The Last-Ever Meal At Peter's Grill

I started this blog post just with the title.  It was July 3, 2013.

The place closed for good July 29, I think.  I had never been there, but after 99 years, a place that had a solid connection with Old Minneapolis was going to close, and I felt the need to connect to it.  And sure, maybe the irony of being a first-timer to Peter's Grill on its last day was too much for me to resist, but I went and, after a long wait where all the servers were too busy helping others and, I guess, trying to rectify the death of an institution that was a part of their lives for so, so long.

And I think I hesitated to write this blog post for so long because ... well, I eventually forgot.  But I remember taking a picture of my meal, and I wanted to, for the first time, post a picture I took myself in the blog post, but I never learned how to upload a photo onto Blogger.  And then I think I began hesitating as to whether I wanted to put a picture I took myself onto WAF for identity reasons.  Whatever the reason, I don't know where that photo is now; the ones on my cellphone go back only to 2014.

I remember sitting at the bar and I was told that all the food was gone by the time I got there.  I may have played the woe-is-me card because someone, and it very well could have been the owner, heard my sob story, went to the kitchen (and I could see into it from my barstool), and took what appeared to be a prepared dish.  I don't think it was going to be given to a customer; I got the impression that one of the workers prepared it for him or herself, either because they were hungry over their busy day or they wanted something to take home to eat and/or remember Peter's Grill by.  And this guy, presumably the owner, took that and gave it to me.  It was a tuna sandwich.  Can't say I was blown away, but it was, and is, important to me that I had a piece of Peter's Grill before it shut down.

But assuming that tuna sandwich was for someone else, I feel bad.  Sorry.

It was packed in there.  Which raises the usual issue that if it were packed before it closed, the restaurant wouldn't have had to close, now, would it?  But hey, it's a downtown restaurant, and those are vanishing by the minute because it's so hard to make money when you cater mostly to people coming to and from work.

I just read that the owner blamed food trucks for permanently crippling his business.  Well, this is also ironic, but as I have heard, there are no more food trucks in either downtown since the pandemic.  So many companies decided their employees could work from home during COVID that food trucks determined there was no longer money to be made downtown, either.  Maybe that has changed since we're now six years beyond the pandemic.  But I haven't heard of a glut of food trucks invading downtown Minneapolis every lunch hour.

You know, I assumed I would have more to say about the death of Peter's Grill.  Well, shelving this blog post for 13 years shortens the story, I guess.

The Main Reason I Think I Hate MLS' "Flip"

Back in mid-November, Major League Soccer announced that they are going to change the schedule of the league.  Ever since its inception in 1996, they started play some time in the spring (in '96 it was April; now it begins late February or early March) and ends some time in early December.  But this Year, the 30th Year of MLS, will be the last under this calendar year format.  After playing a four-month "spring season" in the spring of 2027, MLS will align its year with pretty much every soccer league in every country on Earth, where they start late summer and end around Memorial Weekend.

Not too long ago, I heard the Commissioner for MLS say that he didn't think that would be a good idea, and I think his main reason was that so many northern cities (such as Minnesota United) would be affected by figuring out how to deal with a part of the summer-to-spring season that makes outdoor Matches well nigh impossible to stage in the winter.  Guess he changed his mind, and I guess that not sticking out like an outlier, especially when it comes to trying to bring in players through Transfer Windows that are, right now, a bit awkward, was enough of a reason to do this wholesale change.

At first blush, I hate this as a season-ticket holder.  The idea that players didn't want to join a club in MLS during the middle of our season or the middle of the season of the league they're coming from is still too abstract for me to care about.  But another plus the Commissioner claimed would make the new calendar better is that Major League Soccer would get away from having its postseason run right into the National Football League and college football.  True -- and I still don't think it's a good enough reason to do, as some people are calling it, "The Flip."  Yes, football (mostly professional but college matters too) is the most popular sport in the country.  But it's their regular season; MLS has conducted its postseason late in the fall.  I will go to lengths to see a postseason Loons Match in person (I have skipped out on Game-watching events in the past) because they are the most important Matches on the schedule, and I think diehard fans of other MLS squads have done and would do the same.

Conversely, the commish also says that putting MLS' playoffs in May is a lot less crowded.  No, it isn't.  The NBA Playoffs and The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are also played in May.  Basketball and hockey are not the behemoth that American football is.  But you cannot convince me that soccer has a chance to stick out and rise above the din at a time those two leagues also have their postseasons.  When the Games matter most, MLS will take a backseat to both the NBA and NHL, every Year.  (And hell, to be honest with you, the NHL takes a backseat to the NBA every May, too.)  Major League Soccer is not running from a crowded part of the year; it's running to a crowded part of the year.  And I don't think it's going to work.  So on second blush, I still hate this.

Another point I considered: I thought that there would be Matches played through the winter, and we would thus have to have a few or even several of them played during the holidays.  Then MLS announced that there will be an annual two-Month Winter Break from mid-December to mid-February, and then on top of that there will be special considerations to limit the number of Games played here in December and February to one or two.

But I decided to think further.  What about this Winter Break?  It's good for the safety of players and fans, no doubt.  But what sports league do you know builds in a two-Month break in its season?  Wouldn't that feel like two separate seasons?  And what happens if, for example, MNUFC just sucks for the first part of the Year?  Would anyone want to come back and see the final part of the season if the Loons blow?  (Major League Soccer anticipates that 2/3 of the season is completed before Winter Break and the final third is completed once play resumes and into the end of April, which is supposed to be when the regular season will end.)  This has the potential to be a momentum killer.

Another point of concern comes in the fall.  I am very busy during American football season.  I work Vikings and Golden Gophers Games, and I organize Game-watching parties for my alma mater.  These conflicts have been in place since Minnesota United started MLS play in 2017, so it's nothing new.  Still, it's a pain in the ass to, for example, wait for when my alma mater announces the time of their Game in two Weeks and figure out whether I could travel from downtown Minneapolis to Midway to see my Loons, or if it's worth it to catch only the Second Half of the MNUFC Match, or if I need to sell my ticket.  Usually, one to three of my season tickets are casualties to these circumstances each year.

The announcement didn't say, but I wonder, assuming there will be at least as many Matches in a regular season as there currently are now, if there will be more Matches played in the fall.  So I have looked at the upcoming season, looked through my Franklin Quests for the past few years, and jotted down how many autumn Matches there have been from 2022 to this season, which would be ones subject to either work or play conflicts due to American football.

2026 home Games in the fall I have to worry about skipping: 5

2025: 3

2024: 3

2023: 4

2022: 1

There are tons of caveats here.  Major League Soccer has frequently shifted their seasons, and put in breaks during the middle of them, if there have been other worldwide soccer conflicts, such as the World Cup and continental tournaments, so there will be years more Matches had to be piled into the autumn.  Also, I wanted to go back all the way to 2017, but I realized that 2021 and 2020 were severely impacted by the pandemic -- I couldn't go at all in 2020, and I think I started going to Games late in the summer of 2021 -- and so it didn't make sense to go back even further.  Finally, we don't have the 2027-8 schedule out yet, of course, so we don't know if there will be a concentration of Matches in the fall.  Still, while I have no evidence this will get worse under the new calendar, I will go with my gut and believe it will be.

But I realized something further. It may not be the fall that impacts my season-ticket status the most, but the summer.  Major League Soccer says it'll conduct its postseason in May, and the league will begin its new season in mid-July.  Assuming MNUFC won't host Games for the playoffs or even make the playoffs (and I would contend that the league is rapidly creating a Haves/Have-nots hierarchy not unlike The English Premier League, and undoubtedly my Loons ain't gonna be a Have), there won't be Matches for me to go to between May and mid-July.

How many Matches have taken place in that time period?  I went back through my FQs and checked:

2026 home Games between May (the scheduled month for postseason, which the Loons obviously are not guaranteed to play, let alone play any home Matches) and mid-July (the approximate start of the new season format): 3

2025: 6

2024: 6

2023: 6

2022: 5

More caveats here.  The three Matches this season is because MLS needs to take a break for the World Cup.  Also, Minnesota United FC salespeople have been trying to emphasize they are going to fill this hole with pre-season Matches and Friendlies against clubs from other countries, which should be easier once MLS' preseason aligns with so many other leagues' preseasons.  But you can tell that it's not the same.  I actually love going to Loons Games during the late spring and early summer.  There's not much to do, the weather is heating up, and I have enjoyed many Matches with other Loons fans this time of Year.

And then I realized that this is the part of the season that I will miss, and that this is the reason why this new calendar sucks.  And there is little to no chance that there will be any attempt that will be adequate to fill this hole.  So now what?  Well, first of all, because I care about the integrity of the season, I would like to suggest a split-season not unlike what Mexico's Liga MX does.  Every Year they have, basically, two Years: An "Apertura" (opening) season that goes from July to just before the holidays, and a "Clausura" (closing) season that goes from early January to Memorial Weekend.  OK, so you have two champions a Year.  Big deal; that means there is no yawning two-Month gap in a season you're determined to say lasts ten Months.  For this to happen, Major League Soccer would have to have only a one-Month break, and Minnesota United would probably have to play a few Matches in January and February.  Would I watch them in person?  Maybe, maybe not.  But at least the season would make a whole lot more sense.

Beyond that, I don't know what to think.  Well, I said a long time ago that unless I die, move, lose my job, or determine the organization has done something that so offends my moral code, I won't be dropping my season ticket.  I didn't add some sort of force majeure clause when I declared that, but I sure as hell didn't think they'd do The Flip, either.  So I think I'll give it a year, to see how many more Matches I might have to miss in the fall, and how many times from May to mid-July I'll be bored out of my skull because there's no important MNUFC Game to go to.  If it doesn't make sense to spend money on a season ticket -- and that price keeps going up every Year -- maybe I'll be forced to downgrade my season ticket package ... or say goodbye.

Too Much To Do This Week, And I'm Not Doing That Much Because Of ... Well

I totally am happy with seeing my friend who's in town.  She would be, absolutely and every time, my main priority if I have other things I want to do.  And dammit, there are a couple other things I could do this weekend, and I am blog posting about how much I fucking hate that all three goddamn things are here at the same time.

My friend travels for her job.  She was back here in the early fall, but for some family obligations.  That's when she told me she would be in town to work the first full week of January.  That's when I was already formulating in my mind what we could and do when she was back and maybe had more time to do things.

I do not know if it was made before or after my friend told me she would be back in town now, but around this time (I guess) I realized that my alma mater's basketball teams would be playing the U. here this weekend.  First of all, I don't understand how both of my teams are playing here at the same weekend; that's a weird scheduling quirk that I can't believe just lined up that way.  Second, with that, "uh," opportunity, does that mean that both teams travelled here and will travel back on the same plane so they can save money?  But I've gone off on a tangent.  I have to see my alma mater's teams when they play in town ... unless my friend wants to do something else.  But luckily for me, we both went to the same college, so maybe she would want to go to these Games, too?  She said she had time for the men's Game, which was last/Friday night, but not the women's Game, which is tomorrow/Sunday afternoon.  I will presume she can't make it tomorrow because she is busy with work.

Again, I wish these things happened on separate weeks, but I am managing to both go to the Games I want to go to and see my friend.  But there is another thing that I realized is also happening this week, and this I think was scheduled for a year: The Twin Cities Auto Show.  This show was in March for as long as I can remember, with the exception of the COVID years, where I think I didn't go one year and the other year I went when it was held at the State Fairgrounds late spring or early summer.  I always go, but by the time I realized it was happening the same week as my alma mater's b-ball teams and my friend being here for work, I quickly concluded that I can't go.  I'm just too busy and tired.  And (and this could be rationalizing) the auto show has changed since the manufacturers stopped printing out brochures for us to take.  Not saying that I no longer have any fun there, but my stays at the show have shortened because I can't pamphlet-hunt.  I'm not upset that I am passing this up.

Now, all this ICE bullshit is complicating everything.  I haven't yet heard they are in downtown Minneapolis, but I am spooked enough that, if I had the time to go, I would hesitate.  Meanwhile, I invited my friend to this speakeasy tonight.  She might be busy hanging out with another friend.  But I have to be honest and say I am nervous because this place is much closer to the site of that murder by that ICE incel on Wednesday.  Finally, even though I went to the U. last/Friday night and will tomorrow/Sunday afternoon, I am scared of going there too because, who knows, I could be stopped, or worse.

So maybe I shouldn't kvetch over three things all happening at the same time because of fascism.  To be candid, I didn't think my blog post would veer this way.  Oh well.

Not Working Tomorrow/Sunday, And It'll Be Weird

I am not working tomorrow/Sunday, even though I have worked for many, many seasons.  I was told on Monday that the production crew have their own people and therefore I was not needed.  The last time I hadn't worked a Game was during the pandemic.  If you take that as an exception, the last time before that was the last Game of some Year when the team sucked.  It may have been New Year's Day, and I decided to spend it at the Walker.

The person who broke the news to me emphasized that me not working was not a reflection of my work for them.  Assuming this crew does not come to town any other time this season, I am working the other Games, as planned.  I believe him, in all he said.  That said, I have to recognize that I am an at-will employer.  These people treat me well, and I am paid very well.  But it's not as if I have a contract with them.  They can pull the plug and no longer hire me for any reason, or for no reason.  It's the reality, and I am under no illusion of what could happen, at least theoretically.  Nonetheless, this news is a stark reminder of that reality, and I have to admit that I have caught myself on a couple occasions this week thinking about how my life would be affected if I could no longer work for these people.  It's my favorite job; losing it would be like losing a piece of me.

Goodbye, Car

Over the weekend, Father and I finally untarped my old car.  It looks as good/bad as it did when we stored it, which was, at least according to the tabs, before the winter of 2021-2.  But three of the four tires are severely deflated and the front passenger side is completely deflated.  Plus, the moonroof is cracked and enough, uh, stuff penetrated the cracks that there is mold or mildew in it.  It may run, for all I know, but the tires probably need to be changed and the moonroof is a disaster, so I don't think it's wise for us to put money into spiffing it up.  Yeah, it's time to say goodbye to the car.

---

I remember seeing it for the first time.  It was evening, I was hanging out or sleeping in or doing homework or just moping about my senior year in high school when my parents told me to come out.  I, at the top of the stairs, saw Mother, at the bottom of the stairs, jangle a key in front of her.  It was the car, and they got it for me.  And I remember being visibly frustrated.  I was a couple years removed from finally getting my driver's license on the third try, and the second time I got rejected by this truly deplorable bitch of a driving tester traumatized me.  This new car would be an upgrade over the car I had been using around that time, a Jeep that first had vapor lock issues and then overheated.  I should have been overjoyed that I actually got a fucking car that fucking worked, but I think my thinking at the time was that I was over driving as a concept.  It was so much work to worry about a car, and I realized there was pain even when owning a car that did work -- gasoline, maintenance, worries about repairs, let alone insurance.  I had taken a bus to school all my life, and if I wanted to do something fun, I could either walk there or hop a ride on one of my friends' cars.  No, driving a new car was too much adulting for me, and I gave the impression that they shouldn't have bought one for me.

Well, I did need to drive a car, if only for getting to the U. for classes.  And then the damndest thing happened: Instead of junking the Jeep and letting me drive the new car, they stored the new car and made me drive the Jeep several more years.  In fact, if I recall correctly, I want to say it took about nine or ten years before Father finally relented and let me drive the car as my main car.  Up until his decision to stash it, I had one summer to drive it all over the place.  And I remember driving it a lot very, very early in my journey with it, albeit inadvertently.  I was going to go to my friend's graduation party at his mom's house.  He drew up a map on how to get there from our high school, but it was wrong and I got lost.  And it took me at least an hour and stopping into one or maybe even two gas stations (remember that we didn't have the Internet, let along a map app, at the time) to finally fucking get to the party.  I expressly remember reading the part of the owner's manual where it said to drive the car gently for the first 1,000 miles.  I swear I drove about 100 of it just trying to find this goddamn party.

So after I was finally able to drive it, I, well, drove it.  Everywhere.  It was a stylish low-luxury car.  It was great.  I hate not remembering all the good times I drove it because when the car drives well, it drives unremarkably.  No, I remember when it started breaking down.  My first repair was for a ball bearing in the passenger-side rear tire; the car was making a noise that wasn't going away.  The transmission died on me as I drove to my overnight temp job in downtown Minneapolis; Father had to step in and found someone in the neighborhood to finally, after maybe a month out of service, fix the transmission for almost two grand, oy.  In the winter, when I drove it to the dealership for maintenance, I took the off-ramp curve way too quickly.  There was slight damage to the car, but the moonroof cracked to where it is today.

All in all, the make, model and year of the car is a good one, I think, and I believe I got what I could out of it, maybe even moreso.  But, maybe because it was stored too long or because of those 100 miles getting to the fucking grad party or maybe just general wear-and-tear, the problems started to pile up -- the oil level light wouldn't turn off; had to re-do the wiring a couple times, 18 months apart; it started leaking oil bad; the passenger-side rear power window broke, and I had to tape it closed until I could get it fixed; the sway bar on the passenger side broke so I heard a loud "clang" every time I steered.  One time I drove over a railroad track and the goddamn hood flipped open.  The fuckin' thing rolled up like a tuna can.  (Come to think of it, I think the hood is totally fixed.  Didn't see any misalignment at all as I checked it out over the weekend.)

Finally, when I was driving to my test scoring job (I may have blogged posted about this a long time ago), the car started to overheat.  I had to leave for the day to go to this shop I trusted out in Carver County (close by where a stripper who gave me a HJ lived), who said it would be fine.  These were the days where I had a second test scoring job at night; the fucking car overheated on my way home from that job.  I spent two hours turning my car on and off to see if the thermostat would be low enough for me to limp it home before AAA finally got around to me and towed it to the mechanic close to me.

The culprit: The gasket blew.  I thought that when it comes to major engine repairs like that, that's when it was no longer worth it to fix the car.  The mechanic said exactly that when he told me in his voicemail what the problem was.  But Father got it home and, weeks later (I don't remember what car I was using in the meantime), he got it fixed.  And really, the car was driving fine.  You had to be careful and the radio was doing this thing where it get really loud and then really quiet and then really loud.  Didn't help that the radio button was busted.  You couldn't even push it to turn it off or on, it just did that itself.  But, it was drivable.  And then Father made the decision, at least several years after he got the gasket fixed and probably near the tail end of the pandemic where people could finally go out and travel again, to stash the old car, put the tarp and the cinder blocks on it, and, well, forget it.  And forget it we did.

---

I got into the car for the first time in years Saturday, but it was to clean it out.  I stepped back in it yesterday/Sunday to reminisce, to remember, and to say goodbye.  I can't remember them, but there were so many good times driving that car, and it was, for a long time, a trusted, capable, and even stylish soldier.  I made an effort to open and sit in the four big seats of the sedan, if only for a minute.  I looked at the owner's manual one more time, then realized that, after all these years, there are two features on the car that I did not use at all: The driver's seat lumbar support bar and the bag chute that comes out from the toddler seat in the middle of the backseat and has the shape of a long piece of wood.  It is used to store long objects without messing up the interior of the car.  Well, we never had to carry big long things in the sedan.  And even though I have a bad back now, I didn't back then, so I didn't have the need to shape my back to its proper driving posture.  Still, I cranked the bar a few times, just to feel it in my back.  Can't believe it's the first time I ever used it, ironically the last week (or so) it'll be in the family's possession.

Yes, it's a car.  But it's my car.  And I used it for a formative period in my life.  Moreover, I saw it "born," and now I'm going to see it "die" as it gets towed and probably stripped for parts.  It's a hell of a thing to witness the entire life cycle of something, even something inanimate like a car.

This is the logical thing to do.  Yet, I know I should be sad about this.  But I'm not crying.

I'm still trying to figure out how best to donate the car.  That might give me a good reason to procrastinate.  But hell, it's best to let go of the car.  And yet ... I can't.

Goodbye, car.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Lynx (New Season!!).  Oftentimes over the past 15 Years or so, it has been the Lynx that has redeemed local sports.  And, although it's an extremely small sample size, they appear to be in the same form they were when they reached the WNBA Finals (and got fucked by everybody just so The New York Liberty could win their first title in franchise history), starting the season 2-0 with easy victories over The Bastard Detroit Shock (and hometown legend Paige Bueckers) in Dallas and at Los Angeles.  And they're doing it with Kayla McBride coming in late and Dorka Juhasz sitting out the season after playing internationally.

Bueckers comes home tonight/Wednesday night as the Wings are the opponent for the Lynx's home opener.  It's the start of a three-Game homestand that comprises the whole screening Week; Connecticut plays here Friday, Seattle Tuesday.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1).  All good things must come to an end.  The Bastard Seattle Pilots ended the Twins' winning streak by avoiding a sweep Sunday in Milwaukee, 5-2.  Still, Minnesota managed to reach 13 Wins in a row, going 4-1 for the Week including sweeping a three-Game series in Baltimore (the first two in a Doubleheader necessitated by a rainout) that ultimately cost Brandon Hyde his job as the Orioles' Manager.  And, they set a franchise record for consecutive shutout Innings with 34.

That hot streak has paid some dividends, even though it wasn't the cure-all we all want it to be.  As of press time, believe it or not, if the season ended today, they would not only be in the playoffs, but host the Wild Card Series versus Cleveland.  But while they have vaulted from fourth place in the A. L. Central to second, they are five Games behind Detroit, who has The Best Record In The Majors.  I wonder if the Division is already lost.

They already should have started a three-Game series at home against the Guardians, but it's been raining steadily, and then biblically, Monday and last/Tuesday night.  They got through one, maybe two Innings on Monday, and they haven't been on the field since.  We are supposed to have scattered showers today/Wednesday, but Cleveland only has to travel to Detroit for their next series, so it's possible they can squeeze in two Games.  The Twins' next series is against Kansas City, and they'll be here over the weekend.  After that, they will travel to the Yankees' minor league complex and play "at" The Tampa Bay Rays for a three-Game set beginning Monday.

#-3: United FC (Last Week: 0).  Major League Soccer, if I am correct, hadn't had midweek Games since the start of the season until this screening Week.  Last Wednesday was the Loons' first midweek Match since they started the season at The Los Angeles Galaxy.  They lost that Game ... and they lost Wednesday's Match, at Houston, 2-0.  Eric Ramsay decided to heavily rotate for this tilt vs. the Dynamo; I saw only two guys, Will Trapp and Jefferson Diaz, who I believe regularly start for MNUFC starting this contest.  Ramsay eventually exhausted all of his subs; he used four around the 65th Minute and put in his regulars, but that was when Houston was up 1-0 (Pablo Ortiz scored a Minute into First Half Stoppage Time), and they added a second Goal in the 77th.

Still, it's only the third Loss United FC has suffered in all competitions in 2025.  And, they came back from that sound defeat to crush St. Louis at Allianz Saturday, 3-0.  City is a bad side, but it is uncommon for me to see this club thoroughly dominate like they did.  It's a long season, but I've gotta say, this is a good team.

The Loons play St. Louis twice in a span of five Days; tonight/Wednesday night, they (or some other players who may not have played here on Saturday) play again at Midway, this time in U. S. Open Cup play.  They then return to league action as they host Austin Saturday night.

#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  OK, so I should look on the bright side and note that they crushed The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors in five Games, especially considering that many pundits (including yours truly) thought they would win.  Of course, no one could foresee Stephen Curry being injured for the series after the First Quarter of Game 1 and change, but still, this is now back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances for The Minnesota Timberwolves, the first time The Minnesota Timberwolves have ever done that.

And hey, it is just Game 1.  They dropped it like it was hot last/Tuesday night vs. The Bastard Seattle SuperSonics, but they looked awful against the Warriors in Game 1 and they came back to rip off four in a row to take the last series, so why can't they do it again?  Seriously, the Wolves were at this stage last Year and lost, and there is credence to the theory that you have to walk before you can run.  Has OKC done that yet?  No.

Ah, fuck it, they're going to get swept.  They had a four-Point lead going into Halftime and then got blown out in the Second Half, 70-40.  I had plans to see them for Game 4 Memorial Night at that brewery I went to for the previous series, but only if they were up at least two Games to one.  That ain't happening.  Man, to lose to a city that stole its team from the good people of Seattle. ...

#-Infinity: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -2).  Welp, at least they won the final series of the season, at Michigan St. (they dropped the season finale Saturday, 11-10).  In Ty McDevitt's first Year as Head Coach, the U. finished 24-28 overall and a woeful 10-20 in the Big Ten.  As I always say, a HC deserves a mulligan for his or her first season.  But this program has been in the doldrums since the pandemic, and while it sometimes seems like the pandemic was yesterday, it was five Years ago.  You're in the B1G -- you've got enough money to turn things around.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#-1: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3).  I am faced with a conundrum this Week: How do you acknowledge teams that have reached the playoffs, a notable achievement, against a team that isn't having a good season but has been on fire as of late?  In the end, I am eschewing what usually is my first (and often only) factor in ranking the local teams here in the WMNSS, record for the screening Week, in favor of the overall picture.

That's not to say that I think the Timberwolves are coming in hot.  They did, however, not only make the playoffs but reach the goal that is important to them, namely avoiding the Play-In.  They needed help from, of all teams, San Antonio, who beat The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors this Week that put Golden State a Game behind the Wolves and thus in seventh place in The Western Conference's final standings.  But the T-Wolves had a finishing kick, defeating The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies in Memphis before coming home and beating Brooklyn and The Bastard New Orleans Jazz to finish sixth in the West.  Those are enough accomplishments to give this squad the top spot in this Week's survey.

Now, expectations were higher than sixth (although a huge caveat to that is that only two Games separated the teams that finished between third and eighth place, my goodness me).  They also draw the third-seeded Bastard Minneapolis Lakers and Luka Doncic, who scored at will against Minnesota in last season's Western Conference Finals.  He doesn't have Kyrie Irving, but he does have LeBron James.  Also, the Timberwolves don't have Kyle Anderson, the man who defended Doncic the most in last Year's series.  Maybe that's a good thing, considering The Dallas Mavericks eliminated the Wolves in five Games.  But I'm afraid that's what The Team That Was Stolen From Us v.1.0. is going to do in this series, dammit.

#-2: Wild (Last Week: -2).  Similarly, the Wild also (finally) clinched a playoff spot.  Their finishing kick, however, wasn't that impressive.  They started off the Week holding off San Jose in Overtime at the X (BTW, the X won't be called the X starting next season ... Xcel Energy will let the contract the utility signed at the opening of the arena a quarter-century ago expire without extending it ... the arena will have a new name, and so we will have to call the Wild's place where they play Matches something else, and this is why I hate naming rights for arenae and stadia), 8-7 of all scores.  In what shaped up to be a very crucial late-season showdown, The Bastard Atlanta Flames handled the Mild handily in Calgary, 4-2.  The Flames, however, wind up as the last team out (so to speak), because Minnesota collected OT victories at Vancouver and over Anaheim at home to finally sew up a postseason slot.

It is kind of pathetic how they crawled over this finish line.  The Mild were down to the Ducks last/Tuesday night, 2-1, and Joel Eriksson Ek tied up the score on a scrum in front of the Anaheim net in the final Minute of regulation.  That tied it up at 2, and once the Game hit zeroes, Minnesota got that Point they needed to officially qualify for the playoffs.  Of the four Games they played this screening Week, three of them went to Overtime, but the Wild won all three.  The Game previous to this Week went into OT, and they won that, beating The Bastard North Stars at home.  Stretching back a bit further, six of their past eight Games went to extra time, but the first two Overtime Games, at New Jersey and at     the Rangers, wound up in Losses for Minnesota.

What I'm saying is that this club isn't exactly rounding into form.  Also, they have drawn The (Las) Vegas Golden Knights, a team that has bedeviled Minnesota after the Golden Knight's first regular season because they have been allowed to both amass player assets and violate the spirit of cap rules under the implied blessing of Commissioner Gary Bettman ever since they were born.  Also, the Wild are very mid.  This is playoff hockey, so upsets can and frequently do happen.  But I can't see it happening in this series.

#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -6).  So this is the team I'm alluding to.  Believe it or not, they're the hottest team in town right now, even more so than the Timberwolves.  The Gopher Nine are riding a six-Game winning streak that began last Tuesday, continued with a 12-2 drubbing of St. Thomas at home last Wednesday in a Game mercy-ruled after seven Innings, got extended even further over the weekend with a surprising sweep of Ohio St., by far The Worst Team In The Big Ten This Season, at Columbus (!!!), and is still alive after last/Tuesday night's 9-2 Win over North Dakota St. at Siebert Field.

And that winning streak gets the U. to 17-17 overall and 5-10 in the B1G.  I doubt this streak will last a Week from now: After playing South Dakota St., the team they beat to start this streak, tonight/Wednesday night at home, they travel to Rutgers for three.  But these guys are playing as well as they probably will for the rest of the Year.  Moreover, I usually want to recognize long winning streaks like this by proclaiming that they've "won" the survey for the Week.  But the overall record is so-so and the conference record is still bad.  And this is the Week where the Timberwolves and Wild clinched playoff spots.  So, I had to rank those two teams higher than these young men.  Sorry.

#-4: United FC (Last Week: -1).  Buried in all the playoff-clinching hoopla in this state, and as befitting the plight of professional soccer in the country, is that the Loons are somehow second in The Western Conference right now.  Saturday they "fought" to a scoreless Draw at Toronto.  I was listening to the Match at the library while I was doing my taxes, and frankly, it was a Game that haters of the sport would use as a reason why they think it's boring.  But still, hey, second place.

Host Dallas Saturday night.  I have already given my ticket to my friend because I plan on seeing Kendrick Lamar and SZA kick off their stadium tour.

#-5: Twins (Last Week: -4).  A 3-4 week where they lost series at Kansas City and home to Detroit, and the bitterness baseball fans in town have felt since their team's collapse at the end of last season has, by all accounts, curdled into apathy.  Monday's attendance of 10,240 is the lowest number in the history of Target Field (besides, of course, restrictions because of The COVID-19 pandemic).  And that served the Twinks right, because they lost to The New York Mets, 5-1.  They now sit in fourth place in The American League Central Division, already 4 1/2 Games behind Detroit for the lead.

And yet I am planning on going to this/Wednesday afternoon's baseball Game anyway.  It'll be the first time I've been there in two Years.  My boss asked me to come to work on Saturday, and in exchange I have today off, and it just so happens that there is a baseball Game in the afternoon, and there are worse ways to spend a day this side of the ground than at a baseball Game, especially one on a weekday afternoon.  Now, I just have to find my scoring notebook.  Oh, and since the Twinks doubled up the Mets last/Tuesday night, 6-3, I am under no illusions they will win today; they have won only one series so far in 2025, and that was the second series of the season when they took two-of-three at the White Sox.

#-6: Gopher softball (Last Week: -5).  And now we get to the Goofer softballers, who got swept at home over the weekend by Oregon.  They lost honorably Saturday and Sunday afternoons by matching 5-4 setbacks, but they got blasted out of Cowles Stadium in the opener on Friday, 13-0 that was halted after five Innings for the good of the women and children who witnessed this horror and for the good of the concept of decency.

This team is not good.  They are 3-13 in-conference and 14-26 overall.  They are tied with Maryland for the second-worst record in the Big Ten.  And thankfully for them (and mirroring the good fortune the U. baseball team was graced with last weekend), they face The Worst Team In The Big Ten This Season, Rutgers, for a three-Game series, even though this is on the road.

Why Do I Still Go To The Auto Show?

I have been going for a long, long time.  I loved how I could see all these fancy new cars.  Also, I could see the ones that are, shall we say, much more attainable (although I would have to bust my butt and look for a higher-paying job).  I loved getting all the brochures, and I would tell myself that I would lie down and look through all of them and maybe be inspired when the time came to purchase one.  And the bags.  Oh, the bags -- you gotta get one to put all those brochures in, you know?

Well, that was then and this is now.  I went to the auto show yesterday/Saturday, and in keeping with how the trend is going, I stayed there far less than when I did when I first went to the show.  In fact, I looked at my watch when I thought I had seen everything and there was still more than an hour before the Frozen Four Final, for which I decided to stay the whole day and night in downtown to go to our alumni group's bar and watch.  I eventually found stuff to look at -- I went to the classic and antique car rooms, separate from the main room where all the new cars you can buy are -- but things are dramatically different, from both my perspective and the show's.

It's clear to me now that, as an adult, it doesn't really pay to aspire anymore.  There is one thing I have done for some time now: Find the most expensive car in the show that I can get into (that means no show cars, no prototypes, and definitely no classic cars) and take a picture of the sticker price and the front of the car.  I get a kick out of that not because I hope to one day be able to buy it, but just to note the price.  (Aside: The add-ons of nearly all the cars I looked at ballooned the base price of the car to an exorbitant amount.  I cannot believe that the size of those add-ons were typical of previous years.  If not, there's one explanation: That Fucking Guy's dumbass tariffs.)  For the record, a Range Rover clocks in at $158,370.  But beyond that, I did way less getting into cars than I used to when I was young.  Oh, sure, I saw some that I liked.  The new and colorful Volkswagen vans, called the ID Buzz, were a splashy hit, for example.  But all the other two dozen or so cars I checked out were interchangeable to me.  Also, I wouldn't be able to buy any of them.  That's another (sad) similarity.

Parallel to this, the show has changed.  I think it was the pandemic.  The auto show has gotten smaller.  I see fewer brands on the showroom.  The convention center is a huge space, but in the years since (and I really want to say it started in 2022, two years after it was cancelled and a year after it went to the State Fairgrounds), more of the floor was ceded to an area for test-driving cars, which is cool.  But, this year I saw a corner of the center dedicated to jacuzzis.  You can't drive jacuzzis, can you?

But the big difference in the auto show now: No more brochures.  The pandemic accelerated the push to make all papers digital in an effort to cut costs.  I have gotten way fewer brochures since the pandemic and, for the first time ever, yesterday/Saturday I did not pick up one single brochure -- and I did not see a brochure available to be picked up.  The days of bringing home a car-branded bag of pamphlets I probably won't read are now gone.

But hey, at least Toyota is still offering bags.  I filled it with the auto show brochure (which in itself was cut down [and shrunken] to the size of a fold-open pamphlet -- it even had a coupon!) and some salesman's business card.  The salesman wasn't there to give it to me.  No, there was a stand, and in the middle was a pile of business cards, and I took one.  I didn't even look at the cars of the dealership he works for.  I just picked one up so I could throw a second thing in my Toyota bag.

I really am just going to these auto shows now for the bag.  That's the only free thing they're offering ... well, besides fantasies, I guess.  And fantasizing that one day a beautiful car I scoped out at the auto show will wind up on my driveway?  Heh!

Too Much Food Anyway

I also wanted to eat out on Friday because I had eaten a lot, I think way too much, at home.  My parents cook splendidly and I'm glad I can eat, and for free.  But they make a goddamn lot, and they still make me eat a goddamn lot, and I swear I'm getting fatter and thus unhealthier.  So yes, I understand eating fast food is much less healthy and I am spending money while doing it.  So, if I can control how much I eat, that should be good for me, right?  Well, that plan goes out the window if the restaurant screws up the order, which they did, technically.

OK, so I got home, grabbed my phone which was on my bed all day Friday, was going to tell my parents I was here and then leave but realized they didn't give a shit, and went to my car to order Chipotle.  I had free birthday guac, so I bought chips, and since Chipotle gives you a lot of chips, I didn't think I needed more than one taco (and I got their new chipotle honey chicken) and pop and I would be good.

What I have noticed since the pandemic, with the resulting rise in mobile ordering and the possibly-causal decrease of staff working at these places, is that orders sometimes get real screwed up.  I usually don't do anything because, yes, I'm cynical enough to think it won't make a bit of difference.  But there has been more than one occasion where I have been given more food than I ordered, and that was the case here.  I suspected nothing when I took my bag directly from the workers who had just finished my order.  I intended to eat it there so I could just be at peace to start my weekend.  I noticed a bag within the bag, so that was the bag of chips.  I grab it ... and see another bag underneath.  They gave me two bags of chips?  And then I opened up the aluminum lid of the bowl in which I expected my one chipotle honey chicken taco.  And there I saw three.  (By the way, I only saw one cup of guacamole, not two.  I stopped to buy Top The Tater on my way home so I have something to dip the second bag of chips in.)

My guess is is that they were slammed with orders and were just getting them out.  I also guess that people usually don't order just one taco, so I assumed the workers just looked at the word "taco" and automatically made three.  That doesn't explain the two bags of chips, though, so maybe they wanted to give me a second bag of chips to make up for making me wait, even though I think I got there a bit before the ready-by time I was given on the Chipotle application.  Or they were being nice.  Or generous.  Or a combination thereof.

I know it's weird to complain about getting more food than you paid for.  But I have a waistline I have to tend to, I had a plan to watch what I ate, and dammit, I got all this good food again.  It wasn't unlike eating at home.  But I'm not stupid; I ate the three tacos (pretty good) and one bag of chips with the guacamole before I left.  And I got fat and I was happy I was given all this food.

And I think that, now that I'm done with this blog post, I'll start working on the second bag of chips and the Top The Tater.

Stripper Parties Are Back -- But I'm Not Going To Any Of Them!

It's been a long, long time since I've been aware of a few house parties going on in the same weekend.  The prevalence of those died out largely due to the pandemic.  Nowadays I hear one from time to time.  Lately, there has been one going on regularly.  But the frequency of those parties to the point where I have to turn some of them down?  Probably a thing of the past.

But not this weekend.  Within the past seven days, I've been notified of four stripper parties this weekend: Two today/Friday (with one ending at the same time the other is starting), the one going on regularly tomorrow/Saturday, and one doing double-duty as a Super Bowl watch party Sunday.

And I'm not going to any of them.  The first one this/Friday afternoon is only a couple hours, and it's happening while I'm at work.  The one beginning this/Friday evening is too far for me to drive to, or at least I don't want to drive that far.  There's a snowstorm coming tomorrow/Saturday, and even though it isn't going to drop, like, a foot of snow, I don't want to deal with driving or parking in Minneapolis, so that's out.  Finally, I like tits and HJs, but if the Super Bowl's on, I want to concentrate on watching football, not gorgeous and naked women (I can't believe I'm saying that).

So I am in the process of rejecting all four house parties going on this weekend.  I don't think I've ever said no to so many parties going on around the same time.  The old Unforgivable Wetness would look at me with scorn for not going to even one.  But hey, maybe this is growing up.  Or, it could be aging.

By the way, the organizing stripper for the stripper party this/Friday afternoon said that if I can't make it to the party, she could come over to the house.  But she, whose name is ****e, insists on bringing another stripper, ***i*, along.  Now, I've gotten some play with ***i* before, but it was a long time ago.  Moreover, ****e is really pushing having the two of them service me.  If those two can come over after the party in the evening, after I get home from work, perfect.  But I asked for a price tag, she gave me her offer, and I simply cannot afford to spend that much money on two strippers.  I told ****e that, and I haven't heard back, which to me is a sign that she's not going to pursue me any longer.

Man: Four house parties this weekend and I won't go to even one of them.  Smh

My Christmas Tradition Going By The Wayside (?)

One of the traditions I keep for myself is going occurs on Christmas Eve.  I go to the Mall Of America and eat lunch at Hooters, hopefully seeing that really cute blond who's been there for years.  I then go to Southdale, and I make sure I lap every single level of the mall.  Finally, I drop by The Cheesecake Factory attached to Southdale and get a few slices of cheesecake, one of which I eat the next day (Christmas Night), the others when I can.

I didn't do it last year.  Christmas Eve 2023 fell on a Sunday, and I was working a Vikings Game.  I could have fought traffic to at least get to The Cheesecake Factory, but ultimately I didn't think it was worth it.  Besides, I had already "broken" this tradition the year before because I was in Hawai'i taking a vacation with my family.  I don't quite remember if I was able to do all three things in 2021, and I think I did do all three things in 2020, even though we were still in the middle of the pandemic and there was no vaccine to at least guard me against COVID-19.  And beyond all that, the first "tradition" of going to Hooters isn't something I have steadfastly done every year since I started.

So I guess I am confessing that these aren't time-worn traditions that I would move heaven and earth to make sure I do.  And that is the blase attitude I have going into Christmas Eve today.  I'm not sure I can do any of the three "traditions."  In fact, I don't think I will.  I did not ask to take the day or even the afternoon off (like I did in 2020, at least according to my Franklin Planner).  And with this new crush of forms we're getting because another lab decided to shut down, things are going berserk in The Fourth Department, where I will be all week (besides tomorrow/Wednesday/Christmas Day, of course).  I remember years past where I was in The Main Department and things were so meager that we were dismissed really early.  Because of the confusion and dot-connecting we need to do with these new forms coming from this closed lab, I know we won't get to leave early.  In fact, there's a real good chance I'll be staying late, like I have ever since this lab shut down.  I know that The Cheesecake Factory will have different hours from Southdale, which will close at 5.  While I may have gone to get cheesecake and not walked around the mall in years past, I cannot imagine doing one without the other.  Then again, I considered doing it last year after the Vikings Game.  Once again, I'm admitting my "traditions" are pretty fungible.

Ah, to heck with it.  If by some miracle we get done by, say, noon, I'm doing everything.  If it gets to, like, 2 or 3, it's off to Southdale.  Any later and I don't know if trying makes any sense.  I'm guessing I won't be leaving work till way past then.  Nope, I might get some fast food and go home ... before leaving late in the evening to head off to the only place I know in the Twin Cities that is open late on Christmas Eve.  I have gone to this place to drink their scotch and whiskey for several years now, and even though I skipped this two years ago, I have committed to doing this moreso than the Hooters/Southdale/Cheesecake Factory roundelay.  Yeah, gotta admit that this is my Christmas tradition! 

Yeah, This Is Feeling As Bad As Eight Years Ago

I don't want to rehash how I was feeling, but it was eerily similar to how I felt tonight, and being in a bar with like- and correct-minded people did not help with my anxiety and fear at all.

One thing I have noticed, however.  The doomsaying I am seeing now, as accurate as it probably is, was something I didn't see four years ago.  Why?  I can't just explain it away by the pandemic ... can I?  I was unable to congregate anywhere public, obviously, but I remember that on the Saturday after Election Day, when Pennsylvania and the presidency was called for Joe Biden, that I was helping to set up the Vikings Game at U. S. Bank Stadium.  I don't think the euphoria I felt then was reflected by any bonhomie on Election Night four days before.  But it was four years ago, so I could be wrong.

What I am hoping is that, like four years ago, the tabulations won't be done for a while.  Things weren't looking great for Biden this time in 2020, but then states began counting mail-in votes and the totals from the big cities started to pile in.  Maybe it could come sooner, and there are significant headwinds Harris is encounter now.  But I am hoping beyond hope that there is a blue tsunami, or a blue-nami, that will save us from ourselves.

With that said, I haven't looked on social media yet, so maybe democracy's already dead.  Who knows?

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

Positive Numbers: United FC (Re-Entry!).  I need to give some love to the Loons -- mostly because I decided to go to St. Paul and watch their Game instead of seeing my alumni lose at a bar.  MNUFC spared me a night of frustration and heartache.  Instead, I got to watch my hometown side sweep and upset Real Salt Lake in their First Round Series, something I didn't think would happen this season.

Now, to be fair, both Games reached Penalty Kicks after the squads finished regular time tied (scoreless in Tuesday's Game 1 in Salt Lake City, at 1 after Game 2).  PKs are the worst tie-breakers in world sport (with the possible exception of college football, but hey, when you see Dayne St. Clair stop two shots right in your line of sight, you gotta be happy.  It's rare for a local team to win in a clutch situation.  It's also rare to see them win as an underdog.  And, now that I think about it, this is the first time MNUFC has won a playoff Game at home in front of fans (they beat The Colorado Rapids at Allianz Field in the First Round of the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs, but that was the pandemic, so no one was there to watch them win).  So, for all those reasons (but mostly for justifying my decision to see them instead of my alma mater), I am not only putting them at the top perch of the survey, but also above negative numbers.

Now for the sucky news: Due to the International Break as well as Major League Soccer spreading out this round's Game 3's till next weekend (of which there will be four), United FC's Conference Semifinal matchup, a one-Match-only setup at The Los Angeles Galaxy, won't be played until Saturday the 23rd.  It seems as though MLS's postseason always drags on like this.  Wonder if this is one of the reasons the league is thinking about flipping its calendar to August-May, matching pretty much every other country on Earth.  I think that's a huge mistake because I don't want to be freezing my dick off in early February.  In fact, I might be forced to sell my season ticket if MLS decides to do that.

#0: Gopher football (Last Week: 0).  After some early struggles, P. J. Fleck has gotten this team to buy in and turn things around.  They beat Illinois in Champaign, 25-17, on Saturday, notching their fourth consecutive victory and reaching their E- (Eligibility) Day in early November.  Also of note: This is the first time Bret Bielema has ever lost to the U.  Ha!

And let's look over the horizon real quick: They visit flaccid Rutgers Saturday.  After a Week off, they host Penn St., who, after losing at home to Ohio St., ain't all that.  They finish up the season at Madison Black Friday, and they're not great shakes, either.  The vibes are good around the gridiron Gophers right now; why can't this team run the table and finish 9-3?  They probably won't make the College Football Playoff, but a New Year's Day Bowl probably is in the offing.  And that's why these guys are above negative numbers as well.

#-1: Wild (Last Week: -5).  This hamstrung outfit somehow has the third-most Points in the National Hockey League after sweeping all three contests they had this screening Week: At Pittsburgh (in what is Marc-Andre Fleury's final appearance at his old stomping ground), then at home over Tampa and, in Overtime, Toronto.  Kirill Kaprisov, who usually starts seasons off slow, is as hot as a two-buck pistol, and is getting very early Hart Trophy consideration.  But I like their trajectory because they just passed The Bastard North Stars to reach third place overall.

They've got a very busy week coming up. The Wild finish up their three-Game homestand Tuesday vs. Los Angeles, then go out for a quick three-Game road trip: Back-to-back at San Jose and Anaheim Thursday and Friday, then at Chicago Sunday.

#-2: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -2).  A two-Game sweep of ranked Penn St. at home over the weekend to start conference play is surely good.  And ... that's all I got to say about that.  At Wisconsin for two this weekend.

#-3: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -1).  Back-to-back sweeps of the Michigan, and both on the road?  That's surely good, too.  And ... that's all I got to say about that as well.  They host the Pacific Northwest schools this weekend (that would be Washington on Thursday and tenth-ranked Oregon on Saturday afternoon).

#-4: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -3).  Swept Bemidji St. in Bemidji over the weekend.  That's surely good ... but it's Bemidji St., so who cares?  At Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend.

#-5: Vikings (Last Week: -6).  Well, at least they got off the schneid and ended their two-Game losing streak by beating The Bastard Baltimore Colts in Sunday Night Football.  Still, I'm not really impressed with this club right now.  I think the Defense really wasn't tested because Indianapolis really isn't a good squad.  Moreover, I think we have seen the ceiling of what Sam Darnold can do.  He was responsible for all three Turnovers the Vikes committed (even though the Fumble was a result of the Colts defender clubbing Darnold across the facemask, which is illegal).  He has trouble making reads and opts for the home run ball when the checkdown is the much better option.

Sunday night started a three-Game stretch where they finish up the AFC South portion of their schedule.  Sunday they visit reeling and lifeless Jacksonville.  After that they visit The Bastard Houston Oilers.  Very weak competition, but they can be 8-2 by the time they play at Chicago.

#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4).  Want to note that overall, it was good Week for local sports.  The seven teams above this line went undefeated, going a perfect 13-0 over the past seven Days.  And that ends here, with the Timberwolves.

Anyway, with the Wolves being firmly his team now, the evolution of Anthony Edwards continues.  He has largely abandoned the mid-range jumper he was known for, and instead has basically taken Karl-Anthony Towns's place in letting it loose from the arc.  It's a healthier shot diet, and so far, he's hitting 43.2% of them.  That's quite good.

Unfortunately it was tough sledding for these guys.  In a Western Conference Finals rematch from last Year, Dallas came into Target Center Tuesday and again beat the Woofs, 120-114.  On Friday they made a hellacious comeback to beat Denver at home.  But playing less than 24 hours later in San Antonio, older and wiser San Antonio took advantage of the club's fatigue and beat them, 113-103.

The T-Wolves have a busy Week as well.  They host Charlotte tonight/Monday night, make a quick stop in Chicago Thursday, come back to host Portland the next night, then play Miami at home Sunday.

#-7: Gopher soccer (Last Week: Positive Numbers).  I was at chilly Robbie Stadium Friday night to watch Minnesota drop their Opening Round tilt versus Penn St., on a Free Kick by Mieke Schiemann with 97 Seconds left to go in the Match.  A gut punch, no doubt; even though I was cold, I wanted to see Extra Time (and in women's college soccer, it appears as though at least the Big Ten relies on an old format of two 10-Minute Extra Time periods before heading to Penalty Kicks and, glory be praised, The Golden Goal).

While that sucked, it looks as though this has not damaged the Gophers' chances of making the NCAA Tournament, which seem to be a lock.  In fact, this bracketologist believes the U. will be part of the top half of the field that will be seeded, specifically a 6-Seed.  We'll see where, and if, Minnesota is going dancing when the 64 teams are selected and placed next Monday.

Olympics Thoughts

I haven't seen much of the Olympics, to be honest with you.  I only care if I can see these events live, and since they're taking place in Paris, which is seven hours ahead of me, most of the sports finish by the late afternoon, when I am usually at work.  And I've been busy on the weekends (save today; I plan on staying at home and not even cracking open the front door), so I haven't been able to get into it when I'm not at work.  Feel bad, but these Olympics have been more of a rumor to me.  I get the news after the fact on Twitter/X and The Athletic, so I know what happened.  I just don't know what happened as it happens.

Still, it's obvious that Americans are really into these Games, way more than the one in Tokyo three years ago.  We were still coming out of the pandemic then, plus the Summer Olympics being held in the Far East when most events take place overnight here made it hard to get into, or even care.  Which is too bad, because I know the athletes then were working just as hard.

Moreover, I think the world is more interested in these Summer Games, too.  The number of memes I've seen on social media for the Paris Games far exceed the ones I've seen for Tokyo, as noticed by Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing.  Actually, as I think about it, I don't remember any memes from the Tokyo Games.

Those are my thoughts.

Days To Spend Money/Days Not To Spend Money

Kind of riffing on a side note to my previous blog post: I was going to not spend any money this week, and then I wanted to spend money on one day this week, then it went up to two days, and now I'm afraid I lack willpower and will spend money on more than two days.

I had hoped to make a promise to myself not to whip out my wallet this week.  But then I remember that a junior hockey league, the North American Hockey League (NAHL), hosted its annual championship, The Robertson Cup, up here in the town north of here last/Tuesday night.  They are at this suburb every year, but I haven't gone since 2018 (my only time there) because ... uh, I got busy in 2019 (I guess), then there was the pandemic, and then I guess I got busy with work and I forgot to check.  I am glad I was reminded of The Robertson Cup in time, and I would've gone, but we had severe weather coming through here tonight, and I thought it best not to go lest I hit a flooded street or a tree felled by straight-line winds or something.

Remember that this was a day after I initially thought I wouldn't buy anything on Monday, but decided to treat myself because the Timberwolves upset the Nuggets in Denver to advance to the NBA Western Conference Finals.  (The mocha and oatmeal I bought that morning before heading into work was the only thing I bought when I meant to buy something else because I have a rule that if I buy one thing, I need to buy another thing ... it's an OCD thing I have.  But that's another story.)  And then, since I'm helping out with the Lynx Game Saturday afternoon (even though they're going to have to work around Game 2 of The Western Conference Finals at Target Center Friday night), I thought I should look at least half-decent and cut my long hair.  I have decided to just do it today/Wednesday because I want to catch up on my sleep Thursday for what should be a long day at the arena Friday.  Oh, and I'll make sure I use my credit card for the stuff I should have bought back on Monday.

Now hopefully I can resist temptation and just go to and from work tomorrow/Thursday.  I hope that my day at Target Center is so long on Friday that I'll just be too whipped to do anything else than go home.  Saturday's tricky; the Lynx Game is a noon start, and I don't really want to go home for dinner, so I might sneak in some sexy time with one of my stripper girlfriends that evening.  If not then, maybe Sunday afternoon.  So I guess you can see why I, who still isn't plugging the hole in my wallet, should lighten up on the spending.

By the way, I find it kind of ironic that the one day this week I initially was OK with spending money, Tuesday, could still be the one day this I don't spend money, if only because of the weather.

She Finally Got The Hint

So there is a stripper whom I have blog posted about before here on WAF.  I met her once before when she was doing dances at **y's place.  She's quite old and her skin is stretched out and shit.  I got dances from her once where she jacked me over my pants.  That was enough for me to believe she was down to fuck, so when she started inviting me to other parties she was working, she would text me.  But somehow, I would get there and she would never be there.  Instead, the only girls working there were, well, ugly and fat and kind of scary.  This missing her when I got to the parties she was working (and, I think, hosting) that I once texted her in frustration that I thought she was going to be there and why was she not.  She said her kid got hurt and so she needed to run home.  I don't believe that, nor do I believe her when she subsequently said she drove back to the party.

That was at least two years ago.  That may even have been before the pandemic.  Regardless, that was the last straw for me.  Not getting touched by her in years, plus her series of excuses of not being at a party she invited me to, plus getting only fugly women to work these parties, and plus accusations of ripping off other girls who worked house parties she hosted (including **y), and I gave up ever seeing her.  And as time went on, I stopped caring that I would see her.

With that being said, she still had my number, and she continued to text me whenever she either was doing parties or working at a strip club in the region.  I told her that I was busy or I had no money, but to be honest, I had no interest in seeing her.  Also, some of the parties, and the strip clubs she now works at, are way too far for me to drive to, even if I did have money and was horny.  But she always accepted my excuses and was very cordial to me, saying, "OK."

Till yesterday/Tuesday afternoon.  She texted me that she was working at some club 90 minutes from here tonight/Wednesday night.  I told her that "job issues" came up.  That excuse is vague, and even if me thinking about changing jobs is real, it should have no bearing on whether or not I have the ability to see her.  But that's the reason I told her I wasn't able to see her at the club tonight/Wednesday night.  And she said, basically, "OK, it's been two years of you telling me you can't make it.  You're off the list."  And my first thought was, "Wow, she finally put two and two together."  But then I texted her, "Sorry," and she said, "That's OK," and I suddenly felt all guilty.  Does she think I was stringing her along?  Because, well, I was.

But, will I try to see her again?  No.  I probably won't.  Eh, whatever -- she still has my number.

I'm Happy For Her! I Really Am!

Sometimes it's weird to see the strippers in my life lead lives beyond being strippers, you know?  I have to remember that these are women who are not one-dimensional.  I may get hard over that one dimension, but I don't own them.  They have ambitions, dreams, family and friends that have nothing to do with me.  I love that, actually.  I love women that have well-rounded lives, and the fact that I am Facebook friends with many of them makes me feel honored; they trust me to be a part of their lives, arm's-length that it may be, that they might be hiding from their loved ones.  I may fantasize about having sex with all of them, but right now I hold a level of friendship (and, dare I say, love) with them that I will never take lightly.

Nevertheless, it is jarring to see one of my stripper girlfriends fall head over heels in love -- not sex worker love, but actual love.  That is what happened with *****a, someone who has come over and given me handjobs over the years.  I had no idea she was even looking for a boyfriend until I saw Reel after Reel (is that what they're called on Facebook?) of her holding and kissing this guy.  I've only seen this for about a few weeks, but it looks like she is in luuuuuuuuuuuuv.

I'm happy for her.  Really, I am!  I'm not jealous of him at all.  Again, I don't own her.  And she doesn't owe me her loyalty; shit, guys, I get handjobs from all sorts of stripper girlfriends, and I don't plan on giving that up for a long, long time!  I really hope this works out, in fact.  For all the love she's given me, I really do want what makes her happy.  And right now (fingers crossed), it looks like it's this dude.

And yet I miss her.  We have had our difficulties arranging our schedules so that she can make her vicious, hand-lovin' housecalls.  Couple months ago, in fact, we agreed she'd come over, but, well, "something came up."  I wonder if any chance of getting an HJ from her has gone by the wayside because of this cancellation.  It would be weird, after all, if we fucked around even after she's gotten into a committed relationship.

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So My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Division) is now over four years dead.  (By the way, it closed down near the very end of 2019 -- right before the pandemic.  If it didn't close on its own, there was a good chance it would've gone out of business because of lockdown.  Fantastic timing.)  I would not have the breadth of stripper girlfriends I have if not for a place like this.  With no cover, relatively cheap drinks and the ability to just sit and hang without the pressure of getting dances, I was able to go there dozens, if not hundreds, of times without completely driving myself into bankruptcy.  I was also able to cultivate relationships with the strippers, many of whom trusted me enough to take that next step and actually do sexual things in private stripper parties that I only imagined happened at strip clubs.  The decision to have that as a hobby probably comes at great cost if I ever attempt to attain a higher public profile.  But since I don't pursue that (for now), this is our little secret, and one that I cherish.

That being said, my circle of stripper girlfriends is now static.  There is no club and so there are no fresh strippers to get to know.  I have who I have.  And while I am deeply grateful being a part of their lives, *****a is an example of what could happen when we grow apart.  It's inevitable, and yet I am saddened and a little scared that these beautiful women whom I have seen naked so often will eventually exit my life.  It's not easy now that there is no "third space" like My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Edition).  Time makes it more difficult.  And then circumstances, or finding someone, or life, cleaves a wedge that may never be stitched back together.  It happens.  I don't know if I'm ready, though, especially if all my stripper girlfriends go away in the end.

But I'm happy for *****a.  I really am!

Still Don't Feel The Need To Jerk Off (As Much)

You know, in times like this when I'm anxious to the point I'm paralyzed as to what to do, I masturbate.  I did that just now, to a photo of *****e*, who took a photo of herself with her huge tits whipped out in an airplane bathroom (she lives in Miami now but is coming home for several days) and posted it on Twitter/X.  I still love bathroom selfies, especially airplane bathroom selfies, and since I haven't seen *****e* in years and probably won't ever see her again, it just, uh, came out of me.

But it's been a long, long time since I have relieved tension within myself by touching myself.  It doesn't occur to me to do so nowadays.  It's a host of things -- old age, the pandemic shutting off my constant exposure to breasts while I go to My Favorite Stripclub (Non-Cover Edition), and the "freeze" part of the "fight or flight or freeze" reflex just making me do nothing.  But I simply don't feel the, I guess, need to jerk off.  Don't get me wrong, I still have the urges, if you read my blog on a regular basis.  But my libido has gone way down, and instances where bad times like now would compel me to crank my pee-pee are getting fewer and farther between.

Welcome To Limbo Week

This year, probably more than any year before, I am jealous of people who have this week -- the last week of the year, the one between Christmas and New Year's -- off as a matter of course.  What jobs do they have, and are they hiring?  Because it has always been kind of a waste to go in and work.  If there are enough people not working the week, there probably isn't enough work for other people to go into work and work, you know?  (Having said that, I worked till 6 o'clock yesterday/Tuesday, so maybe I am the exception.)

Limbo Week is affecting me in other ways.  I am dependent on calling other places for missing information, and yesterday/Tuesday I received several automated, on-vacation e-mails.  Time is of the essence in my line of work, so not getting any replies for a week is going to screw some things up.  On the bright side, there were less cars on the road yesterday/Tuesday morning because of those of you who don't need to work this week, which should make my morning commute easier and faster.

Went to see Aquaman 2 last/Tuesday night.  (Not a bad movie, but much of the movie was banter between the two leads who are brothers, and that could've been a lot more clever.)  I came in after the announced showtime because of trailers.  What I forget was that kids don't have school Limbo Week, and so families were out at the movies -- including the three big ones who were in front of me at the concession stands.  And they weren't budging.  I was about to miss the start of the movie, and I don't want to do my OCD thing whereby I pay a second time to make sure I see the start of the film, so I left the line and just went into the screen to watch.  This is a broke-down theater, and it has been understaffed ever since the pandemic, and even before then.  I bought a ticket through Atom for which I got a massive discount through T-Mobile Tuesdays (thanks, T-Mobile!).  I needed to scan the ticket, but I wasn't going to wait for these stupid groups in front of me to decide what they want to eat for the film they wanted to see.  So I just headed in.  I figured that if someone was going to stop me, I would show them my phone and the electronic ticket I bought online and just say I didn't want to wait.  Got in, at most, two minutes before Aquaman 2 started (which was about 20 minutes after its advertised showtime of 6:50).  I made the right decision.

Finally, Limbo Week is also College Football Bowl Week, and my alma mater is playing tonight/Wednesday night.  I, as organizer of our Game-watching parties, had to go downtown Minneapolis last/Tuesday night to make sure our bar is cool with us watching there the next evening.  Limbo Week is the only week I would need to make sure a large group of people can watch a bowl Game, and I would specifically have to go this place on back-to-back days.  If this were next week, I would, or could, be going straight home.

Yes, Limbo Week is kind of weird.

Christmas 2023 Thoughts

So I went down to The Only Place Open Late Christmas Eve for some scotch.  Really nice to resume this tradition I have for myself after a year in Hawai'i and two years of the pandemic.  Hope the bartender wasn't mad I took the cap of the whiskey she recommended out of her hand.  I ... thought that was OK.

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The car is working just fine.  Still paranoid, though.  Apparently I haven't treated it well, and so the car is no longer optimal.  I just hate feeling as though whenever I drive to a place for pleasure, I am hurting my car, and so my car, or God, will punish me for just trying to live.  But I am driving my car slower and easier -- at least for now.

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It's not winter.  It's been raining since, I think, yesterday/Sunday.  Doesn't matter to me because I'm not going out today.  Just eating the stuff my parents froze for me, making myself some drinks, washing clothes and going through my parents' financial affairs.  Maybe I could just stay in my bed and do nothing, but I should take time today to do some stuff.  I work tomorrow, and honestly, I'm bummed about it.  I want to be one of those people who have that limbo week between Christmas and New Year's off.  But I'm not, and so I feel like if I need to work tomorrow, I should get back into the swing of things and "work" today.

I feel bummed that, I think more this year than many other years, Christmas seems "over" now, as I type this.  This is solidly in the afternoon, and there's nowhere I have to be, and I am enjoying myself (even though preparing for tomorrow isn't fun at all).  But once I was preparing for bed last night, all the Christmas music I was enjoying leading up to today (and by the way, I think this Christmas season [and I define that as from Black Friday until Christmas] has been as long as I expected -- not too long, not too short) feels stale.  It never made sense to me to listen to that music on December 26, but it feels weird to me to listen to it now.  Maybe it's because it doesn't look like winter outside.  Or, maybe I'm distracted; I worked the Vikings Game yesterday/Sunday, and there was and is football and basketball to watch and listen to yesterday and today.

Or, maybe I'm sad.  I love anticipating great days because they are coming; you're just waiting for it to get here.  But once it is here, you know it's going to be gone at some point.  That always depresses me.  Something can't go away if it doesn't get here.  It can't die.  And so, as much as I am content right now, Christmas Day is, well, dying in front of my eyes.  And if it is, maybe I just want to get it over with -- you know, save myself arduously enduring its death so I can get on with my life, even if it is getting back to, ick, work.

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Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas, everyone.