tBBP

And what a game it was! I've actually been able to catch a good many of these games due to being snowed in...caught that one from top to bottom. The fact that Arkansas pulled off that comeback with dang near half their players either in foul trouble or completely fouled out (Kansas was in the bonus with about 10:00 to go in the game) was huge for them. Not that I have anything against the Jayhawks, but as a current enrollee and future Sooie Pig alumnus, naturally I have a vested interest in all things Hogs these days, so...WOO PIG SOOIE!!! (Now of course the question is can they finally break through the glass ceiling at the Sweet 16?)

Time out...how long have the scripts/numbers on the Angels' red jerseys had those gray dropshadows? That is just about one of the most unnecessary elements ever...

Don't forget the most notorious one-ring winner of them all: Mark Rypien...

Oh and while we're speaking of the Jags and tangentially about Tennessee—and I 100% saw this coming—the Snatit done snatched Arden Key from Jacksonville.

Mannn...I used to think that way, but then I was like "bump that". I rode with the Bucs from the time I first saw a football game (probably somewhere around 5 or 6 years old) right up through and until the whole Greg Schiano episode wherein I finally just said "bump it" and got off the bus before it and the driver killed me. (That they for reasons unknown to mankind chose to cosplay as alarm clocks in the seasons that followed was just a hilarious coincidence.) Now I will say I've stuck it out with the Jaguars all these years (although during my sojourns in both Indy and Nashville it mayyy have been more Colts/Snatit than Jags for a time when they played each other), but even with that, I'm more a casual observer of the sport than überfan like I used to be with the Buccaneers growing up. I will say that my three-year sojourn up in the Dakotas seemed to spark a resurgence in my black and teal fandom, though, due to a/ hometown ties and n/ the number of random Jags fans living up here (and I still don't know how the heck THAT happened). TL;DR: like who you wanna like. Or don't. Ain't no rules to fandom; just don't go killing yourself—or going full-on Tnak-rage mode—over no doggone sports team. *hat drop*

And now Patrick Peterson is headed to Pittsburgh... ...The league's got all kind of player movement going on this offseason, doesn't it?

The same can be said of Jeffrey Simmons of Tennessee...the Snatit are already in cap purgatory (though to new GM Ran Carthon's credit, he's trying like heck to clean it up), but if they can't pull together the money to pay him, dude is gone. It's also still entirely possible the Snatit lose both him and Derrick Henry, though via trade...and if the whispers are true, probably to the same team (the Bills). And speaking of DTs not on either Hargrave's or Simmons' level, Arden Key is due for some money pretty soon, as well...I do have to applaud the way Giraffeneck Baalke has handled the offseason player personnel situations thus far, but at some point some hard choices will need to be made on who to pay and who to risk letting go. Thankfully they have a whole season to figure that part out. I don't know how possible it'd be, but given Garroppolo just went to the Raiders, what if...somehow...the Niners managed to bring Lamar Jackson into the fold??? That team would be BEYOND scary...

Stuff like this is when having a class-A commercial driver's license comes in handy

And speaking of the Rams and related moves, Jalen Ramsey is being traded to the Dolphins...

Hot take: that team may actually be better without LeBron...or of James is willing to take a backseat and run the offense through AD (assuming AD can stay healthy, that is). From the little bit of them I've seen the past few days, they got a dangerous squad over there. And who is that Austin Reeves character? Cat's a gamer, for sure.

Well that's.. purple. Catching some throwback K-State vibes from those... Is there a reason why that cap M was so big? That's bordering on old-school Ohio State TV number territory. I've long wondered what Auburn's away football uniforms would look like with navy pants. Now I know. And they should totally try that sometime...

That is sobering. And it leads me to wonder exactly where all that rubber that was recycled into pellets that I used to haul out of Des Moines IA and Salt Lake City UT back in the day came from—not to mention the rubber pellets currently used in FieldTurf today. (I've hauled a lot of that stuff to various athletic fields, most notably in and around Wichita KS.) I know much of the rubber in Des Moines came from recycled tires; not sure about the stuff from SLC.

Oh this what we doing? Shoot... (And all that was before I was born....greatest era of music ever.)

I'm getting some strange Jim Wacker vibes from that one...

You know what, man...I've been thinking, and In think you're right: it wouldn't be good. It'd be ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!

Two things: 1.) The Nationals' brand was forgettable before they won the World Series, so there's that, and... 2.) For those swear up and down that scripts and numbers must have outlines, stare long and carefully at this photograph. Yes, we all know it says "Nationals"...but look at the colors. See how they kinda "bleed," into each other? Admittedly this problem is worse when a lighter color outlines a darker color, but this is the exact reason the Twins' single-layer approach works so well: a/ clarity in legibility and b/ clarity in color usage. Ever since the Natinals adopted that script, it's just looked off to me....is it just me, or does that script just look set at more extremely raked angle than other chest scripts to anyone else???

I've been thinking the same since I first saw the white-paneled batting helmet. I mean shoot, dare to be different, Minnesota. Go all the way out there. Plus, it just looks so dang good. I think the Orioles were the last team to do the white-paneled cap thing on anything close to a regular basis about a decade or so ago (?); before that, I wanna say the Reds were the last (maybe the only) team to do a full-time white home cap for a full season? Anyway, my point is it'd be unique and the Twins could really own it in this present era...

If Tennessee had the cap space (which they don't), Lamar would make an intriguing addition down there. That'd also be good for Malik Willis, but... that ain't happening, so it's all moot. Other than Brady, Tampa's NEVER paid anyone that kind of money—though they have come up off 1st-round picks in the past—so I don't see that one happening. Colts need a QB but... they ain't paying for him, either. So who does that leave? Minnesota? Houston?? Maybe San Francisco???

And speaking of franchise tags, the Ravens just placed the non-exclusive one on Lamar Jackson. I for one would LOVE to see what he could do in the silver and black....

And against the Texans, no less...

Why do I feel like this is finna be a Drew Brees-type situation all over again? (Which, of course, would be good for New Orleans...)

Okay... I'm starting to like these more.

Louisville is a funny case, in that it's almost big enough to work, BUT...UofL runs that town as far as sports goes, and the XFL (or any other spring league) would have to hope the owners of Lynn Family Stadium would let them play there. That said, Louisville would be a better market for an NBA team, IMO...if not for, again, the UofL's control of the KFC Yum! Center. I'll throw out a wildcard I haven't seen mentioned yet: Albuquerque. You wanna talk about an consistently overlooked "big" City? There you go. And I bet they'd—shoot, I'd bet New Mexico period—would chomp at the bit for some half-major pro sports in town aside from the Isotopes and that new USL team, especially considering there's nothing else around for what, 260 miles at best? (That'd be El Paso...ABQ is about equidistant from Phoenix and Denver at just over 400 miles.) Granted I've only been there twice, so I can't speak to the economy of the place, but I think they defintiely have enough people to draw. (Total but maybe relevant tangent: is that UFC training base still out there? I half-remember some pretty big names training there back in the day.)

So... for the second night in a row I watched a complete NBA game on TV from start to finish. Look here: them Denver Nuggets are a PROBLEM. And as far as the Grizzlies go? Without Steven Adams, they fold like a lawn chair. Now mind you, I've watched parts of games before featuring the Grizzlies, so I'm no stranger to the way they play. I can see why they're the second-best defensive team in the West. BUT... they DESPERATELY need a strong accountable veteran leadership presence in that locker room, something like how David West was to the Pacers in the early part of last decade. As much as I like Steven Adams as an on-floor enforcer, he ain't that—although I think he could be if he wanted to. All of which leads me to Taylor Jenkins...because ultimately, this mess all falls on him. I don't know that he knows how to counteract Ja Morant's or Dillon Brooks' personalities, and it shows on the floor (not to mention the media). It's frustrating as he'll too because Memphis is one of the youngest and most talented squads in the league...but until they can get someone who can keep a consistent and well shined boot in their a**e* (that's another way of saying keep them—especially Brooks and Morant—in line), hey're not gonna mature enough if at all to close out games when it matters most—basically what Denver did to them in the fourth period last night. (And that's another strike in Denver's favor.) I mean, I can appreciate that they've clearly embraced the role of league antagonist, but even with that there's a way to do it...and they way they're doing it ain't it.

I don't know if anyone is watching this Sixers/Mavericks game tonight, but maaannn...Kyrie and Luka are going OFF in this game... It's been a good number of years since I last watched an NBA game from start to finish. I'm still trying to get used to near-seven-footers so consistently flinging it from [beyond] the wings...but this is the era of NBA we're in (thanks Golden State). Lotta ball movement going on in this game, definitely much faster-paced...but some of this freelancing also looks a little sloppy to me. (Amd when exactly did so many NBA players take to flopping like they're playing on a pitch?? )