Category: Sports

  • Personal Reflections: The Super Bowl, Commercials, and Bad Bunny

    Personal Reflections: The Super Bowl, Commercials, and Bad Bunny

    The Super Bowl sucked. Let’s just start right there. Not that it was bad so much as it was boring. Defensive battles, or whatever people are calling it, are dull to everyone except defensive players and defensive coaches.

    In the end, I’m glad that Seattle won, as I do think they were the better team, not just in the game last night, but the best team for the whole season. And it was a rather exciting NFL season, with lots of drama and close games. Which makes this “meh” of a Super Bowl such a letdown.

    But that’s sports for ya!

    This bring us to the commercials, and for the life of me, I cannot remember a single one. Nothing stood out as particularly interesting or creative. Just felt like the same old slop. And there was lots of AI slop on display, too! The impression I was left with is that America is a sickly nation that needs more drugs and screenings, likes to bet on everything, and still thinks crypto isn’t a scam. There might be something to be said that the cost for a fifteen to thirty second commercials is so expensive now, that it has made brands, marketeers, and ad wizards hesitant in trying anything new, as so much money is on the line. This situation has made what used to be entertaining advertising into something that is homogeneous now.

    Which gets us to Bad Bunny who was the real big winner of the evening. (Other than the Seahawks.) I’m not going to go into the controversy, because there was no controversy, because Trump only said the stuff that he said to try and create a distraction from the Epstein Files/Poll Number/ICE, and Turning Point USA was just a little too thirsty to get involved and in the end created a half-assed badly lip-synced train wreck of a dumpster fire that 6 million people watched which isn’t bad if you consider that 12 million tuned in for the Puppy Bowl…

    But I’m not going to get into it.

    What I will say about Bad Bunny’s show was that it was fun, and cool, and was exciting to watch and had guests and Easter Eggs, and what I thought he did was show off how wonderful, and complex Puerto Rico’s culture and people are, AND he did that really great thing that great performers do, which is makes his audience feel connected and vital to the show being performed. It was great.

    But I did make Buffalo Wings, and they were really good.

  • Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

    And it would be nice if the Cowboys won, too!

  • What It’s Like To Be a Stay-at-Home-Dad? (“Mommy Has Questions” Podcast Interview)

    Here is the episode of the podcast Mommy Has Questions that I was interviewed on. It was a fun conversation about stay at home parenting, male roles in the family, and the couple of other things. I had great time, enjoyed the discussion, and the whole Mommy Has Questions team made me feel comfortable and right at home. So thank you for having me.

    Please, give it a listen – follow, subscribe, leave a comment. You know the drill.

  • ODDS and ENDS: In the car with the Dog, Talking The Beatles, and Tottenham Update

    (Must be the clouds in my eyes…)

    Not a bad Autumn morning. Took this while doing the Alt Side Parking dance.

    I brought the dog with me. Everyone loves dog pictures, right?

    Had fun talking and playing Beatle songs with the kid last night. Right now, she’s have fun with “I Am the Walrus” and the lyrics “Coo Coo Ca Choo,” as she’s heard them referenced in other songs, TV shows, and movies. I think for her, it’s like decoding a mystery from the long ago past. She also finds the “Paul is Dead” stuff really weird and funny as well. She wanted me to play my favorite songs, and tell her why I liked them so much. When I got to “Your Mother Should Know” I was struck with how melancholy it made me. Part of it was thinking about my mother, and the music that was popular before she was born, and then thinking how The Beatles are now music that was around before my kid’s mother was born. I felt like I was grasping for a moment that had already passed me.

    How do I feel about the state of Tottenham’s season so far? That’s a good question, that I’m still not sure how to answer. They are doing better than last season. BUT… they are having trouble winning at home. And the Champions League matches haven’t been awful, but it does feel like they can’t get out of their own way. Like, they are playing better, but not smarter. I do believe that if Maddison was out there, then it would be a different story, and they would be top of the table. Yes, I might be delusional.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Gym Time, CUBS Anxiety, and Corduroy Pants

    ODDS and ENDS: Gym Time, CUBS Anxiety, and Corduroy Pants

    (Dear I fear we’re facing a problem…)

    I wanted to go to the gym today. I know, I’m a little scared, too! (In a weird way, this feels like the call is coming from the inside of the house, if you know what I mean.) I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at this development. For the past month, I started going to the gym at the start of the day. In the past, I had fit the gym in later during the day, and I found ways and excuses to not go. This shift came from two places. The first was that I had to admit to myself that my old way of doing things wasn’t working. If I was serious about getting healthier and back in shape, I had to try something different. The second place my change came from was my best friend and old college roommate. He, in his very subtle way over the past year, had hinted that starting you day with a workout can help you in multiple ways, the most important being if you schedule it as the first thing you do, then you are less likely to miss it. Provided you stay committed. I guess I’m committed, because I wanted to go this morning. I’m up to four days a week, and I think I will add the fifth. Things are changing… What’s going on?

    It has been a weird time for me when it comes to the Cubs. I’m very excited that they are in NLDS and at the same time I can’t watch them. I say this because every time I have watched them, they have lost. I’m not saying that I am the reason they lost, but it does seem odd. The other odd thing is that there was one game I didn’t watch and they lost, so there must be another Cub fan out there that is cursed with this ability. Oh, I know it’s not like it was in ’16, and the Brewers are pretty damn good, but I would like to see Cubs play the Dodgers for the NL Pennant. But if the Cubs make it to play the Dodgers, odds are I won’t be able to watch them. My anxiety would be too high, and it would doom the team.

    I want some corduroy pants! I used to have some, but maybe ten years ago, I tossed them as the knees were wearing thin. I have regretted that decision every day since. The pair that I tossed I had purchased at the GAP back in 2003. I remember this because I went with my then girlfriend to the mall near our campus, and working at the GAP was a mutual friend of ours who was willing to give her employee to my girlfriend. While at the store, the two of them talked me into trying on a pair of brown corduroy pants, which I had no intention of buying. But hot damn, I sure did look good in them! Not that I had the money to buy pants that day, but I did it anyway. The girlfriend didn’t last, but the pants did. Well, lasted until 2015 that is.