A true round of random material. I come here often with one topic doses or one team prescriptions, I let it rip. Uncork the filter and let it all stream through. There are times when you have to just let it rip and forget about rules. I wouldn’t coin it driving with a blindfold on but letting your knees steer the wheel for a few streets would be appropriate. So let’s hit it. Wednesday stream of consciousness begins now.

• Jason Motte is known to the baseball world as a pretty good reliever. The kind that comes in and finishes things. Last year, he got hurt and went to work. While his right elbow healed from Tommy John surgery, Motte started a bold cancer awareness foundation, K Cancer. It grew into something huge and gave Motte and his family a chance to connect with many young victims. I think this is pretty cool and worth mentioning often. A baseball player taking the time away from the field to take part in a fight against a deadly beast. I own one of the K Cancer t-shirts and you should do. They are located right here and a portion of the proceeds go to the cancer foundation. Motte isn’t messing around. The reason I bring this back up today is that every team in Major League baseball will now carry the backwards K on their shirts and give each team’s fanbase a chance to get in on the act. Well done Motte. That’s called using your down time well.
• The duality of father and husband roles is a tricky plank to walk. On one hand, you think you are doing enough to keep your wife happy but at the same time you wonder if you are helping the kid as well. There are days where the balance is so bad you think about it all night. Did  I do enough for each? I bring this up because my wife and I can have some terrible fights that pit us against the wall of stress and anger. Those fights are a result of me trying to figure out the balance in my daily responsibilities. A man can’t be too hard on his son yet also has to remember the wife is there too. Being a good parent is hard enough.  Adding the good husband part to the equation is the true test.  This was kind of  hot air section. Moving on.
• Which QB should NFL teams draft this year? Take the guy who makes your team better. Avoid the flashy talent and examine the one who may be good on paper yet can’t adjust to the rigors of the more aggressive game. In my mind Blake Bortles could be better for The Texans than Teddy Bridgewater or Johnny Manziel because he can be put into any offense right now and function very well. The other two need some work.
• The St. Louis Rams have two picks in the first round. Head coach Jeff Fisher has never taken an offensive lineman in the first round. I doubt he will take a safety in the first round. Fisher likes to set his targets on wide receivers. I think there is a good chance the team uses one of the two picks on Sammy Watkins, a potential game changer for their offense. Sure, we said that last year with Tavon Austin but Watkins is a bigger body with more bruising ability. If he is there and rated high on your board, take him. Don’t worry about what mock drafts say or what others try to tell you. The Rams need to pick their guy. I trust Fisher and Les Snead. Jake Matthews, a lineman, doesn’t look too bad either and could really strengthen the line and provide some security. There are lots of options. I’ll evaluate afterwards.

• Kolten Wong is starting to hit very well down in Jupiter for the Cardinals. This isn’t a surprise. The kid has hit at every level and primed to be an effective bat in the majors. We already know he give the defense and has the speed, but Wong still hasn’t truly shown Birds fans his bat yet.
• People are writing, “Mick Jagger still isn’t over the death of his girlfriend.” People, the woman committed suicide on Monday. This isn’t a 24 hour cold. Come on. I’ll never know what makes people take their own life and never will. Something shuts down inside but there must be something else.
• How good is Ryan Miller in goal for the Blues? He is 8-0-1 so far and creating a fortress of solitude behind the Note on the ice. The man is CALM. As Bernie Miklasz wrote and I agree 100 % with, Miller is cool as a cucumber back there. It’s almost as if he is sitting in his backyard with a Miller Lite instead of defending a small net against 5 attacking skaters. He is the real deal.
• As you all know, I love to talk BANSHEE on Cinemax. The show just concluded it’s second season in excellent bloody pulp poetry novel fashion, and I had the opportunity to speak with two members of the cast. If Hoon Lee and Matthew Rauch could be any cooler and fascinating, I would need to invent new ways to express it. They are great ambassadors of the show and made for introspective 1 hour chats. I won’t rest until every cast member gets a spotlight.
• Twitter is a beast and a great way to make professional connections as well as personal pones. Look, I don’t get the Banshee interviews, Winter Warmup gig, radio hits or  KSDK contributor opportunity if I don’t meet new people on Twitter and expand my horizon. You can say it’s not for you but you can’t dismiss it’s impact.
• The Dave Matthews Band are putting together a special evening on their tour this summer. They will play one part electric and loud and then cool things down with an acoustic section. This will be amazing.  It’s too bad they aren’t coming to St. Louis.
• If it were 2003, I would be worried about the Cardinals Bullpen. It’s 2014 and our Memphis team is stocked with young starters looking to break in via the bullpen assignment. If certain arms break down, the Cards will have more reinforcements than last year and 2013 saw them set a new record for rookie wins. Trust me we are okay down there.
• If there is one new show I am looking forward to, it’s The Knick on Cinemax. You combine Clive Owen, Cinemax and Steven Soderbergh for one show and you won’t need the softcore porn afterwards to pleasure yourself.
• Vulture paid me for the Hoon Lee interview and I couldn’t tell you how weird, gratifying, terrifying and awesome it felt to get paid for a writing assignment.
• There are times where I feel like a Raging Bull. This isn’t a movie thing but a connection back to the duality of Fatherhood-Spouse daily complexities. There are days where I can’t take it anymore and feel like putting my hand through a wall and destroying things. Instead, I just stop moving, breathe and try to sit down. Your body is a freak of nature and we are the remote control my friends.
• The overnight job is killing me for a number of reasons, least of which it messes up my teeth brushing schedule. I have to pound so much coffee to make it through the night so I don’t know when to really brush the teeth and keep them untouched. In addition to that, there are the bad hours, zombie like moments and dangerous drives home. I need out of this man.
• I am a coffee addict and that will never change. I can’t tell you what I would do without the dirty water.
• Incredibles 2 is finally happening and for a film addict that is great news. My kid has only watched it 45 times and it ranks as one of my favorite animated films of all time. A family of superheroes dealing with all the hardships, rewards and uncertain futures that come with being different. Brad Bird would only do it if he had a killer script.
• St. Louis Weather goes like this. 70 degrees Monday, and Tuesday it was 33 degrees. Now we are back up to 60 degrees. And that is why half the world is sick.
• Appreciate the Greatness that is Liam Neeson. An action star heading towards the end of his 50’s and having a kick serving up justice to bad guys. From the moment he made that threat in Taken, the idea of an action hero changed and everyone took notice out there. What a titan like talent.
• Big question in St. Louis Sports is can Robert Quinn and Matt Carpenter repeat ridiculous historically prominent seasons this year? Only time will tell. Carpenter went from a decent platoon guy to an expert leadoff man with 55 doubles and an ability to get on base and score runs that had been missing for quite some time.
• We shave my son’s head once a month. Sure he has no say and would probably grow curls but the VIN man looks adorable with a bald cut like his dad. Until he can do dishes and take out the trash, he will have his head buzzed.
• Taking the kids to movies isn’t easy. I will not be the parent who sits there and allows the kid to ruin the experience for everybody. Those people need to be beaten up a little. Vin won’t be ready for that for a 1 or 2. It takes time.

That’s it. Listen to The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s album, Baby 81 and take care.  The rest of Wednesday awaits.

-DLB