Filler for Teedge

zdaughter and I like to watch movies together and we recently polished off the first seven Mission: Impossible movies so we could go see the eighth in the theater.  Tom Cruise looks a helluva lot better than me but he still looks old.  He is older in this movie (62) than Jon Voight was in the first one (58).  His character's date of birth is shown at least twice and they don't hide the fact that he's 61, but it's still hard to suspend my disbelief at all the shit this old man does over the course of 170 (!) minutes.  And they're a tense 170 minutes!  Remarkably, neither of us had to pee during the movie and we both enjoyed it, and we got to do a few don't-tell-Mommy turns on the way to and from the theater in glorious weather.

But that's not the purpose of this post.  We sat through something like 26.9 minutes of trailers, one of which really jumped out at me.  This is for Teedge (and anyone who, like me, is stunned that KRS-One is involved).

Husky Gameday, Part Deux

I am nothing if not a superstitious fellow. I threw away a school-logoed polo shirt earlier this season after we played our worst game of the District season. There are things that are non-negotiable about gameday. For example, we always warm up on the same side of the field, even though it's the furthest from our bench. My goalkeepers get high tens, versus the high fives all the other starters get as they're announced pregame. You get the point.

And so on this District Final Husky Gameday, I'm running back the blogtheme that undoubtedly contributed to our win on Tuesday. We've beaten our opponent tonight twice this season, but each match was scoreless at halftime. I think we're a bit more talented, but they did just knock off the unbeaten regular season champs (and were the only team to hold them to at least a draw during the district campaign). That's got our kids' attention. I don't expect we'll be as disinterested as the regular season champs were.

Pretty simple equation: we play like we're capable, I like our chances. Kick's at 6:00 pm. Up the Huskies.

Husky Gameday

Playoff beard engaged. Roster (mostly) healthy. Game at home tonight at 6:00. Win and we live to fight another day. Lose and the season ends. 

A (Not So) Small Request for the Shield

The National Football League didn’t become an American sports colossus by hibernating in the offseason. The Shield manipulates the calendar and turns even innocuous goings-on into events: player draft; scouting combine; schedule release; free agency window; owners’ meetings; rule changes; Jerry Jones eyelid tucks. Factor individual team issues into the mix, and hardly a week goes by without some tackle football news. 

Team Pro-Pigpile

The NFL’s latest intrusion on our attention spans came courtesy of the recent Spring owners’ meetings in Minnesota and word that the Philadelphia Eagles could continue to torment defenses in short-yardage situations with their Tush Push, or in Philly parlance, the Brotherly Shove. By extension, other teams may also attempt to duplicate what the Eagles routinely pull off. That they will almost certainly be less successful is likely to cement positions in the pro- and con- pigpile camps. 

The Green Bay Packers submitted the anti-TP proposal this go ‘round. Word was that the Eagles’ signature play was doomed, that there were enough owners sufficiently cheesed off to vote to ban the play (75 percent, or 24 of 32, is required to implement or change legislation). In the end, however, only 22 owners voted to ban. So, the majority of league owners remain against the play, but not enough to outlaw it.

Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly is not a fan of the play, as well, but since he serves at the pleasure of the owners, he is in no position to go all Putin as it pertains to on-field activities. One argument from various corners of the league against the Tush Push is that it’s a threat to player safety, which is a big, steaming pile of disingenuous. 

First, the NFL admits there’s no data supporting that claim. Former Eagles All-Pro center-turned-media celebrity Jason Kelce, who advocated for the play at the Spring meetings, has said elsewhere he believes injuries are less likely to occur during the TP because a coordinated group shove among a small crowd of large humans fully aware of what’s coming is less violent than random full speed collisions. Frankly, any time league mouthpieces trot out player safety arguments, your antennae should start to twitch. 

Recall that the Shield fought for years against concussion and brain trauma findings, despite mounting evidence and a string of high-profile deaths to former players. The league finally agreed to financial settlements for victims only because courts ordered it to do so. Hurdles and obstacles existed for players to receive payments, including conditions related to race that made it more difficult for black players to qualify for certain levels of payouts, a swell look for a league with a majority African-American labor force. 

The league also is so concerned with player safety that it added a 17th game in 2021 and is likely on the way to an 18-game schedule, as Goodell floated to ESPN bleating tank top Pat McAfee last April. Adding two games means that in a span of four years, players will be subjected to an extra half-season of potential injury, related to the long-time 16-game schedule, not counting the additional wear and tear of playoff appearances. “The key thing for us is looking at making sure we continue to do the things that make our game safer,” Goodell said later in a May 2024 piece on NFL.com. “Seventeen games is a long season, so we want to make sure we look at that and make sure that we continue the safety efforts.” 

The NFL’s “safety efforts” apparently don’t include in-season scheduling, either. Twenty-six teams will play games on short rest and recovery. Twenty teams will play three games over the course of 11, 12 or 13 days. Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Minnesota and Seattle each have two stretches in which they will play three games in 12 days. The Baltimore Ravens have a 3-in-12 stretch and another in which they will play two games in five days, as do the LA Rams. Buffalo has two stretches where it will play two games in five days. The Eagles will play three games in 11 days from late September into early October. Dallas will play three games in 11 days in November, and two games in five days in late December. 

The league self-congratulates for updated concussion protocols and penalties against head-hunting and outlawing chop-blocks and crackback blocks and altering the execution of kickoffs, all while increasing the number of games and limiting recovery time in pursuit of more money and even greater exposure. 

Mmm, omelette

One counter to the injury concern is that football is a violent game and players are well compensated. Everyone knows the risks and is free to pursue and follow less brutal endeavors. Fair enough. However, would a little more honesty kill anyone? Wait, maybe re-phrase that. A little more transparency wouldn’t hurt and probably wouldn’t change anyone’s mind, either. Something along the lines of: Look, we made a hash of brain trauma and CTE and we haven’t always been sympathetic to player concerns, but we’re trying to do better. We intend to fill your weeks and months with football because all the numbers and interest say you want it. Unfortunately, that means stretching the limits of player health and conditioning in some cases and could mean adverse results for your favorite players and teams. Omelettes and breaking eggs, and all that. Thank you for your consideration. 

How hard was that?

Gheorghasbord: The Good, the Great, and the Ugly

I'm generally amped up on adrenaline on nights when I coach games. As a player, one gets to exert enough to counteract the elevated energy. Not so for coaches, and invariably, I get home and am all hopped up. So I drink a couple of beers and go to bed too late. Which means you get cobwebby-brained blogposts that wander all over creation.

The good takes us to Cannes to celebrate a dude who's fast becoming my favorite actor. I think Pedro Pascal first entered my conscious when he played Javier Peña the first season of Narcos. Others will have seen him as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones, but I still haven't seen it. He's a pretty terrific artist, no doubt, but I've come to praise him for his outspoken support for trans people (his sister Lux is a trans woman) and this week, for basic human kindness in the context of immigration.

Speaking of basic human kindness, some very great news from a corner of the entertainment multiverse close to our hearts. Earlier this year, Max announced that it would no longer air new episodes of Sesame Street, putting Bert, Ernie, Elmo, Big Bird, Snuffalupagus and their pals in some jeopardy. This week, Netflix stepped into the breach, releasing a message informing us that our puppet friends would have a streaming home on its platform. This year marks the Street's 56th. Glad to see there's a place in the world for this:

And finally, all the way from great to bad meaning bad not bad meaning good. The Colorado Rockies lost to Phillies last night, 9-3. The defeat takes the Rockies' record to 8-39, by some measure the worst mark in history at this point in a season. Colorado's run differential is -150, which is more than twice that of any other team in MLB, save the woeful Baltimore Orioles. The Rockies have a 5.85 ERA and 1.61 WHIP, both easily the bottom of the league. On offense, their OPS is 28th of 30 teams, and they've scored the second-least runs on the majors. Their .170 winning percentage played out over an entire season would yield 28 wins, by far the least in history. And god bless the good people of Denver, but the Rockies are still drawing nearly 26,000 fans per game. I guess good weed and a ballgame are still a great combo.

Recurring Series Recurs

When we last checked in on the gay sports bar scene, we were celebrating D.C. best sports bar, Nellie's. Eight years between recurring segments is still recurring.

Today, we return to the topic in plenty of time for you to book your tickets to St. Paul. On August 9 in that fair city, The Black Hart of Saint Paul is hosting a Dildo Derby to raise money for Southside Harm Reduction, a local non-profit serving those fighting drug addiction. 

Though it may sound like it, the Dildo Derby is not a soccer match between Stephen Miller and Russ Vought. In fact, the event seems engineered to create (faux) outrage in MAGAWorld. It combines something draped in Americana (the Cub Scouts' Pinewood Derby) and something naughty (um, dildos). Participants build wheeled dildos and race them down a slanted track.

The host venue bills itself as "a neighborhood, queer, and soccer bar in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul", going on to note American soccer's historical support of the LGBTQ+ community. As the pub's website says, "Soccer fandom through the US, but particularly in Minnesota has a long tradition of proactively supporting progressive beliefs of inclusion and advocating for queer visibility in sports."

Located just blocks from Allianz Field, home of MLS' Minnesota United, The Black Hart will likely be packed all day, as the FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester City is taking place as I type this and the Loons host St. Louis this evening. Sounds like a fun place to spend a day, dontchaknow.

Minny-summit in August? Get your dildos ready.

The Fall and Rise(?) of the Anti-Wrexham

If you're a sentient member of our society, you're undoubtedly aware of the truly fairytale story of Wrexham FC, the club from a down-on-its-luck Welsh* mining town that was purchased by a pair of American actors and subsequently went on a back-to-back-to-back run of promotions that's seen the club climb from the hinterlands of British football to the precipice of the world's most famous league. You're likely aware of all of it because the actors in question, Rob McIlhenny and Ryan Reynolds have parlayed their expertise in image-creation into a wildly successful documentary project that's followed Wrexham's rise.

* You will, undoubtedly, remember how fond the Welsh ladies are of your humble narrator.

You'd be forgiven if you were less familiar with the recent nightmare history of Sunderland AFC, a club based in a port city in the northeast of England. The Black Cats spent 2006-2017 in the Premier League, finishing a club-record 10th in 2011. They, too, were the subject of a well-made documentary, Sunderland 'Til I Die, which chronicled the club's relegation in 2017, and then again in 2018. The story arc took the team and the town from the lofty heights of the best league in Europe to England's third division, and introduced an increasingly sordid and incompetent band of owners and executives to the mix. 

Future Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson came up
through the Sunderland academy

Sunderland wallowed for a bit in League One, finally returning to the Championship (England's second division) in 2022. This season, they finished fourth in the division, which qualified them for the four-team tournament for the final spot in the 2025-26 Premier League (Burnley and Leeds qualified automatically by finishing in the top two).

The first round of the Championship promotion tournament is played over two legs. Sunderland won its first match on the road, defeating Coventry, 2-1. On Tuesday, they returned home to the Stadium of Light needing only a draw to advance to the one-match final at Wembley. They played like a team in search of that draw, and finally gave up a goal in the 76th minute.

The match went to extra time, with two 15-minute sessions to determine a winner, or failing that, a penalty shootout. Sunderland earned a corner at the 120+2 minutes, and on the last kick of the game, did this (go to the 6:45 mark).

Dan Bullard will never buy a drink on Tyneside again, as his header brought the Black Cats to the precipice of a return to Premier League glory. Sunderland will play Sheffield United on May 24 for a lot of marbles, and most people will root for them. Everyone but Marls.

Chrowdsourcing: On the Horns of a Coaching Dilemma

To try to win or not to try all that hard to win, that is the question. And it's a vexing one.

With a come-from-behind 2-1 win last night (the game-winner is posted below for your viewing pleasure - in both of our meetings against these guys, we've scored in the final three minutes to break their hearts) your Huskies clinched no worse than second place in the Dulles District and guaranteed at least one home playoff game. We have one more District game, against the team that's ahead of us in the standings, and which thumped us, 6-1, in our first meeting. 

That first contest was marked by a number of unsporting acts on the part of our opponent. In addition to near-constant chirping of the official by players (despite being warned about dissent during the coin toss), they celebrated a penalty kick goal (their fifth of the long-decided match) by doing the worm on the penalty spot. Their coach added insult to injury by leaving his starters in the match until five minutes remained. 

I would very much like to beat this team.

Here's where it gets weird. If we do beat them, it'll leave us in a flat-footed tie for the District title, with both teams on 6-1-1 records. The winner of the District regular season title automatically qualifies for the Regional tournament. If the winner of the regular season title makes the District tournament final, the other finalist also qualifies for Regionals.

In the event there's a tie for the District title, the tiebreaker is a playoff game. So if we beat the current first place team at their place, we'd be rewarded by having to play them again to earn the title. If we lose either game, we'd need to win a single home game to reach the Regional tournament - that game will likely be against the team we beat last night - we've beaten and tied them this season, though both games were taut affairs, and we had to come from behind in each to get a result.

Your Fightin' Huskies

To add some context, I think our opponent is slightly better than us. They've scored 27 and conceded seven in their six District games to date. We've scored 11 and conceded eight in seven games (only two in the six games against other schools). The 6-1 score was an anomaly, in my professional opinion, but beating them twice in a few days is a heavy lift.

So here's the question: do I push hard to try to win to set up a playoff for the regular season title, or do I let the chips fall where they may and conserve energy and focus the kids on the District tournament semifinal as our path to Regionals? 

What Would Emma Hayes Do?

Gheorghasbord: All the Filler That's Fit to Print

Howdy, Gheorghies. Trust you had a cromulent weekend. 'Twas a lovely weather pattern here in the National Capital Region and the wife and I checked out a new brewery/winery in the western part of our county. Overserving oneself on a Sunday seems fun at the time, less so in the cold light of day. Nevertheless, we move forward.

Some might say we range far and wide today in our pursuit of interesting content. Others would argue that we're all over the fucking place. The truth, as often, is somewhere in the middle. Closer to all over the fucking place, but still.

Careful observers of this space know that I took two lawnmowers to the landfill over the weekend. I haven't had a working mower for over a year. I've been outsourcing the trimming of my lawn to a neighbor kid who's inherited a mowing business from his older brother when the latter went to college. The younger kid is a good egg, but he's working a job, doing offseason training for football, and wrapping up his junior year. As a consequence, the lawn, she was a mess. 

So I went out and bought myself an electric mower yesterday, an EGO Power+ 600 series, complete with a 56w battery, a 21" deck, and a sporty look. Got her up and running this morning before I started the workday. She's a beauty.

Might have to reward myself by hitting the most unexpected source of great craft beer in the area. Hat tip to Mr. KQ for turning me on to The Filling Co., a hybrid gas station/convenience store/fast service restaurant with three locations in the DMV. In addition to having really excellent food (my kid goes there for top notch deep-fried Oreos), TFC has an incredible selection of terrific beers that I've never seen anywhere else in the area. I've purchased stuff from The Veil, Benchtop, Lawson's, The Other Half, and several really collaborations that are unavailable elsewhere. Keep your eyes peeled for one coming to your area.

And finally, a reunion tour that's got me a bit historically feeling. Rilo Kiley, fronted by the great Jenny Lewis, just announced their first tour since 2007, though they officially broke up in 2014. They're getting back together and hitting the road starting later this month. On August 30 they'll play the Summer Stage in Asbury Park, NJ, and they'll be at The Anthem in Washington, DC on September 10. Don't mind if I do.

Celebrate Mom

In honor of the day, here are some fun songs about moms. And a pair of terrible ones.

Empty Journalism

If it’s a truism that people are skittish about change that doesn’t put more coin in their pockets or more flattering mirrors in their parlors, it’s even less comfortable for institutions. Businesses, sports leagues, legislative bodies, the local PTA, you name it. Disrupt the status quo and expect reflexive pushback and the inability to adapt. 

Major newsgathering organizations and political media aren’t immune from the stasis, as evidenced by recent interviews with Donald Trump on the occasion of his second first 100 days in office. The Disruptor-in-Chief sat down with correspondents from ABC and NBC for “exclusive” conversations about his actions and what’s transpired on his watch. They were, as you might imagine, disjointed exchanges laced with fiction, bravado and enough batshit crazy soundbites to fuel several news cycles. 

Trump has been at the center of American political life for a decade, yet it’s apparent that major news media remains ill-equipped or unwilling to recognize or to deal with him and his enablers and supporters in a meaningful way. As the site’s Media Grump, it’s alternately discouraging and infuriating that legacy media often doesn’t use its platform to speak plainly about the man. 

I mean, if any institution is built to withstand the whiplash and commotion he causes, it should be the media. They pivot daily, sometimes hourly, from one story to the next. They’re trained to seek truth, if not always justice. They’re equipped to explore multiple facets of people and topics, though to be fair the strip-mining of journalism resources now makes that more difficult. Yet far too often, major political media trades truth for access and equivocates in the name of supposed fairness or objectivity. 

Media has gotten better about calling out Trump’s lies and false claims and extreme actions from his days as a political novelty and throughout his first term. Yet we still get descriptions of his “unpredictable governing style” (NPR) and headlines such as “Trump is pursuing a radical agenda. Does he have a strategy or is he winging it?” (The Washington Post). 

Christ on crutches, there is no agenda, there is no governing style. Trump no more wants to govern than to ride rollercoasters. He wants to be in charge, to give orders, to make others knuckle under, and to make money. That’s it. Full stop. He and his justice people arrest and deport immigrants because he thinks it makes him look tough. Likewise, his imposition of tariffs despite warnings about their effects. 

So, Trump sat down with ABC’s Terry Moran and, as usual, tried to buffalo his way through the conversation. The border with Mexico is 99.9 percent closed to illegal crossings now; the U.S. had a daily trade deficit of $3-5 billion that he’s stemmed; there was no inflation during his first term, compared to record inflation under Joe Biden. Trump also sat down with NBC’s Kristen Welker for a comparably choppy interview that aired on “Meet the Press.” This time, the border is 99.999 percent closed; gas is under $2 a gallon in some places (it’s not); auto manufacturers are moving plants to the U.S. (they’re not); the 2020 election was rigged (it wasn’t); Elon Musk and DOGE found $160 billion in waste, fraud and abuse (they didn’t). Oh, and Trump said he was responsible for good economic news and results, and Biden was responsible for poor news and performances. 

He could be lobotomized. You don't know.

Honestly, the transcripts, with the interruptions and fragments of thoughts and often talking past each other, read like lobotomized David Mamet. One of the illustrative parts of Trump’s conversation with Moran regarded illegal immigrant arrest and deportation in general and Kilmer Abrego Garcia specifically – the Salvadoran man in Maryland who was arrested and deported back to a notorious El Salvador prison, which was according to a judge and to Trump’s own justice people done illegally and without a hearing. Trump said that Garcia was a criminal and had gang script MS-13 tattoos on his hand. When Moran politely pushed back and said, no, he had symbols on his hand and the MS-13 was photoshopped and the photo circulated, Trump insisted that Garcia actually had MS-13 tattooed on his knuckles. Moran tried to re-direct and move to the next topic, but Trump wouldn’t let it go, finally saying, “… they’re giving you the big break of a lifetime. You know, you’re doin’ the interview. I picked you because – frankly, I never heard of you but that’s okay – but I picked you, Terry, and you’re not being very nice.” 

Never mind that Moran has been an ABC senior national correspondent for seven years and a national and foreign affairs reporter since the 1990s. Trump was doing him a favor by sitting down and talking to him, and he expected proper deference. Similarly with Welker, when she brought up inflation and price increases and the possibility of a recession due to tariffs and economic uncertainty, Trump called it a dishonest interview. He didn’t like the way she framed questions – not positively enough in his favor. 

That’s the thing about Trump. He gripes about unfair media, yet his ego craves the attention – Mussolini looking for a balcony, as it were. Interviews with him are journalistically and informationally worthless, because he constantly lies, deflects and blames. Reporters and network executives know that, but because he’s the President, there’s an entrenched desire for him to sit in front of their cameras and audio recorders. Clicks, eyeballs, ratings. Unfortunately, they crave the attention, as well, much to the detriment of the audience and population in general. 

The vacuousness of Trump appearances and interviews also distract from the important stuff. They cause reporters, and by extension, regular folks to focus on what he says and not what he and his circle do. Annex Canada as the 51st state. Take over Greenland. Rename the Gulf of Mexico. Bring back Columbus Day. Greatest economy ever. Third term. Whatever crosses his mind or just saw on Fox News or Newsmax or an aide handed him. 

It harkens back to the days when the President’s words mattered almost as much as his actions. Trump didn’t understand the presidency on his first go ‘round, but he’s always understood media and what draws attention. He doesn’t necessarily understand the presidency any better this time, but he learned enough to bend it to his will and to go full bootlick and put people in position to do his bidding while he plays the same toxic tune he always has. Too many continue to dance to it.

Emergency Fashion is...Something Post

Andre 3000, genius or megagenius? 

His Met Gala appearance came just minutes after the musical polyglot dropped a new 16-minute record called 7 piano sketches.

Cross-Promotion: A Very Special G:TB Episode

It was genuinely wonderful to have the opportunity to celebrate the life of Dave's father Guy this weekend in New Jersey. Those of you that have been given the honor of eulogizing a parent know that it's both fulfilling and emotionally draining. I'm here to tell you that Dave did a brilliant job capturing his larger-than-life Dad, from the intimate family moments to Guy's (literally) global impact on the corrections profession.

As Dave himself notes over at the Sentence, "...though it was something of a somber occasion, my college and high school buddies brought some joy to the weekend". We did, in fact, pack a lot of joy into a short period of time, and I'm once again reminded of the incredible gift of friendship I'm fortunate to receive every day.

Godspeed, Guy, and much love to all you you, my Gheorghie pals.

Change of Address

We’re pollen-coated ass-deep into Spring, which means the start of Major League Baseball and playoffs in the NBA and NHL. So of course we’re going to offer a few words about second-tier college football. Never say we can’t scratch a niche. 

William and Mary, at least the third-favorite college for many in the audience, recently announced that it would move its football program from its long-time home in the Coastal Athletic Association (formerly the Colonial) to the Patriot League, beginning in 2026. The move makes sense for both cultural and competitive reasons. 

The Tribe’s primary football rivals, Richmond, James Madison and Delaware, all departed for other locations; JMU and Delaware climbed upward to the Football Bowl Subdivision, Richmond moved laterally to W&M’s future home in the Patriot beginning this coming season. The CAA’s distended conglomeration that now includes the likes of Stony Brook, Hampton U., Monmouth, Albany, Campbell and North Carolina A&T doesn’t much move the needle for Team Tribe. 

The Patriot, meanwhile, is a collection of schools whose profiles more closely resemble W&M, in size and academic standing. It was also a relatively light lift, since W&M’s move is football only. The rest of the school’s athletic teams will continue to compete in the CAA. 

A segment of Team Tribe has pushed for years, with varying degrees of force, to join the Patriot. Again, like-minded schools, particularly as CAA expansion brought in colleges with little in common to replace the league’s better known programs. But that wasn’t and isn’t William and Mary’s call entirely. The Patriot is comprised of small, private schools – undergrad enrollments range from Lafayette’s 2,764 to Fordham’s 10,337 – that were and are justifiably concerned about getting Bigfooted by W&M’s broad-based athletic program. 

For many years, the Patriot also didn’t permit its schools to offer athletic scholarships, providing only what’s called need-based financial aid, a la the Ivy League. But more than a decade ago, conference Big Hats concluded that athletic grants weren’t a path to academic ruin and allowed their athletic programs to pony up. As a result, Patriot football is more competitive regionally and certainly with the CAA, which in its heyday was one of the nation’s best FCS conferences. 

William and Mary athletic director Brian Mann explained to a former colleague that the football move came about relatively quickly – in discussions over just a few weeks – and that football-only makes sense now and for the foreseeable future. CAA football is a separate entity from the rest of the conference. It has/had adjunct members Richmond, Villanova, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, schools whose entire programs compete in other conferences, and de-coupling was easier than a full move. He is quoted in the piece: “I don’t think anybody at this time is ready for a big decision like that. We’re happy with where we are in the CAA, and (the Patriot League is) happy with their full membership. And with all the changes coming to college athletics, any sort of a change like that right now feels premature.” 

“Premature” is an interesting word choice. College administrators – the more effective ones, anyway – are usually precise with language and can be as vague or specific as necessary. Given Mann’s entire thought, “premature” reads more like “not yet” rather than “not interested.” Indeed, former athletic director Terry Driscoll told my comrade in that same piece that W&M had discussions with the Patriot on three occasions during his tenure, without a move. 

Patriot League affiliation may be a single-sport endeavor for William and Mary, or it may be a wade into the shallow end of the pool for consideration of full membership down the line. In any case, it continues the Tribe’s historic rivalry with Richmond as a conference game. And rumblings that Villanova football will also move from the CAA to the Patriot would further enhance the league and give Coach Mike London’s program one more familiar foe. College power brokers sweat and fret over a shifting landscape with new seven- and eight-figure expenditures and legal taffy pulls. Meanwhile, schools down the food chain that simply want kids to be able to compete and to proudly represent the laundry can only hope to find their appropriate depth. Ain’t easy. Athletic officials all earn their keep these days.

zBouillabaise Returns

I have a few incomplete thoughts which I will stew together as zbouillabaise.

1. Fuck cancer.

My childhood BFF, whom several of you have met (including Danimal!), called me this week to share the good news that his mother appears to have beaten Stage 4 lung cancer through a combination of immunotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery to remove 40% of her left lung.  Apparently she was cranky and bossing people around about an hour after she woke up from the procedure, which is to say she was fully back to normal.  She is an exceedingly tough person so her fortitude isn't a tremendous surprise, but still, fuck cancer.

2. Reading The Great Gatsby resulted in homework.

I recently read a post about a group of English professors who theorized that Jay Gatsby is Black.  I read The Great Gatsby in high school and saw Gatz about 14 years ago but I never heard this theory before, so I reread the book and I can see what they're getting at.  Alternatively, Gatsby is Jewish.  Or maybe both.  Also, I'm not convinced that Meyer Wolfsheim is really Jewish.  Anyway, I forgot that the book is only 150 pages long and that it's a damn good story.  And it's timely despite being 100 years old--the wealthy elite shit on the working man and blame his misfortune on the "others," and the working man gets violent at the others' expense.

I enjoyed the book (and the alternate theory of Gatsby's secret) so much that I contacted my high school English teacher (she's related to a friend) and we had a two and a half hour Z**m call about Gatsby, literature, and life in general.  She was my favorite teacher ever and it was great to reconnect.  She even gave me some reading assignments for our next call this afternoon.  So track down your favorite teacher and spend some quality time with them.

3. I am more optimistic about the Bills than ever before.

Or at least in a long time.  Going into the draft I told several Gheorghies that all I wanted to see them draft were cornerbacks and edge rushers.  My rationale is that it doesn't matter who the skill position players are on offense so long as they have Allen under center, and if you want to beat Mahomes you need to be able to get to him while only rushing four, and you need to cover everyone long enough for that four-man rush to get to him.  Beane largely listened to me, and they signed whatever is left of Joey Bosa (which I hope is significantly more than whatever was left of Von Miller over the past three seasons), so I am extremely optimistic going into the 2025 season.  Which means Allen gets hurt on the first snap.

4. Hell is other people.

I've said this here before.  This time it's less personal.  I've been plowing through Severance and pretty early on it reminded me of No Exit.  Then there's a scene in season 2 where a bizarre love triangle literally discusses who among them is going to hell.  Hopefully things will become clearer when I finish the season.  It's a great show, and you'll enjoy it even if you don't like existentialist references.  Check it out.