EJ's Notepad: Arya Stark Is the Real MVP

Topics include opinions on the Game Of Thrones Season 7 Premiere, HBO's "The Defiant Ones", Kirk Cousins, Jimbo Fisher and Mayweather/McGregor.

•GAME OF THRONES S7E1 REACTION...SORTA

A beautiful welcome back is in order for Season 7 for Game Of Thrones. I will not post any spoilers here. I am not that kind of jerk. Just know that going into this episode that Arya Stark has my vote of MVP out the gate. If you have not seen it yet as of reading this post, thank me later.

Also -- I decided not to do rapid reaction podcast on Thrones right after the show and most likely will not do so this season. Instead I will be doing a weekly segment on the Earnestly Speaking Podcast entitled "Thrones Talk" with my good friend and colleague Darrel Wilson aka. D-Will. He did a few episodes last season on the pod sparingly and we decided to run it back as a weekly thing.


YOU MUST SEE "THE DEFIANT ONES"

Staying with the HBO theme, I urge everyone to watch the four part documentary "The Defiant Ones". It chronicles the life and times of legendary hip hop producer Dr. Dre and equally music producer Jimmy Iovine. The doc reveals the musical and life intersect between both men and how two people from two completely backgrounds formed one of the most lucrative partnerships in music history. The story of their careers is truly outstanding and if you are green when it comes to the history of music and are a willing learner, you will learn ALOT. You will not be disappointed.

**As of this writing I was in the middle of Part 4**


KIRK COUSINS CONTRACT STALEMATE

Call me crazy but at this point I really do think it is beyond idiotic that the Washington Redskins have yet to just pony up and pay Kirk Cousins an extension. Makes zero sense. First off the Redskins parted with RG3, which by the way turned out to be the right decision to commit to Cousins. While I have been critical of Cousins in years past even I have to admit he has been a very productive quarterback. Some may even say by virtue of his numbers the last two years a top 10'er.

My reasoning for defending Cousins is pretty simple. If you don't sign Cousins to an extension, what is the long game? The potential free agent market for quarterbacks has already dried up. The Skins aren't terrible enough t grab a top pick in the draft. I don't see the risk at this point to hitching your wagon to Cousins. In the two seasons Cousins has played, Washington has churned out two winning seasons including a NFC East title. Look, I know the dude isn't Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers but so aren't the other 30 quarterback in the league. Pony up, Skins!


​JIMBO FISHER ON ACC BEING THE PREMIERE CONFERENCE IN NCAAF

I never buy into claiming conferences when it comes to my fanship. I believe it is silly and short sighted. However when last week Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher declared that the ACC was the premiere power conference in all of college football, he turned a lot of heads. SEC diehards are/were obviously butt hurt by the assumption. But he's not necessarily wrong either. The ACC in the last few years have made major end roads top to bottom while outside Alabama's continued dominance the SEC has fallen back.

Now maybe Jimbo's claims on the ACC as the be all, end all" are a slight stretch but let's make no mistake about it -- the SEC is no longer the only game in town. Even the Big Ten is making strides into this conversation.

God I cannot wait for the college football season to start.


•Mayweather/McGregor press tour

Four cities in one week -- including London. Impressive, yes. But all in all the entire press tour was a clown show. Very WWEish. Now that doesn't mean I'm complaining cause Lord knows in the world of sports there ain't much to talk about anyway. Let's hope and pray the actual fight is much more legitimate than the pre-fight talking points.


With Respect,
Earnest 'EJ' Christian