It is that time my fives of readers, the time where your boy takes time from being a loving father, an average cook, and an absolute atrocity of a handy man (although I was able to disconnect my toilet, remove it, and successfully re-install it so...*pops collar*) to give you what you didn't even know you needed. My opinion on who should firmly have a seat has arrived and this month's recipient is someone who has, and if we're being honest it's more of his more fervent supporters have annoyed me in recent years. Would the esteemed senator from Vermont Mr. Bernard Sanders get his ass up here so you can get this work!
It's no secret that during his run for president I got more than a little annoyed that every time you said something about Bern-dawg you were immediately met with "Hillary said this" or my personal favorite "But...he marched with King!"
My retort to both was I don't care, I'm asking about this certain instance and he should be able to handle some criticism because spoiler alert, that's how candidates get better. Well after Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abram both lost after widespread cases of voter suppression and wild incompetence causing hour long waits in neighborhoods that were conveniently African American neighborhoods. “You know there are a lot of white folks out there who are not necessarily racist who felt uncomfortable for the first time in their lives about whether or not they wanted to vote for an African-American.” Uh what? People who choose not to vote for someone based solely on their race is not "particularly racist"? My guy, that is a text book definition of a racist. The only way it would have been more racist is if it said said "I'm racist to a point" and used to use a leg drop.
In the words of Larry Wilmore, "I didn't forget about you."
I would have thought in all his marches with King it may have come up that just because some people may look and act like some people you know it doesn't excuse their racism. It just means some people you know may ALSO be racist. It's literally the easiest damn example of calling out racism and Bernie failed the test!
Is this ya'lls man?
Not all racism is burning crosses my guy, if someone judges a person by the color of their skin and not the content of their character they are...you guessed it, RACIST. You know who said that? Martin Luther King, Jr.
But of course he knew that, I mean he did march with King after all.
The time has come again for your faithful prognosticator of action within the circle that is squared to give you his humble opinion on what is going to happen during the next pay per view happening. And as usual the fine folks down in NXT have been laying the groundwork on some good ass storylines that will draw you into these matches without a doubt. Without further ado here are my predictions yo!
Kairi Sane VS Shayna Bayzler (NXT Women's Championship- 2 out of 3 Falls)
Kairi won the Mae Young Classic, Bayzler won their next battle, Kairi won the title from her and Bayzler regained it at Evolution. Seems like these two may be destined to this forever Gargano-Ciampa style. Given the introduction of the rest of the Four Horsewomen of MMA I would imagine that the damn numbers game may just be too much for our beloved Pirate Princess to overcome.
I would think that Bayzler wins in a way that utilizes her running mates and gets the audience more acquainted with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. Winner: Bayzler The Undisputed Era VS Pete Dunne, Ricochet and The War Raiders (War Games)
Long live the Bruiserweight
The Undisputed Era won the first War Games match last year. Given that I would expect... FOR THEM TO DO IT AGAIN. I am all in on this group of ridiculous assholes. They are a cohesive unit while Ricochet and Pete Dunne have simmering animosity while the War Raiders seemingly have simmering animosity towards everyone.
What a dick.
All this being said these are the things I can guarantee, Adam Cole is gonna look like a star, Kyle O'Reilly is gonna be a dick, Ricochet is do something amazing off the top of the cage and Pete Dunne is gonna make us shake our collective heads and and wonder why he isn't on Raw or Smackdown right this moment. Winner: Undisputed Era Aleister Black VS Johnny Gargano
I loved scrappy underdog face Gargano but emo heel Gargano is equally as enjoyable for me. And hes going against someone who has a legit beef given he cost him his NXT title and kayfabe put him on the shelf so he could have a one on one match with Ciampa.
I think this could sneakily steal the show although is it really surprising when you put Gargano and a motivated Dutch occultist in the ring together? I think this match ends as most of Aleister Black matches do, with a Black Mass and we will see Black moved up to the main roster. The Velveteen Dream VS Tommaso Ciampa (NXT Championship)
This may be the worst built feud of any match on this card. That said this match is going to be goddamn amazing. Ciampa has been an insufferable and horrible human since turning heel. As for the Dream, every time he has gone out he has gotten better.
This is a guy that as I have said numerous times, has it. I think that given all of the big matches that he has been in the time may have arrived for the Dream to ascend to the next level. And given his age he could be a long reigning champ in NXT and really keep the ship steady until Wrestlemania season when I'd expect him to be called up because he is MONEY. Winner: Velveteen Dream
Well folks there you have it. I've done the watching so you all can sit back and truly enjoy the show.
The college basketball season has begun anew and your boy is wild excited. And for those of you who don't obsessively watch basketball, scour the Twitter for recruiting news and have sites like NBADraft.net bookmarked then I am here to help you with who to keep an eye on during this season. Without further ado...
The Duke Unholy Trio: Zion Williamson, F Cam Reddish, G/F RJ Barrett, G
Let me just go ahead and get this out the way because frankly it sickens me that Duke has arguably the 3 best players in the upcoming draft. First up the "least" heralded of the 3, Cam Reddish. Good size, very smooth, and gets to the basket at will. Hasn't gotten the consistent 3 pointer yet but when he is hot, yikes.
RJ Barrett is probably the most well rounded of the 3, good size and the lefty is an elite scorer. Not to mention the young Canadian has already played against and with pro competition as a member of the Canadian National Team so honestly there is no stage short of the NBA Finals he probably isn't ready for.
The most intriguing man in all of college basketball is no doubt Zion Williamson. If you follow any member of basketball twitter then you are no doubt familiar with the antics of one Zion Q. Williamson. As Jim Ross would say he is a freight train with a Ferrari engine.
There is no reason that someone that is 6'6, 285 lbs should be able to jump the way he does. Then to top it all off, apparently as seen against previous top 5 competition Kentucky, he can handle the ball, lead the break and even has a nice jumper. Basically he's a Monstar.
Ugh. I feel so disgusted so
Bol Bol, C - Oregon
Remember Manute Bol? Well his kid is like an upgraded version. Want a ton of blocked shots? You got it. Want someone who can shoot the 3? You got that too...in the same player. Yes this kid who is built like your create-a-player for NBA Live 96 is real and he is doing work.
For someone who blocks a lot of shots he doesn't get in foul trouble. On the offensive side he has very good handles for someone tall as he is and while he is adept at shooting threes, he doesn't fall in love with them and will put the ball on the floor. Simply put this season we should all watch Oregon and not for the horrendous jerseys they wear.
And last but certainly not least, you knew I wasn't gonna have a list of guys to watch and not mention someone from UNC.
Nassir Little, SF - UNC
The first elite athlete to come to Chapel Hill in quite a while, Little is a 2 way player with star written all over him. When you watch him play the one word that you can use to describe him is explosive.
Like when he's grabbing rebounds, contesting shots, even elevating for a jumper he's flying off the court. at 6'6 and 220 pounds he has good size for a wing player and gets to the basket at will at times and the times he doesn't, he draws the foul. While he needs to work on his 3 point percentage, his jumper looks good so it seems like something that can be worked on.
Well folks there are five guys to keep your eyes on and I even gave praise to Duke so you know how in pain and disgusted I am with the current state of the world. Excuse me while I go burn some sage to purify my basketball watching experience.
I've always had a love of all things nerd. A deep love of documentaries, the statistical deep dives in sports, and foremost in my own personal nerd universe was comic books. Growing up I was a voracious reader. Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, hell any book my local library had. It really wasn't until a buddy of mine growing up name Bo introduced me to the Fantastic Four did I even fathom I could read something not of this earth and be completely taken in.
In the center of this new found world of nerdiness were the characters of the Marvel universe. I found Superman to be a bit corny, Batman while cool, at times was a bit unbelievable but Marvel characters? Now those were some fleshed out characters a young gangly bastard could get into. And then I saw for the first time in a comic book, a black super hero.
T'Challa aka Black Panther was everything Batman was and more. So I dove deeper, and the characters of the Marvel universe weren't just mindless super beings. No, they were so much more. There was a message to these enhanced people.
For instance, the X-Men, a group of people who were hated for their mere existence. Within this marginalized group there were different factions who had different solutions to the problem of the bigotry displayed to them. One faction felt peace was the route to go. Another faction felt that violence was best method to get their point across. Literally mirroring the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. In Lee's own words:
"I couldn't have everybody bitten by a radioactive spider or zapped with gamma rays, and it occurred to me that if I just said that they were mutants, it would make it easy. Then it occurred to me that instead of them just being heroes that everybody admired, what if I made other people fear and suspect and actually hate them because they were different? I loved that idea; it not only made them different, but it was a good metaphor for what was happening with the civil rights movement in the country at that time."
What I loved most is that he as he got older, he didn't hide from his message of inclusion. As the times changes whether people want to admit it or not representation matters. It always has and he and Marvel always seemed to go off the beaten path to make sure everyone had a voice and was represented. While not always perfect (who is?) Lee was essentially the moral compass of the Nerd universe.
Black Panther, Luke Cage, Blade, hell even arguably the most powerful hero of the universe is a woman. Stan Lee created a universe that was for everyone because everyone was represented.
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