Travel. The other day, I saw a question which asked if you were given a bunch of cash to go anywhere you want, where would you go? I always think about this for some weird reason, but I guess if I were to answer it, Ireland and New Zealand come to mind. Same with either the Seychelles and Maldives. Possibly Iceland. Seems that I have a thing for islands.
Cancel Culture. My cyber-friend Beeze puts out a thought provoking blog, but today I saw a Facebook post from him that I absolutely agree with. It was Bill Maher (who I'm not necessarily a fan of) and the theme was "how bad does this atmosphere we're living in have to get before people who say cancel culture is overblown admit that it is in fact an insanity that is swallowing up the world?" He couldn't have nailed it better, and if you have the opportunity - check it out. Normally, I just ignore this type of shit, but Maher is right.
While I'm on the subject, who are these people? No seriously, who are these people who are dictating cancel culture, and why aren't they clearly identifying themselves? I would really like to know who the people are that are taking us in this direction. I guess my point here is this - there seems to be this nameless entity out there and yet both sides are willing to use this "group" to their own advantage?
County Fair. Here in my neck of the woods, we just had our County Fair this weekend. For those who may not know, our fair is listed as the #1 Small County Fair by those who dictate such things. Problem is too many fucking people are there. It was almost nut to butt and the kids had to wait in long lines. Hell, I thought I was in Disneyland.
One of the things I love about our fair was that it was small. This year started off as not being able to find parking anywhere in the city.
CFB. Well lookie here, the SEC just got a shit ton richer by adding Texas and Oklahoma. Yeah ESPiN, I see you working - you destabilize the Big 12 (a Fox Conference) and I see you have your hands in the ACC pie as well. Makes your pay day a hell of a lot bigger, doesn't it? Interesting considering your challenges.
Are we on the verge of super conferences - perhaps even a new division of CFB?
On to more practical matters - West Virginia at least has the ACC to fall back on re-creating that Pitt/West Virginia rivalry, but what happens now to the Big 12? What happens to Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Kansas? My guess here is that the Big Ten swoops in and takes the money makers (OK State & Kansas), leaving a few out in the lurch. Do those left in the lurch look at restarting a new Western Athletic Conference, possibly merge with the Mountain West? Or, do they make a go of it and perhaps add some smaller market teams (North Dakota State?)
Finally, what becomes of the PAC 12? Do they now become their own entity? Do they partner with Boise State and BYU? Or do they go further and bring in the Mountain West as a whole? Doesn't make sense, but they have to do something. Or, do they make a more formal thing where they partner with the Big Ten?
NFL. Camps are reopening and I couldn't be happier. I know, I know, I'm supposed to boycott it for this reason or the other. No, screw that. I like Football and boycotts don't freaking work. Here's the thing, I like the old normal. I like seeing football in August - it puts me in a good mood. You want to boycott football, go ahead but I'll just enjoy it. It's certainly more action than I see in the first half of the year.
MLB. Baseball had their trade deadline come and to say I was underwhelmed is an understatement. As usual, the rich get richer. That being said, it was sad to see the Cubbies trade their core away, but they did it evenly and not giving one team a decided advantage - unlike the Washington Nationals who may have just handed the World Series to those dirty stinking water thieves.
NBA Draft. Boring. Every year they hype up trades like no other and every year, it's disappointing. Not so much this year because once again, the LA Fakers got one over on the NBA yet again. Now they get Russell Westbrook. So now it's LeBron, AD, and Westbrook. Then the talking heads at ESPN absolutely are pushing a Fakers/Nets NBA Finals. Damn dudes, can't you even pretend to be in the middle?
If I'm the Sacramento Kings and the Fakers call for a trade, I hang up the phone. This is now two off-seasons in a row where they have made a deal only for it to fall apart at the last minute. What is that GM doing that other teams won't pull the trigger?
Calendar. August is here, and with it the "dog days of Summer." Heat, lack of wind,
Here is a poem about August that I felt appropriate:
"And hate the bright stillness of the noon
without wind, without motion.
The only other living thing
a hawk, hungry for prey, suspended
in the blinding, sunlit blue.
And yet how gentle it seems to someone
raised in a landscape short of rain --
the skyline of a hill broken by no more
trees than one can count, the grass,
the empty sky, the wish for water."
- Dana Giola, California Hills in August
Rant. Fuck politics, screw the Lakers, Yankees, and Cowboys. Bring on Football and let's have some damn fun for a change.
Final Thought. As Jerry Springer says "Take care of yourselves...and each other." To me, that is not a tag line, it's a basic tenet of how we should live our lives. Now his show may have been a cartoon, an escape from the normal bullshit, hell even something to laugh at, but at the same time, that one line has always stuck with me. If we spent more time taking care of each other, then perhaps we wouldn't be going through the problems we are now.
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