⌚ Tubz Unfiltered - Volume 96
We Got Him; Dame Time + Other Sportz; Four-Day Workweek
Happy Tuesday, y’all!
I think the United States would have far fewer fatsos if said fatsos could use money from their Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and/or Health Savings Account (HSA) to pay for gym memberships and related items, such as an exercise bike, weights, etc.
OK, so fewer fatsos might be a bit ambitious, but the United States would definitely be happier and less stressed if we could use money from our Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and/or Health Savings Account (HSA) to pay for gym memberships and related items, such as an exercise bike, weights, etc.
🛁 EXTRA BUBBLES 🛁
Last living suspect in 1996 drive-by shooting of Tupac Shakur indicted in Las Vegas on murder charge
We still don’t exactly know who pulled the trigger, but investigators cuffed Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who has been described as “the group’s ringleader.” Pretty beta and lame nickname, especially if you’re the ringleader among some hard-ass dudes, but he’ll have plenty of time in the clink to figure out a new nickname if found guilty.
However, I’m not confident he’ll come up with one because, respectfully, he does not appear to be the sharpest tool in the shed.
Greg Kading, a retired Los Angeles police detective who spent years investigating the Shakur killing and wrote a book about it, said he’s not surprised by Davis’ arrest.
“He put himself squarely in the middle of the conspiracy,” Kading said, adding that Davis himself gave Las Vegas police “the ammunition and leverage to move forward.”
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“Davis’ own admissions to his involvement in this homicide investigation that he provided to numerous different media outlets” helped reignite the investigation, [Las Vegas police homicide lieutenant Jason] Johansson said Friday.
Davis participated in a 2018 Netflix documentary on the Shakur homicide, and released his memoir in 2019.
“He began to go out publicly boast about his involvement in the murder, and that led to law enforcement in Las Vegas taking another look at his claims, and ultimately, he’s talked himself right into jail,” Kading, the former detective, told CNN.
🏆 SPORTZ 🏆
WHAT TIME IS IT? DAME TIME
Holy cannoli, ladies and gentlemen. A few weeks ago, Giannis, who is currently eligible to sign a long-term extension1, waffled about staying in Milwaukee for the long haul, unless he felt like the Bucks had a championship-level squad. He pretty much did the same thing when he was eligible for a massive extension a few years back, a move that prompted GM Jon Horst to push his chips to the middle and acquire Jrue Holiday. History tends to repeat itself.
Horst once again pushed his chips to the middle and put his plums on the table as he struck a blockbuster deal and traded for Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team and a 7x All-NBA honoree (1x First Team, 4x Second Team, and 2x Third Team). He has also been named an All-Star seven times. Put another way, he’s a gotdamn Superstar, and this trade elevated the Bucks to the betting favorite to win the NBA Finals.
Best of all, perhaps, the Bucks acquired the Robin to Giannis’ Batman without absolutely gutting the current team. Yes, they traded away Holiday, who was such a catalyst to the team’s 2021 title run and an A+ citizen off the court, but he was Eric Bledsoe-level bad on the offensive end during the last two playoffs. Grayson Allen, traded to the Phoenix Suns as part of the three-team deal, is a [cuss word that I will not type because I respect women], so good riddance to him. The team also tossed the Blazers a 2029 first-round pick and a pick swap. Peanuts.
It is worth pointing out, though, that the Bucks are not flush with future draft capital (below: first-round picks on the left, second-round picks on the right), but that does not matter a lick if Milwaukee wins another NBA title.
The team standing in the Bucks’ path? The Boston Celtics, who acquired Holiday from the Blazers in exchange for big man Robert Williams, guard Malcon Brogdon (knees and other body parts likely cooked), Golden State Warriors’ 2024 first-round pick (top-four protected), and the Celtics’ 2029 first-round pick.
Let the games begin.
CFB WEEK 5 RECAP
NOTRE DAME 21 Duke 14: The Blow-Hard Bowl, otherwise known as The We-Think-We-Are-Better-Than-Everyone-Else Bowl, came down to the wire, with the Blue Devils holding a 14-13 advantage late in the game. The Fighting Irish had gone ten-straight third downs without picking up a first down, but they picked up a big one when QB Sam Hartman connected with Mitchell Evans with under two minutes remaining.
Notre Dame failed again on third down later in the drive, but Hartman ran like he was late for mass on fourth-and-16 for a 17-yard gain. ND scored two plays later, courtesy of a 30-yard rush by bowling ball running Audric Estime.
OLE MISS 55 LSU 49: Defense was strictly optional in this one. LSU registered 414 passing yards and 223 rushing yards while averaging 8.5 yards per play, but still lost because its defense was like Bambi on ice.
Ole Miss marched down the field late in the game, capping off an 88-yard drive with a touchdown with 39 seconds left. I thought Ole Miss scored too early — the players definitely don’t go to play school over there in Oxford — but Lane Kiffin’s squad survived after a pass to the end zone was incomplete as the game clock expired. The Rebels finished with 706 (!!) total yards.
NFL WEEK 4 RECAP
LIONS 34 Packers 20: As always, check out my takeaways from the game here. TLDR: The Packers were bullied by the Detroit Lions at the point of attack. The team coached by Dan Campbell has now beaten Matt LaFleur & Co. four consecutive times. Green Bay is a young, inexperienced football team, a byproduct of going all-in with QB Aaron Rodgers over the past few years. As such, growing pains were expected this season.
Notwithstanding that, a disturbing trend has emerged under LaFleur: his teams struggle against physical teams that play bully ball. (Tampa Bay, Detroit, and San Francisco are three teams that come to mind.) We’ll see whether that changes as the season progresses.
BILLS 48 Dolphins 20: Boy oh boy, when the Bills are humming like this, they are one of the best teams in the NFL. QB Josh Allen finished with a perfect passer rating and connected with his diva wide receiver Stefon Diggs three times in the end zone. One of those touchdowns ended with Diggs paying homage to Stone Cold Steve Austin. Love to see it. Just like last year, though, Buffalo still can’t run the football effectively. That obviously didn’t come back to bite them in Sunday’s contest, but it might when it matters most.
COWBOYS 38 Patriots 3: A week after pissing the bed and almost ruining the mattress, the Cowboys handed Bill Belichick the most lopsided loss of his career. QB Mac Jones registered a trash passer rating of 39.9, which should not come as a surprise because Jones is a trash quarterback. Dallas scored two defensive touchdowns and will look to continue its winning ways next week when they travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers on Sunday Night Football.
CHIEFS 23 Jets 20: This game looked like a blowout early on, so I decided to hit the hay at 9 pm Central Standard Time. Direct your complaints and roasts to takealap@gmail.com.
QB Zach Wilson surprisingly played very well, and some say that he outplayed Patrick Mahomes, perhaps the biggest upset since USA Hockey beat the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics. But 27 million people did not watch the game for the Wilson-Mahomes duel. They watched it, primarily because Taylor Swift was in attendance for the second-straight week.
The NFL might pull a page out of the Indian parents’ playbook and arrange a marriage between Travis Kelce and Swift (or at least make sure they stay together until the end of the season) as the Sunday night contest “drew 2 million more female viewers than usual.”
The Taylor Swift impact: Viewership among teen girls (age 12-17) spiked 53% from the season-to-date average of the first three weeks of SNF, while the audience among women aged 18-24 was up 24%, and women 35+ increased 34%, per Nielsen.
MLB PLAYOFF MATCHUPS SET
It is the Atlanta Braves’ title to lose. They are an offensive juggernaut, with weapons of mass destruction (too soon?). They tied the record for most home runs in a single season, belting 307 long balls, and had five players hit at least 30 bombs. Oh, and the squad boasts the likely NL MVP, Ronald Acuna. He finished the season with 41 home runs and 71 stolen bases, the first player in the history of the game to have a 40/70 season.
The better seed in the best-of-three Wild Card Series has home-field advantage throughout the entire series. Action begins today (Tuesday).
National League
(1) Braves and (2) Dodgers have byes
(3) Brewers vs. (6) Diamondbacks
-Milwaukee’s No. 2 pitcher, Brandon Woodruff, is out for the Wild Card matchup, and likely done for the entire playoffs, with a shoulder injury. Why can’t the Brewers have nice things?!
(4) Phillies vs. (5) Marlins
-The Phillies mash baseballs. Don’t look it up, just trust me.
American League
(1) Orioles and (2) Astros have byes
(3) Twins vs. (6) Blue Jays
-The Twins aren’t playing the Yankees, their kryptonite in the playoffs, so maybe Minnesota will win its first playoff series since 2002.
(4) Rays vs. (5) Rangers
-Offensive fireworks galore.
Prediction: Braves over Astros
RYDER CUP
The United States lost to Europe in Rome. Who cares. Let me ask y’all this: how many Lombardi Trophies does Europe have? How many World Series titles does Europe have? What about NBA titles? Stanley Cups? That’s right — zero.
🤓 BATH TIME READING 🤓
How a Four-Day Workweek Actually Works, From the Companies Pulling It Off
Some industries simply can’t pull off a four-day workweek. Think law firms and financial institutions, as examples, due to client demands. But in other industries, is it actually feasible? It depends on a multitude of factors, but it should be implemented nevertheless, if for no other reason than to Make Thirsty Thursdays Great Again.
Okie dokie, let’s get serious.
Organizations that have dipped a toe into shortened workweeks say it has resulted in happier, healthier staff, less turnover and a wave of interest from job applicants—usually with little to no loss in productivity.
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Many four-day-week employers don’t appear to be operating more efficiently, though, according to data from ActivTrak, a maker of workforce analytics software. Gabriela Mauch, vice president of ActivTrak’s productivity lab, suspects that is because management hasn’t revamped the way teams work.
Examining the activity of 158,000 employees at 1,900 companies, her team found those at companies with four-day schedules worked slightly fewer hours a day than those working five days. And the four-day workers spent less time on focus work or other productive activity.
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A four-day week holds less potential for businesses that already run a tight ship, according to Steve Glaveski, chief executive of Collective Campus, a corporate innovation and startup accelerator in Australia.
Collective Campus briefly tested a four-day week a couple of years ago, after another experiment with a six-hour workday. With shorter days, staff had gotten more efficient by setting priorities, automating or outsourcing basic tasks and reserving large chunks of time for focused work. Glaveski wanted to see what would happen if they dropped Fridays, too.
In a survey, the team scored their emotional well-being slightly higher than before. But productivity, measured by revenue, marketing leads and other metrics, dropped 20%.
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Four-day weeks—especially when workers are logging 8-hour-plus days—aren’t optimal, he said, citing research suggesting four hours is the maximum most people can spend in a deep-work, flow state. Focus tapers off fast after that.
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At first, condensing the workweek sounded illogical to some leaders at Qwick, an online staffing platform for the hospitality industry. … More than a year into the experiment, Kekic said teams such as engineering and customer-support continue to meet their internal metrics each week. Applications to fill jobs at Qwick have more than doubled.
If you chuckled and/or enjoyed it, make sure to forward it to others and/or share it on social. Any corrections, omissions, suggestions, etc., send 'em my way. Much love. -Tubz
Giannis has a player option for the 2025-26 season worth ~$52 million.