Is cheering AGAINST the U.S. Women’s soccer team my patriotic duty?

After the U.S. women’s final group stage World Cup game against Portugal, it’s just too easy to point out how Megan Rapinoe adds nothing to the team anymore. Errant passes, baffling miscues, I won’t even get into that because I’m sure plenty of other people will talk about it today. Today, the day the team *almost* lost, just for the sake of a few inches, to Portugal which would’ve knocked the U.S. out of the World Cup altogether. No one played very well, even golden child Sophie Smith (although I love her in this Nike commercial). What I want to confess here today is how I know I should feel guilty for cheering against my home country’s team but that’s exactly what I’ve been doing… and I feel no guilt.

For my entire life, patriotism in sports meant cheering for, standing with, supporting whatever team was representing the U.S. It was us against the world. It’s always been easy whether it was the Olympics, Little League World Series, World Cups, basketball, etc. But this particular women’s World Cup just isn’t the same. It’s almost as if being patriotic is compelling me to root for whoever is opposing this women’s team.

I’ve always loved the underdogs. That might be another aspect to my disdain for this team. The media has built up the women’s team so much, with comments like “Their game against Vietnam was a glorified practice session,” and the constant barrage of Rapinoe this, Rapinoe that, is making me nauseous.

Could it be our patriotic duty to acknowledge that they need, and it seems to be a desperate need, to be humbled? The way they walk on the field pre-game with their expensive Nike suits and colored glasses, cocky as the king of spades. They way the press praises them. The reputation they cling to. It’s all gross.

Alabama football. Kansas City Chiefs. The Lakers. U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. I want them all to lose.

When Portugal just barely missed scoring in stoppage time of this morning’s game, it was such a let-down. What a shocker it would’ve been to take out the two-time defending World Cup champions with their arrogance and pride. But I guess the silver lining now is that the U.S. moves on and I’ll have another chance to show my patriotism by cheering for whoever the next team to play them is… Sweden? Are you ready?

-Out of the Wilderness

Loathe Nike, but love the World Cup horror commercial starring Sophia Smith

At the time of this post, U.S. soccer player Sophia Smith has scored half of the goals for the team during the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Casting her as the star of this short horror film makes a lot of sense, especially if you’re a team playing against her and the United States.

I love a good pun. Although, let’s be honest… Lindsey Horan is just as big of a threat, scoring the other half of the goals for the team so far. That header in the game against the Netherlands was killer. I’m sure she’d be pleased to beat you, too.

That GIF right there is Scott Sterling. Nothing to do with women’s soccer but he’s always welcome on this blog! So back to the Nike commercial. I can’t stand Nike… for reasons I’ll try hard to resist sharing as this post goes on. But the commercial is pretty great. It’s a 1980s-style horror mashed up with Jordan Peele type tension. The way she smiles throughout the ad…

…then how her smile turns sinister is the stuff nightmares are made of. In fact, her smile in this ad is better than the hour-and-a-half movie named for that very thing, Smile (review here). But there’s only one other unsuspecting commercial that has smiles more scary than Sophia. It’s from Publix and it wasn’t on purpose. Yeah, didn’t see that coming did you? Check out this Thanksgiving commercial that will haunt you from now till you carve your next turkey.

The horror genre is popular in commercials whether it’s tech — this current Samsung flip phone commercial — or insurance, this GEICO ad from a few years ago. Where does Nike’s commercial land on your top 10 favorite scary commercials? I post every day at 1pm central so I’ll see y’all tomorrow!

-Out of the Wilderness

Shaquille O’Neal Does This, Too??

I was just a teenager when the guy who had feet twice the size of mine became famous on the basketball court. You also might remember him for breaking backboards or missing all the foul shots. But did you know Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t just shooting basketballs in the 90s? He was also shooting music videos. From hand checks on the court to mic checks in the studio, here’s Shaq rapping in a song from the early 90s called “What’s Up Doc? (Can We Rock)”…

But wait, there’s more… When I opened up Spotify to find that song, I discovered Shaq is STILL making music! Gosh, is there anything he isn’t involved in these days? We all know he shows up in commercials weekly and besides that success, he’s a successful businessman. But back to the music, oh before we get to the new stuff, here he is alongside the King of Pop in “2 Bad,” circa 1995.

He’s connected to all the famous Michael’s, huh? Maybe he should sign on to endorse Michael’s, the craft store. 🙃 Ok, now for the newer music. It’s kind of like rock/EDM type stuff and I like it. Here’s a track called “Bodies Freestyle”…

Check out more (he has multiple albums) under the name DIESEL. I knew he did music in the 90s but I was so surprised he’s still involved. Impressive and if I had kids I wouldn’t hate if they strived to “Be Like Mike” “Be Like Shaq”… Heck, I want to, too!

-Out of the Wilderness

Tom MacDonald “American Flags” – An Almost Perfect Music Video

Is there a more patriotic rapper than Tom MacDonald? Sure, there’s Kendrick Lamar with “XXX.” or Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” but the lyrics of those two are not necessarily pro-America or patriotic in the strict sense of the word. In 2023, it’s in-fashion to criticize the flag and what it represents but Tom MacDonald doesn’t seem to mind going against what’s considered socially acceptable these days. Just check out his new video “American Flags.”

There’s a lot to like in this video. I mean, is there anything more awesome than waving a flag on top of a military tank? I can’t think of a single thing. Tom (and Adam Calhoun) found a great location, too, with the mountainous background along with jets and fighter planes zipping by overhead. Except I kept wondering how they were able to get the military to sign off on that? But after analyzing the video, I’m almost totally sure most were added in the post edit. Maybe video creator Nova Rockafeller can confirm this? 🙂

The only slight mistake I found, because I’m a video editor by trade, is in one of the clips where a formation of jets are flying way off in the background. Check out the still frame below and notice how the jets behind the flag magically fly in front of the flag. The perspective doesn’t add up for the jets to fly in front like that.

Whether you like this video or not isn’t really an issue. Some of you love it. Some of you don’t. It could be that it’s rap music and you’re not a fan. Or maybe you don’t like what the lyrics are about. We all have our likes and dislikes. Nothing wrong with that! But it’ll be nice one day in the future when we can all stand behind the flag, unified even with our differences in lifestyle, politics, and theology. To call upon another new video about patriotism, I don’t think Jason Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” is helping to bridge divides (and in fact it might fan the flames of division), Tom is here promoting America in a less disruptive way.

I’ll wrap this up with a few of my favorite pictures of the Old Glory from camping around the country in my travel trailer. See y’all tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness

Tyler Childers “In Your Love” is NOT the gayest country music video ever!

American culture can really be a roller coaster and if you forget to pay attention you run the risk of offending somebody for any number of reasons. Country music is no different, just look at Jason Aldean’s latest video “Try That In A Small Town.” White people everywhere are offended on behalf of other races, so heroic. Well, it’s time for the gays to have a bit of the spotlight since they’re always overlooked and forgotten about. Wait, what month is it? I can’t ever remember if saying “gay” is disrespectful or we’re SUPPOSED to be saying it. But you won’t be able watch a brand new video from Tyler Childers and think about any other word. It’s pretty gay.

But is that the gayest country music video? Of course not. Some of my favorite people are gay so this is in no way a judgement of their lifestyle, think of it as more of a lighthearted look at music videos that could be seen as way gayer than the one we just watched. All in good fun, folks! You probably didn’t think there was a more gay country song, did you? And no, I’m not talking about Brantley Gilbert’s “Bottoms Up” (kinda gay if you think about the title and what gay men like to do behind closed doors… or during pride parades). Or any song from Kenny Chesney (rumors…and just rumors… are that he MIGHT think men’s tractors are sexy, they really turn him on). Let’s get to some real stuff, though.

Florida Georgia Line “Cruise” – Categorizing this one as homosexual might seem like a stretch given the lyrics are about relationships between men and women and how the hotness of the women make the men want to get in their lifted truck and speed through small towns. But the women in the video are so hot. Like, muy caliente hot. When’s the last time you saw a 10 walking around with a 6, ya know? Two men with a group of very hot women can only be one of two things: 1. They don’t know yet that they’re gay. 2. They’re fashion designers (gay). The guys in the video are not fashion designers. You do the math.

Dan + Shay “10,000 Hours” – Another telltale sign is a guy marrying a woman to hide his gayness. After watching this video, the first word that comes to mind: Soft. I get it that the guys love their wives dearly, but not even the straightest of straight guys wants to spend 10,000 hours listening to a woman talk about what she dreamed the night before. That’s the stuff a woman has female friends for. Well, female friends or soft, gay husbands.

Little Big Town “Girl Crush” – Along the same lines but not quite as lesbianish as Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” is Little Big Town singing “Girl Crush,” and the lead singer is NOT one of the two guys. Yep, a woman singing about a crush on a woman is textbook gay. Well, the layered lyrics aren’t exactly about that but on the surface… it’s gayer than a woman protesting Trump while sipping a cold Frothy Monkey coffee from a paper straw.

Of course, this is all written for a laugh. Just chuckle as if you have a crush on me, OK? I want to make clear that in no ways am I suggesting Dan, Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Little Big Town, Katy Perry, Tyler Childers, Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, Kenny Chesney, they, them, we, us, or anyone else is gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

-Out of the Wilderness