71 thoughts on “Hey, Check This Out! (2020)

      1. Pretty cool. I liked the parts about Mahomes. The whole thing reminded me of Kurtis Blow’s “Basketball” (more than the “Super Bowl Shuffle” for some reason).

  1. I know you guys have already seen this, probably fifty times. But someone recently reminded me of it and I watched it again and I’m just as awed.

    1. I don’t blame you. I was extremely jaded by the dunk contest, resigned to the idea that all the interesting and impressive variations of dunks have basically been exhausted. This duel proved me wrong.

    1. KG is good in this. I heard he was great in the movie “Uncut Gems” with Adam Sandler, though he was playing himself, I believe.

  2. The forever bars from WaPo. This is a longer op-ed about incarceration. The author argues, among other things, that longer sentencing doesn’t really deter crime–it’s the probability that people will get caught. I found the article uncomfortable, but important–important to remind me that people in prison are human beings, children of God, and that’s important to remember.

    1. OK, I’m dumb–I don’t get it. The situation is that the spread would cover the game–until the players mess it up for no good reason, right? What was the funny thing about the second one? Buchler’s no look tap in?

  3. Yeah but it’s not like the players do it on purpose or even know what the spread is, which to me, would then make it less funny.

    But the fact is that the guy thinking for sure he going to win the bet (if he bet on the Wolves), until Rodman makes a three for no good reason. Then the Timberwolf guy scores, so he probably thinking, okay for sure now I’m going to win. Then Rodman tries another three. What you doing? Then Buchler tapped it in. That’s funny. One part of funny is the unexpected. The fact that Rodman likes to shoot threes at the end of game can be unexpected, but that he makes one, and then shoots another with almost no time on the clock is just insane. Add the no look tap in and it’s great. It wouldn’t be on SportsCenter if it wasn’t, although it’s a regular segment on SVP’s SportsCenter.

    1. …What you doing? Then Buchler tapped it in. That’s funny….

      Hahaha. OK, I get it now. I guess I needed to actually see and hear the reaction from the guy getting screwed.

    2. Dan Le Batard asked Pete Rose for his worst bad beat as a gambler. Which is the kind of interview question of a guy like Pete Rose this world needs more of.

      Rose said he was betting on horses, and had a good chunk of money on a longshot at some track in Ohio. His horse had a comfy lead coming into the near turn (just before the homestretch) when a deer leapt the fence and got onto the track, getting in the horse’s way and causing him to veer. Apparently there was a woods on the other side of the track. The other horses raced past and Pete’s horse didn’t finish in the money.

      Rose says there’s a fence there now, separating the woods from the track.

  4. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched and enjoyed a music video. Here’s one I watched a few times. I like the main guy in this.

    Also, Mechanical Masters, look out.

  5. I thought this was funny. It’s a little funnier if you’ve seen the Godfather cast reunion that Baldwin talks about (because what he’s saying is kinda true).

    1. Thanks… I listened to it. I keep hearing a lot of what was said on the podcasts and that Dallas always wants to sign guys to longer contracts (5 years) and Dak doesn’t want to sign a long contract because it could reduce how much he can get in the future. The two parties doesn’t seem to be that far apart in terms of dollars.

      1. No, and Dak seems to be betting on himself. Waiting until the QB salaries go way up when Mahomes and others get extended so he can sign for more. It’s understandable.

  6. Carl Reiner died today.

    Here’s a pretty cool story.

  7. I got a good chuckle out of a response to the tweet below. I think you guys might like the response–especially MItchell. The first tweet:

    (1/100th? What was he actually trying to say here?) A response/comment:

  8. There will be a re-air of “Eagles Live from the Forum” today (6/13/20) on ESPN at 3pm HST. This is footage from a three day concert back in 2018. I really enjoyed it. Vince Gill is on the Eagles and he sang many of Glenn Frey’s songs. Gill is good, but his voice is not quite as distinctive as Frey’s. Also Glenn Frey’s son is on the band and sang a couple of his father’s songs too. He sounded closer to his father.

    In the concert Joe Walsh played this guitar distortion in his mouth. I don’t remember seeing that before. I looked it up and it’s called a talk box. I think Henley sang one of his own songs.

    The airing is pretty long, but I thought it was worth it. I guess this is more for Mitchell since Reid doesn’t have cable.

    1. In the concert Joe Walsh played this guitar distortion in his mouth. I don’t remember seeing that before. I looked it up and it’s called a talk box.

      I want to say Peter Frampton made this famous, but I could be wrong. Also, Roger (“So Ruff So Tough” etc.).

      It’s interesting that you like this without Frey–and that it held your attention, even if it’s really long. This makes me interested in seeing it. (Why was it on ESPN?)

      1. Talk box or Vocoder (that’s a brand name). It’s also used in Ozzy Osbourne’s “Miracle Man,” and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” You probably know it from the Ozzy song.

      2. I saw parts of the Eagles Hell Freezes Over Tour a few years ago. Obviously it was a taping of a concert years prior from when I saw it. Frey was on there, but I enjoyed this show better. But there are many factors, like the quarantine and the production of the TV show. I remember the Hell Freezes Over taping could have been from 1975 the way it looked. I also like seeing Vince Gill and really liked Frey’s son. Gill is definitely different from Frey, but he has a smooth tone, which maybe is not as good, but in and of itself was good to listen to. Plus seeing all these old guys still harmonize and pretty much “still got it”, was pleasing.

    2. I don’t have cable either. 🙂 I watch TV via over-the-air digital, and ESPN’s not available this way.

      1. I was sort of thinking of “cutting the cord” as well, and getting Netflix or something. When you say over-the-air digital is that streaming? If yes I assume it’s free. Do you need an app? And do you get live TV of the major networks? Any info would be appreciated.

      2. I have kind of a messed-up situation I don’t want to get into the details about, but although I have internet access at home, it’s not an unlimited data situation. I pay a certain amount each month for a certain amount of data, like how most cell phone plans work now. Because of this, I don’t stream stuff through my internet connection — I need all that data for my daily internet use plus work needs. It’s a temporary setup but I’m stuck with it for a while.

        I do have an unlimited data plan on my phone, though, which streams pretty well. So I stream content through my phone all the time, but that’s on a pay-by-service arrangement. I’m paying for Spotify, the Criterion Collection, Hulu (which is part of my Spotify plan), MLB, and Amazon Prime. If we get a football season I may add something else.

        When the U.S. TV broadcasting standard went to all-digital, local station switched to broadcasting over the air via digital as well. You don’t need cable or an internet connection to receive the signal — you just need an antenna that will receive the signals over the air. They sell them at places that sell electronic stuff, like at Walmart or Target. Your TV might not need a plug-in antenna if you live in an area with good reception.

        You get the local stations, and I imagine where you live you’d get them better than I do. Plus a lot of other tiny stations I don’t know the stories behind.

    3. I just listened to some youtube clips of Vince Gill singing with the Eagles. Man, he sounded really good. And this was with a bad recording.

        1. I thought that was just OK, especially compared to Gill. I’m pretty surprised at how good he sounds with them.

  9. Brother was challenged, and did quite well. Impressive and pretty funny.

  10. There was one of those boat parades for Trump today and apparently there were some accident that caused a few boats to sink. Thankfully, I don’t think anyone got hurt. Here’s some testimony that I recommend watching:

    At first I thought this was real, but I’m pretty sure it’s a parody account. Because I watched it assuming it was real person, the punchlines caught me off guard, and made me laugh harder than I would have had I know this was a parody account. I hope you guys watched it in the same way.

    Oh, some anti-Trumpers didn’t realize this was a parody and responded as you would expect. Andy Kaufmann must be smiling.

  11. At first, I thought this might be an interesting question, but after reading the comments, I changed my mind. One of the comments alludes to the reason why I feel this way: “Fascinating to read the replies and discover how many people don’t know what a rhyme is.” (This made me laugh, and if you read the comments, you’ll know why.)

    One interesting suggestion: “Cock rock,” which has a wiki entry. The label, as a legit genre, seems bogus to me, though.

    1. Cock rock is a well-known term. People debate the legitimacy of genres all the time; I would consider this more of a vibe than a subgenre, but it’s a fair answer to the prompt.

      Shock rock works on the same level.

      Honkytonk comes close!

    2. I can’t really speak for rock and pop music, but in jazz, if the debates about labels have more to do with definitions or whether a type of music or musician should be classified as jazz. But I can’t think of any debates about whether a particular type of a music/musicians are an actual genre or not.

      By the way, what music/musicians would fall under the category of cock rock?

      1. Led Zep comes to mind first. Robert Plant once said something like “We didn’t mean to sexualize ourselves; our clothes just didn’t fit very well.” So it was clearly part of their presentation. Roth-era Van Halen comes to mind next, and then most of the hair metal bands. Oh, I just looked at the Wikipedia article and Jim Morrison is mentioned, so yeah. The Doors for sure.

        Annoyingly, there’s a band who’s a great extreme example whose name I can’t remember. Let me get back to you.

    3. So it almost sounds like the genre is based on extra-musical factors (e.g., maleness via appearances)? Would KISS be in this category?

      1. I think KISS could qualify. Most glam metal (hair metal) falls into the category. And yes, largely extra-musical factors although the argument could be made that the extra-musical factors play into the musical style.

        Maleness is NOT one of the factors, though. There are some women who’ve been called cock rock, like Lita Ford and Suzy Quatro.

        The band I couldn’t think of is Steel Panther. Do a Google or a YouTube search and you see a caricature of cock rock.

      1. In an ideal world with clear lines, which the world of music is not, sure. What’s Christmas music? Or Christian rock? Or Hawaiian music? They all take definitions that have more to consider than the music.

    4. I don’t think this has to do with an ideal world. I’m not talking about precision–i.e.,definition that are totally precise and clear-cut.

      Also, I don’t consider lyrics as extra-musical–although I guess technically they are. And Hawaiian music has a a distinct musical qualities.

      1. Phil Keaggy has an instrumental album called The Wind and the Wheat. It could easily have been a Windham Hill record, but it was released on Colours, an imprint of Maranatha! Records.

        Is it Christian or is it New Age? Or is it both, and are the reasons extramusical?

        By the way, my second favorite Phil Keaggy album after Revelator.

    5. I have hard time understanding how instrumental music can be considered Christian (e.g., Koinonia or even Bach’s instrumental music)–so I would say it is not Christian.

      Would you label it as “Christian music?” And if so, is that because the musician is a Christian? If not, what makes it Christian to you?

      1. I find it kind of unnecessary to label this stuff for myself. It becomes relevant sometimes when you’re communicating with others. Honestly, what makes a band _____ genre or what makes a sound _____ genre matters when we talk about music, but it doesn’t really matter when we listen to it. So if someone were to ask me if he or she would like Phil Keaggy’s The Wind and the Wheat, I would say it has the qualities of New Age music (assuming the person knows what New Age music is; otherwise I’d simply describe the sound). I might mention the artist’s faith, if it were relevant to the person.

        Still, it’s absolutely Christian music to my ears because I’m familiar with the musician, and I know what his artistic intentions were when he recorded the album.

        It’s not always that easy. What if the musician was a Christian when he recorded the album but has since recanted his faith entirely? Or what if he said he was a Christian just to get a record deal, and once he became successful he copped to it? Or what if he says he’s a Christian but he totally rejects “Christian” as a label for his music? There are a lot of examples of each.

        The genre labels are still useful, even with all the ambiguity. If you recommend a band to me and say it’s metal, it doesn’t really matter to you what kind of metal it is, and I’ll keep that in mind when I check it out. If someone else recommends a band to me because it’s metal, I might ask if it’s black metal, death metal, doom metal, progressive metal, or any of seemingly endless sub-genres because it will mean something to me and to him. There are sub-genres that I’m automatically interested in and some I dismiss automatically, so the shorthand can be useful.

        Similarly, you use “intensity” as a quality separating metal from hard rock, and although I’ve never heard intensity as one of the defining qualities of metal, if it works for you it works, so when we talk about music I keep it in mind. And the feeling with which a music is played can absolutely be a defining characteristic.

    6. Based on your response, I feel like we’re not on the same wavelength. It sounds like you think I think labels are useful, particularly if they’re too ambiguous and imprecise? Is that where you’re coming from?

      I think labels are useful–mostly if they convey the nature of the way the music sounds and the nature of the lyrics. I think this is why I don’t care for something like “cock rock.” I guess if you want to describe a group of musicians, and not necessarily the give information about the music, this makes sense. I have a friend who uses the term “butt rock” which I think he refers to groups like Foriegner and Van Halen…I actually am not clear what these groups have in common, but except that he doesn’t like these groups.

      Still, it’s absolutely Christian music to my ears because I’m familiar with the musician, and I know what his artistic intentions were when he recorded the album.

      This is interesting. What if you didn’t know anything about the musician, would you be able to know it was Christian music (if the music was instrumental)? Or is the Christian connection primarily based on the religious beliefs of the musician and his/her intentions?

      It’s not always that easy. What if the musician was a Christian when he recorded the album but has since recanted his faith entirely? Or what if he said he was a Christian just to get a record deal, and once he became successful he copped to it? Or what if he says he’s a Christian but he totally rejects “Christian” as a label for his music? There are a lot of examples of each.

      Off the top of my head, I’d say the artist’s intentions don’t really matter. The music itself should have the qualities that point to music label. Now, if the artist preferred or disliked a specific label, I wouldn’t respect that. But if I were talking to you, and I had to describe her music, I’d use the labels that came closest, to give you an idea of what it sounded like.

      1. Based on your response, I feel like we’re not on the same wavelength. It sounds like you think I think labels are useful, particularly if they’re too ambiguous and imprecise? Is that where you’re coming from?

        I’m not sure what you’re thinking I’m thinking you think, but either way. I was just musing in response to your question.

    1. Yes, I’ve heard of golfers intentionally skipping balls on the water. The result is not usually an ace, though.

    1. I read that this morning. Good story.

      A Miami radio guy I listen to commented, “It took a team president who knows her and a manager who knows her to finally give her a job.” It’s a good point. People hire people they see in similar positions. Mattingly and Jeter knew her. It’s an argument for aggressively giving more women and more people from underrepresented groups front-office jobs

    1. Effing Kenneth Copeland. Yeah, this hit all the music blogs I read, including the non-metal ones.

      It reminded me of this classic. Effing Benny Hinn with Drowning Pool

    2. “Effing?” Are you being facetious, or is there real negative feeling behind that?

      The Benny Hinn clip is no where near as good as the Copeland one in my opinion.

      1. I’m not one to question God’s plan — no wait, I’m totally one to question God’s plan. So yes. Eff Kenneth Copeland and EFF Benny Hinn and may God please let them claim their spots in Paradise before they do any more harm.

      1. I’ve earned your questioning my sincerity about anything, but I’m surprised it came out here. Why on earth would I have been sarcastic about describing this charlatan in this way?

    3. It’s your use of “effing”–in a totally earnest way–that threw me off.
      I didn’t think you were being sarcastic so much as facetious and playful–while still viewing them with contempt. I’m not sure if that makes sense.

      How often do you use that expression or the f-word? I feel like it’s possible that I’ve never heard you use either in the entire time of known you.

      1. Before 2016, I said the F word aloud very few times in my life, but in the past four years I’ve said it several times, a few times in the company of others, always in the form of “F*** Donald Trump.”

        For a while, whenever I went out of my way to do something nice for someone obviously an immigrant, when I was done, I looked to the east and said, “F*** you, Donald Trump.”

        Yeah, I don’t think anyone except my writing partner has ever heard me say that word. I’ve said it to her in the context I’ve just shared. She’s been encouraging me to swear more, so I do it to please her. She’s proud of me. 🙂

    4. Before 2016, I said the F word aloud very few times in my life, but in the past four years I’ve said it several times, a few times in the company of others, always in the form of “F*** Donald Trump.”

      I totally understand this reaction. I use the f*** but I try not to. I’ve held back many times while writing on v-i. But you can understand why I wasn’t sure where you were coming from when you said “effing.”

      For a while, whenever I went out of my way to do something nice for someone obviously an immigrant, when I was done, I looked to the east and said, “F*** you, Donald Trump.”

      Whoa, hahaha. I can’t help but liking this.

      She’s been encouraging me to swear more, so I do it to please her. She’s proud of me.

      Hahaha. I must say that I think it would be a bit jarring to hear you talk like this in person. I bet Grace and Penny would feel the same. (I said something like “f*** him” when talking with Grace, and she was a little taken a back.)

  12. This is not necessarily something I would recommend to you guys, but I thought it was interesting, and I wanted to make one comment on it.

    The recommendation of slowing down as a way to combat implicit bias makes sense, but seems like practical for law enforcement officers. When they interact with someone in potentially dangerous situation, they do not have time to slow down. The implications of this is kind of depressing.

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