Sunday Reflections on a Monday

Time for those Sunday Reflections (on a Monday)

Music to listen to: Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac

I’ll get to them later but this may have to be one of the best breakup songs you can come up with.

-It looks like my run as a fantasy football champion will be over by the end of the night. I blame Matt Forte and the entire Chicago Bears team for being punk asses and not bringing it this season. I blame Tom Brady for being inconsistent.

However, I blame myself for taking Matt Forte over Chris Johnson in the draft. I blame myself for having Ryan Grant as my main running back. I blame myself for thinking that Tom Brady was going to be in full form this year.

Every fantasy football season, my goal is to make the playoffs. I did that this year and even won my quarterfinal round before falling in the semifinals. Once you make the playoffs, it’s a crapshoot, especially with the real NFL teams sitting players to avoid injury.

Winning your fantasy football league is just as much about luck as it is about preparation. This year I just wasn’t as lucky as last season, when I had Phillip Rivers, Calvin Johnson, Adrian Peterson and Jason Witten on the same squad. That doesn’t happen often.

-I got tired of my CD collection in my audio system in my car recently and decided to do a complete overhaul.

I know some of you are in 2009 and have satellite radio, an iPod hookup or something else in your ride, but when you’re pimpin in your 1998 Ford Taurus, you have to be content with CD’s.

Shoot, I have a cassette tape player also if you want to go back to the 1980’s.

Anyway, my old set had a lot of Tool, Massive Attack (the 100th Window album, their most depressing one) and heavier music on there and I realized that I would listen to this driving into work and get too amped and focused on my job, in a bad way. I’d come to work angry and have an internal edge that would be great to have in a mixed martial arts fight but not at your place of employment.

So, I replaced that with some Fleetwood Mac, Minus the Bear and things of that vein. Its been an epic turnaround. I hear that stuff and I still come in focused but the chilled vibe of the tunes has made me a more calm employee, which I think has shown at my job.

-I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad Minus the Bear song but only know the titles to about three of their songs. Their music is great but the song titles need to seriously change because they have nothing to do with the lyrics of the song and that’s too much thinking for me to do at certain moments.

-I’m sure Al_Roker is going to have something to say about my last statement above in the comments section.

-Fleetwood Mac, specifically Lindsay Buckingham, is incredibly underrated.

Actually, a decent amount of people know about the Mac, especially Stevie Nicks, but Buckingham is a beast on guitar and an excellent singer.

While I enjoy some Rihannon, Gypsy, Gold Dust Woman, Don’t Stop, etc. my favorite Mac songs are the ones where Buck’s influence is stronger. Go Your Own Way, The Chain, I’m So Afraid, Tusk, Big Love are all classics as well.

He’s a great songwriter, has a unique sound since he never uses a guitar pick and his solos are badass. Plus, he rocked an inspirational look in the 1970's which I have above.

So why isn’t he regarded in the same light as guys like Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix or even dudes like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Duane Allman, etc.

I think its for three reasons. First, look at his picture above. Screw that, I would give up a lot to be able to rock the full beard and curly afro right now. OK, two reasons. First, the name isn’t badass. When I think of Lindseys, I usually think of a female and you probably do too. Second, whenever you have a female lead in your band, whether it’s a singer or musician, you’re going to get overshadowed. I called it the “No Doubt/Garbage affect.”

Quickly, name one of the members in No Doubt besides Gwen Stefani? What about someone in Garbage besides Manson?

Its just the natural affect of life, especially if she’s attractive. On the Mac, you had Christie McVie AND Stevie Nicks, that’s too much to overcome.

-Looks like John Fruciante is leaving the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. This is an unfortunate event. In one of my posts about a week or two ago, my music to listen to choice was from the Chilli Peppers, specifically solos by John.

I’m a bass player and love Flea, but John’s the main reason that I even listen to their songs.

However, its rock and roll and a reunion is always an album away, especially considering that this was an amicable parting according to all parties.

-I’ll end on this. It was sad to see Chris Hendy and Brittany Murphy die this past week. Both of them were in my age range when they passed and they made me think about my own mortality.

You know what that means…another post about death is coming soon, probably tomorrow. Good fight and good night everybody!!

MMA Review is back!!!

What up peoples, its time for the triumverant return of the MMA Review.

Its been several, several weeks since I’ve done a post on MMA on the Pourtout Pancakes blog. Honestly, its been a while since I’ve done a real post on the blog but I’ll save that for my Reflections tomorrow.

Anyway, so much has happened in the past few months that it would take a long time to review it all so we’re going to just do this past week and eventually all of my thoughts on the events since the last post will come out.

-B.J. Penn is a beast. I’ve made no mistake about declaring B.J. my favorite mixed martial arts fighter of all-time. His domination of Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 last Saturday was inspiring. We all know that BJ has the talent to be the best fighter in the world but only within the past two years has he shown the dedication and commitment to make it happen. Sanchez is a very good fighter and Penn made him look like a novice. If Sanchez wasn’t such a game fighter with decent skills, that fight would have been over in the first round.

What’s left for Penn at 155? The only possible serviceable guy that could give him a matchup in the world may be Aoki out of Japan but he’s with Strikeforce and I seriously doubt that we’re going to see that fight happen. Frankie Edgar and Greg Maynard may offer some effort but lack intrigue.

-Frank Mir looked dominant against Kongo but beware. For full disclosure, Mir is probably my second-favorite fighter. I like the added muscle that he has added to his frame and it was certainly noticeable. I saw the Countdown show on Spike and noticed how big he was compared to his previous fights. He showed off this power with strong punches before the eventual submission against Kongo.

The reason that I say beware is that the extra weight is good but can eliminate his cardio which has always been suspect.

Now that Brock Lesnar is dealing with a medical condition and can’t defend the UFC Heavy title, Mir and Shane Carwin are now face for the interim title in March 2010. I like this fight in a major way. There will be plenty of time to analyze this bout.

-Very, very intrigued with the announcement that UFC fight programming will now be on the Versus network starting in 2010. In fact, an announced event in March, highlighted by a Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera fight, has been scheduled.

For those of you who aren’t big MMA fans, I’ll explain the dynamic of it. First, a company called Zuffa owns the UFC and another MMA organization called WEC. UFC is always on Spike while WEC is always on Versus. Now, the UFC is doing events on Versus which will cut into the WEC events, which are run by the same company anyway. It sounds counterproductive but it really isn’t.

Versus is owned by Comcast, which recently made a major purchase of shares of NBC Universal. What does this mean? Expect the UFC to air on NBC in the next year or two, max. By building up the Versus brand by putting the UFC, which is much bigger than the WEC, Zuffa is forging its relationship with NBC.

One more angle to consider. Spike is owned by Viacom who also owns CBS, which airs Strikeforce events, the main competitor of the UFC. Zuffa realizes that they can’t go through Spike to get on broadcast television because of the Viacom/Spike dynamic. This is another way of reaching the mainstream audience.

-Interested in the Strikeforce fights that will take place tonight. I like the Melendez and Josh Thompson fight as well as finally seeing Cung Le put aside his Hollywood dreams and start fighting again. Finally, intrigued in seeing Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal make his stateside debut. That guy can be a champion and a major force in MMA in the near future.

-However, your boy doesn’t have Showtime so I will be watching the WEC 45 event at home. I must admit that outside of Donald Cerrone, I don’t know much about any of the other fighters, but that’s the point. After tonight, I may find my new BJ or Mir to enjoy in the future.
　

Sunday Reflectons

Time for those Reflections

Music to listen to: Drilling by Minus the Bear

Chilling on a Sunday night to Minus the Bear, love those guys.

-My company had its Christmas party on Friday and it was a festive occasion. We all work hard at our office and anytime you get to blow off some steam and actually spend social time with your co-workers in a relaxed environment, it’s a good time.

I made my best efforts to avoid getting the “lampshade” award and if you don’t know what that is, look it up. I was heading towards the honor but decided to leave early to not get close to it. Its not my fault that there was an open bar and fun times, a perfect recipe for potential bad things.

The interesting thing about holiday parties is that you get to see your co-workers in a different light. Sometime you have that co-worker that you didn’t consider that attractive come around and blow you away. You also get to see their significant others, which gives you an insight of who your co-workers are kicking it with when not in the office.

Also, yes, you do get to see the co-workers intoxicated, which doesn’t sound as fun as it sounds. Part of you wants to laugh but you also realize that all of us have been the drunk guy at the party and that’s not a fun place to be.

Overall, it was fun and can’t wait for next years.

-I didn’t see the UFC fights from Saturday but from the reports I’ve read, BJ Penn dominated Diego Sanchez, which is something that I thought would happen. BJ is my favorite fighter ever and was a major reason that I started following mixed martial arts in the first place. To see him return to this dominant form as a lightweight after toiling as a welterweight and above is great and dare I say inspiring.

Speaking of inspiring, my second-favorite MMA fighter, Frank Mir, laid the hammer down to Kongo last night as well. Mir has a new physical look and this will help him greatly in the heavyweight division.

I need to see the full fights for a true analysis.

-Saw the documentary last night on ESPN about the legacy of the University of Miami football teams in the 1980’s and it was EXCELLENT! I seriously recommend you check it out. It touches on the skill of the players, the economic and racial undertones of the program and everything in between.

-Congrats to Mark Ingram for winning the Heisman but I would have gone with Suh. The award has really gotten to the point of it going to the best player on the best team, but if you go with that theory, the best Bama player in my opinion is the linebacker McLean. However, respect to Ingram who genuinely seemed moved by receiving the award.

Good fight and good night everyone.
　

Sunday Reflections on a Monday

Relaxing on a Sunday with some Reflections to share:

Music to listen to: Thanks for the Killer Game of Crisco Twister by Minus the Bear

Been enjoying this song along with some others from Minus the Bear this weekend. The guitar playing in this track is beastly on so many levels.

On to the Reflections…

-Enjoyed the Ultimate Finale for the UFC on Spike on Saturday night. Disappointed in the Kimbo Slice and Houston Alexander match. It seemed like both guys were trying too hard to be technical fighters. Both of those guys are strikers and brawlers and none of that was shown in the fight. They would have been better just going in there and swinging for the fences. Jon Jones will be the lightweight champion in the UFC in two years and his domination of Matt Hamill showed this potential. He should have been disqualified for his illegal elbows, that was the right decision. Respect to Roy Nelson, he can fight and is now the winner of the competition.

-Seeing Tim Tebow crying after the SEC Championship brought me a level of joy that was scary to feel. When the cameras went to the Florida sidelines and went to Tebow in tears, I literally shouted out as loud as I could, and I’m paraphrasing, “Ha Ha Ha, sucks for you, you loser. I hope you feel this pain the rest of your life. I’ve never liked you and deserved to lose. Ha Ha Ha.”

First, yes, I do laugh like that. Second, I’ve never had anything personally against Tebow the guy. He’s a great player, even though the greatest player of all-time talk is a little much, lets let that argument breathe for about five years. I even avoid getting into the whole “will he be a good NFL quarterback” argument. I don’t think he will be right now, should be drafted in the second to third round, given two years to develop and we’ll see what happens. Plus, let the man finish his college career before all of that happens.

I’ve just been overwhelmed with the media attention on him and it was good to see him taken down a peg. The media makes it seem like he’s the only good guy playing college football on and off the field. They make him seem like he’s the only athlete that does things such as his mission work, which in itself is a very good thing and props to him for doing it. I spent two years at Belmont where student-athletes are doing the same activities and didn’t even get 1/1,000,000 of the attention, even though I don’t thing that they do it for the attention.

My point is that he’s just an elite athlete. Let’s lay off the sainting of him, pun very much intended.
However, I didn’t expect to have that natural raw emotion seeing another man cry. I have many moments of tears, in fact, I had a good cry this past Saturday. He was in a vulnerable spot, so why the joy in seeing the sadness of another man who I’ve never met before and have no reason for malice towards? Discuss

-Saturday night was also an enjoyable time because of two excellent conference title games, for different reasons.

The Big 12 title game was entertaining in the fact that the offense in the contest was offensive. Texas looked terrible, I don’t care what anyone says. Nebraska has an excellent defense, especially Suh, but the Longhorns should have done better than that. Furthermore, McCoy avoided what would have been the biggest blunder in a major college game since Chris Webber in the NCAA Basketball National Title game over 15 years ago (who out there feels a little older right now, I remember exactly where I was for that moment). How do you throw the ball out of bounds like that, with one timeout, and leaving yourself only one second. That was way too close.

I honestly watched more of the ACC title game because I’m a Georgia Tech fan and wanted to see it win a conference championship. That was a fun game because of the offensive display, especially from C.J. Spiller. That guy is a beast and darn near carried his team to the win. Unfortunately, everyone was watching the Big 12 title game, which is understandable, so this contest is getting overlooked.

-BTW, if I had a vote for the Heisman, which I think has become overrated as an award, this is how it would shake out for me:

1) Suh
2) Spiller
3) Toby Gerhart
4) Colt McCoy
5) Mark Ingram

And for all of you lovers of you know who… 6) Tebow

The award, to me, goes to the best player that year, no matter what your record or position on the field is. Suh has been the best player in college football this season. This isn’t an award to the best quarterback or the best player on the best team or even the most valuable player.

For MVP awards, I think you have to pick the player most valuable to the success of his team, not necessarily the best player. I don’t look at the Heisman as an MVP award.

-I’ve recently started Tweeting again and am enjoying it very much. Follow me, my name is SportsInquirer, all one word.

-This may be a bold statement for all of my reality TV fans out there, but Jersey Shore may have the potential to be the best one EVER! So much went on in the premiere that it may warrant its own post.

-Can’t stand the New York song by Jay-Z.

OK, time to relax, talk to y’all later.

NFL Preview

Time for that NFL Preview.

Music to listen to: Whipping Post by The Allman Brothers Band (live from Filmore East)

Several things about this song, performance and band that were badass.

1) Duane Allman was an absolute beast on guitar. Scary that he was this good in his early 20’s. He died at 24. Been a fan of his playing for a while but NEVER realized he died so young, so sad.

2) Gregg Allman is an underrated all-time singer.

3) Any band that has two drummers and one of them is Black, you know I’m down with that.

4) I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that if I ever started a band, it would sound like the Black Keys. That’s not completely true. It would be part Black Keys, part Tool, part Yes, part Mars Volta and part Allman Brothers Band. That’s how much I enjoy listening to those dudes.

On to the games. BTW, my record for the season was approaching 30 games below .500 and I ran out of “fake” money weeks ago so we’re just going to start over again. The lesson as always, don’t gamble, at least with my picks.

Jets (-3.5) Buffalo: I would have taken the Jets so I’m off to a 1-0 start! Seriously, Ralph Wilson just needs to move the team to Toronto and get the suspense over with.

KANSAS CITY (+4.5) Denver: I wouldn’t take Denver as a favorite on the road, anytime, even against the hopeless Chiefs.

PITTSBURGH (-14.5) Oakland: Dennis Dixon can start this game and I’m still taking the points.
This seems like a good time to get to my thoughts on Tiger, which I know that all of you have been waiting for. It didn’t shock me at all that he was cheating on his wife, this stuff happens to people all of the time.

The three things that were surprised me, in order, were…

1) Why he got married in the first place. I will NEVER, EVER understand why any professional athlete gets married. Between the hectic work schedule, physical and mental demands of the job, money, attention from women, media scrutiny, human instincts, it’s a bad recipe for a marriage. Derek Jeter has it right. Watch him get married one year after he retires to someone that we’ve never heard of.

When you get married, you put yourself out there for failure. Furthermore, you legally are at a major risk because divorce can take half or more of your money away.

2) How terrible of a cheater he was. Get a second phone for your player ways, so your lady friend can’t pull up your regular phone and see some shadiness going down. Don’t leave voice mail messages. You don’t have constant interaction with your mistress. You should keep her for only a few months at a time. Having an affair with the same woman for nearly two years, unacceptable.

3) The quality of the women. His wife is attractive but she doesn’t do anything for me. Usually when men cheat, it comes down to one of three things. They want someone who looks completely different from their girlfriend, who does things that their girlfriend won’t do and “availability” of the mistress.
Tiger tends to like the brunettes that look physically different than his wife in his affairs, I can see that. I don’t know what his wife will or will not do for him but you can figure that one out. The last one is odd. The women look trashy. Tiger has a lot of money and is an OK looking guy. He should have stepped his game up in this regard.

I’m not condoning cheating, in fact, its not cool at all, especially when children are involved. However, he could have avoided a lot of this if he didn’t get married in the first place.

Finally, I saw a comedian one time who said that before he has a sexual encounter with a woman, he would make her sign an agreement. Now he said he did this because he was accused of rape when he allegedly didn’t do it during one of his sexual situations, but the concept still fits.

Tiger should have made all of his women sign agreements to not come out like this.

JACKSONVILLE (PK) Houston: Either team can win this game and both will still miss the playoffs after finishing the year 7-9.

ATLANTA (+5.5) Philadelphia: I know that Michael Turner and Matt Ryan are most likely out of this game but I can’t take Philly on the road. Also, Mike Vick returns to Atlanta, no one cares.

INDIANAPOLIS (-6.5) Tennessee: Would like to take the Titans in this one but I think that this will be a 10-point win for the Colts.

CINCINNATI (-13) Detroit: Odd game to pick. Speaking of odd, I was at the gas station today and prepaid for it. The woman in the line behind me was literally breathing down my neck. I can’t stand it when people stand on top of me in line. We all have our personal space and it doesn’t get respected often enough.

CHICAGO (-9) St. Louis: The Bears are a desperate team. The coach is about to get fired. The quarterback has played terrible, the running back has been terrible (I own Forte on my fantasy team, I know), the defense isn’t good anymore. Thank goodness on their end they get the perfect remedy in the Rams.

CLEVELAND (+13) San Diego: So I was on Facebook today, going through all of my friends to see who I haven’t spoken to in a while and I came across an old co-worker. I clicked on his front page and everyone was leaving rest in peace messages. Turns out he passed away in September.
Now, what’s the policy on Facebook in these situations? Do the administrators take the page down? Does a family member or friend take it down for the person who died? Do people want to keep the page up to pass along memories?

San Francisco (PK) SEATTLE: I don’t analyze NFC West contests.

Minnesota (-3.5) ARIZONA: The Vikes keep rolling.

NEW YORK GIANTS (+2.5) Dallas: Herm Edwards analyzed on ESPN today if this was a must-win game for the Giants. Every game is a must-win contest in the NFL. This is why I rarely watch all NFL analysis on all channels.

MIAMI (+4.5) New England: Mini upset of the week

GREEN BAY (-3) Baltimore

College Football Review

We’re heading towards the end of the college football season with only some conference championship games and a few others before we enter bowl season. Let’s review last week quickly with some personal thoughts thrown in.

Music to listen to: Best of John Frusciante Solos from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers

This guy may be the best active guitarist alive who started making hay in the 1990’s.

Texas 49, Texas A&M 39: Rivalry games are always difficult to prognosticate on because of the emotions and this is a prime example of it, even though another game mentioned later will prove this even more. Texas should have won this game by 20 points on paper but playing on the road against your rival does these things to you.

Rutgers 34, Louisville 14: Why are Phil Fulmer and Tommy Tubberville allegedly highly intrigued by the Louisville job? I’m sure that the Cards can throw some money at them but besides that, what’s the appeal?

Ohio 35, Temple 17: Fifteen years ago, only one of these teams, maybe neither one would be bowling this season and now it looks like both of them will be with shared records of 9-3. At least Ohio gets to play for the MAC title.

Cincinnati 49, Illinois 36: Don’t believe a word of Brian Kelly saying that he’s staying at the ‘Natti. He would be an absolute fool to not consider the options. You don’t strive to be the head coach of Cincinnati. You strive to be the head coach of a major program like, dare I say it, Notre Dame. I know that he said that to dissolve the attention but I see right though that.

Akron 28, Eastern Michigan 21: The Eagles will finish with a record of 0-12, that’s rough.

Alabama 26, Auburn 21: War Eagle Growing! There’s optimism on the Plains! The Tigers fell one win short of my prediction that they would win eight games but still have a bowl game. Alabama is going to have to find some more diversity in their offense by Saturday or Florida wins, easily.

Nebraska 28, Colorado 20: As someone who follows the Buffalos from across the country with moderate interest, why has Dan Hawkins been retained for next season? I don’t expect Colorado to compete for national titles every year but finishing 3-9 is inexcusable.

West Virginia 19, Pittsburgh 16: Didn’t see the game because I have better things to do in my life

than watch Big East football.

South Carolina 34, Clemson 17: The Gamecocks dominated this contest. Would be interested in knowing what a Clemson fan would rather have, a win over South Carolina or an ACC title. Also, if CJ Spiller doesn’t get invited to New York, then problems.

Florida 37, Florida State 10: The Tebow worship is out of control but I avoided nearly all of it by just watching the game.

A quick thought on Bobby Bowden. The move had to be made. He was performing at a subpar level for his job. I’m not talking about the level of finishing ranked in the top-five for ten straight seasons. Those days are over. I’m talking about competing for conference titles, having ten-win seasons once every two to three years. He’s a legend but there was no way that he was going to leave that job on his own. Coaching is literally his life, something he’s been doing for close to 60 years. College football consists of “amateurs” playing each other but its also a business.

As far as the future of Florida State, this should add some clarity to the program. Its Jimbo’s show now, which may not be a good thing. That’s why I’m opposed to coaches in waiting situations. If Jimbo wasn’t there, they could conduct a nationwide search and probably find someone more qualified. People talk about the value of the Notre Dame job. Florida State looks down at Notre Dame.

Georgia 30, Georgia Tech 24: Had to see this game with the Georgia fans who are in my family, not good. However, winning an ACC title is actually more important for Tech fans. Sure, we will have to hear crap from Bulldog fans all year but for the program to build to its maximum level, a conference title is a requirement.

Oklahoma 27, Oklahoma State 0: Oklahoma State went from the Fiesta Bowl to maybe the Holiday Bowl. That has to hurt the mind and the wallet.

Virginia Tech 42, Virginia 13: Groh had one, maybe two good seasons and the rest were below average. The Cavs aren’t going to win any national titles in the near future but should at least get to eight wins once in a while.

LSU 33, Arkansas 30: Better clock management Les Miles. Not great, just better than the Ole Miss contest.

BYU 26, Utah 23: Maybe the most entertaining game of the weekend.

Houston 73, Rice 14: You would think that the score was run up, but not really. The score was 59-0 AT THE HALF!!! The Cougars could have hit 100 if they wanted.

Mississippi State 41, Ole Miss 27: Result not as surprising as the score. Under normal circumstances, an 8-4 year before the bowl games would be considered a success for Ole Miss. Wonder what the perception is now?

Boston College 19, Maryland 17: Fridge isn’t getting fired because Maryland can’t afford to.

Missouri 41, Kansas 39: The game that got Mangino to “resign” tonight. He had to go amid all of the speculation. He won a lot of games for that program but when you coach at a basketball school like KU, its best to just stay quiet and keep moving. Plus, if the stories are true, he’s an ass and can go kick rocks.

MTSU 38, Louisiana-Monroe 19: Look at the Blue Raiders getting nine wins this season. Enjoy your bowl boys, all of Middle Tennessee will be watching.

Utah State 52, Idaho 49: Rough loss for my Vandals, who finish the season 7-5 and are most likely not going to go bowling. This isn’t a one-year deal for me. I will still follow these guys as my adopted WAC team.

Tennessee 30, Kentucky 24: This loss was even tougher than Idaho’s. This had to be the year that Kentucky ended its losing streak to the Vols and it didn’t happen. It may be another decade of losses.

Stanford 45, Notre Dame 38: All that needs to be said about Charlie Weis has been said. Notre Dame isn’t an elite program anymore, will never be and the fans and administration should get used to more 8-4 seasons and a BCS appearance once every four years than competing for national titles.

Looking forward to this week:

Florida vs. Alabama: I’ve stuck with Bama all year and I’m not changing now.

Texas vs. Nebraska: The Huskers take a lead into the fourth quarter before Texas scores two late touchdowns for the victory.

Cincinnati vs. Pitt: Panthers pull off the home upset and Brian Kelly DOESN’T go to Notre Dame!

Georgia Tech vs. Clemson: Game scares me as a Tech fan and it gets even scarier when Clemson pulls off the upset of the night.
　

Thanksgiving Reflections

Time for some Reflections, the post-Thanksgiving edition.

Music to Listen to: Aenema by Tool

I usually like to post my favorite song from the radio on my road trips on my first Blog entry after a holiday but I’m going to place an oldie on here. I decided to reconnect with Tool on this trip and I must have played this particular song about five times.

Other artists that were considered were The Offspring, The Dobbie Brothers, Lady Gaga (seriously) and Pearl Jam.

So Etienne Marcel, how was Thanksgiving? It was an excellent time for me and I have some Reflections on it:

-I have to work on my “swagger.” One of the biggest issues that I have personally is a lack of self-confidence. I like myself and all of that but when it comes to expressing my worth personally and even professionally, I struggle with this. My philosophy is that you should work on yourself and show humility and you will be fine. However, this isn’t always true, you have to make your presence felt.

That’s where my oldest nephew comes into play.

He’s a star high school football player, 17 years old, good looking, has the attention of the ladies and has a self-confidence that I must admit that I’m envious of. Of course, adulthood hasn’t completely hit him yet but that shouldn’t matter. When he enters a room, he feels that he is the most important person there and not in a bad way.

We were driving around North Georgia and he tells me that I need to improve my “swagger.” I don’t exactly know how you do this but my assumption that this means that I should have a belief that I’m valuable and bring some tremendous assets to any situation that I’m in. This has to be presented from the tone of my voice, wardrobe, eye-contact, body language, etc.

-This “Twilight” thing isn’t going away. My niece and cousins are very into this phenomenon. When you see people on TV or hear some other people talking about something like Twilight, you shake it off as nothing big. But when family members are bringing it to you, an acknowledgement must be made. Of course this comes with me mocking said family members for their bad taste in movies and mocking the guys in the movies, but that’s standard.

I really don’t care about the movies, even though I think Ashley Green is very, very attractive, but whatever floats your boat. I don’t need to see shirtless dudes running in the woods.

-You can learn a lot from your family members. I mentioned what I learned from my oldest nephew but it goes deeper than that. They continually support me in everything that I do and its humbling to have their backing of me.

My transition to my new job has gone well but like any employment situation, there are some ups and downs. We all get held up on minor details and forget the overall picture.

I work in professional wrestling.

When I was a kid, all I watched was professional wrestling along with some other sports. I’m the same kid that debated the Mega Powers and whether Macho Man or Hulk Hogan were the reason for the breakup (it was Hogan in my opinion). I had a Junk Yard Dog doll that I played with in the tub. I would stay up till 2 a.m. on Saturday nights to watch ECW on MSG. I treated the Tommy Dreamer and Raven feud like it was real life. If I ever have a kid, I’m seriously considering having the names Flair and Arn somewhere in it.

I get to write about Sting and Kurt Angle. I get to learn about guys like AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. I have meetings with co-workers about things like international licensing and domestic promotions that expands beyond any scope of work I’ve done before. I’ve met Tazz (yes, two z’s) and Mick Foley this week.

If you told me I would be in this position now at 28 when I was 14, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Being able to finally tell my family members without internal resentment that I work in an industry that I enjoy was refreshing. I told them about my role in marketing and licensing and they were excited for me.

Sometimes it takes telling someone else about something in your life before you appreciate it on your own.

-I’ve become an influence on the youth. I’m the youngest child of my mother and the middle child of my father, so I’ve had the role of the baby of the family for a few years. However, I’ve reached an age where there are nieces, nephews and cousins who are ages 10-18 and they look to me for wisdom.

I have two methods. I keep it honest with them and I live a life influenced by positive virtues.

For the first method, they know that I like to go out and participate in adult activities but I do it in a responsible way. I’ve told them this since they were little kids. I’ve never believed in talking down to kids, especially your family. I would have full conversations with my niece when she was about a year old. Granted, I was doing all of the talking but she would sit up and stare right at me. We would talk about politics, sports, religion, dating, etc. That established a relationship of respect.

The second one works for itself. I’m not going to tell them to not do drugs when I’m doing it myself. That’s not right so I don’t partake in substances. I’m not going to tell them to study and focus on academics when I’m slacking in my own efforts towards education. I’m done with graduate school but I’m educating myself everyday in some form. You get the idea.

I try to educate them on these adult situations and I think that they have taken this advise in a good way.

-Dwight Howard is a good looking man. Went to the Hawks and Magic game on Thanksgiving night and had close seats. A guy isn’t supposed to be that tall and have that body tone.

-Lil Wayne isn’t as bad as I thought. One of my bonding experiences with my oldest nephew, the one with the “swagger,” is that he plays some current music for me so that I can be “down.”

I need it because while writing this post, I’ve played some Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Mars Volta, Allman Brothers, Rolling Stones and Zeppelin, not exactly Gucci Mane and Drake.

So he plays some Lil Wayne songs for me because I’ve written in the past that I liked some of Wayne’s early stuff but don’t get the appeal he has over anyone under 21 so seem to consider him not only the best rapper alive, but maybe of our generation and ever.

I hear some of his songs from his mixtapes and its sounds more like the Wayne I’m used to liking. I can’t tell you the names of the songs but they were pretty good. I don’t understand why he doesn’t do that stuff for his albums, which have been lacking lately in my opinion.

I’ve written here often about how popular music in 2009 is not good and I still believe that but I’ve softened my stance. It really is the industry that has done it to them.

OK, its time for sleep but hope you enjoyed my Reflections. Good fight and good night.

Sunday Reflections on a Monday

Time for some Sunday Reflections on a Monday

Music to listen to: I Got Mine by The Black Keys



If I ever started a band, it would probably start out sounding like this and that’s not an insult. These guys are great.

This weekend was interesting and gave me some views on what’s going on in my life.

Friday afternoon: I was at work when my supervisor asked me to come into the office to discuss my time so far at the job. Its been nearly three months at the job and I have an evaluation coming up at the end of December so this was a gage of what’s going on. It was a good conversation and some constructive criticisms were made towards me about how to improve as a worker.

When you receive criticism at work, I believe you go through stages, similar to the stages of death. First, you have the Listening stage. You hear everything that your supervisor is saying, good or bad, and you try to remember EVERY single word that he or she says so that when you get to the next stages, you will know exactly what to reference to.

The next stage is the First Response stage. You can either dispute the critiques in the meeting or you can nod your head in agreement with the supervisor. This is important. Some supervisors want you to listen and take your analysis like a trooper and accept it. Some will like you to respond right there and get some dialogue going. There may even be a small pact that wants you to get mad and show some emotion. I tend to have minimal activity in this stage.

Next stage is Angry Analysis. No matter what your supervisor said, you’re going to not have a good analysis of it. If he said that you are lazy, you’re going to think that you give your best effort. If he says that you look like you’re having too much fun and lack focus, you’re going to want to show him that you’re motivated to do a good job and take your work seriously. If he says that you’re not friendly and surly, you’re response is that you aren’t at your job to make friends, that you’re there to get a job done. I always have an angry analysis of my evaluations and its lasts a day or two, at least. I was like this all the way to Sunday for this one.

The next to final stage is Acceptance. In the stages of Death, this is the last step but I’m not dead so there is still more work to be done. Your anger of the analysis subsides and you go back to the Listening stage and remind yourself of exactly your supervisor said. That’s why its important to be a good listener. You hear his words and you take the positives and acknowledge the negatives. You realize that you can improve at your job in some way and you have to be a better employee.

The final step is Action. As long as your First Response wasn’t negative, you go back to your job the next day and improve on your work. We all go through these stages and sometimes it gets to the point where the Angry Analysis doesn’t subside and you look for a new place to work. Sometimes your First Response is so bad that your employer sees this working relationship as unsalvageable and decides to fire you. I’ve been there.

The older you get however, you learn. I’ve been told that I’m too happy, too serious, look like I’m having too much fun, don’t look happy working, don’t talk enough, talk too much, etc.

In the end, you have to be yourself and if that isn’t good enough, then its time to move on. Fortunately for my current situation, this isn’t an issue. Myself is good enough.

Friday night: I had a free night and was invited to a old college friend’s “ghetto” wine party and I was nervous.

I’ve written in the past about being nervous interacting with people in my past, the whole “I was one type of person in the past that I’m not completely proud of but I’m a new person now and want to be seen as that but will never be because you know me from the past” thing.

So I drove all the way out to my friend’s house and feared even walking in the door, it was that bad. I walk into strangers’ houses often and interact with people I don’t know on a daily basis, but this stuff gets me worried for some reason.

I get the nerve to walk in the door and see some friends I haven’t talked to in years. It was great. I sampled some cheap wine…

A quick note about that. I enjoy alcohol of all types accept wine. Maybe it’s the concept of wine being a sophisticated beverage and I don’t have the time or desire to delve into it. I know what types of beers I like and liquors I enjoy. I know to avoid tequila at all costs, things like that for my personal usage. However for wine, I don’t have that knowledge.

For the party, each guest was supposed to bring a bottle of wine that cost less than $10. I thought that this would be impossible. However, I walked into the package store and there was wine as cheap as $5 per bottle. Forgive my ignorance but I had no idea.

Also, I finally understand why you may see people less fortunate in their lot in life drinking wine, its cheap. That’s why abusers of wine are called winos, which, and I swear I’m not making this up, I never put that concept together until driving to the party on Saturday.

I’m sure Vanderbilt and Belmont are proud that I have degrees from those institutes.

So the party was fun and be careful with the wine. It sneaks up on you if you know what I’m saying.

Saturday night: I was called back into duty to help assist the game operations for Belmont basketball and it was a fun reminder of what I spent two years doing.

After finishing grad school, I took the summer off from working any sporting events because I was burnt out. When you spend three to four days a week for two years working sporting events while working a full-time job and going to grad school full-time as well, that will do it to you. I’ve worked events as early as 8 a.m. and as late as midnight. Any sports info director can tell you about the hours and how rough they are.

But, I love the games. That’s why most of us work in sports, its for the games and seeing the competition.

I went to several Belmont athletic events in the fall, especially soccer and volleyball as a fan and that was good. Actually going to a game to see the sport and not working on the game operations was different but a good view of what was happening. However, I still have the itch to work at games which I get to do for Vanderbilt and for Belmont last Saturday.

It was good to see people that I spent a large amount of time with in the past back in the same positions on Saturday.

While I miss working in college athletics in a media relations position, I don’t miss the hours, that’s a fact. But interacting with the coaches, the athletes, having a close view of the games, controlling the operations, those things I miss every single day.

Sunday: Took care of the laundry and did something that I haven’t done in about 15 years.

I read a full edition of a copy of the National Geographic magazine.

For some reason, there was a copy of the magazine on a machine and I read the whole thing. It was truly fascinating.

There were great, great pictures of nature that made me appreciate the beauty of this earth. I read a unique article about the mummification of animals in Egypt. There was a story about the changes to the Syrian society and how they are trying to become more modernized. I read an article about the expansion of electric cars and the potential of them becoming a staple in America in about 20 years.

I read the whole thing and didn’t want to leave the laundry.

I felt like I was truly learning something at that moment. I spend so much time listening to my music and focusing on sports that I forget about other aspects of our lives. The pictures made me think about nature. The article on Egypt made me think about history. The Syrian article made me think about politics. The electric cars article made me think about the environment.

I need to do this more often. I wanted to take the magazine home and enjoy it some more but that would violate the code of reading materials in a public place. If it isn’t yours, don’t take it. Second, hopefully someone else came upon it and found enjoyment in it as well.

I did take the subscription card from the inside and plan to enjoy more issues in the future.

College Football Review

Time for that College Football Review…

Music to listen to: Rooster by Alice in Chains (live)



In my top-five of my personal favorite bands of my lifetime. Truly opened my eyes to rock music in the early 1990’s.

Crush of the Day: Reese Witherspoon (Stanford)

The Cardinal had a big win on Saturday and for that they get some love on the Crush of the Day.

Central Michigan 56, Toledo 28: I’ve known about Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour for a few years now but didn’t realize that he’s in the top-five for total offense all-time in NCAA history. That’s an impressive feat and his boys still have a chance to win the MAC.

Rutgers 31, South Florida 0: The locals at Rutgers are actually looking at this season as a disappointment. Growing up in the NYC, I lived directly with the incredibly sad state of Rutgers football from a few years ago when a four-win season was considered a success. Saw this game on TV and saw empty seats on a Thursday night, prime-time game. Yes, it was a weeknight and traffic is a pain there but that’s no excuse Rutgers fans.

Cincinnati 24, West Virginia 21: First, I still think that TCU and maybe even Boise State are better than the ‘Natti, but this is a great story. Second, I said that Tennessee would regret hiring Kiffin last season instead of Brian Kelly, so you already know my opinion of him. You would think that coaching at Cincinnati wouldn’t be a bad gig. You have a talent-heavy state to recruit from, the Big East is a relatively easy path to the BCS. However, when Notre Dame, Virginia, Texas A&M, etc may be open this offseason, Kelly has to consider it because the ‘Natti doesn’t have the resources to compete for a national title. Two out of those three schools mentioned above do.

Temple 56, Akron 17: The Owls went on the road and put a 50-spot on a conference opponent and are now 8-2. Unheard of five, ten, fifteen years ago.

Florida State 41, Wake Forest 28: The EJ Manuel era at Florida State is on.

Clemson 43, NC State 23: I think that the Heisman award is one of the most overrated honors in all of sports and haven’t watched the awards ceremony in ten years but CJ Spiller deserves some major consideration for the trophy.

Wisconsin 45, Michigan 24: The Badgers may be the quietest eight-win team in the nation right now but everyone wants to talk about Rich Rodriguez and his future at Michigan. He has had some missteps in his first two seasons for sure but you can’t fire a coach after only two years unless its an absolute disaster situation and Michigan isn’t that. They’re probably going to lose at home against Ohio State on Saturday to make their record 5-7, which means no bowl game for a second-consecutive season. However, Rodriguez has to recruit his own players and see what they can do. The offense has been ok but the defense has been very disappointing.

Mississippi 42, Tennessee 17: I think McCluster just scored another touchdown for Ole Miss. Seriously, you had to think that the arrests of the three UT players would have a negative effect on the team’s prep for Saturday’s game. What does this do for the UT program? I don’t think its going to affect them in a major way. If anything, this will help Lane add to the rebellious, no pun intended, nature of the program and help him with his obsession, which is recruiting. You will have some parents and recruits not want to play in a program with players committing crimes, but kids want to play for a big program to get exposure and win. If UT can show that they can provide that, then all will be well.

Kentucky 24, Vandy 13: I was there and the Commies fell to 2-9 for the season. Before the season, I expected Vandy to beat Mississippi State, Army, Rice and Western Carolina for a four-win year. I knew that the letdown from last year would be rough but not like this. I don’t want anyone fired or am frustrated as a fan, nothing like that. A win on Saturday in East Tennessee would be nice.

UAB 31, Memphis 21: The Memphis job has to be one of the least attractive gigs in coaching, even though it shouldn’t be. West Tennessee produces a good amount of talent and your border states are Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri. You could do a lot worse than that. Does the administration or the school in general want to make a commitment to having a winning program?

SMU 35, UTEP 31: The Mustangs are bowl-eligible for the first time in over two decades.

Nebraska 31, Kansas 17: Calm down Mark Mangino.

Florida 24, South Carolina 14: If the Gamecocks had a decent offense, they would have won this game. Second, when did Florida become boring to watch? The Gators were a terror last year and the defense has been solid this year, but the offense has been weak. Where are the offensive playmakers? Yes, they are winning and that’s the most important thing but will this cause them to lose to Alabama?

Ohio State 27, Iowa 24: The Buckeyes are going to the Rose Bowl, I don’t care.

North Carolina 33, Miami 24: The ACC continues to confuse me.

Stanford 55, USC 21: The Trojans will still be an elite team in the Pac-10 in the future, just not this year. It happens to every major program. Stanford is having an excellent season and this was a tremendous win for the program, but this isn’t going to happen every season.

Boise State 63, Idaho 25: This was a tough loss for my Vandals. The problem is that even though they should win at home against Utah State next week to push their record to 8-4, they still may not get picked to play in a bowl game because of economics.

Nevada 52, Fresno State 14: Rough loss for the Bulldogs on two fronts. First, the game and second their star running back Mathews, who left the contest with a concussion and those are unpredictable for returns in the future. He was having an All-America-level season.

MTSU 34, UL-Lafayette 17: Break up the Blue Raiders, who are now 7-3.

Georgia 31, Auburn 24: War Eagle Wounded!! This was a winnable game for the Tigers but they blew it. Now they have to beat Alabama at home next week to reach my prediction of eight wins. Not happening.

TCU 55, Utah 28: Horned Frogs would beat Texas, barely lose to Florida and loses by 10 to Alabama if those games took place tomorrow.

Pitt 27, Notre Dame 22: I don’t think that Weis is doing a terrible job at Notre Dame but with all of this speculation, he has to go at this stage.

Sunday Reflectons

Time for some Sunday Reflections

Music to listen to: Frogs (unplugged) by Alice in Chains



I came across an internet conversation on a message board tonight on TheBigLead.com discussing 90’s music. Alice in Chains was mentioned and I decided to post Frogs from the band above. The lyrics of this song has gotten me though some rough times in my past and I’m sure that they will in the future as well.

In fact, let’s start with some of that.

-A few weeks ago, I was talking with my main man Diaz about him attending a Creed concert at the Sommet Center, which lead to an afternoon of mocking the band, which is always fun.

However, I came to a personal conclusion that I didn’t have a beef against the band but with Scott Stapp, who has the worst case of a Jesus complex that I’ve ever seen from an entertainer. I couldn’t stand that guy back in the day.

But years have passed and I don’t dislike him as much anymore. Plus, the emergence of the new band, Alterbridge, which is everyone from Creed minus Stapp, has been a good reprive and actually made the new Creed music listenable.

The point being is that nostalgia is a remedy for accepting your musical likes and dislikes. I appreciate Alice in Chains more now than ever because I see the current state of rock music as uninspiring. If an Alice in Chains at its peak (I mean with Layne still alive and not the current version of the band, which actually is decent but not the same), they would dominate today.

Unfortunately for Alice, they had to compete with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, etc. for attention. Those are all badass groups. Its similar to a player like Dominique Wilkins in the NBA.

It also goes the other way. My first ever concert in Nashville was to see Limp Bizkit. I loved that band. I was a perfect sucker for the whole rap/rock genre of the late 1990’s. I’ve always been a big rock fan and despite what some of you may think, I’ve always been a rap fan as well. While I was listening to my LL Cool J, Eric B and Rakim, NWA (war Ice Cube and Amerikkka’s Most Wanted), I was also getting my fix of Metallica, Led Zeppelin, and all of the bands mentioned with Alice.

So when Rage came out, that was the start of it. Then Korn came into my musical landscape and finally Limp Bizkit. I owned the albums, knew the lyrics, thought that Wes Boreland was our generation’s Jimmy Page, the whole deal.

I wasn’t the only one in this crowd. Bizkit actually had a diverse fan base with rappers and rockers.

That’s the biggest misconception that i would say that people have about fans of music in their late 20’s and early 30’s. People tend to think that white people listen to music by white artists while minorities listen to music by minorities.

We’re part of the MTV generation so when I was twelve in 1993, I would see a Nirvana video one minute and then get a Dr. Dre one the next. The same people were watching the Headbanger’s Ball and Yo MTV Raps is what I’m trying to say.

I leaned more towards the rock side so by the time I was an 18-year old in 1999, Limp Bizkit was the mix of both worlds.

In 2009, I can’t listen to any of their songs because I don’t like it. I used to be ashamed of it like knowing the words to a lot of Backstreet Boys and N’Sync songs. But I look back on it now with happiness and enjoy the fun times.

-Heck yeah, I know the words to the “boy bands” songs because while I was waiting to see the Korn videos on shows like MTV’s TRL or listen to the Bizkit songs on the radio, the boy bands songs would appear. If you listen to any song more than 10 times, even if you don’t like it, you’re going to memorize it.

-Saw UFC 105 last night and while it wasn’t the most thrilling MMA card of the year, three interesting developments took place.

1) We’re going to see an age of American professional sports making more of an implant in Europe and internationally in general. The economics of the United States are tight right now as we all know and there ‘s room for growth in foreign countries. Why do you think that the NFL plays games in London now and the NBA has been floating the possibility of European teams in the league for years. The UFC is currently there doing work and I even see it at my job in professional wrestling. Watch out for the Middle East being huge in a year or two.

2) Randy Couture is one of the most amazing and under-regarded legendary athletes of the past 25 years. People want to talk about Brett Farve and what he’s doing this season as a 40-year old quarterback in the NFL and deservedly so. However, you have a 46-year old man competing against guys literally half his age in a physical combat sport and not only looking good, but winning fights.

3) The UFC really, really, wants Brandon Vera to be a major player in MMA but it just may not happen. Vera has a unique quality that is a marketing dream for the sport. He’s an English-speaking Filipino who is a competent fighter. Besides Mexico, the biggest market that the UFC and really all combat sports like MMA, professional wrestling, boxing, etc. want to hit is Asia. Vera is a perfect candidate to do this but he may not be good enough. He’s just below being a title contender which isn’t anything to look down upon, but he’s missing that next level.

-How did Taylor Swift win all of those CMA awards earlier this week? As my friend Jared pointed out, its one thing to win Album of the Year, which I can kinda see because everyone bought that thing, but getting female vocalist of the year was a joke. She was the weakest singer in the group. First, how Martina McBride doesn’t win this award if Alison Krauss is up for it every year is a joke. Furthermore, I would take Miranda Lambert, Reba and even Carrie Underwood before I would pick Swift. Nothing personal, just stating an opinion.

Then she gets Entertainer of the Year over Brad Paisley, who may have had his best musical content year of his career, Chesney and Keith Urban? Really?

Look, I know that Taylor writes her own songs, has a happy personality and actually seems like a nice person, but I don’t get it.

The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say that country music really wants her to succeed because she’s the last legit crossover YOUNG country star that’s come across in a very long time. Her videos are playing on frickin MTV with Britney Spears, that’s major. She’s even more of a household name with the Kanye West MTV Video Music Awards fiasco a few months ago.

So to legitimize Swift, the voters gave her some love. Here are the other females to win the Entertainer of the Year Award: Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks. She’s not even on the same level as the first three and the last two I can argue were better musicians. OK, she’s better than Shania but you get my point.

However, much love to Darius Rucker for getting the Rook of the Year Award (that’s what I call it). When he came out with a country album, like most of you I thought, what is Hootie doing releasing a country album? I’ve heard it, its very good and he got some love.

The question now has to be is he the best Black country musician not named Charlie Pride in history? Its not as far off as you would think.

-Didn’t see the Pacquiao and Cotto fight on Saturday but it sounded like another dominating performance from Manny. I hope he beats the crap out of Mayweather when that fight happens but boxing has a funny way of screwing itself up so don’t wait up for that fight to take place.

-Was at the laundry today and I literally saw a grown man with his pants down past his butt so I could see his boxers. PULL YOUR PANTS UP!!!!

-Greatly enjoyed the season premiere of Tough Love on VH1 tonight. You will hear me talk a lot more about this show in the upcoming weeks.

OK, time for me to get some sleep but good fight and good night everybody.

NFL Preview: Week 10

Time for that NFL Review with a few comments on College Football

Music to listen to: Schism by Tool



I’ll get to why I chose Tool later in the post

Since the frickin NFL has started having Thursday night games, I missed out on the San Fran and Chicago game, even though the line was the Niners by three. What the hay, I haven’t seen the score as of writing this so give me the Niners.

Crush of the Day: Samantha Harris (Northwestern)

For Northwestern pulling off the upset at Iowa last week, here’s some love to Samantha.

On to the games:

Jacksonville (+7) NEW YORK JETS: While doing some preparations for a live wrestling event on Monday, I headed to the gas station to get some sodas for a video shoot. While there, I saw three young guys, no older than 22, picking up two 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor each. This reminded me of earlier times when my boys, Carlos and John, and I would head to the bodega in the Bronx and pick up 40-ounces back when we were teenagers. I miss those times , they were certainly more simple than now.

All we were concerned about was hanging out, enjoying some brews and enjoying life. Seeing the Jets game made me thing back to my days in the NYC.

Denver (-3.5) WASHINGTON: I know Denver has not two games in a row but I can’t take Washington in this contest, they stink.

PITTSBURGH (-7) Cincinnati: The emergence of the Bengals has been enjoyable. It’s always good to see the Natti have a good team to cheer behind. Its also exciting to see Chad Ochocinco (still want to call him Chad Johnson but I have to respect his legal name) back on the scene and being positive. However, the defending champs are still who they are and I’m going to ride with that. Speaking of which…

TENNESSEE (-7) Buffalo: A lot of people here in Nashville want to speculate about why Tennessee has looked good the last two contests and gotten two wins. Some have talked about the return of Vince Young, the defense getting healthy, Chris Johnson making a case for offensive player of the year, etc.

The reason that the Titans are doing well again is that they reminded themselves of who they are. They run the ball, play solid defense and don’t commit penalties, staying disciplined in the process.

For the past two months, I’ve been talking about being more mellow, reflecting on life, finding happiness. That’s all fine and good but it also leads to complacency, which is something that I shouldn’t have at this stage. The past few days I’ve been more focused on my career and making positive life changes. Furthermore, I like Tool music, its dark but it motivates me and gets me ready.

Detroit (+17) MINNESOTA: That line is too high. If Brett Farve wasn’t such an annoying story, we would be acknowledging this as one of the best performances by an athlete in the past 20 years. Seriously, here’s a 40-year old guy who is not only the quarterback for one of the best teams in football, but he’s thriving with them. I can make a legit argument about Farve being the first-half MVP of this season, but we can’t ignore the stuff during the off season.

New Orleans (-13.5) ST. LOUIS: The Rams are terrible but give some love to Steven Jackson. Speaking of the city of New Orleans, why are you just now firing Byron Scott, Hornets? You should have just gotten rid of the guy in the offseason.

Atlanta (-1.5) CAROLINA: The line should be larger

MIAMI (-10) Tampa: Loved the throwback jerseys Tampa but it won’t help you on the road.

OAKLAND (-2) Kansas City: Why even play this game?

Seattle (+8.5) ARIZONA: Have no clue how this one turns out.

SAN DIEGO (-2) Philadelphia: Easiest pick of the week. Eagles heading across the country, too easy.

Speaking of Philly, I NetFlixed the first two seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the TV show that everyone tells me is the funniest show on TV. It isn’t, but it is enjoyable. I can see how people can make proclamations about it.

I do feel better now that I’ve seen it and can judge it for myself. Next up is Dexter and then the Wire.

GREEN BAY (+3) Dallas: Cowboys a favorite on the road? No thanks.

INDY (-3) New England: Wonder what Peyton thinks of the latest transgressions of his alma mater’s football team?

CLEVELAND (+10.5) Baltimore: The Browns make this closer than expected.

Last week: 4-9
Season: 32-48-1
Money left: $0

Much love to Sesame Street

First, some music to listen to: Freedom by Rage Against the Machine



I heard this song last night at my wrestling event and I was reminded of simpler times when I was a teenager in angst and found refuge in listening to Rage, Tool, etc. Fun music.

This post isn’t about that, its about celebrating the 40th birthday of my second-favorite childhood program, Sesame Street.

Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood was my favorite as a kid. Something about that dude would make me stop and pay attention. I would literally cheer out loud when he would take his shoes off. When the train would go to the land of Make Believe or when he would feed the fishes, my day was set.

Anyway, back to Sesame. Today marked the 40th anniversary of the premiere episode of the show and it has brought me so many good memories over time.

First, the show was based out of the NYC, which wasn’t officially announced but we all knew the score. The set containing a brownstone, parks, stores with fruit stands, there was a darn bodega there. I enjoyed that element of it.

Most importantly though, I could completely relate to the characters, especially three in particular…

Before I get to them, there were several that I had beefs with.

First, Elmo could go kick rocks, even to this day. That dude was way too damn happy even for my adolescent self. Also, he was like the mainstream crossover character that the hardcore Sesame Street fans resented deep down inside. We respected the work that Elmo put into the product, but he wasn’t the main reason that people were watching the show even though he gets a lot of credit because he was red, fuzzy and moved the most units as far as toy sales. I was even given some of his products but didn’t care.

Next, Count von Count, stop telling me to count, I get it, you like numbers. Leave me alone.

Then, we get to the Cookie Monster, who I was feeling back in the day. However, I knew that his obsession with cookies was a little creepy and I knew this as a seven-year old. He was my first introduction into addiction. Before we all learned about drugs and alcohol, we gained knowledge from Cookie Monster’s desire to get his next hit. That’s right, I said his next hit. Replace those chocolate chip cookies with cocaine and you get what I’m saying.

However, I didn’t cosign when they made him stop eating cookies and incorporated fruits and veggies into his diet. Look, the dude likes his cookies. Granted he has diabetes, high blood pressure and probably will lose his sight soon but he was consuming what he loved…and don’t tell me that he made kids fat. I’m a big boy and I like cookies because their tasty and not because the Monster told me so. He could have mixed up his choices however. We always saw him with chocolate chip cookies. He needed to mix in some oatmeal, sugar, etc, just for variety sake.

Oh, one more and this is going to get some of you heated but Big Bird, he could kick rocks as well. He’s probably the marquee name of the show but I have issues with him as well. Enough with the damn questions, no one likes someone who doesn’t know anything. Also, the voice, get some bass in there. The biggest thing with Big Bird was…how big he was. That’s a freak. Everyone else on the show kinda looked normal relative to the situation but here’s some eight-foot tall yellow bird trying to enter the conversation. Go away.

Now on to the characters that I had a ton of love for:

- Oscar the Grouch: He’s my profile picture on Facebook right now, so you know that I had love for him. He was cranky, mean, kept it real and loved living in his element, a lot of stuff that I wasn’t as a kid. I was a nice kid who would get picked on for being too friendly and made fun for being positive on the outside. I wanted to be like Oscar and tell people to leave me alone and call them stupid. As kids, we aspire to be like the things we aren’t and Oscar fit that bill.

But lets look at things from Oscar’s prospective. He’s trying to mind his business and enjoy his trash but people keep coming up to his home and bothering him. If this was happening in your life, you would be cranky or dare I say grouchy as well. Furthermore, doing my extensive research on this post, I learned that Oscar is Canadian, no joke! This means that he was probably kicked out of his homeland at a young age and forced to live in a foreign county away from his family and friends. Once again, if this happened to you, wouldn’t you be a little grouchy as well? Just saying.

-Ernie: First, lets clear this up. Its completely normal for two single guys to live in the same apartment and share a bedroom. This is standard procedure for many guys at one moment in their life. Usually it happens in college in a dorm room. This situation doesn’t make Burt and Ernie a gay couple in any way, not that there’s anything wrong with it…granted, you would think that one of them would get married or come upon some money at one point over 40 years to move out, but economic times are hard. Let’s just move on from that point.

On Ernie, as I mentioned earlier, I was a friendly and happy kid on the outside just like him. I even a little pudgy like him so there was a connection. I would always want to run around and play with my friends in the same way that he did…and yes, I had a rubber duckie that I would play with while taking a bath.

The funny thing now is that I’m much more like Bert than Ernie in my life now. I enjoy quiet evening reading or writing, maybe watching TV. Ernie’s personality is more about going out, meeting people, living the fun social life.

-Snuffleupagus. You want to talk about someone who I related to the most inside, it was that dude.

My parents divorced at a fairly young age for me, five years old, and while I was acting like Ernie about it, telling people that it was all good, stay positive, all of that stuff, I was definitely feeling like Snuffy inside.

Big Bird used to blame Snuffy all the time when something wrong happened and I did the same in my life. If something went wrong, whether it was at school, between my parents, etc, I would blame myself and feel like it was all my fault, which seems to be a common trait of children of divorced parents that I’ve interacted with.

Once again, doing my extensive research , I’ve come across the info that there was supposed to be an episode where Snuffy’s parents divorced in 1992. It received such negative testing results with kids that the episode never aired. I would have enjoyed seeing that episode as an 11-year old.

No matter what Snuffy did or tried, he felt inferior to everyone on Sesame Street, especially Big Bird. I still remember the episode like yesterday when Snuffy got some balloons and tried to fly so he could be like his buddy. Of course, he’s a big elephant and couldn’t do it. That tore me up inside.

However, Snuffy would find a way to persevere and try to live his life, no matter how flawed things may have been.

So as we think back on all of our memories of the show, two questions are asked.

First, if this show was pitched in 2009 instead of 1969, does it even make the air. I say that it doesn’t because its too simple and the current generation of children wouldn’t accept the simplicity of the original concepts of the show. Sesame Street has adjusted over time and has survived thankfully.

Second, does the show still hold relevance as an adult? I think it does. All of the stuff that I mentioned above still apply for me. I still want to hurt Elmo, so that’s a start.

More importantly, I remember the honesty that Oscar lived his live with and try to do the same in mine. Not in such a crude way but in some other ways.

I remember to stay positive and see the fun in life like Ernie did.

I try to keep the perseverance of Snuffy in my life and take on all challenges, even if failure takes place.

You don’t have to tell me how to get to Sesame Street because I’m already there.

NFL Preview: Week 9

Finally the return of the NFL Preview.

Music to listen to: Gallows Pole by Led Zeppelin



I wanted to post something from The Song Remains The Same, the seminal movie/concert from Zeppelin but couldn’t embed it. Instead, we’re going to go with Gallows Pole.

I wasn’t ignoring this post intentionally. Two weeks ago, my computer lost its membrane and got super wacky with some viruses. It was for the best because I went 6-8. Then last week, I got very busy and missed the deadline for posting my picks. I did even better, going 4-8-1 that week.

So for the season, I’m 28-39-1. Even better, with the suggestion of the People’s Champion, I starting keeping a hypothetical line of how much money I would have. I began the season with $1,600. Now I have only $500.

The message is to do the complete opposite of what I’ve been doing and you would be in the money. I’m going to keep plowing along.

On to the picks:

JACKSONVILLE (-6) Kansas City: Do you realize that Jacksonville will most likely have every one of its home contests blacked out because of lack of sellouts for games? I read this intriguing article about the lack of success in Jacksonville and its worth a look by you: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&page=hotread8/Jacksonville/Main

Now, I have family from Jacksonville and enjoy the city. In fact, at my work in Belmont, I had the pleasure of traveling to J-Ville several times the past year or two. However, its not going to succeed like it did in the past for three reasons.

First, the team isn’t very good. People aren’t going to pay hard earned money for a bad product. Second, the economic structure of the city isn’t good enough to support an NFL team properly. The article lays this out nicely.

Finally, its beautiful down there. If I had the choice of paying $50 to see a team lose or spend some time in the park or the beach in 80 degree weather in mid November, I think you know what wins that argument.

CINCINNATI (-3) Baltimore: Church’s Chicken is finally in Nashville!! Love their biscuits! If I had to rank my favorite chicken fast food joints it would be the following: 1) Chik-Fil-A 2) KFC 3) Church’s Chicken 543) Mrs. Winners.

I drive past Church’s every night coming home and I’m tempted to stop by and pick up a 10-piece and gorge silently at home.

INDIANAPOLIS (-9) Houston: The Colts are still undefeated and its been quite interesting to see Indy return to an elite leve.

You know what else has returned to an elite level? General Hospital. I know that none of you watch GH but the soap had been struggling the past year or two, actually to be fair, its been weak the past four or five. However, the past two months, especially with the storyline of Claudia ordering the murder hit that nearly killed Michael and his emergence from the coma has been badass.

How does this relate to the Colts? The mainstay of GH for the past decade has been Sonny , similar to Manning for the Colts. There have been times where Sonny has been the best actor in soap operas and then he has been disappointing, especially his supporting cast.

The brilliance of Sonny and Manning has been the incorporation of new guys into their systems. Sonny is working with only one person, maybe two consistently that was around from five years ago, Jason and Jax. Shoot, he has literally had THREE different women playing his wife, Carly. However, through his acting, he has brought an entire new cast up to his level and made GH a must see show again.

Manning started with Marvin Harrison, Marshall Faulk and some others. Faulk left and Edge James came in, then it was Joseph Addai and now Donald Brown. Harrison is gone, so now you have Reggie Wayne as the main guy at receiver and Dallas Clark at tight end. Manning even has two rookies catching balls from him this year consistently.

We know that Farve and Brees are getting the most attention at QB this year and deservedly so, but I couldn’t see either guy doing what Peyton is doing under those circumstances.

ATLANTA (-10) Washington: I completely understand why Jim Zorn is sticking to his guns and not quitting on the Skins. He definitely wants to get all of his money from the contract. My only question is why doesn’t he just air all of the dirty laundry. If the team loses on Sunday, and you know that they will, I would just tell the media that its not my fault and that my owner can go kick rocks.

TAMPA BAY (+9.5) Green Bay: Oh Tampa still loses, but by less than that line.

CHICAGO (-3) Arizona: Last season, I did a review of the previous week of the NFL season and had a section called “Jay Cutler’s March Towards Canton,” which meant exactly what it meant. I would give a rating of one to 10 about whether our favorite resident of Santa Claus, Indiana was going to enter the gates of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was pompous, pretentious and was an unnecessary promotion of my fellow Vanderbilt Commodore.

Well, its back! Its been a mixed year for Cutler. Statistically, he’s been better but he hasn’t been awful. Plus, the expectations are up with the new team and contract, which is completely fair.

Right now, he’s at a 4.

Miami (+10.5) NEW ENGLAND: There has been major talk about the NFL having a team in London after the Patriots and Bucs game there two weeks ago. This is completely pointless for several reasons.

First, as an ardent supporter of Arsenal, only the best team in the English Premier League, I know how that city works from a sports prospective. In London alone, you have five EPL teams, Arsenal, West Ham, Tottenham, Chelsea and Fulham playing contests on Saturday and Sunday during the same time as the NFL season. That’s not even mentioning teams in cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, New Castle and surrounding cities only a few hours apart.

If a fan has to choose between seeing the London Tigers face the Philadelphia Eagles and see Aston Villa face Fulham, soccer wins that battle. There’s only so much money a fan can spend.

The NFL team doesn’t draw more than 30,000 per game for eight regular season games, if its lucky.

Next, there’s the whole time zone difference, which can’t be ignored. The logistics are brutal.

Stick to getting a team in Los Angeles first NFL.

NEW ORLEANS (-13) Carolina: I know that’s a lot of points on a short week for the Saints after the emotionally enthralling win over Atlanta on Monday night, but as long as Jake Delhomme is manning the Panthers, I can’t pick them.

Detroit (+10) Seattle: Went to a Belmont athletic event and saw one of my buddies there and was finally able to congratulate her on being pregnant in person.

Its always weird congratulating someone for getting pregnant. You’re in essence giving them a thumbs up to having unprotected sex and procreating, which is always a cheers moment. Do you give them a high five, a chest bump and I’m just talking about the mother. For the father, do you give him a hand shake for having “guys that can swim?” Do you give him the chest bump.

Personally, I give the woman a hug and the guy a hand shake of approval.

If I ever impregnate a woman, I would personally like a pound and a cookie.

SAN FRANCISCO (-4) Tennessee: Nice win Titans and Vince, you looked good. Reality comes back this week. Potential blowout of the week.

Back to the pregnant stuff. In the past two years, I’ve had at least 15 friends be part of a couple that’s having a baby. Its almost to a point that if you’re in a serious relationship and you interact with me, you will be having a baby within six months.

I know that my age (28) has a lot to do with because it’s a period where a lot of friends have kids, but its odd that I’ve girlfriend-less this entire time frame and everyone seems to be getting knocked up.

NEW YORK GIANTS (-5) San Diego: OK, congrats to the Yankees for winning the World Series. As a Mets fan, I stated on this Blog that I would rather see the Yanks win over the Phillies. The reason for this was that I can deal with the Yanks winning and they were the best team this year from start to finish. However, the Phillies developing its own dynasty is not good under any circumstances.

Plus, I stopped disliking a lot of those guys on the team and accepted the brilliance. I’ve been saying for about two years now that Mo Rivera is the best postseason pitcher ever and he is finally starting to get the recognition. He’s a once in a generation player. He’s been a dominant closer for over a decade. You know who else is on that list in the history of baseball. Goose Gossage and Rollie Fingers and both of those guys are stretches if you look at time periods. Plus, Mo seems like a good guy who stays to himself and gets the job done.

Jeter gets love too. I used to think he was a pretty boy that grown men would lose their minds over gushing over his virtues. He started his career solidly rated, then became wildly overrated, became underrated after that and is now properly rated. He’s a Hall of Famer. It was also good to see Matsui get a moment of glory, he’s a gamer.

Of course, Alex Rodriguez finally has his title as well. I used to really, really dislike the guy and still think that he has some fakeness to him. But life’s too short to hold on to grudges against people you don’t know, unless the guy’s name is Charlie Weis. Anyway, I’m accepted Rodriguez for what he is and moved on.

PHILADELPHIA (-3) Dallas: The only time I cheer for the Cowboys every year is in this game. That just made me sick just writing that.

DENVER (+3) Pittsburgh: Broncos are still a good team.

Last week: 5-8
Season: 28-39-1
Money left: $500