Basic Needs

By The Fillerbuster

The Cast 12/10/2018

SETTING:

The wife is at Melting Pot.  I am capitalizing on that time, writing this and watching the Vikings vs. Seattle on MNF.  No theme picked, and no obvious one until I start writing.  This is all written in one sitting.  Very little editing.  I am giving myself two hours tops.  I feel the need…the need for speed.

Let’s turn and burn.

EVERGREEN (topics that don’t fade away):

DOLPHINS

• Prayer plays in football are prayer plays for a reason. They rarely work.  Actually, they rarely even come close to working.  There is not time left.  The chances well has run dry.  There are too many things that need to go right.  There are too many odd roles on that certain play that players need to remember with their backs against the wall.  Typically, the other team is playing the absolute safest type of defense imaginable.  More than frequently, the last gasp is awkward looking, desperate, and lacking discipline to get to the end zone.  But, JUST enough times, it works.  Just enough times, we remember a play way back in our memory bank that gives us hope for that next try.  And even if that opposing team is the closest thing to a well-coached consistent dynasty team we have ever seen, we still watch.  We still hope.  The Dolphins have kept many future dreams alive by pulling a play like this off this past weekend.  It had laterals.  It had odd personnel.  It had skill and a lot of luck.  As a bonus, it even had an All-Pro tight end out there who tripped trying to tackle the last guy.  The Dolphins say they practice the play all the time.  Maybe they do.  Maybe they don’t.  Maybe it didn’t even go to plan like they said it would.  We don’t care.  For the next 100 attempts at a prayer play in NFL football, we now have a recent reference.  We have another Stanford band play.  Another Flutie Hail Mary.  Another Immaculate Reception.  Another Music City Miracle.  Not only did the Dolphins give fans everywhere new hope, but they took down the Evil Empire while doing it.  And THAT is why we watch, folks.

URBAN MEYER

• If you win one college football title, you have climbed the summit and achieved what you set out to do in coaching. When you win multiple championships, you become somewhat of a football god.  When you win multiple, change schools, and then win again, your football god-like qualities intersect with genius.  Despite some off the field controversy the last few years, ALL football fans were sad (well, maybe not Michigan fans) that Urban Meyer was retiring.  Health comes first though, and his coaching style probably contributed a lot to his eventual body’s demise.  And he is only 54 years old, young for a coach to retire (yes, Bill Snyder).  Meyer was everything an AD could want in a coach.  He was everything a kid could want in a coach.  He was everything a fan could want in a coach.  He kept you on your toes with creative play calling.  He modified the offense as needed due to different skill sets of present players.  He won the big games more than he lost them.  He won every single year in the UM-OSU rivalry game.  He recruited like a maniac as opposed to just letting the school’s lore draw in the best players.  He brought that energy to the sidelines of every single game.  He generated NFL players galore.  Urban Meyer was a winner through and through.  Florida will win football games years after we are all gone.  Ohio State will rule its conference again and again moving forward.  But, it is still a shame that football loses this mastermind.

NFL TANKING

• For years, the NBA has been under the tanking watch with teams late in the season. It is so uplifting that the NFL doesn’t have this problem as much.  Or, at least they are smarter about hiding it.  Whatever you think on the subject, this weekend was a great example of how NFL teams, more than other sports, do NOT tank and play the season until the end.  You don’t see obvious actions of teams trying to get the #1 pick.  You don’t see many obvious plays where they aren’t trying to win.  You, for the most part, see effort to win the game.  This weekend might not be the example every single week, but it is a nice starter example.  The 49ers knocked off the Broncos.  The Raiders beat the Steelers.  The Jets beat a team they will be competing with for draft picks in the Bills.  You could say the Giants also stepped up, but since 8-8 sometimes wins the NFC East, I guess that is not an anti-tanking example really.  Anyway, my point is that if this is a microcosm of where we are at in the NFL with bad teams, it is refreshing, to say the least, that these bad teams won in style.  Tanking is a part of life in sports and it will never fully go away, but considering the depression myself and the town (Steelers and Broncos) were under this morning, I guess I can at least pull one positive note out of it.

HEISMAN

• Maybe it was that his stats were lower because he never played the fourth quarter. Maybe it was because of his subpar performance in a must-win game before his injury and his backup won the game for them.  Maybe because we are now past the ideology that the best player on the best team should win awards.  Whatever the reason, Tua lost and the RIGHT guy won the Heisman.  Personally, I just thought there was a 20% or so chance that Kyler would pull off the victory.  Of course, I was rooting for him.  But, when he won, you saw alleged Bama and SEC take a vacation refreshingly.  You got the result of sportswriters actually watching the games and seeing the magic that Kyler was pulling off weekly.  You saw voting that reflected the actions of a guy with no team defense that literally had to utterly outscore the other team week in and week out.  You got the vote of a guy who was faster than everyone else on the field, saw the field like he was 6’10”, and had a gun for an arm like a baseball player (hmmmm).  Did I expect it?  Not really.  Did I see it as possible?  Of course.  Was I happy for Kyler and Sooner Nation?    Kyler, you took home the trophy and are now officially in the fraternity.  And now you just have to outscore only TWO more teams.  Kyler knows.  Whatever sport he chooses, he will be fantastic for that sport and its fans.

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

Before I do ANYTHING, I need to come clean.  I have spent the last year making constant fun of Markelle Fultz.  It is a medical condition that wasn’t helping his shooting motion.  I would like to apologize.  No more Markelle jokes.

NFL

• The Bills kicker, an ex-soccer player, tried to do a slide tackle on a return on Sunday. I get that the world sport is soccer, but let’s try and stick to our rules since you entered our sport.  Dive head first, bro.
• I am not sure I support Ryan Shazier trying a comeback to football. I think that I think he should just live his life off the field.  But, MAN, watching that video of him doing a deadlift DID get me all pumped up.
• I thought the Broncos might be the team to force out my Steelers after this upcoming Pats-Saints stretch, but that idea is now down the drain. The 49ers don’t have many talented players.  I guess keeping track of George Kittle was not in the VJ plan.  Yes, the young receivers are a problem on offense, but stopping a bad team on defense would probably help also.
• Oh, and I BET on the Broncos on Sunday.   Put another notch on the Broncos Dislike Belt for me.
• You have to be competitive, win at home, and beat the teams you should beat in the NFL. It blows my mind that the Broncos have beaten the Chargers, Steelers, and Seahawks, and BARELY lost to the Chiefs (twice), Rams, and Texans.  That is some quality there.  But, they have lost to the Jets and 49ers pretty decisively.  Confusing team.
• My only takeaway from the Raiders-Steelers game was that IF the truth is that the Steelers play up or down to their competition, then I am about to see their best against the Pats and Saints?
• It wasn’t a landslide victory, but the Ravens are a playoff caliber team, so a win for the Chiefs is a win however they got it. The Ravens fought them and made them EARN it ugly.  And Mahomes had a couple of weird looking throws breaking all the laws of football and physics.
• Mahomes is on pace for 52 TD’s this season. There is one guy on that list, people.
• After the Derrick Henry debacle, I am trying to think of new and inventive ways this season can be worse for the Jags.
• If you break it down musically, the MNF song is really, really bad. We just like it because of recent tradition.
• Cam Newton had two legitimate shots to win his game Sunday. While he was overthrowing receivers right and left, I noticed that he has the odd ability of looking like failed drives and losing games don’t really even bother him.
• I am clear that the Saints clinched their division on Sunday because it flashed “breaking news” at the bottom about 45 times during my Steelers game in three hours. Very irritating.
• Frank Gore is a career player who is pretty good on a consistent basis. LT was one of the greatest RB’s to ever lace up.  Is it weird to anyone else that Frank just passed LT on the career rushing list?
• The Packers won their game, so their interim coach is 1-0, but did you catch that he ran out of game challenges 83 SECONDS into the game?
• Odd that the Packers aren’t doing even better, considering that Aaron Rodgers just broke the record for most attempts without an interception. 358 is a LOT.
• There are many, many teams watching the Bears-Rams film today. To do that to THAT offense was amazing.  I haven’t been a Bears believer all season.  I have to say that last night kind of tempered that skepticism.
• The Bears putting in MULTIPLE defensive players on 3^rd and goal was epic.
• I admit to not thinking that Amari Cooper would open up the Cowboys THIS much.
• Speaking of the Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott plays offense in the NFL. Even HE was called for leading with his helmet Sunday.
• Bills QB Josh Allen has two straight 100 yard rushing games, and would have three in a row had he not kneeled down in a win to lose a couple of yards.
• You don’t need me to write about more Kareem Hunt news. It just keeps getting worse.

 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

• Kelly Bryant chose to go to Missouri. Smart choice.  Exciting offense, and always playing good teams with scouts around.  My question is this.  Does Missouri always have an NFL QB but no one else on their team?  That is what I feel like they are.
• Look at the good news, Bama haters. They lost the Heisman and WILL lose their OC after this year to Maryland.
• Do you all think Nick Saban, if the slightest chance arises, will fool us with some Jalen Hurts playing time in the semi-final? I think so.
• I thought Hugh Freeze was already looking for personal freedom in life at his LAST job. He definitely got it now with taking the job at LIBERTY.  See what I did there?
• I get almost as excited to watch the Army-Navy pregame rituals then the actual game itself. Such a cool game every year.  And, the underdog always beats the spread, so you usually get a close game regardless.
• I forget every year that the military schools still have cheerleaders for some reason.
• Will Grier will sit out the exhibition bowl game to focus on draft stuff and stay healthy. We are always going to get a few of these.  There are no rules to guard against this.  How can anyone really disagree with these kids when they make that choice?
• Kyler Murray is one of the most beloved football players on earth. His dad seems like a total jackass.
• Again, old tweets I think we can forgive, especially when they are teenagers. I probably can dismiss Kyler’s tweets in a heartbeat as opposed to getting a little more mad at Kevin Hart.
• As usual, I don’t have the bandwidth to write longer, and predict bowls and such. I will include some predictions next time.  We don’t care about the early bowls anyway.
• The All-American team was released. Since the voters dissed Bama on the Heisman, I guess giving them four guys on that team makes up for that.

 

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

• When the Zags BARELY beat a subpar Washington team, you kind of saw coming that loss against Tennessee. That loss is a learning experience and not a bad thing at all.  Tennessee is very good and a Final Four contender, so they might see them again with much more on the line.
• Vernon Carey continues the run of Duke players making us wonder why there are recruiting “battles” anymore except between Duke and Kentucky. This is getting a little ridiculous and they might have to start playing Duke basketball with two balls on the court.
• I read today that UVA has been winning by diminishing margins of victory. First of all, I know the margin of victory thing IS a thing this year, but pretty sure we will be in the tourney.  Second, we most likely will be undefeated going into the Duke game in a month, so everyone get your shots in while you can, I guess.
• The kid from UVA I like…Clark…is out with a broken wrist.
• Michigan State is winning with a different formula it seems every time out. That makes them ambiguous and very dangerous at the same time.
• OU hoops is pretty good but not great. Wichita State is undermanned again but not bad.  When I saw the OU-Wichita State score over the weekend, I thought it might be a women’s score.  80-48.
• UK lost to Seton Hall. Not a bad loss for those kids either.  Learning for March is all they are doing.
• FURMAN is #23 in the nation, so when they fall off, keep them in the back of your head for your brackets, people.

 

NBA

• I am still adjusting to seeing lopsided losing scores from the Spurs.
• KD is saying playing with LeBron is toxic sounds like a perfect setup for him to join forces while fooling us.
• In case some people thought that Kawhi Leonard was just part of the Spurs system, he wasn’t.
• I think if LeBron wants Melo, he will get Melo, and it will be as awkward on the court as we all think it will be.
• I said it in this blog that when the Rockets traded away their wing defenders, they would come back to the pack. I said the PACK.  I didn’t mean they would be 14^th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference.
• Some might say that Iverson left Magic off his all time starting five because of the whole Dream Team thing, but you really can’t argue THAT much with putting Steph in there for him. I personally think it is too early, but he is in the conversation now.
• What do you know? A DIFFERENT team’s center is now frustrated already with Jimmy Butler.
• The Nuggets are pretty good this year. But, they can’t lose Millsap for too long.  They become just a decent team without him.
• And now the Nuggets have Nick Young, so they at least have a lot of personality now.
• I am a closet Milwaukee Bucks fan. Them picking up George Hill is a GREAT move and shows they are serious about taking advantage of the prime window of The Freak they are now in.
• I am a big Luka Doncic fan and have been since preseason. I have included his incredible step back move below in my tweets of the week, and his 11-0 solo scoring run was pretty sweet too.
• I am not saying Fred Hoiberg was “happy” about being fired, but them losing by 56 points after he got fired had to at least produce a smirk.

 

MLB

• I suppose the Cardinals are tired of starting out slow during the season by picking up Paul Goldschmidt NOW…before the season.
• Obviously, with them being having that whole curse thing going on until 2004, the Red Sox take care of their special players a little more than other teams. Them re-signing Eovaldi (WS MVP) kept a guy in the family who helped seal it for them as opposed to doing it year round in stats.  I believe that is classy.
• The Mets GM says that Tebow is one final step from the Majors. I might look into moving to another country.  I can’t take Tebow playing baseball everyday on that level.  My brain will explode.
• How ironic. That Yankees today announced THEY are not interested in Bryce Harper.  So, the selfish player who grew up a Yankees fan and now is on the open market can’t even get an OFFER from his childhood team.  I guess you have to hope for little things in life.  That little thing sort of makes me happy.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

• I missed something. Greg Hardy will make his UFC debut in January.  I feel like he already made his debut.
• The LA Sparks hired Derek Fisher as their coach. He is following the Bill Laimbeer career path now.
• The XFL has announced its cities, and I would be lying if I told you I was sad that Denver was not on that list.
• I feel like they release the men’s World Cup draws a lot closer to the event than the women’s, which was just announced…for JUNE.

 

THIS AND THAT (pop culture, Fillerbuster thoughts in quick hitter style):

• Some kid in Severance, CO, went to court and won his battle to make snowball fights legal again.
• I am hearing rumors that new GNR material is out there soon. That excites me.
• It is BS that a singer who didn’t sing in a sing-off advanced over one really GOOD singer on The Voice. I don’t care if you are sick.
• It is fun watching Ozark and seeing the four items in the title that will be key before the show.
• I didn’t know Denmark had an island, but they do, and they have a law being voted on to send unwanted immigrants to that island.
• When someone comes up to me in a swimming pool and asks to circle, I say yes, but really am thinking that circling was for miserable morning swim team practices as a kid and I am now an adult and am past that stage of my life.
• If you ever are in a grocery store looking at a box of cauliflower pizza, wondering if it tastes the same or is close to normal pizza, it…isn’t. It is absolutely horrible and the devil.
• When I saw the Sauvage commercial with Johnny Depp the other day during football, I at first thought he was replacing Matthew in those animal-car Lincoln commercials.
• Little things excite us as we get older. I get SO excited to workout to new workout songs I have stumbled on.
• I am confused as to whether it is a coincidence or on purpose. In Creed II, the rapper in the training montage song is called ASAP “Rocky.”
• I made my return to billiards after a few months of not playing. Let’s just say this.  We had to stay an hour longer at the bar because I wasn’t losing.
• We booked our first event for our Austin, TX NYE trip. A lunchtime cruise.  Getting pumped.
• I have had hundreds and hundreds of eggs Benedict in my lifetime. I would rank the one I had the other day at FNG in the Highlands top 3.  It was ridiculous.  It had bologna.
• We are finally getting people staying in our AirBNB, and this satisfies the lost feeling I had of having an area A) that I wasn’t using for my den or B) making money.
• Even though it is always ranked as one of the worst overall songs of all time, tell me you don’t nod your head a little when We Built This City comes on at a restaurant or store.
• I am not sure why I don’t really like pancakes or tater tots, but I don’t.
• Wordshop is one of the coolest stores I have now been in. It is on 32^nd Street in the Highlands and you should go there for cards or off the beaten path gifts.
• We watched Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom the other night again, and I still think that it is one of the weaker movies of the series.  They are now just using us as viewers and know that we think dinosaurs are really cool, so they basically can do anything they want with the plot and such.
• Aquaman was on SNL this past week, and it was funny. They even did a GOT skit.  Matt Damon is on this week, so I will be stopping my life for that one.
• I said in my blog a while back that raking is for suckers. I retract that statement.  I am now living in a home, and just learned that it is kind of important for the grass in the spring.  Therefore, if you need me this weekend, I will be doing that chore that I made fun of.  Markelle and raking.  Two things I have moved on from.
• I am not confused when a restaurant closes. Most of the time, you understand it.  Maybe it is not busy.  Maybe it is in a bad location.  But, Gov’s Park, Lala’s, Marlowe’s, and others?  We went to Lala’s the other night to have one more Sunday supper, and I pity anyone living in Denver who has not ever gone there for that masterpiece and very filling meal…for cheap.  You only have a few weeks left to take advantage of it.
• Sometimes a small thing makes you realize what type of world we live in suddenly. I drove by a WALGREEN’S and the sign outside read “Drone Sale.”  They sell drones at Walmart?  Like…that FLY?  Never knew that.  Never expected that.  Either drones have gone downhill, or Walgreens has really upped the ante.

TWEET OF THE WEEK:

THE BEST WORKOUT SONG EVER FOR THIS WEEK:

I am retiring Feed The Wolf as a champion and letting it go breed in a pasture.  It retires as one of my all time favorites.  But, let’s move on.  New recruits.

Runnin’ from Creed II

(the rap starts at the 3 minute mark-man, if every rap Song sounded exactly like this I would be happy)

Watch Me Burn by Silent Theory

Basic Needs  by Jonathan Davis

Psycho by Breaking Benjamin

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

Let’s take the chorus from Basic Needs, since Jonathan Davis wrote such an oddly loving group of lines:

I don’t feel hunger, I don’t need air
There’s blood in my veins ’cause I know you are there
I don’t need shelter, nothing at all
The reason I’m here
Don’t you know that you’re all of my basic needs

LINKS TO SAVE YOU TIME IN LIFE:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/12/06/ryan-shazier-lifting-weights-video-injury-recovery-comeback-steelers

https://deadspin.com/here-s-bill-walton-on-jay-z-the-pacific-northwest-and-1830911363

https://deadspin.com/no-one-knows-who-doped-these-sled-dogs-1830911408

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25470903/10-things-like-including-bucks-weakness-nba

https://deadspin.com/steven-adams-debuts-actual-voice-1830950567

https://deadspin.com/deadspin-up-all-night-smokin-in-the-boys-room-1830951383

https://deadspin.com/we-regret-to-inform-you-that-jimmy-butlers-presence-has-1830960181

https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/12/07/kyler-murray-heisman-trophy-oklahoma-sooners-baseball

BY THE NUMBERS:

179

352

THIS WEEK’S LIST:

No list this week.  Nothing really called out to me.  Definitely next week…

THE RIDDLE:

Last week’s answer: 62

• Number of teams that should be in the college football playoff per The Fillerbuster: 6
• My lucky number: 11
• The number of colleges I applied to: 3 (Penn State, Vandy, UVA)
• Jersey # of the greatest running back of all time per The Fillerbuster many times in this blog: 20 (Barry Sanders)
• The oddball: my go-to Chopin Prelude # I played as a kid on piano: 22

No new riddle this week.  Didn’t have time to think of one.  Next week…

CLOSING:

The theme?  I didn’t have any clever ideas, so I just took Basic Needs and socks and left it.

That’s it for today.  Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  Remember two things.  First, feed yourself, feed your family, but always, always remember to…feed the wolf.  Second,  if you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you are the sucker.  Will I blog again?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.

PICS:

My new socks, which were bought at the Wordshop store I mention above:

These will be my next socks-same store:

I was a little jealous of this guy’s hat, I admit:

This sign on 32nd street made me laugh:

Yes, my wife cried when Kyler won the Heisman:

And finally, there was a disturbing race going on Saturday with people in Santa hats and Speedo’s:

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

THROW IT BACK

nats corbin

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messie free kick majesty

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harbaugh staying at um

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