Enthusiasms - What to look forward to 4-29-24
Welcome to Enthusiasms. Your reminder to always be looking forward to something. Pulltab Sports Editor-In-Chief, John King, points you in the right direction.
P-DUB PLAYOFFS
With two regular season games remaining, Minnesota’s PWHL squad is one point away from securing a chip and a chair in the playoffs. And there’s nothing like Spring hockey in the State of Hockey. Maybe your buddy is grilling, and his outdoor TV looks like it’s been out in the sun too long, but you can hear the faint sounds of pucks and pipes and dasher boards as someone jumps into the pool in his backyard. Spring hockey is the best, and this year the ladies are our only hope.
In their first season, the PWHL hasn’t been afraid to have some fun with the rules. The league received a lot of attention for their “jailbreaker” rule, allowing the penalty killing team to effectively end a powerplay by scoring a shorthanded goal. Pretty cool. For the playoffs the league added a new, WrestleMania style wrinkle. In the PWHL the top four teams in the “original 6” team league advance to the playoffs, but the #1 seed (currently Toronto) actually gets to pick their first round opponent from the 3rd and 4th seed. How great is that?! That’s like a boxer or wrestler calling someone out from the ring.
Only trouble is with PWHL Minnesota’s recent slide, the crowd up in Toronto might already be chanting “We Want Minnesota! We Want Minnesota!” Let’s hope the girls right the ship with upcoming games against Toronto, and New York.
Yes, the Timberwolves are in the playoffs. Everyone is excited. But speaking for hockey fans, playoff hockey in springtime just hits different. The other day I was walking down the street in Stillwater to my car, and a guy came up to me with a crazed look in his eye and just said, “What are we going to do without hockey!” To which I responded, “It’s terrible!” only to hear him echoing “It’s terrible! It’s terrible!” as he staggered down the street.
Even with the Wild not in the playoffs, PWHL Minnesota is about to buckle down and get us the playoff hockey we need. I’ve cleaned the grill, bought my P-Dub hat, and am ready to go! Also, for anyone wondering, PWHL Minnesota will be battling for the Walter Cup, recently named after the league’s primary backer and owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mark Walter. Considering that the PWHL teams still don’t have nicknames, I must admit it made me happy to hear they actually did name the trophy as I was having nightmares of “PWHL Minnesota” playing “PWHL Toronto” as they try to win the “PWHL Trophy.” It would have been like when the Devils just put “Jersey” on their new sweaters. And considering the uber conservative top-down marketing approach the league has been taking this year, it wouldn’t have surprised me.
THE BON JOVI DOC
I know what I’m doing this weekend. The new Bon Jovi documentary Thank You, Goodnight is dropping on Hulu. It’s the story of the band’s 40-year career told over four all-access episodes directed by Gotham Chopra. Chopra has done multiple projects with Tom Brady including Man in the Arena and Tom Vs. Time and was also behind Kobe Bryant’s Muse.
It appears the drama from Thank You, Goodnight will come from Richie Sambora’s attempt to quit the band. But probably like all things “Buns Jovi” there won’t be a ton of drama or edge to find here. It will just be an enjoyable glimpse and some fairly normal guys that had a nice little rock & roll career. Like the glam rock version of trashing a hotel room after too many Michelob Ultras. Actually, I think Bon Jovi would probably clean things up before the maids arrived. And I don’t hold this ordinary-ness gainst them, I’ll watch. Mostly just to see Jon say earnest lines like, “the only thing you can’t be in this world is a quitter.” The clips of the band in their younger years look amazing, and having Bruce Springsteen providing commentary is the icing on the cake.
Thank You, Goodnight did premiere at SXSW, so maybe there is a little artistry here, but truthfully, I’ll be perfectly find with some nostalgia and any memories it evokes of the “Wanted Dead or Alive” video and the Young Guns soundtrack. Yes, please. All episodes drop at once, so it’s going to be a Bon Jovi Binge at my place, “seen a million faces, and I’ve rocked them all!”
Cinco De Derby
Why did so many people make such a big deal out of the eclipse, when the true joy comes each year when we get Cinco de Mayo to line up with the Kentucky Derby. This year the Derby is technically on May 4th (first Saturday in May), and Cinco de Mayo is set up to be a Sunday Funday or, as I like to say, divertido domingo! Usually, the weather accommodates, and you can mix your mint juleps with your margaritas. Both Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby provide awesome excuses to party on their own, but when they line up together like a turducken on the same weekend, it’s glorious.
If you need a good margarita recipe, trust the King of Cabo himself, Sammy Hagar.
As for the horse to bet on, well, Fierceness is the favorite at 3 to 1. But it would seem the 8 to 1 “Catching Freedom” and 10 to 1 “Forever Young” are a better fit for the vibes we’re trying to create around Cinco de Derby.
CLIFF NOTES FOR THE NEW TAYLOR SWIFT
Taylor Swift just released a 31-song double album, The Tortured Poet’s Department. That’s over two hours of new music! Well, you’re in luck because I happen to be an empty nester, with a daily commute—so I’ve spent time with the new Taylor Swift. I have opinions on the new Taylor Swift. I’ve done the work for you.
I also had an “A-Ha” about Taylor Swift. I think because of her success, we tend to think of Taylor as the cheerleader who is now dating the football star. She’s a billionaire, sells out all around the globe, everything she touches turns to gold. I’d call Taylor “Oprah famous” due to her influence, but it’s more Muhammad Ali famous. Taylor Swift is a corporation at this point, she has her own GDP!
Which made me wonder why on earth Taylor would release this much music? It’s too much, some of it sounds the same, it made you want to ask why? I’ve concluded there are a couple reasons, firstly because she can. Taylor is on top, people will consume anything she does, if it interests her it interests them. Secondly, I’ve come to the realization that Taylor isn’t the cheerleader, she’s the theater kid. I’m sure the Swifties already know this, but for the NFL fans that just came to the acquaintance of Taylor Swift this season during cutaways at Chiefs game, Taylor really is a theater kid.
Once you embrace this fact, the album makes sense. In some ways it could be Taylor’s way of saying, before you place me on top of that pop culture cake, remember I’m still the nerd with the filled up notebook, actually multiple notebooks. Take a song like “Peter” which uses an extended Peter Pan metaphor throughout (see video below).
If you’re trudging through 31 songs like you’re panning for gold, “Peter” might not jump out at you. But when you imagine Taylor designing an Eras tour style set and story for a track like this, it quickly turns into an Andrew Lloyd Weber level fantasy playing out on the main stage. Suddenly “Peter” will become a lot of people’s favorite song. You can see this with tracks like “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” as well, which will be story writing gold on stage as well. To understand Taylor as a theater kid at heart, is to know that it’s not just about the song sitting there alongside 2 hours of music. It’s the show in its entirety.
But my cliff notes for Taylor Swift, and specifically the new record are even simpler. Just remember Taylor Swift writes her own music. She stays out of trouble. I fully expect her to be the modern-day Dolly Parton, famous forever, drama free, and she’ll write 100’s of hits you know. A human jukebox, it’s amazing, really.
But I’m a country fan, and somewhere in there is still that simple singer songwriter version of Miss Swift, and every record usually has one song that comes from that place (e.g. “Betty”). It’s almost like Taylor is putting her quarter in the country music collection basket. On The Tortured Poet’s Department, that song is “But Daddy I Love Him.” And it’s worth the two hours just to get there.
