Bill Burr on the NFL Draft

Bill Burr on the NFL Draft

Bill Burr on the NFL Draft

 

Ever since I first saw this I haven't watched the draft. You know most mock drafts are just made up guesses and as Bill Belichick points out most of the pre-draft info you see from "insiders" is coming from player agents. Don't waste your time.

Bill Burr

Interesting Bill Burr interview.

There's two types of people in the world - people who think Bill Burr is awesome and people who don't have a sense of humor.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Keep seeing the idea bounced around that Joe Biden should pick Michele Obama as his VP. Why in the world would Michele and Barack agree to that? They didn't want Joe to run in the first place... I laughed way too much at this... The Mike Pence v Michele Obama debates would be good fun though... "The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly." - Abraham Lincoln. Kept thinking about that quote when reading stories like the mother getting arrested for pushing her child on a swing... This is SPARTA!... Barack Obama has had to watch as Donald Trump dismantled his accomplishments. There's no way he'd allow his legacy to be further damaged by allowing Michele on Joe Biden' ticket. No way!... I'm the guy who every year posts the Bill Burr bit on the NFL Draft yet last night I watched the entire first round. Starving for sports and normalcy...

Bill Burr on the NFL Draft

(NSFW) Tomorrow night is the NFL Draft and Bill Burr's the reason I don't watch the draft anymore (some comedy hits close to home).

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Could malaria be close to being eliminated? This could have a huge impact on developing nations.

- Good for Bill Burr! File this under when good things happen to good people (who work hard).

- Douglas Adams (RIP) discusses the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

- And speaking of aliens - scientists detect more mysterious radio signals from distant galaxy. And by distant we're talking 3 BILLION light years away. So pump the brakes in the aliens talk. Even if it was from an intelligent source chances are by now something has happened to that civilization.

- Dr Charles Kao, Nobel laureate who revolutionized fiber optics, dies at 84. The modern world owes Dr. Kao tremendous gratitude for his work.

- Interesting - Vladimir Putin's hand picked candidates losing to candidates linked to a party with supposed connections to the mafia? Or are Putin's candidates losing because Russians want to send him a message about his planned pension reforms?

- Fake Gatorade? Who knew?

NFL Draft

Tonight is the start of the NFL Draft which means it's time for me to post my yearly NFL Draft Public Service Announcement from Bill Burr (NSFW Language):

The Bill Burr Experience

Edit: Reposting this from 2-years ago because I still think it's a good idea

In recent years a new formula has overtaken the world of stand-up comedy. It used to be (and still is the case for people like Jay Leno) that a comedian had an act and the act and jokes varied very little from year to year. Then comedians started developing an hour's worth of material, honing that material on the road and finally culminating in a taped hour (or so) special. After the special was done the comedian would basically retire the material and start work on a new hour's worth of jokes and stories. Let's call this the Louis CK Formula.

Keeping things new and fresh is absolutely the way to go for people like Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, and other top comics. However, it almost seems a waste that after the specials are done the material only lives on in DVD sales, on Netflix or HBO Go or in YouTube clips. Here's my idea to fix that and we'll use Bill Burr as an excellent example.

Bill has two great recent specials - You People are All the Same  (2012) and Let It Go (2010). He could tighten the material to about 45 minutes of each by getting rid of anything current events related or stuff that didn't work as well as hoped. Then he could hire actors who looked like him (scrawny, sickly looking red heads) who would do the material. One would open with 45 minutes from Let It Go, then a 15 minute intermission followed by second guy doing 45 minutes from You People are All the Same. Curtain call, both actors take bows and then head off to the next city.

I'd go to see something like that. Bill Burr owns the rights to his own material and this would be a way of both making money off past labors and giving people an excellent entertainment option. Think of it this way - if AC/DC only played new songs in concert people would flock to AC/DC cover bands to hear the old songs.

Call it the Bill Burr Experience and let's get the show on the road. Release the Kracken!

State of the Celtics

The trade that will send the overall number one pick in the NBA Draft from the Celtics to the Sixers in exchange for the third pick in the draft is expected to be made official today. Everyone is asking, "What is Danny Ainge thinking?" Some ask the question derisively thinking he's crazy to be gambling on "assets" when "sure thing" Markelle Fultz is just sitting there at number one. And he's trading him to a Division rival? Crazy!

Others are asking "What is Danny Ainge thinking?" because they think/know that another shoe will be dropping. Put me in this camp.

My guess is Ainge is fine with trading the number one for the third pick because Fultz wasn't at the top of his draft board anyway. If that's the case why not pick up another great asset like the 2-5th pick in next years's draft or the unprotected Kings pick in 2019 and still get the guy you had listed at number one on your draft board? Remember Ainge was the guy who saw the potential of Isaiah Thomas when nobody else in the NBA did and used a draft pick he got basically for free to trade for him. Ainge is an excellent talent evaluator.

So what does Boston do with all these assets Ainge has accumulated? Paul George? How about the Lakers pick next year (or Kings 2019 1st), Jae Crowder and the Celtics 2019 1st rounder. Does that get it done? Or does it raise the stakes to weaken the other contenders who match the offer? Paul could be a one-year rental or he could love Boston like Paul Pierce (another LA native who dreamed of playing for the Lakers). At the least George would allow Jaylen Brown another year to grow into the position.

Jimmy Butler? Another possibility but what price would the Bulls want for Butler? And how would that effect Jaylen Brown's development (Brown is basically just a younger Butler). My guess is the price is judged to be too steep for Butler.

How about the unhappy Kristaps Porzingis? Ainge has already shown he's not afraid to deal within the Division. Why not make a Godfather-type offer to the desiccated husk that is Phil Jackson?

Anthony Davis? This is the Holy Grail and Ainge now has to pieces to make a really attractive offer to the Pelicans.

What about Free Agents Gordon Haywood and Blake Griffin? Haywood has been the most mentioned because of his ties to coach Brad Stevens but Utah can offer more money and now that it's clear that the Pacers will be trading Paul George they will need a marquee player replacement and and the Indiana native Haywood fits that bill to a tee.

Blake Griffin has health concerns but he would fit the Celtics needs the best. The team needs rebounding help. A starting five of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Paul George, Al Horford, and Blake Griffin would be tough to beat. And just think on how deep the bench would be with Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Kelly Olynyk, Terry Rozier and the third pick from this draft would be. Griffin loves stand-up comedy so the Celtics should put Bill Burr on the recruiting trail.

Lots and lots of questions. And don't expect any answers until Ainge actually acts because like Bill Belichick - Ainge doesn't give away any hints to what he's actually thinking. The Boston press (and fans) having decades of experience with Ainge and Belichick should know this by now.

But apparently not.

Bill Burr on NFL Draft

(NSFW) Bill Burr's the reason I don't watch the NFL Draft (some comedy hits close to home).

I've been shamed by this bit into never watching the draft live ever again (or reading those stupid draft prediction columns).

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- As an Irish-American this story is very disturbing and makes me want to avoid any future purchases of Hasbro products.

- Why Brad Stevens might be the next great NBA coach

- Axl Rose is new lead singer for AC/DC. The conversion of AC/DC to a cover band is now complete.

- Yup - sounds like Ted Kennedy

- Season 2 of Bill Burr's F is for Family is official! (NSFW language) If you haven't seen the first season go do so now!

- Dark Side of the Rainbow. Wizard of Oz synched up with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh heh

- The things you learn on the Internet - Bill Burr opens up about his cancer

- Nice profile of Red Sox ace David Price

- Rift developing among Navy SEAL community over some cashing in on the "name brand"

- Ben Franklin was always ahead of his time

- Interesting - a look at the food in JRR Tolkien's Hobbit.

- Fantastic oral history of Comedy Central. A must-read for any fan of comedy.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing.

- Today seems like a good time to revisit Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Star Wars

- The news out of El Salvador is more much more interesting than stories about Trump

- An inside look at the workings of the MLB Winter Meetings

- The mysterious case of the severed feet in British Columbia

- Third party brief supports Brady vs NFL

- The wife of Pi

- Very cool - Google contact lenses

- Interesting - why some patients refuse the flu shot

- Should healthy people take an aspirin a day? Both sides of the debate.

- More celebrities read mean Tweets

- I would watch every second of a Celtics broadcast if Bill Burr was the announcer

- Brian Scalabrine - the 12th man of Christmas

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I know it's only one week but Peyton Manning looks cooked... 60 Minutes piece on Deflategate all but says the NFL was setting up the Patriots... David Ortiz is now just one of 4 men with 500 HR and 3 World Series rings - the others are Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. That's some good company... I think history will say that Hillary Clinton's big mistake was not running against President Obama in 2012. Her husband Bill urged her to do it. Now I think she has too much baggage to be elected... David Ortiz needs just 22 more doubles to have 600 for his career. There are currently only 2 players in MLB history to have 500 HR and 600 doubles - Henry Aaron and Barry Bonds... Not usually an Alex Jones fan but this is interesting... If any President had handled Iraq and Afghanistan the way President Obama has - the MSM would be using the word "quagmire" 10,000 times a day... Can't watch those new Steve Jobs movie commercials without remembering Bill Burr's bit on Steve Jobs...

Bruins Offseason Moves

I fall into the camp of giving new Bruins GM Don Sweeney the benefit of the doubt. He's a Harvard educated guy who knows what it takes to make it in the NHL both from a skill point of view (over 1100 NHL games) and from a heart point of view (nobody played with more heart than Sweeney).

I was surprised as anyone by the trade that send Dougie Hamilton to Calgary for a 1st and two 2nd round picks. I didn't think that was enough and when I heard what he signed for - I wondered how come Boston didn't just offer similar money? Well it turns out the Bruins did make three offers of similar money and were rebuffed. And it is now clear that Hamilton didn't want to be here. Well in that case good riddance!

If the choices were waiting for a team to offer Hamilton an offer sheet and then matching it for a player who doesn't want to be here or not matching and instead maybe getting a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick next year in compensation and then being pilloried by the local media for being cheap - the third option of trading Hamilton as far away as possible makes perfect sense. Could be a case of addition by subtraction.

The Milan Lucic trade has been almost universally praised (Bill Burr being the exception it seems). The trade for Zac Rinaldo has been met with almost universal derision (although I haven't heard anyone who's played against Rinaldo chime in against the trade). Signing Adam McQuaid to his 4-year extension has been viewed as an over-pay but it gives the Bruins 5 out of their top 6 defensemen back for next season.

Boston still needs another defenseman, another forward and a back-up goalie. I trust Don Sweeney to put together the best possible roster with the restrictions he's inherited. This year's Bruins didn't make the playoff with Hamilton and Lucic. Let's see how next year's team does.

The Bill Burr Experience

In recent years a new formula has overtaken the world of stand-up comedy. It used to be (and still is the case for people like Jay Leno) that a comedian had an act and the act and jokes varied very little from year to year. Then comedians started developing an hour's worth of material, honing that material on the road and finally culminating in a taped hour (or so) special. After the special was done the comedian would basically retire the material and start work on a new hour's worth of jokes and stories. Let's call this the Louis CK Formula.

Keeping things new and fresh is absolutely the way to go for people like Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, and other top comics. However, it almost seems a waste that after the specials are done the material only lives on in DVD sales, on Netflix or HBO Go or in YouTube clips. Here's my idea to fix that and we'll use Bill Burr as an excellent example.

Bill has two great recent specials - You People are All the Same  (2012) and Let It Go (2010). He could tighten the material to about 45 minutes of each by getting rid of anything current events related or stuff that didn't work as well as hoped. Then he could hire actors who looked like him (scrawny, sickly looking red heads) who would do the material. One would open with 45 minutes from Let It Go, then a 15 minute intermission followed by second guy doing 45 minutes from You People are All the Same. Curtain call, both actors take bows and then head off to the next city.

I'd go to see something like that. Bill Burr owns the rights to his own material and this would be a way of both making money off past labors and giving people an excellent entertainment option. Think of it this way - if AC/DC only played new songs in concert people would flock to AC/DC cover bands to hear the old songs.

Call it the Bill Burr Experience and let's get the show on the road. Release the Kracken!

Joe Rogan and Podcasts

Interesting interview with Joe Rogan. A lot of the information wasn't new to me because I'm a fan of his podcast - The Joe Rogan Experience. It got me thinking about podcasts. Here's the list of podcasts I listen to on a regular basis - am I missing out on any good ones?

Adam Carolla
WTF with Marc Maron
The BS Report (Bill Simmons)
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Common Sense with Dan Carlin
The Rich Eisen Podcast
Penn's Sunday School (Penn Gillette)
Stuff You Missed in History Class
RadioLab
Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast
Fitzdog Radio (Greg Fitzsimmons)