Official ZB press release on Kiffin to LSU

 

Official ZB press release on Kiffin to LSU:

I’m pumped to get Kiffin. He’s a great coach and I think him combined with the resources of LSU could be a lethal combo for years (God willing even decades) to come.

It's definitely fucked that he left Ole Miss like this. But at the end of the day it’s a contract business. And he sees this opening at LSU as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Which it is. The resources and talent tree in Louisiana is insane. He will be tripping over 5 star talent in Baton Rouge. Mississippi has talent for sure, but not like LA. And a lot of local boys leave MS to go to out of state SEC schools. Louisiana / LSU prospect retention is second to none. And I bet that’s what Saban told Lane when they talked on the phone the other day.

Ultimately Lane is sacrificing this one season with Ole Miss for the chance to have many more seasons like it at LSU. If he doesn’t go for LSU now, he may never get a chance again. And unfortunately for Ole Miss this is how the cards fell.

And a big reason the cards fell this way is because the transfer portal window starts before the CFP is even over. Kiffin is doing this now because him and his new staff at LSU need to compete in the portal. The same can be said on the flip side with Ole Miss. They need to get a jump on their new era asap as well. If both teams stall, then they will 100% lose out on players coming in. Making year 1 way more of a challenge. All sides' hands were forced here.

Kiffin is operating within the NCAA's system that they set up. The transfer portal shouldn’t open while the season is still going on. It makes no sense. Push it back to Feb or March and then coaches (and players) won’t abandon their teams like this. Hopefully the NCAA tweaks this in the near future. They have a lot to look at when it comes to transfer portal, it's a fucking mess. But that doesn't really matter at this point. LSU got their man, and Ole Miss got burned. Sometimes sports and business can be a bitch of a combination.

Thank you for your time.

Geaux Tigers 🐅

-ZB

NYC November 2025: King Baby & the Bus 11 Boyz

Highlights from a recent trip to New York City from Boston. We took the Greyhound bus to and fro.

Leaving Union Station (Hartford, Connecticut)

Time Square

Subway to Borough Park (Contemplation)

Chester Avenue (Borough Park, Brooklyn)

Statue of Death (Green-Wood Cemetery)

The Grave of Jean-Michel Basquiat

The Arrival of King Baby

I hear my train a-comin'

Do not hold doors

In the Presence of King Baby (photo cred Uncle Clam)

Brooklyn Flea

Where Brooklyn (Bridge) at?

Manhattan Bridge

Lower Manhattan #1 (Lady Liberty in the distance)

Moth & Unc on the Brooklyn Bridge

Lower Manhattan #2 (a ferry putts by)

Unc captures Midtown

唐人街 (hustle & bustle)

Moth & Unc in Little Italy #1

Little Italy

Moth & Unc in Little Italy #2

9/11 Memorial Pools (where the towers once stood - Never Forget ❤️ 🙏 🇺🇸 )

One World Trade Center

Washington Arch (Washington Square)

FREE CUSTOM RAP DEDICATIONS (shoutout Harry Mack)

New York on My Mind (photo cred Moth Kinsman)

Subway to Downtown Brooklyn (Reflection)

The Bus 11 Boyz

Cindy Lee at the Brooklyn Paramount - 11/15/2025

after the show in Downtown Brooklyn

Family ❤️ LOL

industrial alleyway (barbed wire fence / graffiti truck)

A Farewell to King Baby

My cozy little nook (boys night)

Godzilla Meditations #1

Godzilla Meditations #2

Midtown sky

Bazaar (Keychain prowlers)

W 76th Street (Upper West Side, Manhattan)

Strawberry Fields Forever 🍓 🎵 (eyes open)

Central Park

gazing at Intrepid

A final look from the Bronx (smudge)

Bus ride to Boston (Resolution)

Dark Highway (Massachusetts fin)

"Every street has a story, and these are but just a few." - Gregg Turkington (movie buff)

Thanks for taking a peep. 

Until next time 🙏

- ZB James

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

I recently watched the film Portrait of a Lady on Fire and wanted to share a brief review. My thoughts are below:

Very powerful forbidden love film. The pace is slow, and the dialogue is economical. Making each word said all the more important and impactful. 

The performances by both lead women are phenomenal. The scene where they both cry and kiss on the beach as they realize their time together is coming to an end is heartbreaking. It speaks to the many ways in which cultures can suppress sexuality and love. These women should have been able to explore their love for one another further than they did, but it was not allowed in that culture / society. The economic well-being of Héloïse's family depended upon her marrying into another noble family. Life's realities blow sometimes, and this movie is a sad-yet-beautiful snapshot into one of those tragic situations people can find themselves in over the course of their lives. 

The complex interwoven relationships between culture, power, and social hierarchy are all felt in the scenes where these women are forced to do things they don't want to do. It's also felt in the maid's subplot where she has become pregnant and has to get an abortion secretly. The message seems to be about how people should be able to love each other no matter what sex or gender they are. And that we as people should not turn away from the difficult things that happen in our lives. Which is a message that is driven home in the abortion scene where they girls force themselves to watch, and then paint the scene in a recreation later. 

But I also think it's just a great story, beyond the lesbian themes. The subtle moments that come back in the final two instances where Marianne sees Héloïse really bring the movie and story home so well. And the last scene where Héloïse is visibly moved at the orchestra is such a powerful way to close. Great stories tie themselves together in the end, and that's what this film did. It makes anyone watching think back to that person that they had a brief-yet-passionate romantic fling with. Whether gay, or straight, or lesbian, or gender-fluid, or whatever. 

Sometimes we encounter people in our lives that we want to be with, but just can't. For all sorts of reasons. And this movie hits that heartstring with a loud and sustaining note.

- ZB