Gilli's Gut Check - Reporting Live from the Clutter(brain)

Well, well, well. My inaugural post on the Small State Big Takes blog. Feels like this forum for producing Big Takes has been destined since the conception of our podcast, and I’m grateful for Joshie Pods’ work on taking the bull by the horns and making this happen in 2020.

I’m not sure how often I’ll do quick-hit blogs like this, maybe once a week, on Mondays before each episode, or maybe this is a one-and-done and I abandon the format entirely. I could be Kyrie Irving, this blog could be my Duke tenure, and I'll be writing for The Athletic before the end of February. Or perhaps I’m Jon Scheyer, fall in love with the repetition and structure of this blog, and proverbially wed myself to the program.

Below you'll find some quick hits on this Monday afternoon, preceding the National Championship. Some of these takes are scalding hot, others are lukewarm at best - all we know for sure is that nearly none of them are likely to age well for me. Oh well. Title is a work in progress. All of these below thoughts are my own (duh).

P. S. If you read this, please tell me, and give me any and all feedback, I honestly appreciate it either way.

Gilli’s Gut Check:

1. Disclaimers in bio’s on 99.7% of Twitter accounts are meaningless, and totally toothless. Unless you work in PR, or are a C-level executive, no one assumes you’re speaking on behalf of the company you work for.

If you’re tweeting scandalous and potentially termination-worthy statements, that disclaimer will not save you from losing your job. If you’re deranged enough to need to put heinous thoughts onto a keyboard, you should just delete twitter, or write said egregious thoughts on an air-gapped Microsoft Word document like Creed from The Office.

2. Due to Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel’s viral comments from 2018 regarding the lengths he would go to win a Super Bowl as a coach, if the Titans win the Super Bowl this year, fans (in celebration) will bring phallic devices to the parade in Nashville, and the streets will bleed silicon.

3. The 2011-2018(ish) Seattle Seahawks are the NFL’s equivalent to the 2007-2012 Boston Celtics; both teams and cities were certainly happy to win a championship, but one can’t help but feel that each team’s core (the Big 3 / Legion of Boom) was destined and capable of winning multiple championships while intact.

4. The Astros are cheaters, and an overhaul of the organization (firing of GM / manager) is totally necessary to begin the process of removing that stink from the ballclub, and showing the MLB that they take their punishments seriously.

5. Before I die, I would like to attend (at least partially for some events) an NBA All Star weekend, and MLB All Star Game. Don’t be alarmed, I don’t think I’m dying particularly soon, but these would be great items to add to the ol’ sports related bucket list.

(P.S. @ Boston sports teams, do me a solid and try to win a bid to host an All Star Game before 2065 to make this one easier on me.)

6. Somewhat similar to the NBA's trend of nomadic superstars, we now live in the era of player-empowerment in college football - as evidenced by the recent rise of high-profile CFB stars (and legitimate Heisman candidates/winners) transferring and immediately flourishing with their new teams (Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Justin Fields, Will Grier, etc.). In modern-day sports, tampering is frequent, elite players (and their families) are exposed to more business advice than ever, and as a result, blind-loyalty to a single team is an ever-fleeting concept.

Love it or Loathe it:

Drake and Future Collabs:

I don’t even need to answer this fully, it’s so glaringly obvious. Future’s single featuring Drake, ‘Life is Good’ dropped last Friday, and it’s a great reminder that Drake and Future should make as much music as humanly possible before WW3 kicks off.

It’s worth noting that this collab is actually two songs meshed into one track. Either way, this song slaps. Several lines worthy of 2020 instagram captions. Drake immediately mentions that he hasn’t done his taxes, indicating to me that he MIGHT think that taxes are due at the start of the new year. That’s hilarious. There’s even a line by Future about fettuccine that I’m obsessed with, and already dying to try out next time I go to Olive Garden (or Pasta Beach for those in southern New England).

Drake is the classic example of someone who is named overrated enough to somehow become underrated. He’s the Duke era JJ Redick of rap. Hated loudly by many, and openly supported by so few. Supporting Drake has become a similar feeling to rooting for the underdog, under constant ridicule and general duress online.

Future represents so much of what I oppose in principle: a champion of toxic masculinity (or male pettiness depending on how you define it), glorification of drug use, objectification of women, etc… but yet, when I heard this song Thursday night, those details slip away and I immediately fell in love.

Final verdict: It’s the way-too-early anthem of 2020. I love it.

Flesh-colored clothing:

*Full disclaimer, this does NOT refer to male/female undergarments that may need to be flesh colored for outfit-related purposes, or costumes.*

There’s just so much I don’t understand about people who wear flesh colored clothing, i.e. shirts/leggings, etc. Are they totally unaware of their actual skin tone and think the material doesn’t blend in with their exposed skin? Are they actually trying to appear as though they’re unclothed, for shock value? I really don’t know.

For me, as a person, I would never purchase/wear such an accoutrement - BUT, as a spectator, who is consistently shocked when I see flesh colored clothing on someone out in public, I love it.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon:

As a day 1 supporter and lover of Pokémon (Pokémon Yellow - Christmas 1999!!!), I’m long overdue to attempt to understand / play one of these spin-off Mystery Dungeon games… but DAMN, what is the target demo for a game like this?? Who is buying these games to allow for them to continue to make them on each Nintendo console?? Confused grandparents who see Pokémon and spend $30-60 for an underwhelming reaction from their poor grandchildren?

Sorry to the Pokémon franchise as an entity, but GameFreak knew better than to develop this type of Poké-Disaster, and for that reason, I loathe it.

Alex Cora:

This son of a biscuit has the audacity to design and orchestrate one of the worst cheating scandals in modern sports history for the Houston Astros, AND THEN tries to bring that same energy and deceit to my Boston Red Sox, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world. Now I’m not suggesting because the Astros come from a lesser pedigree in terms of sports organizations, but DAMN, he should’ve just gotten on the straight and narrow when the Red Sox hired him and managed his team according to league rules. He'd obviously still be dealing with punishment / sanctions right now for his transgressions in Houston, but to bring that appalling duplicity to Fenway Park?? Disgracing The Mecca of Baseball?? Where are his morals??

I loathe this whole cheating situation the Red Sox now find themselves in the middle of. Fire Cora. No Cheaters in 2020.