Let’s do some business.
We’ll rush into the Rushmores.
Rushmore of “16” — Sweet 16 for obvious reasons this week, “Sixteen Candles,” Joe Montana and “16 Tons.” Sorry to Peyton’s UT jersey. (Side question for the group: What’s the Rushmore of old-school SEC jerseys that are the most common? Peyton’s 16, Herschel’s 34, Tebow’s 15, and I think Cam’s 2 has passed Bo’s 34. Who am I missing?)
Rushmore of all-time famous people with the same last name — Andrew, Bo, Michael and Stonewall Jackson, and that’s leaving off a slew of depth like Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson), Samuel L. Jackson and Miss Jackson, if you’re nasty.
Rushmore of sports Sams — Sam Snead, Sam Huff, Slinging’ Sammy Baugh and Sam “Mayday” Malone (yes, Bearddawg stole my comedy ace earlier this week), and that’s with apologies to former defensive end Michael Sam, who finished first in the Combine handbag toss, as Steve Elkington famously posted on social media.
Rushmore of second-generation musicians — OK, this was done not as a tandem, but simply on the merits of the second generation folk, OK? Hank Jr. because, well, I did, do and forever will have a neck with a reddish hue; Miley Cyrus (yes, Billy Ray was a clown, but Miley has sick skills, and a Grammy); Natalie Cole; and Liza Minnelli. Liza is an EGOT winner, people.
Rushmore of biggest game-changing films in movie history — “The Jazz Singer,” the first full-length talking film; “The Wizard of Oz”; “Jaws,” because of the use of the mechanical shark and moreover its release in 1975 is widely viewed as the game-changing philosophy of a summer blockbuster; and the last one is tough for so many reasons, but I will go with “Star Wars” because it opened the mind and the possibilities of moviemakers and movie watchers. And that’s with sincere apologies to “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Avatar,” and “Iron Man,” which launched the MCU.
Thoughts?
Elsewhere …
> MLB owners are already pitching a salary cap. Yeah, the players will view that with the same level of approval of Greta from accounting microwaving her three-day-old fish leftovers in the company microwave.
> Braves played. Braves won. The Chris Sale trade is aging like buying Apple stock in 1984.
> This is the last day to expect pennies in return at a lot of Tennessee public government entities. On June 1, at least in Hamilton County, cash transactions will be rounded up and down. Side question for you business-minded folks: If you know you are always going to round one way or the other, should it be smart to adjust the menu and prices to push everything you can to round down after tax? If they do, tens of millions in tags and taxes and whatnot, sliding the pennies scale is a six-figure revenue boost.
Let’s bag the ‘bag.
From a slew of you
What happened with Bo, and how are we just now hearing about this?
Gang
Thanks for all the condolences. It has been a dramatic and emotional time at the compound.
The end of anything is never pleasant, but Bo Jackson Greeson was a tremendous dog. He was lazy. He was loving. He was protective. He was kind to CoCo, the Frenchie who invaded his space to his persistent indifference.
But he was old. And almost blind. He had ever-appearing sores, he no longer responded to interactions and his quality of life was desperate.
It’s part of the contract we enter with our beloved pets, dogs especially.
This is the second time I have been in the room as this happened, and when the vet looked up and said, “Bo’s heart has stopped,” I lost it.
Completely. Sobbed on my way out and cried in my truck.
We don’t deserve dogs. They are blindly loyal. They are universally accepting. They have the perfect short-term memory.
He was a great family member, and family should always be forever.
I remember the day we found him at a dog breeder outside of Nashville. I found him among the litter and loved his all-white coat because he looked like UGA (and yes, the Mrs. 5-at-10 went to Georgia and had already agreed to my wants of naming him after the former AU legend).
We almost picked a bulldog pup that was mostly white with beige hair over his back hips and legs. And yes, I was going to name that dog Reggie Slacks because of the coloring, and an AU visor tip to a truly underrated Tigers great.
He was a willing photo subject, and he spent several days on ESPN in the early days off “Daily Wager,” the betting show that featured a daily under”dog” pick with a picture of a canine.
I wanted to write about this when it happened, but needed time — for the words and the acceptance.
Rest easy, Bo. You were loved — then, now and always.
From Mark
Hey Jay,
Which matchups of elected officials are you most excited to see during the big UFC Freedom 250 at the White House?
Mark
Gotta say I was unaware of this part of the set-up of what is becoming a comically bad slate of celebrations that should otherwise be a complete slam dunk.
Before I checked the list, I was kinda hoping for a Weston Wamp-Tim Kelly undercard match, you know? (Side question: Who wins in a boxing match between our Chattanooga/Hamilton County mayors? Gotta think Weston is like a minus-200 favorite, right, considering age and conditioning. Thoughts?)
I still am not sure which elected officials, if any, will get into the Octagon in mid-June, but the truth of this is yet again Trump is 100% the loser in this.
What a farce. What a waste of money. What an infernal tone-deafness that can’t be ignored.
And more over, what should be a universally galvanizing moment for ‘Murica — we’re turning 250 in July and most of us will assuredly not see 300 — is now a bona fide clown show.
Look at the proposed list of artists.
> Martina McBride | June 25
> C+C Music Factory | June 26
> Vanilla Ice | June 26
> Milli Vanilli | June 26
> Young MC | June 26
> The Commodores | June 27
> Morris Day and The Time | June 27
> Flo Rida | July 2
> Bret Michaels | July 3
And that was the original list. Now comes report that multiple of the acts above are canceling, and, friends, know this: If Morris Day and the Time are not interested then, well, yikes.
This makes me sad.
And yes, we need some pickups because I am assuredly a Dennis Downer through these first two.
From Ted T
Jay, are you involved with the transfer high school offers yet? The SIG can’t hold you back, and you know the Bread Basket won’t ante up the dough. You all going private or staying public? El Metate may pay up.
Ted
We listened last summer, and there was a lot of interest. The folks were great. The offers were intriguing.
But we live on Signal, six minutes from the school, and most importantly the LM510 wanted to go to school and play with her buddies, and that (as well as the thought of driving each way for all the school things) should always matter.
In fact, I am more worried about the transfer portal on high school athletics (which I love) more than I am on college athletics.
The charm of high school sports has always been that these are our community’s kids. Let’s go.
And she has embraced that because she is a rock star. Like her momma.
From Spy
I did spelling bee.
It is not a sport.
Neither is Quiz Bowl, which I did.
Neither is debate, which I also did, but that barely stopped me from kicking the crap out of some kid from Statesboro who was snickering at my buddy during our turn. Fortunately, my buddy, who was on the debate team with me, talked me out of beating the (bleep) out of that other kid. I was all of 5-9 and a buck 45, but I was gonna whip that kid’s (bleep).
Spy
Well said.
And Thursday’s Spelling Bee went to overtime/spell-off or whatever. Side question: Even at 5-9, 145, aren’t you kinda Shaq in the debate community? Asking for a few thousand 5-at-10 friends.
Have a great weekend, friends.