Friday Funbag is BACK
A collection of random thoughts and things that had no place of their own...
For those of you who are new to this space (“space” is what I’m going with until I can come up with something less awkward than that), I used to have a running every other Friday or so post where I’d post about things I found interesting but weren’t really extensive enough to warrant an entire article. A mish-mosh, if you will. For anyone who uses Substack or things like it, it’s convenient because you can actually just keep a draft of it for a week and keep adding to it as inspiration strikes.
Let’s get into it.
I’m always on the lookout for a great podcast and there’s a few I’m quite into that I’m not sure I’ve recommended here before. One just won a freaking Pulitzer Prize (and has won a Peabody, Emmy and others) which is Pablo Torre Finds Out. Pablo Torre used to work for ESPN, and now hosts his own podcast which, among other things, blew the lid on Clippers owner Steve Ballmer completely circumventing the salary cap in order to pay Kawhi Leonard more money via a “no show” endorsement deal with a company named Aspiration (one that many real investors put money into) for $28,000,000 - this is in addition to the nearly $150,000,000 contract he was paying Leonard. In addition to the hard hitting journalism, Torre also has friends like Mina Kimes, Katie Nolan and others on regularly for chats as well as great guests like Mark Cuban, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zohran Mamdami, John Green and many others. It’s a super fun and incredibly well done podcast. (And he seems just as shocked as anyone that he won a Pulitzer by doing a podcast.)
If you haven’t listened, here are two good sample episodes here’s one of the solid journalism:
And here’s one of just Mina, Katie and Pablo goofing:
On a less serious note (well, less serious than the Ballmer episode at least) another fun podcast I just found is called Wait A Second... This is from The Ringer (the Bill Simmons/Spotify network), and it’s hosted by Jason Concepcion, one of the true delights on the internet. I personally am in no way a conspiracy theorist. But, Jason and Simmons? Yep, they both are - but not in a way that makes them act like that guy you want to step around when you pass them in the street as they talk loudly to themselves about said conspiracies, etc.
But this podcast - which is also hosted by Tyler Parker, chooses specific themes for each episodes and breaks them down - and talks about how realistic each theory is, assigns it scores based on how worried they should be about it, and also adds quite a bit of levity to it. I’ve only listened to two episodes but I’m all the way in.
The most recent episode (as of this writing) is about Peter Thiel’s supposed secret society - which the podcast suggests may or may not even be a) secret and b) a society, as it may also just be a networking event. They also rank the most evil billionaires in history - noting that both Thiel and Elon Musk don’t make the top-10 but THAT THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF TIME as they are still in their prime.
I won’t spoil anything else but it’s delightful. Other show topics, which I haven’t listened to yet, include The Epstein Files, Illegal Whale Sushi, the CIA Gold Bar Heist, Alex Jones and InfoWars, Trump Assassination attempts, the JFK coverup and more. I’m all the way in.
Apropos of nothing, as you obviously know at this point, the New York Knicks won the NBA Finals a few weeks ago and I have zero connection to that franchise - and in fact my only connection would be rooting strongly against them. The Knicks in the mid 90’s were so unbelievably unlikeable to anyone rooting for the Bulls (like me, who certainly couldn’t root for the Warriors who were so hopeless back then), and players like Patrick Ewing (so likeable now, so absoutely unlikeable then) - I just had no love for them. But these finals? ALL IN. And the celebrations were EPIC. So many just got me going. But this one, I saved to my YouTube. It’s just … I sort of hate when folks say things like, “ONLY IN NEW YORK!” but … really, does this happen anywhere else?
Though there is a title there, in case you didn’t click, one of the fun things is that this could have been one of like ten different videos. Maybe 25. This is a huge crowd bursting into Jay-Z and Alicia Key’s song “Empire State of Mind.” Also as someone who lived in Villanova for the first seven years of his live, this is a fairly cool turn of events. But another video I watched about 73 times was this one. Again, I don’t care if you (like me) are not a Knicks fan. You’re gonna watch this and not feel something?
I’m sorry, but this is why sports rule.
And then, there’s the downside of sports, where we give untold millions of dollars to young men and expect them to handle it rationally and like the adults they technically are. Take, for example, Terrion Arnold, formerly of the Detroit Lions.
Arnold was robbed back in February, of approximately $250,000 of cash and jewelry - or about 15% of a years salary, not an insignificant amount. But also, not worth ignoring that this is someone who signed a deal guaranteeing him over $14,000,000 at signing just over two years prior.
The group allegedly lured the driver and two other men to an apartment where two of the victims were jumped, pistol-whipped and held at gunpoint by two of Arnold's associates, Lyndell Hudson II and Christion Williams. A third man eventually made his way into the apartment, and he was also jumped. All three had visible injuries. While Arnold was not in the apartment, he was able to view what happened via a live stream set up by one of his associates, according to police.
Bold font mine - but … what? It’s bad enough to do all the things there but to LIVE STREAM it? And then to have your lawyers say this? In public?
But Harvey Steinberg, an attorney for Arnold, argued in court Monday that prosecutors are “not even close” to showing that the player knew or directed what his associates would do.
Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management, which represents Arnold, said the judge’s ruling “confirms that there is very little evidence to even suggest any criminal involvement by Mr. Arnold.”
Um…I think there might be? The Lions immediately waived Arnold, and that tells me - and you - all you need to know for two key reasons.
The Lions - like many teams, but especially them - are really, really needy at the cornerback position. Arnold was a first round pick just two years ago. Cutting a player like that is not something any team takes lightly. To say they were already in a dicey sport before Arnold’s release would not be wrong - now they’re truly hurting at that position.
Every NFL team has people whose entire job is to essentially work with law enforcement to keep tabs on their players, to know who is hanging with the wrong folks, etc. They know way worse things about their team than we ever do. Suffice it to say there’s probably WAY worse things out there about Terrion Arnold than we know, and that’s part of why he’s not on the Lions roster anymore. That was a very, very quick release by them.
And this is … a very sad story. Terrion Arnold is 23 years old. He is someone who had one of the brightest possible futures ahead of him - and now he literally could spend the rest of his life in prison on kidnapping charges. The NFL generated $25 billion in 2025 and is the worlds most lucrative sports league. I feel like just a little bit of that could go to helping young men who come into untold sums of money learn how to handle their shit a bit better. Of course, these are grown men and you can’t stop people from being their worst enemy, but … really? We can’t do better than this?
I randomly got a Zillow ad for a home we used to live in back in Los Angeles, and then it showed me a bunch of OTHER homes in Los Angeles that are, quite frankly, nowhere near that home, including this one that’s listed for a cool $38,000,000.
Was I intrigued? Yes, yes I was. (Also, I’m always fascinated by the ratio of bedrooms to bathrooms and was not disappointed - 7BR, 14BA.) This spot has its own pickleball court - of course it does, and many other interesting amenities but what really got me to talk about it here is the map it showed - it’s in a neighborhood it states is the most exclusive in Los Angeles called Holmby Hills. Maybe that is the most exclusive, because I’ve never even heard of it. But take a look here and tell me what stands out:
You see it too, right? I mean, I know Michael Jackson was the King of Pop, and I know there’s a movie out right now working hard to sanitize his image but … we also know what’s up, right? I mean - it turns out this is NOT Neverland Ranch, which is up in Santa Barbara. But … didn’t you think it might be? Doesn’t this make it confusing - and therefore gross? Doesn’t this, in fact, HURT property values? I’m sure the real estate agent had nothing to do with this - because while yes, IF folks saw this when they punched my address into their car and thought, “Wow, Greebs sure lives in a nice neighborhood,” then I guess maybe that’s what I’d be going for. But if they instead thought, “Yikes, Greebs sure lives near a former legendary child rapist,” then … you know, maybe not so much?
I’m just saying.
My Instagram served me up a post - as it is wont to do - and it was members of the Foo Fighters being asked to name a perfect album. I believe this is the hook of this specific Instagram account, and it’s a good one. One member, I believe it was Pat Smear, first said The Beatles “Abbey Road,” then seemed to feel it was a bit trite and paired that with the Sex Pistols “Never Mind The Bullocks.” Guitarist Chris Shiflett shocked the rest of the band by choosing Stephen F. Wilson’s album “son of dad” who is an artist the other band members hadn’t heard of. (He’s good.)
But I mention this because Dave Grohl brought up one of my favorite albums, Pixies “Surfer Rosa,” which perhaps uncoincidentally a song from showed up in my Spotify the next morning. And then I listened to the entire album and … he’s not wrong. It’s perfect. I first heard this in college, and it was actually a double album with Come On Pilgrim, or at least that’s how I heard it, but most people know it as the album with “Where Is My Mind?”* But there isn’t an skippable song here, and all of it is fast, unique and half the “alternative” music many of us listen to was inspired by this and other Pixies music. If you haven’t listened to this album in awhile, it’s time to give it a listen. It’s 33 minutes of bliss.
* (My real memory of this song is the rage induced by people who first heard this song by seeing the movie Fight Club, then bought the soundtrack without checking the track listing and were upset it wasn’t on it. All without ever considering maybe just buying the Pixies album.)
What do you consider a perfect album? Leave a comment below.
Guster - “Lost and gone forever”
Wait a sec is great! Some real dark and nefarious stuff I feel like we should have learned about growing up.