Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
Gatorade has a new basketball-heavy ad called “It Hasn’t Changed” featuring the greatest ball player of my generation, Michael Jordan. They’re emphasizing that to be great you must have the “it” factor and Gatorade is right there to help you get “it.” I won’t get into the weeds about his greatness being greater than Kobe or LeBron (but this new commercial doesn’t feature a voiceover from Kobe or LeBron… sooo……. you do the math). Check “it” out then scroll on down for more info!
The Music. The soundtrack to this ad comes from Travis Scott. The song is called “FE!N” and features Playboi Carti. Here’s the full track…
She’s All That. Current “it girl” Caitlin Clark is also featured in the ad and with her bringing in more viewers to the WNBA, I’m sure Gatorade was working hard to sign her on as a celebrity spokesperson. She has “it” and in fact, she IS “it.”
More to be seen from Gatorade but for now, share your thoughts about the ad in the comments below and if you have a second, subscribe for email reminders of my daily posts!
You might have caught YouTube TV’s latest commercial if you’re watching any of the sports that are going on right now. In the ad, problems are presented and YouTube has the solution… allegedly. Take a look then scroll down for the music and more.
The Music. The song is this commercial comes from a band called Eric Burton & The Animals. Here’s the full track of “Good Times” released in 1967.
The Big Mistake. My only critique of the ad is that it doesn’t really offer a good solution to the problems we face with live sports. They present 4 scenarios in which the sports enthusiast misses important moments because of tall people in the way, an obstructed view, someone changes the channel, and a friend knocks the power cord out of the wall. How exactly does showing 4 games on screen at once solve any of the problems previously mentioned? Answer: It doesn’t.
Judges give this ad a 2 out of 10 stars and it would be 0/10 except at least they put some thought into the song choice.
What are your thoughts about the ad? Comment below…
Terms of endearment. Only certain people can get away with these with strangers. Think about the cashier at your local grocery store. Customer service when you called in for help. This is one thing that’s guaranteed to make me feel welcome, my defensive walls come down, and pretty much automatically I’m in the best mood. But not everyone can use these. Think about a mechanic. Your boss. The young female teller at the bank.
In my experience, the people using these terms (honey, baby, sweetie, darlin’, etc) are older women and they’re either black or white. Every time it happens I think, gosh these women are awesome!
There’s a rare group that can actually do something even more amazing. The double terms of endearment. This has happened to me a handful of times and it goes something like this…
Me: Thanks for your help.
Person: Alright, honey. Here you go, baby.
It’s as joyful as seeing a double rainbow, a unicorn, or inserting your USB correctly on first try. Guys can’t really do this and not be considered a little creepy. But maybe the older the gentleman is, the more likely it is that it wouldn’t be totally uncomfortable (if he were saying it to a woman in a respectful way) There’s only one exception I can think of. Prince. In his song, “I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man,” he doubles up right after the second verse. See if you catch it and in the meantime, enjoy one of Prince’s best songs.
It was sometime around 5th grade. Our class was assigned the task of orbiting around the school track for the entire P.E. class. It was going fine until classmate Justin Barger cut through the field so he wouldn’t have to do as many laps as the rest of us. This is my first memory of someone cheating and I can still recall the feeling I had when it happened. I didn’t know him at the time and we actually became friends later on but when I saw him do this, I was filled with anger. Now, many years later, I identify that moment as the first example of how much I hate cheating and despise laziness.
This familiar feeling bubbles up now and then and I won’t even get into how often it happens on the roadways. Wait, maybe any rage I feel on the road is just an extension of this absolute disgust for lazy cheaters. Aren’t most annoying drivers who speed, cut in front, or disregard the rules just guilty of being lazy or cheating? I think I’m making a personal breakthrough here.
Actually, the point of this post is related to cars and the silly stickers people put on their bumper or windows. We’ve all seen the ones announcing that the driver has completed a marathon or half marathon…
But have you seen the ones that boast about the exact opposite? Instead of 26.2 or 13.1, in bold fonts it reads…
Upon seeing one of these for the first time, that familiar feeling rose up within me. Someone thinks it’s funny to boast about their laziness, running 0.0 miles? Oh, this sticker was automatically bumped up to the top spot in things I hate the most! Well, at the very least it’s tied with flying roaches.
But after a little digging, my rigid hostility towards the sticker and those who use them has softened a bit. It *could be* that the person with the sticker on their car is not lazy, they just enjoy a good laugh. Maybe they like being active but running isn’t their thing. They might be a fantastic swimmer, a strong weightlifter, or they’re really into hiking or kayaking. It could be any number of activities they enjoy but running (especially a half or full marathon) isn’t it. I guess I can understand that mindset, especially because I appreciate laughter and folks’ attempt to brighten other people’s day with something that could make them smile.
I came across an enjoyable article about the 0.0 stickers. Check it out here if you have a second. It’ll help paint a picture of the thoughts behind the stickers that aren’t as cynical or confrontational as mine. Speaking of my thoughts, I share them every day here at Out of the Wildernesss, posting faithfully at 1pm central. If you’d like to get notified of new posts, sign up with your email for a daily reminder…
Yes. The answer is yes. You have to be a little bit crazy and a lot bit dedicated to lace up your running shoes before the sun is even up past the horizon. Hello there! My name is Ben and I have a lot of affection for triathlons. Am I insane yet? I don’t know. Triathlons, of course, are races that include three disciplines: Swimming (splash, splash), Cycling (vroom, vroom), and Running (boing, boing).
Triathlons, just like any sport, require dedication (or insanity?). Some might call it an addiction and my personal definition of that word came about many years ago when I lived in a four-season state. Winter was bearing down on the city and even in single digit temperatures, a few co-workers still went outside to smoke. This is when I realized that if you go outside in freezing weather to do something, you’re an addict. And it’s not a wholly bad thing. Your addiction could be shooting hoops, shopping, walking the dogs, or any other thing you’d do even in sub-freezing temperatures (or if you’re in Florida, 139° weather).
Here’s an example of insane (or dedicated?) athletes: Waking up when it’s still dark outside from the night before to meet other crazies at a local track to run intervals! I’ll admit I’ve done this twice but…. I can quit whenever I want….
I don’t need an intervention… yet. I’m pretty addicted to triathlons and because of that, I do things I don’t want to do. One of those things was getting out of a perfectly comfortable bed to try this interval running for the second time. As I moseyed around getting my stuff ready, I was secretly thinking of ways I could back out.
No one even knows I’m going so they won’t know if I don’t go.
This isn’t even a race, it’s just practice.
I can run later in the day on my own.
I was already up and there’s some accountability with the triathlon group I’m in (because they have such an inspiring amount of dedication (or is it that they’re all insane?)) so I went to the track and I’m glad I did. Performance aside, I was so encouraged by the leaders and runners and that’s a lesson in itself. By placing yourself in the presence of like-minded people who are pursuing goals within the sport, some of their passion, skills, and insight rubs off on you. Or maybe some of your excitement and knowledge rubs off on them.
There are two benefits of doing things we don’t like. One, health and wellness. We get a good day’s workout in. But there are the races, too. Competing with peers and/or getting demolished by people half or twice our age is part of the whole amazing experience and a race is the way to celebrate all the training. Like a gallery showing for a painter. A World Series game for a baseball player. Dinner for a passionate chef.
And just like a beautiful painting, a baseball game, a dinner… there will be another triathlon race where you can challenge yourself again to find out how you’ve improved as a swimmer (less splash, splash), cyclist (stronger vroom, vroom), and runner (quicker boing, boing).
Out of the Wilderness 