Nurse the Hate: Competitive Adventure Podcasting and NFL Championship Weekend

I listened to a podcast this week from a guy that had played in an underground band roughly the same level of “struggling to get noticed” that our various bands have always been.  It’s the level where you book a show somewhere you have played before, have left a decent reputation and have a reasonable belief enough people will show up to see you if you come back.  This is based on the idea that you don’t book a show the same time that Social Distortion is playing a free show at the park or Revered Horton Heat has brought a cavalcade of stars to town at the superior club for $10.  There is always disaster looming around every corner my friends.

 

I had been told that the podcast was great, and he told stories from that early 1990s period well before anyone’s dreams had been crushed by Napster, dance culture, the internet, changing tastes or just fatigue with the struggle.  The podcast is essentially him reading from his book, which I will snottily say isn’t written very well, and frankly the stories aren’t that great.  He spent a great deal of energy writing about how he and his friends hit the road and naively didn’t know the challenges that faced them but bravely dealt with things like snowstorms and friendly cops.  During that same period, we had a pistol pulled on us by a club owner, had a van engine catch on fire, drove across the country on a tour, had bizarre sexual trysts with local girls, avoided angry local boyfriends of those girls, played with most of our record collection, and pushed every physical limit possible.  Shit, I passed out at a lunch spot on a Friday after three consecutive nights of gigs with five am arrivals home with work at 830am.  I was on a tile floor with most of the dining room circled around me asking each other “Is he OK?”.  Hell yeah.  I jumped in the van and played Cincinnati that night.

 

I suppose that ultimately my experience wasn’t that different than the podcast guy.  I mean, in both cases, we were just guys looking for some kind of adventure.  He got enough adventure to satiate his appetite.  I suspected we had bigger tolerances for insanity than those guys, and this podcast bears that out.  However, no matter how far either of us pushed it, at least we fucking tried.  The biggest pitfall in American society now is the safety of everything.  No one takes chances, because chances involve risk, and risk could end in loss.  While it may appear that the only way to avoid loss is to avoid chance, I would say this is a loser’s gambit.  The only way to win is to embrace risk.  While Matt Damon certainly did not say it best in his awkward crypto currency ad, the line isn’t wrong that “fortune favors the bold”.  Sure, there’s a bunch of “bold” people that end up on the rocks, but at least they did try, and kudos should be extended even in a disastrous end.

 

I reached two conclusions.  1.  I will read the book.  Maybe this guy just sucks at telling stories on a microphone.  2.  I am a competitive asshole and I feel like I need to assemble that book I have had built the skeleton of over all these blogging years and kick the shit out of his book.  Hemingway said all writers are competitive and hate each other’s writing.  Well, that wasn’t Hemingway, that was a line of dialogue in a Woody Allen movie spoken by the Hemingway character, which is another writer whose script I could have improved, so fuck both of those guys.

 

Let’s talk about risk.  I should have won both games last week, but Ryan Tannehill screwed me for the last time in 2021-22 with his interception spree.  I had that guy on my fantasy team, and he disappointed me week after week.  There was no reason why he shouldn’t have done the same last week either.  I should have seen it coming.  No matter.  I faded the Bengals last week, and I’m fading them again this week.

 

The Bengals might have won last week, but that was turnovers.  They were outplayed by Vegas and outplayed by Tennessee, but won both.  That shit happens in the NFL.  It’s not happening this week.  Kansas City is turning the dial up.  That win last week was an all time great NFL game, and this week will be an afterthought.  The Bengals are decimated in the defensive line.  They have four players on the D line and practice squad guys.  Their options are either A) blitz Mahomes and get killed or B) give Mahomes time and get killed.  Kansas City is going to score a shit ton of points unless they somehow conveniently turn it over three times or more.  This suggests that Cincinnati will have to outscore KC.  You want any part of that?  I don’t.  Burrow got sacked nine times last week.  I am hoping to hop on Kansas City -7 but will likely swallow the hook if I have to.  I also am in the weeds on the Kansas City team total of OVER 31.   

 

I have been riding with San Francisco and am going to keep going.  They have that team of destiny vibe to them.  The Rams, meanwhile, have a feel of a Greek tragedy.  I’m not suggesting Matt Stafford is going to find out his wife is his mother or anything, but it just seems like that thing is going to collapse.  San Fran has won the last six matchups.  This suggests a coaching edge, because the Rams have been stacked.  The 49ers have a great defense, especially on the D line.  That’s how games are won.  That Ram offensive line, despite a great game last week, has been soft in spots.  I think this game is going to be a grind, and I love getting 3.5 with a great defensive team.  San Francisco +3.5.  Oh, I also like Cam Akers UNDER 63.5 yards rushing.  That guy fumbled twice last week.  No way they feed him the ball.  He won’t get enough attempts to get 63.5 yards.

 

Season Record:  36-35