Grab Bag: Butler serves Warriors well, Gone Deebo Gone, Gravity defying dunks, and two of the most visually beautiful movies I have seen!

Howdy all! It's been a bit since I last posted a Grab Bag, and a few things have occurred, none of the political stuff you will read here- This is a happy, fun zone! As usual, I'm going to mix the Sportsball stuff and then bring in the entertainment side ( as a reward to the non sports fans who are indulging me!). So lets jump right in! NBA Had it's All-Star Game Week here in San Francisco, a first, so a big deal for the city. To make things even more cray-cray in the City by the Bay, it was also the same weekend as the largest Chinese New Years Parade in the US. With the shockingly gorgeous weather this time of year, the city was packed with visitors, and a great economic boost to the city as well. The game itself was cute. This year, the NBA decided to break the All-Stars into for different teams, two games, with the 3rd game deciding the "winner". I did find this concept more engaging, and of course Steph Curry was an awesome ambassador for his home where the Golden State Warriors play, as the NBA focussed on local talent to highlight the entertainment portion. Seeing Oakland's En Vogue come out and sing their classic hit, "Free Your Mind" during halftime, nearly brought down the roof at Chase Center! A definite highlight for me! Forgot the final score, forgot who won, whole point was for the players and fans to have a good time, and I think the NBA and San Francisco scored in that arena!

Oh, one of the MOST entertaining events during All-Star Weekend is the "dunk contest", and Mac McClung came in as the winner of the last two dunk contests, and looking to three-peat. Once again, Mac in his three rounds, was defying gravity (snuck that in there!) and dancing with a potential trip to the hospital. So did he complete the trifecta? Any broken bones? All I will say is on Mac's first attempt, a CAR was involved!! Even for the non-sports ball fan, the video below is a a must see, as Mac throw the laws of physics into the San Francisco Bay! (I wonder how many times y'all will say to yourselves, "that boy is crazy!") ?

The announcers commentary made this event even more fun!

Moving on, there was the first Super Bowl I have not watched in a long time, which had the Philadelphia Eagles thwarting the Kansas City Chiefs goal of a three-peat, winning the game 40-22. Kendrick Lamar put on a rather good halftime show (Drake got dragged to filth with some of those lyrics!). And that's a wrap on the 2024 NFL season.

In tennis, the big news is that world #1 champion Jannik Sinner was officially suspended for three months for a doping case from over a year ago. He will be back in time for the French Open. A very complicated case, but Jannik took responsibility for himself and his team when the announcement of the suspension came down. I have a link to the story below. https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/43854993/no-1-jannik-sinner-gets-3-month-ban-doping-settlement

In San Francisco 49er's news, what I feared what could happen did, as the 49ers honored wide receiver Deebo Samuel's request and was traded to the Washington Commandeers for a 5th round draft choice in this years upcoming draft. Deebo was easily one of my favorite players...when he was drafted by the Niners, and ESPN showed his his college clips, I knew immediately that he was going to be the great player that he turned out to be. Alas, Deebo felt it was time for a change of scenery, after a sub-par 2024 season, and the Niners granted his wish. He will be missed the 49er Faithful! Oh, and free agency opens up in the next few days, so more changes on the horizon for the 49ers.

NBA news we find that three All Star players are done for the rest of the season due to injury: Joel Emblid-Philly 76ers,-knee, Wembanyama- San Antonio Spurs, right shoulder injury, and Irving, Dallas Mavericks, ACL tear. That last one with Irving, coming right after the Mavericks traded super star Luka Doncic to the LA Lakers, was the vinegar on top off the salt wound that Mavericks fans are having to endure, leading some to say that the Dallas Mavericks organization is basically a "full-blown disaster movie", and I have to say I agree with that sentiment!

Well, they did it. The Golden State Warriors DID trade for Miami's Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline last month, which I stated I had some concerned about in my last post. So, how is it going after 12 games? The Dubs are 10-2 (should've been 11-1!), since Butler joined the team, which now seems totally reinvigorated and have gone from 10th place in the Western Conference playoff standings to 6th (7 thru 10 gets you into the "play-in", meaning extra games for those teams, while 1 thru 6th gets extra rest time), with about 20 games to play. Suffice to say, this might be one of the best trades the Dubs have made, as Butler brings an extra set of his veteran skills, and is plugging up leaks in the Dubs over game (Butler KNOWS how to draw a foul and get to the free throw line, where the Dubs were at the bottom of the pack before the trade, now in the top 10 on free throws!). Butler on the team also allows some of the offensive pressure off of Steph Curry, on on Steph's favorite day, February 27th, he popped off and scored 56 points against the Magic in Orlando! It is the third time in Curry's career that he has scored 50 or more points on that day! I'm so glad to be wrong about something, so let me say welcome to the Golden State Warriors, Jimmy "Buckets" Butler!

F1: The new season starts in a couple of weeks in Melbourne (My F1 primer should be ready by next week!), but on Friday March 7th, Netflix's seventh season of "Drive to Survive" debuts, covering a very wild 2024 season. This is the show (along with an F1 motorsports pal) that got me into F1 racing, and it has more drama than a full season of Rupaul's Drag Race! Very accessible to non F1 fans who are curious about this sport!

Movie Reviews: Yes, the Oscars happened, and it was not a good night for me, as Anora took home five statues- not a fan of this film, was pulling for Conclave (Wicked wasn't going to get the biggies this year, Part 2 should rectify that next year!). So, meh.

The gothic horror remake of "Nosferatu" surprised the heck out of me! I was not expecting to be drawn into this vampire story, but my goodness, even as long as it is, the acting and storytelling were so compelling, and the director definitely surprised me on his choices, with the cinematography being the big winner here! Much like one characters trip up to Count Olaf's castle, I felt like I was having a fever dream (nightmare). Nosferatu definitely earned it's nominations this awards season, and I do highly recommend it...you will be hypnotized! Succumb to the darkness! Now showing on Peacock.

My other film I want to highly recommend is "Flow", which won the Best Animated Film at the Oscars. I had seen all the other nominees (two of them were in my Best of 2024 films list!), and only saw this after the Oscars, and I can confidently say that this flick from the country of Latvia deserved the win! It is currently my favorite film I've seen in 2025, and will be high on the list by years end. I was absolutely enthralled, enchanted, curious, amused, and mesmerized by the artistry and the story of this cat's journey after a flood occurs that sets the story in motion. The animals do not talk, they make animal sounds and movements to communicate with each other and the audience. The music score is perfect! By the end of the film, I was a happy tears sopping mess after watching such a beautiful story; I suspect you might be as well! Now airing on MAX/HBO.

That's all for now: I will close out with this: Due to the egg shortage, people are now ordering live chickens to be delivered or rented. Will this answer the age old question: Which came first? The live chicken or the eggs you ordered from Amazon? :)