Casual Rambling
Casual Rambling
Casual Rambling
Casual Rambling
Jonah's blog on Medium, Casual Rambling, is the home for Jonah's takes on sports, wrestling, and entertainment. He's written over 100 pieces garnering over 20,000 views, and currently averaging 1,000 views per month. Some of Jonah's favorite pieces are below.
The Greatest 2nd Place Finish of All-Time
Oh yeah. I’m jumping straight into hyperbole. Best ever 2nd place finish. No debate.
Story always trumps performance. The narrative aspect of sports is the reason we watch, the reason we are so invested.
Watching NASCAR as a 7-year old, my rooting interests were simple. Jeff Gordon had flames on his car and they looked really freaking cool. For the next decade up until his retirement, I remained a fan of Gordon. Every year, another legend hangs it up. Gordon, Stewart, Dale Jr.
Much like when golf lost Tiger Woods, NASCAR has become a sport of young guns vs. veterans (I think we last did this storyline circa 2004). It takes years for a secondary American sport to find or regain its marketability. Woods sold himself, and frankly still does. Dale Jr. was an enigma, despite never being dominant or winning, he remained the most popular NASCAR driver for his entire career.
As Junior and Gordon fans have found themselves aimlessly lost in the proverbial fandom woods, wondering who will provide the resurgence in stock car racing, I can finally say look no further.
If only God may will it, let 2018 be NASCAR’s Year of the Bubba.
Chris Jericho gets IT
26 years of wrestling and you’d think a guy has done it all.
The first Undisputed champion, 9-time Intercontinental champion, the lead singer of his rock band, has a podcast, and is still a prominent feature on Monday Night Raw today.
In the so-dubbed New Era, Jericho’s reputation is predicated on his illustrious past that not a lot of WWE wrestlers have had time to build up yet. He is today’s champion of the midcard scene (pushing the next crop of main event guys). Jericho is infamous as the guy who’s trying to put over young talent and doing it moderately successfully. Here’s the how and why.
The Legend of Dave Campbell and Rex Hudler who Accomplished the Impossible
I remember playing the NBA 2K15 with a friend the day the demo was released. A girl walked by the television and questioned if she was watching a real basketball game.
The graphics, presentation, physics engines, and gameplay of sports titles like NBA 2K, FIFA, Madden, and MLB: The Show, are a display of technological magnificence. The dedication to crafting the modern day sports simulation is single to none when it comes to the major developers including EA Sports, 2K, and SIE San Diego, who create the franchises listed above.
It’s a thankless job. Outside of the ridiculous amount of money to be made. Every year a new game is demanded with new features being clamored for and gamers complaining about every aspect of the games’ mechanics and design. I’m one of those complainers, within reason of course, but I like to see these games continue to get better.
Which leads me to Dave Campbell and Rex Hudler, two of the most significant figures in sports gaming. The two former baseball players turned broadcasters, along with FOX Sports broadcaster Matt Vasgersian, accomplished what no other sports title had done before.
NNB
Neighborhood news bureau
NNB
Neighborhood news bureau
John Lewis talks to St. Petersburg
photo by Jonah King
Lewis speaks on the importance of voting, optimism in the face of fear, and endorses Charlie Crist
Civil rights is a 9-word problem: “Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, I Have a Dream.”
Those nine words are the universal American understanding of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s.
Another two words you may want to add to the list are John Lewis. You’ve still only breached the surface, but Lewis’s experiences and perspective speak volumes to the cold dark realities of racism and the peaceful combat against it in the civil rights era...
Community Grant Program to Up its Funding in 2017
BY DEVIN RODRIGUEZ, JONAH KING, ROBERT DARE AND SARA AL-MUTAWA, Neighborhood News Bureau
ST PETERSBURG — City officials announced a substantial increase in funding available for the businesses in the Midtown community in 2017 based on an increase in tax revenue and contributions.
For years, shuttered businesses littered south St. Petersburg and the Midtown district. Many of the buildings stand in disuse, including the Merriwether building, a historic landmark built in the 1920s...
Freelance
Freelance
Freelance
Freelance
photo by Jonah King
OLIVIA HOLT TAKES HER TALENTS TO SOUTH FLORIDA
(published on MAAF BOX)
Remember that moment when we collectively realized Taylor Swift wasn’t a country singer really ever? And just as we came to that conclusion, she blasted off a set of catchy pop tunes and took over the charts? Olivia Holt is right where Swift was at when that evolution occurred.
Holt combines authentic southern sweetness with a big city voice.
Olivia took the stage supported with a full band and a rush to the front of the stage from an excited crowd. Olivia played all the five songs from her EP, and did covers of current pop hits including: DNCE’s Cake by the Ocean, and Ellie Goulding’s Something in the Way You Move...
Why I Am Choosing Snapchat Over Facebook
(published on All Things Snap)
There’s been an alarming trend on my Facebook feed. Jessica has shared Buzzfeed’s video. Michael has shared a Bleacher Report article. Devin has shared [random name]’s post.
Facebook has become a breeding ground for sharing viral content.
It’s not the act of sharing viral content that has me upset and cheating on Facebook for Snapchat, but I feel so much less connected to my friends on Facebook.
In most instances when a Facebook friend shares a post, they don’t offer anything beyond just sharing the post itself. In essence, they let these shared posts do the talking for them. There’s a level of communication removed when that happens. Most of the time you can assume your friend is sharing something they think is funny, or cute, or interesting, but there’s something lacking.
Originality...