It's Been A Minute...

 You know, I was doing something I ought to do more often, and that's look back on posts I've written in the past, and I was thinking (albeit somewhat delusional) how fire some of those posts were (like my Bracket-Tyner-Gy post, which I totally whiffed on), and thought to  myself, "you know, you actually do have a little bit of talent, why don't you utilize it more often?" God depression is a bitch, you don't even want to talk to people who really do care about you when it takes a hold. But you know what? I'm the only one who can change that, and with yesterday being the birthday of the USMC, why not channel some energy from America's favorite gunnery sergeant and get myself off mamby-pamby land, ya jackwagons!

"Sir, yes sir!!"

We'll start off with a "how it started vs. how it's going" as far as my picks for the 2023 NFL season are concerned, since we're now at the halfway point of the year. My Super Bowl pick is currently on track to happen, as both the Eagles and Chiefs have the best records in their respective conferences. However, the similarities end there. In the AFC, I had Buffalo winning the East, but as of right now they're out of a playoff spot (Miami currently leads the East). Baltimore leads the North, although my pick (Cincinnati) is surging after five straight wins. Jacksonville leads the South and barring a major collapse (and unexpected surge by surprising Houston) should take the division. In the NFC, Detroit is doing better than expected and is leading the North, while Minnesota is a game and a half out, but currently in Wild-Card position. San Francisco is leading the West for now, owning a tiebreaker over my pic, Seattle, while New Orleans is leading the worst South. I was right about my assessment on the Bucs; they're 3-5 and trending downwards. At this point, they may as well blow it up and do a hard reset. I don't think Todd Bowles survives past this season, even if they somehow luck out and make the playoffs (which will be like last year, with a losing record if they do). Might be time to start Kyle Trask for a few games to see if he actually has some promise. At least that is what some Buc fans on X Twitter (it'll always be Twitter to me, f*** you, Elon) are saying at this rate. 

I haven't watched much news the past couple of weeks, and quite frankly, I don't think that's a bad thing. But I did notice one thing that happened this week, and that's Vivek Whatshisface putting his foot in his mouth during Wednesday night's GOP debate when he was yapping about TikTok, or more notably, who is using the app. He put his foot in his mouth by mentioning the daughter of opponent Nikki Haley. Not cool, bro. Not cool. I did hear one snippet from Chris Christie that stated that he would ban TikTok, apparently because it's a Chinese-based app that can somehow be used to spy on Americans and American interests. Let me give you my thoughts on it. I use TikTok myself, and I don't see any Chinese propaganda on there, in fact if there's any propaganda it's the same old bullshit that we've seen from the media in our country for the past decade or so, on both sides of the aisle. If you want to ban an app, why don't ban the Temu app instead? If any Chinese asset is trying to pry into our personal lives, addresses, etc., it's that one. Plus, their commercials are hella annoying, about as bad as ones for automobile insurance (looking at you, "Flo"). While we're at it, why don't we ban other things that get on my nerves, like Mistplay, the dork talking about "Atlas Earth," Jelly Roll (in fact, almost all country music; yeah, I went there), facial tats, Elon Musk, the Property Douchebros, Skyrizi commercials, and Bally Sports. Seriously, have you seen that channel lately? It's like they aren't even trying. Take issue with what I said? Well, I'm sure there are more than a few people that would like to see this blog disappear, including certain real estate agents northwest of Orlando. 

Enough ranting though, let's talk about a labor of love of mine for the past several years, and that's my points system that I use for the Billboard Hot 100 and Radio & Records charts for years past. The latest project I'm doing is combining the point totals that I have tabulated from the R&R charts along with the ones from the Billboard charts. I've done eight years on Billboard so far (1980-1987), and by the end of this year, I aim to have the entire decade of the 1980's wrapped up. I think this upcoming week, I'll do 1980 to start off with. I have noticed that there are some discrepancies between the two charts as in which songs topped the year. Maybe I can include that data in the blog, so stay tuned, it'll be coming up (like a flower).

" ...like a flowerrrr!"

Today is Veterans Day, so to all who have had the privilege to serve in Armed Forces, a very hearty thank you. This former Sailor will have his old ship on his mind this week as she is cruising towards the Middle East region, because Iranian proxies are playing a game of FAFO, and rest assured it will end very, very badly for them.

you don't want any of this, Iran.

Other than that, I'll be enjoying some free grub from Chili's and Applebee's, as well as watching Florida State hopefully beat up on Miami. So, enjoy your Saturday, and I'll be back later.

BonyScribe 

So Much For That

 Greetings. Remember when I wrote a few days ago that this upcoming week would be crucial for me? Well, so much for that. Miss Thang is still with her abusive fiancée, and I got a snarky comment when telling her that I wasn't going to see her next week as a result. So, I'm back to square one, just as I have always been throughout almost the entirety of my adult life. So,no Charlie Brown, that little red-headed girl of my dreams indeed doesn't exist. Good grief.

Oh, and one other thing while I'm at it. Phuck Philly.

BS

Some Radio Stuff I'm Pondering About/Football Picks

 Hello, everyone. Earlier this week, I was doing something I haven't really done much of since 2016; listened to terrestrial radio. It was a niche station that covers the Nature Coast (Pasco/Hernando/Citrus Counties in Florida) called Hits 106, WGHR. I think one of their personalities is known as Marvelous Marvin who, for those you are reading this in the Tampa Bay area, once worked for I believe Q105 and Mix 100.7 in the past. The station primarily plays classic pop songs from the 1970s and 1980s. 

Most of the music played on said station is pretty much what you would expect from them; songs from those two decades that were monsters on the Billboard Hot 100, but I heard a rogue song at the time I was listening to the station; "Smooth," the classic from Robb Thommas and Carlos Santana, which was released in the summer of 1999. I thought for a minute that the song didn't quite fit the format for the sheer fact that it wasn't a 70's or 80's song. Then I thought about it further; 1999 was TWENTY-FOUR years ago, and when I was growing up in the 80's, songs from that long ago from that point (1960s) were considered oldies. I mean my two sisters were raised on The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Clapton, etc. 

That got me to thinking, what songs from the 1990s and 2000s would fit the format of Hits 106? I imagine it probably wouldn't be based off the Hot 100, as during the 1990s and beyond (especially after 1994) that chart was definitely skewed towards hip-hop and some country. Moreover, some of the songs from those two decades were, let's just say not radio friendly. So, I guess we'd have to make a determination of which songs would make the cut based on Radio & Records CHR/Pop charts from that era. Fortunately, I have such a list that I have compiled over the past decade or so. So, I'll have to check said lists out, and make that determination. Something that I will be working on over this weekend as well as the week following, so stay tuned.

Week 7 NFL Picks:

Thanks to a last-minute touchdown from Christian Kirk, I started this week on a winning note, as Jacksonville defeated New Orleans to raise my record to 58-36. Will I have as good a record as I had last weekend (12-3)? Doubtful. But at least I'm not throwing in the towel this season as I did last year. Recent events in my personal life have given me a second wind. Next week could be crucial for me, that's all I'll say for now. As for my picks:

BUF over NE
WSH over NYG
CLE over IND
DET over BAL
LV over CHI
TB over ATL
LAR over PIT
SEA over AZ
KC over LAC
GB over DEN
PHI over MIA
SF over MIN

Byes: CIN, DAL, HOU, NYJ, TEN

Buh-bye: CAR

And for college games Saturday:

Penn State over Ohio State (upset special)
Navy over Air Force
Oklahoma over UCF
Arkansas over Mississippi State
Memphis over UAB

East Carolina over Charlotte
Oregon over Washington State
Alabama over Tennessee
Connecticut over South Florida (at least Beth Mowins isn't calling this game, Bulls fan)
Missouri over South Carolina

Illinois over Wisconsin
Iowa over Minnesota
Wake Forest over Pitt
Texas over Houston
North Carolina over Virginia

LSU over Army
Michigan over Michigan State
Florida State over Duke
USC over Utah
Clemson over Miami

Washington over Arizona State
UCLA over Stanford

Mercifully, Colorado has a bye week, so we get a break from the overblown hype express. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

BS 

What A Weird Weekend

 Hello everyone. Was it just me or were things feeling off this weekend? I know we had Friday the 13th happen this weekend, and a solar eclipse. Still when it came to this weekend, things felt a little off, dontcha think? 

Starting off with Friday night, which happened to be homecoming night for both high schools I attended, Hoke County, NC and Apopka, FL. It was in the realm of college football and involved Overhype University (aka Colorado) and their home tilt against lowly Stanford. At one point during the game, in which Colorado led 29-0, the person in charge of the music/sound effects that sometimes play between downs got a wee bit carried away, and the referee was not having any of it. Now did it have an effect on the performance of the Buffaloes going forward? Maybe. Because after halftime (remember it was 29-0 Colorado), Stanford inconceivably stormed back from said deficit to capture a 46-43 overtime victory. 

You know what this kind of reminds me of? The Houston Oilers of the late 1980s and the Atlanta Falcons of the early 1990s under Jerry Glanville. For those of you old enough to remember that era in professional football, remember how ridiculously hyped both those teams were, and how they had all sorts of celebrities coming out to their games, and Glanville was featured in that hideous "2 Legit 2 Quit" video by MC Hammer (which should be included in my "Jukebox From Hell", which I should make as a future subject on this blog)? Well, how many championships did those teams win? Zero. And after a while it fell apart, in fact in the case of the Oilers, they wound up moving to Nashville. Yet most people are on board the Deion Sanders hype train as if they want to hand them a College Football Playoff National Championship. A cautionary tale to remain humble in any endeavor one partakes in. 

Saturday, was the eclipse, and I didn't go outside to see it, there were some clouds in my area from what I understand, but a few people did get some pictures of it locally. I wound up sleeping most of the early part of Saturday, but I did wake up to catch Florida face South Carolina, and I thought the Gators would lay another dud on the road, but lo and behold they rallied from a ten-point deficit in the final five minutes to come away with a crucial 41-39 win. That wasn't the only thing on Saturday, not by a long-shot. You had Illinois hitting a game-winning field goal in the face of the Kevin James meme at Maryland. You had douchebag extraordinaire Logan Paul beating an even douchier bro in the boxing ring, then calling out Rey Mysterio afterwards. Guess I'll be watching Smackdown this Friday, but be careful what you wish for, Logan. BOOYAKA! Then there was whatever the hell was going on with the Lightning in Detroit. Not only did the Bolts lose 6-4 to the Red Wings, but TV analyst Brian Engblom had something weird going on with his hair. 

Thomas Dolby, is that you?

Other things that happened on Saturday were North Carolina beating Miami and Duke beating NC State, but most notably, who was this that I saw at the Miami-UNC game? By the way, as far as my Saturday picks are concerned, I went 13-4 (I TOLD you that South Florida was going to lose!).

Wrapping this up because I don't want to reach the TLDR point of this entry (and my computer is acting up again), but on Sunday, man was the NFL weird. A flag fest in London for the BAL-TEN game. The Niners losing to the Browns, my Bucs laying an egg on their creamsicle jersey day. Dumb decisions in the NY Giants-Buffalo game. The Eagles losing to the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS for the first time ever. Despite all of that, if you include the win on Thursday night, I came away with a 12-3 record to give me a season total of 57-36. Not too bad if you ask me. Also, the Lightning laid another egg, this time in Ottawa. 

Monday was highlighted by seeing the most passionate fan I've seen this year during the Monday Night game between the Dallas Cowboys and the LA Chargers, and now she's my newest crush. So, Samantha, Sarah, and Amy, I'm sorry. You're going to have to make more room for her:

 

my newest crush.

Unfortunately for our heroine, her Chargers came up short, as usual, and she was as you could imagone crushed (kind of like I was when you know who got back together with you know what; I'm still holding out for a miracle by the way).

Seriously, if you want to know more, check out my Twitter page because I want this to be an extension of this blog, and vice versa. Until later this week, take care.

CT

Post-Friday the 13th/Pre-Eclipse Blog

 Hello again everyone, except for Elon Musk and Mia Khalifa (who ought to be named "Beirut Barbie"). I started this entry about two weeks ago, but thanks to depression (Hooray) I have put this off until this late Friday night. Speaking of which, nothing weird happened as it was Friday the 13th, and tomorrow around midday, we're supposed to have a solar eclipse. The last solar eclipse we had in August 2017, I was stuck in a hospital bed recovering from my stroke. I don't plan on being outside for this one either because I think the weather here in Spring Hill is supposed to be cloudy. Then again, I haven't checked the forecast for the weekend. Speaking of the weather, we had some pretty bad storms, including tornadoes earlier this week.  Fortunately, there was no damage in Spring Hill. 

Yes, I'm still doing my football picks, although last week I had to place them on X Twitter (DAMN YOU MUSKRAT, IT'LL ALWAYS BE TWITTER TO ME, YOU APARTHEID-LOVING, RUSSIAN SYMPATHIZING FREAK!!), but if you'd like to see how I did last week, click here. I picked the Thursday night game correctly for once, so this week is off to a good start. More important than that, the Bucs are wearing their creamsicle throwback jerseys against the Lions on Sunday. Makes me wish that the franchise wasn't absolute dog crap between 1982 and 1996, when they ditched the creamsicles and became the pewter pirates of today. Anyway, here's who I'm picking for this week.

BAL over TEN
ATL over WSH
SF over CLE
HOU over NO
MIA over CAR
CIN over SEA
JAX over IND
MIN over CHI
LV over NE
LAR over ARI
PHI over NYJ
DET over TB 💔
BUF over NYG
DAL over LAC

Bye; PIT
Buh-bye: GB

Some college picks as well,

Georgia over Vandy
Alabama over Arkansas
Florida State over Syracuse
Ohio State over Purdue
Michigan over Indiana

Navy over Charlotte
Florida over South Carolina
Tennessee over Texas A&M
Washington over Oregon
Florida Atlantic over South Florida (Beth Mowins is calling the game, not a good sign)

Iowa over Wisconsin
Louisville over Pitt
Auburn over LSU
USC over Notre Dame
North Carolina ove Miami

UCLA over Oregon State
Duke over NC State


My computer has been acting really bad lately. It can't go an hour without shutting down because it's overheating. I think I need to tell my sisters that I need a new computer. One that will actually allow me to connect a microphone to it so I may be able to do podcasts or YouTube videos in the future. As if anyone is going to listen/watch them anyway, but you never know. Update: it took a dirt nap again while trying to write this.

The League Championship Series in baseball is here, and it's stupid. None of the five best teams in the regular season are in it. Major League baseball, fix your shit.

I won't go into it too much here, because there are so many articles and opinions on it already, but this whole situation that was erupted in the Middle East in the past week has gotten out of hand. As a song I used to listened to asked, "whose side are you on?", my answer is I'm on the side of peace. Oh, and Mia Khalifa, shut up.

That's all I have this morning. If I feel like it, I'll have more this weekend.

More to Come (I hope)

Bony

Post for September 28, 2023 (Week 4 Picks)

 Good morning. Forgive me for the lack of creativity in today's title, but I just awoke and I'm not quite awake yet. Plus, I have an appointment in about an hour (health plan home visit, which is better than my last few "visits" with the VA), so I'm definitely looking forward to it (yeah, right). I've been somewhat down the last week and a half. Some of you know can probably imagine as to why, and I may or may not have alluded to it on my last post, but I'll be okay...I guess.

Yesterday, I was listening to the radio with the family, which is something I rarely do because I normally listen to music on Spotify. It wasn't one of those major stations that air in the Tampa Bay area (because quite honestly, most of those stations absolutely suck), but a smaller station based out of northern Pasco County known as Hits 106. Gwen had it turned up as Dobie Gray was playing (who I first thought was Dobie Gillis, until I realized that was a 1960's TV character), then came a song that if you're a hockey fan (especially a St. Louis Blues fan) has plenty of meaning to you: Gloria by Laura Branigan.

As catchy and upbeat as that 1982 tune may be, it's also a source of dread amongst some of my siblings, for Gloria happens to be the birth name of my late sister Jean, who passed away due to heart failure back in February. So, like any good sibling would do, my sister Gwen just silently turned the radio down. As for me personally, I would have kept it on, because Jean HATED her birth name, and the way I looked at it, it could be a song to troll her so to speak. But I didn't grow up with her, and Gwen did. To make a long story short, if you looked up pretentious in Webster's Dictionary, you might find a picture of Gloria next to it.

Last weekend was okay from a football picking standpoint. I went 14-6 in the college slate and 10-6 (for the second straight week) in the pros. That puts me at 27-21 for the year in NFL picks and 32-8 for college. Was VERY disappointed with the outcome of the Monday night game, even more disappointed by the fact that Tampa Bay "fans" sold their tickets to Eagles fans who made a mockery of our stadium...and our city (I heard a "Tampa sucks!" chant before the Bucs' lone touchdown drive 😡). I know times are tough, but this was unacceptable. Especially coming from someone who has a rather large disdain for all things Philly. As I stated on Facebook though, I may have lost this battle, but I hope to win the war. 

As for this week, the Bucs have a critical road test against the even more hated Aints in New Orleans, and thanks to Derek Carr's shoulder injury, the Bucs may get Jameis Winston for this matchup. If his performance in the fourth quarter of last Sunday's game at Green Bay is any indicator, I like the Bucs' chances; they need to find a way to bottle up Chris Olave though. Oh, and Tampa HAS to find a way to run the football.

My NFL picks:

DET over GB
TB over NO (🙏)
ATL over JAX
PIT over HOU
LAR over IND
MIN over CAR
PHI over WSH
BUF over MIA (the scoreboard will tilt)
CIN over TEN
CLE over BAL
DEN over CHI (first tank bowl of 2023)
LAC over LV
DAL over NE
SF over ARI
KC over NYJ
Bonus pick: Taylor Swift over Carrie Underwood
SEA over NYG

College:

NC State over Louisville
Oregon State over Utah
BYU over Cincinnati
Texas A&M over Arkansas
Penn State over Northwestern

Clemson over Syracuse
USC over Colorado
Florida over Kentucky
Boston College over Virginia
Georgia over Auburn

UCF over Baylor
Michigan over Nebraska
Navy over South Florida
Texas over Kansas
Illinois over Purdue

Missouri over Vanderbilt
Ole Miss over LSU
Oregon over Stanford
Oklahoma over Iowa State
Rice over East Carolina

Tennessee over South Carolina
Notre Dame over Duke
Pittsburgh over Virginia Tech
Alabama over Mississippi State
Washington over Arizona

Enjoy the games!

Week 3 Preview/A Change In a Favorite Band Of Mine

 Good morning, everyone, and yes, I did remember the 21st night of September. You know, for a stretch about a decade ago (thanks to Pandora and Spotify) that I discovered and started listening to European symphonic rock metal. Groups such as Nightwish (who was the impetus for my discovery, thanks to YTMND.com), Lacuna Coil, Sirenia, Within Temptation, and The Birthday Massacre. One such group I gravitated to was a Dutch outfit named Delain, who had a lead singer that I found automatically attractive in Charlotte Wessels, who had red hair (of utmost importance) and kinda resembled a woman I was somewhat interested in at the time. 

A few years ago, around the time of my stroke, I sort of let that phase go. Then last night as I was thinking about my somewhat estranged love interest(?) and friend I thought about a song from Sirenia ("The Path To Decay") and so I fired up my long-lost playlist that contained Delain on Spotify.

Well Spotify now has a feature on their app that gives "about the artist" information, and to my surprise, when a Delain song came up, the band was pictured with a new lead singer. WHAT?! I had to do a little digging to find out what happened to my red-headed songbird. Turns out she wasn't fired from the band dissolved temporarily, and Wessels decided to launch a solo career. Well crap. At least their songs from the 2010s still live on.

Now for Week Three, otherwise known as Philly Hate Week, so of course, my sisters brought home a Philly Cheesesteak for lunch Thursday.

really, sisters???

The week got off to a good start with the 49ers throttling the Giants. And I joke that this is Philly Hate Week, but seriously, can we stop with the unnecessary violence in the stands? I mean last week there were two donnybrooks amongst fans, one involving Texans fans and one involving Patriots and Dolphins fans, in which a man actually lost his life. As Ryan Leaf said about a quarter century ago, knock it off. 

Sunday's slate of games do not include the Bucs, because they're on Monday Night Football. One intriguing matchup pits the Buffalo Bills against the Washington Commanders. Buffalo looked like their regular selves in dismantling the Raiders 38-10 last week, where the unbeaten Commies rallied from 21-3 down and survived a two-ponit conversion attempt (after a successful Hail Mary) to down Denver 35-33. I kind of expect a shootout between Josh Allen's Bills and Eric Bienemy's Washington offense, but I think Buffalo knocks Washington from the ranks of the unbeaten. 

Here are my picks for Sunday:

BUF over WSH
NE over NYJ
MIA over DEN
TEN over CLE
BAL over IND
DET over ATL
GB over NO
MIN over LAC
JAX over HOU
SEA over CAR
KC over CHI
DAL over AZ
PIT over LV

Now onto Monday night, where for a second straight week we have a doubleheader of sorts. In the 8:15 game on ESPN, we have a rematch of Super Bowl 56, as the LA Rams face the Cincinnati Bengals. You think that loss to the Rams still sticks in Bengals fans craw? I think what's more concerning from a Cincinnati standpoint is the status of Joe Burrow's calf.  That and how to stop Matthew Stafford's new favorite receiver. I know the Cats have started slowly the past two seasons, but Burrow's injury gives this game, and this season, new urgency for Bengals fans. Hopefully Burrow can revert to form and lead the Bengals to a close victory at home, so I'm picking the Bengals.

Now for the main event, the Eagles-Bucs game on ABC, the only matchup of unbeaten teams this week. The Eagles have somewhat underwhelmed in their first two games, albeit wins. The Bucs meanwhile are off to their third straight 2-0 start, something that hasn't happened in that franchise's 47-year history, and this may be the most surprising 2-0 start of the three. Especially for a team that had little expectations going in to 2023. But don't say that to me, or most other Bucs fans. Hell, we're kind of riding high not only with the Bucs start, but the announcement that the Rays are getting a new stadium. Hell, life is good, no great in Tampa Bay! Oh, by the way, new Hall of Famer Ronde Barber (who Eagles fans still have nightmares over) is getting honored at halftime! So, I'm going with the Buccaneers with the upset victory on MNF.

For the college slate: 

Florida State over Clemson
Oklahoma over Cincinnati
Michigan over Rutgers
Syracuse over Army
Oregon over Colorado

Ole Miss over Alabama (upset special)
Utah over UCLA
Maryland over Michigan State
Miami over Temple
Louisville over Boston College

Duke over UConn
Rice over South Florida
East Carolina over Gardner-Webb
Wake Forest over Georgia Tech
Florida over Charlotte

Appalachian State over Wyoming
Penn State over Iowa
Notre Dame over Ohio State
Kansas State over UCF 😒
North Carolina over Pittsburgh.

Hopefully this week will be as good as last enjoy the games this weekend!

BS