Game of Thrones 103
We are three episodes in of the final season of Game of Thrones.
There are so many things to cover from Sunday night's almost 90-minute battlefest - longest continuous fight scene in the history of TV or cinema - that we just have to jump in with both feet. (If you have not watched episode 3 yet but are still planning too, well, skip ahead. Now.)
Let's move quickly.
There are myriad opinions - ranging from loving the episode to those hating it - and I understand each side.
There was a lot to like. There was plenty to criticize too.
On the plus side: Awesome first 20-plus minutes. Awesome in its awesomeness. From the Lady in Red lighting the swords of the Dothraki on fire to initial fight scene to the palatable tension, all of it was gripping. (Not sure why the Dothraki decided to charges into the night, but the gradual extinguishing of the fire swords was a great visual.) The White Walkers laying in the fire to get through the fiery trench - lit with magic hands of the Lady in Red, who left the building with some swagger - was awesome. And the speaking of mic-dropping exits Lyanna Mormont was a boss.
On the opposite end: Hey, we all know it's night, but can you know, just pretend it's night and have some better lighting. Also, and again, I understand the need for realism, but this is a show that needs us to believe in dragons and a 200-year-old woman lighting 10,000 swords on fire with three sentences and a twitch of her nose. That also is true with the super-speed fight scenes, which came across not unlike the football scenes in "Any Given Sunday" in my mind.
So there's some good and bad.
Here's some opinion.
I was not as upset as most about the fact that Ayra Stark was able to secretly move through the White Walker guard and get to the Night King. Heck, I was actually glad that the boring parts of season five when we were forced to follow Ayra's No Face training had the proper pay off.
I was however disappointed that the biggest name to bite the dust was ether Jorah or Lyanna or Theon, who got a nice conclusion to his story line.
If this show has been anything it has been predictably unpredictable. I get building the suspense toward the Last War with Cersei.
Also, we spent a lot of energy and intrigue on the Night King to not get a little background. (And maybe weird-o Bran will give us the back story - and yes, the fact that the Mother of Dragon's fire shower made the Night King smile means he likely is the Mad King, who was a Targaryen too.)
In the end, I was entertained - moreso on the second viewing than the first, believe it or not - but still walked away somewhat disappointed, if that makes sense.
I'm in. They had ben when they cut Ned Stark's head off all the way back in season one.
But this is the first time in a very long time that the hype was bigger than the pay-off for GoT. And yes, that's a great testament to the greatness of this show to this point, but that's my main takeaway.
Derby contest
TFP sports columnist ace Mark Wiedmer continues to deliver gold-plated reads. Today's TFP contains Weeds catching up with a local fellow named Gene Rice who has a horse running for big riches this weekend in the Kentucky Oaks.
What a great way to kick off this week's Kentucky Derby storylines.
And with the Derby, we of course welcome in The Doing the Derby - Not a Roller Derby - Derby (Derby optional).
The rules are easy. Pick the winner and pick the absolute loser.
That's it. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.
Here's the field with odds as of this morning:
Omaha Beach 7-2
Roadster 7-2
Improbable 5-1
Maximum Security 6-1
Game Winner 7-1
Tacitus 14-1
By My Standards 14-1
War of Will 16-1
Code of Honor 18-1
Vekoma 20-1
Spinoff 25-1
Win Win Win 25-1
Anothertwistafate 40-1
Haikal 50-1
Long Range Toddy 50-1
Cutting Humor 60-1
Tax 60-1
Bodeexpress 100-1
Country House 100-1
Gray Magician 100-1
Master Fencer 100-1
Plus Que Parfait 100-1
Signalman 200-1
Sueno 300-1
Who's in? And if you enter and your horse WDs, you can resubmit.
Draft board for 2020
OK, stay with me. We are in withdrawals. The draft is done. I love the draft. You know this.
Well, here's one site that puts numbers on accuracy of mock drafters and the top two were from WalterFootball.com.
With that - and with the admission that I let my ESPN-plus account expire so I could not get McShay's "Too Early Mock Draft" for 2019 - I went back and looked at the first run of this dudes from this time last year. Let's explore.
OK, the leader was a guy named Charlie Campbell who runs the site. And before we look back at
Charlie's 2020 mock draft has nine Alabama players in round one. Read that again please.
Yes, nine. Tua at 1, WR Jerry Judy at 3, DT Raekwon Davis at 12, WR Henry Ruggs at 15, edge rusher Terrell Lewis at 16, corner Trevon Diggs at 23, safety Xavier McKinney at 24, LB Anfernee Jennings at 25, and corner Shyheim Carter at 27.
Buckets.
So, yeah, Alabama is not going anywhere any time soon.
This and that
- Thought this was pretty cool. The New York Jets announced they have signed Ayra Stark as an undrafted free agent out of Winterfell. Well done.
- We will discuss this more tomorrow because, well, we got full in a hurry today. But for as much as the Braves have been battered - and deservedly so - for not addressing the bullpen, the front office putting their feet down and not dealing any of these young starters, because if Max Fried (3-1, 2.30 ERA, 26Ks in 31.1 IP) and Mike Soroka (2-1, 1.62 ERA, 21Ks in 16.2 IP) continue to pitch like this and Mike Foltynewicz (13-10, 2.85 ERA, 202 Ks in 183 IP in 2018) returns to last season's form, that's a very talented and very young core for a strong rotation. Someone needs to come up with a 3M moniker for that group sooner rather than later.
- OK, we have been intrigued by James Holzhauer's torrid run on Jeopardy! Last night James - who has won more than $1.3 million in 18 games - needed a Final Jeopardy answer to win by $18. Holzhauer continues to rewrite the Jeopardy! record books. He holds the highest eight scores in the show's history and last night's win - he had $54,017, the runner-up had $53,999 - featured the highest score ever for a non-winner.
- Cody Bellinger is on a Roy Hobbs-type streak. (Or a James Holzhauer-type streak.) Berlinger went 2-for-3 last night, and set the MLB record for most RBIs in April. Grab a glimpse of Belinger's stat line through the first month, and here's betting almost every team that is leading an NL-only fantasy league has this dude anchoring the lineup. Belanger leads the NL in runs (30), hits (46 - in 106 ABs), homers (14), RBIs (37), average (.434), OBP (.508) and slugging (.906). Oh my.
- Who is not here 100 percent for this? Frank Caliendo, who is great buddies with the Arizona Cardinals GM, sent voice mails to Steve Keim hours before the draft and, using his best Jon Gruden voice, tried to talk his friend into a deal for the No. 1 overall pick. Caliendo followed up with impersonations of NFL draft reporters Jay Glazer and Adam Scheffer. Here's more with Caliendo on the Dan Patrick Show. Gold.
Today's questions
True or false. It's a Tuesday after all.
True or false, on this National Oatmeal Cookie Day, oatmeal cookie is a top-five cookie.
True or false, with all that talent, you would take Alabama over the field in college football next year.
True or false, mint julep is a friend.
On this day, April 30, 230 years ago George Washington was inaugurated as the first POTUS. Man, he should make a Rushmore of some kind, right?
In 1859, "A Tale of Two Cities" was published in a periodical in weekly installments.
In 1952, Mr. Potato Head was debuted in TV commercials.
Hitler died on this day in 1945.
The World Wide Web turns 30 today. Wow.
Let's do a Rushmore of 'web' and be creative.