More Kyrie Irving Signature Shoe Photos Emerge
November 9, 2014Video: Tension between Kevin Love and David Blatt?
November 10, 2014Happy Monday, kids. Hope you enjoyed your downtime. Your soundtrack for this week’s reading: Damn, it Feels Good to be a Gangsta
As realism is wont to do, my expectations for this weekend were not very high. The Cleveland Cavaliers were a mess. The Cleveland Browns were heading to Cincinnati on short rest to face the division-leading Bengals. And the Ohio State Buckeyes were also taking to the road, this time heading to East Lansing to face the Michigan State Spartans—the No. 8-ranked team in the country who just so happened to end Urban Meyer’s championship dreams a season ago.
The Cavs were favored heading into Denver, but they had been favored each of their first four games as well and were sitting at 1-3. The Browns and Buckeyes were each underdogs heading into their contest. But Vegas sets lines and God laughs. Between the Cavs’ dismantling of the Nuggets (ball movement and everything!), the Browns simply dominating the Bengals (seriously, they were a Jim Leonhard fumble away from being shut out), and the Scarlet and Gray hanging 49 on that vaunted Sparty defense, well—things are looking up.
I’m not certain what the Browns will do from here, but I do know that there are lot more people talking 9-7 than there were heading into the season. I’m not sure how much consideration the Buckeyes will get this Tuesday when the new College Football Playoff rankings are announced, but I’m seeing them in the top seven on a lot of pundit lists. I’m not sure how long it will take for the Cavaliers to fall into their groove, but I do know that when I see things like this—
—I get incredibly excited about the potential of this team as items like rotations, units and communication get ironed out. Recall how fun it was to watch Byron Scott’s bench bunch? Luke Walton and Shaun Livingston and Wayne Ellington and the rest? Their communication and comfort level with one another was better than the starters that season. Now take that and swap out all of those guys for All-Stars. It’ll happen eventually, and when it does, look out.
But yes—I digress. The Pittsburgh Steelers also got it absolutely handed to them on Sunday, so your Cleveland Football Browns are officially sole owners of first place in the AFC North—for the FIRST TIME IN OVER 19 YEARS.
T’was one hell of a weekend, no?
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Speaking of that whole 19 years thing, SB Nation did a fun look at the world’s landscape the last time the Browns were atop their division.
- Johnny Manziel was two years old.
- Apple stock was $37.06 a share, now $109.01. (Actually would be worth around $3,000 due to stock splits.)
- Neither the Carolina Panthers or the Jacksonville Jaguars had won an NFL game since becoming franchises.
- The DVD was announced.
What can you add?
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I had crashed on my ever-so comfortable sectional couch on Friday evening having survived another long week. My wife had left to go utilize some soon-to-expire coupons which she had accumulated, and the Cavaliers were playing at 10:30 p.m. that night, so a little shut-eye was in order. Much to my surprise, when she returned, she did so with a bag from Foot Locker—she had surprised me with a pair of the LeBron 12s that hit shelves during the team’s maiden voyage into 2014-15: The HRT of Lions.
These LeBron 12s make me wish I still played. Incredibly comfortable. No wonder he's wearing them every night out. pic.twitter.com/8LFicf5rIf
— Scott (@WFNYScott) November 8, 2014
This was awesome for a variety of reasons, chief of which was that I’m fairly certain she doesn’t read WFNY on the regular, yet somehow knew that this colorway was my favorite of the batch that were to be released this fall.
While I haven’t picked up a basketball in years, my tweet was no lie—these shoes make me want to play again. They’re (as I tweeted…) incredibly comfortable; the toe box is the perfect width; the new hexagonal sole does exactly as intended. The detail is like no sneaker I’ve ever owned. It’s also no surprise as to why James, after spurning the LeBron 11 last season for a slew of different shoes, has worn the LeBron 12 every game this season, including this badass Veteran’s Day PE on Friday night.
LeBron busted out some Veterans Day PEs on Friday night. Wonder what's in store for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/nNYSkjr4xt
— Scott (@WFNYScott) November 9, 2014
I’m not sure what the future holds for this shoe, but I’m pumped to not only have landed the one that I preferred, but that it completely exceeded expectations in the way of comfort and design.
Man, am I glad he’s back in Cleveland. Makes this whole sneaker thing much easier to enjoy…
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I know we have expounded upon this Taylor Swift saga a few times now, but I wanted to point out this excellent column written over at Vulture.
Remember that Swift comes from country, with a much more traditional record-buying audience, and this album is her big crossover bid. She’s a somewhat bland but sprightly star who appeals to moms and kids, genetically designed to be as ingratiating as possible. The successful marketing of such stuff shouldn’t be greeted with looks of wonder. …
As we’ve seen over the past 15 years, the decisions record labels make are quite often not in the best interests of their customers, their artists, or, in the end, themselves. The CD Era is long gone. Sales will go on, of course, particularly in genres like country that haven’t entirely made it to the digital world yet, but will continue to drop significantly each year. (At least until the CD becomes a neo-retro accouterment in the bewhiskered hipster pad the way LPs are now.) The iTunes Era is over as well. Few have been paying attention, but digital sales are now collapsing in unison with CD sales. Swift’s 1989 sales are not a sign that this process is being reversed; she’s just an outlier with a good marketing staff.
Quality music writing is right up there with quality sportswriting. Pitchfork does a fantastic job of sentence structure and prose in everything from album reviews to more longford think pieces. Grant land has stepped up admirably in their coverage of music and its culture.. This piece, though commentary about something as ephemeral as pop music, is executed rather perfectly with plenty of supporting data and shots at the genre of country music. #TeamSpotify
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While we wait not-so patiently for hot takes to combust, here’s this weeks’ (ESPN-heavy) edition of #ActualSportswriting:
“The Long Way Home” by Eli Saslow (ESPN): “He awoke to the blast of the front door flying off its hinges, and Demaryius Thomas peeked out his bedroom window and saw six unmarked cars and a dozen police officers with their guns drawn. A pack of drug dogs roamed the front yard. The spotlight from a police cruiser cut through the predawn darkness of rural Montrose, Georgia, and shined into his single-story house. “Don’t move!” Thomas remembers hearing one of the officers yell, so he ducked back into bed and hid under the sheets.”1
“Sea of Crises” by Ryan Phillips (Grantland): “When he comes into the ring, Hakuho, the greatest sumotori in the world, perhaps the greatest in the history of the world, dances like a tropical bird, like a bird of paradise. Flanked by two attendants — his tachimochi, who carries his sword, and his tsuyuharai, or dew sweeper, who keeps the way clear for him — and wearing his embroidered apron, the kesho-mawashi, with its braided cords and intricate loops of rope, Hakuho climbs onto the trapezoidal block of clay, two feet high and nearly 22 feet across, where he will be fighting.”2
“Free to Go” by Mina Kimes (ESPN The Magazine): “The worst day of his life was Nov. 21, 2013. That morning, Devonta Pollard walked into a courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi. The 19-year-old, once a top basketball recruit who seemed destined for the NBA, had barely slept the night before. His lawyer told him to dress up, so he wore a dark suit, a recent gift from one of his aunts. After his name was called, Devonta sat behind the witness stand and looked down at the prosecutor, steeling his face so he wouldn’t cry.”3
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And finally, this week’s Brew du Jour: Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Christmas Ale
We’re cheating a bit this week as I typically attempt to discuss beers which I’ve had for the first time—I feel that the sharing is more real and the timelines of it all adds to the fun. This said, I haven’t had anything new in a while large in part to the fact that I picked up a case of Christmas Ale last week and this has been the beer of choice ever since.
The downside to this not being a first-time tasting is that I feel confident that the vast majority of our over-21 readership has already imbibed on this bad boy. The silver lining to this is that I’m confident that this could also lead to some additional discussion on the savory, golden matters.
Beer aficionados will refer to this as a “winter warmer,” but GLBC’s Christmas Ale, in my mind, is a little more distinct than anything that could be grouped with other winter ales. It pours as a dark, creamy tan—but you already knew that. The cinnamon and spice is delicious and is prevalent throughout (and I’m not even a cinnamon fan); the hints of honey and nutmeg provide added sweetness. At 7.5 percent ABV, it packs a punch, but the “back in my day” crowd will be quick to remind you that it used to be much higher. (It’s also for this reason why hipsters and faux anti-conformists will try and tell you that Thirsty Dog’s 12 Dogs of Christmas is “better” because of it’s 8.3 percent.)
At the end of the day, there’s a reason why the release of Great Lakes’ Christmas Ale is an annual holiday around Cleveland and all others are left to battle amongst themselves as the other choice. It’s a cult classic that oftentimes finds the hardest of core taking a vacation day so that they can be in line for the first tap of the season. I mean, come on—people enter raffles to win rights to the first pour.4
Deck your halls and stuff. The selling season is only about eight weeks long, so you may want to snag yourself a few sixers before their gone for good.
Have a great Monday, you guys.
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- So well written. So vivid. A story all the way through, penned by one of the best young writers out there today. If you make time for any piece this week, make it this one. [↩]
- Forget for a second that this story is about Sumo wrestling and realize that the quality of the work done here, both by the writer as well as whomever produced the work for Grantland, is simply masterful. On location work that results in beautifully crafted sentences with vivid imagery and a narrative that carries the entire way through, with spectacular artwork to break up the sections. I knew absolutely nothing about Sumo wrestling outside of the guy from Street Fighter 2 and the WWF’s Yokozuna and even I enjoyed this piece. [↩]
- ESPN The Magazine hired Mina Kimes not all that long ago to be a columnist, ostensibly replacing the void left by Chris Jones. Her columns are always well-reported (Yep, commentary can also be reported) so it is no surprise that it was just a matter of a few months before she was giving several pages in the latest Mag. This is an excellently done first longform piece for a woman who was writing about finance and investments earlier this year. [↩]
- It’s here where I reiterate my disdain for waiting in lines, but add that I will gladly high five anyone who takes a day off of work to drink beer in the morning. [↩]
61 Comments
I actually thought this up (I’m sure I’m not the first) while drinking at my townie bar during Christmas in July.
It’s absolutely delicious, but also quite dangerous.
I’ve also seen Vanilla Stoli dropped in.
A hipster would never touch Bud Light…. you are in the free and clear.
Also, I drink to lighten the mood, relax, unwind, occasionally get drunk and also because the craft beer explosion has made so many more tastes so readily accessible.
In other words, I will take my cake and eat it too.
Eurotrash Pilz is my favorite selection from them.
Just as I am getting so tired of the heavy winter junk it bursts through in March/April and lightens the party.
I’m so uncool, nobody would ever mistake me for a hipster.
“It’s also for this reason why hipsters and faux anti-conformists will
try and tell you that Thirsty Dog’s 12 Dogs of Christmas is “better”
because of it’s 8.3 percent.”
Own it!
A couple years back, I spent an evening drinking bottles of Bourbon Barrel Ale with shots of Knob Creek dropped in. Really enjoyed it at the time and will NEVER do it again. Drank officially double of too much. Feeling queasy just writing this.
I know. Just reading them back-to-back was really crazy and makes me truly thankful for what I have.
http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/great-photos-thechive-awesome-23.jpg?w=600&h=484
http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/great-photos-thechive-awesome-69.jpg?w=600&h=729
I don’t see any votes for Anchor Christmas ale.
That sumo story from Grantland is the best sports story I’ve read this year.
Also, a hipster is anyone who’s younger than you are and appears to be having a better time than you.