Florida State Sucks at Football and I’m Here For It

It’s like hoping that partner you broke up with never finds love again. Hi. I’m a graduate from Florida State University and in 2014 we had a baaaaaad breakup. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s already been a decade. Some people *ahem my family cough, cough!!!* think it’s trivial and immature but I felt so slighted when the school updated the logo. The reason given was that Nike claimed the one being used at that time was too difficult to manufacture on clothing and whatnot. I believe with all my being that the logo change revealed a lot about the university (and Nike) and it was actually about money. From then on, I disavowed all things Seminole. So what do my nieces do when they graduate high school? Of course they went to FSU! I was hoping they’d pick a different school so I could start aligning my loyalties with whichever other one they picked.

So fast forward to the 2023 season and FSU is somehow good at football again. I was a little perplexed because just from proximity to so many FSU football fans (my family) I learned about some of the players and of course I want all players to succeed at that level. I love when athletes work hard, when they’re good people, and they achieve higher success. The team went undefeated in the regular season, got mistreated by the playoff selection committee, and went through a summer of change– players leaving for the NFL and new players joining the team.

Now, in 2024, they suck again and I can’t really share how thrilled I am with anyone (unless I want to be excommunicated from the family farm) so here I am… sharing it with you the reader. The football team is literally terrible this year. There are a number of reasons and a lot of blame is going towards the new quarterback who has a last name no one can say or spell. FSU fans might as well stop trying because I’m sure he’ll be gone once the last whistle is blown.

Like the lyrics go in the Elvis song “Where Did They Go, Lord”…

The heart that’s within me isn’t bitter, it’s just empty.

Maybe soon I’ll have another team to root for. I still have a couple of nieces who haven’t verbally committed to a school yet and one nephew who is at a very impressionable age. This Christmas he *might* be getting some University of Tennessee gear from his favorite uncle.

-Out of the Wilderness

Who’s the Couple in the Scotty McCreery “Fall of Summer” Video? Answers Here!

Fall is upon us and you know what that means. A bunch of summer loverships coming to an end. OK, maybe that’s not true but movies and music sometimes center around the idea that when summer ends, so does the kissing. One of the best movies (and I’ll fight you about this) illustrating this is The Notebook and one of the best country songs about summer love is Kenny Chesney’s “Anything But Mine.” I still don’t know… does he really say “there’s so many things I want to do to you…” or should it be ‘with you’…?🤔

I digress. Adding a track to a long list of seasonal songs, along with a video that actually enhances the song, is Scotty McCreery with his take on a beachy break-up, “Fall of Summer.” Take a look then scroll down for more…

The Couple. Starring in the video is actress Daphne Shears (@DaphneVShears) and her model boyfriend Tyler Hayek (@TylerHayek). The video was shot in Topsail, North Carolina and Galveston, Texas and it could all be a Hallmark movie, right? Great looking couple, great location (not Canada, sorry Hallmark), and I’m sure someone could come up with an interesting storyline.

[from Daphne’s Instagram]

The NC State Version. Part of the lyrics keep the college reference general– And I said you oughta come see me at state— but Scotty made a version specifically for a college in North Carolina (a state where some of the video was shot, incidentally). Open up Spotify to hear the version where he namedrops NC State. Go Wolfpack. Hoowwwwllll!!!

What do you think about the video? Chime in below!

-Out of the Wilderness

Triathlon Injury – A Recovery Update of the Horizontal Mattress

If you want the backstory of today’s post, check out part 1 and part 2 and I should warn you, there are some gnarly pictures of a cycling injury where my leg got some lacerations. It could’ve been worse (doesn’t everybody say that?) but as I look back at those pics now, gosh it was gross! With that being said, Doctor Price and the nursing staff at Gulf Breeze Hospital did an incredible job with the cleaning of the wounds and the horizontal mattress stitches (2024’s medical term of the year– “horizontal mattress”). Just check out how the healing looks 10 days later.

I’ve increased my activities while still being cautious to let the tender area heal properly without me complicated things. In other words, I haven’t swam, biked, or run since the triathlon (oh, here’s a secret third post about the triathlon) but I’m sitting on ‘go’… as soon as one of these things happen: 1) a doctor clears me to exercise again, 2) I have to run from a zombie, or 3) I accidentally do a full workout of squats, lunges, jump rope, and calf raises… accidentally of course.

To sum up, the recovery is going well. I wasn’t sure I’d be out for 10 to 15 days but it looks like that’s the case. But soon I’ll be back into the routine of working out regularly, Tuesday morning intervals, and running (just for fun, not the zombie thing).

-Out of the Wilderness

Chris Lane “If I Die Before You” – The Sucky Side of Country Music

Listen, I’m all-in for a good love story. My favorite movie is The Notebook so I definitely acknowledge the space I’ve left open in my heart for these sappy kind of love songs and movies. In fact, I’ve been listening to “Lady In Red” on repeat for an embarrassing amount of days lately. I’m sure there’s a part of me that is bitter from past relationships– sometimes I repeat the line from that Elvis song “Where Did They Go, Lord?” …the heart that’s within me isn’t bitter, it’s just empty. There’s something vulnerable and fragile and honest about that line that I can relate to.

But then a country song pops up and makes me feel justified in thinking that sometimes country music, with all its good intentions, just sucks. I give you Exhibit A.

It might be that I despise the singing list of clichés:

I hope you keep on laughing
With our crazy, beautiful kids
Keep dancing like we do
Underneath the moon…

Are they crazy AND beautiful… or crazy beautiful? The song is so gray. Please just put me out of my misery! It baffles me that a genre of music can be so wide in its offerings, too. On the one hand it has snooze-worthy songs (like this one from Chris Lane), but then you’ll hear Benjamin Tod and your faith in humanity, which is often hanging by a thread, is at least given another day of life support.

So when people ask me, I can’t honestly say I like country music or else I run the risk of them thinking I listen to Morgan Wallen, Shaboozey, and Tyler Hubbard. Don’t get me wrong, I can endure songs by those artists but only if I’m tied to a chair and someone is trying to waterboard information out of me. I’m stubborn enough to suffer for a righteous cause (assuming whatever secret I’m keeping is worth that level of torture). I’m much more likely to enjoy country singers like Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert, and Eric Church than ever choosing to play a whole song by Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, or Jason Aldean.

Being a loving husband and father is a great, admirable, and hard thing. I’m not trying to take away from that aspect of the song’s message. But I’m just so sick of the softness. It almost comes across like a promo for the emasculation of the men our dads and granddads are. Men with rough hands who come to the dinner table with oil-stained clothes and an air of confidence. Men you’d go to when fit hits the shan, if you will. These men can be romantic, sure, but they’re not singing songs about an ocean view somewhere in Timbuktu because 1) he would never admit he doesn’t know where the ocean view is, 2) how to get there, 3) how long it’ll take, and 4) he’s already filled up the gas tank for the trip.

If I die before you
I hope you get on an airplane
And take in that ocean view
Somewhere in Timbuktu…

🤮

-Out of the Wilderness

Carly Pearce Burns Perfectly Good Ford F-150… not a Z71!

Sometimes you just gotta burn something down, right? No, the answer is no and if you said yes, you’re a pyromanic and you failed the test! This video from Carly Pearce is a jilted ex’s dream, never mind that she’d be in a truck load of trouble for the property damage she’s guilty of. Cheating on a partner isn’t illegal, however lighting someone’s property on fire is… so don’t do this at home, folks! Check out Carly “Pyro” Pearce in the music video for “Truck on Fire,” then scroll down for one common mistake that’s trending in Nashville…

Check the Box. People love their boxy trucks so setting this late 80s-era Ford F150 is going to get some people riled up. At least she didn’t touch the Mustangs, though, right? She deserves some credit for having an ounce of respect for the classic car heritage. But after taking the truck for a joyride through a field and through a mailbox, couldn’t she have parked it just a wee bit further away from the sports cars? I guess we can give her a pass, she was rage-driving anyway. That pass shall not, and will not, extend to a faux pas I’ve seen in a handful of other videos lately– Thomas Rhett and Lauren Watkins.

The Hot (Mis)Take. I love Carly Pearce and hope she continues having great success but I wish she had noticed and put her foot golden boot down on one aspect of the music video. The very first line of the song reads, “Always thought you loved that black Z71 more than you loved me…” Well, maybe he would’ve loved you more if you stopped calling his Ford a Chevy! Ever think about that!? This happens way more than it should and I often point back to Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” where the video was shot with Jason standing ON A PAVED ROAD!?!? Carly is the latest to fall prey to this and what’s with all the Fords? Bro country came and went but at least Florida Georgia Line used a Chevrolet in “Cruise” where they specifically mention a “brand new Chevy with a lift kit.”

Your obsession with Fords is getting a little weird, Nashville. Also, when the lyrics mention a Z71, burn a Z71! You owe it to us literalists out here. If you like what you read today, please subscribe below and consider making a small donation to help me continue posting daily. Thanks for coming by!

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-Out of the Wilderness