Local Hoops | Local Puck | Cognizant Classic | Sunrise | Youtube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
It’s my grandpa’s birthday so I want to wish him a happy one! He is every dog’s best friend and a huge music guy, always humming a tune. When I was a kid, two notable quotes he wanted me to remember were “Don’t eat yellow snow” and “Never spit into the wind.” He also taught me how to hit a baseball and throw a football spiral so kinda important for a Sports Blog, but even more importantly, he’s always been a great role model for his kids, grandkids, and now great-grandson.
We’ll start with the sports first…
The Knicks have lost some ground at the #3 Seed to the Bucks but have now maintained the #4 seed for a few weeks. The Brooklyn Nets are still stuck as the #11 Seed. I’ve now typed that same sentence for something like 7 straight weekends.
Manhattan
February was a rough month for the New York Knicks, no other way to put it. Injuries have decimated the Knickerbockers as they went 4-8 this month. One man you can’t fault however has been the play of Josh Hart. At 6’4”, the shooting guard plays with nothing but heart as he finished February averaging 9.5 rebounds per game. His February ‘24 is a new career-high for rebounds per game in a month. Last night in their loss against the Warriors, Hart played 47 minutes and 10 seconds of the 48-minute game. He collected an absurd 18 rebounds and broke Walt Frazier’s record for most 10+ rebound games by a Knick 6’4” & under. (Source: @NBA_NewYork) With OG Anunoby and Julius Randle out for at least a week to 10 more days, the Knicks will need Hart’s continued board game and hustle if they want to stay in the 4 seed.
Brooklyn
Rather than go on and on about how the Nets are paying Ben Simmons $37,893,408 this season to play dress up on the sidelines, Week to Week Notes would prefer to promote the play of Cam Johnson. Brooklyn blew out Atlanta last night thanks to Johnson’s season-high 29 points. The former Tar Heel made 7 3-pointers, tying his career-high with the team. Brooklyn desperately needed that win over Atlanta for the opportunity to make the NBA Play-In Game Tournament because the Hawks are the current 10 seed ahead of them. The Nets can’t afford to just tank away their season this year or the next because they simply don’t own their own 1st Round picks after trading them for years in failed Superstar trades that ended up with them landing on paying Ben Simmons.
The Rangers’ 83 points on the season is good for the 3rd best in the Eastern Conference behind only the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins. The Devils and Islanders have both won 5 of their last 10 games, so not much has changed in where they sit in the standings. At the moment, MoneyPuck has the Devils at a 19.7% chance of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs while the Islanders are at 7%. This is due to the strength of schedules they each have down the stretch, as both teams currently have the same points. The thing that is great with hockey though is that if they get into the playoffs, even as an 8 seed, you never know what can happen.
Manhattan
This week, the Rangers finally lost a game to the Columbus Blue Jackets after winning 10 in a row. They made up for it with a bit of revenge just days later beating the Blue Jackets at the MSG. LW Artemi Panarin scored 2 goals (well 1 was an empty-netter but they still count in box score the next day) and had an assist on Chris Kreider’s open-net goal as well. Breadman now has 82 points on the season. He has been a Ranger since ‘19-’20 and already has reached 80+ points in a season for the 4th time in New York. He joins Rod Gilbert as the only other Ranger to do so 4 times and is now only behind Rangers legend Mark Messier who had 80+ points 5 times.
New Jersey
The Devils have been up and down all season but won a laugher on Tuesday. They defeated the San Jose Sharks 7-2, as Jack Hughes picked off a pass and scored the go-ahead goal that the team wouldn’t look back on. After missing nearly the entire month of January with a knock, Hughes has dominated these last 9 games as he has scored 4 goals while assisting 6 others. Despite missing a quarter of the season thus far, the 22-year-old center is 2nd on the team in points with 55. The Devils could use a few more laughers like this one down the stretch, maybe they’ll end up at the Pig & Parrot in Hoboken, it’s known as one of their favorite local Jersey spots.
Out East
The boys Out East are now winners of 2 in a row after beating the Detroit Red Wings last night. The deciding goal came off the stick of Mathew Barzal. Week to Week Notes couldn’t have drawn up a better goal if we tried. The boys threw the puck at the net, it rebounded away, and Barzal then threw it again at the goal. Forget the quality of the opportunity, when you’re on the ice you miss every shot you don’t take. Real Puckheads like myself know. This is coming on the heels of an OT win in Dallas and it’s been well-documented how unlucky the Isles have been in extras this season. Let’s see if they can keep it up against Boston on Saturday.
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida | PGA National Resort - The Champion Course | $9 million Purse | Golf/NBC
Back in the early 70s, Jackie Gleason, a New York actor, comedian, writer, and composer, started a golf tournament in South Florida. It was called the Inverrary Classic. Gleason had a decade run running the tournament which included 2 Jack Nicklaus wins before American Honda Motor Company took over the title sponsor from 1982 to ‘23 calling in the Honda Classic. Now Jackie Gleason’s Inverrary Classic has a new name - the Cognizant Classic.
Chad Ramey
After Day 1, Chad Ramey is atop the scoreboard of The Cognizant. This is a win for the Brad, Chad, and Travis community who have faced backlash after Taylor body-bagged their name for the end of existence. As a Swiftie, you know where I stand on this, but it is my journalistic duty to report that he hit 7 birdies and 11 pars as he had a very clean Thursday round. Ramey is shooting for his 2nd PGA Tour Win as his first took place in the ‘22 Corales Puntacana Championship.
Seaonghyeon Kim
Seaonghyeon (abbreviated to S.H. on TV) Kim also had an exceptional 1st Round down in Florida. He too had a clean card with no bogeys, 12 pars, 5 birds, and 1 eagle. The 25-year-old South Korean is in his 2nd year on the PGA Tour and looking for his 1st Tour victory. The 64 that he shot on Thursday ties him with his best round of golf on the PGA Tour as he’s done so twice previously at the Shiner’s Children’s Open in ‘22 and the Sony Open in Hawaii this year. Last year Kim got off to a solid start at the then-Honda Classic by shooting a 68, only to shoot a 73 on Friday of the ‘23 Tournament so he’ll look to improve on that.
Rory McIlroy
In preparation for The Cognizant earlier this week, Rory McIlroy was seen on the driving range with none other than DJ Khaled. No word yet on whether the Irishman will be dropping a collaboration with We The Best Music, but Khaled seems like he can sure hit bombs on the fairway. This is Rory’s 3rd PGA event this year as he took 2 weeks off after coming in 24th at The Genesis Invitational. In his opening round, the current #2 player in the world had one hiccup on the 8th to go with 5 birds. He maintains his status at #2 because of his nice ‘23 PGA season where had 2 wins (1 at the Scottish Open), along with 2 runner-up finishes (1 at the US Open), and finished in the Top 10 13 times.
Shane Lowry
Shane Lowry has been one of my consistent Story tag viewers so who knows he might be a reader! I don’t know anywhere around the area for a proper pint of Guinness down in Palm Beach, but Lowry knows his way around this course. In ‘22 at the Honda Classic, the kid from Clara, County Offaly, was the runner-up, and last year he finished inside the Top-5. He might be a solid bet after his 4 under-par performance on Thursday.
Davis Thompson
My general rule of thumb is to never trust a man with the first name Davis, however, Davis Thompson had a solid result Thursday. He may have been a bit up and down with 2 bogeys, but he made up for it with 4 birds, and an eagle on 18 to finish his day. This is the 24-year-old’s 2nd season on the PGA Tour. His best finish last season was runner-up at The American Express. He didn’t play at the Honda Classic last year, but last weekend at the Mexico Open he showed potential on Saturday (including dropping a ball 4-feet from the pin from 261 yards away) and finished inside the Top-25 for the Tournament. It was his 3rd Top-25 finish already in ‘24 and after a nice Thursday round, he is in the pack for this weekend.
Today’s tune is Sunrise by Darren Kiely. With it being the start of March, I figure this would be an excellent song to kick off our Irish artists’ run towards Saint Patrick’s Day. Darren Kiely is from a small town in County Cork but has made his rounds in New York, while also selling out concerts in Limerick, Dublin, and Galway. He also recently signed with Sony Music Nashville and this tune hit #1 in Ireland after it was released last November.
In an interview with Notion, Kiely offered advice, “Trust your gut. Keep doing. Write and write and write and figure things out. The more you do and reflect, the more you figure things out. Surround yourself with people you trust and who truly care for you.” The quote has more to do with writing songs, but I figure it’s good advice with Week to Week Notes and for everybody who reads. He also mentioned that “I’m writing songs that reach people in all these different places”, which I couldn’t agree with more. The first time I heard this song it stopped me in my tracks and even choked me up a bit.
A strong open. He’s describing his hometown as a black hole, but not in a bad way. Anybody who has a hometown they grew up in probably feels the same sort of connection to it. No matter where he goes, it always draws him back and humbles him. While the words I’m a boss, best around may come across as a bit of hubris, he immediately shows humility by saying he’s still a clown. It’s also effective by the way he sings it. Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it.
This song reminds me of Pearl River. No matter where I go or who I meet in this great big world, The Town of Friendly People has always drawn me back in some way. Sometimes I do play up the CEO of Week to Week Notes bit, but believe me, I still think of myself as a bit more of a clown than I do a boss. I think the lyrics hit me because of the amount of Tomfoolery that comes along with the writing about sports, music, pints, and history.
The Sunrise in the 1st Pre-Chorus represents he’s waiting on his big break. He’s in a black hole and feels a bit foolish for waiting on a Sunrise.
In the first Chorus, he’s pleading for things to turn his way. He hopes he doesn’t get his heart broken or his determination lost while waiting for a Sunrise.
In Verse 2, he describes how people will tell him outside his town that flowers bloom. The flowers could play on how the sun is already up and rising in other places in the world. A girl, in particular, seems to have left her mark on him but she left while he was stuck waiting on his Sunrise.
The girl here could represent more than just a particular person. It could symbolize people who may have given up on him while he was waiting for his Sunrise. Also, I just want to add that we do live in a great big world and that there is nothing wrong in any way for people who don’t get stuck. I have tremendous respect for anybody who wants to start a new life elsewhere. We’re not all meant to stay in the same place forever and one of the strongest things a person can do is start a new life. This Verse 2 also can play up on why he feels like a clown waiting on his Sunrise while other people have already left and seen the sun.
The Sunrise he is searching for in the 2nd Pre-Chorus may represent love, being that Verse 2 was about a girl.
The final chorus is him still imploring that maybe this year will be better than the last, however, there is a significant change to what and how it’s sung. He still hopes he doesn’t get his heart broken again, but it’s implied as that possibility always comes with the territory. This time instead of hoping his resolve won’t break, he defiantly sings it cannot break. While the majority of the song is him wishing and hoping, it ends with a resilient tone that he will find his Sunrise.
On February 17th, after posting 15 Reasons Why You Should Order a Pint of Guinness, I went to Woodlawn for some proper pints of Guinness. At the last pub I visited on that day, Keane’s, I tagged Darren Kiely with his specific lyrics, “At what cost I’m still a clown? And I’m waiting on a Sunrise” on in the background of the Story. While I was on the subway heading home, I saw he liked the Story. Might not lead to much and I’m not asking for anything, but that moment was pretty cool.
Mind you, that morning I woke up at 4 AM to put the final touches on that edition of Saturday Sports, started writing Stumblin’ Along for the next day, made sure to revise the list of 15 one last time, and by Sunrise 8 AM I got on a bus to get on a train in the snow so that I could be in Woodlawn the moment the bars would open. I hope I don’t come across like I’m complaining. That’s usually a fun Saturday or Sunday if I have free time, but yeah, it’s just the behind-the-scenes part with Week to Week Notes. I try not to throw that stuff out there too often because who wants to read somebody bitch and moan while getting to do something they love like try to build a Sports Media Publication Pint by Pint. I already can’t wait to go back to Yankee Stadium for a game this spring, try to give out hundreds of Week to Week Notes notecards, get a hundred eye rolls with “No, thank you”, but maybe have a handful of people say “Good luck, I’ll check it out.” Some people do far more for less so I feel like a total clown quibbling.
That said when you’re alone drowsy off a few pints thinking about Pearl River, as silly as it sounds, getting that “like” was sorta a glimpse at a sunrise on the train ride home. There’s a bit more of a cool real-life backstory secondary connection to this so next week Tuesday/Wednesday we’ll jump ahead to the trip to Woodlawn for Week 62 (Vol I & II) before going back to the regularly scheduled program of pints in chronological order the following Pint&Pen&Papers.
To be honest, I don’t even know what a big break in a sports blog even looks like. I’ve already been blessed to have some things go my way and I can only hope for continued steady growth. Last week I also got 2 digital hearts from Diageo. They are a multi-international alcohol company worth around $84 Billion with a B. They own Guinness. It’s 2 digital hearts so it’s not worth a thing in the real world but hey at least they didn’t tell me to kick rocks.
It’s probably silly for me to share this, but I haven’t told anybody and I figure it might be worth mentioning for all the people who read to the bottom. I get the feeling that when I don’t share stuff like this, people tend to think I’m delusional, and when I do share something like this people may get turned off thinking that I think I have it all figured out. The reality is, I’m learning on the fly with this, and I’m mainly just focused on mapping out what I have to do tomorrow or the upcoming week. I have no idea what is to come of this 2 years from now, but I do know that 2 years ago on March 1st I was looking forward to a proper pint of Guinness, so believe me, not much has changed.
I know Week to Week Notes still has a lonnnnnggggggggg way to go in terms of growth and I have to prove that it can stay consistent with content. Thank you all for the love and support. I’m going to continue to keep doing, having fun writing & writing & writing, and trusting my gut waiting on a Sunrise.