Midnight Rain | AFC South Preview | MLB Trade Deadline Recap | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Midnight Rain is the 7th tune off of Taylor Swift’s Midnights that I’ve had on in the background during Week to Week Notes. Anti-Hero, Mastermind, Lavender Haze, Karma, Vigilante Sh!t, and Maroon have thus far been used. This past fall I must’ve listened to Anti-Hero 3,492,859,849 times so for most of the album moving forward I will be hearing the song for the 1st time. As an unapologetic 28-year-old male Swiftie that is in the Top 13% of her Spotify listeners, hearing new T Swift is the best.
Strong open. Who’s vocals are these synths? Unreal.
So apparently this is about a relationship Taylor had in her hometown with a guy who had trouble dealing with her ambition as a singer. As a guy, I have no idea what broke his heart ‘cause he was nice means. My dumb caveman sports fan brain's initial interpretations were that the nice guy finished last, but I guess it could be just her admitting to feeling a bit of guilt.
Unreal written chorus. I have nothing to do with Taylor Swift’s high school relationship and yet somehow I get it. I guess that’s what 🐐’s do. Also, clocks change at midnight, duh.
The fascinating thing about Taylor Swift is despite all the money, fame, and acclaim she seems genuine. Maybe it’s all an act, she’s had years of public relations training, and she’s playing us all as fools but it’d be awfully hard to fake it at that level of stardom.
Well, Taylor clearly made the right decision going for it and the guy this is about can’t fault her for going for her dreams. Great tune, Midnight’s keeps getting better.
On to the sports…
If this is your first go around with Week to Week Notes during the football, look, I obviously try to toe the line of satire and informative. Football is by far my favorite sport to write about because I’ve been practicing this blend for years. With baseball & winter sports, everybody has their own team and they play so many games that it’s tough for a casual fan to keep up with the whole entire league on a day-to-day basis. Football is different, it’s much more communal among sports fans. Most people that enjoy football, could watch a Thursday Night game between two teams they have no real rooting interest in and they could still tell you how their season is going or about the crazy highlight play that happened in the so&so game the week before. Fantasy football and the fact that it’s mainly only played on the weekends are the reasons why.
These previews are fun for me because I’ll keep track of what I got right and wrong with the standings, but it’s also a nice refresher going division by division to double-check what happened over the offseason. As I mentioned in Week 1, ‘22 - “After spending all summer in deep meditation here are the Week 1 picks. Definitely didn’t just write these down on the bus commuting to work Tuesday. Don’t worry, I'll keep track of the over/under's and against the spread. Could be an excellent opportunity to take out a second mortgage to fade these. Your loss.” It turns out, I actually ended up doing alright against the spreads (if you don’t include how the vig would’ve got me). I’m absolutely mushing myself but I’m looking forward to this season improving on my Week to Week Notes Career Over/Unders & Spreads.
NFL ‘22 Season
NFL ‘23 Playoffs
100% of the polled people took the Jaguars to come in 1st place.
1. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars went from last place in the AFC South in ‘21 to 1st place in ‘22. Trevor Lawrence developed under head coach Doug Pederson and by the end of the season, Sunshine wasn’t just flashing stardom but was playing at an elite level. From Week 9 to Week 18, Lawrence threw 15 TDs to 2 INTs, completing 69.7% of his passes, and also ran in two scores. His former Clemson teammate, Travis Etienne, ran for 1,125 rushing yards. Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Evan Engram combined for 241 catches & 2,697 receiving yards in their first year in Jacksonville as well.
This offseason the Jags lost their ‘22 RT in Jawaan Taylor but will be replacing him with their 1st Round Pick Anton Harrison from Oklahoma. Overall in the ‘23 NFL Draft, the Jags made 13 selections so expect their depth chart to be littered with rookies. The biggest addition for the Jags is Calvin Ridley who was traded for last season despite being suspended for gambling on games. The addition of Ridley plus another year of Trevor Lawrence in Doug Pederson’s system has me sold on the Jags in ‘23, but not strongly sold, more like leased.
2. Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis had a brutal ‘22 season that saw their former head coach Frank Reich get fired. RB Jonathan Taylor missed significant time for the first time in his career. Their former QB Matt Ryan is now a part of the CBS Sports Team so that’s all you need to know about his year. Their owner, Jim Irsay figured it was a good idea to bring in Jeff Saturday to head coach the Colts after he had zero coaching experience. The move seemed a bit out there, but hey at least Irsay beats to his own drum. The Colts owner is currently spending $20 million to fly a 4-ton Orca Whale to freedom after it has been in a Miami Seaquarium for the past 53 years. Orca Whales can live up to 90 years but can only survive a couple of hours outside of water so I have no idea how the logistics of this will work. That said, interesting move as always from Jim Irsay.
On the football side of things, Irsay refuses to give in to Jonathan Taylor’s contract demands which may lead the star RB to miss all of the preseason, and has even asked to now be traded. The Colts hope to retain Taylor so that they can make life easier for their 1st Round QB (4th Overall) Anthony Richardson. The former Flordia Gator has all the tools to be a successful QB in the NFL, but may need some time to develop so they have also brought in Everybody’s Favorite Frat Star QB in Gardner Minshew. Besides the QB moves, the Colts selected WR Josh Downs in the 3rd Round and signed former Bills WR Isaiah McKenzie. Both WRs will be competing for time in the slot with Michael Pittman Jr. retaining the top spot on the depth chart. Rookie head coach Shane Steichen has options at QB. He can either go with Minshew who will inevitably give up the job to Richardson at some point in the regular season or go with their rookie and let him learn on the fly. I think they give the kid a shot sooner rather than later, just like they’ll work out a deal with Taylor once the Orca Whale is saved.
3. Houston Texans
The Houston Texans lost out on the #1 Overall Pick because their former head coach Lovie Smith went for the win in Week 18. The ‘22 NFL season for the Texans besides their meaningless win was fairly uneventful. They may have found something in their Dameon Pierce who had 939 rushing yards in 13 games as a rookie and they also found out that Davis Mills is not quite an NFL Franchise QB. Now they will have their former captain, DeMeco Ryans, as the head coach on the sidelines. Ryans previously had been running Kyle Shanahan’s defense in San Francisco so he was a prized head coach candidate and one the Texans could not afford to bring back.
Low-key high-key, the Texans stole the first round of the NFL Draft by selecting QB CJ Stroud with the #2 overall pick and then trading up for the #3 overall pick to select Edge Will Anderson. Both players should be foundational players the Texans have not had since the days of Deshaun Watson and JJ Watt. They may have finally found their new identity which is a step in the right direction. Texans rookie WR Nathaniel “Tank” Dell out of Houston University could be a new name to get to know. Houston also brought in a ton of mid-tier free agents headlined by S Jimmie Ward and TE Dalton Schultz. While my expectations for the Texans are that they just move in the right direction as a franchise, theirs may be a bit bolder because they don’t own a ‘24 1st Round pick due to the Will Anderson trade.
4. Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans have been very successful under their head coach Mike Vrabel. The former Patriot outside linebacker and situational TE has a career 50-37 record as a coach. Last season the Titans finished with only 7 wins, a career low for Vrabel, who started his NFL career with 4 straight winning seasons. The ‘22 Titans were led by Derrick Henry who ran for a monstrous 1,538 rushing yards with 13 TDs on 349 rush attempts. Ryan Tannehill was not the same QB without AJ Brown and the team really struggled in the passing game with Robert Woods 527 receiving yards leading the team. On defense, Kevin Byard was once again very solid in the backend and Jeffrey Simmons was effective in the front, signing a 4-year extension this past April.
The Titans made no big offseason free-agent splash until they signed DeAndre Hopkins about a week ago. In the NFL Draft, the Titans selected an offensive lineman who can play all over Peter Skoronski, followed by Will Levis in the 2nd Round. They may have also drafted King Henry’s eventual replacement in RB Tyjae Spears in the 3rd Round. Their ‘22 1st Round pick Treylon Burks apparently looks very good out of camp, but I’m not sure about who will be throwing him the ball. I’m not in love with the direction of the Titans at the moment. King Henry enters this season at 29 years old and although he is an absolute beast of an RB, the man has carried the rock nearly 1,250 times in 55 games the past 4 years. Maybe a last-place finish for the Titans is a bit pessimistic but I don’t see a ten with this Tennessee team. I see an aging star RB, an aging star free agent WR, a veteran game manager QB, and I think back to the old NFL saying “I’d rather get rid of a guy a year too early than a year too late.”
MLB Trade Deadline Recap
Mets Made Moves
The Mets dealt Mad Max Scherzer to the Rangers for Ronald Acuna’s younger brother named Luisangel. The 21-year-old prospect has 42 stolen bases in the minors and has plenty of pop for a shortstop. Acuna could be in Queens as early as next year. Uncle Stevie Cohen will be sending the Texas Rangers $35.51 million as part of the deal to cover Scherzer’s massive contract.
Kate Upton’s husband was also shipped down of town to Texas, in exchange for Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. Both young prospects are lefty bat outfielders from the Astros system. Clifford already got off to a hot start with the Mets as he homered for the Brooklyn Cyclones in his very first at-bat. Drew Gilbert on the other hand was the Astros’ 1st Round pick from ‘22 and was considered Houston’s #1 prospect. Uncle Stevie Cohen here is paying the Houston Astros $35.5 million to off-load Kate Upton’s husband and pick up these two young OF bats.
Fire Cashman
The Yankees acquired relief pitcher Spencer Howard and his 10.80 ERA along with Kenyan Middleton, another reliever. Middleton pitched last night, throwing a scoreless inning against the Astros with the Yanks already down 7-3. They oddly tend to be able to find bullpen guys so I’m sure both of them will at least be decent additions, but not buying or selling at the deadline puts this team in no-mans land. With an aging roster with veterans on the decline, these moves inspire very little confidence in the front office’s plans.
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NYC Walking in the Midnight Rain - Manhattan, New York 4K