MLB Scorching Furnace | Local Hoops | Local Puck | Redbone | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
We’ll jump right into sports with a bit about the MLB offseason, local hoops & puck, plus the NHL All-Star Game…Then there is Redbone by Childish Gambino to close this fine Saturday out…
MLB Scorching Furnace
Baltimore O’s Acquire Corbin Burnes
The Orioles and Milwaukee Brewers made a deal this week that gives Baltimore their new ace. SP Corbin Burnes is 29 years old and has been an NL All-Star for 3 consecutive seasons. He won the NL CY Young Award in ‘21, as he had an MLB-best 2.43 ERA. Burnes throughout his 6 years in the MLB is 45-27 with a career 3.26 ERA. Since ‘20, only Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees has struck out more batters. Burnes is set to be a free agent at the end of the ‘24 season, so the Brewers were looking to get something in return. They received SS prospect Joey Ortiz (ranked #63 MLB.com), LHP DL Hall (pitched to a 3.26 ERA out of Baltimore’s bullpen in ‘23), and an MLB Draft Pick. The Yankees may have dropped the ball on this one.
Notable Free Agents Still Available
Blake Snell
At the moment, reports are that Snell is waiting for a 9-year contract while the Yankees are rumored to be the current highest bidder at $150 million for 6 years. The reigning NL CY Young has stayed healthy throughout his career, making at least 19+ starts since ‘16 (not including COVID SZN), but he just turned 31 years old which will turn teams off from 9 years.
Jordan Montgomery
A Monty reunion with the Yankees seems to be very unlikely. The teams associated with him of late seem to be the Texas Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Red Sox. Rumor has it his wife, McKenzie, is starting a dermatology residency at a hospital in the Boston area and Jordan has already moved there to live with her. (Source: Boston.com)
Cody Bellinger
A Chicago Cubs reunion appears to be in the making, as Nike just released new Cubbies jerseys with Bellinger’s name on it. Bellinger’s resurgence to stardom happened in Chicago last year, so it makes sense.
Matt Chapman
The Cubs and Giants are the two teams most talked about with the Gold Glover at the Hot Corner. For the record, I could see Chapman in either uniform, and those teams make sense because only 10 teams in baseball actually pay free agents at this point so the options are limited. If his price drops significantly, maybe a team like the Yankees swoops in on a 1-year deal, but that would be a surprise signing at this point.
JD Martinez / Jorge Soler
Both of these boppers are still looking for a job. JD Martinez and Jorge Soler are proven commodities that can probably hit in the middle of the lineup for most ballclubs, but they limit your roster flexibility because they are essentially only designated hitters. Both guys were All-Stars in ‘23 as Martinez slugged 33 homers and Soler went yad 36 times.
The New York Knicks just continue to keep climbing up the Eastern Conference standings as the Brooklyn Nets sit at the 11th spot for the 3rd week in a row.
Manhattan
Jalen Brunson was deservedly serenaded with MVP Chants after the Knicks gutted out another win at home Thursday night. Brunson will represent the Knicks in his first career All-Star Game. The Southpaw PG scored 40 points for the 4th time this season and 9th time as a Knick. He is averaging 27.1 points (10th best in the NBA) and 6.4 assists per game on the season. The Knicks will look to make it 10 wins in a row tonight as they take on the Lakers at the Garden. Tune in at 8:30 PM ET on ABC.
Brooklyn
While in the past week, the Nets have won 2 of their last 3, Brooklyn unfortunately did not move up in the standings. One of the Nets’ key foundational pieces that is shining bright of late is SG Cam Thomas. The 22-year-old has now scored 20 or more points in 8 of his last 10 games. In the last 4 Nets games, Thomas is averaging 28 points per game while shooting 43%. The Nets lost to Kevin Durant and the Suns on Thursday night, but KD had some high praise about his former teammate after the game, “He’s only going to get better. What is he only 22 years old? Around the league, it’s already on the scouting report that he’s one of the hardest people to guard in the league.” Let’s hope Cam Thomas can keep it up and get the Nets into the play-in tournament, they are only a game back from the Hawks.
The New York Rangers headed into the NHL All-Star weekend at the top of the Metro. The Islanders this past week jumped the Devils for the 4th spot in the Metro, while the Devils have slid 2 spots down to 6th.
Manhattan
The Rangers have two players representing them in the NHL All-Star Weekend. C Vincent Trocheck is tied for 2nd on the team in Points with 46 on the season. This is his 2nd All-Star appearance, the last time he made the game was in ‘17 for the Florida Panthers. Trocheck brought along his son Leo and daughter Lennon, to take in the Toronto festivities. The other Ranger who made the team was Goalie Igor Shesterkin, who is replacing Artemi Panarin because Breadman’s wife is expecting their 2nd child.
Out East
Representing the Islanders at the All-Star Game is Mathew Barzal. The Islanders’ Center leads the team in points with 51 to his name this season as he has scored 13 goals and assisted 38 others. Barzal is having his best season as a pro since his rookie year of ‘17-’18 when he took home the Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year in the NHL). He is currently in 2nd in the NHL in takeaways this season with 43. Barzal will be teammates with Vincent Trocheck in the NHL All-Star Game as they both will play for Team Matthews (aka Justin Bieber’s team).
New Jersey
As for the New Jersey Devils, Jack Hughes was replaced by Jesper Bratt as their representative. Hughes has an upper body, but will still be in attendance in Toronto and even co-captain one of the All-Star teams because the League wants its bright young star there. Bratt will play for Team Hughes (aka Team Michael Buble). This year the 25-year-old Swedish LW leads the Devils in Points with 50. He enters the All-Star Weekend on a hot streak, scoring or assisting in each of his last 4 games.
Today 3:00 PM on ESPN | Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
The NHL All-Star Game today is actually 3 games. 4 teams of 11 players have been drafted by celebrity and NHL captains. The teams will square off in 3-on-3 games with quick 10-minute halves. If tied after 20 minutes, it will go into a 3-round shootout with extra rounds if necessary. 2 teams will advance and then they’ll have a “championship” in a mini tournament. Cool format for the Puck All-Star Game.
Team Justin Bieber
Team Tate McRae
(Week to Week Notes will be rooting for Team Tate McRae!!)
Team Michael Bublé
Team Will Arnet
Today’s tune is Redbone by Childish Gambino. According to Urban Dictionary, “redbone” is a nickname for a fine caramel complexion of a woman. They use the likes of Beyonce, Rihanna, and Halle Berry as examples. Childish Gambino is the nickname for the talented Donald Glover, who not only can rap & sing but can act & write. At 23 years old out of NYU, Glover was hired by Tina Fey to write for NBC’s 30 Rock sitcom. Donald Glover’s FX Show Atlanta is truly one of a kind in that on a Week to Week basis, you never know what themes or lessons the next episode will be about. It’s a great show. While this iconic and distinct beat is not a sample, the melody pays homage to Bootsy Collins’ “I’d Rather Be With You” which came out in 1976. (SongFacts) This tune peaked at #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in the Dog Days of ‘17, after it was released in November of ‘16.
The opening of this song just sounds like a Saturday morning getting out of bed, which is the scene Glover sets as an opener. He wakes up presumably next to his girl not feeling right, something is off, which seems to mess with his confidence (pride).
This is the opening song used in Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Peele used it as a clue to say that throughout the thriller/horror film, you should be alert to pick up on things by staying awake. “Stay Woke” is supposed to represent something along the lines of they have to stay vigilant if they want the relationship to work, but of course, the expression has a deeper meaning as well.
It’s ‘24 so everybody should be at least a bit awake… just maybe not “Hey, let’s slaughter 200,000 cows in the name of our global warming agenda” level woke.
For the Yanks who have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m no expert on Irish or European politics but this was an extreme measure proposed in Ireland. There has currently been a massive Irish Farmers' protest going on in cities all over the country where tractors are being used for demonstrations. These seem to have a bit more to do with farming regulations and carbon emission taxes imposed by EU politicians - so the cows’ headline might be a bit hyperbolic, but apparently, the cows have been farting too much. Irish people are for the most part very forward-thinking, progressive, and sensible. Many are fed up with the extremes of this green agenda that is decimating their farming industry. By the way, Ireland at the moment ranks 109th out of 131 countries in terms of air pollution (IQ Air) so not for nothing they don’t seem to put a dent in pollution compared to the rest of the world. Again, I’m not an expert at this and I’m not doing on-the-ground journalism over there, but that’s what I get from the news I catch on this side of the pond.
Now I’m going to go at some drowsy ass people upset…If you just found out this NFL season that Taylor Swift is a larger-than-life icon and is bigger than the NFL, well you’ve been sleeping. She’s been peak Britney Spears-level famous for some time now, except we got to watch her grow up and maneuver in her own successful way. I’m sorry that you gotta read this from me. She’s just a winner bruv. That’s how the world works, she has “it.” Maybe don’t get mad at the sight of a blonde on your television screen during a football game, that sounds like a you problem.
A peanut butter chocolate with Kool-Aid sounds delicious right about now and is used as a metaphor for how sweet Glover’s girl is.
Sidenote: Yes, I’m using the Irish Cows and “Taylor Swift is a psyop”BS as metaphors about how both extremes are absurd. All I’m trying to say is maybe if you’re a bit drowsy consider having a cup of coffee and if you haven’t slept in days maybe warm up some milk. As a Swiftie, of course, I’ll defend Taylor any chance I get, but honestly, I feel for the Irish farmers, they seem to be in a tough spot, good on them banding together.
God forbid the eejit going around drinking a gazillion pints of Guinness, listening to music, reading about history, and watching sports, tries to play devil’s advocate. The last time I tried making any attempt at anything fairly serious some woke college kid called me nuts, so forgive me if I come across as a bit rough around the edges here…
…Hey look, college kids with grand ideas about this great big world, I think you have every right to have an opinion and shout it to whoever feels like listening. That said, it wasn’t that long ago that I too was sitting on my arse waiting for Dollar Beer nights…
I’ve been in the real world for well over 16 semesters, I’m sure people older than me still roll their eyes at what I have to say or write, and I don’t blame them one bit! That’s just sorta how the world works. So… if reading Week to Week Notes ever rubs you the wrong way, please go outside, touch some grass, and have your informed spirited debate with the closest tree you see. I’m sorry but I’m trying not to waste our time, this is a sports blog.
I know right, when did Week to Week Notes get scandalous? I guess, it’s the year ‘24 and everyone assumes anyone who types words for the internet to read is trying to champion an agenda. Call me 90s old-fashion but I’m championing where to get a proper pint of Guinness in moderation. Forgive me that in my free time, I also enjoy trying to write about sports, music, and history. Please don’t expect me to dive into topics like this too often. Truthfully, I’d prefer to write about 15 reasons why I love a proper pint of Guinness, but sometimes I gotta step outside my comfort zone.
Lastly, I don’t mean to come across like I’m sitting on a high horse, but as a New Yorker when you see something you’re supposed to say something. Not that me typing these words will do much, but I figured I might as well throw this out into the universe.
Yes, of course, don’t be fully asleep at the wheel…
…but…uhhh…I don’t know…maybe killing 200,000 cattle in the name of Global Warming is a bit extreme…
…Now please let me finish with a funny clip because I never like leaving this on too serious a Note…