4 Hard Downs: Croissant Bread, Pigs In The Blanket, Taking An L and QB1

An Elevated Classic Plus SNKRs Ls, Who Do Panthers Pick At 1?

If y’all don’t know this yet, I am here to tell you that I love sneakers. Like the shoes. Not the app, SNKRS. In fact the app makes me hate shoes because I know I won’t get them. This weekend I had designs on getting the re-imagined White Cement Jordan 3s for a friend and of course, I did not.

Submission not selected.

Screw “Beauty and the Beast” because the true “tale as old as time” is losing on SNKRS. You can’t win. And when you start your day with an L, you gotta do a lot to get back in the W column. More specifically referring to this past Saturday, taking an L while you’re in Lowe’s trying to finish your mulching project and can’t find the weed-n-feed so you just storm out of the store.

It sucked.

Didn’t get the shoes. Didn’t help my friend. Didn’t help myself because I just left the store with not enough mulch, no weed-n-feed and that means I have to go back Monday.

Just needed to vent for those who are not in the game and don’t understand the agony of constant Ls.

Some of my most recent Ls

Now, we are good to go and we got a lot to get to so…

SPOT THE BALL!!!

1st Down: Croissant Bread Goes Hard

I make a classic Amish White Loaf and/or rolls

2 cups warm water

2.25 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

6 cups bread flour

It is easy and good. However, I was reading something about croissant bread (and by reading, I was on IG reels somewhere) and they talked about adding butter to the bread after the first rise to give it that silky, buttery croissant taste.

So I did it.

It freaking slaps.

A great hybrid where you get that flakey that you want from a croissant. You get the buttery that you want from a croissant. But it still holds up as a bread you can slice and make a sandwich with.

I will keep making my classic Amish white, but this thing is on the menu.

2nd Down: Croissant Bread Goes Harder As Pigs In A Blanket

Hot dogs. Croissant bread. A honey drizzle on the top and then baked to finish. We loved them, y’all. Light airy bread plus the sweet of the honey and the savory of the hot dog. They are going into the “Fried FryDay” rotation for us.

On a related note, my kid is apparently allergic to oysters and when we had po’boys a week ago she had a reaction, she’s fine, to them. Shrimp and Lobster? No problem. Crab, no problem. But I guess oysters don’t sit well, so we shall see.

Anyways, the pigs and a blanket, made at home, were awesome. Homemade bread and next step is, I guess, homemade sausage to really own it. These were just your classic Ball Parks because if they’re good enough for Michael Jordan in 1996, they’re good enough for me.

Oh and made some honey mustard and a sriracha mayo for them to be dipped in.

3rd Down: How Do I Talk About Anthony Richardson?

I truly don’t know how to talk about a QB that I think is QB3 based on potential but keep seeing mocked into the #1 pick.

Let’s put this into reality, Richardson is a black QB with amazing athletic ability and he’s gone through coaching changes and has not had the best supporting cast. Other quarterbacks have gone through that, not been as athletic, and got picked high.

So I think that Richardson is QB3A or QB3B.

Depending on how you feel about Will Levis.

But Bryce Young and CJ Stroud are definitively better.

Honestly, I think Hendon Hooker is a more accomplished passer but he’s clearly coming off an injury and that is a risk.

The point here, for me, as a black man who works in media and wants everyone one of these guys to succeed and change the narrative; it is hard to be critical. I do not want to say the things that Bill Polian or Stephen A. Smith say. Both of them have just been flat out wrong. So I have to figure out how I talk about Richardson, a guy I don’t think should be a Top 20 pick but is absolutely going to be.

So, I guess here it is:

Anthony Richardson is the most gifted QB in the draft, but he needs a lot of work to get to where he can navigate an NFL offense. Unlike Lamar Jackson, he didn’t have the luxury of elite coaching that got him squared away to enter the league.

Honestly this sucks. Because I hate those sentences I typed, that’s why I struck them out. I’m gonna talk about how good Petrino is and not hate myself?

I just don’t know how to critique Richardson without sounding like someone who didn’t watch him play. Without sounding like someone who hates black QBs or views them only as runners.

He is a QB.

He can play QB.

He has to learn more and develop, but he isn’t want most ppl say in terms of being a runner not a passer or more of an athlete than a QB.

4th Down: Panthers Make Waves & How Do They Handle It?

I was at dinner with my dad, noted Pittsburgh Steelers fan, but also a man who keeps up with sports at a rate, via twitter, IG, sports radio, ESPN etc, that still amazes me today. He asked about the Panthers trading up to #1 and I wasn’t sure it was a done deal, it was, and his response was, “they better take Bryce Young.”

Which, yes, I agree, the Panthers with the first overall pick should take Bryce Young because he is the best quarterback.

However, I am terrified of what that means for Young.

Yes, I know they have new ownership that isn’t Jerry Richardson hiring a Republican strategist to teach Cam Newton how to act. Yes, I know they have a new staff with Frank Reich at the helm. Yes, I know Reich won a Super Bowl as an OC for the Eagles. Yes, I know he played for over a decade in the NFL.

I just want Bryce to shine and I don’t know if Charlotte is the spot for that.

On the macro, Cam Newton, a different type of player obviously, who took the Panthers to the Super Bowl and had them in contention during his almost decade with the team. Pro Bowls, an MVP but on the micro it was a daily battle with respect to locals, fans and media, about if he was good. If he was focused. Why does he use that weird instagram font and dress like that?

It was a remarkably interesting and wild relationship with the city.

Kids running around in Cam Newton jerseys while their parents who owned season tickets were like, “I don’t know about this guy.”

The guys on the board; Young, CJ Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson are going to make for an intriguing decision for the Panthers. In theory, in the macro, the Panthers greatest success comes with a guy who is most closely mirrored by Anthony Richardson.

In the micro Will Levis would be a home run from day one as a guy who fits into the “community” until he isn’t super good.

But Young and Stroud are the two best QBs in the draft.

You pass on either of them and you’re going to be looking around as they succeed elsewhere. You pass on either of them and you’re going to be firing somebody.

So, we’ll see…

Cheers!!