constant title contender. As long as Nick Saban is still coaching Alabama, every single coach in the SEC will be ranked behind him, no matter what. If he thought FSU was tough, just wait until he starts going 4-4 or 5-3 in the SEC. It is going to be brutal.

Fisher is also a guy that doesn't care for fans confronting him. A fan this year yelled at him after an early season loss, and he yelled back. That shit is going to happen weekly at A&M if he doesn't beat teams like LSU and Auburn on a yearly basis.

Maybe he left FSU because he did all that he could there. He won a title. He won multiple BCS bowls. He won a New Year's 6 bowl. He too coached a Heisman winner. Maybe he wants a new challenge. I get that, and I think it may be the best reason why he would leave FSU. Maybe he wants to see a new college town. Maybe he is as obsessed with football as most people are in Texas. Maybe he wants to see how fertile the recruiting grounds are in Texas as compared to Florida. These are all reasonable excuses as to why he wanted to take the A&M job. This is the one reason that I will accept.

The more I think about this move, the more confused I get. I'm not confused from an A&M standpoint. They got exactly what they wanted when they wrongly fired Sumlin. They had one guy in mind, they threw as much money as possible at him and they got him to leave a great situation to come coach their team. The AD and the boosters and whoever else was involved did everything to get the guy they wanted. I am confused by why Fisher would want this job. I'm confused for all the reasons I laid out up top. I'm confused because he seemed to have carte blanche at a college football powerhouse. I'm confused because he was already making a ton of money. I'm confused because he had a good team set in place for next year. I'm confused why he wants to leave a less competitive conference, where the path to the playoff is much easier, to go to a tougher conference.

We will see how this all shakes out as the next couple of years go on. I am sure a bunch of key contributors to A&M this past season will transfer because Fisher is going to bring in a whole new staff and system. I'm also curious to see who FSU goes after now because that is a good job, and that team has some good players, including Deondre Francois and Cam Akers. This is all very bizarre, not Tennessee bizarre, but still bizarre. I just don't get it, but hey, Jimbo Fisher can do whatever the hell he wants to do, whether I agree with it or not.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is still not available to coach at Tennessee, but Florida State? Give him a call and find out.

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It is Now Time for Some Thunder Panic in Oklahoma City

Usually I am not one to worry about a NBA team only 20 games into a season. I said as much a couple weeks ago in a piece detailing the "hot" starts of teams like the Magic, Bucks and Clippers. I also said that people shouldn't be worried about some teams off to a "slow" start, like the Jazz, Grizzlies and Spurs. And, while some of those teams have fallen into place, the Clippers are trash and the Spurs are righting the ship, still without Kawhi Leonard, I do have to say that, if I am/was a Thunder fan, I'd be worried.

The Thunder have not seemed to figure it out, and they have 3 of the top 30 players in the NBA on their team. Where we stand today they are 8-12, and they could be much, much worse than that. I was extremely high on this team going into the season. I figured they could challenge for the second or third seed in the West. I was willing to put them in the Western Conference Finals. I assumed Russell Westbrook was only going to get better coming off an MVP season. Adding Paul George and Carmelo Anthony were both home run moves by the front office. Getting Westbrook to sign that massive extension was icing on the cake. But, a quarter of the way into the season, they have not even come close to playing how I envisioned them playing.

What is wrong in Oklahoma City? They play great defense. That all comes with Paul George. That dude is a solid defender. Probably one of the top defenders in the league. But, their offense is very lackluster, and they cannot close out games. Every time I check their box score on my phone, they seem to hold a decent lead going into the second half, and when I check it later to see the final score, they are always on the wrong end. I think their "big three" are having trouble meshing right now.

Right off the bat I have to say that I do not think this is all on Westbrook. I know that he is an easy target, and a lot of other writers seem to like to attack the way he plays. But, he is not the sole reason this team cannot close games out. He isn't playing the way he played last year, but he isn't playing like trash either. He is second in the league in assists. He is still scoring 20 plus points a game. And, he has put in effort on defense this year. So no, I will not put full blame on him because that is way too easy, and kind of hacky if you ask me. I will say about Westbrook though, he is not being as explosive as he should/can be. He is deferring to his new teammates to a fault. He is trying to hard at times to get Anthony, George and Steven Adams involved. He is the alpha on this team, and late in games, he needs to take over.

I think Paul George has fit in okay, but he is struggling with his shot right now. I've heard some people say that the Thunder are just stashing him in a corner and letting Westbrook dictate what to do, but I do not buy that. George isn't the type of player that would just be happy with sitting back and waiting for open shots. He is a rim attacker, and that allows his jumper to become open. Like I said, the problem with him is that his shot is not dropping right now. That is something that can be fixed, but it needs to happen now. They cannot get much further back in the standings before it becomes a devastating blow to their playoff hopes.

I don't know what in the hell Carmelo Anthony is doing. He is shooting nearly as much as he did in New York. He is not making many of those shots though. I have not seen him pass the ball once whenever I tune into a Thunder game. And his defense, well it is Carmelo Anthony, so defense is not really an option. I wanted him so badly to be Olympic Carmelo. He is the player of the "big three" that should be standing in the corner waiting for the pass for the open three. He is so deadly when he has time to set and shoot. He can also be hidden on defense on this team. He is literally there just to make open shots. He is not the first or second option anymore, and until he realizes that, the Thunder will continue to struggle.

The rest of the team, I think, is still trying it adjust to having these 2 new all stars. Steven Adams has not really lived up to the hype from a few years back when he looked like one of the best up and coming centers. He still gets rebounds and throws down some alley oops, but they need more from him. Alex Abrines is too young and too green for the NBA right now. Patrick Paterson, another free agent signing, is hurt. The rookie Terrance Ferguson, he is playing like a rookie. Their best bench player is Ray Felton, and that stinks. I like Felton, but he cannot be your best guy off the bench. That hasn't worked for any other team that has tried to do that.

What also irks me about their very slow start is some of the losses they have taken. If they were 8-12 with losses to the likes of the Rockets, Warriors, Spurs and Cavs, that would kind of be justified. But, they have losses to the Kings, Mavericks and just last night, the Magic. That should not happen with three players as talented as Anthony, George and Westbrook. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

I'm already preparing to eat crow for thinking this team would be great. Billy Donovan has proven to be a very low rent pro coach. He has been handed some of the best players in the world, yet he can't seem to draw up anything of value late in games. Westbrook needs to be more alpha dog and less, let me get the new guys involved. George, while killing it on defense, needs to start hitting his shots and being way more aggressive. And Anthony, he needs to be that lethal outside threat that this team lacked last year. They still have time, we are only 20 game in, but the Thunder have absolutely been the biggest bust of the first quarter of the season. Lets se if they can turn it around.

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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Please Arby's, Do Not Screw Up Buffalo Wild Wings

Arby's has some new meats

In some terrible recent news, Arby's has bought Buffalo Wild Wings.

You all know how I feel about Arby's. And for those that don't, I cannot stand that place. It is an affront to fast food, and food, for that matter. They make disgusting trash food that is too expensive for what you get. Contrary to what they say, they do not have the meats, at least not quality meats. They do not slow cook any of the BBQ they claim to in commercials. Their pork belly, I have to imagine is the kind of bacon that you can buy pre cooked at the grocery store, and then they mash multiple pieces of that together to give the image of low rent pork belly. Basically everything that Arby's does, I am against. I do not trust that place and I absolutely do not trust their food.

The problem for me, I truly, unabashedly love Buffalo Wild Wings. I go there a ton. I would say that I eat there about a dozen times a month. No bull shit. I am a big time fan of their wings. They are decent sized, they come out hot and the sauces are pretty good. When they introduced the dry rub, I grew to love BWW even more. I love all of the dry rubs, especially the salt and vinegar. That is what I order 90 percent of the time when I go there. Outside of wings, BWW does have an okay menu. I'm on the Atkins diet for 5 days a week, and when I go there on one of the rare occasions when I don't get the dry rub wings, I will order their naked chicken tenders. It is pretty much just sliced chicken breast, but they add a sauce on the side, and give me a side salad with that, I'm good. They, in fact, have a lot of Atkins options outside of wings. They have the naked tenders I just mentioned, pretty good salads, other naked chicken options, they have a lot. The rest of the menu is pretty good too. When not dieting, I am a big fan of the buffalitos, which is French fries shaped like chips. I like their nachos. They have a great hummus and veggie tray as an appetizer. They have solid boneless wings. They have good tacos. Hell, even their non chicken stuff is good. My mom loves the burgers. My kids love the corn dogs and the mac and cheese. If I had to gripe about one thing when it comes to BWW, it's the fact that they are a Pepsi establishment. Pepsi is gross. Give me Coke products any day.

But, that is my only problem, until now. I do not know what this means for BWW. How will this purchase change things? Will they start to add some kind of disgusting Arby's roast beef options to the menu? Will they use that nasty ass cheese sauce for their nachos now instead of nacho cheese? Will they try and make their "pork belly sandwich" there? Will they start to push their gross horsey sauce? I have so many questions that I fear will either, come to fruition, or never be answered.

This is a real blow to me, as far as dining out goes. I'm not a picky eater, but when I dislike a place, it is on my shit list for the rest of my life. I stated in my Arby's blog about their "venison" sandwich that Arby's made me sick a couple of times, and since the second time, I have never gone back. It helps that I have Lion's Choice here in Saint Louis too. But, you screw me over once or twice, I'm done. Is this going to happen with BWW? Are the people that used to own that franchise just going to give the keys to the people that run Arby's? If they do, that could spell doom for me. When I go to BWW after the purchase is finalized, and I will still patronize BWW, what happens if I get sick from the food? I mean, I won't deviate from what I normally order, but my order has nothing to do with the people making the food and purchasing the inventory to make said food. If it is the people from Arby's, I would almost guarantee that I will get sick and it will ruin BWW for me forever. I don't want that to happen.

As I stated above, I genuinely enjoy BWW. But this whole Arby's purchase is really going to throw a wrench in my subsequent visits. If Arby's slowly starts to take over the menu, my dozen trips a month will continue to slowly dwindle until I never go there again. I can guarantee that much. I don't like, but much worse, don't trust Arby's. They have burned me before in the past. I will be super upset if the same thing happens at BWW. This is disheartening news to say the least. I wish it weren't true, but after much research, it unfortunately is. I hope things stay the same, but I'm only about 50 percent sure that it will. Arby's bought BWW for a reason, and that reason will spell nothing but doom. This is very upsetting.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is mistaken on one thing about Arby's. Those curly fries are the bomb.

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The Memphis Grizzlies Made a Bad Move Firing a Good David Fizdale

Much to mine, and many others surprise, the Memphis Grizzlies fired head coach David Fizdale yesterday. I was taken aback by this news. Fizdale, at least on the surface, seemed to be a pretty good NBA coach. The Grizzlies made the playoffs last year with guys like Andrew Harrison, Zach Randolph and Vince Carter playing crucial minutes. Yes, he had Mike Conley and Marc Gasol, but the rest of that team was made up of super old veterans and guys just trying to stay in the league. Fizdale also had one of the best post game rants of all time last year, with the whole, "take that for data" rant. It was epic.

This year the Grizzlies started out rather hot. They won, I think, their first 5 games, and 7 of their first 10. Then Conley went down with an injury. This was brutal for this team. They need Conley out there to run that offense. He is one of the best point guards in the league, and for the Grizzlies, he is the perfect point guard and team leader. They survived a Conley injury last year, but not this year. Since Conley has gone out, they have lost 8 straight games.

It was getting so bad that Fizdale benched Marc Gasol for the entire fourth quarter the other night to just try something different to get a win. Gasol was miffed by this, and let the media know. He said, in not so many words, that they would have never done this to Mike, meaning Mike Conley, and that the benching made him feel unwanted. The remarks seemed a little rough, but nothing out of the ordinary in pro sports. Coaches and players argue all the time at every level of sports. Jordan and Phil Jackson fought all the time. Same with Kobe, Shaq and Jackson. I'm sure Isiah Thomas and Chuck Daly squabbled from time to time. LeBron James has fought with every coach he has ever had. Kevin Durant openly did not like Billy Donovan. So a coach and a star player arguing is nothing new.

But, maybe 12-14 hours after Gasol let his feelings known, the Grizzlies fired Fizdale. As I said before, I could not believe it. I know things are rough right now for the Grizzlies, but I did not think this team was going to even be a playoff contender this year. They have 2 stars, Conley and Gasol, but nothing more. The rest of the roster is filled with names like Jaymychal Green, Mario Chalmers, Chandler Parsons, Andrew Harrison, Tyreke Evans and Ben McLemore. That is not a playoff team, especially in the West. The West, while down right now because they are beating up on each other, is a very, very good and competitive conference. The top teams in the West are great, and the middle of the road teams are pretty good. I had the Grizzlies as a step below the middle of the road teams in my preseason countdown. When they started off on fire I was amazed, and I gave a lot of credit internally to Fizdale. I thought that he was a perfect guy to usher in a new era of Memphis Grizzlies basketball. Then the injury and the losing streak and the Gasol comments and now, he is out of a job. To give up on him, less than 20 games into a season, with an injury to one of their 2 best players, is nuts to me. Who does Memphis' front office think they can get to come in and win with this roster right now? What coaches are available that want to come to a team with an injured point guard and a disgruntled power forward/center? Who is going to have the fire and passion that Fizdale brought to that locker room? These are questions that I cannot answer right now.

To fire a coach this early in the regular season is such a bad idea to me too. They have to change on the fly. If you let a guy go in the offseason you get all that time to let them instill their game plan. Now, whoever may take over, has to try and implement their stuff during the season without a point guard. That is next to impossible. I would like to think that they would just give an assistant the job, but firing Fizdale may mean cleaning house. They could get rid of everyone that was on his staff. But, I do not know who they would bring in that could get them back to a playoff competing team. This firing could also mean that the front office has decided to blow it up, which also means trying to trade Gasol and Conley, but who knows. And again, wait to do that until the season is over.

David Fizdale should have been given a chance to right the ship. He proved last year that he is a decent NBA head coach, and letting him go because of one bad stretch stinks to me. He will find a job elsewhere, and I think the Grizzlies are going to regret this decision.

Ty

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

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The Disaster at Tennessee is the Biggest Question of the NCAA Coaching Carousel

The NCAA football coaches firing and hiring has begun. Last week I touched on 2 schools, Florida and Tennessee, that were in need of a new coach. Before I get into the meat of my story today I need to touch on something else involving college football coaches real quick.

First off, I am so very annoyed at all the Jim Harbaugh to the NFL rumors. Every offseason this has happened for the three years he has been at Michigan. It is great to have a coach that is this high in demand, but I'd like him to either commit or leave. I'm so sick of this happening every time at this time of year. After year one at Michigan it was the Colts. After year 2, it was the Rams. Now, about a month before their bowl game, it is the Bears. If he leaves after just 3 short years, when he gets to do whatever he wants, and is the most important person at the University of Michigan, whether you'd like to admit it or not, before beating Ohio State, or any highly ranked team, and before he gets to fully realize the potential of the kids he recruited, that would be a shame. I didn't want Harbaugh at Michigan in the first place because I knew this was going to be a yearly thing, the rumors, but now that he is there, and has been a damn good coach for this team, I do not want him to leave. I truly hope he stays, but you never know with coaches nowadays.

Also, Texas A&M did a stupid, stupid thing in letting Kevin Sumlin go. That guy had 56 wins over 6 years, was constantly in bowl games, coached a Heisman winner and got A&M up to number one in the country one year. If they don't get Jimbo Fisher, they are screwed. Sumlin did more than enough to keep that job, and A&M gave him the shaft. I hope Fisher passes on the job and they have to scramble to get a coach.

Other jobs opened since last week, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Nebraska, and I'm sure they will all vet out some decent candidates. But, all this turnover is why no team, or teams can stay relevant for long. As stated, Texas A&M was number one a few short years ago. Now, after winning 8 games this year, they fire Sumlin. The reason that teams like the University of Ohio State, Alabama, Auburn and Oklahoma are always relevant is because they have a consistent coaching staff, or head coach. Urban Meyer has turnover with coordinators every year, but he is still the head coach. That never changes. Same with Alabama. While the coordinators leave for other jobs, Nick Saban is the constant. Auburn, after a failed experiment with a coach I cannot even remember, hired back Gus Malzahn, who was their offensive coordinator when they won the title, and they are a big time contender once again. The reason why, recruits and players are familiar with Malzahn and Auburn. And even with the whole weird Bob Stoops offseason, Oklahoma kept Lincoln Riley, the offensive coordinator, and they are playing like Stoops never left. With consistency comes winning and competing every year. I wish more colleges, and some coaches, understood that.

Now that all of that is out of the way, lets get to what I wanted to really talk about today. As I wrote last week, Florida and Tennessee were searching for new coaches. As I was hanging lights outside my house yesterday, my phone buzzed and told me that Florida was finalizing a deal with Dan Mullen, and Tennessee was doing the same with Greg Schiano. Florida got it right was my first thought. They got a guy familiar with the team, and had major success at Mississippi State. It is truly a homerun hire. But, the Schiano news shocked me. It felt like Tennessee was grasping at straws. I knew they were never going to get Jon Gruden, but Greg Schiano? What the hell, I thought. Then more and  more stories started to come out yesterday about how bad a hire this was.

Schiano is currently the defensive coordinator the University of Ohio State. Their defense is okay, but not great. He was also a failed NFL head coach, and had a "whopping" 68-67 record as the head coach at Rutgers many years ago. All of these stats came out yesterday after the announcement, but my bewildered mind just couldn't grasp the hire. I mean, it is Tennessee, they can get someone better. People were calling this one of the top ten worst hires in any level of sports of all time. People pointed out his subpar record as a head coach. People also talked about the job he had done this year. Then some people brought up the fact that he may or may not have been involved with the Penn State scandal. This brought up a whole new set of terrible circumstances. It got so bad, the local government was threatening to get involved.

So, after about half a day worth of getting the shit kicked out of them, Tennessee pulled the offer. It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever witnessed. First off, this make Greg Schiano look like an awful football coach and person. Not many teams, at least power 5 teams, will ever look at him the same again. This whole debacle will make him an assistant coach for life. Or, if he wants any shot at being a head coach, it is going to have to be low level division one, or maybe, division 1-AA.

Second, and most importantly, this makes Tennessee look like a tire fire that will comply to whatever boosters and fans say. If I were a major D-1 coach looking to move up in the college football coaching world, I would stay very, very far away from Tennessee. This is a terrible, awful look for them. After their pipe dream of Gruden fell through, it seemed like they just threw a dart and picked the first person they landed on. Then, when that choice backfired, they pulled the plug. It is a real mess in Knoxville. It got so bad that someone said that their best option may be Lane Kiffin now. They already danced that dance and it was dreadful. Hell, I don't even think Kiffin, or Derek Dooley for that matter, would want that job now. Hell, their best, and maybe only option at this point, could be interim coach Brady Hoke. Yikes. I went through that Volunteer fans, and I promise you, you want no part of that. Tennessee has a real problem on their hands, and I do not know how they bounce back from this. And Greg Schiano comes off almost as bad.

This was just a wreck from the moment it was announced yesterday. Who will Tennessee go after now, I don't know. I mentioned Hoke. But, the guys I mentioned last week, Justin Fuente, Memphis' current head coach, a lower level assistant at a major program, those type of coaches are more than likely off the table. Tennessee is going to have to dig very deep in the trash pile of coaches looking to get back in the college game. Maybe they will go after Bret Bielama now that he is available, but I don't think even he would take that job now.

I would end this by saying good luck, but after yesterday, Tennessee needs a miracle to get any kind of prominent coach. My good luck does them no good at all. They are in a bad, bad place right now, and it is going to be a long while before they get up. Hell, maybe they should have kept Butch Jones around after all.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He has been waiting for his shot at a head football coaching job for years. He will keep waiting if Tennessee comes calling.

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Let Me Tell You About this Awesome Movie "Coco"

I took my kids to see Coco this morning. That movie is incredible. It needs to be talked about more than it currently is being talked about. I know it just came out, and it’s currently sitting at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I mentioned to a few people that I took my kids to see Coco, and their response was, “what’s that?”. That’s a shame to me. This movie was vibrant, colorful, funny, moving, action packed and wonderfully written and perfectly voice acted. There was never a moment I felt bored or wanted the movie to pick up the pace. Did I mention that it is great.

"Coco" focuses on a young boy named Miguel who happens to be an excellent guitar player. The only problem, his entire extended family has forbade music since their great grandma’s dad walked out on them to pursue a career in music. Miguel yearns to play, but anytime he gets a chance in the town center, someone from his family finds him and stops him in his tracks. When Miguel does have a chance to play, it’s in secret. He has a secret room where he strums along with his hero, Ernesto. Ernesto is said to be the most famous musician this small town in Mexico has ever produced. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say, Ernesto may not be as great as he seems.

On Dia De Los Muertos, there is a big time talent competition. Miguel decides he is going to join, and he doesn’t care what his family says. His family catches him trying to get to the competition, and his grandma smashes his guitar. Miguel is so upset and runs away to do the show. He cannot join the competition because he doesn’t have a guitar. But, he decides he is going to go into Ernesto’s shrine and take his guitar. When he grabs it, he strums it, and the leaves laid out for the dead light up. Miguel feels odd, but proceeds to the show. Some townspeople see that Ernesto’s guitar is gone, and they come in to search. Miguel thinks he caught, but we come to realize he has crossed over to the land of the dead.

This is where the movie shifts from good to great. Pretty much from here on out we are with the dead. The animation is beautiful. The colors are amazing. The people we meet, including Miguel’s extended family members that have passed, are all great. They want Miguel to go back home, but he wants to know why they do not want him to play music.

All of the stuff with his deceased family was tremendous. I loved that family was the important, central theme of the movie. I am extremely close to my family, so this was easy to relate to for me. I also loved how this movie embraced its heritage.

This movie was also all about Spanish family and Spanish people. That’s pretty rare for a kids movie, but kudos to the people that made this for sticking to the heritage.

The music was excellent as well. I bought the soundtrack right after the movie.

"Coco" is a must see for everyone. Pixar once again hit it out of the park. This movie ranks right up there with Wall E for me. I like it more already than any Toy Story movie, and I love the Toy Story movies. Go see this movie if you can, and take your kids. Also, try to see it in the theaters. It is worth it for the colors alone. Coco is a beautiful movie with beautiful,  vibrant colors, and wonderful music. Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He loves guitar, and even has a favorite ax to shred on.

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Happy Thanksgiving

Eat me

Today is Thanksgiving, and I want to tell everyone what I’m thankful for in a short and sweet post.

First though, what I’m unthankful for. I’m unthankful for the “government”. It’s filled with racist, fascist, money grubbing, sexual harassers. I HATE what is going on in our nation’s capitol right now, and I hope with all my heart that these monsters get what they deserve. Got that out of the way. Now, what I’m thankful for.

Of course I’m thankful for my family. My wife has a job and is kicking corporate ass. My son is rocking the house in kindergarten and loves it. My daughter is getting a mind of her own and I get to spend everyday with her being the at home parent. I’m thankful for my coaching job. We are in full swing and things are looking great. The basketball program is tremendous and we are crushing it right now. I’m thankful for my folks. They have both retired within the last year and seem to be loving it. I saw them a bunch when they both worked, but now I get to see them even more and I love it. I’m thankful for my brothers. I still get to talk music and sports with Ross, and we joke around a ton. I’m thankful for Cub for giving me a platform to spout my thoughts on any and everything pop culture. I’m thankful that Seth still lets me go to shows with him and see some of the best live music I’ve seen in my life. I’m thankful for my nieces and nephew. Even though they still think I’m nerdy, my nieces tell me I’m the least nerdy of their uncles. I love joking around with my nephew and making him laugh. His laugh is contagious. Outside this horrid government, my life has been pretty good. I have a great and solid family. Michigan isn’t great at football this year, but I love watching them every Saturday. The NFL has been rough, but I love the protests. And my favorite sport, basketball, has been a blast so far. The NBA is a treat.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone. Don’t eat too much turkey.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He forgot to mention the great food he is looking forward to for Thanksgiving. Things like Brussels Sprouts, Dehydrated Foods, and Whataburger. Make sure to stay away from Hostess Pies and Arby's venison sandwiches. Trust us.

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Where are Florida and Tennesse Going to Find Their Next Football Coach?

With Rivalry Week ahead of us, it means 2 things. First, there will be some good games to watch. But, the thing I want to focus on today, coaches are getting fired, and rumors are swirling everywhere about who will coach at the big schools next year. I know that places like Oregon State, UCLA, most likely Texas A&M, most likely Arkansas, and maybe, just maybe, Washington State will be open at season's end. But, the 2 schools I want to talk about today are Tennessee and Florida.

Both these jobs are open. Tennessee fired Butch Jones 2 weeks ago. Florida let Jim McElwain go after the ridiculous death threats rumors, and the overall poor play of the Gators. These are 2 big, big time jobs. Yes, both schools have fallen on hard times, but, these jobs are still marquee in the world of college football.

For the record, both these guys deserved to be let go. Tennessee was horrendous under Butch Jones. Every year Jones was there the preseason pundits said that, "this was the year that Tennessee football was back". That never happened. His best season was probably last year, and that team was a heart attack to watch every week. And, I think they only ended up winning 8 or 9 games. Butch Jones also always said something stupid. I remember him calling his team, "champions of life". That is so dumb. He was also a bad football coach, as far as X's and O's go. Tennessee always looked unprepared and outmatched, especially this year. They have been utterly dreadful this year. It came to a head at Missouri, and I know they have won 5 straight, but Tennessee got absolutely smashed by a team that they should have at least been in the game with. Missouri scored 50 on them, while only giving up 17. This is the same Missouri team that gave up 40 plus points to Missouri State. In reality, the Volunteers quit on Jones, but Jones also quit on them. I had to go through Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke, so I understand the relief that Volunteers fans have now that Jones is gone.

McElwain enjoyed minimal success at Florida. He had a better tenure there than Jones had at Tennessee. He went to 2 straight SEC title games. Yes, Florida got smashed both times by Alabama. But, they did enough in the SEC East to make it to the title game. McElwain also won double digit games his first year. He won, I think, 9 games last year. By all accounts, coming into this season, they looked like they would contend in the SEC East again. Then their first game happened. I watched it because they played Michigan. Michigan absolutely smothered them. I know Florida had 17 points, but 14 of those were on 2 pick sixes. Florida's offense looked worse than it had ever looked under McElwain. I then found out that Doug Nussmeier was their offensive coordinator, and it all made sense to me. He coordinated one of Michigan's worst offenses ever. After that game it seemed Florida could only win miraculously. They needed 2 Hail Mary's to win 2 early games. Any solid team destroyed Florida. Then the whole death threats thing. That was a total cry for help, and a way to try and keep his job. But, when pressed on it, he was caught in a lie and Florida had no other choice but to let him go. To lie about death threats is disturbing and insulting to that team and his players. Florida pretty much immediately fired him after that.

Since these 2 guys got fired there have been a million rumors about who will be their next head coach. I've heard tons and tons of random names taking over these big time jobs. The big one, and, for right now, the only name being mentioned in Knoxville is Jon Gruden. I do not want to burst your bubble Volunteers fans, but Jon Gruden will not be your next head coach. He may coach next year, but he is going to be an NFL coach if he decides to go back. I personally do not think he will return to coaching at any level next year. He has a cherry gig right now, and I think he is more than happy to call games and spout nonsense on ESPN. It is more likely to me that the Volunteers are going to go out and get not such a big name, but a good coach. Memphis' head coach could be considered. He has turned Memphis into a really explosive offensive team. Fuente at Virginia Tech would be a good fit if they want to go the defense and toughness route. David Cutcliffe has turned Duke into a decent team, and he has ties to Tennessee. I'm sure there are some good, young coordinators that should be on their radar. Look at what Kirby Smart has done at Georgia. Unfortunately the Jon Gruden stuff will, most likely, not happen. I think Tennessee will have to pick a "smaller" name head coach, but it will benefit them in the long run.

As far as Florida goes, I do not think they will get Chip Kelly, especially now that UCLA has let Jim Mora go. I know they have had multiple talks with Kelly, but why would he go to a place like Florida, where if he doesn't win right away they will be mad, when he can go to UCLA and build a team. He will have carte blanche at UCLA, a la what Jim Harbaugh gets at Michigan. UCLA will give him time to recruit and build, and I think he could turn them into a powerhouse in 2-4 years. Florida would be great for recruiting for Kelly, but everything else around that job would be rough. As I said, they would expect him to install his offense with the current players, and expect it to work right away. Florida has the speed to run that offense, but not the talent. Felipe Franks could be a good QB, but running a spread option up tempo offense doesn't fit his style. Florida does have a decent defense, but Kelly doesn't care about that side of the ball. He would probably be able to get a big name, but his lack of concern on that side of the ball would infuriate Florida fans from day one. Also, I think Kelly would prefer to go back to a conference he is familiar with, the Pac 12, as opposed to coaching in the SEC. He can already game plan for all the teams in the Pac 12. In the SEC, he would have to prepare for the Alabama's, Auburn's and Georgia's of the college football world. While I think the SEC is very overrated, I'd much rather get ready to face the Arizona's, Stanford's, USC's and Oregon's of the college football world. Chip Kelly seems like a guy that wants a cushy job, and Florida is not a cushy job at all. Florida is going to have to do the same thing that Tennessee will have to do. They need to get an up and comer or poach a good coach from another power 5 school. They should look at Willie Taggart. He has experience coaching and recruiting in Florida, and he is a hard nosed,  but offensive minded coach. Maybe they look at Memphis' coach. Again, he is an offensive mastermind. I think they need to go after an offensive coach that has experience dealing with defense.

So while all the Gruden and Kelly stuff sounds nice, I do not think it will happen for either of these schools. They will have to make what many will consider "uninspired" hires, but that could benefit them both in the long run. I'm excited to see what happens as far as who they hire though. These schools choices at head coach this offseason will shape the future of these storied programs. Hopefully neither of them will pick Lane Kiffin too. Stay far, far away from him. Especially you Tennessee.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He really needs to be careful with his Lane Kiffin criticism. What would Ty do if Jim Harbaugh left Michigan for the NFL, and the Wolverines brought Kiffin in as their next head coach? See, things could be much worse.

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There are No Small Parts, Just Great Side Characters Like Teddy on "Bob's Burgers"

Craft Services is a tempting vice to fall into

Piggybacking on what I wrote about yesterday, I want to point out another side character on a show that I love. The character, Teddy, the show, Bob’s Burgers.

Teddy has become my second favorite character, only behind Bob Belcher. Teddy is the handyman that sits at the counter and eats burgers all day. He was barely used in the first season, but the longer the show has been on, his story line has grown exponentially. It came to a great head on an episode entitled Uncle Teddy. Bob and Linda go out of town and Teddy steps up when they need a babysitter. Teddy is almost too eager to prove himself to Bob and Linda and the kids. He wants the kids to think he’s fun and cool, so he kind of gives them free reign. He trusts them so much so, Tina thinks it’s okay to have a party in the restaurant. This of course backfired, and in a moment of brilliant writing, when a teenage boy makes fun of his weight, Teddy screams at him about his cholesterol levels. I still laugh to this day when I watch that episode and that line comes up.

There is so much more Teddy now. We have found out that he was a young stud that acted as an extra in movies. We also found out that the movie set was his downfall. That’s when he started to, “hit craft services pretty hard”. We also see that he helps Louise when she wants to prove that Thomas Edison wasn’t maybe the great man that some think. The Topsy episode is great for many reasons, Teddy being one of them. He also helps Bob hide from his in laws when he gets “stuck” in the wall of the restaurant. And most recently, we found out that he is a hoarder that had a pretty rough childhood.

The most recent Thanksgiving episode was phenomenal because it was mainly based on Teddy and his family. Jay Johnston has brought about a humility, yet hilariousness to Teddy. He has made this not very important character nearly essential to this great show. In fact,

I like Teddy more than Clegg, and I love Clegg. I hope they continue to make him an essential person on the show. Every time he is a main character in an episode I’m thrilled. Let’s keep it that way. Here’s to Teddy.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He used to work in the entertainment business, and his downfall came when he started to hit the floss sugar pretty hard. We are all glad Ty got over that traumatic part of his life.

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There are No Small Parts, Just Great Side Characters like Clegg in "Eastbound and Down"

We all could use a good wingman like Clegg

After finishing up "Vice Principals" last week, I decided I wanted to revisit "Eastbound and Down". In the past week I have gotten through the first season, and the show definitely holds up. But, this piece is not about another great Danny McBride and Jody Hill show. It is about a character that I feel like is incredibly underrated in the first season.

Obviously Kenny Powers, Rachel, Cutler and Stevie are the best, but why do more people not talk about how awesome the character of Clegg, played by Ben Best, is? He is a star in the first season. I'm not bull shitting you either. I am a big time Clegg fan. For those that may not remember, Clegg is either the owner, or more likely, just a bartender, of the local bar,  Sha Boom's. He shows up in the first episode when the local lady of the town starts to hit on Kenny. He has one of the best lines when he kicks her out, telling her, "you need a shit ton of Valtrax". It made me laugh just as hard when I saw it the other day as it did the first time I saw it. Clegg then motions to Kenny that they should go do some cocaine. So, we find out immediately that he has some kind of job at the local bar, and he is the town drug dealer.

From there on out in the first season, Clegg is looked at as the guy to get Kenny whatever kind of drugs he needs. In actuality, the more I think about it, he is just as pathetic and needy as Stevie, he just doesn't show it as much. I love when he and Kenny are getting high in their first scene together, and Clegg explains how he left college to follow around Widespread Panic. He, in between snorts of drugs, tells Kenny that he will burn him some of their stuff, but, "only the choice cuts". I cannot tell you how many times I heard those exact words when I was at the many, many Widespread Panic shows that I used to go to. It is oddly familiar, but also a true glimpse into how much Clegg wanted this washed up baseball "star" to like him. He is willing to anything that Kenny asks of him from that point on. Kenny needs drugs, Clegg gets them for him. Kenny needs a chauffer to Ashley Schaffer's BMW for his "celebrity" appearance, Clegg is the man for the job. Kenny needs steroids, Clegg finds a guy. Even when Clegg ditches Kenny at the BMW store, after huffing glue, or maybe paint, with the local homeless people, to have an encounter with one of the female homeless people, he blames himself. Kenny takes him out on his jet ski, acts like everything is cool, then slides him off and reprimands him for leaving him at the dealership. Instead of calling Kenny an asshole, and telling him he is selfish, he apologizes. He takes all the blame. He then makes it his mission to get Kenny the steroids that he now feels he owes him for leaving him high and dry. So, while Stevie is way more forthcoming with his desires to do whatever Kenny wants him to do, Clegg is the same. He just doesn't come off as bad, or pathetic, as Stevie. Even when Kenny goes back to the dealership to have a showdown with the guy that ended his MLB career, Clegg shows up with the wrong drugs for Kenny, but he still shows up with something that Kenny wants, takes and doesn't pay for. Kenny wants steroids, but Clegg couldn't get some in time, but he still brings him oxycotin. And, as I said, Kenny keeps it, and never pays for it. In the first season's finale, Clegg even mentions something about Kenny paying him for all the stuff he has given him, and Kenny just kind of blows him off and changes the subject. And, Clegg seems to just forget about it anyway.

I love this character. I believe, as I said at the top, that he is the most underrated character in the first season. He is so funny and riddled with drugs and is another in a small line of 2 people that want Kenny Powers affection. Go back and watch season one of this show and try and tell me that Clegg isn't awesome, but also, just as lowly as Stevie. Ben Best did so awesome with this person they had him play, and the further I get into my re watching of this wonderful series, the more I hope he still shows up from time to time. Here's to Clegg.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He doesn't know the drugs, but he definitely knows the choicest cuts of Widespread. He will burn you a copy if you like.

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My Life as an I9 Sports Instructor

Required Atheletic Equipment for Adults teaching kids

As most of you know, I am a coach/instructor for a company called i9 Sports here in Saint Louis. With today being the eve before our basketball season starts, I wanted to take my time today to talk about how much fun I have doing this job, and why this is a great program for young kids that want to learn how to play a sport.

I took a job as an instructor for i9 Sports about 2 and a half years ago. I was a coach first for my son's tee ball team, and doing some internet searching, I saw that they were looking for instructors. I thought this was something I would really love to do. I applied, and by the start of the fall season that year, I was an employee. From the start, I loved what I was doing. I got to play sports with kids, and I got paid for it. Also, the hours were awesome, especially for a stay at home dad. I work on the weekends, when my wife is home, so it was great. I usually only have to work 5, sometimes 6 hours on Saturday's and Sunday's. With the start of basketball season tomorrow, I will be working 8 hours, but I couldn't be happier, because I get to play basketball all day. At the start of my time as an official employee I was hooked. I was hired to be a soccer instructor, and not knowing much about the game, I studied up on it quite a bit. Also, my boss is a soccer expert, and he helped me out a lot. My main thing was just to be very energetic with the kids, especially our first group. 

What i9 does, they start the day with the youngest age group, ages 3 and 4, and get older as the day goes on. This was also perfect for me, since I have 2 young kids of my own. This made the transition to soccer instructor easier for me. Like I said, I used my energy, and the kids fed off that. They were very much into all the games and drills we did, and so was I. I found myself enjoying a sport that I had never played before. I also enjoyed learning about the game as well. And seeing the kids progress with soccer, from the first week to the last week, it was amazing. I had kids that didn't want to play, that picked grass, that needed to stay near their folks in week one, that, by week 7, they were running all over the field, kicking the ball to their teammates, and some of them were putting it into the goal with ease. Our seasons last around 7 weeks, and to see the progression was amazing. As I said, kids that wouldn't play in week one, or didn't know how to play in week one, they had the game figured out by week 5, and in week 7, they had it down pat. It was incredible.

As that first fall season progressed, I got to do some tee ball instructing too. I was thrilled, since this is one of the three sports that I have played since I was 3 years old. I had a ton of fun instructing tee ball. I found out that I love to teach kids how to play a sport, as opposed to getting involved in hyper competitive leagues where it is all about whether you lose the game or win the game. That is probably my favorite thing about the culture of i9 Sports. We want to teach the kids how to play as opposed to just throwing them out there in a competitive environment. This is why tee ball was such a blast for me. I got to teach kids that may have never held a bat before how to hit a ball. I showed them how to throw and catch. I taught them how to field grounders and throw the ball to first base. And, just like soccer, the progression from the first week to the last was exceptional. I had some 3 and 4 year olds, by week 5, they wanted me to soft toss pitch to them. They felt confident enough to get rid of the tee and let me pitch the ball. I also had kids that finally understood how important playing the field is in a sport like baseball. At first, all the kids want to do is hit because it is fun. But, you instill in them how important defense is, but also make it fun, and they grow to like playing in the field almost as much as hitting. Tee ball is still one of my favorite sports to instruct.

When my son turned 4 he told my wife and I that he wanted to try out flag football. I then got to do some football instructing. This was just as fun, if not more so, than tee ball. Teaching young kids that want to learn the fundamentals of an intricate sport like football may sound tough, but when the kids want to learn, it is a blast. The kids listened to me and the other instructors. They didn't come in with an air of superiority to us. They knew we were their teachers, and they listened intently. I loved watching the youngest group learn how to take handoffs, pull on the opponents flag and, some of them, learn how to run routes and catch passes. As the age groups got older in football, it was even more fun. We could teach them plays. They already had some knowledge of the game. And some kids, we let them run the show. Some of the best football games I have seen have been on an i9 field in the spring and fall. These kids really love the game, were eager to learn and showed what they had learned on the field.

Finally, I was asked to be a basketball instructor after my first season with i9. One of the parent coaches had asked me if I was going to do basketball because his son wanted me to be his instructor. That is one of the best compliments that I have ever gotten. When a kid says something you know they are being genuine because they have no filter. I of course said yes to basketball because it is my favorite sport. Basketball at i9 is so awesome. The practice, the drills, the games, everything about the program is perfect. We have dribbling, shooting and passing stations for practice, and we teach the kids how to play zone defense. It is the best. Then they take what they have learned in that first 30 minutes, and apply it to game action. And when you see a kid make their first basket or throw that perfect pass or grab the rebound or steal the ball, it is a thing of wonder. The smiles on their faces are priceless. The same thing goes for basketball as it does for football. With the young kids it is pretty much all about the instruction. As the kids get older, we kind of take the reins off and teach them to play, but also let them play. And like I have said with all the other sports, the progression from start to finish is amazing. I'm very excited to start our basketball season tomorrow.

For parents contemplating getting their kids into sports, I think i9 is a great program for all ages. We start at age 3 and go all the way up to 11, sometimes 12. So, if you have a 3,4, 5 or 6 year old that just wants to learn the game, i9 is the best jumping off point. We spend most of our time as instructors, teaching. For the 7-11 year olds, it is more about the fundamentals and the smaller parts of the game that may get lost, we teach that to the kids. Every sport is coed as well. Our sessions are 1 hour long for most age groups. So, it is one day, on the weekends, for one hour. We do about a 30 minute practice, followed by a 30 minute game for ages up to 7. For the older kids, they get an extra 15 minutes. The commitment isn't too much.

I love this company. I'm so glad to be a part of something so cool and fun. I know that there are i9 franchises all over the US too. I work for the Saint Louis i9, but I know of leagues in Florida, Colorado, Ohio and Arizona. i9 Sports is awesome and I think it is the best way to get kids involved in sports.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. In addition to being a good sports coach for your kid, he can also teach them how to bet the point spreads in college football. Ty is a well rounded role model.

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Don't Believe the Ball Hype. Simmons, Embiid, and the 76'ers are the Future of the NBA

Last night I stayed up to watch some basketball. The college season is in full swing, and so is the NBA. I watched the end of the Cavs-Hornets game on ESPN while also checking in on some Big Ten basketball and some other games I could find on cable.

The real reason I stayed up because I wanted to see the 76ers play. I haven't gotten to see Ben Simmons play yet, and I was curious. I have heard so many good things about him, but I wanted to see for myself. Unfortunately they were playing the Lakers, and all the talk on ESPN was about the "big" rookie matchup between Simmons and Lonzo Ball. ESPN seemed to solely focus on Ball, with a few mentions here and there of Simmons. The love for the Ball family has got to stop from ESPN. It is becoming disturbing how much they cover this kid, his father and brothers, I'm sick of it.

To make matters worse for the Ball family, and ESPN as well, Ball continued his awful play so far this year last night. Sure, he has had 2 good games, both against Phoenix, and we are only about 15 games in, but he has STRUGGLED mightily so far. When he gets pressured he gets rid of the ball in a flash. He cannot play defense, and his shooting has been atrocious. I'm sure he will get this all figured out, he is a good basketball player. But, when he isn't even the best rookie on his team, that goes to Kyle Kuzma, the hype needs to stop, at least for now.

The best rookie, and probably second best player on the floor last night, was Ben Simmons. He is as advertised. He is a 6'10 point guard, that sometimes plays power forward. He, like Ball, cannot shoot outside, and his free throw shooting is pretty bad too, but he controls the game in other ways. He can get to the basket with relative ease. I found it hilarious that the Lakers thought they could put Ball on him on defense to start the game. Every time down the floor, Simmons either backed him down and kicked it out to a wide open shooter, or he slashed to the basket for an easy dunk. It was obvious who was the better "first" year player from the opening tap. Besides getting to the hoop, Simmons just seemed to carry himself in a way that Ball hasn't, and may never, get to. Simmons was out there to win the game by any means necessary. He knows his role on the 76ers, and he is determined to show that he can ball out on any given night. Ball seemed a little lost, or maybe disinterested is the right word. Any time Simmons put pressure on him, he got rid of the ball immediately. Any time he had a look at a jumper he passed. He only took shots when he was wide open, and those clanked off the rim. Hell, even when Simmons switched to the 4, and TJ McConnell played the point, Ball couldn't handle him on either end of the floor. McConnell would drive by him for easy layups, and force Ball to either pass it too early, or turn it over. Simmons looked confident too. Like I said, he doesn't have a jumper, but that didn't stop him from attacking, or shooting a hook shot, which he is quite adept at already. He knows his limitations, and he knows what he does really well already. He had no problem setting up teammates, grabbing rebounds or playing defense. He is a Swiss Army knife player at only 20 years old.

Both of these guys paled in comparison to the night that Joel Embiid had. My god was he dominant. He ended the night with 46 points, 15 rebound and 7 blocks. That's some Hakeen Olajuwon type shit right there. I know it was only against the lowly and hapless Lakers, but damn, what a stat line. Embiid is so much fun to watch. I wanted to go to bed, but I just couldn't look away when he was on the floor. If he can stay healthy, which may be the biggest if in all of professional sports, this guy could very well be on his way to the Hall of Fame. He is so big, but graceful. He is dominant, but has a soft touch. He kills you in he post, but he can take you out to the three point line. I beg the NBA gods to not let this kid get hurt. He is the next big time star. He is who the league should look to make the new face of when LeBron James retires. He oozes star quality. And, he is on the same team with the heavy, heavy favorite for Rookie of the Year, Ben Simmons.

I still think it will take at least another year before the 76ers are a playoff team, and these 2 have got to show me that they can play, at the very least, 60 games in the regular season. But damn, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid can play some great basketball. I have adopted the Timberwolves and Spurs as my 2 new favorite teams, but I very much enjoyed watching the 76ers play last night. I did not think I would be saying that for some time, due to the tanking, but it's true. Do yourselves a favor and watch this team, but more importantly, watch Embiid and Simmons. They could very well be the future of this league.

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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Ty Watches "Vice Principals" Series Finale

This past Sunday was the series finale of "Vice Principals". I've been a fan of this show from day one. I have even said, and RD disagrees with me, that I think it is a better show than "Eastbound and Down". Don't get me wrong, I adore both shows, but I like the darkness and the seediness of "Vice Principals". That is not to say that "Eastbound and Down" wasn't dark at times, but it was always filled with some comedic element. When "Vice Principals" got dark, it stayed dark.

The series finale was a prime example of how far they could go with this show. I felt that the finale was a perfect ending to the show. I know that Danny McBride and Jody Hill and David Gordon Green had always said that it was only supposed to last 2 seasons, and the way they ended it was stupendous. They do not need to do anything else. They closed up every story line perfectly. I was so pleased with what I watched. After I finished the finale, I watched it yesterday, I felt a sense of completeness.

Everyone involved with this show, be it acting, writing, producing or directing, did a wonderful job. Danny McBride was awesome as Neal Gamby. He could have settled into a Kenny Powers esque character, but he went the opposite direction. His character had a soul. He had a conscience. He did some bad things, but his heart was, for the most part, in the right place. He is the hero. Walton Goggins deserves a god damn Emmy for his role. He was the absolute best thing about this show. He was conniving. He was a bad, bad man. He had a troubled past. He constantly lied and cheated to get what he wanted. He was just flat out evil. But, in the end, he came through for his buddy, that is a minor spoiler alert. All the bad stuff he did, he finally, kind of, redeemed himself. Goggins and McBride were the stars, and who the show was based around, and it was a perfect pairing. I did not know how they would fit, but they had tremendous chemistry on screen. I fully bought into their journey and friendship.

Outside of the main guys, pretty much every supporting actor was great too. Georgia King as Amanda Snodgrass, the sometimes love interest of Neal Gamby, was so good. She was tough, no nonsense and didn't put up with Gamby's bull shit. Her arc, especially when she started to date Fisher Stevens, an excellent addition, as a YA novelist, was so good. The fact that she took pride in Gamby's love for her book, which by all accounts sounded pretty bad, showed how naïve, yet faithful she was to Gamby. Kimberly Hebert Gregory as Dr. Belinda Brown, the ire of Gamby and Russell in season 1, was just as good in her much reduced role in season 2. She found a new school, but she popped up here and there to debunk some theories and curse out Russell when he came to her for help. She was so good in season 1, and I did not know how they would incorporate her in season 2, but they found a nice fit for her to come back. Edi Patterson as Ms. Abbot, had a much expanded role in season 2, and she owned it. She was nutso. She was crazy. She had all kinds of ulterior motives, and Patterson crushed in this role. Sheaun McKinney had a bigger role as Dayshawn in season 2, and he was great. He was always there with a joke, but also good advice for Gamby. I loved him in this show. I could go on and on. Dale Dickey was a great addition this season. Busy Phillips and Shea Whigham were just as good this season as they were in the first. All the other teachers at the school, excellent. The cast was one of the best parts of the show, and everyone involved really leaned into their roles.

What truly made this a great show was the writing. As earlier stated, it was dark, but it was also funny, sometimes moving and had a nice mystery involved in the second and final season. I love this show so much. The finale has one of the best guest appearance that I have seen. RD texted me and told me this before I watched it, and he was one hundred percent correct. The finale is crazy. All the stuff they pack into about 34 minutes is nuts, but it works. I loved the whole series, but the finale was exceptional.

I will miss "Vice Principals", but it is going out on top. It ended perfectly. You can always watch it on HBO Go or On Demand, or anywhere you may watch TV. I'm glad that I watched it in real time. It was a show that I looked forward to every week. As I said, I'm sad it is done, but I will remember it as one of the best shows I have ever watch. Watch this show. When Danny McBride, Jody Hill and David Gordon Green get together, they usually knock it out of the park, and with "Vice Principals", they hit a grand slam. What an excellent, phenomenal show.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The Head Editor agrees that "Vice Principals" is one of the greatest shows ever, but the first ten minutes of "Eastbound and Down". that belongs in the Louvre.

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Ty Watches "Big Mouth"

Last week I finally got around to watching "Big Mouth" on Netflix. I was waiting until I caught up on other shows to watch, and when I finally sat down and binged the show, and I was very happy with what I saw. I was pretty sure I was going to like it when I saw Nick Kroll was the co creator. I'm a big Nick Kroll fan. Then I saw some of the other people involved, and I was on board. Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Seth Morris, Kristen Bell, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Richard Kind, I could go on and on with the people I am a fan of on this show.

At its core, "Big Mouth" is about teenagers going through puberty. "Big Mouth" hits all the important moments, both male and female, that make puberty such a drag. We get zits, wet dreams, periods, awkwardness with the opposite sex, weird feelings that go through your body, getting hair where there was no hair before, hormones, virtually everything that makes this such a tough time in young people's lives. After watching the first episode I told my wife that this was, by far, the best representation of going through puberty, at least from a male perspective. Puberty stinks. It is the worst. It is so awkward and challenging and there is so much change and new things that do not make sense. And "Big Mouth" captures that perfectly.

Andrew, voiced by John Mulaney, is one of the main characters, and we see a lot of the bad sides of going through puberty through his eyes. He even has a hormone monster that is always at his side telling him the wrong thing to do because, as we all know, our hormones are way out of whack when we are teenagers. We see the wet dreams, the constant urges, the will to fight when told something he didn't like, the yelling at parents, the horribly awkward encounter of asking a girl to be your girlfriend at 13. It is all there, and Mulaney, and the writers, completely nail it. Nick Kroll is his buddy that is a bit behind, as far as growing up goes, but he is just as good. You see the jealousy, the fighting, the wanting to be involved, trying to get girls himself, even drinking at his sister's high school party. Kroll's character also wants the hormone monster to get him, but he is not ready. In fact, that is a very good through line for the first season. Jessi Klein represents the female lead, and as far as I can tell, she is great at showing how rough this time of life can be for girls. She has a bad experience with white shorts, her mom and dad are always fighting and she has crushes on 3 of her different friends that happen to be boys. Klein is great. Jason Mantzoukas is cast perfectly as the crazed 13 year old that cannot control his urges. He also has a crazy home life, and he loves magic. The relationship between him and his pillow, voiced by Kristen Bell, is gold. Nick Kroll and Maya Rudolph play the voices of the male and female hormone monsters, and they are my favorite parts of the show. The hormone monsters tell these kids to give into their urges, and they also have a very odd relationship with each other. But, their lines always made me laugh, and also reflect on how true that situation was at age 13. Richard Kind is great as Andrew's dad, who has a big problem with scallops, and also constantly complains. Rudolph and Fred Armisen play Nick Kroll's folks, and they are almost too loving and caring. They are always eager to give advice that their kids may not want to hear. There is a great few scenes in an episode where Nick doesn't want to be babied anymore, so his mom starts to take care of Jay(Jason Mantzoukas), who is hard pressed for the love of a mom.

I have nothing but good things to say about "Big Mouth". It is perfect in every way. It gets across its message so well, and I am so pumped to see what they do with season 2. The only warning I will give, the show is animated, but it is not a kid's show. My son walked in one day while I was watching it, and I had to turn it off immediately. It is filled with curse words. Anyway, I highly recommend "Big Mouth" for anyone and everyone that went through puberty. There is no show that better represents that time in your life.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He still waiting for the hormone monster to get him. Being a bald prepubescent boy is one of strangest things ever. Something only Charlie Brown knows about.

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Ty Watches the Incredible "Nathan for You" Finale "Finding Frances"

I think I may have witnessed the greatest 2 hours of television ever last Thursday. The season 4 finale of "Nathan For You" was simply perfect in every possible way.

The episode was entitled "Finding Frances", and Nathan Fielder made it his personal mission to help a guy that impersonates Bill Gates, he was in earlier seasons of "Nathan For You", find his long lost love from 50 years ago. This episode was so well put together. From start to finish I was totally in. The episode played more like a movie than a show. The people involved with putting this all together nailed it. I had heard Fielder, while doing the podcast circuit, say that the finale was going to be 2 hours, and it was very different from what his show is usually about, and I was intrigued. The whole season was great, but "Finding Frances" was stupendous. It almost felt like a series finale, and while that would make me sad, what a way to go out.

As I said, the episode was all about this man, Bill Heath, a Bill Gates "impersonator", trying to track down his high school sweet heart. The episode started with Fielder explaining that Heath had started to come around his office more after he had asked him to do some DVD commentary for the show. All the while, the cameras were rolling, as they always are. What Fielder and crew showed was Heath constantly losing focus and bringing up a former girlfriend names Frances. He became so obsessed, that when they found out where she used to live, Bill convinced Fielder to go back to his home state of Arkansas and track her down. This is where the show changed from TV to a movie. It played out like a missing person mystery, but with Fielder's excellent dry wit sprinkled in.

When they arrived in Arkansas, Fielder pulled out all his tricks to try and track Frances down. They tried to go to the high school and find her, but they were turned away. Not to be outdone, Fielder and Heath pretended that they were filming a sequel to the movie "Mud" that was shot in Dumas, Arkansas. They even made "Mud 2" hats, and had an extra from "Mud" come in and audition for a role. After hearing that they were making a sequel, the people of Dumas were more than willing to let Fielder and Heath go through old stuff in the library and all over the school. They eventually found what they were looking for, a 1957 yearbook with Frances in it. They got the picture, and Fielder flew a man out who has been on his show before that can make a picture of what people will look like when they age. He took the picture of Frances, and did the best he could. Bill Heath seemed to think this was a great. They took the picture and posted it all over Dumas with hopes that someone would call. One kid did, thinking it may be his great grandma, but after meeting her, it was not who they were looking for.

Heath decided after awhile that he was going to stay with his niece. This is when some revelations started to come out. We found out that Bill wasn't always a Bill Gates impersonator. We found out that he may have cheated on Frances. We found out that he tended to over exaggerate things that he may have remembered. We got to hear a bunch of letters that Frances had written to him many years ago, with each one getting worse and worse for Bill's "reputation". It was so awesome.

After finding out that Bill acts differently around women, Fielder decided he was going to set him up with an escort, but only for flirting. When he tells Bill his plan, Bill says, "I don't mean to be crass, but you have to know where you are sticking it". This was disgusting and hilarious. It is also the only time I have ever seen Nathan Fielder crack. He laughed and said, "Jesus Bill". It was so good, my wife and I watched it three times in a row. But, having already paid the escort, Fielder decided to hang out with her himself. From the moment he saw her, he was in love. He may have been faking it for the show, very likely, but he showed real interest in Maci. In fact, he kept hanging out with Maci throughout the entire episode. Every time they met, it got more and more awkward. Fielder just wanted the attention, and Maci kept pushing to try and get more money from him. The scene with them making out was so uncomfortably awkward and perfect. It was only something Nathan Fielder could pull off.

We eventually got back to the plan of finding Frances. They found her on Facebook after an extensive search, which included a Dumas High School 57 year reunion, which had Bill singing and dancing. It was so god damn funny. What they found on Facebook was not great for Bill. Frances was on her second marriage, and she now lived in Michigan. Bill, somehow, convinced Fielder and crew to fly him out there, and they could come along too. Before they left, Fielder wanted Bill to practice what he would say to Frances when he saw her, and how he would react to her husband. They hired the actor from "Mud" as the husband, and Fielder flew in an actress from LA to portray Frances. The scene that followed next was so awesome and weird and uncomfortable and perfect. His interactions with the actress, like hugging, kissing and rubbing her leg, was so far across the line. The stuff with the guy playing the husband was filled with yelling and pushing. Finally Fielder made Bill wear a wig and act as Frances, and this seemed to open his eyes that maybe he shouldn't come on so strong.

Once they got this all figured out, they took off for Michigan. Mind you, they had been gone from LA for over a month now. When they got there, they stayed one night in hotel and headed to Frances' house in the morning. While driving, they barely spoke a word. When they got to Frances' home, Bill got cold feet all of the sudden. He decided that he wanted Fielder and the crew to come along, but Fielder squashed that pretty quick. Bill finally decided he would call her first. They spoke on the phone for about 15 minutes. The first couple were Bill creepily asking Frances if she knew who she was talking to. She did not know, for the record. After Bill revealed himself, they spoke about the past and present. Frances seemed happy, and this upset Bill so much that he decided he did not want to go to her home anymore. They both decided then and there to go back home.

When home, Fielder talked about how lost and upset he felt about the whole thing. He kept speaking about lost love and how he couldn't rekindle a past romance. Bill showed up one day at the office to give Fielder a present, a serving dish. But, we come to find out that he is there to ask Fielder to set him up with the woman that played Frances in their practice session. He did, and they met up. But, the episode ended with Fielder talking about love and everything involved, and we came to find out that he was sending a letter to Maci, the escort. Fielder flew back to Arkansas, this time by himself, to meet up with Maci, They held hands and talked, and a drone shot ended the episode by flying away as the 2 of them spoke.

"Finding Frances" was perfect. It gave us a delusional old man trying to rekindle a failed romance. It gave us the best type of uncomfortable moments that this show thrives on. It gave us the best Fielder moment ever, him breaking and laughing. This was just perfect, perfect TV. I highly recommend everyone watch this episode. It is the best thing that has been on television in quite some time. "Finding Frances" may very well be Nathan Fielder's masterpiece. It is wonderful.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He once went to find the lost love the head editor. All they had to do was look in a mirror, and the person the head editor had always loved was right in front of them.

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I am Done with Gross Creep Louis CK

Enjoy this picture of a puppy before you read. You will need it.

I had some other things I wanted to write about today, but Louis CK is a god damn creep.

I had heard the rumors about what he did backstage about a year ago, but I was such a big fan, I brushed them off. I figured that it was all untrue. He has 2 younger daughters, so why would he do something so repulsive I would tell myself and my friends in conversation. He had big time hit shows, he was creating unique and new material, he was always working, so I just assumed that he had no time to do the stuff that he was being accused of. And for awhile, that seemed true.

Yesterday that all changed. I read early in the day that he was pulling the premiere of his new movie, that was supposed to open that day in New York, due to a "damaging" report that was going to come out. This made me go back and rethink everything I had originally thought about these allegations. Maybe he really did do these horrible, awful and disgusting acts. Why else would he, and the studio, pull his movie. And sure enough, the story came out and 5 women said that he did lewd things in front of them backstage at comedy clubs. I was so angry.

Louis CK is the first person that I have been a big time fan of to be accused of doing something this awful and grotesque. The Kevin Spacey stuff is horrific, but it was not a shock to me. The "president" is a god damn creep, so I believe every single woman that has come out and said that he has done truly awful things to them behind closed doors. All these senators that are perverts, of course I believe that. I read some stuff about Matthew Weiner being accused of harassment. Again, that doesn't surprise me. Same thing for Jeremy Piven and Brett Ratner. Both those dudes are creeps. But, the Louis CK stuff really shook me to my core. As stated, I have defended him for a year. I have gone on the podcast and the site and claimed he is the best standup ever. I have heaped praise on all of the things he puts his name on. I was an undying true super fan of his.

Then this bull shit comes out. I'm so disgusted that I said all these nice things about such an awful and disgusting human being. Anyone that does/did the things he did/does to women are truly awful people. Why would any women ever want any guy to do the disgusting stuff that Louis CK did in front of them? Why is this something that he thought would be okay? Why did he think he could get away with it? How stupid do you have to be? And again, he has 2 youngish daughters. How would he feel if a man did what he did/does to women behind closed doors to his daughters. If anyone did anything close to what CK did in front of my daughter, the police would be contacted immediately, and I would make it my point to ruin that person's life. This is so wrong and so disgusting. It makes me sick because I used to, as little as a few weeks ago, defend him. How could I be so naïve? It is truly upsetting.

Oh, and his response today, to say it is all true, screw you man. That doesn't make it okay that you are owning up to it. You are as creepy as Spacey, the "president", all the senators, Matt Weiner, Brett Ratner, Jeremy Piven, any guy that thinks that they can do whatever they want to do in front of women. You disgust me Louis CK. I will never, ever look at you the same way ever again. There is no coming back from this, at least from my perspective. Any time I see your face or name attached to anything, all I will think of is how gross and mean and disgusting and what a  bully you are. And for the women coming out and sharing their horrifying stories, you deserve a medal. You are putting your life on the line, and you are outing these despicable men that think of you as objects and not people. This disgusts me to no end. The fact that a guy gets some fame and thinks he can do what he wants to grown women is truly disturbing. I don't buy CK's excuse that he "has problems" and that he owned up to it today. None of that matters because you already treated these women as less than you, and you scarred them for life. That is the problem. These women couldn't lead normal lives because of what you did to them. And again, you are a father to 2 young girls. How god damn stupid and depraved do you have to be.

I'm done with Louis CK forever. Once I was his biggest fan, but now, after all of this, I will never respect him. I will not watch his stuff and I will never listen to his standup again. I hope this gives you as much pain as you gave those women that you did these lewd and disturbing things in front of. You are a creep Louis CK, and I will never look at you the same way again.

Ty

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

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Note to all the Podcasting Fanboys, The NBA Season is a Long Way from Being Over

I listen to a ton of podcasts, and most of those podcasts are sports related. I do love comedy podcasts, but other than that, it is either college football or the NFL, NCAA basketball and the NBA. Since the NBA started about 3 weeks ago, I have pretty much exclusively listened to NBA podcasts now. And 3 weeks into this season, these hosts of the podcasts I listen to need to chill the hell out. People are already, only after most teams have played, at most, 11 games, making outrageous claims.

I was listening to the Ringer NBA Show this morning, and one of the co hosts said that he thinks the Knicks will make the playoffs. After 9 god damn games. That is nuts. First off, it is only 9 games. They still have 73 games left to play. They have only won 5 of those 9 games. Yes, Kristaps Porzingis has been great so far, but I say again, it is 9 games. Also, who else do the Knicks have on that roster that can propel them to the playoffs, even in the East? Tim Hardaway Jr? Frank Ntilikina? Jarrett Jack? Enes Kanter? None of those guys, and I like Hardaway Jr and Kanter, are that great. So, no, I do not think the Knicks will push for a playoff spot. They are only 5-4, and I'd be shocked if they win more than 32-35 games this year.

Also, these same guys that are all over the Knicks, they crap all over the Pistons, who are off to a much better start, and more equipped for a playoff run, especially in the East. They say all the things about the Pistons that I say about the Knicks. They say it is just a fast start and that they will level out. They say they don't have any stars. They do not like the coach. They do not like the roster. That is everything I say about the Knicks. But, I like the Pistons much, much more. The Pistons do not have a Porzingis, but they have a pretty decent roster construct. I am a big Andre Drummond fan. He is a classic throwback big, and he is actually making free throws now. I don't like Reggie Jackson, but he is playing some good basketball right now. Avery Bradley has been an exceptional addition to the team. I do think they will be right around .500 when the year ends, but they are so much better than the Knicks, yet they do not get the same love.

Orlando is another team that people are saying can push for the playoffs. What? How? Who do they have? Frank Vogel is a good coach, but this team is not even close to playoff ready. Aaron Gordon is a blast to watch dunk, but isn't he just a poor man's Blake Griffin, without the jump shot? Elfrid Payton has not lived up to the expectations. He has been very subpar as a pro. Johnathan Issac is long and athletic, but he is still a rookie, and we will have to wait and see if his rail thin body can hold up for 82 games. The best thing about the Magic though, Johnathan Simmons. He has been a revelation since signing there this offseason. But he is not enough to make the Magic a playoff team.

These podcast hosts are already trashing the Cavs because of their "slow start". The Cavs are 5-6 right now, and they do look bad on defense. But, they have LeBron, and they will be just fine when it matters. In fact, if you look at the wins they have, they are good wins. Sure, losing to the Pelicans and Hawks isn't great. But, they have wins over the Celtics, Wizards and Bucks, all playoff teams. The Cavs roster is very poorly put together, but they have LeBron, and he is the best player in the game right now. He can turn it on when needed, and I am done being one of the people saying that this is the year that the Cavs take a slide. Hell, they only won 51 games last year and still made the Finals.

Same can be said for the Warriors. The Rockets beat them on opening night, and then they lost 2 more games after that. Since then, I believe they have won every single game that they have played. The Warriors are so god damn good that when they get beat it is jarring, but they will be just fine.

The Thunder are off to a "slow" start, sitting at 4-6. But, I said in my preseason preview that it would take a month or 2 for Carmelo, Paul George and Russell Westbrook to figure out how to play together. They are going to be just fine. In fact, I am pleasantly surprised at how much Russell Westbrook has been passing the ball. George and Carmelo are cold right now, but they will start to make shots, and this team will start to put together stretches of 5 wins in 7 games or 9 wins in 11 games. They are going to be a 50 plus win team by season's end.

The Spurs have started okay, but Kawhi Leonard has yet to see the floor. Same thing for Tony Parker. LaMarcus Aldridge has been playing very well, but he needs Kawhi and Parker. And when those guys come back, the Spurs will 50 plus games again.

I've heard a ton about this rookie class so far on these podcasts too. And while I think this class will go down as one of the greatest, people again need to chill the hell out. Markelle Fultz is hurt. People are already calling him a bust, but he is hurt. Something is wrong with his shoulder. Also, isn't this the way of the 76ers? Don't they always sit their top draft picks for, at least, one year? I think Fultz will be just fine. I believe he is going to be a decent NBA player with a 10 plus year career. Lonzo Ball seems to be on TV every night, and from what I have seen, the dude can pass, but he cannot shoot, dribble or play defense. He also looks very disengaged during games, especially when someone puts pressure on him when he has the ball. He can learn how to dribble and play defense, but that shot is trash. His form is straight garbage. He needs to work on that. He will be a quality player, but he is no franchise savior, and the ESPN's of the world need to stop putting the Lakers on TV all the time. They are not a good team. There are some other rookies that have been playing well so far, but time will tell. Donovan Mitchell seems to be putting it together. Lauri Markannen has completely surprised me with his scoring. DeAron Fox is so fast and such a good distributor. Dennis Smith Jr seems to have a highlight play every night. These guys are good, but lets give it a bit more time before we put these guys in the Hall of Fame, with the exception being Ben Simmons. He has been absolutely amazing. He is as advertised, and if he ever gets a jump shot, he will be great.

My final thought of the first 3 weeks in the NBA, Bill Simmons needs to chill the hell out on the Celtics. Yes, they are 10-2. Yes, Kyrie Irving looks very good. Yes, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have been very, very good. Yes, Brad Stevens can coach. And yes, they have recovered quite nicely from Gordon Hayward's horrific injury on opening night. But, it is 12 games. They lost their first 2 games, and they have won every game since. But, what decent teams have they beaten? I know for a fact that they struggled a bit with the Lakers last night, before finally pulling away late. But again, it is 12 games. If you look at Bill Simmons Twitter feed, you'd think that they are getting ready to hang a banner already. They have the best record after 12 games, but I scream, IT IS ONLY 12 GAMES! They need to do it all year long before I buy in. This is the first time Jaylen Brown has been a priority player since high school. Jayson Tatum is a rookie who missed a ton of time his lone season in college. I don't trust Aron Baynes as far as I could throw him, and that isn't that far. The Morris twin is fine, but he is losing minutes to younger guys. And Kyrie, while he is distributing now, will he do that in critical games? I don't know. I watched him jack up an awful three in game 3 of the Finals last year, when he could have pushed for a 2 for 1 opportunity, or get the ball to an open shooter. Kyrie wants to be the guy to shoot the ball at the end of the game, for better or worse. Calm down Bill Simmons, and the entire Ringer staff for that matter, pertaining to the Celtics hot start. It is only 3 weeks into the year, and if I were asked who would win a 7 game series right now between Boston and Cleveland, I'd take Cleveland in 5 or 6 games. Just remember, the Lakers started 10-10 last year, and people thought they might push for the playoffs, and I think they won something like 15 games the rest of the year.

So while some of these teams are hot, and some are starting slow, it is an 82 game season, and nothing is decided after 3 weeks. Nothing at all. Chill out everyone, the NBA is a long, long season, and the Warriors will still be the champions at the end of the year.  

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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RIP Roy Halladay

Yesterday Roy Halladay died in a plane crash.

I was shocked when I heard the news. I thought he was still playing professionally to be quite honest, when in fact, he retired 4 years ago. I do not know much, if anything, about him personally. He seemed to be the kind of guy that kept his personal life a secret. After yesterday, to see what former teammates and opponents said about him though, he sounded like a good guy.

What I will remember most about Roy Halladay is how great of a power pitcher he was when he was in the majors. He used to mow batters down. He was dominant. There aren’t too many pitchers like him out there anymore. When Halladay played, that was when I still kind of watched baseball. And he was a must watch when he was in the zone. He spent the first 12 years of his career in Toronto, and he was one of, if not the, best pitcher in the AL. He won a Cy Young. He regularly won 20 games. He seemed to always strike out 200 plus batters every year. He was great. He was the ace in Toronto. He was feared by some of the best hitters in baseball at the time. He was awesome.

Halladay left Toronto and joined the Phillies in the NL. He only got more dominate after joining the Phillies. He seemed to get stronger, throw harder and added some more pitches to his arsenal. He won another Cy Young, this time in the NL. I vividly remember watching him pitch against Chris Carpenter in the playoffs, both at their peaks, and Halladay coming out on top. I was upset, I’m a Cardinals fan, but I respected the hell out of his performance. I also remember him throwing a no hitter in the playoffs. That is amazing. These were the best of the best players at the time, and he no hit a team in the brightest possible spotlight. Incredible.

So that’s what I choose to remember about him, his dominance. As I said, I can’t think of a modern pitcher that was as good or as hard throwing as Halladay was. He was tremendous. The fact that he is now gone, at 40, is tragic. The fact that it was a plane crash, of which he was piloting, is even worse. Roy Halladay will be greatly missed. He leaves behind a wife and 2 children I believe. That is upsetting. He will assuredly be a Hall of Famer, it will just be so sad that he won’t be there at his induction. RIP Roy Halladay.

Ty

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

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There is Some Good, and Some Bad, in the Eric Bledsoe Trade

Eric Bledsoe seems to be getting his wish. It was reported earlier today that a trade was being finalized that would send him to the Bucks for Greg Monroe and a first round pick. This trade is both good and bad in my opinion.

Let’s go with the good first. The Bucks are floundering a bit now. It’s only 8 or 9 games, but they are currently below .500. I’m sure they’ll put it all together, I mean, they have Giannis, and he is amazing. What they are lacking though is a true point guard. That is Eric Bledsoe. This dude gets after it when he has something to play for. He is a bull dog on defense. He’s great at setting teammates up, and if you need him to score, he’ll go out and get you 20. He is easily the best point guard they have now. They’ve tried Matthew Dellavedova. He stinks. I’ve never been a fan of his, and since leaving Cleveland, he’s done nothing. They tried Michael Carter Williams, and he’s not even on the team anymore. They’ve tried Malcolm Brogdon, and he is so much better at the 2. Hell, they’ve even put Giannis at point guard, but that led to overuse. Bledsoe comes in and there is no question as to who the point is now. I also think he stabilizes this team. Giannis won’t have to do so much. He’ll be able to get to his spots now, and Bledsoe can set him up. This also opens things up for Brogdon. He can be the true spot up shooter and ball hawk defender. When Jabari Parker gets back from injury, he will be able to get multiple open looks. I can see Thon Maker being a great pick and roll guy with Bledsoe. Overall, this really helps out a Bucks team that needs it. Bledsoe will come in determined to prove Phoenix wrong, and that could help the Bucks push to a 4, possibly even 3, seed in the East. I think this trade puts the Bucks up there with the Wizards and Raptors in the East.

Now, the bad. I do think Bledsoe will be motivated, but what if the Bucks swoon continues? Will he want out, just like he did in Phoenix? Will he tweet, “I don’t want to be here anymore”, and claim it’s from a salon in Milwaukee? He’s done this before on a bad team. Who’s to say he won’t do it again. Bledsoe also needs to know going in that this is Giannis’ team. Guys like Brogdon, Maker and Parker have bought in. Bledsoe was “the guy” in Phoenix until all the complaining. Will he accept his second banana role? Time will tell. I think he will though. He also needs to learn the plays. This is an easy thing to do, but it takes time. The Bucks might not start winning right away, but eventually, they should right the ship. While the East isn’t filled with great teams, there are some great point guards that Bledsoe will have to face. He’ll match up with Kyrie, John Wall, Kyle Lowry and even guys like Ben Simmons, who looks incredible right now. That’s a tall order.

But my final “bad” news thing, I wish he had gone to the Nuggets. I love what the Nuggets are doing, but they need a true point guard to be any kind of threat. I would have loved to see him paired up with Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic, Paul Milsap and Jamal Murray. That would’ve been a hyper athletic, smooth passing and well run machine of an offense. He would have fit in so perfectly in Denver. I suppose the Bucks offer was better, but man it would have been fun to see him in a Nuggets uniform.

All in all though, this was a good trade. The Suns dumped an extremely unhappy guy to a playoff ready team with the best young player in the league. And they got a decent big, Greg Monroe, to group with their young talent, and a first round pick. The Bucks got a true point guard that can defend, and is out to prove another organization wrong. I’m excited to see him play his first game with the Bucks. I’ve always been a fan of a fully engaged Eric Bledsoe.

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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