Rosie the Riveter atchur suhvice. Let’s mailbag.
Remember: If your question wasn’t answered or you’ve been living under a rock and are just hearing about this, you can submit your questions here or on Twitter (@ADimeBack).
The Treacherous Ben Goren Asks: How warm is geno’s seat?
What’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold! (We’re working on a theme here, people, you know you love it.) There is no coaching job in the history of the universe more secure than Geno’s at UConn. The man could nap through games while drooling and muttering swear words, and he’d still have a gig. Like, I’m honestly not sure what would have to happen for Geno’s job to be anything other than rock solid. Murder, maybe? Not even sure about that, tbh. No jury in Connecticut would convict. But as this year’s team will likely win all of the games, I think it’s safe to say that for the foreseeable future, the only people saying #FireGeno are the ones making dumb jokes on Twitter.
Dooley asks: How do I root for George Springer but also at the same time root against George Springer tonight? I’m conflicted.
This is a tough one because even though almost everybody on the Yankees went to UConn as well, you don’t want to root against a fellow Husky. So here’s what you do: Before the game tonight, you track down the witch that cursed the Huskies last basketball season (she’ll tell you “It Wasn’t Me,” but we know it was). You go to her and you make a deal: Let the Yankees win tonight. Let the large adult UConn son Aaron Judge homer four times and win ALCS MVP. In exchange, George Springer wins the triple crown next year. It’s a win-win.
Big Ron asks: Who’s the UConn player you least want to face one on one?
Obviously there’s not a single UConn player ever who any of us would be remotely competitive with, but the answer’s Kemba.
Kemba was a NYC playground kid, and if you slip up and even try some friendly trash talk, he feels like the kind of guy who would just go out there and make you look exceptionally foolish. I’ve still never seen anyone with the handle he had. He would cross any civilian over three times before they blinked. There would be no more ankles, anywhere.
Diana Taurasi or Ryan Boatright are also acceptable answers, because they’d both have that mean competitive streak. Boatright in particular had a ridiculous handle, too, and he’d just smother you defensively. But if you asked them, I bet Kemba would say “it’s gonna be me”, copyright Max Martin 2000 all rights reserved.
Amar asks: What was the most influential song to come out in the year 2000?
Ok, look. We can all be cute and pretend like it’s something off Kid A. But let’s not bullshit here in this sacred place (The Mailbag). 2000 was the absolute pinnacle of TRL pop music, arguably the height of the most famous rapper of a generation and the death knell of 90s era rock music (the exact moment it died is when Rollin’ by Limp Bizkit was released). Most influential is a tough qualifier. Most influential to me as an angsty youth? To The Culture? Instead of spending too much time figuring it out, here are ten songs that are definitely from 2000:
11. It Wasn’t Me – Shaggy [Sept. 2000] – This song was the source of a great ADB argument, which actually makes it extremely influential. Congrats too Shaggy.
10. Try Again – Aaliyah [Feb. 2000] – Hey, remember soundtracks? This song was released on the Romeo Must Die soundtrack. Ironically… nevermind. It’s a dope tune and the entire Aaliyah/Timbaland era was good.
9. Come Pick Me Up – Ryan Adams [Sept. 2000] – Fuck you, it’s my list and this is a great song. I am influenced.
8. Last Resort – Papa Roach [Sept. 2000] – Big fan of songs that took themselves so seriously that they morphed into elite twitter jokes. A lot of people don’t know this, but this song is actually a different song than Down With The Sickness.
7. Shake Ya Ass – Mystikal [Jan. 2000] – Watch yourself, please.
6. Big Pimpin’ – Jay-Z [Apr. 2000] – Vol. 3 is in the bottom four of Jay-Z’s catalog (Reasonable Doubt forever, fight me.), but Big Pimpin’ is iconic. It also is the only time anyone ever spells Bun B.
5. Independent Women – Destiny’s Child [July 2000] – Beyonce is your one true God and you will show respect. Another soundtrack hit that was infinitely better than the film it appeared in, Charlie’s Angels, which sucked. Throw your retweets up at me.
4. Stan – Eminem [Nov. 2000] – Dear Mr. I’m-Too-Good-to-Put-a-lot-of-Thought-Into-Lists,
3. Oops!… I Did It Again – Britney Spears [Mar. 2000] – Britney was the biggest star in the world at this time and nothing bad happened to her since. She is now the president of Earth. Wow.
2. Bye Bye Bye – NSYNC [Jan. 2000] – You know you like this song you fake ass hater. Timberlake is your dad now.
1. Stankonia – Outkast [Oct. 2000] It’s easier to put the entire record here instead of finding three spots for Ms. Jackson, So Fresh, So Clean and B.O.B. — a song so iconic that it once appeared (in full) in an ADB Podcast by accident.
