Kyrie, Kanye, Kylie and an Amigo Cart: While We’re Waiting…

Good morning, WFNY’ers. Here’s hoping your Monday is treating you well. We have a new head coach, a pair of divisional champions vying for the Super Bowl, and a writer who has so little time and so many thoughts about all of this that it’s become fairly frustrating to have all of these big picture items take place and have nary a minute to piece together thoughts. Thankfully, we have a tremendous staff of folks here at WFNY who have been able to keep the content coming. if you miss any of the work these guys did late last week and into the weekend, I recommend heading back through the front page and catching up.

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Those of you who follow me on Instagram and Twitter may have seen a litany of uploads last night in my attempt to win a Uncle Drew prize pack from Pepsi. What you may not have gathered, however, is that in attempting to take the images that were uploaded as my submissions was that I had to borrow (steal, temporarily) one of those Amigo shopping carts that are typically saved for individuals who cannot walk about the complex.

You see, Pepsi, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers, are giving away what I presume to be the last of 150 limited edition Kyrie Irving/Uncle Drew lockers that come with a host of items, of which includes an “Uncle Drew” colorway of Irving’s first signature sneaker, Nike’s Kyrie 1. While I could drone on about how I still feel a bit snubbed for not having been considered for the first run of the giveaway—apparently ear-marked for a slew of folks on Instagram, many of whom will simply discard the locker upon the receipt of their next promotional item—I’ve been desperately attempting to earn one, going so far as to downloading Pepsi’s app, texting keywords at specific times and, finally, this photograph submission contest.

The whole premise was that fans who obtained some Uncle Drew stickers from The Q during a select handful of games and then upload images of them to Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #UncleDrewCLE. But rather than merely putting the sticker on wall or chest or next to shoes or bobbleheads, I opted for a little bit of creativity. Gotta swing for the fences sometimes. The idea was to take some scenes from the actual fourth episode of Pepsi’s “Uncle Drew” commercials and extrapolate them to this contest. The early scene in the commercial, if you recall, featured J.B. Smoove’s character, Angelo, was playing dominoes with Louis, played by former Cavs guard Baron Davis. Setting up this scene was easy. But taking advantage of Louis’ Amigo cart, however, was not. That’s where Giant Eagle comes in to play.

My goal was to get a picture of the cart with a basket full of Pepsi products—because you can’t forget the partners. I shot the images at night as to ensure that there would not be a risk of individuals actually needing the carts. I arrived late at night, found the one I wanted, and proceeded to drive it back to the refreshments isle. I’m not kidding when I say that this thing traveled at a speed that would barely clock on a radar gun, making the awkward looks that much worse.

https://vine.co/v/iieeW2t1dxj

If there’s any saving grace, it’s that the grocery store is sparsely attended during late hours. What I did find, however, is that those shopping at that time are much more prone to stare, attempting to find a cast or prosthesis from any angle they can, helped only by the fact that they have several minutes to do so as I creep by at a snail’s pace.

Several young boys were stocking shelves behind me, but could not care less about the 30-something who is riding around in one of their carts. I only had to back it up twice, though each time seemed like the reverse signal, a screech that should only be saved for construction vehicles, got louder each time.

Alas, I finally get to my section, set up shop and snap a few photos. By the time I had wrapped up the shoot, crouching down as if I was obtaining images for TIME Magazine, I had started to get the hang of how my Amigo was best handled. This made the drive back to the front of the store—past the check-out lines, the dry cleaner, the lottery area, the cigarette counter, and the flowers—that much more enjoyable. A woman who I presume to be the manager strolled past me on my left as if she was oncoming traffic, but barely batted an eye as she was dealing with restocking some of the shopping carts. I threw the ride into reverse, again bringing about that horrible beeping sound, only to slide it perfectly back in to place as if I were suddenly an expert Amigo valet.

For those wondering, I have no idea when I will find out whether or not I won the contest. I will, however, maintain that no one else who entered a submission had as much fun doing so as I did, riding dirty through Giant Eagle.

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In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, former quarterback Troy Aikman said he believes football will be drastically different 20 years from now:

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports the NFL is seeking a sizable rights fees increase for its Thursday Night games in addition to splitting said games among multiple broadcasters. Go figure.

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While there was no new Kanye released this past Friday, we were given a track list of West’s highly anticipated release SWISH. That he referred to it as the “best album of all time” will surely make the star a ton of new fans.

https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/691489910293991424

Twenty Days. Kylie was here.

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Here’s the #ActualSportswriting you should be reading while your coworkers are giving you their sweet takes on David Blatt at the Cavs:

“The Tennis Racket” by Heidi Blake and John Templeton (Buzzfeed and The BBC): “It has been seven years since world tennis authorities were first handed compelling evidence about a network of players suspected of fixing matches at major tournaments including Wimbledon following a landmark investigation, but all of them have been allowed to continue playing.” ¹

“Tom Brady’s Big Reveal” by Kevin Van Valkenburg (ESPN The Magazine): “Love him, hate him, respect him or resent him, Tom Brady finally gave us a window into his life. He is as human to us, now, as he has ever been.” ²

“Long time coming: End comes for David Blatt’s bumpy Cavs tenure” by Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin (ESPN.com): “Running his hands over his hair to smooth it back into place, David Blatt emerged from the visitors locker room at the United Center with a bit of a dour look on his face. It was Nov. 1, 2014, only his second game as an NBA head coach, but what he was about to say was the first crack in the foundation, and it would lead to one of the more stunning firings in NBA history nearly 15 months later.”³

“Interviewing to become an NFL head coach” by Jenny Vrentas (MMQB): “Five team executives, seated around a conference table, introduced themselves. They gave their names, and briefly, their backgrounds. Then, they got right down to business. “How would you change the culture of our team?” one asked. That’s how the job interview began for one of the seven NFL teams in the market for a new head coach this January. No two interviews are alike, not even between candidates interviewing with the same team.”⁴

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And finally, she’s baaaaaaack.

Have a great Monday, you guys.

1. We’re less than one month into the year and this may very well be the biggest story to hit sports—oh, and it was written by Buzzfeed. A year-long investigative look into the fixing of tennis matches, this piece of #acualsportswriting rocked the tennis world at the open of one of its major events. No other piece since Don Van Natta’s deflategate story has even come close to having this magnitude. [↩]
2. While I’m sharing this the day after Brady was ousted from the NFL postseason picture, the entire piece is worth a read. KVV is one of the best in the business; Brady is potentially the best in his business. [↩]
3. So many quality pieces came out of David Blatt’s ousting, but this was easily one of the most in-depth. Every line is reported, either through scene or through sourced material. Sports writing. [↩]
4. While this doesn’t technically follow the Browns around—something I can’t imagine the team being cool with—this is a great look at what the entire coach hiring process is like. Shout out to Sashi and Paul. [↩]