The Rant: Internet tough guys, Bannister's future, tired on steroids, and Clooney sauce
Let's get into all the noise in my head that needs expansion via the written word.
Which pack of degenerates who most likely key their car while trying to unlock it deserve to be bombed halfway across the ocean? Internet tough guys who climb on a fan page article post, and write some nasty shit. For what reason? Piss off the writer who didn’t do a damn thing to them. It usually has little to do with the actual article, with the human turd stain’s initial bark turning into a lame defense of the team that rakes in billions a year off low lives like the breed I am describing.
Think of what you’re told not to do by your parents or teachers at a young age, and it’s done. Taking shots or doing whatever they can to discredit the writing or pick it apart, including a hilarious attempt at saying a joke about the team literally hacking into the Astros database was out of line. I just don’t get it. Outside of taking a few minutes of your time to compose a thought about my article that honestly isn’t helpful, they do something even more annoying like defend a team that doesn’t give a shit about them. Remember what Sonny said in A Bronx Tale. They don’t care, so why launch a tirade at a writer in their defense? The kind of scumbags who give these fan pages, even the one being discussed here, which is ran by the esteemed Chris Lollis, a bad name.
Fun fact: Once upon a time, I ran into one of these “internet trolls.” It was at Southwest Diner, and he was with his kid. I happened to be chowing down on some great breakfast cuisine and minding my own business when suddenly he came over to introduce himself. Looking scared and reluctant to get too close, I could tell he had no idea what my reaction would be to a guy who once engaged me in a 16 comment thread that bordered on a radio segment. Showing nothing but kindness and gratitude for the attention given by this guy without his knowledge of the power it gave me, I smiled and shook his hand.
His reaction in a future Facebook message: “I thought you were going to kill me.”
Nope. Why would I do that? All I should do is thank these people for the space in their heads. Anyway, welcome to the latest rant. In order to read the next 1,500 words, you’ll need to climb over that big, green paywall. Due to Substack providing ample opportunities to enjoy a free trial or unlock a post, there are ways to access it. They are just the medium-heated ramblings of a man who needs to get his take out to the masses, so they can return it with a bag of dog shit. Are you in or out? I believe in you, and the power of the written word leaving a legacy behind that practically builds itself.
Talk about legacies and how a sports general manager’s impact can be felt through the moves he makes and doesn’t make, and Doug Armstrong comes to mind.
At the moment, Drew Bannister is not in as the St. Louis Blues head coach for the 2024-25 season. According to Armstrong, he is part of a short list of candidates, though. The interim head coach took over for Craig Berube after the team fired him early in the 2023-24 season following a lackluster start, a shocking move for even the biggest Berube critic. However, “Chief” had lost the team according to every report one could find, and the team wasn’t listening. When Kelly Chase says it, the words hit the ground out of his mouth like wet cement.
Bannister came in, the team listened, and they put together a nice run under the young coach who should be done working in the AHL after nearly getting the Blues into a playoff spot. The weak showings against bad teams clashes with the ability to connect with the youngsters like Jordan Kyrou and Jake Neighbours.
What happens next season when Bannister isn’t the new, exciting voice in the room and Kyrou and Thomas have to listen to him, something they apparently quit doing on a head coach who took them to a Stanley Cup championship? Connecting is easy when a relationship is new. Bannister’s push with the young guns on the roster was aided by his time as a coach in Springfield. Still, the bigs are a different beast, one blended with salary demands and a desire to be the absolute best among other pros.
Majority team owner Tom Stillman has mentioned on the radio last week that he doesn’t want to overhype the offseason plans for the Blues, who are in the middle of a rebuild while trying to be competitive. Instead of playing super coy like the John Mozeliak/Bill DeWitt Jr. combo down the street, Stillman is blunt and hopeful that the young players rise. Do they get the best chance with Bannister, or another coach currently outside the organization?
Jim Montgomery, Joel Quenneville, and Sheldon Keefe are fine candidates, even though all three are currently employed or unemployable at the moment. That could all change in an instant in the next two months. The Blues need to do their due diligence this summer. They need to be ready to find the right coach and someone who can’t be fired in less than two years when players stop listening or hit a big rut.
To be honest, the next person Armstrong should fire is himself.
Tired is one thing I am always at the moment. There needs to be a new word that can’t be exasperated or drained. Due to a huge and extended company move-we’re moving a couple blocks northeast from the Delmar Loop closer to the heart of University City-the body and mind are taxed. Completely gone by the time the afternoon arrives, asking about our current condition. Writing for this blog is oxygen to an exhausted brain, though.
You know something is important to you when the mood instantly rises like the Phoenix once that task or thing is completed. Posting an article for a website with “daily dose” in the title gets the tank full for me, as does a proper workout. These days, fitness comes on the job. Who needs a gym bench when a 99 gallon water heater can kick your ass across a cul-de-sac?
Tired on steroids is a better description. It’s not like if someone asked me to help them move a couch, I would be unable to do it. There would be a fleeting warning from my lower body to turn the offer down, that’s all. Maybe that’s life in the 40-year-old fast lane. Not too fast to exist in, but definitely a different speed. Everything hurts.
A George Clooney movie doesn’t make me hurt. A born movie star and fine actor, he doesn’t make acting look like a workout on screen. However, I am sitting around waiting for another Out of Sight, Michael Clayton, or Syriana. Give us another dose of Good Night, Good Luck. The Netflix science fiction and pandemic-timed thriller, A Midnight Sky, wasn’t a bad movie. The morose grew on trees and the dual storyline only half-worked for a late twist, but weary Clooney and a road trip second half helped bring it home.
Still, the craving for a layered Clooney performance is building. Give me something to lean on, and not just enjoy like a well-made milkshake. The Ocean’s films are debonair and very well constructed, but a bottleneck thriller like The Ides of March or something crazy like From Dusk Till Dawn or The Peacemaker would also suffice. Maybe Quentin Tarantino and Clooney reconnect for a Three Kings-type film.
He loves to direct and it probably will always outweigh his film work from here on out, but he’s hit or miss there. Work with big directors, and let them twist a different kind of performance out of you. Or, something more subtle. Alexander Payne could spin another “getting older, melancholy” The Descendants experience from the soon-to-be 63-year-old actor.
I could be greedy, but Clooney can be a slick movie star with the bowtie hanging loose in Ocean’s Eleven and thrill us, but he could dig deep with something hard-hitting like Clayton. Come out of nowhere. Or truly, call Steven Soderbergh and give us another Ocean’s adventure or Out of Sight follow-up.
Before I go enjoy some Mexican food with the wife and sister, let me drop a few more small grenades on certain groups of people who just outright suck:
*The ones who realize you’re not going to make that turn in front of them, and decide to slow down 5-10 mph. You suck.
*The ones who think their conversation needs to be heard by everyone in the room. Go outside and shout into your damn phone about your bullshit. It’s not just their voice. We’re all on speaker! You suck.
*The ones who prefer to be reluctant to say something nice, so they decide to be mean instead. You suck.
*The ones who take their whole bad day out on you. They couldn’t do one thing right, so it’s your fault, fast food employee. Their skill sets don’t extend beyond an ability to complain, so you got them in your lap. The ones who make everything that’s bad at the moment even worse. You suck.
The truth is every hater should be getting a check from me. In the end, they’ve only made me a better writer and engager. That’s a way, not the only way, to approach hate or negativity. Build off it. Embrace the fact that some half-wit took a few minutes out of his or her day to inform you that your shit does stink. They had to lean down and take a sniff first. Take the hate and turn it into something positive for you.
That’s all. Have a good night and share the post if you’re a fan.