This and That on a Friday
Some random things I feel like sharing
If it’s Friday, it’s time for random thoughts. As always, read at your own risk.
We are deep into season 2 of Severance, and I’m just absolutely hoping that they know what they are doing. It seems like they’ve thought this all out as they start to reveal what the hell is actually going on. I want to believe. I sort of need to believe.
There is being a football dork and there is being such a football dork that even if you aren’t working in the sport, you’re super into the Combine. For those unaware, this is where draft prospects basically show up, get their height/weight, etc., formally measured and - if they choose to do so - do some drills like running a 40-yard dash, a three cone drill, etc. Most of the top prospects now opt out of these drills, smartly thinking that all they can do is hurt their draft stock. I consider myself a fairly huge draft nerd, and I’ve never really even considered watching the Combine. But I do like the chatter that surrounds it as it can be absolutely insane. I’ll have more thoughts about what I think the 49ers should and will do in the draft, but for now, it’s sort of fun to think about “what could be” with the team. (Unfortunately, that will be without Deebo Samuel, but he’s the one who wanted out, so that is what it is.)
Farewell, Deebo. You shall be missed. I have just learned that former All Pro RB Edgerrin James has a son who plays basketball for the Cincinnati Bearcats. This on its face is not particularly shocking, that’s an athlete has a son who is also an athlete. It’s also not crazy to learn that his son is - officially - named Edgerrin James, Jr. But that’s not his “name” on the team, nor what folks call him. That name? It’s Jizzle James.
“Jizzle is like my on-court persona,” Jizzle said.
“Oh Jizzle?! I was creating a monster with that name right there. We had to create something special. We had my same name. I always tell him that’s his alter ego, when he turns into Jizzle he turns into a whole other person,” Edgerrin said.
I need to beg you NOT to search the word Jizzle. The results are EXACTLY what you worry they might be.
We are wrapping up the final season of My Brilliant Friend. I’ve written about this before - I think it’s probably the best show that the least amount of people are watching, most likely because its in Italian. But it mirrors the four books written by Elena Ferrante (one season per book) and the long-term story it tells is just .. so impressive. It’s a little hard to follow this last season as (mostly) everyone has aged up and been re-cast with new actors so we spend a bit too much time pausing and saying, “Wait, who is that? Is that her brother?” and things like that. It’s a show that probably would be worth watching all the seasons fairly straight through for that reason alone. While the show can be frustrating (so can the books, in exactly the same way) I think it’s such a good, sweeping tale of two girls growing up in Naples and their lives as they grow up into adulthood.
What’s on your mind this week?
I stopped watching Severance as must-watch-when-it-first-airs. Just not as enticing as season 1, and feel it's resting on concept. Might not be the show runners fault. Apple probably said, "we need 10 episodes." And Ben Stiller is trying to make 6 into 10.