9/11--20 Years On

 9/11.

To everyone, it used to be just a date on the calendar. For the past twenty years however, it means the day our world changed forever.

There have been many times in the last ten-plus where I would see videos on YouTube where I would replay the network news coverage on that day, just to remind myself what actually happened and to see for myself that there were no conspiracies that ran rampant in the months that followed what happened (there's a YouTube channel that goes into detail about those theories and why they're debunked. I highly recommend it). And over and over I find that ABC's coverage with the late Peter Jennings was probably the most informative, with Tom Brokaw and NBC (who I saw) a close second. 

As the years have gone by, I still cannot begin to imagine the sheer heartbreak of not only New Yorkers, but the entire nation. Just yesterday on Twitter, I saw a picture of a little boy with the burning WTC towers in the background, and you could see in his eyes something was wrong. Or the videos of the terrified onlookers first staring at what was happening, then running for their lives as the towers crumbled to the ground. Or especially this image, when then President Bush, at an elementary school in Sarasota at the time, found out about the second plane crash (shown above).

What happened in the immediate aftermath was remarkable. We came as one as a country. Republicans and Democrats actually got along. Patriotism was at an all-time high. The Yankees became somewhat likeable in the eyes of some baseball fans. America rallied. We weren't going to allow a podunk terrorist, Osama bin Laden, bring the greatest nation on Earth to her knees. 

And then months later, we went after him. Little did we know, or believe at the time in would almost take an entire decade before we finally caught and killed the bastard, and spend almost two decades (until just this past month) before we would finally end our involvement in Afghanistan.

It's easy and I guess convenient to armchair quarterback what has taken place over the last twenty years, or play revisionist history of said events, such as, what if 9/11 didn't happen? Or if President Clinton had taken out bin Laden? How different would our nation look? We will likely never know the answers to those questions, but there is something that is known:

We must never forget. 

CT

Bony Scribe's 2021 NFL Preview...And More

Later this week, the National Football League will begin its 103nd season in Tampa, as the Dallas Cowboys take on the defending Super Bowl Champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers (man, that feels great to say that). So you may or may not be wondering what my thoughts are on the upcoming season. Well, hard to say; last year we kinda didn't know what to expect because there was no preseason due to the ongoing pandemic. This year, we had preseason games, but there was one fewer game (we get a 17th regular season game to make up for it), and not all the top stars participated (Aaron Rodgers and Tua Tagovaiola come to mind). However, we will have full stands full of (hopefully) vaccinated crowds, so the ghost town atmosphere of playing in empty venues such as Met Life Stadium are gone. In other words it will feel like football season again. Sooooo, let's get to it.

NFC South

Last year's Super Bowl champions hail from the NFC South, but they didn't win the division. That honor belonged to the New Orleans Saints, who lost to Tampa in the divisional round (and trust me, Bucs fans haven't let Saints fans forget about it either). This year will be drastically different in NOLA with Drew Brees hanging up the cleats and heading to the broadcast booth. In his place will be the former QB1 of the Bucs, Jameis Winston. 

Whether Winston eats Ws like crab legs in the French Quarter or serves up turnovers like he did in his time here in Tampa remains to be seen. Going off the small sample sie of the preseason, probably the former. Meanwhile in Atlanta, Matt Ryan is still slinging the football around, but he no longer has Julio Jones. In Charlotte, Sam Darnold (hopefully mono free) takes over the quarterbacking duties, and it will be interesting to see how they fare with a healthy Christian McCaffery for a full season. Saving the best for last, the immortal Tom Brady and the Bucs return all their starters from the Super Bowl winning campaign, which hasn't happened this millennium. Here's the scary part; they may be even better than last year. That spells doom for the rest of the division; but, this is football, and you never know what happens over the course of a season.

NFC North

Mr. Discount Double Check, Aaron Rodgers, is back in Green Bay after rumors of him being traded during the offseason. Which means the division should be theirs for the taking. Two storylines to watch for will be Justin Fields's emergence with the Chicago Bears, and how Jared Goff will fare with Detroit.

NFC East 

Dak Prescott returns for Dallas after injury curtailed his season last year. He should be good to go against Tampa Thursday night even if their offensive line will be shorthanded...again. As for the rest of the division, will Jalen Hurts or Joe Flacco be the signal caller for Philly? Which Giant team will we see in 2021, the underachievers of last year, or oe that can live up to their potential? Was last season in Washington a fluke for the Football Team?

NFC West

This may be the most competitive division in the league. All four teams could possibly win it. The defending champs Seattle Seahawks have Russell Wilson and plenty of talent on both sides of the ball, but will it be enough to outlast a VERY stingy Rams defense. Speaking of which, LA has Matthew Stafford now. Arizona could be a dark horse with the addition of JJ Watt. And as for San Francisco, will Kyle Shanahan's two quarterback rotation of Jimmy Garappolo and Trey Lance actually work? Though it looks like Jimmy G will get the week one nod.

AFC East

Welcome to the new AFC East, run by Bills Mafia whether you like it or not. I have the over/under of tables destroyed at 200.5 for the season, and with good reason; Josh Allen is the real deal. Other than possible stadium issues getting in the way, 2021 should be smooth sailing. For Miami, rumors are already swirling that Tua is already a bust. The Dolphins are saying all the right things, but the specter of Deshaun Watson getting traded to them looms large. 

The Cam Newton era in Foxborough is over, as he was cut in favor of the first round pick Mac Jones. Whether or not the Pats will improve remains to be seen. And the Jets, sigh. Will this team ever catch a break?

AFC North

The last time people were this excited over the Cleveland Browns, I was in junior high school and Bernie Kosar was their quarterback, and with another season of Baker Mayfield throwing to OBJ and with Nick Chubb running the ball, watch out. Ben Roethlisberger returns for his 18th season with Pittsburgh, and Lamar Jackson hopes to return to his MVP form. As for Cincinnati, how good is Joe Burrow? We didn't see much since last year was injury shortened, and he didn't take a snap in the preseason.

AFC South

This is Tennessee's division. The Colts have COVID and injury issues, the Jaguars have first overall pick Trevor Lawrence, first year head coach Urban Meyer, and that's about it. Second-round pick Travis Etienne is already done for the year, and thousands of delusional fan-girls hearts were broken when Tim Tebow was released after the first preseason game. I'm a Gators fan, and I didn't think that experiment was going to work. Houston? What a mess; that's all I'll say.

AFC West

The Chiefs are still the team to beat in this division, if not the entire AFC. I think if anything last season taught us is that Tom Brady isn't going to pass the torch anytime soon, so Patrick Mahomes will have to snatch it from him. Look for the LA Chargers to potentially give KC a run, though EVERYTHING has to break in their favor for that to happen. The Broncos will have Teddy Bridgewater under center for them, and the Raiders will finally have fans at Allegiant Stadium this season, but that's about the only good thing about them.

Who Takes Home Lombardi in Los Angeles?

Here's who I pick from the NFC:

South: Tampa Bay
West: Los Angeles
North: Green Bay
East: Dallas
WC: New Orleans
WC: Seattle
WC: Arizona

and from the AFC:

East: Buffalo
West: Kansas City
South: Tennessee
North: Cleveland
WC: Baltimore
WC: Los Angeles
WC: Miami

My Super Bowl pick:
Tampa Bay over Buffalo 

Oh, I Mentioned More, Didn't I?

Since Gameday is rapidly approaching, my opening night pick:

Tampa Bay over Dallas but the Cowboys will cover the 8 point spread.

CT

It's September, You Know What That Means

Greetings everyone, a lot has happened since we spoke on here. The Olympics came and went, we finally got the hell out of Afghanistan, I finally told my story about that girl I liked a long time ago; sort of. I just didn't want to divulge it here. Also, I became fully vaccinated and I must admit, that 5G is something else other than general soreness around my left shoulder where I got jabbed, the vaccine really didn't bother me at all. Plus, on a sadder note, Ida blitzed through and left quite a mess from Louisiana to New England.

But since September is here, that means two things. We have to wake up Green Day at the end of the month, and football is here. The pros start up next week and (for the most part) the college game starts tonight. That said, if I get off my ass and actually start writing in earnest, I'll be posting my picks for pro games (and some college games) through this season. Please take these with a grain of salt though, because 1) they are for entertainment purposes only, and 2) I'm definitely no expert; as Howard Cosell once stated many years ago, "I never played the game."

Tonight, here's who I have:

LIU over FIU

UCF over Boise State

Coastal Carolina over Citadel

Appalachian over East Carolina

NC State over South Florida

Ohio State over Minnesota

Friday night:

North Carolina over Va. Tech

Charlotte over Duke

Wake Forest over Old Dominion

Northwestern over Michigan State

Saturday's games I'll post tomorrow. As for who's winning the CFB Playoff, welp it'll be the same ol' same ol'. Expect Alabama (SEC), Ohio State (Big10), Oklahoma (Big 12), and Clemson (ACC) to be in it at the end, with Alabama winning it all again. 

As for the other conferences, Oregon will win the PAC-12, Cincinnati will win the American, Boise will win the Mountain West, Coastal Carolina will win the Sun Belt, Marshall will win C-USA, and Buffalo will take the MAC. Notre Dame will be top Independent again after a one-off year where they were in the ACC thanks to COVID.

Also Saturday, I'll have my preview for the upcoming NFL season. Enjoy tonight!

CT

August 6, 2021; This And That

 

Greetings everyone.  I was going to devote this blog post to the shenanigans of our governor, who I have no love lost for if you've seen my Twitter feed, over the past week in regards to Florida's astronomical COVID numbers, but that kind of negative news would only get me upset, and I don't want to post while I'm angry, so I'll devote my time to talk about something else.

The Olympics wrap up this weekend in Tokyo. For some, it's a sigh of relief because people have missed "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent" (I haven't). For others, it's a slight disappointment because let's face it, the Games do inspire countless people throughout the world. The most inspiring moment in my opinion came early this week at the long jump final. Long story short, Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Giamarco Tamberi were tied for the lead going into their attempt to jump 2.39 meters, which they didn't succeed in. Since those two competitors had zero missed attempts going into that height, the two competitors were set for a jump off, until Barshim asked if they could forgo the jump off and split the gold medal. What happened next was pure magic. It will be a moment that will live on in Olympic, and sporting lore, for ages to come.

This morning I woke up and chose violence...to my beard:

Don't worry, it'll grow back in time for the baseball postseason, and beyond 😉.

Speaking of violence, I had to break out the block machine this evening. Some annoying bot on Twitter thought it could catfish me hook, line, and sinker (sinker?), but alas, this person had a name of Natasha (no, not Natasha Natale of "Rocky & Bullwinkle"), but her handle name was YvonneC40284849 or the prototypical catfish bot handle of FirstNameLastInitialEightDigitNumber. That's almost an automatic block.

Hurricane season is starting to ramp up, but we have not had a named storm in the Atlantic basin since Elsa sloshed ashore in early July. However, don't let the lack of activity the last month or so fool you, it may get even busier than at first thought. And in case you haven't been paying attention, the world is literally on fire in certain places (California, Turkey, Siberia) and underwater in others (Germany, England), so mother nature is showing her ugly side in a ear unprecedented way.

(from www.independent.co/uk)

I swear this month sometime I'll tell you that story of the girl I knew a long time ago. I believe her birthday is sometime this month; I was going to mention it a couple of weeks ago, but the Olympics started and I got sidetracked. I also might look for a new blogging platform, because this blog won't get monetized and I don't think I can say everything I want to say on here. I have a wordpress site, but I haven't taken the time to configure all the bells and whistles on it. Whenever I do, I'll let you know. I the meantime, later.  

CT

Champa!! Bay!!

Greetings from Champa Bay, where Lightning has struck again! If you're scoring at home, first off, congratulations. Second, that's now three championships in a little over ten months. That's  a quite impressive feat, so much so that our friends and rivals to the north are a bit jealous. From the Boston Herald on facebook: 

Seems like they're a little salty over Tampa Tom signing here last spring. Oh well. As a Boston area native (and current Tampa Bay resident) once wrote: "And if they hate, let 'em hate, I drop their whole clan. Lay your ass down for the three second tan." I bet you can't get that song out of your head now. 

Nonetheless, I'm thrilled to pieces for my home region, now if only Tampa Bay's sporting success can spread to Orlando. Waiting on you, Magic and OCSC.

Speaking of Orlando, I was doing some Googling the other day to see what happened to some of the teachers/administrators of the old Orlando Christian school I attended as a little kid in Pine Hills. Much to my surprise, the old principal, Les Van Winkle, is still around and still living in the Pine Hills area. The president of the school, Dr. Meyer, sadly passed away two years ago. As is the case with my second grade teacher, Mr, Booth in 2013. As far as I know, my first grade teacher (Mrs. Nelson) in Zellwood, FL. And I think Mrs. Butler passed away not too long ago, but I'm not too certain; I'll have to verify if that is the case. 

I also saw the old playground at the old school (now Kingsway Christian Academy), and saw a few things I didn't quite recognize, like a couple of trees planted near the walkway where I would walk with my crush after school from the annex where grades 1-6 were to the office/chapel/high school area was where her mom worked, and her canary yellow Olds Ninety Eight. I could make an entire blog post about her (stay tuned), but for now, let's just say she was the Jessica to my Morty (if you've seen 'Rick and Morty,' you'll understand the reference.

But I digress, Monday is the victory boat parade for the Lightning, and hopefully I can attend. I'm hoping for a ride down to Tampa, otherwise I'll have to utilize this regions fractured and inefficient transit system, and that may take forever. Plus the parade starts at 11am, kind of early, but who doesn't want to see party Kuch at that time of day? If you remember last year's celebration at Raymond James Stadium (why couldn't the use it this year,) Party Kuch was a sensation, as was Pat Maroon. Anyway, hoping I can attend.

Well, better get to my Friday night, and my Fireball. 😉

CT

Twitter

Elsa's Here

 Greetings once again. In case you haven't noticed (especially if you live in Florida), Tropical Storm (for now) Elsa is knocking on the doorstep of the Gulf Coast of the Sunshine State. Here where I live, we have made sure everything in secured. Sandbags have been filled across many counties across the Tampa Bay region, and this area by and large is ready. By the way, I mentioned in my last post about how Elsa could affect the Stanley Cup Final. Well, I can tell you that the Tampa Bay Lightning players have arrived back in Tampa safely, and I assume the Montreal Canadiens have as well, but as of this writing nothing official from the NHL has been said about any potential disruptions to Game 5, which is scheduled for Wednesday at Amalie Arena. Of course, by that time, Elsa will have long since left the immediate Tampa Bay region and probably affect Gainesville, but that is something everyone will undoubtedly keep an eye on.

I'm writing this right now because frankly I don't know if and when we'll lose power in Hernando County, which means that I can't post anything on here until power returns, and who knows that will last? Bottom line though, is that I hope everyone in Florida stays safe from this storm.  

CT

Why a sweep would be optimal for Tampa Bay

 Greetings again, in my last post I made a list of potential future topics to write about for this blog. Well, I'm not going to work on that just yet; instead, I thought I would give my thoughts about this year's Stanley Cup Final, which at the time of this writing, was being led by the Tampa Bay Lightning two games to none, with games three and four being held on Friday and next Monday respectively.

If Montreal wins either one of their home games, the series shifts back to Tampa for Game Five. So what's the issue you ask? Elsa.

As you can see from the map above, Elsa is our latest tropical system and from its current predicted path, could wreak havoc with a possible Game 5 come next Wednesday. So, what can be done? Well, and this is totally speculative, the NHL could play game 5 in Montreal and have games 6 and 7 in Tampa. There is a precedent (sort of) for an unforeseen set of circumstances moving a series after all. Or, the NHL could potentially delay game 5 until later. But the best possible outcome?

Tampa takes care of business Friday and Monday and clinches their second consecutive Stanley Cup and third overall.

CT

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