5 Things on a Friday: Wrestlemania, the AEW, & the XFL

There’s no sports since the outbreak of COVID-19, but there’s still some sports entertainment, and in a pinch, that’ll have to do.  Truth is, it’s been a good, long time since I was more than a cursory fan of pro-wrestling.  But if you’ve known me long enough, then maybe you’ll remember that time I was a pro-wrestling super-fan.

My grandfather introduced me to pro-wrestling back in the late 1970s, and yeah, I marked out to Hulk Hogan like the rest of my cohort back in the 1980s.  However, it wasn’t until I got married to a girl I’d met at my folks’ hometown church in 1995 in the tiny town of Tullahoma, Tennessee, that my interest in wrestling turned into anything like a genuine personal interest.  I’d been a casual fan like a lot of folks, but once Misty and I walked down the aisle, shit got real.

5 Things on a Friday: News Plus Podcasts

Hey folks.  Happy Friday!

5 Things on a Friday: Trying to Move On

Back to work this week.  It hasn’t been an easy transition, and yet here we are.

I hope you all enjoyed your time off.  I know I did.  I already miss skiing.

5 Things on a Friday: Waiting for My Giant Seahorse

I was on vacation the first three days this week, and it still feels like it’s been a long week.  Argh!

Happy Friday, folks.

5 Things on a Friday: We Need More Instagram

I went back and forth this week on how many serious articles I should run.  The news has been so grim, though, no matter where you turn, so I decided to keep it light.  I mean, I don’t know that I’m any more optimistic than you are, but I will say that I don’t want to dive any deeper into the garbage pail than I have to through my writing.  

No one wants that, do they?

5 Things on a Friday: We Take an Easy Week

This felt like a slow news week up until yesterday afternoon.  But as much as I'm personally happy that Scott Pruitt is finally leaving the EPA, I don't have anything to add to the story beyond the basics.  I searched for additional stories of relative importance but still didn't find very much.  

So this week’s post is a lot of college football and a bit of D&D.  Yay?

5 Things on a Friday: A Scorcher Coming Monday

The Class of 2022 starts on Monday.  Feel old yet?

I’m just gonna drop this here. In case somebody’s maybe planning to stand outside in uniform all day on Monday. For some reason...#RDay

“Drink water New Cadets!” pic.twitter.com/HzJK7uyMue

— Danno E. Cabeza (@Dan_T_Head) June 28, 2018

Sunday Musings: Monkey See, Monkey Do

A few random musing from the last few days.

How Good Is the Trump Economy, Really? (NY Times: The Upshot)

So what is the most honest way of talking about the Trump economy? It goes like this: The president inherited an economy that had come a long way toward healing. During his administration, the economy has continued growing at about the same rate it did before he took office, pushing incomes, employment and output to yet higher levels.

5 Things on a Friday: Praying for a New Plane

I’m back.  I’ve been busier of late, so I don’t know that 5 Things' return is necessarily going to be a regular occurrence, but there’s so much going on that I thought maybe we ought to talk about at least some of it.

Let’s get it on!

5 Things on a Friday: Return to Chaos

Happy Founder’s Day!

On March 16, 1802, Thomas Jefferson signed a document declaring "that the said Corps, when so organized, shall be stationed at West Point... and shall constitute a military academy. The Corps of today celebrated the 216th anniversary of Founders Day.

Photos by: CDT Alex Werden pic.twitter.com/TbVyf7fJgq

— US Military Academy (@WestPoint_USMA) March 2, 2018

5 Things on a Friday: A Tough Week

Happy Friday, folks.

It’s a somber Friday for me and a lot of my friends.  We lost a classmate this week, apparently from complications arising from the flu, and that is not an easy thing.  I didn’t know Jimmy particularly well, and it feels like a real shame because he was obviously a great guy.  Many, many of the memorials from those close to him have mentioned his ready sense of humor and easy smile.  Those things can be rare commodities in the daily grind at West Point, and sometimes, they are the only things that help you stay sane.  Guys like that are often the most important people in your class.  The guys who can make you laugh amidst all that stress, those are the guys that you never forget.

Jimmy was a former Army Football defensive back, a doting father, and a successful grad in everyday life.  He was clearly in excellent physical condition as well, so his passing will have hit his family completely out of nowhere.  I hate that.  I feel it like a physical blow.  His family noted in their announcement that he had chosen to be an organ donor, so someone else will live because of Jimmy.  That is cold comfort, but it speaks to the man’s character.

Well done, Jimmy.  Be thou at peace.

5 Things on a Friday: One Team?

Happy Friday, everybody!

Let's start with a little geography lesson, yeah?  It's apropos for a Friday morning.

What's your favorite Italian Wines region? #wine #italy #vino @KellyMitchell @FoodBlogUK @onceuponawine_ @us_sommelier @winewankers @Sommelier72 @vinhoverdewines @WineFolly @BarbaraRocci @amthewinersclub @JMiquelWine pic.twitter.com/1NfXi8qLFD

— Italian Wine Blogger (@WineBlogRoll) January 17, 2018

5 Things on a Friday: The "Media Rights" Edition

Happy Friday, everyone!

5 Things on a Friday: Writing Update & Other News

Happy Friday, folks!  Let’s get it on!

"Come fill your glasses, fellows, and stand up in a row..."

5 Things on a Friday: Not Going Back to Korea

Happy Friday, folks!

5 Things on a Friday: The Last Saturday Night EVER!

We’re back!

The hiatus was unintentional, but I hope you missed me nonetheless.  Did you miss me?

Sports Modeling: Long Answer to a Short Question

The sacred shield of the NFL.

My buddy Joe and I have been planning a shared project for later this summer, a combined preview of the coming NFL season.  Regular readers and/or USMA classmates will hopefully remember Joe's blog, A Hoosier on the Potomac.  As of this writing, the plan is to alternate previewing divisions over the course of four weeks, doing two divisions per week.  As a Giants' fan, I've drawn the NFC.  Joe, a Colts fan, is doing the AFC.

We spent most of our recent exchanges talking about formatting, but I'll spare you that stuff.  However, the bottom half of my last email to Joe got into a discussion of sports modeling and betting lines, and since Joe didn't know about that stuff, I should maybe reprint what I wrote to him here by way of prepping you for the series itself.  I've started using a lot of betting terminology in my write-ups, but it was maybe a mistake to assume that everyone knows what the Hell all of that means.

By the way, I think we have a pretty good project.  I am totally excited about it.

I Get Letters: Writing as a "Hobby"

Thursday's was a classic:

Dan, 

My name is M___ and I'm from AnonymousSportsWebsite.com, INC. I came across your Army season preview and really enjoyed it. Was just wondering if you have every[sic] entertained writing about Army football for a hobby with a website?

5 Things on a Friday: Are Non-Partisan Politics a Thing?

This week’s post comes back to politics, though I hope not in a particularly partisan way.  I’ve definitely done partisan politics on the blog, but with notable exceptions, the point of this column has always been to talk about what’s going on and why I think it’s important.  Ideally, that’s not the same as me telling you what you should think.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

Reality is that we all have opinions, and while some are clearly wrong, it’s just as clearly no use trying to explain that to anybody.  This column is therefore a study of what caught my eye in a week’s worth of new.  This comes hopefully without preaching, either to the converted or to the heathen masses.

5 Things on a Friday: Who Is the Last Jedi?

They say that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t day anything at all.