He's A Little Bitch

So I stumbled on this account on Bluesky that tracks and notifies you when someone blocks you.  I didn't seek it out, but like I said, I just came across it, and without thinking about it beyond saying to myself, "You know, I might want to know who hates me," I followed it.

There is a guy I follow.  This little bitch will remain nameless so my dissection of him (hopefully) remains untraceable.  He's a local person who likes sports and keenly follows the Lynx.  I like the Lynx and local sports, so I followed him.  He skeeted the World Cup schedule, specifically that there are quadruple-headers from today/Sunday until Tuesday, then tripleheaders where two Matches go on simultaneously for the next three days after that.  All I said -- all I said! -- was that this was a soccer orgy.  A little later, the block Bluesky account told me that this snowflake blocked me.

For what?!  I just wanted to confirm with him that he regarded it as a soccer orgy.  What the fuck is the problem with that?!?!  Does he not think my wit is refined?  Does he hate the word "orgy?"  What the fuck is wrong with him?!?!?!  So I did the mature thing and blocked his ass in return.  And then I worried about all the other Lynx/Minnesota sports accounts I follow on Bluesky and wonder if they would take his side over mine.

And then I had to stop myself and remember something all of us too often forget: This is social media.  This is the fucking Internet.  I don't know this guy.  I like (well, liked) his stuff, but I don't know him.  And even if I am butthurt, I have to remember that this guy doesn't know who the fuck I am and doesn't give two shits about me even if I did like and repost every skeet he made.  So even though it hurts to seemingly be rejected by someone whose work I admire ... I'm getting bent out of shape over some motherfucker I don't know.  Why am I so upset?

Maybe it's better to be ignorant.  Maybe it's better to not know who blocks you on Bluesky.  But once I realize this doesn't affect my life in any meaningful way, I'll get over it.  But he's still a little bitch.

Am I Getting Old ... Or Am I Becoming Normal?

Yet another day where I went to bed at a relatively sane time.  After work (which was light by my standards) I had dinner with a group at a Ecuadorian place close by me, and then I went home to watch a pair of World Cup Games.  I was feeling fatigued at night, again, close to the end of Paraguay-Tunisia, so once that Match got done at about ten past midnight, I eschewed Zynga Poker (broke my streak, oh well), turned off the TV, and turned over in my bed.

And I woke up around 7:30.  Eek!  This is a good thing in two ways.  One is the, you know, I get to act like a normal person thing.  For another, I have time to do some chores before my day begins.  I watered the plants and, finally, started working on the pile of receipts I've accumulated.  I can do all that because I have the energy to do it.  I've found that, lately, once I get home, no matter how early after work I get home, I don't have the energy to undertake things I need to do around the house, like washing dishes or getting the laundry done.  But about 7 1/2 hours of sleep has got me feeling like I'm on caffeine, so I now have what it takes to actually accomplish things I need to do.

The problem is that I woke up too early.  While I am glad I've gotten around to doing the things I need to do, I care much more about the things I want to do today, namely going to watch the World Cup at a bar, then going to an MNUFC2 Match, then seeing my ATF at My Favorite Stripclub (Cover Version), then cashing on this KFC deal I have through T-Mobile.  I need to get on the snake around 11, and I might not be back for a half-day.  Can I get a nap in before I do all this?  Will it matter if I fall asleep at the club in front of my ATF?

We will see.  You know, one of the chores I need and have the energy to do because I got close to a full night's sleep is this blog post. I'm happy for that, too.

Oh, the title I put for this blog post isn't followed up by anything I've typed here.  Well, I guess I am wondering if I'm getting old or becoming normal, especially if I continue to get tired earlier and earlier in the night.  But honestly, I am only wondering about this until I publish this blog post.  Then I need to either continue going through my receipts or take a nap.

And dammit, even though I was at home, ready to watch the Mexico-South Korea Match in its entirety, and I miss the two most important plays of the Game (the Goal and the crazy double-save by the Mexican Goalkeeper) because I to relieve myself in the bathroom.  Was it the two muffins at work?  The quesabirria after work?  The chicken chowder I got at the gas station where I dumped my garbage and added air to my tires?  Whatever -- I had the bad, bad timing of being in the can and so I didn't see it live.  I saw replays, and I heard it live from the TV in the dining room, but I didn't see it live.  And the curse of being able to see Goals and not seeing them because I'm distracted continues. ...

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: 0).  In a possible WNBA Finals preview Saturday, the Lynx suffered their third Loss of the season at Las Vegas.  Head-to-head is the first (and, come to think of it, it should be the only) tie-breaker for the Commissioner's Cup, and since The Bastard Utah Starzzz beat Phoenix last/Wednesday night, they're going to face New York for the million-dollar payday.

That's why I can't rise the Lynx above negative number this Week.  But they did rout Portland at home on Monday and Los Angeles last/Wednesday night.  And, yes, they faced Vegas without Napheesa Collier and lost only by three.  And they came back to take the lead late in the Game, mostly courtesy of Olivia Miles, who has become the new sensation in the WNBA.  The Spectacle/The Show/O-Mi had no fear in driving on Aja Wilson ... and scoring.  She pretty much single-handedly brought Minnesota back into the Game.  And against L. A., she poured in 31 Points on 12-for-15 shooting.  Forget Rookie Of The Year; she's got that sewn up.  There is solid, incessant talk that she might be MVP.  She's making a case for it now.

So, even though they didn't make the Commissioner's Cup title Game, they're still on top of the league, and they're not even at full strength yet.  Maybe this team with a championship pedigree can come through and actually win the championship.  This screening Week they visit Golden State and then have a home-and-home with Washington.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1).  They're an afterthought in this market, but they didn't have a bad Week.  Sure, it started with an 11-0 shellacking to end their season at Detroit last Thursday afternoon.  But they won their weekend series here over St. Louis, with both Wins by a Run.  And they've already won their series at The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0, doubling up Texas 4-2 Monday and then sextupling them 12-2 Tuesday night.  Byron Buxton remains (mostly) healthy, the bats are waking up, and the Bullpen ain't complete garbage.

I was wondering in last Week's WMNSS why the third Game of their current series skipped a Day and is being played this/afternoon.  I saw why last/Wednesday night.  Globe Life Field is in the vicinity of AT&T Stadium, the home of The Dallas Cowboys ... but is being renamed Dallas Stadium because of the World Cup.  And there was a Game there between England and Croatia.  (The English doubled up the Croats, 4-2.)  Two sporting events happening in the same area not only on the same Day but overlapping each other would be a traffic and security nightmare, so I'm guessing the two baseball teams asked for and were granted by Major League Baseball permission to push their getaway Game back a Day.  After that they travel to Arizona to play three at the Diamondbacks over the weekend, then they come home to host The Bastard Brooklyn Dodgers for a trio beginning on Monday.

Left Pinky Toe Twitch

So for the past, oh, week or so I have noticed that my left pinky toe, and maybe my left ring toe, has been twitching.  I notice this when I'm at home.  Wonder if all my sitting down at work has anything to do with it.

I also wonder if it's Parkinson's.  If I recall correctly, Michael J. Fox noticed an uncontrollable twitch in one of his fingers while he and his wife were being driven by limo to some awards ceremony.  The finger was shaking so violently, and Fox was so spooked, that they had the limo driver drive around the block in the hopes that it would stop twitching.  Don't know if it did, but I think it was the first time Fox felt something was very, very wrong.  He got the diagnosis some time after.

Yeah, let's hope it's not Parkinson's.

I decided that last/Monday night, I was going to spend my time after work going through my storage unit.  Glad I did; I am somewhat relieved I finally began to address my stuff.  Didn't make much of a dent; rearranged stuff from three or four bags that ripped, mostly.  But already, the pile in my first unit, which was over my head, is now only up to my neck.  Sure, that's because some of my stuff is in the secondary storage unit around the corner.  But I get a psychic lift from seeing that pile go down.  It gives me the push to get back there sooner and go through more of my stuff.

Speaking of which ... I brought a bag of my stuff home.  It's mostly papers, so at the very least I will read them.  But tentative as they may be, these are steps I finally am able to take.  Hopefully it's not too late.  Hopefully my parents won't be back for a long time. ...

Well, I did The Quad, and once I did, I went home and immediately went to bed, around 11:30.  Got up to pee once at a quarter to 4, but conked back off and promptly had a nightmare about something I can't remember now.  Was pretty much up for good at a quarter to 7, or maybe 7.  All in all, very recuperating, and the reason why I am blog posting this morning ... and why I need to leave now.

Doin' The Quad! And On A Full Stomach!!!

Soccer days don't get much fuller than this -- a quadrupleheader of World Cup Group Stage Matches, each evenly spread out with approximately an hour inbetween.  Games at noon, 3, 6 and 9.  And I am going to be at one place for all four of them.

I am going to try and eat and drink through the day.  But my last meal was last night's birria tacos with ramen.  It didn't look like much, but I had to take the rest of the ramen home with me to eat after about an hour.  I had to relieve myself, and post haste.  I don't know why I got so full: I had only a elote going out to the Mexican craft brewery to watch Brazil and Morocco tie, and like I said in my last blog post, I ate waffles in the morning.  It couldn't have been the beer, or the mango michelada, could it?

Anyway, thing is I feel, well, full.  And I didn't plan on it.  This place has five ethnic-themed hot dogs, and I want to try at least four of them.  The way I'm feeling now, I might not make it.  And that surprises and, to be honest, disappoints me.

Addendum To: Addendum To: Planning World Cup Viewing Where

And now the un-synching on Telemundo is back.  The video is about a second behind the audio.  And it's not just during the Game; it's happening during the commercials, too.  Is Telemundo aware of this?

It's annoying to hear the thump of a player kicking the ball before you see that ball being kicked.  It's so annoying that, since I'm seeing this for a second broadcast, I have to believe this is something Telemundo cannot fix and therefore I have to hold this against the network.  And if watching Telemundo for World Cup Matches is no longer a priority for me, that creates the possibility that I could, or should, just listen to Games while going through my storage unit.  Another consideration that might alter what I do this week.

Addendum To: Planning World Cup Viewing Where

And complicating all my World Up watch-planning is something I thought of, and just did, this/Saturday morning: The food I have at home.  After I watched the U. S. take it to Paraguay, I'm all in on the World Cup.  Hell, I might take off work to watch Matches.  (I already have one planned for two weeks from now, but I might just take more days off.)  I want to go out every day.  But I shouldn't, because I have milk that's about to go bad, bread that's been in the fridge for two weeks, deli meat that I've barely made a dent on, and frozen waffles and french toast that I should get around to eating.

But dammit, I don't feel like staying home on the weekends and eating them all.  I really, really prefer going out Saturday and Sunday and watching soccer.  Guess that food can wait till the workweek ... but right now I really, really prefer heading out after work to watch soccer at a pub or restaurant, too.  Man, I don't know what I'm going to do.

I was so tuckered out after the USMNT Game that I promptly fell into bed.  Probably conked off around 11 p.m.  Woke up a quarter after 8, totally refreshed.  The one thing I am going to do today is go to this Mexican craft brewery and watch Brazil-Morocco there.  My secondary plan is going to this Mexican place close to me and see if I can watch at least part of Haiti-Scotland there.  They have a TV on, and for some stupid reason it's on a Fox local channel (not Fox News, not the Fox station here in town, but "Fox Local" -- it shows news stories that come from a random series of local telecasts, or at least that's what it appears to be).  I kind of want to know if they take TV requests, and if not, this will be the first World Cup Match I won't be able to follow, either on TV or through the radio.

So this involves a lot of eating out, as you can tell.  And yet I also had a plan to, if I woke up early enough, eat either the frozen waffles or french toast sticks whose boxes I've already opened up.  I just ate the waffles (and chased it down with milk).  I'm not hungry anymore, but because I'm up and because the first WC Game of the day, Qatar-Switzerland, is not until 2, I think I'll go shopping and eat lunch.  I need creamer, but I thought about getting ground meat for spaghetti I might make next week.  But if I'm going out at least thrice next week, what's the point?  And sure, why eat lunch when I'm already not hungry after breakfast?  Good question, but I think I'll still have soup and a sandwich.  Or, I might take the sandwich home and eat it later.  That might be the food I'll have next week ... well, beyond the food I already have at home.

Planning World Cup Viewing Where

I have gotten obsessed with arranging my free time around the World Cup the five weeks it's going on.  I shouldn't, considering that this World Cup is being (mainly) hosted by a fascist country.  Also, it's become even more obvious that FIFA is a corrupt organization that continues to get away with suckering communities into giving them money in exchange for the right to host the biggest sporting event on the planet this side of the Olympics.  No wonder, then, that the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, gave Trump a made-up-on-the-spot "peace prize" just to kiss his ass, one grifter publicly proclaiming his love to another grifter.  The business side of this soccer festival should make one's stomach turn.  However, since I am plotting how I will watch as much of it as I can proves I have overlooked this evil sausage-making and, in turn, makes me complicit.

Well, my complicit ass is still going to watch, and figure out the best way to watch while balancing things such as my checkbook, the health of my car, going to my storage unit to go through my stuff (which is really chapping my ass right now the more I think about it), and just going home and relaxing.  A part of me truly relishes how to put the pieces together, but a part of me knows this can easily overwhelm me, and another part of me knows I'm capable of just saying "fuck it" and I'll completely forget all of this.

Regardless, right now I'm planning ... but only for next week.  I am trying to do the following:

• Have one day where I go work, then directly go home.  I will watch all the Games from home and eat in, and thus I will not spend any money;
• I will go out and watch at least one soccer Match at a bar or establishment boasting about televising the World Cup;
• I will go out and watch at least one soccer Match at a Mexican or Latin American restaurant that has a TV and may or may not be televising the World Cup;
• I will go from work to my storage unit, where I will spend at least the majority of one soccer Game listening to it on Sirius XM while going through my stuff.  I will not spend any money and instead go straight home after the Match is over;
• Oh, and I promised ******a that I would see her at the strip club one night.

My original guiding principle on which weekdays I'd do each of the above depended on whether I could watch the Match on FOX/Channel 9.  If it wasn't on there, I figured that wasn't a day I should just go home; either I would watch at a pub or restaurant that had Fox Sports 1, or listen to it on satellite radio at my storage unit.  But then I remembered that Telemundo is over the air and is airing every single Match on free TV, albeit in Spanish.  Soccer is universal, so watching any Game from home was back on the table.

But then I saw last/Friday night's South Korea-Czechia Match, and for some dumb reason the audio and video were out of synch.  I'm hoping it's a one-time glitch, because if it's not, I won't watch Telemundo anymore ... which might actually make planning easier because it removes the possibility that I could watch any Game at home.  Fix this, Telemundo.

Another consideration I, um, considered is the quality of the sides playing.  I want to see competitive Matches, and once the final roundelay of Games comes around, the stakes are going to influence which ones I watch and thus where.  But the field for the World Cup has expanded from 36 to 48.  That means a lot of new teams -- and a bunch of teams that are not good and should get easily dispatched in the Games they play.  Also, there is a fifth round of Knockout Stage Matches now, which means 32 teams will advance out of the Group Stage.  Allowing 2/3 of the field into the "playoffs" makes the "regular season" Group Stage Games somewhat less important, even if the final Group Stage Games will determine who comes in last in each Group and thus is automatically eliminated.

The more I think about it, the more I've decided that I want to dedicate my attention to matchups that feature good XI's or countries that appear to be evenly matched.  If there's a Game that doesn't satisfy either condition, I am beginning to think it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to only tune in to it in the middle of the Match, or even, for example, bail on the Game and leave an establishment early.  It is hard to eat out at a restaurant for two hours so you can watch a whole Game.  And speaking of whole Games ... I realized that when I get out of work each day will dictate whether I go home, my unit, or out to watch.  Do I want to go out to catch the back end of a lopsided Match between two nations that have no chance of winning the World Cup?  Maybe, actually, and I'll save the days I go directly home for when I am able to watch a good Game on paper in its entirety.

You can see how I am weighing a lot of things, right?  Yeah, maybe I'm overthinking this.  But I don't want to spend money I can't afford, I want to start eating the food at home that I've bought, I don't want to tax my car, and I do want to start cleaning up my stuff.  So, considering all of that ... I still don't know.  Guess the only really important thing to me is I just want to watch some soccer.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#0: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  The Lynx are in the thick of Commissioner's Cup play, and they're kicking ass, going 3-0 this Week and remaining undefeated for this in-season tournament.  I was at the first Game of the screening Week, home last Thursday to Golden State.  They started off great, but then from the middle of the Second Quarter on, the Valkyries asserted control, and Minnesota was a click or two behind.  Finally, in the Fourth, they put shots together, they stacked stops, and was very, very lucky Cecilia Zandalasini's Three-Point shot at the gun was an airball.  (Courtney Williams could've iced it, but she missed her second Three Throw to keep the lead at three.  Tsk-tsk.)

Like Anthony Edwards, I am starting to believe I was wrong about Olivia Miles.  I remember throwing my glasses on the table on the table I was sitting at in the bar, listening to the WNBA Draft and hearing that the Lynx took Miles.  I thought she didn't have the will to defend nor the jump shot to round out her game in a way that, say, Ricky Rubio really couldn't.  Well, Miles went offensive HAM on this bitch, setting a WNBA record for most Threes made by a Rookie in a Game with eight.  Also, I wasn't quite aware at how preternatural her court vision is.  And finally, she has the poise of a veteran.  In the possession that led to Court splitting her pair, there was a Lay-Up drive that missed.  Miles eventually gathered the ball and, instead of hoisting up quickly, pulled the ball out and forced Golden State to foul.  I totally forgot the game situation, namely that there was about ten Seconds left and Minnesota was up by one.  Miles did not forget.  Fucking genius.

They finish Comissioner's Cup pool play this Week.  They host Portland Monday and visit Los Angeles on Wednesday.  But the real big test, if not THE test, comes Saturday night when they visit Las Vegas.  For my money, right now (and take that with more than a grain of salt), Saturday's matchup will be the WNBA Finals.

#-1: Twins (Last Week: -2).  A 2-4 Week.  There isn't much worth to say other than the Bullpen fuckin' sucks.  Yeah, that's all I want to say about this execrable bunch.  Well, I should say that they finish up their series in Detroit this/Thursday afternoon, then quickly host St. Louis for three over the weekend, then travel to play The Bastard Washington Senators v.2.0 for three-Game set on Monday, Tuesday and ... Thursday???

Too Many Oranges

Yesterday/Tuesday evening, helped by the fact that I got out of work early (I had to stop by the local grocery store to get a chicken breast on sale, but even with that I got home earlier than I usually do these days), I ate the final part of the last of five oranges I bought two weeks ago.  I've read on the Internet that you don't want to eat oranges that have been in the fridge for that long, but they tasted like oranges (even though the taste was a tad off) and hey, I haven't gotten sick after eating any of them, including the one yesterday/Tuesday evening.

I bought these at the discount grocery store, so I got, or felt I got, a bargain.  Also, I bought five of them because I wanted to make sure I had enough orange juice to make all the cocktails I wanted to make.  Well, I made one mimosa and one monkey gland, and still I have to eat, oh, three of the five oranges like they were, you know, oranges.  I shouldn't complain; they're a great source of vitamin C, of course.  But I way overestimated the number of oranges I needed for cocktails.  Need to cut back next time.

I Think It's Finally Time To Brush My Teeth Again

When I got one cavity filled in and one cavity redone back on Wednesday, I was told to not fuck with them -- and both sites were on the left side of my mouth -- for at least a couple hours and preferably for 24 hours.  Well, I had to eat a pork chop that evening or else it would go bad, and so then I made sure I chewed using only the right side of my mouth.  Other than that, I had been careful to not eat any crunchy or sticky foods until lunchtime on Thursday.

But I did that care plan one step better, or "better."  I took it that any agitation on either the new or the improved cavity site would imperil the fillings, and I categorized brushing my teeth as agitation.  So yeah, I've chewed food and drank hot liquids since Thursday afternoon, but I have held off on brushing my teeth.  Yes, that's lame and is more of an excuse for me not to go through the hassle of brushing my teeth.  But that was my mindset for not brushing my teeth since last Tuesday.

However, this is getting ridiculous even for me.  So I am going to go brush my teeth now.

Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: May 2026

Ten women this month, I've noticed, and I think I just realized that ten is the fewest number of waitresses I've seen in a month in a Hooter calendar.  Just a thought.

Not a bad month.  But I can only point out three because half of the ten have that stupid t-shirt-over-bikini-top thing I railed against last month.  I have to admit, though, I have made one exception.

I will point out three women.

In third place is Micayla, hailing out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.  Long black hair that falls below her breasts, she's wearing a pink two-piece.  I note her because she is posing as if she is either climbing out of or into a pool.  And by grabbing the bars on the side of the ladder, she is one of the few servers in this month posing straight at the camera (well, she's a tad off to her right, but I'll count it).  She's got a great body, and in this picture, she's showing it off.

In second place is Atlanta's Gwyn.  She is wearing a t-shirt over a bikini top.  I am making an exception for her for three reasons: 1) She's standing straight at us; 2) she's wearing a straw cowboy hat, and I'm a sucker for a hot chick acting like she's a cowgirl; and 3) she's also wearing jean shorts with a bikini bottom which, like her bikini top, is orange (and BTW, the crop top she's wearing is Hooters-themed.)  I know she's wearing an orange bikini bottom because she's got her jean shorts unzipped and open all the way, revealing said bikini bottom underneath.  That makes it look as if she's undressing, which is only emphasized by my realization that bikini bottoms are really small these days, and that if she weren't grooming down there, we'd be seeing her pussy hair sprout right out of her bottoms.  Yowza!

Finally, in first place is The Main Girl, Jada, from Destin, Fla.  Wavy blonde hair that cascades down to her waist, she is sporting a light pink two-piece bikini.  She is posing to her side toward us -- she's posing inbetween what looks to be curtains -- and it's also not great her right arm is obscuring her stomach.  But she is a stunner -- porcelain skin and light green eyes.  Also, even though we can't see it, I'd bet that she's wearing a bikini bottom that's showing her ass.

So congratulations to Jada and the other two Hooters girls for May 2026.  I will be touching myself to all of you in due time.

So the thing about going out most evenings is that you don't have time to rest, and at some point the sleep debt comes due.  I paid this week: I think last night was my second night over the past week where I fell asleep before midnight and woke up in the morning.  But I was, and am, glad to.  Sure, I am off schedule in Zynga Poker and there are alumni things I should have done but didn't.  But I'm refreshed and feel healthy, and I think that's a bit more important.

And more important than that, I have energy to do the things I need to do, such as finally clean the dishes that really need cleaning.  I should do that now.  Of course, I'll use up all my energy doing that and then I'll need to nap.  But, since I woke up so early in the morning, I'll have time for a nap before I need to go downtown this afternoon.  I think my timing is down!

I went through my plans of going to this new Middle Eastern place that came recommended after I left last/Friday night's Prince tribute concert.  Interesting food, but I didn't think it'd be so much.  Moreover, I ordered this through drive-thru at around 1:30.  I got done eating it all around 4.  And I'm having donuts with someone I haven't seen since high school this/Saturday morning at 10.  Eating this was a mistake.  And I regret doing so.

My Thoughts On Who To Root For In The Stanley Cup And NBA Finals

I have no interest in seeing the Stanley Cup Finals.  Out of principle, I don't watch a postseason once my team, in this case the Wild, are eliminated.  It hurts too much.  (This may be paradoxical, but if my team doesn't make a playoffs, I am more than happy to watch the whole thing ... with exceptions, of course.  If my team can't even make the postseason, that means my team didn't even have a chance of winning that Year's title, so I cannot have any bitterness over what could have been.  Does that make sense?)

Beyond that, though, I don't care how intriguing this matchup has become after Games 1 and 2 have both featured stunning comebacks and late Goals.  The Vegas Golden Knights are in their third Stanley Cup Finals and they're only nine years old.  They were given the most generous and bountiful birth of any expansion team in North American sports, immediately seeding their roster with stars and upside role players and parlaying them into a Stanley Cup Finals birth in their first Year.  And they have continued to cash in on the excessively valuable assets they were given, trading those away for a bumper crop of promising youngsters and aging role players, thus giving them a higher ceiling that few other teams in the NHL have, let alone were given.  And that's why I refer to them as Team Privilege, or Team Third Base.

On top of that, their starting, starring Goaltender, Carter Hart, was one of four people accused of gang raping a drugged-out women several years ago.  The Canadian judge let him off the hook, and he hooked up with the Golden Knights, and he's playing very well, thus proving that there is no God.  Oh, and he is a supporter of this separatist movement in the Canadian province of Alberta.  And on top of all that, the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights demands that his franchise is not named the Las Vegas Golden Knights, purportedly because "Las" sounds too close to "loss."  Putz.

Meanwhile, The Carolina Hurricanes have a boss, Tom Dundon, who may be riding high on the success of his hockey team, but is curiously thinning the workforce of the NBA team he owns, The Portland Trail Blazers.  He sounds creepily close to all these tech bros who think their achievement and moxie in their industry means they know everything and must be allowed to do anything, even if it means taking the livelihoods of people who just want to put food on the table.  Sounds like an asshole.  Oh ... also, The Carolina Hurricanes were stolen from the good people of Hartford, and The Hartford Whalers' famous fight song, "Brass Bonanza," has been adopted for North Carolina.  As hoary a form of cultural appropriation you can get without lasting consequences for civilization and society.

So, Team Third Base vs. The Bastard Hartford Whalers?  I choose death.

Meanwhile, my feelings for which team is winning the NBA Finals are so mixed up that I can't accurate describe them.  I know that I should hate The San Antonio Spurs because they beat my Minnesota Timberwolves, and loyalty demands that I wish evil upon those who've wronged me.  On the other side, Karl-Anthony Towns, who was loyal to the T-Wolves until the point the organization stopped being loyal to him and traded him, has a chance to win a championship with the team he was traded to, The New York Knicks.  I think he's a good guy, and I want to see him happy and successful.  And I saw what Jalen Brunson did at the end of Game 1's Win; that dude has big balls, and I really respect that, too.

So why do I catch myself rooting for the Spurs and rooting against the Knicks?  Those are two different questions that demand two different answers.  I don't know him, but it feels as though Victor Wenbanyama is a good dude who's still learning how to play in the NBA.  I like the really tall kid.  And on the other side, when the Knicks made big shot after big shot to pull out a Game 1 upset at San Antonio, I saw Knicks fans in the San Antone crowd cheer, this well of hate rises up within me.  Dammit, man, New York City sports fans are insufferable.

Such a jumble of preferences may drive a man mad.  But I'll try and tease this out.  I'm not specifically hoping that the Spurs will win, but I do hope that Wemby wins.  Meanwhile, I want to see KAT win one championship ... but I don't care about the Knicks franchise or Knicks fans winning a championship.  Hey, I need to compartmentalize if I am supposed to analyze Game 2's broadcast with any sort of objectivity.

With all that said, I plan on going to that Prince celebration concert tonight/Friday night, so I will likely miss Game 2.  Shucks.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (Last Week: -1).  I really can't complain about the Lynx right now.  They had an easy screening Week, and they blistered through both opponents, the Sky in Chicago by 21 on Friday (avenging the team giving them their other Loss so far this Year [Atlanta being the other]), then the Mercury in Phoenix by, whoa, 34 in Monday that began Commissioner's Cup play (avenging, sorta, their upset Semifinal Loss in last season's playoffs).  They're 7-2, tops in the league, and I think they're leading virtually every statistic, normal and advanced.  I'm just remembering that they had similar gaudy numbers last season and not only did they not win the title, they didn't even reach the WNBA Finals.  So no, sorry, can't put them above negative numbers.  Maybe next Week if they continue their winning streak, which could reach eight because the Lynx are at home versus Golden State (tonight/Thursday night, and I've got tickets to the Game), Seattle and Paige Bueckers and The Bastard Detroit Shock.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -2).  The Pittsburgh Pirates are above .500 this Year, and they were playing in Pittsburgh, but goddammit, don't get swept by them, ever.  At least the Twinks were able to snap their losing streak at home Monday vs. the White Sox, the club that began the Twinks' losing streak last Wednesday.  They won the series by winning Tuesday, but they got shut out yesterday/Wednesday afternoon, 8-0, as Taj Bradley, who is having a very good season so far, got shaken down for seven Hits and four Runs in 4 2/3 Innings.

And yet they're third in the Central.  Last is Kansas City, and they come to Target Field for three starting tomorrow/Friday night.  Next to last is Detroit, and after a day off Monday, Minnesota travels to them to play three starting on Tuesday.

#-Infinity: Gopher gymnastics (I think I've blog posted about these athletes before ...).  Yeah, I know that the championships were all the way back on April 18.  I wanted to talk about this fantastic team, but I just didn't have the energy or the time.  Now that we are on the really fallow portion of the sports Year, I do have time to honor and, in a contradiction to my normally pessimistic self, signal that this is a good sign of things to come.

Yes, they didn't win the NCAA title.  But they sure as hell weren't given any chance, up to and including the NCAA Championship Semifinals (the penultimate stage of the postseason), to reach the NCAA Championship Finals, aka The Four On The Floor.  They were good, seeded 13th once postseason play began, but this is a sport (and please tell me if I'm wrong) where teams normally play up to seed, so the Gophers' season was supposed to end in the NCAA Regional Finals (aka the second of four stages of the preseason).  But they followed up besting Iowa and Washington in the NCAA Regional Semifinals (the first stage) by upsetting 5-Seed Alabama and 12-Seed Utah in the NCAA Regional Finals.  (Side note: Utah, whose women's gymnastics team is called The Red Rocks, had never failed to reach the NCAA Championship Semifinals ever -- and that's half a century.  I figured that the Head Coach, Carly Dockendorf, would be told to resign because of this first-in-a-lifetime disappointment, but apparently, she's still HC.)

That was good.  What they did in the NCAA Championship Semifinals was even more spectacular.  UCLA, the 4-Seed, competed in the same meet as the Golden Gophers since the NCAAs began, so they advanced together.  The Bruins were so generous in rooting for Minnesota as they began their Cinderella run.  So, um ... it got awkward when the U. outpointed UCLA (as well as 9-Seed Arkansas) to become one of The Four On The Floor for the first time in program history.  I feel kind of bad for the Bruins, even if I'm supposed to hate them.  Anyway, they finished last in the NCAA Championship Finals, behind 1-Seed Oklahoma, 2-Seed LSU, and 3-Seed Florida, who finished, respectively, first, second and third.  (Another side note: I glanced at the TV once when the Finals were winding down, and I swear that Minnesota was third in scoring.  Either LSU or Florida was way behind; was that a screw-up by ESPN?)

See what I mean when I say this sport's titles usually go to seed?  That's why I wanted to note this squad here.  What they did was unprecedented; Minnesota is the lowest Seed to ever reach the Finals.  And considering that they have had some recent success, and that (I think) the state is really involved in women's gymnastics, I think this could, and should, be the start of something great.  I don't allow myself to feel optimistic about pro sports in this way.  For one, they haven't won shit since 2017.  But also, with the possible exception of baseball, the financial rules of pro sports leagues are such that bad teams are given the means (meaning very good young players) to become good teams.  Not so much with college teams.  Coaching matters, and with the NIL Era upon us, spending money to pay players may cause a shake-up in the hierarchy.  But there is a hierarchy, and not to get too detailed with what I mean, the bottom line is that in a college sport, there are traditional blue bloods that win everything and then there are schools that never win.  And you see, Minnesota in 2026 broke that rule in women's gymnastics.  For that reason, there is an opportunity here to be seized upon.  Money, attention, recruits ... I want to think that all of that is beginning to be funneled toward this program because of this level of achievement.  And maybe, just maybe, this could be parlayed into the rise of a new power in women's gymnastics.  Yes, this sounds pie in the sky.  But after what these gymnasts pulled off, I want to believe.

Exercise Or My Stuff?

Today/Wednesday I have the day off.  Well, I need to go to the dentist in the morning, but I don't have anything I have to do after that.  I could finally delve into clearing out my stuff ... but, because the community center is now closed on Sundays for several weeks, tonight/Wednesday night would be a good time to work out.  It's not like I'll get home too late and be too tired to exercise, which is the excuse I always use to not work out after a workday.

Last/Tuesday night I actually got out of work early.  (I think it had to do with mechanical problems down south.  The work that was supposed to come yesterday/Tuesday will come today/Wednesday ... when I'm not there.  Heh-heh.)  I could have gone home and gone through my stuff.  But no, I wanted to celebrate instead by eating Mexican because it's Taco Tuesday.  Then I saw a movie -- The Sheep Detectives, which is a neat movie, but I was going to see Mortal Kombat II.  When I got to the theater, however, they said the movie had already started.  The cashier gave me a showtime a half-hour earlier than the one I saw.  He said I may have been looking at the wrong theater, but I checked my phone -- it said the MKII was starting at 5.  (No matter; I wanted to see it because I thought it was the sequel to the Mortal Kombat film I saw back in 1995.  Tonight I learned that there was not one but two movies between that and this film.  If I missed a flick in a series, I don't feel the need to see the later ones.)

And Monday I got home, but I was, um ... worked over by my ATF.  I wanted to just sit in bed and mentally bask in what she just did to me, so I felt no need to give myself angst by going through my stuff.  Right decision, too.

All's that to say that, once again, I have had ample opportunities to go through the stuff I say I need and want to go through, and yet I don't.  I think the excuses I give are credible.  Still, they're excuses.  And still, my stuff piles up.

I'll go work out anyway.  Got to stay in some sort of shape.

Can't believe she did it!  Beyond my wildest dreams!!  And I didn't have to worry that I shot three days in a row, because the third day, last night, was -- pow!!!

But does this change things?  Hope not. ...

Expenses Without Receipts

Starting from Sunday, May 31:

• Fucked ****e.  Maybe I shouldn't have done it after getting wanked by ***e*, but I already promised ****e.  I wish I had given myself more time to recuperate.  Total: $120.
• Saturday the 30th ... said HJ from ***e*.  "Responded" perfectly fine.  Total: $120.
• In the afternoon I went to the barber school to get a shave.  Seeing some from high school whom I haven't seen since high school, and I reckon I should clean myself up a bit, even if I'll have a week's worth of stubble on my face.  With tip: $12.
• I then went to Nelson's Cheese for a chicken wrap, a medium corn bacon chowder, and a bottle of RC Cola.  I said that the corn bacon chowder was a diuretic for the ice cream I had the night before, but it was a very tasty diuretic.  It was expensive, so the I gave back all the change from the $20 I handed over, so I spent: $20.
• On Thursday the 28th I went to the Moonwater Gin Bar, specifically for the sushi pop-up.  I'm still on a high from the yellowtail tuna I had.  While I tipped through the receipt, for some reason the restaurant-within-the-restaurant also had fishbowls out asking for tips for both the itamae and the wait staff.  I kind of think it's overkill, but hey, I was totally happy with everybody and everything there, so I tossed in three bucks in both bowls, so the total comes out to: $6.
• Back to Sunday, May 24 ... I first went to Brit's Pub for EPL "Decision Day."  To celebrate the big spectacle (and big crowd), I got two dishes to go along with my Bloody Mary.  With tip: $53.
• I then went to Bebe Zito to grab ice cream.  These guys don't have pennies (I think), so they do the "nearest nickel" thing, and mind rounded up.  With tip -- and golly, that much for ice cream?!: $8.60.
• See, I went to Bebe Zito for ice cream because I wanted to try an affogato by going next door to Caffetto and ordering a double shot of espresso.  Pour the espresso over the ice cream and voila, affogato!  (This wasn't my idea; one day when I went to Caffetto, the barista told me outside food is allowed and in fact told me this hack.)  With tip: $5.
• On Saturday the 23rd I was also at Brit's Pub, this time for the English Championship play-up Game, won by Hull (on a Goal in Second Half Stoppage Time) over Middlesbrough.  I was going to get a second dish if it were going to Extra Time, so that late tally saved me money.  Still, with what I got (a bacon butty [?] and a Bloody Mary), I spent, with tip: $38.
• Later that afternoon, I went to the Loons Match.  Then, after the Tie, I went to Bang Brewing.  It's a nice, humble, easygoing place.  They have great pizza (from a different company).  And they are trying to be sustainable with everything they do, including using the grains for their beer.  I charged the pizza, but I paid cash for the Kernza.  With tip: $9.
• And then I saw that they offer products from this Patagonia Provisions line, items from the Patagonia outdoor wear company that also promote sustainability.  I'll bite; I bought crackers and, even though I swore I'd never eat them and think they're gross on pizza, a tin of anchovies.  Total for both: $11.
• Thursday, May 21 -- it was the very first day of the Kickoff To Summer At The Fair, The Minnesota State Fair.  I saw it as an opportunity to get the fair food I always wanted to get but never got around to getting, get the fair food I usually get so I could try other fair food when the actually State Fair rolls around, and eat all of that without the crazy crowds.  Well, the first thing I did was line up at Amish Annie Donut.  What am I doing?  I mean, the chocolate chip donut was great, but why am I replicating the bad part of the State Fair, and first thing?  The fairgrounds itself, a lot of it cordoned off (BTW, there was no Midway because the rides aren't there), was sparse, actually, so there was room to roam without getting bodied up creepily.  (There are limits to crowds for all four days of this pre-Fair Fair; Saturday and Sunday sold out.)  I went back and forth for both food and drinks and using cash and a credit card.  I used cash for the donut (with tip), cheese curds, a small mini donut beer (with tip), and a Minneapple Pie with cinnamon ice cream.  (For my own sake, I want to note here that I used my credit card for a blue raspberry lemonade from Little Prairie Coffee, a pickle pizza from Rick's, and a Big Fat Bacon, something I've always wanted to try.)  Cash total: $44.
• Back to Sunday the 17th, where I spent my afternoon at Art-A-Whirl, eating and drinking while walking around and looking at art.  I was going to have separate bullet points for every food and drink I bought, but I just realized that, like the Minnesota State Fair, there's nothing stopping me from aggregating all the stuff I consume into one bullet point because this was all for one occasion and one "event," albeit a big one.  So, my OCD satisfied and to spare myself a few more seconds of time, I can tell you that the elote, a special beer from Pryes Brewing just for Art-A-Whirl (with tip), and a can of Coke (also with tip) I paid for with cash to the tune of: $19.
• I will separate donations from victuals and libations.  I saw someone carrying a very light-looking safe on her shoulders.  She was getting the word out about a Narcan first aid kit.  She and the person she was with were soliciting donations, so the second time I saw them, I kicked in: $1.
• Friday, May 15: This is when Art-A-Whirl started, and I bought three pieces of art, two of them with cash, and I feel better of I separated them since they are things that, well, I still have.  In front of this art gallery I patronize was this artist selling small pieces of art.  One of them was an egg chair.  It came disassembled in a small plastic case, like a toy you would get when you put in a quarter in a vending machine, you know?  I found it whimsical enough to buy, even though I assembled it real quick and I think this is a chair only for small eggs.  Regardless, it was cheap: $1.
• I took a break from "arting" and went to Stargazer.  This place may be the hippest part of the Twin Cities for food, and I'm glad I hit Stargazer for the first time in a long time.  One drink, a Stargazer Burger (which actually is the size of a slider), pasta and tip came out to: $48.
• A small parking lot was cleared out for a couple art stalls and a couple pop-ups for food and drink.  The pizza and drink I got (both of which I charged) were great.  But I spied a freezer from this company called Chunk Chunk, and I had to get an ice cream sandwich.  Paid: $7.
• I finally bit the bullet, went back to the art gallery I've been going to for decades, and decided I had the money and the courage to buy a piece of art from the owner, another person I've been acquaintances with for decades.  It is a small framed print which I now have at my work desk.  Yeah, I buy art now.  By the way, I don't know if it's just art, but one does not pay sales tax if you can pay with money.  Cost: $35.

Good through May 31.