The NBA playoffs started already?

The NBA is already into the playoffs? I had no idea. In fact, I had to check my phone to confirm it. I can’t put a finger on the reason I stopped watching but I should also say I’m a sporty guy. I watch football, I play sports when I have the chance, and I’m generally very competitive. So it was a little surprising that I hadn’t really even heard that the playoffs started. I don’t really care, though. The NBA lost me along the way somewhere. I remember watching the Sacramento Kings back in the Chris Webber era. What a fun team that was, with Jason Williams, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, and others. Good times.

Since then, and it’s been about 20 years I guess, teams consistently score well into the 100s and I have no interest in that. I guess I like defense… even if it’s just a tiny bit of effort to keep teams from scoring every time they have the ball. It’s also gotten political, which I have no interest in. On top of that, there are a lot of fights and you might say, “But Ben, hockey has fights and it doesn’t bother you.” You’re right. It doesn’t. But in my defense, I barely watch hockey except for the playoffs and that’s only when the Nashville Predators make it to the playoffs. In other words, I barely watch hockey even in the playoffs.

It might just be my personality. I’ll admit I didn’t even like watching Michael Jordan play in the 90s. It wasn’t till he retired that I came around to admitting he’s the best basketball player of all time (all along I knew he was, I guess it just bothered me that he was SO good). It also bothered me that the Kings could never beat the Lakers. Ugh, they had such talent, too!

I’m a little surprised that I had no idea playoffs had started in the NBA. Even though I don’t watch, I usually find out about sports stuff just from an enjoyment of sports in general. But I’m also not upset about not knowing. Kind of like baseball. Both those sports (on the professional level) can just go away. Then we can all just enjoy football as America’s true pastime! 🙂

-Out of the Wilderness

Budweiser Commercial to Make You Forget About Trans-Women

This Bud’s for you, unless you identify as a they/them, in which case this Bud’s for… thee? Thus? Y’all? No one knows what to call anyone anymore but one thing’s for sure, Anheuser-Busch really stepped in some clydesdale horse sh#% when famous transwoman Dylan Mulvaney announced that Bud Light made a can with a Dylan face on it. The can isn’t available to the public, it was just a commemorative one-off to help Dylan celebrate the 365th day as a woman. Meanwhile, actual women have been women for their entire lives… where’s their special can, Bud!?

Someone will probably get canned for this and I don’t mean their face on a beer can. Nor do I mean “in the can” like these ironic Bud Light ads that haven’t aged well. Of course, CEO Brendan Whitworth won’t lose his job because apparently top execs didn’t know about anything about it! Someone in lower level marketing made the mistake. Riiiiiiiiiight. OK. In other words, people who make six figures at Anheuser-Busch don’t want to make no figures at Anheuser-Busch so they’re playing dumb. Real dumb.

I guess those high level managers really DO care because there’s already a new ad out calling attention to Budweiser’s old-fashioned roots and, of course, there’s a clydesdale horse to make us feel all warm and fuzzy and not transphobic.

As as stand-alone ad, nothing’s wrong with it. I love horses and this is a beautiful spot with gorgeous backdrops. But releasing it within weeks of the Dylan disaster and after Bud Light reportedly lost a trillion billion dollars seems like a beggar begging for mercy, groveling at the feet of customers they apparently underestimated. I don’t think this commercial (which also probably cost a few hundred thousand) will do anything to erase the memory of Dylan’s face on their can. As it’s often said about things we wish we never saw, “We can’t unsee that.”

Bud Light isn’t losing my business because I didn’t buy their product to begin with. So I don’t have a dog in the fight but it’ll be interesting to hear updates about this story as it continues to unfold. I’m guessing there might be a few sacrificial martyrs adding their resumes to LinkedIn soon.

I wonder how this is affecting Bud Light seltzer sales, too, after Bud released this colorful commercial a while back. Not to mention, they had one of the better Super Bowl commercials with Top Gun actor Miles Teller.

Horses are beautiful creatures so here are a few favorite photos from my travels around the country. And for anyone who just got fired from Budweiser, you’ve got plenty of time on your hands to check out more horses and other animals in my Wildlife Gallery!

-Out of the Wilderness

The KIA Seltos Commercial – The Actress, Vaping Moms, and More!

Besides the fact that KIA’s upgraded logo isn’t symmetrical, as pointed out here, and I haven’t found an explanation why, they DO have nice-looking vehicles. But what’s with the crooked ‘A’, huh? TELL US NOW, KIA!

One of KIA’S latest ads is for the compact SUV model called Seltos. Take a look at the ad, named “Drop Off,” then scroll down for more info.

The Daughter. Playing the part of daughter and school-dropper-offer is actress and fashion designer Ciara Riley Wilson. You might recognize her from shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Quantum Leap, or the Netflix show Freeridge. It appears she’s on the way up, so let’s all cheer her on! Check out more of her accomplishments and projects on her Instagram: @CiaraRileyWilson.

The School. Because of the twist in the commercial, it’s obvious the Dad must be taking college courses. Or IS IT so obvious? They drive up to a school called “North Mount University,” which my research says doesn’t exist at all. My theory is the Dad is lying about needing to go back to college so he can get out of chauffeuring his spoiled daughter around to her keggers and running errands for his wife who just stays home vaping all day. It’s just a theory.

Do you like the twist in the commercial? In all seriousness (moms who like to vape, aside), I enjoyed the ad and the color of the KIA is pretty nice! Chime in below with your thoughts…

-Out of the Wilderness

Nothing could make me like NIKE less

It’s a fact that a talented high school kid shaved a Nike swoosh in my haircut when I was a freshman in high school and it was completely on purpose. But things got really real when my brother and I were joking (but half-heartedly serious) about getting Nike tattoos in college. Thank the Lord we didn’t! I did, however, make other questionable decisions in college– practically incinerating my hair to make it blond like Justin Timberlake and Lance in the *NSYNC era– that haven’t aged well.

My blond hair is long gone and another thing that’s long gone? Any fond feelings I had of Nike. I should’ve cut them off completely when they were caught exploiting children for labor in the manufacturing of their products.

But then they completely lost me around 2014 when they blindsided Florida State fans with a lame explanation for changing the school logo. I’ll never get over that. Since then, I don’t even like my alma mater, Florida State. Talk about ruining tradition, the exact opposite of the message they were promoting back then!

Nike’s latest move is not going over well with a lot of people. Kind of like Hershey’s hiring a man to promote women’s history month, Nike has sponsored a trans-woman to promote their women’s athletic wear. Which idiotic Oregonian thought that would be a good idea!? Whoever that person is (man, woman, they, them, he, she, we, us, 2SLGBITMD+ person) should, at the very least, be demoted if not fired. But why fire them? Well, they failed to realize there are humans out there who would be perfect for promoting women’s athletic clothes. They’re called WOMEN!! That advice was free, Nike.

Maybe Nike was just looking for another way to make more money by using the trans-woman’s fame? Here’s the promo causing a stir…

The video is giving off serious Richard Simmons vibes but I can’t recall Nike ever sponsoring Mr. Simmons, who was so likable unlike Dylan Mulvaney, who is just plain embarrassing in this video. Such a mockery of women. It’s also the picture perfect dose of irony that Nike posted a pic on their “Nike Women” Instagram promoting women in sports, you know… equality, fairness, climate change (huh?). In part, the post said this…

“Nike exists to champion athletes and sport.”

…athletes and sport? Nike, NOTHING in Dylan’s video fits your post. Well, first of all he’s not a woman. He’s not an athlete. And he knows nothing about sports. It’s a man in a bra! Haha, I can’t even type this without shaking my head in disbelief.

Top level female athletes are speaking out, too. They’re pretty ticked off about Nike using a biological man to advance the cause of women’s sports. Truthfully, it’s something we used to just see on Saturday Night Live or something more current, The Babylon Bee. We’re living in crazy times, folks.

Women, does Dylan wearing clothes meant for you make you want to buy more of those clothes? Chime in below, let me know if I’m the crazy one.

-Out of the Wilderness

Mary and Mary Run From the Tomb

There’s a post I’ve written that gets a lot more views around Easter. Makes sense because it’s called How far Peter ran to the tomb of Jesus. I won’t spoil it, just click and you’ll find out it’s not a 5K and I bet he and John didn’t embarrass themselves like I did in a recent sprint triathlon.

How I probably looked during my sprint triathlon.

This past Easter, though, the pastor was preaching about Jesus being crucified and buried. That was on a Friday. On Sunday, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb to mourn. You probably know the story that they found the tomb empty. Well, guess what happened after that? They ran back to tell the disciples. How did I miss that when I was writing about Peter’s run?

So full credit goes to Mary and Mary for running the very first Jesus the Risen 1K. I probably focused on Peter (and John) because they’re guys and I’m a guy so it’s natural to imagine myself in their situation. However, as is often the case in life and in the Bible, women usually have “been there, done that” when it comes to things it might take guys a bit more time to understand, grasp, or believe.

Mary and Mary, I salute you as the first women to run between the tomb and the upper room or that general area.

Are there other stories in the Bible where women are a step ahead of the men? Share below and I’ll see you tomorrow…

-Out of the Wilderness