Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

By The Fillerbuster

The Cast 091718

SETTING:

I am sitting at home watching MNF pregame and decided to bust this out while football memories of the weekend are still sharp in our minds.  Some written before, some written now, but, one way or the other…I feel the need…the need for speed.

Let’s turn and burn.

EVERGREEN (topics that don’t fade away):

• Canelo won a controversial decision against GGG Saturday. I didn’t watch it, as the Pac-12 slate had my interest that night and I didn’t feel like seeing a delayed fight that would have an asterisk no matter what.  Anyway, I love Canelo as a fighter.  I love his style.  I don’t love that he probably cheated previously.  But we are starved in the boxing world.  And it got me thinking about WHY I didn’t order a fight that I typically would.  Why wouldn’t that be an automatic decision when the wife is out with friends and I have nothing going on?  I am a boxing enthusiast and then some, and it got me thinking.  I remember growing up and having the lesser weight bouts as a BONUS.  Sugar Ray in my earlier years, Roy Jones in my later years.  But, heavyweight boxing historically had a train of characters, winners, losers, personalities athletes, and talent that mesmerized us.  We grew up hearing about the old school names such as Liston, Marciano, Schmeling, Dempsey, Louis, etc., watching Ali, Foreman, Spinks, Frazier, Holmes, and Norton as younger people, and then Tyson and Holyfield came along.  And that was what we wanted.  That is all we wanted.  Did the fights end up being legendary like the old days.  Not really.  A couple.  But, heavyweight fighting is what really got us and the media.  It was sort of the realistic version of wrestling, where anything might happen, but we also knew we were watching the biggest, baddest dudes on the planet slug it out.  After Holyfield, the downturn began.  Bowe, Morrison, and Lewis kept our attention a little.  Then, in 2000, Klitschko won the belt and, no offense to Vitali, it all came apart (but man, did HE benefit).  Guys like Fury and Joshua confuse us to whether or not we want to watch.  UFC got going too in the late 90’s, so they suddenly became the biggest baddest dudes…or at least the baddest.  Now, society relies on the smaller boxers for interest.  And Canelo and GGG are awesome fighters.  And although I wish Floyd would break the stereotype of boxers retiring and staying there, apparently THAT isn’t going to happen either.  Instead, we will end up watching a 41 year old 50 win boxer fight yet again against an also aging politician.  I LOVE boxing, and I also understand things change.  But, it still makes me wonder, and I think Van Halen said it best on Diver Down, “where have all the good times gone?”
• David Wright will play the last home stand for the Mets and then retire because of injuries. I feel like he has some parallels with the career of Tracy McGrady.  He has had a brilliant career plagued with asterisks and injuries.  We will always wonder what IF Wright didn’t have injuries throughout a lot of his career.  We will wonder what IF he remained unscathed enough to take the field a lot more, consistently.  You don’t become captain of your team without respect.  You don’t win the Gold Glove Award twice without speed and athletic skills.  You don’t win the Silver Slugger Award twice without amazing power.  And you surely don’t have a 30-30 season without having the best of both.  Seven time All-Star.  You don’t have TWELVE team career records without consistency.  But, injuries will derail his career, and have affected him for a few years now.  We can never say Terrell Davis would have been the best RB in NFL history, but we wonder.  We can never say Tracy McGrady would have been one of the best players in NBA history, but we wonder.  And we can never say David Wright would have been one of the best players in MLB history, but we WILL wonder.  Shame, but glad he puts the uniform on one more time in front of fans.
• Love soccer. Hate soccer.  Be indifferent.  Whatever you choose.  But, whatever grouping you fall into, know that THIS is the way to score your 500^th  Wow.  Zlatan, you talk and walk your big game.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEPksMYfDF0
• After I got past the depressing Redskins loss Sunday as a football fan, I might let my thoughts wander to other sports as a Redskins fan. I might think of baseball and then remember that my team was a preseason World Series contender, and dropped off the face of the earth and then kind of sold the farm.  I might remember that the basketball team is pretty darn good in the weaker conference and that might make me smirk.  And then, finally, I might think of hockey and that my team JUST won the whole damn thing.  The hockey team won the legendary and worshipped Stanley Cup.  That is great.  Then, I might go through the multitude of stories about where the Cup was, how they are making no beer bong rules from them, and how the thing seemed to be on a summer long party with my team.  Great, right?  Well, camp started this past Friday.  And the title “hangover” term might be more aptly applied to this specific team.  If I am their PR person, I would have mixed in some heavy training, ice, or weight room sessions to balance out the press they got for drinking and partying with the Cup.  Would I drink if I won the Stanley Cup?  Well, hell YES.  Would I have maybe dimmed the lights to the fans as the summer went on?    If they start out slow, or underachieve this year, their celebrations over the summer MIGHT become a little more front page news.   They showed NO interest in winning it twice if you ask me…or at least the ones on camera.
• Rockies fever is hesitatingly beginning in Denver. This is a city used to a full letdown, or sneaking in as a wildcard.  Not being a division winner.  Not being a division winner over a team that basically overpaid for half the players on the roster like the old school Yanks and Red Sox.  Not being a division winner over the 2^nd and 6^th ranked sortable pitching stat teams in MLB.  Not being a division winner when only ranked 10^th in team batting.    This team is different.  With my Phillies dragging a little in the standings, I am excited for these Rockies.  Arenado and Story make the headlines nationally, but Desmond, Blackmon, Cargo, and others make this a very diverse, solid lineup.  Their pitching isn’t flashy either, but it holds water.  Basically, this is talented and gritty TEAM that has the city a little excited.  They need to close this division out and not chance the wildcard race.  One way or the other, they have energized the city a little.  With the Rockies in first presently, the Broncos coming back against their arch rival Sunday, the Avs expected to be even better, and the Nuggets the young wildcards in the tough Western Conference, Denver’s pro sports are back…kind of…and it is fun.

WEEK-FISH (current topics of interest in sports):

• College Football games I had a note or two on:
  • OSU-TCU: The game went kind of how everyone expected to be honest.  TCU hung in there for a while and had a couple of breaks, but then the speed, strength, and depth of OSU did them in.
  • UVA-Ohio: Of course, I am going to note a big win of a program where wins might be few and far between.  Less impressed by the margin of victory, and more impressed that they did it at the alternative venue (Hurricane Florence forced a Nashville venue).
  • OU-Iowa State: Well, whatever you read into the score, know this. The tackling of OU in that game will NOT translate against upcoming bigger and better opponents.  They are still legit, even without Rodney Anderson for the season.  But, their defensive fundamentals need to get better for better foes.  Murray is officially near the top of the Heisman list presently.  Wouldn’t that be grand?  Win the Heisman as the best football player and then go make $5 mil a year playing baseball.
  • Arizona State-SDSU: When you don’t get a first down after halftime on offense until less than 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter, you can’t expect a win. I was very surprised.  As impressive as they were a week ago, that is how unimpressive they were this week.
  • Washington-Utah: Washington was hurt a little by Auburn’s loss to LSU in the long run, but pretty nice win against a decent team at their crib.  Defensively, GREAT game.  Run the table, and they might be fine.
  • BYU-Wisconsin: I didn’t watch this one, but getting taken down in your home crib when THIS was THE year possibly is not good.  Not a resume builder, Wisco.  Unless teams fall apart at the top, you will have a big hill to climb.
  • LSU-Auburn: Walk on QB takes down a college football playoff possible team (or was), at home. Very impressive no matter how you spin this.
  • Georgia Tech-Pittsburgh: It is really painful when you are a triple option team, and you get behind by a lot early in the game.  Just simply too tough to do your stuff AND mount a comeback.
  • Nebraska-Troy: Nebraska is now 0-2, playing their first two games at home, against very beatable teams.  Proud people in Lincoln these days…and Scott Frost’s speech about unofficially winning the national championship is probably running a little thin.
  • FSU-Syracuse: Not surprised that FSU lost this game. I AM surprised that there was nothing even CLOSE to what someone would call an offense in this one…sad for the five star recruits on that squad.
  • Houston-Texas Tech: There were738 yards of offense in the first half, and apparently only one team figured out a way to only allow a TD every TWO possessions in the second half. Houston, you are not ready to play with the big boys apparently, because that was a huge statement game for you, and you not only failed, but your defense looked like swiss cheese for the WHOLE game.
  • UCLA-Fresno State: Yes, UCLA is young.  Yes, Fresno is a decent team.  But when exactly does this magic start kicking in of hiring Chip Kelly?  I was wrong, as I thought they would win that one.
  • USC-Texas: Well, if you were wondering WHEN the on paper Texas team would rear its ugly head, it was the second half against USC.  Better check Tom Herman’s night receipts after that win.
  • KU-Rutgers: Maybe KU and UVA should play each other? Just a thought.
  • In the TCU-Ohio State game, the same play yielded TCU’s longest run from scrimmage ever, along with the longest run allowed by Ohio State ever.   The run play broke LT’s record.
  • The North Texas fake fair catch and TD run back was pretty stellar if you haven’t seen it.
  • I respect Iowa State’s kicker as he must have fought through a bunch of high school heckling. His last name is Assalley.
  • Do you think the Oakland Athletics brass has watch parties for OU games?
  • Must be nice that head coaches in the SEC make enough money to donate $2 million to their football operations at their school. Gus Malzahn found some couch cushion money.
  • Bama scored 49 straight points in the first HALF after Ole Miss scored first Saturday.
  • Boston College is in the top 25 rankings for the first time since 2008.
  • LSU has gone from NOT in the top 25 preseason to #6 in three weeks.
  • Lots of college football playoff implications and effects happened this week. I might a longer version of this sentence, but I LOVE the fact that you have limited games, every game counts, and we now have some very, very big time schools who either have work to do or are basically out of the mix.  Don’t change a damn thing in college football.
• NFL:
  • I agree with Doug Marrone. If I was a head coach in the NFL, I am not sure I could watch Super Bowls either.  If that is the goal, and someone else is there and on TV, I might go play golf or something.
  • Ravens-Bengals: Although in the end the game was competitive, it showed inconsistency with the Ravens along with shades of the Bengals just being the Bengals.  The AFC North is a very confusing division right now.
  • Odd that the Bengals won 34-23 twice in two weeks.
  • The Nick Foles experiment is over. Carson is coming back next week, and it would have been MUCH cooler if Philly won, so Nick could keep telling the locker room “well, I personally haven’t lost yet…”
  • FG kicker or not. Here they come.  Baker Mayfield wishes from fans and media.  Let’s do it, I say.  The Browns have been better, but still nothing to totally write home about yet.  Two winnable games, yes.  A loss and a tie to show for it though…
  • Full 180. The Jags go from defending their home field and beating the Evil Empire Pats to losing their left tackle, probably for the season.
  • This Bills fans/tables thing has really gone viral. I admit to not knowing it existed before the law was passed.
  • I get there is more to it, but I find it ironic that Bell held out because of pay, and he is giving up a ridiculous amount of money every game he misses.
  • I might be in the minority, but I really think that Jalen Ramsey needs to do a little more ON the field before talking about fearing no man, telling half the NFL’s QB’s they suck, and bringing his grandmother into it. Just a little more of a resume to talk trash-that is all I am saying.
  • Well, Baker Mayfield, you have one fan that we all like. Drew Brees apparently has your back.  From one 6’1” guy to another…”he could be better than me.”
  • It doesn’t matter whether I heard the stat wrong or can’t define the exact parameters of the stat, only two teams ever or since 1971 or something like that have gone into the Steelers crib and laid down 21 points in the first quarter. It doesn’t matter.  You shouldn’t come out flat at home.
  • The Steelers have the offense to get them to the Super Bowl, and the Chiefs ARE an extreme example, but the Steelers didn’t get pressure on Mahomes, have obviously not found a replacement for Shazier given Kelce’s production, and do not have corners to match up with receivers such as Hill and Watkins. This is surprising since they have invested in primarily defense in early rounds in the last 5 years.  The Chiefs?  I knew my boys were in trouble when they decimated them in the first half and Hill hadn’t really done anything.  LOTS of weapons.  Glad they are off the schedule for the rest of the regular season…
  • With four teams (three of them most likely playoff teams) having a tie each, they will be breaking out flow charts later in the year for playoff scenarios and rules.
  • I agree. The roughing the passer penalties are out of control.  Nothing wrong with what Matthews did on that play.  Nothing malicious.  Nothing late.  And hopefully when those playoff flow charts are brought out, that penalty doesn’t cost the Packers the division or playoff spot.
  • I won’t comment really on the Broncos, except to say VERY impressive in comparison to last year. I admit to being tired, pissed at football because of my Steelers game, and not caring much about the Broncos being behind.  I took a small nap during the comeback. Sorry.  Woke up and saw the final of 20-19.
  • Fear the Rams offense, sure. And WOW is there defense really good too.  They might be buying a championship in a way, but that is money well spent thus far.  It is one thing to get outscored.  It is another thing when the defense is allowing NOTHING to pair with that offensive firepower.
  • I could watch that Keelan Cole catch all day.
  • The New York Giants seem to, over the years, limp through the first three quarters and then just suddenly wake up…usually too late. That happened again Sunday night.
  • So, by quitting at halftime allegedly, I suppose Vontae Davis wants to leave the game guaranteeing he has no respect from fans, coaches, or the locker room. Got it.
  • The Browns have lost or tied in two of the more odd games this season. I can’t imagine the pain of being a Browns fan.
  • The good news about being 0-2 in fantasy is that I am pretty sure I will end up with Ryan Fitzpatrick after this week.
  • The Pats just picked up Josh Gordon before press time tonight. So, I would say now that, assuming the guy can stay sober, Brady has some weapons now.  HOW do we let this happen, other teams???
  • Things continue to not be so rosy in Steelers land. Not only was Antonio Brown visibly upset during the Chiefs game, but he spent a lot of Monday on Twitter telling a Steelers critic to “find out-trade me.”  Let’s not get the guy all amped up.  The Steelers critic is on crack if he thinks that AB only made it because of Big Ben.  Let’s keep AB happy, I say.
• It feels weird to say the Yankees might not pay the luxury tax. Just really weird.  Props to that organization for getting out of the buy-everything way of winning titles.
• I loved that Anthony Rizzo wore his uniform on a plane to be game ready in protest of squeezing in a game on a scheduled off day, but I am confused about how he was flying alone, why commercial, and where the rest of his teammates were. Don’t they fly on a private jet most of the time?
• Jacob DeGrom broke a 108 year old record with starting his 26^th game and allowing no more than three runs. Amazing run on a bad team unfortunately.
• No, basketball at Davidson did NOT start yet, even though the 91-61 score by their football team indicated that.
• Braves P Brandon McCarthy will retire after this year, and his stats are locked up due to injury. 69 wins, 4.20 ERA, and just insert your own joke wherever.  I try to limit sex and drug jokes due to my mom reading this.
• Didn’t we already KNOW that Wade was playing one more season with the Heat, so why was it big news today?

THIS AND THAT (pop culture, Fillerbuster thoughts, and whatever else I feel like talking about):

• I finally caught the movie, Tag, this weekend. It was nothing more than you would expect, it maximized the whole concept of playing tag as adults, it had surprising big name supporting roles, and you forget that since it is based on a true story that this is NOT one of the supporting arguments that we are totally out of movie ideas.  Overall?  Not great, but watchable and it had a couple of funny moments.  I wouldn’t say it is the best use of one hour and forty minutes, but I will say you have seen many, many worse movies in your life.  The movie was…fun.
  • The scene that replicated the original Predator movie was pretty funny if you know Predator. Actually, if you are a Predator fan (old one, not new ones) like I am, it was pretty freaking hilarious.
  • Hannibal Buress plays Sable and has some incredible lines at perfect places. Time is a construct, how come bi-weekly means both twice a week and every other week, etc.
  • Even the Silicon Valley-Verizon guy pops up at an unlikely time.
  • Convenient that the unbeatable Tag guy is also the guy who was a badass in one of the Bourne movies (Legacy). Jeremy Renner.
  • Somehow pulls off tumor and miscarriage jokes above gray area.
  • And the soundtrack (which happens to hit in my realm) is highlighted by not only the addition of the Crash Test Dummies track from back in the day, but an actual singing of it by the guys during the credits. The credits made the movie a half star better.  Maybe a full star.  Plus, those of us who lived through that song being big will laugh a little more.
• I caught Sam Morril on that show where Amy Schumer is boosting a comedian’s profile, and the dude was right up my alley with comedic sarcasm. Check him out.  Pretty funny.
• Lindsey had two parties I drove her to on Saturday. I was already familiar with the lower reaches of Littleton, CO, and this was 10 minutes more south, and I also now know where the very northern tip of the county of Denver is also (112^th).  I felt like I went on a road trip, but didn’t really go anywhere.
• Thoughts and prayers to the folks on the East Coast in post-Florence time. When the word “all-time” is thrown around for rain amount (in a region that is used to hurricanes) along with “biblical,” it is not good in any way.
• But, I think it still sounds like things will be better than the “super typhoon” that hit the Philippines recently. By the way, “super” is typically a positive term.  Find another way to describe typhoons that are at another level.  Super should not be that term.
• The Jack Ryan series really has my interest, but with me not figuring a way to manufacture more time in life, it remains behind a long list of shows on the list.
• Hell, I still have three Billions episodes left, and that has been my mission. Oh, three MORE items that got me excited while watching that fantastic show.
  • KD appearance
  • A strong reference to the movie most people haven’t seen, Pi (great movie)
  • John Malkovich becomes integral? I think that if someone would have told me HE makes an appearance AS a character similar to KGB from Rounders, I would have latched on to this thing MUCH earlier.
• I believe the women who wrote the novel “How to Murder Your Husband” just was arrested for…murdering her husband.
• I love the guy and most of his movies, I get that money now is more than years ago, and stats are stats. But, Samuel L. Jackson is now the highest grossing actor in the history of the world.  Snakes on a Plane money included in that.
• Another week of being predicted to win both fantasy matchups and losing both.
• In the books now, our next couple of trips are Vegas, Bedlam, Beaver Creek, and NYE in Austin. Post work trade show for Vegas, another OU Sooner experience I haven’t done in Bedlam, timeshare sharing from Lindsey’s parents for Beaver Creek, and Lindsey and I randomly picked Austin as our NYE destination.  I have been there once.  It did not suck.  Look forward to it, and one of the music havens you can visit.
• I was lamenting that work made me miss my during work workout but then came across not one but TWO boxes of free pizza, so that made all things ok.
• Remember me yelling about MoviePass from the mountaintops? Well, considering The Predator was the only new movie available on the app we (well, I) were even entertaining, means we are about to quit MoviePass.  You apparently didn’t examine your company’s obstacles and roadmap very well, MoviePass.
• Has it even been enough years since Alien vs. Predator to make a movie called “The Predator?”
• The chick from Sex in the City really was running for NY governor?   Glad she lost the primary.
• I can somehow get past SOME of these reboots that are everywhere now, but Designing Women? Really?  I wouldn’t even say that was even a hit in the day.  Are we scraping the bottom of the barrel on reboots ALSO?
• So, Outlander has now become the show Lindsey watches when I don’t need the living room TV. It is actually on right now (Sunday when I started writing this).  I know I personally would never watch it proactively, but I will be subconsciously caught up regardless it looks like.  It is kind of like a full on chick flick stuck in Braveheart…with a time machine.
• Escape Rooms are fun, but very frustrating to an equal degree. I can’t get the number 4998 out of my mind.
• Han Solo is out on rental. For my thoughts on the movie, go back to my Chewblogga entry a couple of months ago.
• The DirecTV commercial with the dog guy trying to make his wife’s cat do dog stuff kind of resonated with me. I need a freaking dog.
• I almost feel like watching the Emmy’s only because I miss Game Of Thrones so much.
• I almost feel like watching the Emmy’s because it is Colin and Michael from SNL News.
• I almost feel like watching the Emmy’s, but ANY football game is on, and I probably will actually bust out another Billions tonight.
• The difference between my old condo and my new house is that although I want to see Slash Wednesday night, it is such a difference taking a 15 minute Uber on a school night rather than walking down the street 1 block.

TWEET OF THE WEEK:

THE BEST WORKOUT SONG EVER FOR THIS WEEK:

No change in the top of the rankings.  Feed The Wolf by Breaking Benjamin is #1 by far.  Medicated by Sevendust, and The Matthew Effect by Nothing More got a lot of play this week according to my iPod Shuffle stats.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK (new section):

“Time is a construct.” (keeping this Tag theme going)

LINKS TO SAVE YOU TIME IN LIFE:

CLOSING:

Theme.  “Time is a construct” barely loses to…Crash Test Dummies.

Oh, and for you people who are young and missed the bad songs of my childhood.  And actually, this song was the NINETIES.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTeg1txDv8w

That’s it for today.  Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  If you have section ideas for me (bars, restaurants, locations to visit, other, etc.), I am always open to feedback.  Will I blog again?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.  And remember.  You should feed yourself.  You should feed your family too.  But, never, ever forget to feed the wolf.

PICS:

No pics of note this week.  I didn’t do much and didn’t save any pics from stories, and don’t really feel like going back through everything.  Bandwidth, people.  But, I will show you the pic of a possible OU shirt I might buy myself.  Thanks for passing along, Avery.

And, in case you care about what I threw back in the pond, here you go…

Meyer still apologizing to Courtney smith

There is a Colorado Running With the Donkeys?