Tuesday thoughts

Hello everyone. Found out that the birthday dinner for my sister will be around 4:30. I guess she doesn't want to miss the early bird special. lol.

Song playing right now is "Have You Seen Her" by Hammer. I've always thought that New Kids on the Block sang backing vocals on this version, but I haven't confirmed it yet. Guess I should look it up on Google...

Well, I can't find it on Google, and the video for said song has a different crew of backup singers, but I'm convinced that's NKOTB on backing vocals. Give it a listen sometime and comment below or on my twitter page.

Watched "Manifest" last night, and it gets more and more bizarre. If you haven't seen it, give it a watch on demand sometime. I'd rather not give a spoiler alert because I don't have much time this afternoon.

Going back to 90s music, is there a terrestrial radio station that specializes in that decade? I haven't listened to Tampa radio in a couple of years, and there are reasons for that. For starters, half of the market is dominated by iHeart media (formerly Clear Channel), which in my mind has ruined radio, and the other half of the market sucks in general. I won't listen to country, and the station my sisters listen to (the "classic hits" station) has a playlist about as thin as the St. Pauls, NC phonebook.

I just saw the Euro model forecast on Michael and yikes:

(WESH)

That looks bad, really bad.

I guess Nikki Haley resigned as UN ambassador this morning. I read somewhere that this is the 389th(!) person to leave Trump's administration since his inauguration. This administration is more of a train wreck than I thought, and that's saying something.

Congratulations to Drew Brees on becoming the NFL's all-time leading passer last night.

I guess I should "crumb up" as my late father would say and get ready for my sister's birthday dinner; no, we aren't having Mexican, despite it being taco Tuesday.


CT

Monday thoughts...

Well, I was going to spend my Monday evening celebrating my sister's birthday, but since she wasn't feeling it today, we decided to postpone it a day. So, in the meantime, I thought I would write some random thoughts that were in my head this evening.

As a Florida Gator fan, that damned tomahawk chop that the Braves use cannot end soon enough. Dodgers, please put the already-cursed city of Atlanta out of their misery.

Good, the Dodgers got out of the jam. May as well turn it to USA and Monday Night Raw.

Wednesday is World Mental Health Day, otherwise known as Twitter awareness day.

Oh, hi Triple H. Hi HBK. I can't wait for what you have to say after what happened Saturday in Australia.

Great, more forced nostalgia from WWE. Yeah, twenty years ago was great, and it didn't suck,but how about improving your existing product than having to rely on 50-year olds to increase your luster.

Good God, my Twitter crush just posted a video on her page. I'm smitten

Atlanta is gone. Bye-bye!

For the love of God, would somebody shut up Lio Rush?

Now that Taylor Swift has jumped aboard the Blue Tsunami, does that mean Katy Perry has to make up with her? Does that mean iHeart communications will now excommunicate her?

Shut up Chris, you're overthinking this, I should watch that video again on Twitter.

Okay, better now.

This has been a bad week for kickers in the NFL. Will Lutz just missed a PAT. Mason Crosby missed five kicks on Sunday, makes me glad my Bucs had a bye week.

Good Grief, Lio Rush is still yapping.

Was that a heel turn by Bobby Lashley?

Hey the Red Sox are winning...yay???

I'd love to know what the deal is with John Cena's new hairdo.

Magic are playing on TV for the only time this preseason, and yes, I'm afraid it'll be another lost season.

I'm honestly not concerned about Hurricane Michael, because it's not going to affect us. Panama City on the other hand? Well, hunker down. And since there are a bunch of Trumpsters there, maybe I should send thoughts and prayers.

I can't get into this Saints-Washington game, I'm sorry.

Is it me, or does it seem like mass media (like Spectrum, Comcast, etc.) is  trying to take over every aspect of our lives? They're into mobile service and home protection now. Seems like we're heading for a Brave New World-esque future. Hopefully the government doesn't get involved...

I'm not out of thoughts, but I am closing this blog for the night.



CT

Game on!

"Hello out there, we're on the air. It's hockey night tonight." If you're a hockey fan, you definitely know what that phrase means. The NHL season has arrived, and around these parts, it means we finally can root for a team that actually has expectations for the new season; the Tampa Bay Lightning. Last year, the Bolts looked to be a sure bet to at least reach the Stanley Cup Final, but they ran out of gas in the conference final vs. Washington, and for the third time in four years, fell short of their ultimate goal.

This year, you'd think they have to win the Cup, or they'll pretty much be the late-90s version of the Atlanta Braves or the early-90's New York Knicks; teams that had immense talent but couldn't win it all. Yes, the Braves won it all in 1995 but what are they best known for? Falling apart come the postseason. The Bolts have pretty much the same core group from last season, however there will be a notable difference in the front office. Steve Yzerman will step down as GM, and his assistant Julien BriseBrois takes over. Y will stay around for one more year as senior advisor before taking over the same position at Detroit spending more time with his family.

As for who I'll pick to win it all, I'm not making one. Because if last year proved anything, the NHL is by far the most unpredictable of the Big 4 sports leagues. You could say it is the opposite of the NBA (where we've seen Golden State vs. Cleveland in the Finals the past four years and LeBron in the last eight). Case in point, here's who I picked in the playoffs last year:

TB over NYR

TOR over MTL

PIT over BOS

CBJ over WSH

NSH over STL

CHI over MIN

ANA over SJ

EDM over LA

TB over TOR

CBJ over PIT

CHI over NSH

EDM over ANA

TB over CBJ

EDM over CHI

TB over EDM

Montreal, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and Edmonton missed the playoffs entirely. I had Washington flaming out in the First Round as usual (though I did get the matchup right), And Vegas and Winnipeg surprised everyone. This year, expect more unpredictability, and as Doc Emrick would say, "What chaos!"

I do hope the Cup comes back to Tampa though.

Game on!



CT

It's Been A While...

Hello from the diseased wang of the US. As you probably can tell, it's been about a year since I last posted on this outlet. Why, you ask? Well for starters, I couldn't really type since my stroke last August; at least not as well as I used to (try typing with some numbness on your left side; it's more difficult than you think). Secondly, and possibly the biggest reason, is that I haven't had the motivation to post a long-form entry about something during that time frame. Nobody really liked me (at least that's what I thought), and I really didn't think people would care what I would have to say. But, as Alecia Moore (that's P!nk, if you didn't already know) sang a few years ago, you gotta get up and try. So, here I am.

This morning on my twitter feed, someone wrote this to me:

 You're like google....for those who don't want to bother going to Google...and then don't like the search results
Thanks for the warm comment, @mikef1776. I don't know whether that's a compliment or not, but let me explain. I didn't know what Bumble was, and yes I didn't feel like going to Google or Bing and search it, so I asked. My response wasn't because I didn't like what I was told (It's a dating app), it was because I don't like dating apps. Period. I've never used one, and I likely never will. But Bony, you ask, haven't you complained about not dating in the past? Yes, I have, and I still do, now it's because I don't have the means to go out. It's a long story to be quite frank, and I'll go more into detail about it one day, just not today. There is someone I'm interested in, it's just that she's literally on the opposite side of the country from me. Geography can be a real bitch sometimes. Anyway, that's what caused me to write this entry today. If I ever get to the point where I can type without making a mistake again, I'll post more. For now, goodbye CT

NHL Preview

hello and welcome to this special edition of this blog, known as the season preview for the 2017-2018 NHL season. In case you're wondering, I don't believe that I have ever put out such a thing for hockey before, so without further ado, let's get to it.

Atlantic Division
The  Tampa Bay Lightning have been the undisputed class of the division for the last several years, except they haven't won a division title to show for it. Last year, Steven Stamkos, their all-star caliber center, missed nearly all of the regular season with a knee injury. This season, he returns to playing caliber, with some help alongside too. Forward Nikita Kucherov alongside defensemen Victor Hedman round out this dominant trio, and Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy should keep out enough pucks out of the back of the net.  Elsewhere, Toronto looks to make a run for the division, Montreal still has Carey Price, and Boston still has Brad Marchand. Florida, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Detroit look to round out the division.

Metropolitan Division
Let's be honest, this is the Penguins' division to lose, as they have won the Stanley Cup the last two seasons. Washington will make a valiant effort, only to come up short (as usual). The other participants in the division are in pretty much a crapshoot to see who will get positions 3-8. Columbus appears to have the inside track. Then some have Carolina to have a lock on fourth, but I don't think so.  I think it will come down to either NY Rangers or New Jersey. Then I have the Islanders, Canes, and Flyers.

Central Division
This division is up for grabs as usual and will probably come down to the final week to settle it. This time however it'll be Nashville, proving that their Western Conference crown was no fluke. Chicago takes home second, and for third, I'll go with Minnesota. St. Louis, Dallas, Winnipeg, and Colorado takes the rest of the division.

Pacific Division
Everyone's chic pick to grab the bull by the horns is Edmonton, but yet again, I am here to say "pump your brakes", as I think Anaheim takes the division. Then comes Edmonton, then Los Angeles. I have San Jose coming in fourth, with Calgary, Vancouver, Arizona, and Vegas coming in last.


PLAYOFFS
TB over NYR
TOR over MTL
PIT over BOS
CBJ over WSH
NSH over STL
CHI over MIN
ANA over SJ
EDM over LA

TB over TOR
CBJ over PIT
CHI over NSH
EDM over ANA

TB over CBJ
EDM over CHI

TB over EDM

Come on, you didn't think I wasn't going to have a homer pick for the Stanley Cup Final did you??

Week 3 picks and other stuff

Greetings everyone, and as you can probably tell by now, the world did not come to an end last night. Just like it didn't end in 1988, and 1999, and 2002, and 2012. So there you are, and here I am.

Last week when I gave my thoughts on the Dolphins-Chargers contest in suburban Los Angeles, I made this comment regarding the Chargers:

Ever wonder what the Tampa Bay Rays would look like as an NFL team? This is it. Similar color scheme, similar apathetic markets, similar less-than-ideal home stadia. At least the Chargers will have a new home eventually, and will stay put this time.

Well a couple of things happened this week. First, the Rays' lord and savior Joe Maddon returned to the Trop with his defending champion Chicago Cubs, and fans showed up to the Trop in droves, to the tune of 25,000. The sad news however, was that they were pretty much all Cubs fans. Which led me to draw this conclusion about baseball in Tampa/St. Petersburg: yeah, we like baseball, we just don't like our team. That fact did not go unnoticed by Rays players either.

Rays "ace" Chris Archer in particular, was less than pleased. And local sportswriter Tom Jones, who isn't the biggest fan of this region to begin with, was quite negative about the atmosphere. It was not a very pleasing sight to see to those who have "fought" tooth and nail to make this Rays franchise work.

Here's my painful truth about the Rays; the fact that they're in St. Pete is the main reason nobody likes them. Tampa has never really given a shit about St. Pete, and to a somewhat smaller extent, vice versa. The late sportscaster Chris Thomas used to say that there's no unity in this community. He was right fifteen years ago, and he's right now. The Howard Frankland Bridge connects Tampa to the northern reaches of St. Pete, and everyone hates driving on it. Build a new ballpark closer to Tampa, and you may get more fans.  Of course, local leadership has been dragging their knuckles over it, and according to a recent poll, residents couldn't care less.

Enough about bad baseball though. The second thing regarding the earlier quote I posted regarding last week came down yesterday, and it's a doozy. Yahoo Sports posted an article that stated the NFL was considering bringing the Chargers back to San Diego. This from a longtime NFL reporter who spoke with a local sports talker there (more on THAT in a bit). However, league sources were quick to shut down said rumor almost as soon as it was mentioned.

My thoughts on this: this was likely a knee-jerk overreaction to the crowd in Carson for the game last week, a crowd that was nearly split 50/50 between Chargers fans and Dolphins fans. In fact it was so divisive, some couldn't even tell who he crowd was cheering for (kinda like Cubs-Rays as I alluded to earlier). So, the initial reaction would be, "Oh great, it isn't going to work in LA, let's go back to San Diego." Knowing that, one particular ratings-starved sports talk host in San Diego may get a hold of an NFL reporter who has heard rumors of a potential return to San Diego, put him on his show, and stir the pot so to speak. How would I speculate this? Because said radio host used to work in Tampa, an he's so awful I've named him the patron saint of shitty sports talk. Thank God he got himself run out of town.


Now for my Week 3 preview. Last week I went 11-5, and for a third straight week, missed the Thursday night game, so I currently have a record of 23-9. Not bad, but room for improvement.

Baltimore at Jacksonville  London
Ah yes, the Jags' annual trip to Wembley occurs early this season. Their reward? Undefeated Baltimore, who quite honestly hasn't been tested yet; and they won't this week either. Blake Bortles reverted to the Bortles we have come to know and loathe last week against Tennessee, and the Kitty Cats were blown out. This week, at least try to run Leonard Fournette as much as possible, it won't be good enough to win but at least you won't run the risk of that inevitable soul-crushing pick from Bortles.

Ravens over Jaguars

Tampa Bay at Minnesota
Last week, I turned some heads by picking against the Bucs, and they rewarded me with a stellar defensive effort reminiscent of those great Buc defenses of the late 90s/early 00s. This week, they make their first of hopefully two visits to Minneapolis this season, and they got a break when Sam Bradford was ruled out due to a knee issue. His replacement? Case Keenum, who has only torched the Bucs the last two games he's faced them as a member of the Rams. Uh-oh. Kwon Alexander is out for Tampa with a hammy issue. Double uh-oh. Rest easy though, for this is a deeper Bucs defense than in years past. However, I'm worried about Dalvin Cook AND if the Buc offense is at full throttle.  Picking the opponent worked last week. Hopefully it will again this week.

Vikings over Buccaneers 

Miami at NY Jets
Ok, I admit, the Fins got lucky last week at San Diego Carson. That's been their M.O. since last season though, thrilling, heart-stopping, last-minute victories. I doubt they'll need one this week, but these are the Jets...

Dolphins over Jets

Rest of Sunday's games:
Eagles over Giants
Patriots over Texans
Steelers over Bears
Broncos over Bills
Browns over Colts
Lions over Falcons
Saints over Panthers
Packers over Bengals
Chiefs over Chargers
Titans over Seahawks

Sunday Night (Oakland at Washington)
How exactly did Washington get a Sunday Night game this season? Did Dan Snyder gripe to the right people? Was Mia Khalifa involved? Ok I digress. Meanwhile, let's check in on Beast Mode, shall we?

Dude! Marshawn is TURNT! I think he had too much Skittles in the locker room at halftime. All kidding aside, how fun will it be to see him do this again in Landover?

Raiders over Redskins

Monday Night (Dallas at Arizona)

Those who thought Arizona was going to win the NFC West this season (raises hand) my want to reconsider. They let one slip away at Detroit then needed overtime to beat the Colts. This is their home opener, but since it's against a Cowboys team licking their wounds from last week's blowout to Denver, it won't feel like it. Look for Dallas to take out some frustration out on the Cards.

Cowboys over Cardinals

So to review:

BAL

MIN

MIA

PHI

NE

PIT

DEN

CLE

DET

NO

GB

KC

TEN

OAK

DAL

See y'all on Twitter. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

It's Been Too Long

Good morning, and with football season back in full swing, I figured I'd dust off the old blog and start writing again. Now before you (won't) ask, "where have you been?" let me say that the last month has been something else to say August 17. It was caused by hypertension and high cholesterol; my BP was running over 200/115. Hell, I should be dead in all honesty but the good Lord put on his best Braun Strowman (WWE Superstar, for those who don't know) and said, "I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!!" After about a week in the hospital, I came back home, my left side totally messed up. I was put on BP meds and I'm happy to say my BP is lower. I just need to watch my diet from here on out, which means more fruits and vegetables. Junk food has been cut out completely, as well as (much as it pains me to do so) soda.

With all that, I missed firing this back up in the preseason. I thought about bringing this back last for last weekend, but there was something else that got in the way; Hurricane Irma. So instead of blogging, I was watching non-stop storm coverage from the local news. My family got incredibly lucky; power never went out and we were only without cable for about eighteen hours. Most folks down here weren't as fortunate however. In fact, there are still places in greater Tampa Bay area without power, and with the heat we've had this week, that isn't good. Anyone who has spent a tangible amount of time living in Florida will know that air conditioning isn't a luxury, it's a necessity. It's gonna be awhile before the Sunshine State returns to somewhat normal, but after Irma, we are indeed #FloridaStrong. Now let's hope this new storm in the Atlantic (Maria) stays the hell away from us.

Now to football. As I stated earlier, Irma washed  me out last week (as well as the Bucs and Dolphins), so my picks were made in a tweet. Last week : 12-3 (losses being New England, Cincinnati, and Houston). I lost the TNF game this week. Lesson learned: don't pick the Bengals. Now for this week
.

Chicago at Tampa Bay
 Season opener for the Bucs, who were this season's "Hard Knocks" feature. New additions (Desean Jackson one of them) has made their offense on paper look elite. One thing though, they didn't look that way most of the preseason. Doug Martin (leading rusher) is suspended for three games for PED use. /furthermore, Mike Glennon, former Bucs starter, now starts for Chicago. How much of an asset  (he was under Dirk Koetter for one season) he'll be isn't sure. Bears got a bad break with Kyle Long listed as out for the game, but I have a sneaky feeling; I don't think the Bucs are as good as advertised, and I don't believe the DieBears are as bad as advertised. Not a lot of people I know at going to like this, but...

...in an "I hope I'm wrong" Upset Special,
Bears over Bucs

New England at New Orleans
Poor Saints, they got embarrassed at Minnesota on Monday night, and Adrian Peterson is already unhappy. Even worse, they get an angry Patriots team some thought would run the table...OOPS!

Pats over Saints

Rest of the early games:

Panthers over Bills
Titans over Jags
Ravens over Browns
Chiefs over Eagles
Steelers over Vikings
Cardinals over Colts


Miami at San Diego Los Angeles Chargers
Ah yes, the Chargers, the NFL's orphan team. They bolted (pun!) San Diego in hopes of greener pastures in LA, hoping to share their own stadium in Carson with the Raiders. Alas, that fell through, and now they're forced to play second fiddle to the Rams when their obscenely expensive digs in Inglewood opens in 2020. In the meantime, they will play in Carson; at a soccer stadium that barely seats 30K, and those games won't even sell out I bet. Ever wonder what the Tampa Bay Rays would look like as an NFL team? This is it. Similar color scheme, similar apathetic markets, similar less-than-ideal home stadia. At least the Chargers will have a new home eventually, and will stay put this time.

By the way, the Dolphins are kinda good,

Dolphins over Chargers

Rest of the late games:

Raiders over Jets
Cowboys over Broncos
Rams over Washington
Seahawks over 49ers

Sunday Night (GB at ATL)
Hey, it's the third grand opening of the new Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta. The facility is nice, and already holds a record; largest ever crowd for a Major League Soccer game (70K and change for yesterday's match between Atlanta United and Orlando City). Plus, rumor has it that the "oculus" at the top of the stadium will be open for tonight. In fact all that's missing from it is a statue commemorating that 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl before...well, you know.
As for tonight, this is the game of the week. Falcons looked a little sluggish in Chcago last week. I doubt they will tonight.

Falcons over Packers

Monday Night:

Home opener for the Giants as they host Detroit. Call me cooky, but I actually believe in this Lions team. I kinda wish more football fans did. As for the Giants, Odell Beckham, Jr. could be in action. This is a tough game to pick. Heart kinda wants me to go Lions, but in New Jersey?

Giants over Lions

to recap:
CHI
NE
CAR
TN
BAL
KC
PIT
AZ
MIA
OAK
DAL
LAR
SEA
ATL
NYG

Enjoy the games!