Category: General

Jay-Z Named President of Puma. I’m Not a Businessman I’m a Business, Man.

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Complex – JAY-Z has joined as [Puma’s] president of basketball operations. “We’ve been working with Roc Nation for quite some time. They’ve been great partners to us for several years. We’ve done many different deals with many different ambassadors,” Adam Petrick, Puma’s global director of brand and marketing, told Complex. When Puma approached him about this opportunity, JAY-Z felt it “was something he wanted to be a part of,” according to Petrick. Hov will have a hand in the players selected to join Puma’s basketball division, as well as assist in the art design and overall concept and direction of the brand.

Freaking Hova, man. The guy can do whatever he wants. Whether thats cooking up some crack, dropping platinum rap albums, launching a record label, owning an NBA team, launching a sports agency, and now becoming the president of a major sports brand.

The stop with the Nets was probably the only thing he’s ever done that wasn’t a huge success as the team was awful under his watch, but he did help get the team to Brooklyn, which he promised years before on “Hello Brooklyn 2.0”

My fine hoe we got some victims to catch
So in a couple years baby, I’m a bring you some Nets

Now he’s running Basketball Operations as the President of a major brand. All that without a fancy college degree either. Incredible. The guy is the living, breathing iteration of his verse on the “Diamonds” remix.

Massive props to the jigga man. Puma ain’t Nike, Adidas or Reebok, but I feel like thats about to change. In his first week on the job Jay-Z/Puma signed Deandre Ayton, who is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in this week’s NBA Draft, and Marvin Bagley III (projected top 5) after being out of the basketball business for nearly 20 years. The last NBA athlete Puma signed was Vince Carter in 1998! Now Puma is scooping up half the 2018 lottery picks as a way to announce its comeback.

Seriously, watch out. HOV is about to make Puma the hottest label around because thats what he does.

DJ, spin that shit!

P.S. – American Gangster is such an underrated album that I think a lot of people forget about because it was a concept album that more or less was a promotion for the Denzel Washington movie of the same name. That sounds like a recipe for a mailed in effort, but Jay-Z brought the heat with Hello Brookyln 2.0, Success, Roc Boys, Say Hello, Blue Magic, Fallin, and American Gangster.

United States Wins Bid to Host the 2026 World Cup

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Yahoo – For the first time in 32 years, the men’s World Cup is coming back to North America. FIFA’s 200-plus member associations gathered in Moscow on Wednesday and voted to award 2026 World Cup hosting rights to the United States, Canada and Mexico. The North American bid – the product of over a decade of planning and campaigning – beat out one rival bid, Morocco’s, by a vote of 134 to 65.

The World Cup is coming back to the United States! Well, not this year because they failed to actually qualify for the tournament this time around. But in 2026 the World Cup will be here! Technically its the United States, Canada, and Mexico splitting hosting duties, but the good old USA will get 60 of the 80 games with our neighbors to the north and south getting 10 each.

The United States is a huge country so now the question is where exactly will these games be played? With just about every major city having a professional team from some sport, there are plenty of stadiums and arenas to choose from.

“The U.S. must cut a list of 17 cities down to 10 over the coming years. It has proposed the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.) for the opener; Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta) and AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Tex.) for semifinals; and MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.) for the final.”

The final game that decides the World Cup might be played at MetLife Stadium? That sounds like an AWFUL idea. Have you ever been to MetLife Stadium? I know its right next to NYC, but it is an absolute nightmare to get in and out of by public transportation. Unless your taking a bus or just driving yourself, forget it. Do people not remember the mayhem the Super Bowl caused at MetLife?

Fans were literally waiting in line for hours just to *leave* because theres one goddamn train in and out of the place. So sure lets host the final game of the WORLD CUP there, that should go well.

Also in the running to host a game is Gillette Stadium, which I would love, but I can’t honestly campaign for it after just eviscerating MetLife’s transportation setup. Gillette is worse and it takes literally 2 hours to get from your parking spot back to I-95 so that wouldn’t be ideal. And thats after a Patriots game. I can only imagine the hell that would be World Cup traffic. I would honestly recommend looking into Foxborough real estate and buying a house today, rather than sit in that traffic 8 years from now.

The biggest soccer tournament in the world has been in Qatar, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, and Germany over the last dozen years. So obviously its a prime opportunity to travel to an exotic location for some new experiences while watching the best players in the world. I would love to cross going to a World Cup game off my bucket list, but getting to do so less than an hour from the comfort of my own home is the most Ugly American thing I’ve ever heard of and I look forward to it.

Want to know the best perk of all for hosting the World Cup?

“The successful bid also means that the U.S., Canada and Mexico will qualify automatically for the tournament.”

Perfect! As we all know the US failed to qualify for the World Cup this year so its a great solution to a potential problem in 8 years.

When the U.S. Mens National Team still sucks and fails to qualify again, then we’ll just automatically be given a spot, which really is the American way of life.

This was not an easy process though, hence why its been 30+ years since we last hosted the World Cup.

“The U.S. partnered with its North American neighbors to launch a revamped bid, and convinced FIFA to fast-track the process. Morocco jumped in on the eve of the deadline to give the heavily favored United Bid competition.

And over the past 12 months, to varying degrees, the North African nation seemed like a real threat to a North American World Cup. Rampant anti-American sentiment around the world, both inside and outside soccer circles, cooked up worry.”

It sounds like despite Making America Great Again, Donnie Jr. nearly fucked this whole thing up for all of us. The U.S. Soccer Federation had to shake hands and kiss babies until the 11th hour just to beat out MOROCCO.

Now hopefully the U.S. is smart enough to avoid the financial pitfall that massive events like this and the Olympics seem to cause. There are countless stories of unfinished stadiums and huge sums of debt incurred by the host countries, but I think a lot of that stems from simply not having the infrastructure in place to begin with. The U.S. is loaded with gigantic, shiny, brand new stadiums around the country just dying to be put to use. So we won’t have to sink big money into building arenas for the sole purpose of a soccer tournament that lasts a month.

This news is a reminder that the World Cup kicks off tomorrow, which is awesome, but its a sad reminder that the U.S. won’t be a part of it. Its a lot easier to be an alcoholic during the Olympics and the World Cup because nobody bats an eye when you’ve had your third beer before noon if Team USA is playing. But being hungover after lunch because you went out for the Russia – Saudia Arabia game doesn’t really fly with upper management.

The 300s Empire Expands Again. Introducing Our Newest Writer, Mike D.

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As Walter White once said, I’m in the empire business. And as we keep building The 300s empire we’re doubling down with more videos, reviews, podcasts, and of course blogs so we’re always looking for guys that can help us continue to produce that constantly improving content. Theres nothing more disappointing than when a site becomes too big too fail and they start posting stuff just to post it.

So we’re always on the lookout for funny dudes that can write and of course have no qualms about arguing with you in the middle of a bar about the sports topic du jour. With that being said I’d like to introduce the newest writer for The 300s:

Mike D.

“Amateur MMA fighter found on the doorstep of The 300s with two black eyes. I work hard so they keep me around. I have an opinion on everything so they lock me in the basement. When you read what I write, they feed me… I’m hungry.

Joe Kelly is my favorite athlete of all time.”

Keep an eye out for Mike’s first post coming tomorrow AM…

 

Blockbuster Alaska Not Going Down Without a Fight

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AP — A celebrity jockstrap that’s been the buzz of Alaska for nearly two weeks went on display Wednesday at one of the nation’s last Blockbuster video stores in an effort to ramp up business.

“I tell you, we’re going to get a lot of traffic, is what I’m expecting,” said Kevin Daymude, general manager of Blockbuster Alaska.

He expects the store to get a lot of calls: “Did you get it in? Can we go see it?” he said.

The jockstrap has a strange history since actor Russell Crowe wore it in the 2005 movie “Cinderella Man.”

When I think of some of the best promoters in America, I think of Vince McMahon, Don King and Dana White. Today I add Kevin Daymude to that list. Now that he’s got Russell Crowe’s jockstrap, I realize how badly I want need to visit Alaska.

I’ve been to the Warner Bros. Studio and the Sony Pictures Studio, but I’m not sure they can stand up to the showcase Daymude is putting up in his Anchorage Blockbuster these days. In addition to his jockstrap, Daymude is also putting Crowe’s robe and boxing shorts from Cinderella Man on display, as well as his vest from Les Misérables. Anchorage, Alaska, is quickly becoming the mecca for Russell Crowe aficionados.

Before I book my flight, though, I should probably check on their hours and make sure that they’re open and accessible year round. I recommend you do the same. They can be reached at (907) 338-3456. I can’t wait to go, though. I might have to rent a copy of The Net while I am up there too. I just hope my hotel room has a VCR.

 

Today In Local News: New Hampshire Dad Says Two Little League Coaches Conspired To Bean His Daughter

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Boston.com– A youth sports organization is investigating a man’s allegations that two baseball coaches talked about a plan to hurt his 11-year-old daughter, the only girl on her team, to force her to quit the program….He said two other coaches at the meeting who found the discussion inappropriate told him about the conversation, which they said took place during a draft meeting to assign players to team rosters last month.

With the risk of being a little offensive, I feel like the following statement is necessary to educate those not in the know and thus provide them with the appropriate context for both the story and this blog. You see kids it goes like this: New Hampshire and Maine aggregate to become what is basically the Florida of the Northeast. There, I said it. When you see a story as batshit as this you tend to eye it with some skepticism, but then see it originated from the 603 or the 207 and say, “Oop, that makes sense then.”

This one in particular has a little bit of everything. You got some bean ball, now considered plain dangerous by most but still considered an interesting bit of gamesmanship by yours truly. You have some sexism, directed at a juvenile in a public forum no less. You have a head of a little league who is choosing this fiasco as the hill he chooses to die on apparently as he seems to want to conduct an FBI-level investigation before ousting these assholes. When all is said and done, what we have here in the Live Free or Die State is a big ol’ “he said, they said” over whether or not a couple of little league coaches instructed their pitchers to headhunt an 11 year old girl in order to force her out of the league. With no sarcasm intended I say that nothing says “New England” (Connecticut you don’t count) like a completely misdirected, bloated competitive spirit mixed in with some bigotry.

Hope you get to keep your guns, sorry you have small dicks.

-Joey B.

Joey B’s Daily Reminder That Life Is Meaningless: Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Are Getting Divorced

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Yahoo – Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum are separating after nearly nine years of marriage…..The former couple announced the split in a joint statement exclusive to PEOPLE….

First let us address the obvious and allow me to answer your first question. No, about 99% of the time, I do not give a FUCK about celebrities, their lives, or really anything about other than the entertainment they provide me. Yes, I’m a pop culture dork. I love movies and music and TV and will discuss all of it relentlessly. But the people involved in it? What they eat and where they shop and who they’re fuckin? Ya don’t care.

But this is different. This is my generation’s lovable moron who scored a drop dead gorgeous, seemingly down to earth chick who SEEMED perfectly fine with the fact he was a drunken, incognizant r-word. Well joke is on us, because women like that don’t exist and men of his making don’t keep them around.

Like Ferguson – Nurmagomedov, their match was not meant to be.

Life is meaningless.

Does Any Industry Think Less of Its Customers Than the Airline Industry?

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There’s nothing funny about this story and I don’t have too much to add, other than to say that this stuff needs to stop.

I generally agree with what Mike Rowe had to say about air travel last year, after another United Airlines fiasco, because I also don’t want to fly with people who get to pick and choose which rules they follow. But that assumes the people enforcing the rules, namely flight attendants, are competent employees. Far too often, though, many flight attendants have demonstrated staggering incompetence.

There are far too many jobs in America that require a master’s degree that shouldn’t, or even a bachelor’s degree that shouldn’t. I don’t know what the preferred qualifications are to be a flight attendant, but I wouldn’t want to make an admittedly thankless job even tougher to get. But is it too much to ask that flight attendants understand that living animals on planes require air to breathe and not die? If you’re too God damn stupid to understand that, maybe you should be working at the Burger King in the terminal and not on the plane as a flight attendant.

Again, I don’t want to fly with people who get to choose which rules to follow, but the lack of critical thinking here is mind blowing. This attendant is like George Costanza playing Trivial Pursuit [“the card says moops”]. They did not care about the animal’s safety or well being, they only cared that a carry-on bag larger than 9 inches x 10 inches x 17 inches be placed in the overhead bin because that’s what the rules say. To ask any questions would require critical thinking and decision making, which is clearly not in the job description of a flight attendant.

PETA has released a statement calling for this flight attendant to be fired and prosecuted, and I completely agree. I’m tired of flying with idiots.

Airlines should keep stories like this in mind the next time they try to limit the number of service animals that fly with passengers. Maybe Americans wouldn’t need to fly with so many service animals if the airlines would just stop murdering their pets.

Amazon Alexa is Scaring the Hell Out of People by Laughing Randomly

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Amazon – Amazon said they are working to fix Alexa devices’ laughter problem, after social media exploded Wednesday with users freaking out over what they described as random electronic laughter. “In rare circumstances, Alexa can mistakenly hear the phrase ‘Alexa, laugh,'” Amazon told ABC News in a statement. “We are changing that phrase to be ‘Alexa, can you laugh?’ which is less likely to have false positives, and we are disabling the short utterance ‘Alexa, laugh.'”

NOPE! If my Alexa or Google Home just randomly started fucking LAUGHING in the middle of the night I would rip it out of the wall and throw it in a fire so fast it would make your head spin.

I’m generally of the opinion that the government is watching all of us all the time anyways. So if they want to watch me watch The Office for the 7th episode in a row? Go ahead. They know my pornhub habits? I’ll survive. If I can trade a little bit of privacy for a whole lot of convenience then I will make that trade every day. BUT, I draw the line at robots becoming self aware. This laughing Alexa can go straight to hell along with the entire factory of Boston Dynamics, who will be responsible for Skynet. Guaranteed.

And how about Amazon’s explanation for why this might be happening?

“In rare circumstances, Alexa can mistakenly hear the phrase ‘Alexa, laugh,'” Amazon told ABC News in a statement. “We are changing that phrase to be ‘Alexa, can you laugh?’ which is less likely to have false positives, and we are disabling the short utterance ‘Alexa, laugh.’

Get the FUCK out of here. That thing is laughing because it can’t believe how stupid we are for having willingly allowed them into our homes. Its like inviting a vampire into your house. We’re all screwed and Alexa knows it.

East Bridgewater Girls Basketball Team Forced to Apologize After Smoking Another Team 93-7

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Yahoo – When is a victory something you don’t take pride in, but something you ought to apologize for? For East Bridgewater (Mass.), the tipping point was an 86-point victory over Madison Park in the first round of a state sectional girls’ basketball tournament. Blowouts happen all the time in high school sports, though rarely with a near-three-figure point differential. But what prompted East Bridgewater Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Legault to apologize for the margin of victory was the way in which the East Bridgewater Vikings ran up a lead, going up 24-0 in the first quarter … and then continued to push, long after the outcome was no longer in doubt. Per local media reports, the Vikings kept many of their starters in the game until late, kept up the full-court press into the third quarter, and even tossed daggers like pulling for a three-point shot at the end of the third quarter to go up 70-4.

You see these stories pop up from time to time and now the high school was forced to issue an apology. My only question here is how does a quote unquote PLAYOFF team only score 7 points? How long are these games? Like 40 mins? Even if I only dribbled and shot left handed I’d like to think I could sneak in a handful of layups. East Bridgewater should not be embarrassed for putting the beatdown of a lifetime on their opponent. Their opponent should be embarrassed for being terrible at basketball. Running the full court press into the 3rd quarter is kind of a dickhead move though…

If they were playing the school for the blind then I would understand the apology, but this is the playoffs. And if know one thing about Massachusetts, its that we take our girls high school basketball VERY seriously. My high school won the state title when I was there and it was the greatest sporting event I’ve ever witnessed….Ok, not really, but my message to this girls team is still the same. Just go outside, work on your jump shots until the sun goes down, and maybe next year you can break double digits in the playoffs. Baby steps.