So I guess I kind of have to talk about this Odell Beckham Jr. trade, huh? As a lifelong Giants fan, I’m pretty confused quite frankly. Not so much as to why we got rid of Beckham, but rather the timing. Why didn’t we do it before signing him to a huge contract, or why do we still have Eli Manning on the roster? Clearly, the Giants went all-in last year on a “win now” mentality and it blew up in their face. I can’t play couch-chair GM, but this leaves me wondering what the hell is next? How can any Giants fan trust what comes out of Gettleman’s mouth next after he went back on his word? Do the Giants draft Dwayne Haskins at 6? Or do we trade picks for Josh Rosen and then draft a D-end at 6 and a cornerback/right tackle at 17? As has been the case for several New York-based teams in the last few years… Who knows?
Here’s a great article on the status of the Giants and Browns pre and post trade. Not looking good for the G-Men right now.
That said, Odell Beckham Jr. is probably the best athlete I have ever witnessed in real-life. I was sitting about 40 feet away from “The Catch” in the third row. I’m blurry, but somewhere in that red squiqqly I rigged up on PowerPoint. Hire me.
I’ll miss your freak athleticism Odell. Excited for the ridiculous touchdown dances we will witness between OBJ, Baker Mayfield, and Jarivs “Juice” Landry.
Anyway, back to our regular scheduled programming for this week.
What I’m Reading
The Smartest Guys in the Room – by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
I always heard about “Enron,” but never knew what the hell it was. I thought it had something to do with the ’08 financial crisis, or Wall Street in some way (btw, they were an energy-trading and utilities company that perpetuated one of the biggest accounting frauds in U.S. history in 2001 – thanks wikipedia). In the past I stayed away from the politics or Wall Street genres because it’s all so confusing and technical. But my friend Brian recommended this to me a while back and I wanted a new genre to read so I decided to dive into it. It’s a shocking story about modern coporate corruption and just how easy it is to manipulate financials and make executives boatloads of money. They drove up utility prices during the California energy crisis at the expense of the average American. They made underhanded dealings in order to make money at any cost and keep their stock price high. There’s also a documentary on it, which I should have watched before I bought the 400 page book, whoops. But if you liked Too Big to Fail, which also has a much less time-consuming documentary available, this book is very similar in how it is written in a story form which makes it super easy for the average person to understand.
Movie I’m Crying Over
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Wow. All I can suggest is to go into this movie without researching it. Just watch it. It was unbelievable and I’m surprised it’s not more well-known. It should honestly win every award. Emotional, educational, and phenomenal acting. On Netflix.
Tea I’m Drinking
Green tea really has never really been cup of tea (HA! nice one) but I do like to change it up every now and then. I also love kombucha but each bottle sets me back at least $4 which adds up.
I always like trying out new teas, so I picked up this Green Tea Kombucha from Yogi at the grocery store, and it actually tastes great. I learned the secret ingredient is the passion fruit and plum flavoring. Really good caffiene and probiotic 1-2 punch.
IMPORTANT
The L.A. Times’ Official Breakfast Cereal Power Rankings: Part 1
I’m willing to accept arguments about top 5 cereals, and I can go on for days, but Cinnamon Toast Crunch is the unanimous #1. It’s Mariano Rivera to the Hall of Fame. There is no debate.
This chart has some very questionable plots though. First off, Cookie Crisp and Crunch Berries are landmark cereals, they should not be anywhere close to the bottom. And secondly, what the hell is Cracklin’ Oat Bran? You do not belong on a list with the greats. Know your role.
Things I’m Looking to Test Out
- Garmin Watch
- I have the Polar M400 right now, which has been great for fitness tracking but it’s on its last legs. I’m going to be doing a half marathon, full marathon, and possibly triathlon this year so I want to get a new GPS running watch that I can also track swimming and biking with. If anyone has good recommendatons let me know.
- Whoop Bracelet or Oura Ring
- In the same light, I’ve been hearing more and more about sleep tracking wearables such as Whoop and the Oura Ring. Whoop is a bracelet that tracks your sleep and lets you know how ready you are for the next day, i.e. what kind of training load you can handle. It’s used by a lot of pro athletes and sports teams and makes a huge difference in performance. The Oura Ring is a bit more expensive at $300 but I think I’d rather wear a ring than a bracelet. Still doing a lot of research so more to come on these
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Oura ring -
Matt Dellavedova wearing the Whoop bracelet. *Later banned from wearing it during games
- Kettlebell Kitchen or another meal delivery service
- I’ve been spending way too much money on lunches. If you want to eat healthy in NYC, you have to be willing to spend the $12-15 on a daily lunch for the most part. I really should just meal prep for the week but that’s so boring. I’ve been looking into Kettlebell Kitchen, a meal delivery service that brings you 1-2 meals per day (they deliver in bulk twice a week). You can choose what kind of diet you’d like to follow – Keto, Vegetarian, Paleo, Fat-Burning, Endurance-based, etc.
- Maffetone Method
- I first read about this in Natural Born Heroes, Christopher McDougal’s follow up to Born to Run. It’s essentially a marathon, or endurance plan, based on low heart rate training. It trains your body to burn more stored fat for energy (by eating more nuts, avocados, butter, cheese, olive oil and other fat-based foods), and also enables you to run, bike, or perform other activities faster over time (weeks and months), all while remaining at the same heart rate. Translation – run faster at the same level of effort
Good Reads Across the Internet
- Uniqlo is Gap for Millennials – I love Uniqlo. And I am the typical millennial – moving from The Gap to buying almost all of my staples (jeans, socks, oxfords) from Uniqlo. “Millennial shoppers entered a job market with fewer jobs, while carrying more student debt, which limited how much money many of them could spend on clothes. (They also entered a workforce that was more amenable than ever to casual attire; where a suit was once called for, chinos and a button-down—or jeans and a hoodie—now suffice.) “
-KB