Level XVI | NY Yanks & Jets Banter | Critiquing The Critics | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
In ‘24, His or Her Words, Not Mine has Levels by Avicii on in the background. It’s a happy song so I figured that would be better to throw up on people’s social media timelines every Thursday. If you ever find anything funny on the internet, have a story of your own you want to share, have your own insight on your favorite sports team, or even a Guinness recommendation, whatever it may be, please feel free to shoot over a text, direct message on social media, or email WeekToWeekNotes@gmail.com. You all have no idea how helpful you all are with this on Thursday’s pieces and just in general, it’s greatly appreciated!
The vocal sample to this tune comes from Etta James’ “Something’s Got a Hold on Me”, originally sung in 1962.
Moving on…
Oh yeah, with His or Her Words, Not Mine….
Large Font italics are readers like you.
The small font is me.
NY Yankees & Jets Banter
4/11 ‘24
Whoa !! I’d be a little worried if I were him about whether he’s heading up or down.
No comment - waiting for the Kardashians to respond.
(@YouTheReader Sorrey but the Swiftie in me couldn’t help but put ‘em on blast. One thing OJ is for sure guilty of is making us Keep Up With The Kardashians. To be honest, I feel a bit like an asshole for posting this, but it’s an attempt at clickbait. The rest of this has nothing to do with OJ.)
4/12 ‘24
I guess they all know Anthony Volpe is awesome !!
Anthony Volpe really is awesome.
Guys baserunning is killing us !!!!
Soto is a much better defender than I thought he’d be entering season
4/13 ‘24
Soto is incredible
This is wild considering he’s 25 lol
Life-time contract.
Insane
Stanton and Machado only current guys to do it, both spent plenty of time in both leagues.
Who is this dude
22-year-old Catcher, mlb.com has him at Yanks’ 21st rank prospect
This is kinda true. And not hitting on all cylinders yet.
I think this kid is good too
4/14 ‘24
The Knicks going all out on Game 82 only to lose and miss out on 2 seed would stink, better win.
Yup
Not good. May be washed.
I’m concerned
Weird too because it seems to be with the glove, feel like he’s missed a few scoops (non-errors) that he’d usually catch
Maybe depth perception is shot
Could definitely be it
He just doesn’t look himself
Anthony Volpe seems to be ok with the lead-off spot. He is awesome.
I love Nestor - but kind of think this belongs with the Savannah Bananas and not MLB.
Angel Hernandez prob would’ve called it a strike tho
lol
It was odd, didn’t think that was allowed
Prob shouldn’t be
4/15 ‘24
Hope Josh doesn’t run into Goose Gossage anytime soon. He’ll get an earful.
Goose threw 75+ innings as a reliever 10 times. Hoffman only did it 3 times (most was 88 innings). Wagner only went 75 innings 3 times. Mo went 75 innings 6 times and threw 107.2 in 1996 not as closer
Goose gets a little angry when he talks about that stuff.
Wow
We used to have one of these. I’ll miss John Sterling even if he never had any idea what was going on.
Same here, same one with the Giambi call. Not sure if it still works, but think we have it! Going to be weird but good for him.
4/16 ‘24
He’s been on fire
Drew, what’s his scouting report from Clemson? Seltzers? Beers? Guinness? Mixed drinks?
I just know his boy said that Volpe was all ball, Leiter not so much.
Haha he’ll be good. I still think of Al Leiter as the Mets ace so this is pretty cool.
I hope he’s there at 10, could still draft another WR in 3rd or 4th.
This is true - we should still have this guy.
Agreed, but he might’ve needed out of NY. Yanks traded him to Reds for TJ Sikkema who flipped for ➡️ Beninentendi and Shed Long ➡️ Odor. Jorge Mateo turned into a decent stopgap for O’s. Would’ve hurt more if he, Kaprielian, and Fowler panned out.
Gleyber needs to be benched for a couple of games. He is 100% in his own head
Hasn’t homered yet
Judge is also definitely hurt, just doesn’t look right
I agree on both. Definitely something not right with Judge.
4/17 ‘24
The contract thing is in his head.
Yup, unfortunately think that’s the case. I like Gleyber and all these guys go through slumps, but it seems to get to him the worst.
Judge!
Huge!
Today’s Critiquing the Critics was inspired by the story of Clifford Brown and Max Roach. Brown tragically passed away in a car accident and Roach played alongside Charlie Parker, plus would go on to teach music after his career as a drummer. Oddly enough, Damien Chazelle wrote Whiplash from his own experience as a jazz drummer in high school and college. He also credits that he was inspired by Raging Bull when writing the film. This movie is so thought-provoking and complex because, in its simplest form, it deals with the Machiavellian concepts of the ends justifying the means.
To me, JK Simmons’ character as the composer represents not just an abusive coach but sorta the Bronx Tale quote of “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.” While you can hate him, in a way, you have to sort of respect him. Coaching is one of the hardest jobs in some respects because there’s a fine line between getting the most out of someone you see has the potential to better themselves and going overboard to the extreme. Miles Teller’s character represents a kid with potential. At the start, he’s passionate about drumming but has no idea what he’s in for. While he might not be the most naturally gifted drummer at the film's beginning, he possesses a drive and work ethic that he never knew he had thanks to Simmons.
The other theme of the movie is that a ton of sacrifice comes with the pursuit of excellence. Both of the characters are motivated like madmen for their own reasons. They both turn into assholes too driven by their ambitions to sustain healthy relationships. Teller’s character almost dies in the process while getting into the car accident. Simmons is obsessed with the idea that the only way to find the next Charlie Parker is to essentially beat his students mentally into a pulp until one of them is strong-willed enough to say “Fuck you, I’ll prove you wrong.” The dialogue in the bar scene is brilliant.
“I don't think people understood what it was I was doing at Shaffer. I wasn't there to conduct. Any f***ing moron can wave his arms and keep people in tempo. I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them. I believe that is... an absolute necessity. Otherwise, we're depriving the world of the next Louis Armstrong. The next Charlie Parker. I told you about how Charlie Parker became Charlie Parker, right?”
“Jo Jones threw a cymbal at his head.”
“Exactly. Parker's a young kid, pretty good on the sax. Gets up to play at a cutting session, and he f***s it up. And Jones nearly decapitates him for it. And he's laughed off-stage. Cries himself to sleep that night, but the next morning, what does he do? He practices. And he practices and he practices with one goal in mind, never to be laughed at again. And a year later, he goes back to the Reno and he steps up on that stage, and plays the best motherf***ing solo the world has ever heard. So imagine if Jones had just said: "Well, that's okay, Charlie. That was all right. Good job. "And then Charlie thinks to himself, "Well, sh*t, I did do a pretty good job." End of story. No Bird. That, to me, is an absolute tragedy. But that's just what the world wants now. People wonder why jazz is dying.”
“But is there a line…you know maybe you go too far and you discourage the next Charlie Parker from ever becoming Charlie Parker.”
“No man, because the next Charlie Parker would never be discouraged.”
Miles Teller then just stares at him and you can tell hearing that was what makes him the next Charlie Parker of drums. Whether Simmons’ character was playing Jedi tricks on his former student or not, who knows, but in the end the mentor got his goal. The ends in this case justified the means. It’s a melancholy ending. It ends on a high note but there is some tragedy involved too. For that brief moment, we see that Teller finally proved to Simmons that he can go beyond his own capabilities, but at the same token, you can’t help but think of all the things he had to do to get there and what he’ll have to do to sustain at that level of excellence.
My take on the film is that the pursuit of excellence is both a gift and a curse. Pablo Picasso once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it way.” Sometimes we need harsh criticism or a kick in the arse. I will say, that this movie also makes me think about how there is so much more to life than pursuing what gives you an adrenaline rush. If I can somehow draw Week to Week Notes into this, as someone who works at this writing bit every day of the week, week after week, I don’t have a mentor or somebody pushing me to keep going. I’m honestly self-driven by the idea that one day I’ll look back at this time in life and wish I kept pushing myself. I don’t want to regret that I could have done more or tried harder. That said, the bits of sacrifice that come with writing also make me think about how there are more important things in life. With all the fun that’s involved with Week to Week Notes, I try to never lose sight of that.
Both of the stars in this film were made for their roles. JK Simmons says he was born for the role. Damien Chazelle when sitting down with Simmon told him he wanted to “take the onus off of you as far as the technical composing aspects of this character because I want you as the actor.” To which Simmons replied, “Dude, I went to music school. I have a degree in music. I thought I was going to be a composer and conductor. My father was a choir conductor. He also wrote it with Miles Teller in mind, not knowing that Miles had been playing drums in cheesy bands since he was in 8th grade.” No wonder, you can tell the movie has a certain sense of authenticity.
This film pushes the limits well beyond just a movie about a young jazz drummer and asshole teacher, that’s for sure.
Adrenaline rushes are real things that help increase your mental concentration. This film shows that when you can do something you’re passionate about, you can find another gear you weren’t capable of before because of that extra concentration. The movie also does a great job showing the after-effects of the rush, which is essentially an anxiety hangover.
Kidding, just thought this was the right review to end on. Tomorrow’s an NHL Playoff Preview. Saturday is an NBA Playoff Preview. Might head over to the Bronx for the Saturday day game and bother Yankees fans tailgating with Week to Week Notes card. It’s probably a bit much, but I can counter it in my own head with if you told me when I was a kid reading Sports Illustrated that this is what I’d be doing, I’d be thrilled.