It’s an annual tradition unlike any other – the Patriots win the Super Bowl, and a parade takes place on Boylston and Tremont Streets in downtown Boston.
Linebacker Elandon Roberts hoists a Lombardi trophy. (I took this photo! #humblebrag)
As the last duck boat goes by, it takes with it the last gasp of football season. Daydreams begin of crisp fall afternoons and evenings, where the local gridiron heroes return to woo us once more spring football?
That’s right folks, this past weekend a brand new professional football league took the nation by storm. The Alliance of American Football began its inaugural season on Saturday night with a literal bang:
The hit that San Diego Fleet QB Mike Bercovici received in San Antonio likely did enough to keep Americans interested in a product that is definitively much better than the absence of football altogether.
Could it even be more captivating than the NBA? Initial results are intriguing:
Sources: In its debut night last night, @theaaf beat the NBA on ABC in head-to-head overnight ratings:
Is this football going to be as high quality as the NFL product we’ve come to know and love each weekend? Smart money says absolutely not.
Professional football, however, is a sport that pulls its best athletes from 130 Division 1 FBS and 125 Division 1-AA NCAA programs – programs who regularly produce hundreds of alums who never sniff a minute of professional action on the gridiron.
Logic shows that there’s definitely room in this country for a developmental league – one that gives players a second chance at proving they belong at the pro level. One Pro Football Hall of Famer hopes it succeeds:
Congrats to @TheAAF on a successful – well received – & entertaining opening night! It was fun being a part & look forward to playing a role moving forward… players need this league to get a 2nd chance or show ppl they have what it takes!! #ImThePosterBoyForLeagueslikeThis
A funny thing happened to me today while walking along the Breakheart Reservation. My Podcast, Business Wars, ended. I grabbed my phone and turned on the Podcast Addict app and hit refresh. A little notification appeared above the MIPPAcast logo. I added it to my playlist and continued my walk.
Listening to myself, and others chat about MIPPAchat, made me chuckle…but it also made me think. How lucky are we to live in the age of podcasts? It’s not just because our FF league produces such great content, but it is also because of the options we have for our listening pleasure.
I’ve driven to Houlton, Maine on numerous occasions. It is way up County on the Canadian border. It is basically the end of I-95 and in the midst of potato country. Along the lonely highway, there are no cell phone towers and radio reception is bleak. Satellite might work, but who pays for that, right! On my most recent journey up that way, I didn’t worry. I pulled over in Bangor and downloaded a few episodes of my favorite cast…and then I went north again. A similar scenario popped up while White Water Rafting with Eric Cyphers. I was about to go off grid, so I downloaded Serial and continued my trip. Two summers ago, I drove to Key West. Podcasts accompanied my journey.
I love TV. I am a huge fan of blogs. I think that Podcasts are the best form of media today and I believe nothing supports the concept of individual freedom more than a man and his podcast playlist. In the middle of the September, in 2015, I posted an innocent enough query about podcasts:
My first step into the podcasting world.
Of all the suggestions that day, it was Lore that resonated the most. It is a short episode podcast where the host explores the origins of folklore stories. He is from the north shore and there are definitely more New England stories on the show. One of my favorites dealt with HH Holmes.
Shortly after finding Lore, I discovered the Skeptics Guide to the Universe. I wanted to find a podcast to help me develop my conspiracy class further and this weekly science and critical thinking based podcast struck a chord with me. I ended up kind of binge-listening to the 700+ episodes. It only took me about 3.5 years to catch up. I am actually a Patreon supporter of the SGU.
lofAn old attempt at video; it doesn’t do the show justice.
Lore and the Skeptics Guide are among my favorites, but I’ve tried out many others:
Criminal – Short episodes, these usually focus on obscure crimes scattered across the US. Some are unsolved mysteries, some are amazing stories of redemption, and others are more forensic in nature. https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-15-hes-neutral
Small Town Murder – I just started to listen to two comedians retelling the horrific murders that occur in America’s smallest towns. Every episode begins with a disclaimer…if you’ve got a weak stomach and don’t think humor and murder go together, just skip this one.
Hub History – Another new one for me. It is short episodes that deal with untold stories of Boston’s past. They also have a “this week in Boston” segment.
I could go on and on, but its getting late. I have about 5-6 different podcasts queue’d up on my podcast app. They aren’t all the same type of content, but they are all me. It is amazing that I can so easily put together hours of free entertainment and make them available to me 24 hours a day anywhere across the world. I literally have listened to the SGU in four continents and over 20 countries. While the internet is a gateway to these podcasts, the casts themselves have revolutionized the way we tell stories, the way we hear the news, and the way we educate ourselves.
The MIPPAcast hasn’t yet become the powerful multi-national conglomerate that it is destined to become, but it has allowed me to connect with my friends in an exciting new platform. I wish I found podcasts earlier than 2015, but I am glad I eventually made the leap.
What are your favorite podcasts? What do you think of mine? Leave some comments below:
I believe it was Aesop Rock, on his side project with Tobacco, that first said, “A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This edition of A MIPPA Retrospective dives deep into the hairy subject of the names, scents, and stories associated with our fine divisions. It isn’t for the faint-hearted…so read with caution.
The MIPPA Fantasy Football League is a 14 team keeper league with two divisions; Mints and Sundowner. Most of our readers are probably aware that these divisional names come straight out of Canada.
A Canadian Classic.
Many moons ago, a group of friends embarked on a journey to watch the Patriots play the Buffalo Bills. This group stayed in Niagara Falls to save a little money and to gamble a bit too. While driving down Lundy’s Lane, the group came across a fine establishment for Gentlemen. This place was called Mints:
Mints bills itself as Niagara’s Premier Gentlemen’s Club. It is perfect for VIP Parties and provides bottle service. They feature Niagara’s Most Beautiful Women in an upscale and relaxing setting. They currently are offering a $5.00 discount on Friday and Saturday evenings if you bring their web coupon with you to the door.
Mints is a perfect reason to not trust mainstream media. The place is a shit hole. It was the first day we walked in and I am positive it is today. (Bizzy, they have an upstairs called, Peppermints….its all dudes) The women are adequate when they are on stage. It is everything s stereo-typical strip club should be. The lights are low (as to obsure the reality of the “talent”) and the music is loud. The beers come in buckets and the girls let you fuckit…well, some do…and some are enterprising young entrepreneurs. Mints has a large center stage and a VIP Private Dance section.
Quick Story #1: Billy’s Blow Job – One night at Mints, Billy comes to the crew with a smile from ear to ear. He just was propositioned by a Mints girl. She offered to give him a blow job for like $200.00. I can’t remember if he paid, but I can remember Jon informing Billy the same girl propositioned him for $50.00.
When we first stumbled on to Mints, it was a hopping place. There were tons of girls and the atmosphere was fun. I remember offering to marry one of the waitresses. My pitch was that I had available credit. We also stumbled upon a Miss Nude Canada pageant once. The crowds, the last few times, were gone and so were the girls.
The other division is named, Sundowner. It too is named after a night club:
The Downer, as they seem to be billing themselves these days, is Niagara’s Best Gentleman Club (sic). It is further down Lundy’s Lane and is much larger than Mints. The scale between the two clubs can be seen in the somewhat NSFW video promotion:
The Sundowner has a center stage and a side stage. There is also a downstairs stage for when it is extra busy. They have three different VIP Private Dance sections.
Quick Story #2: I was there one night getting a dance. The dancer stopped, and chatted with me about how disgusting the girl a few spots down from me was because she was having sex with some guy, and then my dancer continued the lap dance. When she finished, I stood to pay her and looked over towards the fornication chamber…and saw my buddy Patrick, lol. He denies he had sex.
Throughout the years, many of us have seen great changes in the Niagara nightclub scene. Some of the entertainers have even recognized us on subsequent visits. The Mints/Sundowner debate has never really taken off because of how special both are to many of us (Sundowner was a table name at one MIPPA member’s wedding). We, collectively, have spent thousands of dollars sharing good times with friends at these places.
I have never considered calculating which division has fared better in our league (I assume its the Sundowner), but I have always gotten a little chuckle out of seeing those names in print:
Regular Season results
I am not sure if I will ever make it back to my old stomping grounds. I hope too, for nostalgic reasons, and because its fun. I never mentioned to either club that we’ve used their names in our league out of concern for my own safety. The sad truth is that the two clubs are owned by different groups. I think it is the Russian Mafia that owns Mints. They run an illegal taxi service from their curb too. (Don’t ask to go to Sundowner in one of those cabs). The Downer was owned by Zelimir Rudan:
This guy is dead!
He was Serbian, or Croatian, but not necessarily a mafia guy. Rudan owned a ton of shit around Niagara (including the golf course in that video) and was considered a community leader and respected businessman. I couldn’t find any statement exonerating the Russian mafia from his death.
The times have changed on the MIPPA landscape. Most of the guys have wives and children. Their free time is limited and they don’t want to visit shitty Vegas by the Falls. The extra money they have isn’t going to Texas Hold ’em or girls who let you hold em. For those without kids, most lived too far away or are too cheap to get passports. The classic appeal for the Canadian ballet just isn’t there anymore.
There has even been MIPPAcast talk of disbanding the divisions (It might have been at the owner’s meeting). I hope that doesn’t happen. The argument is that the divisions are stacked, making the league have less parity than it should. If the divisions disappear in function, I hope they survive nominally. I’d hate to forget about all of the good times in Canada. I hope we make it back one day to do the Lundy Lane 500.
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