Been out of the blogosphere a while. Old spot needed a revamp, so here goes Volume III.

I'll write a little bit here and there; want to try it a weekly thing. I always touch on sports, when what I follow's playing. But there's more to me than just that.

Any curiosities or rants you want to hear? Make sure to drop me a message on Twitter or Facebook!

Jun 29, 2017

Take it Like a Champ

I know was soon as I mention Service Animals, the general assumption is that the whole blog will be about Service Animals. Today is not that day.

Yes, my Service Dog had a painfully rude encounter with a horrible parent. Look. If you've raised a spoiled child, and refuse to be a hands on parent to STOP your child from misbehaving, your only saving grace is that I'm on the clock at work. Otherwise I would parent your spoiled child correctly, and give you a verbal assault. 

"Don't bother the puppy. Don't play with the puppy," as your child pokes, smacks, and comes nose to nose with a Service Dog who it doesn't know. Scratch the "Service" away from the title and you still have a dog you don't know. You child - and you - land in a lucky plavlce with a dog that has been trained endlessly to NOT react to brats and dicks like you. Most would show teeth or go for a nip. So stop for a second and examine you level of parenting.

Are you keeping your child safe? No.
Are you abusing a system to allow you child to misbehave towards a defenseless creature? Yes.
Are you stopping your child from acting out, and abusing another living being? No.

Parents need to bone up on educating their children. You can't be buddy buddy all the time. You need to have that parental role where your child eventually will say that they hate you. You need to be a leader. Discipline is not abuse. Abuse of said power is. And not disciplining your child and teaching them they can act out without fear of discipline or retribution for their actions does not ready them for the world they are growing up to be a part of. That builds more of the little prissy shits we call "millenials" who file frivolous law suits because they get offended. Eventually they will be FORCED to bend over and take what life gives them, dry, and without mercy or care for their fragile feelings that you allowed them to get away with by babying them since they were born.

Jun 20, 2017

Sports in the Off-Season

UFC... The biggest news really to me is Germaine de Randamie being stripped of her Featherweight​ Title. She refused to fight Cris "Cyborg" Justino who is somehow ranked as the number one contender with only two UFC victories. 
UFC says that to maintain the integrity of the sport champions "are expected" to accept fights against toe top contenders in their respective weight classes. And I fully understand and respect that. But... Cyborg's 2-0. It's not like she's literally fought her way to the top. And I won't touch on the whole steroid bit from before.
I see both sides though.

The NHL Expansion Draft should be fun this year. The Vegas Golden Knights are ready to rock and roll, and they know all the players they can choose from.
Contrary to popular belief, you can't just pick all the statistical talent, and succeed. Chemistry also need stop be taken into account. That's why starting teams don't just run the show. In my eyes, the best available goalie for them to pick up would be Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury. Struggled in the playoffs, but an Olympian no less.

Chris Neil wants to play hockey; the Ottawa Senators don't think it would be fair to keep him on another season.
Sens new head coach Guy Boucher didn't seem to have much use for Neil this season, which as a fan was heartbreaking to see. But Neil was that player that the Sens could rally around, and it showed against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the second round. The great debate will be... will he want to lead and mould the Vegas Golden Knights, or will he hope for another roster with more chance of a Stanley Cup?
Time will tell.

The SuperFight. Anyone who knows combat sports has heard. And those who don't probably have too. Floyd Mayweather is coming out of retirement and putting his 49-0 record on the line to face Conor "The Notorious" MacGregor on August 26th in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The fight will be 12 3 minutes rounds, at 154lbs, with 10oz gloves, following traditional boxing rules. Mayweather will be in his element, but MacGregor has an age advantage. Funny part is... the venue is booked for a concert. They're working to fix that. But this fight will be one to watch. Win, lose, or draw, these will be two very rich men afterwards.

Jun 8, 2017

Shades of Purple

August 2014... Jonathan Paul Koppenhaver (now know as "scum of the Earth" and "War Machine") took part in an act of complete treatchery. He broke into his ex girlfriend's house and beat the crap out of her then lover - who is also not much of a man - Corey Thomas, and Christine Mackinday.

Finally concluding court proceedings, War Machine has been sentenced to life in prison, with a chance of parole in 36 years.

After beating on Mr Thomas who then left Christy Mack to defend herself as (as I said, "Not much of a man") he turned his attention on Christy Mack. She suffered horrific injuries including a broken nose and teeth, a fractured eye socket and a lacerated liver. After pounding on her and raping her while both conscious and unconscious he told her, “This is it. I’ve got to kill you now.”

War Machine wasn't found guilty on three charges. Burglary with use of a deadly weapon; to me he IS a deadly weapon. He made his living as a mixed martial artist. Same as a black belt, boxer, or soldier trained in hand-to-hand combat would be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Sexually motivated coercion; so because she was unconscious when raped you won't charge him with this? And battery with intent to commit sexual assault; "intent" because again, she was unconscious. Fools.

The jury was deadlocked on two charges of attempted murder and attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon. (*cough* See above.)

But on 29 of the 34 charges, he was found guilty – and will receive a life prison sentence with the possibility of parole 36 years from now. A day when poor Miss Mackinday will once again sorry for her life. 

War Machine is claiming his mental illness cause him to be in a dark enough place to do these horrendous acts. In my eyes, there is no excuse. And between 2014 he read two books and found god. I mean, I know two WHOLE books would be a challenge for uneducated scum like this, but that doesn't excuse you. That doesn't change your actions, no matter your mindset while doing them. God cannot save you from this. And I hope someone shows him how loose his asshole can get behind bars.

Christy... don't give him the time of day. He wants her two "hopefully one day wrote him and visit him so he can apologize." No man. You fucked up. Calling on and claimimg you should have already killed yourself and should be laid next to Aaron Hernandez... you don't redeem yourself that way. You should have done yourself in to save the world from this mess. Save everyone effected. Then, that would have been enough. Now... death would be the easy way out. I hope now he attempts on his life and cannot die. Leave him in pain and anguish. Make him live forever and never get parole. Suffer for eternity for your actions. 

May 25, 2017

Review: Sing

Seeing the preview for this movie, I very much expected a kids movie. My goodness was it so much more. 

It was so touching. Heart warming. Family friendly yes, but so much more than kids would catch onto. Enough to keep the wee ones attention so a parent is able to see a movie that's more than purely for kids.

Showing everyone that dreams are meant to be chased, hard work will be needed to get there, and no matter what life throws at you that doesn't mean you should give up.

A must see.

May 4, 2017

Pokémon Stop

And so bad decisions start rolling through. I get the whole, "stopping bots" and stuff. But... limiting trainers to a certain number of catches per 24 hour period?

Niantic has started to roll through this change to game play. Where trainers can only make 500 catches per 24 hours. There's no counter; thing to tell you how close you are. So to those of us who play legitimately, spin the PokéStops to earn the Pokéballs, and catch all we can because we need one million experience points to get to the next level... this is a big kick in the grobs. And that if you go past their limiter, you're penalized to 200 catches a day for a bit. *sigh* If we hit 500... how will lowering out limit help?

Niantic has made some questionable decisions. I understand the meaning behind some of them, even when annoying. But there comes a point when it becomes frustrating. Especially to those who are pressing to level up and the exceedingly large amounts of experience points are needed.

This really need to be thought through. If there are only so many ways to earn experience, limiting and penalizing players for taking all those possible ways is wrong.

Apr 29, 2017

Offseason NFL Movement

Couple interesting moves in the NFL recently. Wanted to take a look and see what sprung to mind as I wrote about them. Sometimes I jump into blogs with a clear path, start to finish. Other times I see something interesting, and don't really know what I'm thinking on it until I get writing. So here goes.

Cleavland Browns (1-15 in 2016-2017) making waves and grabbing the playoff eliminated Houston Texans' Brock Osweiler. Osweiler leaving the Broncos at the end of the 2015-2016 XL SuperBowl win (the SuperBowl with the Pokémon commercial, pre-Pokémon Go). The same year Peyton Manning retired, leaving the Broncos high and dry (much to my glee) for a quarterback.
The Texans signing Osweiler to a ridiculous contract with a $16 million cap hit. The only way they could relieve it was to trade him; Cleveland Browns answered their call. Texans​ dropping Osweiler and a 6th round draft pick in 2017 and a 2nd round pick in 2018, while the Browns take a cap hit and trade a 4th round pick in 2017 to the Texans.

The Browns have been known to rely on draft picks to make headway in trying for a winning team. So will they keep Osweiler? Maybe. Also a maybe would be to flip him to a team in need for more draft picks.

Marshawn Lynch is back. After not submitting his retirement papers and taking a year off of football, he's decided to play again. As the Seattle Seahawks stil own his rights in the league and he wanted to play for his hometown Oakland Raiders, the two clubs needed to come to an agreement for the move. Lynch being a force, no one would want to just... let him go.
The Raiders stating they got their hands in Lynch as well as the Seahawks' 6th round draft pick in 2018, while losing their 5th round pick. The Raiders fought the good fight in 2016-2017. If Derek Carr can stay healthy, they could cause the AFC some heartache.

And the Viqueens will be down a running back. This isn't really new as he wasn't able to play recently because of pleading "no contest" to "misdemeanor, reckless assault." This charge reduced from the original "felony child-abuse" charges. He... disciplined his 4 year old... with a switch. I mean... I believe in discipline. It stops the whole "special snowflakes" issues we have with today's society. But a switch? Man, that's beyond too far.

The NFL reinstated him on April 17th, and the New Orleans Saints signed him for 2 years. It makes me sad and yet giddy that the Viqueens got nothing for their big deal running back. I'm sorry. But I'm not.

Patriots could be looking down a similar barrel. Jimmy Garopollo is coming to the end of his contract. The world is looking for a trade to keep something with the Patriots in case the can't come to terms with a contract. Some see him as untested, which is true in a sense. He hasn't played much. And as Brady seems to want to play on, staying with the Patriots could have him sitting as a backup while he could be in the best years to play.

I stand by the fact he looks awesome on the field. He just needs that work and weathering that comes with experience. He can't be expected to get experience if he doesn't play. But coming to the end of his contract he could expect Brock Osweiler money. That's a damn big cap hit. But some teams have proven to pay that. So it could boil down to Garopollo taking a discount to play under Brady and Belichick; a proven winning combination. That or playing for money somewhere that he can lead. Brady's age could play a factor too. If he gets injured who do the Patriots want to back him up? Can they stand letting the fresh Garopollo play and maybe lose some to get his footing and experience? Or will they​ hold him for the year and try to negotiate a contract before his contract runs out? Or trade him for players and picks?

I'm hoping the Patriots hang on to him. That I'm a Patriots fan is no secret. I can deal with the losses to have a steady quarterback after Brady. But that means either the Patriots franchise needs to eat the higher paid salary, or Garopollo agrees to play for less than Osweiler signed for. This is all assuming an offer like that is on the table for him. But again, playing under Brady and Belichick... the idea of high heavy contracts being offered isn't a stretch. 

Apr 14, 2017

Review: Kong - Skull Island

I'll be straight as I always am. I did like this movie. 

I enjoyed they didn't just do another King Kong remake; I don't know about everyone else, but I can only watch King Kong climb the Empire State Building with a leading lady in hand, while being shot at by circling fighter jets, so many times.
They took a page from it of the Godzilla handbook, which I was good. As far as I know Kong has never done that before. 

The violence became a bit gratuitous after a while. I understand we "need" to do the whole IMAX 3D thing, but the slow motion things just because... I'm not a fan.
Was glad to see John C. Reilly in a ne film in a decent role. He's always fun to watch. I was a bit worried it was going to be a Jim Carrey mishap; making him all serious all the time. But they gave him moments to be comedic in his regular way.

Would I pay movie theater prices plus snacks to see this movie? No. But I do suggest seeing it.

Jan 10, 2017

NFL Wildcard Weekend

Sorry I haven't been around much. I've been tied up with work and such. But again, I'm not paid to do this, so it falls quickly on my "shit to pay attention to" list when I'm lacking the time to do everything.
I will try to keep involved as it is not playoff time, and the football should be much more exciting instead of watching Cleveland suck the fun out of the game.

New York Giants vs Green Bay Packers
I haven't been overly taken with Green Bay, and have been hearing bad news about Aaron Rogers. On Wildcard Weekend, to me it seemed they're finally coming together as a team. My goodness watching him in the pocket and the Giants defense falling apart as they're unable to cover all the receivers. It was awesome to see. Scary, but awesome as a fan of the game.
Eli Manning couldn't seem to find Odell Beckham, Jr. Odell Beckham, Jr has been a huge outlet for Manning. If you look at the stats - Manning before and after - there's a huge difference in his ratings. As the Packers had his number, the Giants and Eli kinda fell apart.

Detroit Lions vs Seattle Seahawks
Seahawks seem to stay to their running backs. Since Marshawn Lynch I wondered what the Seahwaks would do, Russel Wilson can be strong as their quarterback, but they still seem to want to focus on their running game. I'm not saying that their receivers aren't worthwhile, just that Seattle seems to be a running city still. That is what Wilson worked with with Lynch, so continuing to build a team like that around a quarterback that grew with that makes sense.
Matt Stafford as a quarterback for the Lions is building with the Lions. They will take time, but Stafford is a good basis for them to build from. They still do need work as can be seen from this week's game. Stafford needs more to work with.

Oakland Raiders vs Houston Texans
This game was a battle of quarterbacks, and the Raiders felt the loss of Derek Carr. Their running game was horrific. And the Texans relying on Brock Osweiler as a quarterback and winning? *shiver*

Miami Dolphins vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Dolphins and defense; Miami doesn't have a double D. Needless to say they got racked this week, You need a defensive line to survive, especially in the playoffs. For the Dolphins it's non-existent. And their offensive line wasn't protecting Matt Moore, as seen when he got blasted. My exact words were, "Oh fuck!" Good on them for stepping up to protecting him afterwards, but way too much way too late. He got blasted and it shook him pretty bad. Interceptions and fumbles from then on. And if not, penalties from protecting him. Not good for game play.
They the get really tight with him and when he'd lose that ball, he wasn't able to get his hands back on it because his linemen were too close to let him more to it. And when they figure out he'd been hit and lost the ball, the defense were already on getting the ball which meant, turnover. turnover. turnover.