Dome Pondering

What a wildly, polarizing year that was 2022.  Sure, as we close the year, 2020 feels like a decade ago, and "pandemic life" seems like a time that is difficult to remember (or understand). Yet, no matter how much we attempt to pull away, the awfulness of 2020 and all of its impact has left us in 2022 unpacking from it, cleaning up after it, restoring ourselves after it, and/or learning to deal with lingering leftovers as we move forward.  2022 was the perfect bundle of reflection and renewal. For good, bad, excellent, and worse.  Before jumping into this year's Year in Review, I want to THANK YOU , the continued reader of this blog and this eighteenth edition (!) of the Dome Pondering - Year in Review. It is not lost on me that my contribution to this site has slowed down (as such is life), and of course, the world consumes content in a much different (and some would say easier, but not better) way. Yet, after all of these years, it's still pretty damn cool to see th

There goes another year beyond the pandemic - are we still in one? Yeah? No? Whatever. Regardless of what we're identifying this year as, in the immediate reflection, 2022 is an incredibly busy year where we went from an almost lockdown with variants and returns of COVID to the most "return-to-normal" we've experienced since 2019. 2022 was indeed that kind of year, filled with a mixed bag of leftovers, new strife, and dealing with what will stay here for a bit longer going forward.  As always, before the traditional (the 17th annual!!!) Year in Review post , here is a quick post on the things I found the most fascinating in 2022.  Most Fascinating Things: 2015 , 2016 , 2017 , 2018 , 2019 , 2020 , & 2021 Dome Pondering - 2022 Year in Review coming soon.  --- 10. "How the Word is Passed" - Clint Smith's book (A New York Times Best Seller) was by far my favorite of 2022 to read. I had the pleasure to meet Smith at a work conference, and my encounter, l

3 Up 1. Argentina Wins World Cup - Today's World Cup Championship was an amazing game to cap off what has been an amazing tournament. Kudos to Argentina, the nation, and so many of it's soccer fans.  2. Lionel Messi - Nothing like seeing a great finally get the missing accomplishment to solidify greatness (and to silence all of the critics).  I guess we'll see him at Miami FC soon?  3. Endrick - In an all-soccer "Up" this week, we'll round it out with Endrick, a sixteen-year-old from Brazil who already goes by one name, and just landed a $63.3M contract from Real Madrid. That's quite some cash for a sixteen-year-old.  3 Down 1. FTX Collapse - Is it me, or have we seen an abundance of these crypto companies showing vulnerability - or sheer fallout - as of late? With multiple athletes, celebrities, and others admitting losses, we also await the fallout and impending extradition of Sam Bankman-Fried to the United States of fraud and money laundering.  2. Migr

3 Up 1. Protection of Same-Sex Marriage - Well, what do you know? Our elected officials CAN work together to get important policies completed that accurately and democratically represent the people. Cynicism aside, it's good to see this bill get passed. Imagine the huge step back that this would have been. 2. Britney Griner Home - I honestly don't care about the politics around this story. Griner needed to come home. And I'm glad she finally is.  3. Impact Wrestling Main Event - Everything that was "Speedball" Mike Bailey vs. "The Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander on this week's episode of Impact Wrestling was what makes pro wrestling so great. Both guys put on a classic that lasted almost an hour, and it was one of the best matches I've enjoyed in a long time. Kudos to both men.  3 Down 1. Grant Wahl - It's the kind of story that is super emotional for the following reasons: 1) Wahl was the premiere journalist in the soccer real; 2) Wahl was be

Deion Sanders was always one of those athletes in the '90s that I admired growing up. Exceptional. Larger than life. Just felt like you couldn't duplicate him, because, well, you couldn't. He did things his way, he was flashy doing it, and he was damn good at backing it up.  That was ultra appealing, dreamy, and easy to get into for teenage me who was tall, slow, geeky, introverted, and did I mention, slow? So yeah, "Prime Time" was super aspirational.  Fast forward a few decades, and Deion Sanders is again "doing it his way" by taking his talents to Colorado University to become the Head Football coach, a few years after the resurrection HBCU institution, Jackson State. As you can imagine, especially in today's culture, everyone has an opinion on Coach Prime's (who the heck gets called Coach [enter nickname here]?) decision.  Once again, I'm enthralled with Deion Sanders. Here are some quick thoughts on what has become a hot-button topic wra

What is it about? Elijah must balance his love and dream to become a master sommelier with his father's expectations to carry on and take charge of the family business.  Who is in it? Mamoudou Athie - Elijah Courtney B. Vance - Louis Niecy Nash - Sylvia Sasha Compere - Tanya Favorite Scene: [spoiler alert]  Following taking the sommelier exam, Elijah is restless in the hotel room. His father knocks on the door, and suddenly plans to spend the night with him. He pours them both a glass of wine, and they play dominoes.  Favorite Quote:  "How do you choose between family and your dream?" "How do you choose between family and your dream?" Review:  I first saw Uncorked on Netflix during the height of the pandemic lockdown when we all had nothing else better to do than watch television. So of course, go figure, after testing positive for COVID this week, your boy felt miserable nothing better to do while dealing with sever symptoms that watch a movie.  The film was as

3 Up  1. Rail Workers Agreement - The nation avoiding a major - major! - supply chain issue when the Rail Workers union settled their dispute. In the process we learned that these workers had one - one! - sick day per year. That's absolutely insane. How could you not root for the union here to win? And they did.  2. Protecting Same-Sex/Interracial Marriage - It's amazing that we have to politicize and advocate as people for these kid of things, but here we are.  3. World Cup - Sports biggest event continues on with some thrilling games and upsets. Selfishly giving some love to the US Men's National Team who survived Group Play and made it to the Knockout stages.  3 Down 1. "Terminating the Constitution" - Look, I'm so over bashing Donald Trump. That's my neutral take on it all. My political take is this, how did we get here? Candidates are calling for ripping up the document that we base everything off of? Again, how did we get here?  2. Hate Speech on Twi

I've been sitting on this thought process for a while now, mainly because the topic has seen itself unravel in the thick of what has become an ultra-politicized society. And that topic is that of the Church. Specifically, the Christian Church.   In September, the Pew Research Center published an article, " Modeling the Future of Religion in America " and within it's studies and findings was significant theme that Christians in the United States of America are well on their way to not only becoming a minority, but ultimately, losing generations.  Or, the way I see it at the surface level, the church has lost its purpose. If you've followed this little site, you are well aware that I do consider myself a Christian. I do believe in Jesus. Or as I find myself at times, almost akwardkly saying to students who ask, "sooo, you like believe in God?" - yes, I do believe in God. Yes, I do.  The idea that sentiment feels more and more awkward to announce or identif

3 Up 1. Thomas James & Richard Fierro - Despite the horror of the recent shooting at the Colorado Night Club, I would be remiss if I didn't give props - and the top "Up" spot - to these two gentlemen who not only served our country in the military at one point in their lives, but also saved many more by taking down the shooter at Club Q.  Much respect. Much appreciation.  2. Olivia Pichardo - Does anyone know how difficult D1 baseball is? I don't think many know, understand it, or appreciate it. What Olivia Pichardo has accomplished as a freshmen at Brown University by becoming the first woman to make the roster of a D1 baseball team is damn impressive. She also did it as a walk-on. Wow! 3. Thanksgiving/Holiday Weekend - Whether you celebrated Thanksgiving, or just enjoyed the days off in appreciation of your family and gratitude, I hope the days off were a good one for you and yours.  3 Down 1. Mass Shootings - I can't say anything else on these. They just n

There was something especially "traditional" about the Survivor Series happening over Thanksgiving weekend that added to the intrigue and the overall aura of the event. Something that felt well, overall anticipatory and "right" for a wrestling event on a Thanksgiving Saturday night (you know, if that's a thing going forward - maybe?). Of course, all of this is ironic considering this Survivor Series event took a break from the historical concept of the 5-on-5 survivor tag-team format for the much more WCW-ish, "War Games". As Triple H (or do we call him Paul, now? Mr. LeVeque? Mr. Triple H? Mr. Helmsley?) noted in the post-show press conference, the break was indeed a nice change of pace, allowing the old format to take a breather and gain some nostalgic interest for the events to come.  Nonetheless, Survivor Series was welcomed and it was a good show. For me, the War Games matches were there and were entertaining. Everyone in those matches felt like t

Who is in it?  The happenstance and journey of a young New York City couple cause a reverberation of several instances and effects that echos and effects several others through various generations.  What is it about? Oscar Isaac - Will Olivia Wilde - Abby Olivia Cooke - Dylan Sergio Peris-Mencheta - Javier Gonzalez Laia Costa - Isabel Diaz Antonio Banderas - Mr. Saccione Favorite Scene:   The alternate scene from the original bedroom scene between Will and Abby shows a different version of what happened with the exact words used, just a different tone - indicating that life itself isn't the greatest narrator, and we all have our own versions of a story that is possibly part of a bigger story.  Favorite Quote:  "I crave a happy life, grandpa. I have an almost desperate craving for stability and happiness like fat people crave chocolate or lost hikers crave rescue. I want to live a big, great, fantastical life, but I am concerned that the tragedy that seems to follow me, the tra

Impact Wrestling pay-per-views (or special events) in 2022 aren't just the biggest kept secret in the professional wrestling world, but they've also been the most underrated positive within pro wrestling going forward. Much of what Scott D'Amore and company have done this year should be celebrated. The product hasn't always been a must-see, but at the same time, it hasn't been terrible. Impact is toast. You know what you're getting. It's not fancy, but you know what you're getting. And in various forms, it can be amazing.  Bad analogies aside, Impact Wrestling wrapped up 2022 with yet another banger in OverDrive. The mini-big shows have really become a nice touch for the company in moving their storylines along, and at times, allowing the ability to give focus and opportunity to characters and talent to be highlighted. It's been a long road since this company was generating One Night Only shows that meant and felt like, well, impactless.  Nonetheless