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Today is the Eight Year Anniversary of My Appearance on The Jerry Springer Show

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Facebook Memories are a glorious thing sometimes. Eight years ago today I legitimately skipped a final exam in college to go sit in the front row at The Jerry Springer Show.

That is not a punch line. It was either final exam* or an opportunity to see the legend that is Jerry.

I chose Jerry.

The Jerry Springer Show is filmed in Stamford, CT which is less than an hour from where Mattes, Papa Giorgio and I all went to college. So when a friend, without any sort of heads up, came out of the woodworks and said he had tickets to Jerry that day? There was no choice to be made. We were going.

The audience of Jerry Springer is a rare breed of humans that come together to watch  people just beat the hell out of each other before you even have lunch. I actually got to ask one of the questions that aired at the end of the show too, which still haunts me to this day that we don’t have recorded somewhere.

*Luckily, my professor found it hilarious and actually let me take the final at a later date because college is fake life.

The Joe Rogan Podcast With Kanye West is Coming Soon and I am Jacked Up

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Joe Rogan has one of the most popular podcasts in the world and interviews everyone from his comedian buddies to UFC stars, astrophysicists, psychologists, and even self proclaimed UFO and alien life experts like Tom Delonge. Rogan is an excellent interviewer as he knows when to jump in and stir some shit up, but he also knows when to sit back and just let the guest go.

Not long ago Kanye West was tweeting up a storm after he took a ton of flak for his bizarre appearance alongside Donald Trump in the White House. Shit, even Trump looked nervous wondering if the whole thing was about to go off the rails.

Kanye was flummoxed at the overwhelmingly negative response his appearance got and legitimately seemed desperate for a way to make people “understand” him, which is what you see from a lot of creative types when they hit a crossroads.

Kanye is saying nobody wants to actually listen to him and would rather just put him into a box and disregard what he says as “crazy.” He’s not wrong. It’s easy to do and I am always cognizant of doing that to anyone after hearing Dave Chappelle discuss a similar situation years ago:

Chappelle gets it better than most. He was the most successful comedian in the world with one of the most popular TV shows of all-time. I still quote Chappelle’s Show 10+ years later even though it barely finished 2 seasons. He famously rejected a $50 Million deal from Comedy Central and moved to Africa so Chappelle knows a thing or two about being labeled crazy.

Enter Joe Rogan, who jumped in and offered Kanye a platform to discuss his ideas; nothing more nothing less.

As one of the most widely downloaded podcasts in the world, Kanye will be able to talk about whatever he wants and probably for as long as he wants since the majority of Rogan’s podcasts are anywhere from 2-4 hours. This could be a trainwreck for Kanye or it could provide some valuable context to the bizarre antics he’s becoming known for more than his music. Either way I will be listening to this the second it drops.

LeBron Does Know He Lost to the Warriors 3 Out of 4 Times in the NBA Finals Right? Right??

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I give LeBron credit for winning the NBA Finals in 2016 because the current era Golden State Warriors are one of the best teams of all time. But with that being said it took a Draymond Green suspension and one of the most cold blooded dagger threes of all-time from Kyrie Irving to get him there. He also lost to that same Warriors team in 2015, 2017, and 2018. So maybe releasing footage of yourself harping on how the Warriors fuck up all the time is not the best look. Self awareness has never been LeBron’s strong suit though.

This all comes just a couple of days after footage came out of LeBron crowning himself the greatest of all-time for winning the ’16 finals. Despite losing to that same team 3 out of 4 times.

I don’t want to always harp on LeBron, I really don’t, but he just sets himself up for it. Listen, LeBron has done a lot of great things:

He brought the city of Cleveland its first title in 50 years.

He was excellent in Trainwreck.

And he is one of the best players of all time, but despite an impressive 8 straight appearances in the championship round he is still 3-6 in the NBA Finals. So maybe, just maybe, one pretty impressive comeback against a really good team doesn’t propel you to GOAT status. If that were the case then Ray Allen could say the same thing for his Game 6 dagger 3 against the Spurs.

Come to think of it, if it weren’t for ice cold blood in the veins of Jesus Shuttlesworth and Kyrie, LeBron James would be 1-8 in the NBA Finals.

Unrelated note: Stumbled upon this incredible LeBron impersonation…

Despite All the Dirt Thrown On Him, Josh McDaniels Still Drawing Interest from Multiple Teams as Head Coach

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CBS Sports – Less than one year after spurning the Colts, it doesn’t appear that Josh McDaniels is going to have any issues finding a head coaching job this offseason if he wants one.

The Patriots offensive coordinator is expected to land multiple interviews over the next few weeks and it looks like one of those will be going down in Green Bay. According to NFL.com, the Packers are expected to hold an interview with McDaniels on Friday. Since the Patriots have a bye this week, McDaniels is allowed to interview for open jobs this weekend. The Packers moved quickly to land an interview with McDaniels with the team sending in a formal request to interview him just one day after the NFL regular season ended.

Despite all the dirt thrown on his name after backing out of the Colts job, Josh McDaniels is still very much in on several head coaching job openings this offseason.

And I love it.

This may be the height of my “Patriots against the world” complex, but hey thats what happens when everyone calls you a cheater and openly roots for your demise for over a decade. Thats also what makes winning so much sweeter though. So yes, rooting for Josh McDaniels to get a head coaching job primarily out of spite against anyone that talked ill of a Patriots employee is petty, bizarre even; I fully admit that. Doesn’t change the facts though.

“Besides the Packers, the Browns and Bengals have also requested to interview McDaniels. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reported on Dec. 30 that the Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is “very high” on McDaniels, which could make Cleveland a wild-card in the sweepstakes for the Patriots offensive coordinator.”

This comes less than a year after talking heads around the interwebs all but buried the guy under Gillette Stadium. The simple fact of the matter though is who would you rather have? There are a TON of head coaching vacancies this offseason and not nearly enough competent names to fill them. Eight to be exact. Yup, the Browns, Packers, Jets, Broncos, Dolphins, Bucs, Bengals, and Cardinals are all in the market for a new head coach.

Now as always, this comes with the disclaimer that Josh McDaniels has worked under potentially the greatest head coach of all time along with the greatest quarterback of all time for years. Lets be honest, I could be Tom Brady’s offensive coordinator and the Pats would probably still win the division. So aside from a brief stint with the Broncos (11-17), it’s hard to really peg McDaniels’ true value.

But thats also what makes him such an intriguing candidate.

If I’m the owner of an NFL franchise do I want someone from the Belichick Coaching Tree (more on this in a moment) that is young, innovative, and has worked with the best in the business for the past 10+ years? Or do I want to hire a guy thats already been a head coach for a long time and has already proven multiple times that he’s not a difference maker? Would you rather hire Josh McDaniels or Jeff Fisher?

Granted the Belichick Coaching Tree hasn’t exactly flourished when Bill’s assistants have gone on to set up their own programs, but this is a quarterback driven league. A lot of these coaches simply haven’t had “the guy.”

Romeo Crennel (28-55) had Trent Dilfer, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Brady Quinn, Matt Cassel, and Brady Quinn again at quarterback over the years before being axed for the final time. Eric Mangini (33-47) had Chad Pennington, 39-year-old Brett Favre, Brady Quinn (again!), and Colt McCoy at QB before he got axed for the final time. Charlie Weis (41-49) went over to the NCAA, which is an entirely different animal and failed at multiple schools. More recently we’ve seen Bill O’Brien (42-38) have moderate success in Houston, relatively speaking. Sure, he was rumored to be on the hot seat this year, but they’ve made the playoffs 3 out of the last 4 years. Before Deshaun Watson, O’Brien had Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Brock Osweiller (which was his own fault), and Tom Savage. So now that he has an actual QB in Watson you see what that team is capable of. Not a lot of Pro Bowl quarterbacks in there guys. Then theres Matt Patricia (6-10), who’s first season in Detroit can be described as nothing but disastrous.

So 1 out of 5 ain’t good, but hey I’d rather take a chance on a young guy with a great pedigree than hire a guy that I KNOW will have my team going 8-8 every year.

Here are some of the other candidates with previous head coaching experience just to name a few.

  • Mike McCarthy (125-77-2, 10-8 in the playoffs)
  • Adam Gase (23-25, 0-1 in the playoffs)
  • Todd Bowles (26-41)
  • Bruce Arians (49-30, 1-2 in the playoffs)
  • Vance Joseph (11-21)
  • Jim Caldwell (62-50, 2-4 in the playoffs)

Do ANY of those candidates excite you if you’re a fan of one of those teams that has an opening at HC? Maybe Bruce Arians, but he retired after the 2017 season and would be the 3rd oldest coach in the NFL, were he to come back, behind only Belichick and Pete Carroll. I’m looking for someone at least *a little* bit different if I’m an owner. Hell I’d take a shot on Lincoln Riley (Riley legit just signed an extension with Oklahoma yesterday) or Kliff Kingsbury over any of those guys. Am I biased because I’m 29 and I want to see more young blood in the league? Yea, probably. But these teams that are mired in mediocrity year after year, make the same dumb decisions every season and wonder why they never go anywhere. Hell it took the Bengals 16 years to get out of their own way before finally firing Marvin Lewis and his 0-7 playoff record. (Although they might step right back into their own way and hire Hue Jackson)

So yea McDaniels is kind of a dick for leaving the Colts at the altar last offseason (and hosing a few assistants in the process). I can understand why you wouldn’t want to grab a beer with the guy. But this is the NFL where the only thing that matters are results and Josh McDaniels has 5 Super Bowl rings working with the Patriots in various roles. And before you say it’s all because of the head coach and the QB, whether thats true or not, the Offensive Coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs, Eric Bieniemy is rumored to be a hot head coaching candidate despite this being his FIRST year as an OC. Why? Because of what the head coach and the QB have been able to do this season. This comes less than a year after Bieniemy’s predecessor Matt Nagy was hired by the Chicago Bears as their new head coach who also had just one year as an OC on his resume. So you can’t have it both ways folks — the OC matters or he doesn’t.

TLDR; I think Josh McDaniels is as good as gone this offseason and I’d take McDaniels over a ton of other guys in this league as a head coach. Now, Bill Belichick isn’t one of them though so if it’s between him and McDaniels? Best of luck, Josh!

#RushHourRap – Mobb Depp – Shook Ones (Part II)

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AIN’T NO SUCH THING AS HALF WAY CROOKS! Hands down, one of the absolute best tracks in hip hop history. Not to mention forever immortalized as the last instrumental beat in 8 Mile. True story: in college my roommates and I used to just skip the first 2 hours of the movie and pre-game to the final rap battles before going out. It’s literally been debated whether we can get away with playing the rap battles at my wedding (probably not). So yea, it’s a song that is burned into my brain for sure.

If you’re even a moderate rap fan, you need to check out Rapture on Netflix. There are episodes on Nas, Logic, TI, G-Eazy, 2 Chainz, and Just Blaze just to name a few. In the Just Blaze ep he actually goes to Havoc from Mobb Deep’s house to show how he literally puts the Shook Ones beat together. Builds it from the ground up. If you’re like me your brain will slowly melt when you see how the iconic beat comes together.

Obligatory:

The 300s Top 10 Blogs of 2018

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2018 was a banner year for The 300s as we saw our readership grow exponentially, we rolled out a ton of new swag, and we brought some new writers onto the staff. We appreciate everyone who takes a few minutes out of their day to read a blog or watch a video or listen to a podcast. With that being said, it’s the last day of the year so we had to break down the Top 10 Blogs of 2018.

1.) David Price Continues Good Will Tour, Rips 69-Year-Old Red Sox Reporter Jonny Miller

2.) Apparently Jon Gruden’s Son, Deuce Gruden, is the Goddamn Hulk

3.) RIP Mac Miller, Dead at 26

4.) Nike Deserves Applause for Choosing Colin Kaepernick as New Face of “Just Do It” Campaign

5.) Boston Celtics NBA 2K19 Ratings Predictions

6.) The Marlins Are Replacing the Ugly Home Run Statue With Irony

7.) Tough Break for Malden Men Who Recovered Red Sox Banner

8.) Terrible News: Ed Hochuli is Retiring. Better News: His Son is Replacing Him

9.) I LOVE This Quote From Rick Porcello

10.) Brock Lesnar Possibly Playing Ivan Drago’s Son In “Creed 2”

 

 

James Harden Took 18 Three Pointers Last Night and No One Batted An Eye

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Okay, granted he hit half of them, but James Harden took EIGHTEEN threes last night and no one even batted an eye. No one except my man, Chuck.

Eighteen three pointers is absolutely insane. It was more than double the amount anyone else on either team took last night. Again, yes he hit 9 of them so he shot .500 from behind the arc and scored 45 points but holy hell what a stat line. He only made TWO shots inside the three point line all night. The reigning MVP scored 4 points inside the arc. Analytics will probably say he was taking the best available shots based on his shooting percentage, but thats still mind boggling to think about. Getting 17 foul shots and hitting 14 of them helps alleviate that a bit, but damn. It’s not like he’s JJ Reddick who can only score when he’s out deep away from lockdown defenders either.

Harden leads the league in 3 point attempts and 3 pointers made despite not even being in the Top 100 in 3 Point % among players with at least 50 3 point attempts. Daniel Theis has a better 3 point % than Harden!

But hey, 45 points is 45 points. If it’s such a crime against humanity the Celtics should have, ya know, guarded the 3 point line a little better.

I touched on this phenomenon a little bit when I blogged about how, unfortunately, Kendrick Perkins saw the game pass him by as everyone became a three point shooter. You could blame Steph Curry, but the game had been trending this way for a while.

“[From] 2010-11 the average 3 point attempts per game around the league have nearly doubled from 18 attempts per game to 31.3 per game this season. In the previous 8 seasons before that, average 3 point attempts per game had only increased about three from a low of 14.7 in 2002-03. So no one could have predicted the game completely changing the way it has.”

Somewhere Charles Barkley just shakes his head in disbelief.

 

 

Pat McAfee Will Be Making His NFL Broadcasting Debut This Weekend

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12up –  The NFL broadcast booth will have a very entertaining presence in the final week of the regular season. ​Former Indianapolis Colts punter Pat McAfee will call this Sunday’s Detroit Lions-Green Bay Packers game, the first NFL game in his broadcasting career.

I’ll be totally honest, I was not familiar with Pat McAfee aside from the infamous arrest and drunken mug shot (which he tells the story of brilliantly) before he got to Barstool Sports. The former Colts punter was not someone I expected to be looking forward to his broadcasting debut, but here we are. McAfee is a hilarious guy with a serious talent for storytelling, which obviously lends itself to not only stand up comedy, but television work like broadcasting.

After a meteoric rise at Barstool where he became a nationally known name for something beyond his bionic leg, McAfee had a sudden and bizarre breakup with the Stool. I don’t know the inner workings of what exactly happened, but nevertheless McAfee became a free agent once again and it looks like he’ll be trying his talents in the booth for now.

I’m sure it goes beyond just kicking, but McAfee is known for breaking down the finer details of the punting game on Twitter from time to time so the guys clearly knows his stuff.

I will definitely be tuning in to hear McAfee during the Packers Lions game this weekend and for all you poors that don’t have Sunday Ticket, the game will be on FOX so check it out.

Jets Gonna Jet; Lose Tight End for the Year After He Drops a Weight on His Foot

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Yahoo – The New York Jets placed tight end Eric Tomlinson on injured reserve Thursday with one game left to play in the season. The move appeared to be the sort of end-of-season housecleaning that many non-contending teams use to fill out their active roster for the final game of the season, but then, well, we found out how Tomlinson got injured.

Tomlinson received his season-ending injury by dropping a weight on his foot in the weight room and lacerating two toes, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. The injury was reportedly serious enough to require surgery..the Jets are currently on pace to finish last in the AFC East for a third straight season and endure even more time as the team everyone loves to dump on.

I’m not gonna play around like this can’t happen to anyone because my roommate freshman year of college did the same exact thing. Went to slide the 45 pound plate (NBD) off the bar, but didn’t realize there was a 10 pound weight in front of it. Slid 10 lbs of  pain right off the bar onto his toe. SNAP. Kid was in a boot for quite a while. But that was my 18-year-old roommate, not a professional athlete paid in part to lift weights and work out. Sucks to see because that shit must HURT, but man if this isn’t another Jets debacle in a long line of Jets debacles then I don’t know what is.

Now just don’t lose on Sunday boys or it’ll make this snarky blog look much worse in hindsight.

Go lock up that No. 2 seed!