Buffa's Buffet: The world didn't end; the Cardinals' season did
The daily dose and usual suspects are discussed.
“Who’s Monday?”
“Monday’s dead, baby.”
The key to the morning caffeine load is pacing yourself.
You can’t bull-rush the coffee pot, or the risk sets in that your stomach will share the feeling of an atomic bomb inside an hour. Mixing in water with the dirty water is the key. That’s my morning leadoff advice: Download the java, but do it at a healthy pace.
I’m the guy who was up near midnight watching “Begin Again,” which I consider to be one of the most re-watchable movies out there. Mark Ruffalo and Keira Knightley (literally) make John Carney’s script sing, bringing out all the golden attributes of a film about music healing the human soul. Netflix is well known for making average action flicks, but their collection of old, relatively new, and somewhat old cinema is unmatched. Hulu and Amazon Prime aren’t far behind, but the streamer OG still owns the biggest stick on the lawn.
My advice if you haven’t watched “Begin Again:” Watch it now.
My advice if you have watched it: Watch it again.
While it’s sad knowing your favorite sports team is finished playing for the year, it can only mean another local sports team is set to launch. The Cardinals may be down for the count and own a bigger chunk of my heart, but the Blues provide a nice rebound thrill with its adrenalized action. Stuffed in the locker is the incessant daily grind of lineup discussion, general negativity, and the morbid atmosphere after a loss.
Look at the reaction to Saturday’s defeat against the Phillies. You would have thought the world was ending on Sunday, instead of the new threat of daylight being sucked away soon. To be correct, this is from Twitter, the sports ticker cesspool that I can’t quit.
FIRE OLIVER MARMOL! Please. He made mistakes. Asking Ryan Helsley to get more than two outs, especially after he struggled in the ninth, played a big part in Friday’s loss. Bringing the infield in with the bases loaded is something every skipper does at some point, but it also irritated me. However, the man will contend for Manager of the Year award votes, and found a nice balance with his vets and younger players in 2022. A 90 win team doesn’t protect any manager; just ask Mike Shildt.
RELEASE GOLDSCHMIDT AND POOP ON HIS HOUSE! The man disappeared when he usually heats up. A notorious late starter found himself having the best five month opening to a season in his career. And then September happened. It happens to MANY great players. Goldy ran out of boom-boom juice last month, and it showed over the weekend. Still, if you’re even remotely thinking about releasing a guy who will finish in the top 5 MVP voting this year, do different drugs. Safer ones.
If I could build a colony in my spare time, I would stuff it with awful sports fans, bad drivers, and everybody who has bad things to say about the movie, “Heat.” The bad driving part gets illuminated with bad weather arrival, something I found out this morning. St. Louis motorists present a whole new ballgame of organic suck on the roads, but they still don’t come near North Little Rock residents.
Having lived there for just under two years, I can tell you that the roads (and highways!) don’t get plowed or cleaned during bad weather. The pavement becomes a hockey rink, and Maumelle drivers take lane changes and minimal speed increases like it’s the final decision of their lives. There’s an interstate (I-435?) that comes with a giant slope over the Arkansas River, and each time I traveled down going at least 50-60 mph, I could only imagine the worst taking place.
Advice: Avoid Maumelle, Arkansas.
Opinions about food can shift and change like opinions about ANYTHING. Example: For years, I thought the local favorite, Salt and Smoke BBQ, was just okay. Decent food and place, but not as magnificent as my friends thought. The ribs were delicious, but the overall meals were inconsistent. And then I worked there. Things changed. I had more of the menu, and met the people who make it and serve it. I was able to have certain menu items over and over, seeing how consistent the smoke on the meat was.
More so than anything, I was able to immerse myself in their food and culture. They’re a great bunch of people, something that always makes a visit seem inevitable, scheduled or otherwise. Since Tom Schmidt is taking over STL BBQ-he’s by Busch Stadium, in Old Town St. Charles, prime spots all over-I’d give them a shot if you happen to be a former contrarian like myself.
Something I haven’t changed my mind on: “No Country for Old Men” and “La La Land” being overrated.
Someone in my workplace just started “Sopranos” on HBO. Wow. That’s all I have. So jealous. I should tell him that the guy killed 16 Czechoslovakians and was an interior decorator! “Pine Barrens” remains one of the greatest episodes of television of all time. You could isolate that one hour and enjoy it, even if you just walked into the show.
The St. Louis Blues season, as I mentioned at the top, is right around the corner. The regular season starts this weekend. The Blues didn’t offer David Perron a contract extension, a moderate mistake from Doug Armstrong since he didn’t replace his production. Yes, you want to think someone else steps up and picks up the slack, but it’s a hole on the offense. The backup goalie is fine if he starts 10 games or less. If Jordan Binnington has another shaky midseason hiccup, I don’t have faith in that guy.
One thing about the Blues is they bring in lesser known players and find more production there, and have been able to develop NHL talent at the defensive level. As the quakes of Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester have cleared, guys like Justin Faulk and Colton Parayko have stepped up. While I am one of the crazy guys who wanted to dangle Parayko over teams wishing to give STL too much, he is a force on the ice.
Moral of the preseason story: I think the Blues will contend, but I’m not quite sure about their playoff prospects just yet. The West is going to be strong for a while. The Blues can swim, but how well exactly?
That’s it. It’s not ALL I have in me right now, but enough to keep the readers happy. Please share articles that you like. It makes the writer feel like a hundred bucks.