Well, we all were very Kyrgios how that would go…

The Cast

Date: 10 July 2022

FILLERBUSTER’S ELEVEN

SETTING:  Set up the night before during Curb (finally catching up), and finished right after the Djokovic/Kyrgios match Sunday morning.

1. EVERGREEN 1:
   1. I was going to make this long, but am just going to get to the point.  Nick Kyrgios has all of the skills to win a Slam.  He had a walkover in his semifinal match.  He won the first set.  He was up 40-0 at 4-4 in the third today before blowing that.  He was in the fourth set tiebreaker before blowing that.  HOW can you be that much on the cusp with your tennis skills and not examine your mental approach?  He yelled at his box most of the match.  Is he not interested in taking that next step?  Is he just happy with going through the motions?  Does he enjoy being that rebel that much?  I thought he would recognize the moment today and focus a little more.  I didn’t want him to be different, but just understand the gravity of winning a Major.  The rallies were top notch.  VERY high-level tennis was played today.  But, in those minute details, you saw the difference between mad skills and a champion.  It saddened me a little.  I wanted to watch someone take that next step.  The ONLY thing I saw different is that he slowed down his ridiculous pace of play when serving. Just like players of other sports watch the tape of wins and losses, I hope Nick watches the tape of this one.  Not of the rallies.  But, the in between moments.  When you hit an unforced error, you have to wipe your mind and move on and not DWELL on it.  Nick was the same old self in NOT the same old tennis moment.  I saw truly that he doesn’t want to be on top.  He just wants to be different. But, there are similarities that all champions have that are the same. There is a reason they are the best.
   2. Oh. All that is written from a Kyrgios fan’s point of view. If you watched the match, you know he had chances. He has the game, and today he had chances to regroup and win.
   3. Oh, yes, I realize he was playing one of the best to ever pick up a racket. I get that too. But, Slams aren’t handed to you…
2. NFL: 
   1. So, my wife is trying to figure out if she is a Panthers fan.  I told her to see if Baker wins the starting job before jumping to decisions.  Or, as Val Kilmer said to Mav in Top Gun II, maybe “it’s time to let go.”
   2. You might hate the Raider because you are a Broncos fan.  You might hate the Raiders because they are the Raiders.  But, in this day and age, they are AHEAD of almost all organizations in accepting everyone and promoting diversity, and that is not subjective.  That is a fact.  They hired the first black woman team president and that is awesome.
   3. Ask my wife who my favorite Steelers player is.  Well, it would be a tie, but one of them celebrated their birthday on July 8^th.  Jack Lambert.  What a badass.
   4. (the other one is Rocky Bleier-the only two players I would EVER wear a jersey for from football).
   5. (only other jersey overall is Allen Iverson).
3. COLLEGE BASKETBALL:  
   1. I had no notes.  So, UNC will win the championship next year, UVA will still creep up on people, and Arkansas might be the most fun team to watch next year.
4. COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
   1. Oregon just pulled the #8 recruit, and #3 pocket passing QB.  Great pull, considering the conference realignment issues and new coaches there.
   2. Must be nice to be Notre Dame.  Every other school is scrambling.  They are sitting around, smoking a cigar, and waiting for the dust to settle.  It doesn’t affect their money, although they DO need a conference to have a clear path to the CFP every year.
5. NBA: 
   1. I don’t like people making quick summations off of NBA Summer League, and I do agree that people have too much time if they watch a game a day, but I WILL turn it off in some down time or when in need of background TV.
   2. Chet Holmgren had a debut and social media lit up.  Chet Holmgren got bullied down low and social media lit up.  Can we just all take a deep breath and know that summer league…is summer league?  We are watching backups play with the newbies.
   3. I informed my Celtic fan friend that IF the Celtics win the title next year, it took them getting a UVA guard (Brogdon).  Now, all bias aside, the one obvious deficiency was a playmaking PG who could also play defense.  If he avoids injuries, that is exactly what Malcolm is.  And, he is a class act and great locker room presence.
   4. I am not saying that Rudy Gobert is not a good pickup for the Wolves.  I am just saying that I have never seen so much given up for a defensive center who is playing in a positionless league.
   5. I am impressed that Zion signed his extension.  I am impressed by his loyalty to the team.  Now, I, and all NBA fans, want to see a possibly generational player actually play.  I just watched some of his high school tape the other day and it is absolutely hilarious.
   6. Durant wants to leave.  Kyrie thinks the world is flat and only wants to play with LeBron.  Harden had to be traded, and he is an out of shape, past his prime, never proven his worth in the playoffs guy.  This world is insane.  What is more insane?  Harden gave up $15 mil a year to get better players…AFTER the free agency window was mostly done.  You can’t write this stuff.
   7. If I am the Nets, I wait this Durant thing out as LONG as possible.  They owe him nothing and should wait for the boatload offer.
   8. The Lakers signed Thomas Bryant.  What a big name signing.  That will put them over the hump.  Sarcastic.
   9. Ja Morant tipped $500 at a diner.  I am an ex-bartender who gets yelled at still from my wife for over-tipping.  I would be a horribly nice rich person.
   10. Speaking of new stars, MJ will be the cover of NBA 2K’s 23^rd cover.  I love MJ.  He is and will be the best ever until I am 12 feet under (LeBron joke).  But, let kids like Ja be the cover.  So many exciting players, and MJ is doing just fine, folks.  First negative comment I have made about MJ since he kicked my boy off the Dream Team.
   11. I have this weird feeling that Melo will somehow spend his last year or two on the Nuggets.
   12. MJ made $34 million in one of his last Bulls years.  He won 6 titles.  Lillard just got a two-year extension for $122 million.  Wow.  In the words of Stranger Things, I think we are ALL in the upside down.
6. NHL:  
   1. I like the Avs picking up the backup goalie from the Rangers.  The delta of what it would have taken to keep Kuemper makes mathematical sense.  And the Avs won this year DESPITE Darcy, not because of him.
   2. I am no expert on nations or the NHL draft, but having two players selected #1 and #2 in a draft sounds pretty badass, Slovakia.
   3. I get the feeling that that kid, Shane Wright, should NOT have gone #4.
7. MLB: 
   1. Ohtani has thrown no earned runs in the last four starts.
   2. Ohtani hit an RBI double in the last game to chase the pitcher.
   3. Ohtani might win the Cy Young AND MVP.
   4. Ohtani and Trout might not be in the playoffs.
   5. Sadness.
   6. Albert Pujols will be in the ASG lineup.  Love the guy, and great career, but wrong move.  We have too many exciting baseball players in the league right now to have a guy hitting under .200 in the showcase for the league.
8. MISCELLANEOUS:  
   1. You have to respect ANY human being who owns what they do.  But, Joey Chestnut…yeah.  What an odd thing to have mastered…
   2. So, Nadal fought like a Warrior to beat Taylor Fritz, and that was cool.  But, if he knew he wasn’t going to play another two matches, a small part of me, a very small part of me, wishes he would have listened to dad and just retired so we HAD a semifinal match.  I know that is unrealistic.  I just would have liked to see someone play.
   3. The women’s final of Wimbledon was SOOOO weird.  What is winning on grass (if not named Chris Evert)?  It is serving and playing the net.  The winner had only one of the two.  I have never seen someone win Wimbledon who wasn’t comfortable at playing the net.
   4. The WWE head (McMahon) paid $12 million to 4 women for bad stuff.  And this just came out NOW?  Impressed by their secrecy.  I just assumed things like that were true.
   5. The Open is next week.  You should watch.  Watching golf in where it was invented early in the morning is really kind of cool.
9. THIS AND THAT: 
   1. James Caan died.  Sad.  He was in the greatest movie that my wife has never seen and the greatest Christmas movie that my wife HAS seen (and what our dog is named after).
10. LOCAL:
    1. I can’t do this.  Just read my 100’s of reviews on Google.
11. THE FILLERBUSTER:
    1. We went to Dillon on the Fourth.  I would stay at that Best Western again right across from the lake.
    2. I find it is extremely hard to clean your own house when you have to clean the Airbnb to a spotless mode every three days.
    3. The Rockies fireworks were incredible, you had better see fireworks before this whole world goes green, and get on the field.
    4. I cleaned my garage in the 100 degree heat.  I am an organizer.  I took everything out, put everything back in, threw away not much, but now know where EVERYTHING in my garage is.  That is important.
    5. When not cleaning my garage this weekend, I binged Curb Your Enthusiasm.  I can watch Seinfeld with no sound and quote it perfectly, but somehow didn’t latch on the Curb.  Curb is brilliant, folks.  So many references to Seinfeld, but definitely its own show.
    6. The OTHER thing I did when my wife was out was organize the 1400 photos from 2022 that were in my Google Drive.  I like to be ORGANIZED.  I put everything in folders so I can share every event with anyone who wants it, and my OCD feels better.
    7. I have NO idea on how I made Jovie a frisbee dog, but she literally gets depressed if the frisbee hits the ground.  When my wife said we were getting me a dog, I said I just wanted her/him to be a frisbee dog.  I am looking into local competitions.  Seriously.
    8. Every time my wife goes out of town and I want to itch my old hustling game of Golden Tee, I walk in a place and there are 4 guys on the machine on hole 4.  Dammit.

12. TWEET OF THE WEEK

ALTERNATE CATEGORIES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT:

1. THE BEST WORKOUT SONG EVER FOR THIS WEEK (because the best song this week IS the best song ever…for now):  I like a lot of Octane, and my favorite bands of late are Caskets, From Ashes to New, and Falling In Reverse.
2. QUOTE OF THE WEEK:  You should be tracking this on your own.  Kind of important.
3. LINKS TO SAVE YOU TIME IN LIFE:  I don’t have time these days to save you time in life.  I have a dog.  I can’t imagine having a human.
4. TRAVEL:  Well, just keep up with us I guess on FB and IG.  Again, no time to post this stuff.
5. THIS WEEK’S LIST:  Not sure why I started this.
6. MY NUMBERS:  Working on these.  Will have a washboard again by my 50^th, as that is how I choose to pass that milestone.
7. GONE FISHING (the riddle for money): Doesn’t exist anymore
8. PICS BY MY iPhone (pictures from my phone): Just know that I have 4000 photos of trips, and you can just ping me for pics of my trips.  I don’t have time to organize posts with pics.  Sorry.
9. LIFEGUARD ENTRY: This was a pop culture thing, but I don’t work with Anthony anymore.
10. EVERGREEN 2: 

The theme?  Nick Kyrgios.  Waiting to see if he wins or loses before posting this blog.

And our weekly reminder of the greatest sequel ever made coming out this summer… Top Gun 2.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8z1rqA8jRw&vl=en

IT ALREADY CAME OUT.  SAW IT FOUR TIMES.  BEST SEQUEL SINCE GODFATHER 2.

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.  As one shepherd said to the other shepherd, let’s get the flock out of here.