The Batfleck is Back! Ben Affleck Set to Return as Batman in The Flash

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The Batfleck is back! All hail Ana de Armas for saving the DC cinematic universe.

But seriously what a bombshell to drop the night before DC’s long awaited virtual conference, Fandome, that kicks off on Friday. We all thought Ben Affleck was hanging up his cowl forever when he retired from the role last year and walked away from his own standalone film. But it seems like he might have just been going through a shitty time in his life and didn’t want to do anything, which is something we can all relate to. I mean his best/only role the last couple of years has been as the alcoholic Coach Carter. Plus an A+ heartwarming cameo in the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.

But it seems like it was less about being done with Batman than it was about just taking some time to mentally recharge.

And for that I think we all need to declare Ana de Armas our new queen. If nothing else she is on deck to become the First Lady of Boston as her and Affleck have been globetrotting together with puppy dog eyes of love. Through it all, Affleck refuses to ever change though. I mean he’s in exotic locations with one of the most beautiful women in the world and he’s still wearing $10 Boston t-shirts like he’s me working from the spare bedroom in sweatpants.

What an absolute meteoric rise de Armas has had the past couple of years. She was obviously in movies before (Blade Runner, War Dogs), but it’s safe to say she blew up with her role in Knives Out where she stole every scene she was in. Then she linked up with Daniel Craig again to become the next Bond girl in a movie that looks awesome, yet I still haven’t seen because of the goddamn coronavirus.

And now she has singlehandedly rejuvenated Ben Affleck and saved the DC cinematic universe.

Granted it’s not a standalone film and is all but likely just a cameo in The Flash, it’s great to have Batfleck back in our lives. Even better, this movie is going to be an absolute wet dream of weird storylines since it’s going to delve into the Multiverse. I blogged about this a couple months back, but we’re going to see both Affleck and Michael Keaton playing the Batman in the same movie and I don’t know what the hell to expect. It’ll be great to see Affleck and Ezra Miller’s Flash back on screen together because their banter was the highlight of a pretty meh Justice League. At least until the Snyder Cut drops next year.

I just hope Matt Damon doesn’t feel left out with all of this Ana de Armas talk.

WTF Gordon! Hayward Out Minimum of 4 Weeks With Ankle Injury

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News broke a couple hours ago that Gordon Hayward is, drum roll please…..injured again. Repots are that he’ll miss a minimum of 4 weeks, which means he’s out through at least a potential second round Raptors matchup. Celtics fans everywhere:

Disappointed Muhammad Sarim Akhtar | Know Your Meme
Again Gordon?!

Here’s how the 300’s reacted:

-Red: “That dude has Triscuits for bones and ligaments.”
-Joe: “I just imagine Ainge saying we’re taking him out back and shooting him. Then Stevens grabbing the shotgun and saying, “no Danny, Gordon’s my dog.”
-Me: “Can his wife time her baby’s birth accordingly so it happens while he’s out?”

Celtics news: Brad Stevens provides update on Gordon Hayward's injury
“Why does my body suck?”

Seriously, how about this guy’s run in green? Dude’s only serious injury in 7 years in Utah was a broken finger, but he only missed a couple games. He was never an iron man, but this is getting ridiculous. In only 3 years, this is his list of injuries causing him to miss more than one game for the C’s:

-broken leg, right ankle sprain, concussion, broken left hand, and now grade 3 right ankle sprain. That’s not to mention the smattering of other bumps and bruises along the way.

In all seriousness, you have to feel for the guy. We all know how hard he’s worked to get back to this point, and he’s been an absolutely vital part of our success all year. He’s a genuinely good person, an unselfish teammate, a humble family man, and I really want to see him succeed. I truly believe he is the X factor in a Celtics championship run, but in order to do that he has to…fucking play. If he can’t…

Whelp, see ya later - How I feel asking for cakeday upvotes after the bombing - quickmeme
Big gulps, huh?

Time to trade him. Our bench is pretty terrible, and unloading him and a couple draft picks for some much needed depth is better than a great player who can’t stay on the floor. A bench comprising the Turkish Shark, Semi, Double Williams and Brad Wanamaker is not one that strikes fear into opponents’ hearts. Kemba and the J’s may be able to will us through the first two rounds, but we’re going to need Gordon if we want to make it past the Bucks.

Jay King on Twitter: "It appears Daniel Theis would like to end the war on Daniel Theis.… "
Just because.

Also worth mentioning, end the War on Theis. He deserves it. Go Green.

This is a Connor Clifton Appreciation Blog

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Full disclaimer since I do possess a degree in Big J Journalism, I am a bit biased on this because we are both Quinnipiac grads, but it’s time for people to put some respect on Connor Clifton’s name.

With his all around game as an energy guy that’s not afraid to lay the wood and mix it up, not to mention his rocket of a slapshot, Clifton needs to be in the lineup every single night. Since he was inserted into the lineup by Cassidy in Game 3 (plus Halak taking over for Tuukka) the Bruins have looked like a more energetic team that’s playing with an edge.

Just look at last night’s 3rd period 4 goal explosion that all happened in just 6 minutes and 51 seconds; Clifton was making huge plays in every facet of the game.

And that was immediately followed by Clifton getting into position for a rocket to tie the game at 2 and really swing the momentum in the B’s favor.

Marchand followed that up just a minute later with a slick goal of his own, followed by a goal from Jake DeBrusk (2nd of the night) less than 3 minutes after that.

I’m not saying a third pairing defenseman has been the difference in this series, but I am saying Connor Clifton finished with a goal, an assist, was second on the team in hits with 3 (+ 5 in Game 3), and led the team in +/- at +2 last night. Not too shabby for Cliffy Hockey. There’s a reason the Bruins gave the QU grad a 3-year extension last summer with one year still left on his deal.

With their No. 1 goalie done for the season, Pastrnak’s return date a complete unknown, and an old veteran laden team the B’s desperately need some energy and production from the young guys and Clifton has done just that.

We’ve Got Bruins AND Celtics Playoff Games Tonight!

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I won’t lie, living in semi-quarantine for the past 5-6 months has been a mixed bag of misery for all of us so night’s live this take on even more significance than ever before. Two playoff games in one night was alway a luxury, but when you have nothing to watch for months except Netflix and reruns of Bar Rescue then you really appreciate this kind of sports overload. So kudos to Adam Silver for leading the way with the idea of putting an entire league into a bubble.

Boston Bruins (-1.5) vs Carolina Hurricanes
Bruins Lead the Series 2-1
Puck Drop: 8 pm, NESN
Breakdown: After Tuukka left the B’s in a precarious position by opting out of the season…the morning of a playoff game…Jaroslav Halak stepped in and played pretty damn well (minus the ugly goal he gave away trying to play the puck behind the net). So while it was en vogue to bash Tuukka for a number of reasons, many Bruins fans have ironically gotten exactly what they were hoping for: a new goalie. Halak was obviously never supposed to play in the playoffs because he’s the backup, but he’s not your typical backup. Since Tuukka never played well with a heavier workload, he and Halak have basically been splitting time evenly the past 2 seasons. Granted Tuukka was 2nd in the NHL this year in GAA, Halak wasn’t far behind at 7th in the league so we’re still in pretty good hands all things considered.

Boston Celtics (-5.5) vs Philadelphia 76ers
Tip Off: 6:30 pm, ESPN
Breakdown: The Celtics have had a lot of success against the Sixers in recent years, winning the last four playoff series the two have played against one another. Not to mention the C’s have beaten the Sixers in 18 of the last 24 regular season matchups. Now the Sixers are without Ben Simmons who suffered a season ending knee injury. Philly was already a dysfunctional mess before that so while I am always fearful of what a motivated Joel Embiid can do on any given night, I think the C’s win the series in 6 games.

Quarantine Q2 TV Recommendations

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The obvious question here and one that Red immediately brought up IS the fact that we are not remotely close to being in Q2. And that is true, we are not in Q2….of the year. We are however in our second set of three months of quarantine. Our second quarter-year stuck mostly inside lest we infect ourselves and those around us with the virus named after Dom Toretto’s favorite beverage.

The problem with where a lot of us are at in life and in quarantine is that the obvious choices and nominations for our binging pleasure have indeed been binged. There are fears out there that we may even run out of T.V. That is why, spoiler alert, streaming services are already resorting to throwing the metaphorical spaghetti against the wall in the form of uploading shows from other English speaking areas of the world such as the UK and Australia. They are also banking, with some success, that we’ve expanded our horizons enough to have the patience to deal with either dubs or subtitles and have pushed foreign shows to our monolingual asses.

These and a few others make up my second hack at aggregating what’s out there for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

Marcella (UK) – Netflix
(This may have been in the last binge blog but deserves another mention)

I may have noted in the past that FOTB Patty Blackouts has television tastes that run between police procedurals and the shittiest of reality T.V (Below Deck is his Sopranos). So needless to say I myself was shocked when I was able to hook him into this one. In Marcella, the titular character is drawn back onto the police force to hunt down a serial killer who has returned, despite the fact that her personal life is falling apart and she herself is in the throes of a perpetual psychotic break. If you like “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” you’ll like the familiar Nordic noir feel of this one, set in England and the UK aboard.

Dark (Germany) – Netflix

Grenga: Dark is a highly binge-able Sci-FI show, assuming you can get past the dubbing. It’s a mysterious ride through time that centers on 4 families in a small German town that is also home to a nuclear power plant. The first season is definitely confusing, but once you start to connect a few dots you can’t help but watch more. I haven’t finished the third season yet, but so far the show has lived up to it’s 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Ladhood (UK) – Hulu

Hulu decided to just blatantly stage a British invasion of their platform, almost admitting they were running out of shit to promote. Ladhood might be the best of the bunch. In this interesting take of a coming of age tale, emotionally stunted, early-30’s Londoner Liam is probably a little more broken than he cares to admit (sound familiar). He tries to determine how this came to be by visiting scenes from his teenage years in Northern England, taking part as an audience member unseen by his younger self or friends as well as breaking the fourth wall to try and provide context. While it didn’t quite live up to what I wanted it to be it was a cool idea and definitely worth a watch. Here’s hoping for more seasons post-rona.

Hightown – Starz


We come back to Massachusetts for this round of attempted Boston accents and a fresh take on the opioid epidemic. Based on the Cape with a specific interest in Provincetown, Hightown centers on Jackie, a “fish cop” (National Marine Fishery Services Agent) who wants to have her cake and eat (snort) it too, enjoying all the carnal pleasures of living in PTown, New England’s gay capital, while investigating a murder off the books. Her moonlighting intersects with and gets in the way of an annoyed Statie Detective, Ray, whose not totally legit investigation into a drug trafficking ring is related to Jackie’s own search.


Stateless  (Australia) – Netflix

Fuck. A. Duck. Not only did I not see this one coming but when it arrived I did not expect to care. But here we are. This emotional, perfectly acted, gripping miniseries follows four separate but intertwined characters at an Australian detention center for refugees – an Aussie who thanks to a cult causing a psychotic break thinks she’s German; a guard who took the well-paying, government funded job with the center’s contractor to give his family a better life; a bureaucrat who is trying to keep the center’s as well as the refugee detention policy’s reputation above water, and an Afghan refugee desperate to give himself and his missing family the life he dreams for them. You can only imagine.


The Umbrella Academy – Netflix

Red: I’ll have a full blog about this later as I just finished season 1, but The Umbrella Academy is a quarantine must watch for anyone who’s into sci-fi, graphic novels, time travel, and just generally weird shows. You definitely have to kind of go with it in this show since it really leans into the weirdness, but hey that’s to be expected when you base a show off a comic written by the lead singer from My Chemical Romance.

Gomorrah – HBO Max

First things first from what I understand if you have HBO you probably have HBO Max for free although the Home Box Office has done a terrible fuckin job rolling this thing out. Anyway, I won’t try and lie, I’ve never watched Gomorrah. But I’ve been told it’s actually one of the best shows out there and I saw recently it was ranked the #5 foreign show of the decade. By the New York Times maybe? Anyway here’s the wikipedia rundown:

“Set in the suburbs of Naples, Italy, the crime drama goes inside the Camorra, a fierce Neapolitan crime organization led by Pietro Savastano. The story is told through the eyes of Don Pietro’s right-hand man, Ciro Di Marzio, whose faith in the family is tested when he realizes how far Don Pietro is willing to go to keep his power.“

“F” Is For Family – Netflix

This serves as more of a reminder that a new season of Bill Burr’s hilarious cartoon dropped during quarantine. The lightly-autobiographical tale of a working class family in the 70’s remains absolutely hysterical, something we all need right now.

The Sopranos – HBO

WATCH THE FUCKING SOPRANOS YOU UNAMERICAN FUCKS.

#RushHourRap – Souls Of Mischief – 93 ‘Til Infinity

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Not to sound like an old head, but this song is a classic from back when rap was rap. Even if you don’t know this song, you for sure recognize the beat as it’s been sampled by everyone from J. Cole on The Warmup to Rick Ross on Thug Cry to Big K.R.I.T. on Somedayz to even Tyga on ’09 Until. EVERYONE got on this beat. It was even ranked No. 93 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time.

As I was saying the other day, one of my favorite elements of rap is how artists find old, obscure songs and chop them up into something else entirely. This beat was originally sampled from a 1970’s jazz track 

“A-Plus’s flip is one of the most infamous ever, looping two different parts of the Cobham song to layer over each other. With the perfect truncation of sound and a little pitch increase, it’s up there with Havoc’s ‘Shook Ones Pt. II’ and RZA’s ‘Verbal Intercourse’ samples as one of the craziest flips of all time.” – TheBoomBox.com

Absolutely bananas.

If you really want to go down the YouTube rabbit hole of music inspiring music, check out this old video of Kanye, Just Blaze, and John Mayer all chopping it up over the 93 ‘Til Infinity beat.

Who do you think we need to feature on Rush Hour Rap? Tweet us @The300sBoston and use the hashtag #RushHourRap to send us what you want to hear in the AM.

Win a FREE Bear Force One T-Shirt for the Cup Run

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I just found an unopened Bear Force One t-shirt at The 300s HQ so what better time than now to run a giveaway? Just enter your email address below and we’ll pick one random winner this weekend!

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#RushHourRap – Clear Soul Forces – Get No Better

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A song that dropped back in 2012 and is one I only stumbled onto after it was used on Toucher and Rich as a bed coming back from commercial. Love the old school Mos Def/Talib Kweli sound and style. But this is what I love about hip hop man, this beat just sounded familiar to me so I was trying to track down the sample and it led me to this artist/producer Alien Folk Urban Aire / Kankick, which led me to the original sampling of this Latin jazz artist, Airto. Unreal. Thats exactly why Kanye will forever be one of the best producers to ever lay down a beat. The samples the man was able to repurpose are just absurd.

It would seem like these guys never really popped mainstream, but as we all know you can make a hell of a living as an indie rapper these days. So I may be nearly a decade late on these guys, but better late than never.

Dale Arnold Just Got Bagged Dressing Like a Mannequin On Live TV

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Dale Arnold so hot right now, Dale Arnold.

Apparently this is an old TV trick for guys when they’re sitting down, but come on Dale you’re making it too easy for people. You can get a suit tailored for literally less than $100 at Men’s Wearhouse.

As one would expect, Twitter took Dale to the woodshed.

Bruins Take Game 1 With a Double OT Winner from Patrice Bergeron

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First off let me just say, watching a game from 11 AM-3 PM is a gigantic pain in the ass if you have a job that requires even moderate human interaction. I went from watching on my TV to streaming on my phone as I jumped on a client Zoom, then a client called my phone and as I was switching the stream back to my laptop I was just in time to see the Bruins celebrating. Damnit.

Now that I got that off my chest, the Bruins dodged a bullet there and are lucky to get out of there with a win. They controlled the game for long stretches, but let mental errors nearly bury them. After going up 2-1 the Hurricanes challenged the goal claiming goaltender interference.

The Bruins rightfully won the coach’s challenge, which automatically resulted in a two minute minor on the Hurricanes for delay of game. So how do the Bruins capitalize on a massive momentum swing like that? Well Pastrnak almost immediately throws a slap dick cross ice pass that gets picked off and taken the other way for a shorthand goal to tie the game at 2.

While I don’t love the fact that the old veteran filled Bruins team had to play an extra 20+ minutes of hockey, I did take some morbid pleasure in how ridiculous bubble hockey has become already. After 5 OTs last night pushed the Bruins game back to this morning, the Bruins double OT game today then pushed the Islanders game back 90 minutes and around and around we go.

The Bruins are back at it Thursday night at 8 pm as they try to take a 2-0 lead in the first round series.