Finkel's Fast Five - Issue #26

July 27th, 2018

Ever wonder how humans managed to go from primate to Amazon Prime addicts in a shade under 4 million years? It's a staggering amount of time to think about, but after a dozen people recommended it, I finally started reading Yuval Noah Harari's book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. I'm happy to report that he knocks out the first 3.5 million years at a breezy, ludicrous-speed pace, before settling into the main story of us, Sapiens, and how we came to dominate the planet with our giant brains, thumbs and love of talking behind people's backs (you'll see, this was very important). Read it here.  I'm sure coffee snobs will want to fight me over this but that's fine...when was the last time coffee snobs actually threw down over anything, other than their named being spelled wrong on a Starbucks cup (hey ohhh!)? There's a 7-11 right next to my kids' camp and it has been roughly 158 degrees here in Dallas every day this summer. This second point matters because occasionally, after I drop off my kids I'll grab an iced coffee from Dunkin' down the road... But I noticed that my old pal 'Sev" now has cold brew (right next to the Nachos, roller dogs and Slurpees) and I tried it and...I think it's pretty good. And it's .99 cents, which is also good. Go ahead, give it a shot.  Magazines may be dying, but magazine cover story writing is alive and well online with great stories like this one: There aren't too many long-form sports features that catch my eye or hold my attention these days when they're written by someone other than Wright Thompson, but Joon Lee is firing on all cylinders with this feature on San Francisco 49ers future star, Jimmy Garoppolo. I will not be surprised if this piece ends up in the Best American Sportswriting Anthology next year. It's that good. I approached Gary Smith-level enjoyment reading it (which for old SI fans, is a MASSIVE compliment).  While we're talking football, do you think you could throw the ball 40 yards and then sprint ahead and catch it yourself? This video of a guy doing just that is kind of mesmerizing. I mean, he LAUNCHES the ball...and then runs about a 4.5 forty to catch up to it and catch it. Watch it here.  A tremendous quote on friendship I've been thinking a lot about this week: "Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything" ― Muhammad Ali  Almost twenty years ago I moved to Los Angeles and the son of one of my dad's buddies at work, who I'd never met, was generous enough to let me stay on the futon in the house he shared with two other guys while I got settled. We became friends and I became friends with their friends and in a short period of time we grew to a crew close to twenty deep - almost like a post-college fraternity... But it was (and is) much more than that... It's a second family of friends.  I moved off the couch after 3 months or so and several years after that they demolished the whole building, but the friendships that we cemented in that house have remained strong and in tact through marriages and kids and jobs and moves and two decades of fantasy sports arguments and everything else. Sadly, our crew took one on the chin this week...  After winning round after round against cancer for almost five years following his initial diagnosis, the member of our squad with the biggest heart and the loudest laugh and the strongest engine inside of him was unable to throw any more punches at the disease he battled valiantly for so long. His mind was ever-willing to fight, but his body was no longer able to keep up. He was taken from us far too soon and he will be missed deeply by all of us.  Have a great weekend and may you all be lucky enough to have a friend as awesome and fun as Alex Hanan in your life one day!  You love Finkel's Fast Five. Your pals will, too. Share it with them. Thanks!

- Jon